A BENCH TOUCHED By CLASS... (Updated)

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Around three Sundays ago, I took a plod along to one of my old neighbourhoods to wallow in nostalgia for days long past, and, as is my wont, sat on a bench near a burn (a Scots word for watercourse, from a large stream to a small river) in which wild fowl sometimes swim.  Not that you can see them from the bench, but you can usually hear them, and if you stand on the edge of the burn and look down into it, you'll be rewarded by the sight of them doing nothing much at all.

Back in the '70s (as related in a prior post or two), I used to visit my town's hospital shop in search of ALAN CLASS titles, as it seemed to stock more of them than anywhere else, and on the way home, I would stop at the same bench to browse through my comic acquisitions and familiarize myself with their contents. Consequently, there are some covers that I automatically associate with that bench, burn and view, and the connection is unbreakable.

The actual bench.  Enlarged section from a far more panoramic photo

Three Sundays ago, however, something had changed.  The bench, which as far as I'm aware was the same one that had occupied the spot since the 1960s, was gone, and in its place was a brand-spanking new bench, but of a completely different type.  The old one had a metal frame on which sat two wooden boards, with another single wooden board at the back to support the sitter.  This allowed me to swing my legs around and sit facing the other way, leaning on the back-board like a railing.  That way, I could look along the street in which I'd lived from '65-'72.

The new bench was an all wooden garden-type bench, which unlike its predecessor, had armrests on either side, allowing the sitter a better 'lounge' while watching the world go by (unless he's sitting between two other sitters), but you can only sit facing front (so STAN LEE would've loved it), not the other way should the notion take you.  However, I couldn't help but feel saddened by the sudden absence of a familiar item from my youth, and I fear that sitting there from now on will no longer be the same sentimentally-satisfying experience it once was.

The old bench was in good order the last time I saw it a couple or so months back, so unless it was subject to a severe act of vandalism in the interim, it didn't really need replaced.  I've got photos of the area which are sure to include the bench, and I'll add one to this post when I find them (now done).  In the meantime, I've included a trio of Alan Class comics covers which conjure up memories of the '70s as I sat on the original bench poring through my then-new acquisitions.

Incidentally, within months of buying these comics, I gave them to a friend, who returned most of them to me a little over 30 years later, so two of these are the actual comics I had with me at the time, not later replacements - with the exception of SECRETS Of The UNKNOWN #158.

Are there any places that you associate with certain comics (and vice versa obviously)?  If so, feel free to wax lyrically about them in the comments section, considerately supplied exclusively for your convenience.

Update: A few months later, I was sitting on the new bench and a passing dog-walker told me what had happened to the original.  Apparently, a group of local neds uprooted it, still attached to the paving slabs it was bolted to, and heaved it into the burn, damaging it beyond repair.  When I was a teenager, if I was bored, I'd build a model kit or something.  How unlike the youth of today, who'd rather destroy things it seems.  B@st@rds!