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| Copyright D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd |
Today (Wednesday as I type, though it'll be Thursday by the time this post is published) I finally got around to finishing something I started over 40 years ago. Back at the end of 1982, I decided to buy, every week through 1983, each new issue of The Dandy, The Beano, The Topper, and The Beezer so that I'd have a full year's run of all four comics for posterity. After around four months my family moved to another house and neighbourhood, yet I continued with my weekly quest to obtain each new issue of all four comics. (Incidentally, at this time The Topper and Beezer were no longer tabloid size, but the same dimensions as The Dandy and Beano.)
Through no fault of my own I missed three issues of The Dandy and one of The Beezer, though I managed to buy every one of The Topper and, I think, The Beano. I say 'I think' in the case of the latter, because when I made a note of the missing comics at the end of that year, I also included the Christmas Beano for 1983, though I suspect I may've just wanted a spare, due to the fact that I regarded and stored my Christmas issues as a 'separate' collection.
True, this was mainly down to me usually buying only the yuletide numbers anyway (free gift issues aside), and I likely wanted another one to include with the year's run, though why I simply didn't buy two issues at the time, I'm not quite sure - maybe it just didn't occur to me until afterwards. Anyway, as regular readers know, four years after flitting to that new house, we returned to our old one and all my comics (new and old) accompanied me. Over the years, however, it always rankled me (when I remembered) that I didn't have a full set of two of the four weeklies, but I always intended to get around to completing them "before too long".
Well, the decades passed, but today I finally ordered the absent issues from eBay and they should arrive within the week with any luck. (If not, hopefully by the start of next.) Then I'll venture into the loft and dig out my boxed collection of all four titles and insert the previously missing numbers into their respective spaces. So it may have taken me 40 years to complete my collection of these four D.C. Thomson weekly comics, but I still feel a sense of accomplishment now that I'm at the end of that particular journey.
It really shouldn't have taken me so long, but it was a case of 'out-of-sight, out-of-mind' - until I'd rediscover my list of absent issues and say to myself "I really should track them down". Way back then I'd originally intended to order the required back numbers from DCT themselves, but you know how it is; once I put that list down, my determination to obtain them swiftly dissipated until the next time. There were quite a few 'next times', but I finally got around to it in the end.
Regular readers will be used to me saying, in regard to long-ago events, that it only seems like yesterday, or last week, or a couple of years at most, but cliched though it is, it certainly doesn't seem anywhere near as long as 40 years. I must confess to having a feeling of satisfaction that I completed those respective collections in the house where they began all that time ago, but I'm probably the only person in existence to see some strange kind of significance in that fact.
Are there missing gaps in any of your collections yet to fill, and just how long have they been 'incomplete'? Comments welcome.
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Update: Well, whaddya know - the comics arrived today, Saturday 7th, and thereby took me back 40 years into the past and enabled me to put right a situation (missing issues) that should've been dealt with at the time. You know what they say though - better late than never. I only hope I've got at least another 40 years ahead of me, though I'm not taking any bets on it. (Click on images to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.)
24 comments:
Funnily enough, Kid, I too had a year-long project in 1983. At the end of '82 I bought a diary for '83 in which I recorded all the main news stories for each day. I kept it going all the way until December 31st but the diary is long gone now. I also attempted to write a normal diary about my own life but that didn't last long!
There have been a few times throughout my life when I've bought a diary with the intention of writing about what was happening around me, but I never really got started, CJ. I wish I'd persevered, but daily life seldom seems interesting enough to write about.
I tend to collect specific runs or certain artists work (Neal Adams, Alex Toth,John Severin etc) rather that large quantity comics. But I did collect all the Atlas comics (the 1970s company) at the time but missed 2 books, Gothic Romamce (1 issue) and 4 issues of Vicki (an Archie type strip that was a reprint). I found all 4 Vicki comics around 1980 for £1 but never saw Gothic Romance (£10) until a couple of years ago but by then I had gotten rid of 90% of my Atlas titles so I left it.
When you saw Gothic Romance, McS, just for a second even, did you regret having got rid of most of your Atlas comics? Wouldn't it have been nice to complete the full set before deciding to part with some of them, or weren't you the slightest bit bothered? I think I would've been.
Well congrats ! Strangely I just sold a few comics. Late run Ditko Spider-man. I realized I would never get the entire Ditko run so why bother. None of them was worth that much no key or first appearances. I have an almost complete first run of Thor and wonder if it’s worth getting these two or three early issues. Because most of the ones I have hare in rough shape anyway. What I really want now is Wow comics 38 with a great Mary Marvel cover but hard to find.
When I saw that issue of Gothic Romance I did think for a split second that I had to have it, but I resisted the urge. I wish I had held onto a few more of my Atlas comics than I did Kid, but not that many to be honest. I do wish I had looked inside that issue of Gothic Romance though to see what it was all about.
Thanks, hope you got a good price on your Spidey comics. I assume you have reprints of them anyway. With any luck, PS, DC will issue a Facsimile Edition like they did with a couple of other Fawcett Captain Marvel comics. Or if it's mainly the cover you want, try and find it on eBay or the Internet and 'save' the image, then print it out and frame it.
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You were maybe spared some disappointment there, McS, as Atlas comics and mags were sometimes of variable quality. Never mind, should you ever change your mind about owning it, I'm sure it'll come your way again sometime in the future. Who knows, maybe some enterprising publisher will one day decide that the time is ripe for some collected editions of the '70s Atlas material. Would that be of interest to you?
As regards Topper & Beezer, do you mean no longer broadsheet? As I remember, those comics were massive - although, admittedly, my hands were much smaller as a little kid, by way of comparison.
According to a Radio 4 show about Charles Darwin (ages ago), collecting things is a way of protecting yourself against loss. Abruptly leaving a much-loved home, is a kind of loss (although wasn't your resolution to collect a year's worth made before the first move?)
For ages, I remember Wonderman vs the Vision, in a 1979 Marvel UK paper weekly, as being an outstanding childhood story/comic, but I couldn't find it in my collection - only the following issue. My brother bought a back issue of the US version of said Avengers story, in the late 80s or early 90s. Anyway, just before last Christmas, I bought the missing 1979 paper weekly, from Ebay. Strangely, the comic's other stories weren't familiar at all, and my brother insists we never owned said comic.
Did my mind reconstruct events, to fill in a memory gap "pigeon hole"? Odd, to say the least!
Phillip
I would look at any collected edition of Grim Ghost, Planet of Vampires , Fright etc, but then again I have the originals so unless that contained some additional material - I know some issues were created but never publosjed- I doubt if it would be of that much interest to me now. Maybe a few facsimiles editions would be of interest though.
Bearing in mind that sometimes there's around half-an-inch difference in height between various tabloid newspapers, P, Topper and Beezer were tabloid-size comics. Fleetway's The Big One was a broadsheet, but it didn't last long before being merged with Buster.
The house I was in when I started collecting a year's worth of the four comics was the fifth house I'd lived in, but when I started my quest, our move 4 or 5 months later hadn't even been considered - so that wasn't the reason for deciding to collect a full year's worth. I recall having a sense of loss when we moved though, which is why I decided to try and return to the house if at all possible. 4 years later, the stars were in alignment (figuratively-speaking) and we did return.
As regards your brother insisting that you (and him) never owned the comic, it could be that he simply forgot having it and that your memory is correct. It's not unusual (as Tom Jones will vouch) to remember one particular story (or maybe even more) in a comic and forget the rest. It's happened to me on a couple of occasions. In fact, sometimes I only remember the cover, but not the interior stories.
I think the mind does sometimes reconstruct events, but usually it needs something to work with first.
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The Grim Ghost would be my first choice, McS, if, as you say, it had unpublished strips and other bonus material. I'm afraid that none of the other Atlas stuff particularly impressed me, though I'd consider buying a book which featured all the covers (without the contents).
Kid, like Phillip I thought the Beezer and Topper were broadsheet-sized rather than tabloid-sized. I seem to remember them being so big they had to be folded over when I was reading them in the early '70s.
Before I replied to P, I compared a 1960s Beezer against a Daily Express, which was the same width, but around half-an-inch shorter. However, some tabloids have shrunk in height over the years. My local newspaper used to be slightly 'taller' than it is now, and I think some papers are still around the same size as the Topper and Beezer were; at least, they were until fairly recently. I'll check when I'm out today.
Kid - What I remember about the Topper & the Beezer is, you could fold them in half, then in half again. That made them seem pretty big! I've only ever bought tabloid papers if they had a free gift - but I don't remember them being that big!
Phillip
I suppose it's always possible that they were broadsheet-size in their early days ('50s), CJ, before switching to tabloid-size, though I remember them being tabloid-size in the '60s. If you were buying them in the '70s, they were DEFINITELY tabloid-size - trust me (I'm a doctor).
The Topper and the Beezer started out as A3 size and then changed to A4 in 1979 and 1981 respectively. They changed again in 1986 and 1987 respectively when they went glossy and more colourful to a slightly larger size (like the Beano and Dandy did). Regarding collections, I have the complete set of Tornado and the complete set of Starlord (both including annuals and summer specials). Tornado I actually collected as it was issued, Starlord, after the title had finished. Unknowingly, I had the complete set of Look Alive (similar to Look and Learn) as there were only five issues before its cancellation. I didn't realise this until last year when I sold them, I just assumed I'd stopped buying after five issue due to the price being 40p and way more expensive than contemporary comics and magazines. A few years ago I was lucky enough to find 2000ad prog 2 with the free stickers for £90 in a second-hand shop. As I knew the owner, he very kindly knocked another £20 off. This inspired me to collect 2000ad from progs 1 - 150 (which I regard as the very best years) within the space of 12 months. Going back to the Beano, I owned a complete run from 1970 - 1990 but sold them a few years back as there was no way I would ever own the complete set from number one. I don't think I'd like to collect anything at the moment as I'm trying to downsize but I can't resist buying the odd comic or two when I'm out and about.
I started buying The Topper and The Beezer again when they went 'glossy' and had more colour, M, but can't remember how long I bought them for. I also bought them for a while when they combined into Beezer & Topper, but again, can't recall for how long. I think I did buy the last issue though, before it was merged into The Dandy. Look Alive sounds familiar and I may have the first issue - terrible how my memory has deteriorated over the last few years. I've got at least the first three issues of Tornado and Starlord, but I think I only got the latter years after it had finished. Nearly three decades back, someone offered me £2000 A.D. #1 for a fiver. I went to great pains to inform him that he could get a lot more for it elsewhere (I think it was 'worth' at least anything from £30-£50 at the time), but he insisted on selling it to me, perhaps because I freelanced for the comic at the time. Not bad, eh? The first issue for £5.
Like you, I'm trying to downsize, but to be honest, I don't even know where to start.
I remember that feeling when I would order a batch of UK comics from the mid 1960s to early 1970s (generally Odhams comics and Lion, Valiant, Biater, Scorcher) and be "taken back" to my younger self. It was always nice to revisit that time, even if it was just for a few seconds. Luckily for my pocket I have a limited number of UK titles that interest me and they are only from when I was around 6 to 11 years old.
I'm not sure your downsizing is working though lol. I 've been doing that for years and while I have gotten rid of boxloads of comics the volume never seems to drop as much as I hoped it would but I'm the next few years I really plan to half my comic collection.
I know I need to reduce my collection, McS, but I seem to replace more than I get rid of. I handed in some LPs to a charity shop a few days ago, and it still niggles me. Should I go in and buy them back? No, gotta be strong. Maybe I should give my duplicate comics and books away next, but I haven't persuaded myself yet. Tough, innit?
I've been de-cluttering my house for the last few years, Kid, and you have to be brutal or you'll never get rid of anything. I gave a bagful of clothes to a charity shop and I had the same niggling feeling you described with your LPs but I knew it was the right thing to do and I haven't regretted it.
Yeah, CJ, but remember that I got rid of everything I once owned over the years and eventually DID regret it - which is why I've spent the last 40 years of my life trying to re-acquire it all. I fear it will be the same again.
It is difficult and as Colin said, you do have to be brutal. When I sold the Look Alives, I was in two minds whether to do it or not. I had the entire set (5 issues), they all had their free posters and I had the promotional flyer as well. Someone bought the lot for £50. He sent me a message saying how grateful he was to own them again after all these years. For me, although I loved them, they had been sitting in the loft for 40 years. I have a loft full of stuff like that and if I don't start to clear them out now, it'll be someone else's headache at some point. My plan is to get rid of everything apart from the 2000ads and a few select other items. That was a good price you got prog 1 for, Kid. I bought one at a comic fair a few years back for £20 I think but it did have a ripped page (which the seller had pointed out). I sold that one for £50 then bought another with the free space spinner for £165. It was a lot but I had to have it. The one thing I do regret is about 20 years ago I was moving house and in a mad panic to get everything packed and downsize a bit, I gave the Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper board games to a charity shop and instantly regretted it. The were mine from new and in excellent condition. I regretted it so much I bought another JD game - which I have never played and is currently sat in the loft. Things are lovely to own but if you don't use them, what's the point? I get more enjoyment now reading about things on the Internet, for instance, on your blog. Some things I will never get rid of, for example, I have all the Doctor Who Denys Fisher toys in their boxes (which are also mine from new) but on the whole the majority has to go. It will be a slow process but I have to start somewhere. I spent the summer getting comics down from the loft and sorting them into order. They are ready to go!
I plan to visit my own loft when I can, M, but I have various things wrong with me at the moment that prevents me doing so right now. In fact, I still have all my Christmas decorations up, as I'm currently too unfit to pack everything away into the 6 or 7 boxes that holds them, and climb a wooden stepladder into the loft to return them to their accustomed place. My lack of balance makes it too risky for me so I'm just going to leave them until January 2024 and hopefully I'll be in a better condition to do so then. But to get to the point, whenever I've previously been up in the loft looking for things to part with, whenever I see certain things again, all the memories associated with them come flooding back and I can't bring myself to dispense with them. I may not have looked at them for years, but I derive a certain comfort and satisfaction from knowing they're there, should I want to refer to them. Also, I know if I didn't have some items, there'd be nothing to prompt the memories that go with them, so it would be like getting rid of parts of my life along with the items themselves. I know I'll need to do it one day, but I keep putting it off. Strangely enough, I didn't feel I could get rid of my collection of 1983 Beanos, Dandys and Beezers (and Toppers) until I completed them, but now that I finally have, there's a possibility that I could consider parting with them in the future. Odd, or what? I'm not saying I will, but if I did, I'd feel better knowing that each comic was a complete set for that particular year.
It's not as bad as it seems when you actually take the plunge and get rid of your comics Kid. Keep the odd issue that has specific memories or a smaller set or books. Those comics that you bought are from 1983 when you would have been 24ish so is the memory that these comic give you as a 24 year old as important as say a 1970 Dandy etc which you would have read as a child. I would assume a 1983 200AD (or US comic) would have more memories for you as a 24 year old. Anyway that's what I did to thin my collection and I am still working on ot, it's easy to relapse. I moved a full box of mid 1980s and 1990 US comics and books to the charity shop yesterday with not a jot of regret as I now have space and still have the 1980s\1990s comics that are really special to me. It is hard thpugh, it took me years to do it, partly laziness, partly I knew some comics were worth a few £ and the perceived sentimental attach!ent they had. Still do nothing till you fell better.
The 1983 Thomson comics fall into an odd category, McS, in that I was buying them just to collect and I don't think I actually read most of them (if any). However, they represent a certain time in my life which I'm loath to relinquish so I'll be hanging onto them for the foreseeable future. Around an hour ago I put aside a mixture of Dandy and Beano Annuals from a handful of years back (2015-'16, '20 & '21), with the intention of giving them away, but that's because I was just buying them out of habit by then and only browsed through them, perhaps reading the odd strip or two. I've also got a spare copy of 'A Bear's Life' by George Perry which I intend on parting with - I'll see if my neighbours might be into that. Something you might be interested in is the Dark Horse volumes (1 & 2) of Marvel's Kull, so if you'd like them, let me know. They'll only cost you a coffee and a doughnut the next time you're in EK.
Yes, I know - 8 books is a small start, but at least it's a start.
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