The Great Comic Book Heroes Day!

It's pretty much impossible to overrate the impact on yours truly of Jules Feiffer's seminal mid-60's tome The Great Comic Book Heroes. I discovered this gem at my local public library while still a young budding comics fan and I cannot know now how many different times I checked it out, to once again savor (for free...hee hee) the Golden Age gems contained within its oversized pages.

For let's not be too coy about this, when as a youngster I got my clutches on Feiffer's extended essay on the nature of superheroes and their role in society, I was not in the least interested in his insights but rather in his four-color evidence which offered to me prime examples of Golden Age art and story which I'd only glimpsed on the muddy pages of Fantasy Masterpieces.

This volume offered up to me my very first Spirit story by Will Eisner, an early effort which sadly I still think does not truly do justice to the glowing credit Feiffer rightly bestows on the great creator. 

This book offered up my first look at the wacko origins of Green Lantern and Flash, two Golden Age heroes I sort of knew from their Silver Age Justice Society appearances in the summer crossovers. 

We get wild stories about The Spectre, a truly scary character and Hawkman, a fabulously rendered but nonetheless stuffy hero, and the truly offbeat Plastic Man, whose name I didn't understand for years yet.  

The big three are present with stories of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, all clever enough. But always a Marvel fanboy, the trio of tales starring Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and especially Captain America always were my favorites. Or at least they were then.  

The one-page glimpse we get of Captain Marvel, a character still locked away at the time by DC's lawyers was fascinating, made me yearn to see more.

That was then. This is now.

When I was able, I bought a copy of the book for myself when it was released in paperback in the mid-70's. Later still I found an original copy of the 1965 Dial Press hardback (in a store in Ashville, North Carolina if I recollect properly) and treasure both. Some years back Fantagraphics published the book again, this time minus the comic supplements and I bought that too. I love this book, that's true.

But I don't think I ever sat down with the intent just to read Feiffer's fascinating essay for its own sake ever. I now have and let me say that as I get older the notes in his writing merely ring truer and truer. For the first time I was able to almost perfectly understand all his 30's allusions without missing a beat, allowing the full richness of his imagery to percolate as it ought.

Feiffer's thesis as much as I can paraphrase it seems to be that comic books are properly junk, the very stuff which critics like the well-meaning but nonetheless loathsome Wertham (my opinion not Feiffer's necessarily) claimed they were. And that being junk was their point, their attraction. The connection between comics and juvenile delinquency has never been proven, and frankly never will be. It doesn't exist in that way, but the allure of comics as something delightfully anti-social is the very essence of the form.

So let me take a moment to thank Jules Feiffer on behalf of my ten-year old self who was delighted to read and re-read and re-read again those vintage comics tucked between his wizened words and let me thank him again now properly as an adult for those words themselves. You nailed it Mr. Feiffer, well done. I'll spend my morning reading revisiting Fieffer's classic once again, nearly sixty years since I read it with such gusto for the first time. 

I was born on this date in 1957. I still have my saintly Mom, and I still cherish memories of my Dad. My Mom, a woman who epitomizes what true Christianity can be when the teachings of Jesus are the focus. My Mom weekly picked up my comics for me when I was a kid and in school. It was an effort I still give great thanks for. 

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The Spirit Of The Someday Funnies!

I am very behind on this one! The Someday Funnies, first put together during the 70's is a look back on the 1960's. It was a failed project for several decades until at long last in 2011 it was finally published by Abrams. It's an oddity, and the fact I got hold of it for about twice the price of a modern comic, makes very comfortable in accepting it for what it is and not frustrated at what it's not. The lure for me was simply the presence of heretofore unseen artwork by Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Russ Heath, Dick Giordano, Herb Trimpe, Barry Smith, C.C. Beck and many more. Alongside these stalwarts are lots of Underground artists as well as oddball contributors like Federico Fellini of all people.

The contributions range from one page to two pages to sometimes three pages as we get observations, anecdotes, satires, and commentaries about different aspects of the decade which brought us Pop Art, the Beatles, Civil Rights legislation, the Vietnam War, the space race, the Pepsi Generation and much much more.

The comments are on the wry side for certain, often showcasing the contrast between the ideals of the decade and the reality of life in the United States and beyond. The collection received some criticism because the man behind the project, Michael Chochette insisted that each contributing artist leave space in their compositions for his own additions, which usually is a small cartoon image of Chochette commenting in some fashion on the message of the presentation. It's a bit of an oddity, reminding me a bit of the Mystery Science Theater gag of having commentators critique moves as they play in real time. It didn't mind these intrusions as they are just part of the presentation and intentional. It changes the way we read the stories and does serve as a binder for the entire collection.

But it's the artwork which is going to make this collection worth the price of admission. Some of it is beautifully done and that which isn't immediately lovely can be fascinating. The title does it justice, this kind of a Sunday comics supplement, not for the week, but for the decade. A time capsule in more ways than one as a voice from the 70's comments on work which attempts to comment on the 60's, produced and presented for the first time in the 21st century. Curious and curiouser.

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The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide!

I have to confess I was sorely tempted to pick up this latest The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide with its outstanding homage to Avengers #3, the comic I argue is the single best Marvel ever produced. But I held myself in check as I have done now for many years. That doesn't mean I haven't picked up a lot of these though over the years. 

One of the most important events in the history of comics was the publication in 1970 of Robert Overstreet's first Price Guide. It was a work which he did with the crucial assistance of legendary fan Jerry Bails, and this incomplete but significant work transformed a ragged two-bit pastime into a full-blown hobby and a shiny new industry. All yours for five bucks. (Forty smackers today.)

Robert M. Overstreet (Pick Your Poison.)
Whatever came from that, good and ill, can be traced very much back to the impact of "THE Price Guide".

My first Guide I bought was the fifth volume (found it on a newsstand), but it would be many years before I saw or bought another. Once I found comic shops, it became a regular thing. I personally have lost some interest in it as an item itself. It has become like so many of the comic books it tracks so self-conscious of itself as a collectible that it undermines the charm of the activity it lionizes.

But, I do rather love old Price Guides, the ones from the early days, when the format was still relatively simple, and the text could be read easily by people of all ages and didn't require me to break out the magnifying glass which came with my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. The early guides speak to the fan in subtle but specific and effective ways.

Here are the first twenty-five of those early lovely covers, by some of the industry's true talents. The earliest three covers aren't much, but the ones that followed for many years are masterpieces in my estimation and it was a huge thrill waiting to see just what who would be featured and how the cover design, logos and all, would reflect the specific subject. Sadly, the later covers become more and more bland as the material and logos become standardized.

The price slips up to six bucks on the next two Price Guides, but we get color covers. 

In 1974 we get this beautiful cover by Don Newton of the Justice Society of America. I don't know when I fell in love with the JSA, but they were the first and remain strong contenders. It costs fifty cents more. 

In 1975 we are treated to a portrait of Tarzan of the Apes by Joe Kubert. This is the first one I found, but it was not the last. I still remember buying it at a classic newsstand in Ashland Kentucky. It's only a nickel away from seven bucks now. A big outlay for me at the time. 

Will Eisner offers up a real treat for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration cover. I have to admit I'm surprised to see such a late appearance of Ebony without some modifications. The price jumps to seven dollars and fifty cents. 

Carl Barks stepped in to give us a bizarre scene featuring Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig for 1977. Another forty-five cents is added to the price. It's to be remembered that these were years wracked by very high inflation. 

Bill Ward knocked it out of the park with this splendid Good-Girl contribution for 1978. The price holds steady. That's not all I'd like to hold. 

Wally Wood is the main man on this retro sci-fi classic for the 1979 edition. The price jumps a full buck. So many of the classic Woody tropes are here -- the bubble helmets, the girl in the might-as-well-be-naked outfit, and bug-eyed aliens. 

Alex Schomburg revives Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner battling those skanky old Nazis in 1980. The price for the guide leaps up yet another dollar. 

L.B. Cole provides a bizarre and spooky piece of art for the 1981 volume. The good news is the price held steady. 

In 1982 we get a nod to MAD Magazine with Norman Mingo showing us what it's like for Alfred E. Newman to get some special clothes. Price stays the same for three years in row. 

Don Newton returns in 1983 with DC's Big Three in a wonderful infinity cover. It's a fourth year for the price. 

Bill Woggon provided this tasty image of Katy Keene for the 1984 offering. My daughter still holds a grudge against the Archie outfit because when she tried to join the Archie fan club, they sent her Katy Keene stuff instead. The price holds for a half a decade. 

For the fifteenth guide in 1985 we get a cover by C.C. Beck featuring the Big Red Cheese and the other members of the Marvel Family, just before the explosion. The price has exploded and rises one dollar. 

The Price Guide joins in with Marvel's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration 1986. Johnny Romita and his gang provide the cover. At ten dollars and ninety-five cents the Guide would cost you a little over thirty bucks today. Things are improving on that front. I can't calculate anymore prices because in wily move keeping the price obscured would be wise, so as to cut down on sticker shock, I suppose. 

Ron Dias offers up a nifty painting celebrating Disney's Snow White with Mickey and Donald along for the ride on the 1987 guide. 

In 1988 L.B. Cole returns, this time promoting the Man of Steel on his Golden Anniversary. Comic books have become very aware of their legacies in these years. 

1988 gives us a Jerry Robinson rendering of Batman and Robin battling Robinson's creation the Joker. I notice that the Joker is packing heat in this one. I'm a little confused by the perspective on this cover, but Robin seems to enjoy it. 

Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson join forces once again in 1989 to offer up a fantastic cover featuring the Justice League of America. Even though I can't see him I'm sure the Atom is in there somewhere. 

Alex Schomburg returns in 1990 with a fabulous painting with Timely's Big Three rounding up torpedoes. The cover celebrates fifty years of Cap. 

Mark Bagley and John Romita join forces in 1991 to gives us the first Guide cover to feature Spider-Man (I know he's on the 1986 but he's not featured necessarily.) It's Spidey battling the Green Goblin. 

The twenty-third edition from 1992 has the Flash and Green Lantern up front with their Golden Age counterparts bringing up the rear. Carmine Infantino returns to do the honors. 

In 1993 it's the X-Men on the twenty-fourth edition of the Price Guide. The artist is Mike Parobeck, who left the world much too soon. 

It's the X-Men again in 1994 by John Romita Jr., this time they are held at bay by the legendary Yellow Kid created for newspapers in 1895. The Overstreet Comic Price Guide celebrates its own anniversary. 

And that's a wrap. The Guide has gone on to become a very complicated affair, available in all kinds of formats for all kinds of needs. Though I collected these Guides for a time, I rarely if ever checked the prices. My comic are pearls without price, though I know that one day, sooner than later I will have to sell them off. 

Heavy sigh. 

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Will Eisner's Shop Talk!

Will Eisner interviewed other important figures in comics back when Kitchen Sink had the property. These interviews would run in issues of The Spirit Magazine and the subsequent Will Eisner's Quarterly. The interviews were collected together in the book Shop Talk first published a decade ago. The book is made up transcripts of these interviews decorated with lots of artwork by the talents involved. 

Here at the Internet Archive is an absolute treasure trove of these interviews as they were recorded. I had not heard the voices of most of these fellows and it gives them a bit more presence in my life for sure. To admire Gil Kane's artwork is great, but to actually hear him talk about his process is amazing. Likewise with the others such as Jack Kirby, C.C. Beck, Joe Simon, Harvey Kurtzman, Neal Adams, Joe Kubert and Joe Gill. There are hours and hours of information from the sources themselves, all of them deceased now. 

WILL EISNER'S SHOP TALK - INTERNET ARCHIVE

Here are the individual Kitchen Sink magazine issues in which these interviews first appeared. 

(Gil Kane)

(C.C. Beck)

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