Back To School -- One More Time!

It's been a cool fifty years, half a century since I graduated high school way back in 1975. The world has changed a lot in the intervening decades, not nearly all for the better. But this weekend I'm taking some time to reflect on those olden days and meet up with some old school chums at what will almost certainly be the last reunion I'll attend. (I haven't attended one since the twenty-fifth.)  Hard to believe that life has raced by so quickly. (Heavy sigh.)

But enough of that eyewash. Now for some more vintage L.B. Cole comics covers celebrating the vim and vigor of teenage youth. Enjoy!

Rip Off

Getting Schooled!

Well summer has dwindled to nothing and it's time to return to the rigors of the classroom. Usually I'm chagrined to begin again the daily grind of teaching, which while rich with reward, from this perspective looms as a mighty long task. But truth told, this year I'm eager to begin again the daily schedule which will take me away from myself just a bit, and make me serve others. The passing of my beloved wife has been an ordeal, and my emotions live on the tip top of my mind. I need distraction and while this blog has been a worthy one, I know that getting back into the school frame of mind will be in the end good for me. So it begins again and maybe, just maybe we'll get it right for once.

Rip Off

School Daze!

Let me celebrate the end of yet another school year with some vivacious vintage L.B. Cole covers. I've reached the point in my career when I can retire whenever I choose, which effectively makes me  month-to-month. It's freeing in many ways, the ability to walk off when I choose on terms which might not be always ideal but are certainly my own. Teaching has changed a lot since I started way way back during the waning years of the now mythical Reagan administration. Constant reforms every few years have made me wince often at what some prat in some college or institute somewhere thinks will work with kids in compulsory educational settings. But now I sit at the end of a career, which like most has had its considerable ups and some dramatic downs, but the hayride has been worth the time, that's for sure. I'm not hanging up my spurs quite yet, but knowing I can when I choose to is a real nice option to have. 

Enough of that. Now for some comics art. Enjoy!

Rip Off

Northern Exposure!

Just returned from a family vacation up north into the mysterious geography of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and ultimately Maine. For the first time in many many moons my wife and our two girls headed on a road trip to spend several days on the southern coast of Maine, a beautiful area which was very much as advertised. On the way I wanted to take a tour of New York City, a place I've personally never been and that actual tour was fantastic. A lifelong fan of King Kong, I've always had a hankering to see the Empire State Building and it was a blast to finally see the NYC skyline in its actual glory.

Despite all our plots and plans to the contrary we were sucked into the mammoth traffic, I still ended up having to drive in NYC, and it took the modern miracle of GPS to save us from wandering the confusing streets and avenues until we ran out of fuel. Despite this harrowing adventure we had a good time ultimately, though my wife has limited mobility and getting her around the streets was a significant chore for all of us. Thanks to the exceeding kindness of many New Yorkers, we were able to manage the bus and subway systems and find our way across downtown. We enjoyed especially a beautiful afternoon in Battery Park.

There was little or nothing in the way of comics interest save for two minor roadside attractions as we leaving the area. I actually saw a road sign to Derby, Connecticut (the location of the now defunct Charlton publishing empire) and would've diverted if I'd been alone. Also got a glimpse as we left New York and drifted into New Jersey of the Palisades Amusement Park, which I know from colorful ads in countless DC comics of yore. Aside from these two admittedly minor events, it was a weekend dedicated to the wants and desires of my wife and daughters.

Glad to be back though. Traveling is fun, but being home is better.

Rip Off

Vacation Time!

It's that time again, when school is out and summer looms. Lots of great books demand I get them read in the next few months, both for entertainment and for preparation for next year's work. This year our family is actually going on vacation taking a trip to the northeast. It's the first time in many years that me, my wife and our two girls have traveled all together, and oddly we are all looking forward to it. It should be an absolute hoot.

I hope your summer is as awesome as mine is likely to be.

Rip Off

Thy Eternal Summer Shall Not Fade!

School is out for summer! My students have graduated and have begun their adult lives either with more education or training or by dropping into the world of full time work. I feel pretty strong about this year's crop, a solid gang of kids who by and large are decent types. It has been a good year, my second in my new school, and I'm beginning to get my footing and develop a little bit, the necessary trust in my leadership to be truly and completely effective in such work.

As for me, I once again face a summer sans summer school, and frankly I'm growing to like having relatively lazy summer days to catch up on my reading. Between gigs selected by She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed such as painting the garage and sprucing up the shrubs and flowers around the house, I'll hopefully have many hours on the cool porch reading some of the bounty of books I constantly bring into the house.

I am currently reading a gaggle of Sherlock Holmes pastiches which pit Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective against Bram Stoker's dark creation Dracula. There seem to be a bunch of these and to that end I'm right now reading again for the first time in decades the original Stoker novel. You'll be seeing reports on these as I wrap them up. I've one upcoming on Sherlock's encounters with the infamous Sumatran rat. Also of course is the usual Doc Savage and Avenger pulp reading. There sure seems to be a lot of stuff on the latter hitting the shelves this summer.

On the comic book front there is E-Man and The Fightin' Five from Charlton I want to delve into again. And I just picked up a Wally Wood collection which looks quite choice. Add to that the Bernard Krigstein collection I got some weeks ago, and a copy of YOe Books Frankenstein and I have a  nice heap of comics to plow through. I keep meaning  to read through Jeff Smith's Bone sometime too. And there's always the utterly fantastic Popeye. 

But I don't want to over plan the reading schedule as likely I will veer off it as some new fascination takes hold. That's the beauty of summer, the sheer randomness and lack of proper order. Sure I've got a couple of books I need to read to prep for next year, but mostly I have a bunch of books I just want to read. And unlike Henry Bemis, I plan on holding fast to my precious glasses.

Rip Off

Back To School Special!

A great summer closes as school ramps up and the students arrive beaming and eager for another year of rigorous learning. Or not!


No wonder I'm a bit apprehensive! Keep your heads on a swivel one and all, the wild ride is upon us yet again.

Rip Off

School's Out For Summer!

After a very mild winter with no snow days, I find that the summer looms earlier than ever this year. One of the great perks of teaching is the summer vacation and as I have done for several summers now, I'm staying at home and tending to chores.

It's been a rather dandy year as after twenty years in one place I moved to a new school, a school where teaching is still regarded as a noble profession. It's been hectic and nerve-wracking, but overall I hit my marks and next year should be just as satisfying.

It's been many years since I felt good about my profession personally, it's refreshing.

This is the summer of Tarzan though, the centennial year of the greatest creation of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Below is a cover gallery of some very early comics featuring the Ape Man as he interacts with some of his fellow comic strip denizens.

Look for a few Tarzan related projects here this summer. Enjoy!








Rip Off

School's Out Charlie Brown!

I closed up at my school yesterday for the summer. It's been at once an easy and a gritty year. Personally I had a pretty easy slide this past year with pretty easy preps and reasonable students (after some conditioning), but as a profession overall teaching has taken some hits and lost some gloss.

Only a few years ago it seems teachers were considered "heroes" (not true of course) but now because of the desire to break all unions and public unions in particular teachers are presented to the public as "parasites" who are a drain on the public good (not true either).

It's good to have a summer, something I don't usually take but since there are such limited funds, summer schools are very restricted. My beloved spouse has a raft of projects for me, not least of which is cleaning out the garage and setting up a yard sale. I also plan to dig through the collection and find some more stuff fit for trade. I've got some great books to read too.

Summer will go by all too swiftly, and soon enough school will be back in. Sigh. I wonder how the profession will be seen by then.

Rip Off

Back To School!

It's over! The longest summer vacation of my life is sadly at an end, and today I report back to my job at the local high school. Usually I work summer school or some other duty and end up with about two weeks off each year, but this one I've been lollygagging around the homebase for a couple of months.


As it turns out my wife has been quite sick, in and out of the hospital and currently recuperating from a fall. I've been needed each day to care for her and today will see how ready she is to fend for herself a little bit.

But despite that, it's been good to be away from the grind for so long. My mind has somewhat healed from the stress of what has become sadly a very bad teaching job. Once a great place to work, the current environment is quite hostile, and I have to say that the time away has been very refreshing.


But it's over today and I wander back to find out what tomfoolery the powers-that-be-for-now have concocted to make what is actually a fairly straightforward task into a
tribulation of lunacy.

Wish me luck!

Rip Off

School's Out!

"Summer" and "Vacation", the two best words in teaching! Actually I usually work in the summers, but this year I'm not. Lovely days stretch ahead taking care of my wife and reading books and watching flicks and making posts.

I hope you all can enjoy your summer.

Rip Off