Rang de Basanti from the film Rang de Basanti (2006)
Teri Mehfil Mein from the film Mughal-e-Azam (1960)
Rob Van Dam wins the WWE Championship at One Night Stand (2006)
CM Punk wins the World Heavyweight Championship (2008)
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Sunday, April 6 was the annual Gem City Comic Con at Wright State University. Because of some changes in my priorities and in my cash flow, I haven’t been buying as many comics as usual for a while now and I was really looking forward to this event. And because the convention is sponsored by Fearless Readers, I knew it would be a good one.
I didn’t have quite the wad of spending money this time around, but I had enough to land a few nice books as well as an impulse buy or two. I brought my short “want list” along like I usually do for stuff like this, but this time around, I also printed out my entire inventory...or at least the 1/3 or my collection that I have been able to catalog thus far. Turns out it was a big help to have all that extra information when it came time to look for material to fill gaps some of my favorite titles like Power Man and Iron Fist. I also had the foresight to pack both volumes of History of the DC Universe in hopes that I might get the chance to get an autograph or two from Marv Wolfman, who was a special guest at the con.
Airboy Comics vol. 8, number 1; Feb. 1951
As usual, I was a bit over-stimulated when I hit the door, so I had to take a minute to look at my list and get focused. I even keep a “Most Wanted” page on the front of my inventory list binder that includes scans of the covers from some of my most sought-after books (although most of these – like Human Torch #37 (Timely) and Racket Squad #1 – will be financially out of my reach for a while). Right off the bat, I found a guy who was really looking to deal. He offered my a nice copy of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #17 and Tales to Astonish #38 (Egghead’s first appearance) for combined total that was an absolute steal (no dollar amounts here, but I will say that I wanted both books very much and that the price he quoted me was 50% off his total sticker price). But this was only 5 minutes into my time at the con and I couldn’t drop any cash without scouting the whole room.
I did run across some pricey copies of Airboy and Air Fighters (including the first and second appearances of Valkyrie, which commanded hundreds of dollars a piece) at several booths and I usually look to land at least 1 or 2 Hillman books when I go to a convention. I was a little surprised that I didn’t run across any Real Clue or Headline Comics issues as I browsed around, but I really wasn’t looking that hard for them this time around.
A little while later, my pal Bill from Fearless Readers grabbed me and walked me over to a booth where the seller had a nice handful of “reader” copies of Airboy from the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. This is the stuff I like. So long as the issues are complete and the covers are largely intact with little writing and no big ink stamps, I am always interested in stuff like this. I ended up working out a deal with the seller for two of the Airboy books and I returned later for a third issue.
Along the way, I picked up about 8 issues of Power Man and Iron Fist as I hope to assemble the full run of this title for my collection someday. I was also on the lookout for issues from the short lived Iron Fist solo title and I was surprised to see individual issues commanding some high price tags. I did end up snagging a nice copy of Iron Fist #4.
I took a break from browsing and stopped by Marv Wolfman’s table. I was kind of surprised that there wasn’t a large line or a throng of folks around him. Wolfman is one of my all-time favorite comic writers and I wanted to ask him a few questions, but he didn’t seem like he was too interested in chatting. I tried to ask him a little about a GI Joe episode that he had scripted in the late 1980’s and the conversation didn’t go anywhere. He just kind of said that he had scripted a handful of episodes and that was that. But I was happy that he signed my copies of History of the DC Universe.
I was surprised to see one booth full of pro wrestling stuff, including huge boxes of vintage wrestling magazines like Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Inside Wrestling. There were a ton of issues from the 1980’s – the good old days of independent promotions and territories – and all the magazines were just $1 a piece. I couldn’t resist grabbing 10 of these and I picked the ones with some of the best covers some of which included pictures of greats like Ric Flair and Jerry Lawler. I can’t say I went into the con looking for these, but I was so glad to find them!
Songs of the Pogo 1968
My big purchase for this year’s comic con ended up being a pure impulse buy...something I didn’t know I wanted until I laid eyes on it. I am something of a Walt Kelly & Pogo fan, but I don’t have a huge amount of this kind of stuff in my collection. From time to time, I will pick up some paperback anthologies of Pogo strips, but I don’t actively seek this material out. Sometimes, the stuff manages to “find” me, though. Shortly after I had bought my third Airboy issue of the day, I was browsing an adjacent booth when I noticed a huge Pogo book called Songs of the Pogo on the wall. I asked the vendor how much the book was and he didn’t remember what he had written on the tag, so he got it down for a look. It was a first printing of the paperback edition. He told me the sticker price and then he offered it to me for $10 less. I was interested, but I also remembered the Hero for Hire and Tales to Astonish issues I had seen early on. I thanked him and went back to the other guy to see if the Marvel books were still there. They were indeed still up for grabs, but the longer I thought about it, I figured that it wasn’t every day that I got to pick up such a nice Pogo volume and I ultimately made up my mind to return and purchase it. The seller got it down for me again and took it out of the bag so I could have a look. It was really an irresistible piece, full of music, lyrics, drawings and stories. The seller and I traded a few stories about our fondness for Walt Kelly’s work and I was on my way. I have done little research since Sunday and I’ve learned that the book was a companion to an album of songs performed by Walt Kelly. Moreover, the album is now available on CD so I need to pick up a copy of it soon.
I left WSU feeling pretty good about some of my great finds...I even got a few things for the girls, including a pack of Hannah Montanta trading cards. I am sure the guy at that booth knew I was somebody’s dad. All in all, it was another great comic con and I’ll have some great reading material to keep me busy for a while.
I was a semi-regular reader of Wizard magazine back in my college (undergrad) years. It's been quite a while since I bought an issue and I remember the last time I even bothered to pick one up at a comics store was about three years ago. I remember asking the "Comic Book Guy" clone in the store where I was shopping why there was no price guide section in the magazine and he told me that Wizard had dropped the feature some time ago. That was especially disappointing, because it was one of my favorite features of the magazine. The price guide section always contained a lot of bonuses, like specialized character-related checklists and the "Bullet Exchange" tracking page for Golden Age comics. For a while, the price guide section also included an interesting feature entitled "The Good Stuff" in which the writers and editors would share a little bit about good but relatively obscure title or run from a particular series. It was kind of a fun way to learn about back issues that I might not normally consider picking up from the comic book shop. In fact, in one edition of "The Good Stuff," I discovered a comic book that would eventually make it into the ranks of my "Wall of Fame": Spectre #22. Well, if Wizard isn't going to turn folks on to "The Good Stuff" any more, I figure the least I can do is use greeklish.org to share a few of my picks every so often. So here's my first look at some of "The Good Stuff" from my collection.
Fantastic Giants, Vol. 2, No. 24 (Charlton Comics, 1966) I love old Charlton Comics and when I found a decent reading copy of this issue a few weeks ago, I was happy to shell out a few dollars for it. It's a 64-page collection of monster tales featuring artwork by the great Steve Ditko. Included in the collection is a reprint of the origin of the great ape Konga. Reading Konga's origin in "Fantastic Giants" is the next best thing to getting a copy of Konga #1. "Gorgo" is a pretty good Godzilla-ish yarn, but my favorite story of this anthology is the odd tale of "With the Help of Hogar," which is set in South Africa, of all places. The story features an exiled tribal leader named Manu who brings an alien statue to life in hopes that it will exact revenge on Manu's enemies. It's a short narrative-style tale that's not overly detailed or complex and, like the other stories in the collection, it stands on its own merits as a quaint, old-school Silver Age classic. Rounding out the book is the bizarre and offbeat tale of "The Mountain Monster."
Oddball Comics has a terrific and detailed write-up of Fantastic Giants Vol. 2 here. And here's another great write-up on this book.
DC Super-Stars #19: War Against the Giants (DC Comics, December-January 1975-76)
More old-school giant-themed madness! I found this last week when I got on the floor to root through a newly acquired collection of back issues at Fearless Readers Comics in Dayton. "War Against the Giants" is an anthology of Silver-Age reprints including a Superman tale written by former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. In this story, Superman battles the so-called "Superman Revenge Squad" and their giant robot named "Eterno the Immortal." (Click here for a bit of "Best Blog Ever" ridiculousness using a panel from this story.) This issue also includes two features illustrated by the legendary Gil Kane, one of which is a Green Lantern tale. The final story is a Wonder Woman classic entitled "The Human Charm Bracelet," featuring some vintage Ross/Esposito artwork. As far as comics go, "War Against the Giants" is just a really good read, plain and simple.
One of my favorite scenes from issue #50: Airboy meets the Flying Dutchman; (Art by Andy and Adam Kubert)
The other day, I read that Airboy is going to be resurrected in an upcoming comic book series. The series will be published by Moonstone Books and it will be written by Chuck Dixon who wrote Airboy and Skywolf stories for Eclipse back in the 1980's. Yay!
The Eclipse run of Airboy (featuring the son of the Golden Age Airboy as the main character) remains one of my favorite comic book series of all time. I remember finding some in a cheap grab bag from HPB back in the early 1990s and falling in love with the characters very quickly. I eventually tracked down the full run of the series (which was a bit difficult as this was before the rise of eBay) and most of the spin-off and crossover books featuring various characters from the Airboy series. Eventually – once I landed a real job that paid decent money – I started to buy "reader" (G/VG) copies of the Golden Age Airboy issues that were published by Hillman during the 1940s and 1950s. I have quite a few Golden Age Airboy/Air Fighters issues these days and I'm hoping to complete the full run someday (probably many, many years from now).
The Eclipse-era Airboy books often featured a bit of between-the-lines commentary on the political order of the day. As the stories were both published and set in the 1980's, the foreign policy of the Reagan Administration was a favorite (and deserving) target of critique in a few prominent plot lines. One of my favorite storylines from the Eclipse run saw the cast journey to the fictional country of Bogantilla to do battle with – and eventually topple – a right wing dictatorship run by a Reagan crony. Great, great stuff! Several years ago, I scored a page of original artwork from one of the Bogantilla issues. The page features a great sequence in which Skywolf meets his feamle counterpart, Lupina. It's an absolutely stunning piece of art and story.
The final Eclipse issue of Airboy featured a rather unfortunate cliffhanger ending. I had a quick re-read the book it last night and some of the scenes in this creepy, pulse-pounding yarn still give me a chill. To this day, I remember reading the book for the first time. It was, ironically enough, one of the last issues I needed to finish off the series for my collection and I finally tracked it down at a comic shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The story itself was pretty phenomenal and it included guest appearances by the original Airboy and the legendary Flying Dutchman. I recall getting to the final page and learning that the series would end with Airboy having been trapped in a kind of Limbo. I remember thinking, "Noooo! It can't end this way!!" But it did end that way, and most of the characters have remained in (in my mind, anyway) in a sort of holding pattern ever since. To my knowledge, the only Airboy character who has been resurrected to date is The Heap. McFarlane and Image Comics tackled that particular character several years ago and I think it's sufficient to say that the results left a lot to be desired.
The Eclipse Airboy series met its untimely demise in 1989. The final issue was Airboy #50 and in that issue's editorial page, Eclipse Editor cat yronwode wrote a bit on the demise of the series. It was a bittersweet eulogy of sorts. In the mid 1990's, I actually ordered some of the remaining issues for my collection directly from cat and I had a pleasant phone conversation with her in which she told me a bit more about the rise and fall of Eclipse. She probably doesn't remember the phone conversation, but to this day I am glad to have had a few minutes to express my admiration and appreciation for her work at Eclipse.
Also in that final issue were some comments by cat regarding some of the ideas Chuck had in store for Airboy and company before the cancellation of the series. On possible tale she mentioned saw Skywolf (one of my favorite characters) fighting in the Cuban Revolution...on Castro's side. I would love to read that story, for sure!
I am not sure if Chuck will deal with the unresolved business from the Eclipse run of Airboy, nevertheless, if his past work is any indication of what we can expect this time around, we're in for a sweet ride, indeed!
Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. Thomai and K. had a previous commitment, so it was up to Baby Z. and me to mark the occasion on behalf of the family. We visited Fearless Readers where they were having their twice annual 50% off sale. As usual, I picked up some good bargains, including a copy of Iron Fist #1 (signed by John Byrne, at that!) and a copy of Jonah Hex #1. I also snagged a 1952 copy of All-True Crime. I am not particularly familiar with this title, but it looks to be in the same vein as the Hillman Real Clue series that I am currently collecting. I went through the 50 cent bins as well and I picked up several copies of Rom: Spaceknight. Rom is a classic Marvel title from the 1980's and I am currently working towards obtaining the full run of the series. One of these days, I will have to write a bit about Rom, because I think it's a really good series.
Later in the day, we went up to the mall and I got a copy of the special DVD package version of "The Rise and Fall of ECW" with the "One Night Stand 06.12.05" bonus DVD. I watched a bit the same evening and I was pretty impressed. The Tazz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow match on disc 2 is phenomenal.
As great as all of that stuff was, one of the highlights of the day was driving around Dayton and listening to Iron Maiden's "Somewhere in Time" album with Baby Z. She told me she really liked the album. Her favorite songs were "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" and "Alexander the Great."
This morning we attended the 2007 Gem City Comic Con at Wright State University and as far as I can tell, the event was a huge success. The event hall was full of vendors with all kinds of good stuff, from Golden Age comics to Star Wars and Masters of the Universe toys. Even Thomai and the kids walked away with some cool stuff this time. As for me, I came prepared with my "want list" and some key listings from my collection inventory. I was really surprised at how easily I found some of my most sought after titles and issues at this show. The first thing I picked up was a great, great copy of Ragman #1, which was something I really hadn’t expected to find. Still better was the fact that the seller’s entire stock was 50% off, so the book was really a steal. At the same booth, I found another book from my list, Iron Man #109. This issue features the first appearance of the Soviet super-villain Vanguard. Again, this book was a whopping 50% off. What a find!
I had a long look around the hall, keeping a close eye out for my favorite stuff, such as Golden Age Airboy books and Captain Marvel/Whiz Comics issues. Sure enough, I found some here and there, but nothing really jumped out and grabbed me for some time. I made my way back to the booth with the 50% books and I was thrilled to find a huge cache of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire issues. I ended up with a fistful of those, all of which were half price. Luke Cage is one of my favorite Marvel heroes and some day I think it would be pretty cool to have a full run of the Hero for Hire/Power Man titles.
Real Clue vol. 2 #6, 1947
I passed on a stellar copy of a Whiz Comics issue because I really wasn't getting a good vibe from the vendor. Instead, I ended up snagging some good Golden Age stuff from a booth belonging to one of the bigger Dayton-area comic shops. I kind of hated handing over my comic con cash to an establishment that I can visit any old day of the week, but they had some stuff that I really didn’t want to pass up, including a beautiful copy of Airboy vol. 8, #6 (It was graded as a 4.0 but it is a really nice book, especially considering the fact that it is almost 60 years old). I also scored a copy of Real Clue vol. 2, #6 which includes artwork by the legendary Jack Kirby.
I can’t believe that we have such a great comic con here in Dayton. It is — by far — my favorite of the handful of Ohio shows I’ve attended and I am, of course, already looking forward to next year’s Gem City Comic Con!
Britain's Ministry of Defence has compiled a new report detailing a number of possible "strategic challenges" to consider as the world's ruling elite struggle to cling to power for a few more decades.
The 90-page report comments on widely discussed issues such as the growing economic importance of India and China, the militarisation of space, and even what it calls "declining news quality" with the rise of "internet-enabled, citizen-journalists" and pressure to release stories "at the expense of facts". It includes other, some frightening, some reassuring, potential developments that are not so often discussed. [full article]
According to the study, one of the biggest threats ahead is the resurgence of Marxism as a viable political movement with newfound popular appeal:
"The middle classes could become a revolutionary class, taking the role envisaged for the proletariat by Marx," says the report. The thesis is based on a growing gap between the middle classes and the super-rich on one hand and an urban under-class threatening social order: "The world's middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest". Marxism could also be revived, it says, because of global inequality. An increased trend towards moral relativism and pragmatic values will encourage people to seek the "sanctuary provided by more rigid belief systems, including religious orthodoxy and doctrinaire political ideologies, such as popularism and Marxism".
I would have never thought that the UK Ministry of Defence would publicly acknowledge the validity of Historical Materialism, but there you have it! Leave it to the military-industrial complex to frame the prospective resolution of "global inequities" as a bad thing that must be stopped at all costs, eh?
Here's my favorite part:
By 2035, an implantable "information chip" could be wired directly to the brain. A growing pervasiveness of information communications technology will enable states, terrorists or criminals, to mobilise "flashmobs", challenging security forces to match this potential agility coupled with an ability to concentrate forces quickly in a small area.
Now, because I am a longtime comic book reader, this part of the story rang a bell (or maybe it was an implantable information chip in my brain) and I remembered one of my favorite issues of Captain America from many, many years ago. It was Captain America #193 (January 1976), to be specific and it was one of the first comics I ever acquired for my collection. Back in the early 1980's, my folks bought me a big stack of Marvel and DC books from the mid 1970's and #193 one of a handful of Captain America issues in the lot. This particular story was about a fantastic new weapon called "madbomb" that was used by an underground terrorist group to drive inhabitants of small towns and cities so insane with murderous rage that they would be driven to destroy everything in their midst, including themselves. I've scanned a bit from this issue to assist in my brief overview of the tale. In the panels below, a government-type fellow (who introduces himself as "Henny" and bares a striking resemblance to Henry Kissinger) briefs Cap and Falcon on the deadly potential of the madbomb:
But it gets better...At the issue's cliffhanger ending, "Henny" reveals that mysterious terrorist group possesses a madbomb powerful enough to drive the entire U.S. population insane. And — get this — the detonation of the device is set to coincide with...(pause for dramatic effect)...the U.S. Bicentennial! (gasp!) Now, in the interest of accuracy, it is true that madbomb is a single, stationary device and in this regard it is slightly different from the implantable microchip idea, but the principle is roughly the same. The "Madbomb" storyline ran for seven issues and for many, many years, #193 was the only issue from the series that I had (I re-read it so much as a kid that it's virtually in tatters now), but I am sure it's safe to assume that Cap and Falcon kicked major terrorist ass by the end of the tale. So, while the idea of a madbomb-like device is more or less straight out of the comics, it's relatively easy to conclude that such a plot is ultimately flawed from a number of angles.
I mean, it's an easily defeatable scheme after all...It's apparent that the all the British need to defeat the "flashmob" menace is Henry Kissinger and a couple of super heroes. Besides,
even though Cap and Falcon are fictional characters, Henry Kissinger is
all too real...and very effective at that. If you don't want to take
my word for it, just ask Salvador Allende. And there's another bright side to all this: Mythbusters recently did a show in which they proved that hypnotism can't be used to make unwilling victims commit crimes, assaults and the like. If that holds true for "implantable information chip" technology, then we're all safe for now. Whew!
Perhaps the most interesting thing here is that if anyone has the capability to build fantastic super-weapons like EMP cannons and mind-control implants, it's the ruling-class elites and defense ministries of the world. When is someone going to write a study predicting what these folks have in store for the rest of us? And what do you think the reaction from the top echelons would be if the world's working people did produce such a document — that is, a study predicting wide scale repression of the world's masses by ruling elites through extreme force, terrorism, intimidation and psychological warfare? Why, they would surely dismiss it as little more that "conspiracy theory" propaganda from the radical left. But if you pick up a decent history book (and read between the lines a bit), you might be keen enough to see that it's already happened, time and again. And from there, it's not do difficult to write your own predictions for the future.
See you when the madbomb hits! By the way...To all you regular readers...I've been a bit under the weather as of late, so my writing time has taken a bit of a hit. But part 3 of the Rush & Objectivism series is forthcoming.
Last Saturday (11-25), I made it to the 2006 Mid-Ohio Con at the Convention Center in downtown Columbus. I haven't been to many comic book conventions and this one was the biggest I have ever attended. I was accompanied by "The Notorious HDG" who graciously gave up his Saturday as a swinging bachelor to experience the heights of comic book geekdom firsthand. I brought my "wants list" with me again, but once I hit the door and saw booth after booth of Golden Age comics, original comic artwork and all kinds of rare issues, I became hopelessly over stimulated. I was pretty overwhelmed by the number of booths and the types of material they were selling and for a while I was pretty sure that I would never be able to find anything I was looking for in such a vast sea of comics and memorabilia.
Captain Marvel Adventures #139 December, 1952
I eventually got my bearings and I quickly made note of a handful of Airboy issues at a California dealer's booth. After a while, I made my way to the Fearless Readers booth and found a really fantastic copy of Captain Marvel Adventures #139 that was straight from the days of the Korean War. The cover featured Captain Marvel going head-to-head with a villain called "The Red Crusher." (Gotta love that cheesy Cold War-era "commie smasher" stuff. – in small doses, anyway...) The proprietor generously cut me a deal on the sticker price and then agreed to hold it for me while I did some more shopping.
It was pretty cool to just wander around and see so much comic history in one place. I have seen some noteworthy books at shops and shows in the past, but I have never seen so many amazing things at one event. One dealer from Detroit had a copy of Bat Man #1 on display along with copies of Air Fighters #1 and Whiz #5 (I actually had those two comics in my hands for a second or two until I found their respective price tags...I can't recall what the Whiz issue was going for, but the Air Fighters book was $850!) At another booth, a guy had three genuine copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man) and I also spotted some original Bat Man cover art from the 1970's. And there were tons and tons of Golden Age books, including low number issues of All-Star Comics, Star-Spangled Comics and many others.
After browsing for quite a while, I had all but given up on finding any of the specific issues from my "wants list," so I decided to try and fill some gaps in my Airboy and Real Clue collections. I went back to the place where I had found those issues earlier in the day and worked out a deal to land a few issues from those titles. I had also located a copy of one of my "all-time wants" for my collection, Captain Marvel Adventures #100 ("The Plot Against the Universe"). Unfortunately, the price was a little too high for my liking and the guy wasn't too willing to deal. It looked as if the book would slip through my fingers this time around.
Captain Marvel Adventures #100 September, 1949
I stopped at a booth that I had missed earlier and I decided to take another shot at some of the books on my wants list. Right away, I found a copy of Charlton's Special War, volume 4, number 4 (the first appearance of Judo Master). It was kind of a pleasant surprise, even though it was a little more that what I wanted to pay. I told the seller that I was hoping to pay a little less and he pointed to a sign that indicated that all items above $25 were discounted – plus, the more money I spent, the better the discount. So I had a look around for New Gods #1 and sure enough, the guy had a copy of that as well. Interestingly enough, the price was just a fraction of a rather hefty tag that I had seen for the same issue a couple of booths over and I got a great discount to boot! So I made out rather well at that particular stop. I ended up passing on some original Firestorm artwork and a pretty rare copy of an issue of Liberty Comics from the 1940's.
On the way out, I decided to bite the bullet and buy the copy of Captain Marvel Adventures #100, even though the price was a little steep. The dealer turned out to be a pretty decent fellow, as he knocked a couple of bucks off after all. He also chatted with me a bit about the fact that he had just acquired the book a couple of days beforehand and he talked about the exceptional condition of the book and the relatively rare use of silver ink on its cover. Incidentally, this completes my list of my three most sought-after comics, so I guess I'd better start on another list!)
All in all, it was a great show even though I went a little over budget this time around. Just a couple more months until the Gem City Comic Con in Dayton. I'm really looking forward to April 2007!
Extra special thanks to the good folks at Fearless Readers!
Whenever I visit a comic shop, I am always sure to check out the big glass display case for exciting new arrivals and other gems each visit. During a visit about a week and a half ago, I spotted a particularly eye-catching comic book in the case. It was a rather old-looking comic called "Atlas Theatre Comics." I didn't know I wanted it until I laid eyes on it. Really. I asked the proprietor what the story was on the book and he got it out of the case so I could have a closer look. He explained that he had picked this up at a recent comic show as part of a larger collection of old stuff. He didn't have a lot of information on the book, adding that it was not listed in the Overstreet price guide. The cover of the comic was an all-black illustration on an off-white background depicting a handful of "knock-offs" of Golden Age characters, including Plastic Man's sidekick Woozy Winks, The Red Tornado, Bucky and a character that looks like either the Sandman or maybe Air Wave. Once the comic was out of its bag, I had a short look-through, noting that there were ads for local businesses on the insides of the front and back covers and on the back as well. Curiously, the cover itself was more like card stock than paper and it reached just past the pages all around the book. It was an odd sight...My first glance didn't yield any big-name characters and at the top of each page, the words "Triple Threat Comics" appeared. So, I thought it was kind of cool, but I passed on it for the moment. But a few hours after I left the shop, I decided it was too cool to pass up and I called and asked them to hold it for me so I could pick it up early the following week.
Over the course of the next few days, I did a few Internet searches using different combinations of the phrase "Atlas Theatre Comics" and I was surprised that I couldn't find one lick of information about the book I had seen. I remembered the shop owner telling me that he had basically decided on a price for the issue after talking to some "old timers" at a comics show, so I really didn't have much to go on. Last Tuesday night, I picked up the issue and took it home for a closer inspection.
The book is a great collection of obscure Golden Age material. I was especially surprised to see a tale featuring a character called The Duke of Darkness that I recognized from another Golden Age gem, Top Spot Comics #1. I got a copy of Top Spot #1 about ten years ago at a now defunct Dayton-area comic shop called The Bookie Parlor (In fact, it might have been longer than ten years ago, as I bought it back when the Bookie Parlor was located on Wayne Avenue). Anyway, the characters and plot lines of the "Atlas Theater" issue were as follows:
King O' Leary saves a wrongly convicted man from the electric chair The Duke of Darkness battles Mr. Slumber who torment's the city's elite while they sleep Beau Brummell takes on a gang who threatens the city's big department store, "Simbel's" The Menace rescues a famous actress from a kidnapper The Magficient Epod, lone survivor of Atlantis discovers a magic bottle that grants wishes (during which time, Epon's sidekick manages to get the bottle permanently affixed to his nose Whippet Wilkins gets conned into buying sweets for a bunch of girls at the local soda shop Interestingly enough, I got out my copy of Top Spot #1 after reading the Atlas Theater book and I found the Top Spot also includes stories featuring Epod and The Menace. I looked up "Triple Threat Comics" in a few places and I think that Triple Threat was probably published by the same outfit (or a closely related one) that published Top Spot and that both comics were "one shots" (single issues) that were published in 1945.
Top Spot Comics #1
A very close inspection of the Atlas Theatre book gave me a few clues as to its origin. As I noted above, the cover pretty unusual – not shoddy, but a low-budget production, for sure. On the inside near the spine, there appeared to be a kind of clear adhesive in some places and a chip of glossy paper that looked like it belonged to the cover of another comic book. All of the ads on the inside of the cover were for local businesses on "Plymouth Road," including businesses like "Blue Bird Department Store" and "Rose's Sweet Shop." But the biggest clue was a business named "Edmondson-Sweeney, Inc. Ford Dealer". A Google search yielded an ad from the 1950's featuring a business with the same name on Plymouth Road in the Detroit area. There was also a movie theater in Detroit called Atlas Theatre that operated from 1939 to 1950. Now, without actually having a copy of Triple Threat Comics #1 in front of me, I can't say for sure...But I am thinking that Atlas Theatre Comics #1 is actually Triple Threat Comics #1 with the original cover removed and a specially printed cover affixed to the book itself. It was probably part of a special promotion by Atlas Theatre and local businesses from Detroit back in the mid to late 1940's. It was probably cheaper for them to buy a bunch of comics that were already printed and attach a custom cover than to have a totally new and special comic book printed solely for their own advertising purposes.
I am pretty enamored with Golden Age material, both for its charm and its simplicity. And when stuff like this is affordable, that's an extra bonus. Best of all, in this case, this book really has a story to tell in more ways than one. All in all, this is really a cool find, combining a Golden Age gem with some regional history. It sure is another great addition to my collection!
During some down time this afternoon, I read a 1946 issue of Airboy (v3, #4) that I picked up a few months ago at the2006 Buckeye Comic Con.
The issue’s final story is an Iron Ace yarn that features a young Greek
orphan named Mike. The tale opens as Captain Britain (a.k.a. The
Iron Ace) is flying Mike from a camp in Italy back to his home on the
island of Crete. Along the way, Captain Britain learns that Mike
is the living reincarnation of Icarus, Iron Ace does battle with the
immortal Daedelus, and they all meet up with Pluto, the Prince of Hades. At
the end of the story, Mike decides to tell Captain Britain the story of
the Greek Resistance forces of Crete:
The rest of Mike’s tale remains a mystery, because the above panels are
actually the final panels of the story. I looked around for more
information regarding "Captain Alexandropolus" and I was unable to find
anything on the Internet. I also checked the booksRed Acropolis, Black Terrorand the Time-Life World War II volumePartisans and Guerillasand I came up empty. I’m not sure if Captain Alexandropolus was a
real figure or some kind of composite, but I sure would like to know
more. Further reading The Greek Civil Warmarxists.org
Saturday was 
Later in the day, we went up to the mall and I got a copy of the special DVD package version of "
I mean, it's an easily defeatable scheme after all...It's apparent that the all the British need to defeat the "flashmob" menace is Henry Kissinger and a couple of super heroes. 
