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Abyssier: The Bin Adventure Continues
posted Wednesday, 6 September 2006
In one of P.G. Wodehouse's Blandings stories (I can't remember which one and it could very possibly be a Jeeves and Wooster story as well) we are presented with a character who is the foremost collector of scarabs (ie. beetle-shaped Egyption jewelry) in the world. We soon learn, however, that this obsessive collector did not come to his all-consuming hobby out of a genuine interest in Egyptology or Entomology, but rather because he was retired and bored and a psychiatrist had suggested to him that he try to fill his time by starting a collection of some sort. When the man asked the psychiatrist what sorts of things people collected, the doctor answered by telling him that he personally collected scarabs and that he had one of the best collections in Great Britain. After asking what a scarab was, the man decided that he might as well start with them and it didn't take long before he made it his goal to have a better collection than the doctor's. Using the same focus and intensity that had made his fortune in big business, he soon met his goal and decided to best it by not just having the best collection in the U.K. but the whole world as well.
The lesson of this is that once you've gotten hooked by the collecting bug it really doesn't matter why you started it in the first place. The good news is that very often the fever that comes with a new hobby can fade and vanish as suddenly as it appeared. Last year I met my collecting jones by procuring every possible Buffy/Angel licensed toy I could lay my hands on, but in the past few months I haven't felt obligated to pick up the latest varients in these series. That's not to say I won't in the future, but as of this moment I feel no pressing need to have them. The problem is that, like nature, a natural born collector such as myself abhors a vacuum, which means now that my Joss Whedon-inspired toy fix has been sated, I have plenty of room for a new obsession.
You know where I'm going with this aren't you?
There can be real joy fingering through the back issues of a comic book bin, as you come upon covers from your childhood and/or iconic images that predate your existence. I don't know if this is going to become my new addiction, but I wouldn't feel too bad if it did.
That said, here is what I picked up this week:
The Brave and the Bold, #148, March 1979 ($3.50)
Due to my irrational love of the Elongated Man, I've always had a certain amount of resentment for his more well-regarded and showier stretchy counterpart, Plastic Man, but no amount of resentment could stop me from enjoying watching Plas join forces with Gotham's Caped Crusader to save the merriest of holidays from the cold grasp of the Cosa Nostra.
The Brave and the Bold, #158, January 1980 ($3.50)
Having just quickly flipped through the pages of this comic I can safely report that I found no evidence of a character who could accurately be described as "More frightening than the Scarecrow" or "More dangerous than the Joker", but I understand that a good comic book cover requires a certain amount of bullshit to really put it over the top. I do like the idea of something so scary it has both Batman and Wonder Woman pissing themselves in its presence (notice how Wonder Woman's head is doing a good job obscuring Batman's wet spot).
The Brave and the Bold, #166, September 1980 ($3.50)
When I posted a link to my previous Bin Adventure in the comic book section of the Eyeball Forums, Rod Lott, the man behind both Hitch and Bookgasm (and the new assistant editor at the Oklahoma Gazette), fondly remembered an issue of The Brave and the Bold that co-starred Black Canary and featured an image of her tied to a chair that had an indelible effect on his future libido. I'm guessing this is that issue and that this is the image in question:
And you thought these older comics were just for kids, didn't ya?
The Brave and the Bold, # 169, December 1980 (($3.50)
I was conflicted about buying this comic, because Zatanna is one of my favourite characters in comics, but I am annoyed by the attempts in the past to take her out of her one true costume. I mean there are some things that are so perfect they just shouldn't be fucked with. True, this is probably the best of her different "imperfect" costumes, even if it is a bit too Marvel-ly for my tastes, but that still doesn't mean I should endorse its existence by buying the comic. Why then did I buy it? Because what kind of loser actually gets offended by something as innocuous as a slight revamp of a character's appearance? And I will admit I was tempted to make a "If it doesn't fit you must...." joke about this Dingo Boots ad featuring O.J. Simpson, but then I realized it wasn't 1995 and thought better of it.
Now before I start getting too predicatable, let me change things up a bit with my last two purchases, both of which are now officially the oldest comics I own.
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, #96, October 1969 ($7.00)
Based on what I've read on other blogs, the Lois Lane books may just be the perfect title for me to become obsessed with. As they did with the Jimmy Olsen series, the editors at DC made up for the fact that the book starred a non-super-powered main character by inserting that character into the most bizarre and unbelievable situations imaginable. Though the stories didn't always match up with their insane covers, they still managed to go places no comic could travel to today. And with the Lois Lane series you had the added bonus of the same kind of florid writing you could expect to find in that era's romance comics (a genre that is virtually extinct today). In other words, this is just the kind of silver/bronze age title I can give my whole heart and soul to. Just take a look at that cover! How can you look at it and not spend hours filling in Lois and Lana's word ballons?
Lana: Is it diet? I can't drink it if it's not diet!
Lois: Neither would I, if I had your fat ass!
Oh, snap! Hours of fun, I'm tellin' ya! Hours!
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, #103, August 1970 ($10.00)
And in this very special issue, Lois marries Satan! Bliss, pure bliss.
So that concludes my second Bin Adventure. It was a lot of fun and I'm guessing I'm on my way towards wasting a lot of money in the future!
Oh, and here's one more Lois/Lana exchange for good measure:
Lana: I've drank worse things....
Lois: We know. Jimmy posted that video on YouTube.
And, sigh, I might as well:
"If those boots don't fit, I'll stab you quite a bit!"
The lesson of this is that once you've gotten hooked by the collecting bug it really doesn't matter why you started it in the first place. The good news is that very often the fever that comes with a new hobby can fade and vanish as suddenly as it appeared. Last year I met my collecting jones by procuring every possible Buffy/Angel licensed toy I could lay my hands on, but in the past few months I haven't felt obligated to pick up the latest varients in these series. That's not to say I won't in the future, but as of this moment I feel no pressing need to have them. The problem is that, like nature, a natural born collector such as myself abhors a vacuum, which means now that my Joss Whedon-inspired toy fix has been sated, I have plenty of room for a new obsession.
You know where I'm going with this aren't you?
There can be real joy fingering through the back issues of a comic book bin, as you come upon covers from your childhood and/or iconic images that predate your existence. I don't know if this is going to become my new addiction, but I wouldn't feel too bad if it did.
That said, here is what I picked up this week:
The Brave and the Bold, #148, March 1979 ($3.50)
Due to my irrational love of the Elongated Man, I've always had a certain amount of resentment for his more well-regarded and showier stretchy counterpart, Plastic Man, but no amount of resentment could stop me from enjoying watching Plas join forces with Gotham's Caped Crusader to save the merriest of holidays from the cold grasp of the Cosa Nostra.
The Brave and the Bold, #158, January 1980 ($3.50)
Having just quickly flipped through the pages of this comic I can safely report that I found no evidence of a character who could accurately be described as "More frightening than the Scarecrow" or "More dangerous than the Joker", but I understand that a good comic book cover requires a certain amount of bullshit to really put it over the top. I do like the idea of something so scary it has both Batman and Wonder Woman pissing themselves in its presence (notice how Wonder Woman's head is doing a good job obscuring Batman's wet spot).
The Brave and the Bold, #166, September 1980 ($3.50)
When I posted a link to my previous Bin Adventure in the comic book section of the Eyeball Forums, Rod Lott, the man behind both Hitch and Bookgasm (and the new assistant editor at the Oklahoma Gazette), fondly remembered an issue of The Brave and the Bold that co-starred Black Canary and featured an image of her tied to a chair that had an indelible effect on his future libido. I'm guessing this is that issue and that this is the image in question:
And you thought these older comics were just for kids, didn't ya?
The Brave and the Bold, # 169, December 1980 (($3.50)
I was conflicted about buying this comic, because Zatanna is one of my favourite characters in comics, but I am annoyed by the attempts in the past to take her out of her one true costume. I mean there are some things that are so perfect they just shouldn't be fucked with. True, this is probably the best of her different "imperfect" costumes, even if it is a bit too Marvel-ly for my tastes, but that still doesn't mean I should endorse its existence by buying the comic. Why then did I buy it? Because what kind of loser actually gets offended by something as innocuous as a slight revamp of a character's appearance? And I will admit I was tempted to make a "If it doesn't fit you must...." joke about this Dingo Boots ad featuring O.J. Simpson, but then I realized it wasn't 1995 and thought better of it.
Now before I start getting too predicatable, let me change things up a bit with my last two purchases, both of which are now officially the oldest comics I own.
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, #96, October 1969 ($7.00)
Based on what I've read on other blogs, the Lois Lane books may just be the perfect title for me to become obsessed with. As they did with the Jimmy Olsen series, the editors at DC made up for the fact that the book starred a non-super-powered main character by inserting that character into the most bizarre and unbelievable situations imaginable. Though the stories didn't always match up with their insane covers, they still managed to go places no comic could travel to today. And with the Lois Lane series you had the added bonus of the same kind of florid writing you could expect to find in that era's romance comics (a genre that is virtually extinct today). In other words, this is just the kind of silver/bronze age title I can give my whole heart and soul to. Just take a look at that cover! How can you look at it and not spend hours filling in Lois and Lana's word ballons?
Lana: Is it diet? I can't drink it if it's not diet!
Lois: Neither would I, if I had your fat ass!
Oh, snap! Hours of fun, I'm tellin' ya! Hours!
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, #103, August 1970 ($10.00)
And in this very special issue, Lois marries Satan! Bliss, pure bliss.
So that concludes my second Bin Adventure. It was a lot of fun and I'm guessing I'm on my way towards wasting a lot of money in the future!
Oh, and here's one more Lois/Lana exchange for good measure:
Lana: I've drank worse things....
Lois: We know. Jimmy posted that video on YouTube.
And, sigh, I might as well:
"If those boots don't fit, I'll stab you quite a bit!"
Commentary From the Masses