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Another Step Into The Abyss
posted Monday, 28 August 2006
My descent into full-on geekdom continues apace, despite my best efforts to put on a cool front and pretend like I'm a nice, normal person. Y'see, today I decided to take advantage of my new location to check out the comic book shop I used to frequent before I moved to the southside of the city. It had changed a tad during the year and a bit I had been away, but not enough to be discomfiting. Unlike my two regular comic book haunts, they had copies of the the latest issue of Manhunter and since I've heard nothing but good things about this might-be-canceled-if-sales-don't-immediately-improve book, I decided to pick it up. But one comic alone was hardly enough to justify the trip, so I started looking for something else that might catch my fancy. T'was not to be, as I had been quite greedy last Wednesday and already purchased everything available that had caught my fancy. And as I've been weening myself off of my impulse toy purchases (I sadly don't have enough room for the toys I have now) this left me with one last option, the one I had denied myself in all of my previous trips to the store due to my fears of where it may lead.
I went to the bins.
But it wasn't as simple as that. Going to the bins means seeking out old comics, but not just any old comics. A proper bin purchase is a title that is worthy of your attention, but that--for whatever arcane reason--has never made it into a trade paperback collection. These are comics that are good, but not seminal--and owning them is what seperates the true geek from the dilettante. Now you can understand why browsing through them was not a step taken lightly.
But what to look for?
What.... To.... Look.... For.... ?.....
In the end I decided to focus on a classic DC series from the 70s and 80s called The Brave and the Bold, but which might as well have been called This Time Batman Teams Up With.... I'm aware that issues from this series have been released in trade form, thus potentially negating the whole point of searching through the bins, but I decided it would be a fun place to start, especially since it would allow me to pick up some comics featuring some of my irrational favourites.
And by an 'irrational favourite', I'm referring to those characters I've always liked even though I've never actually read any of the comic books that originally featured them. These are characters I came to know and love from my days spent reading about them in Who's Who, but that who I never actually saw in action until much later in my life. These are characters like The Creeper, Ragman and The Elongated Man, all of whom--interestingly--have made something of a comeback in the past year (The Creeper in his new Brave New World mini-series, Ragman in Shadowpact and, of course, The Elongated Man played a large part in Identity Crisis and just recently went batshit bonkers--not that you could blame him--in the pages of 52).
Here then are the seven issues I saw fit to purchase (click on the image to see them in full-size):
Brave and the Bold #143, Sept/Oct 1978 ($3.50)
Did you know that the guy who dreamed about "Jessie's Girl", Rick Springfield, once starred in a short-lived summer series based on The Human Target? Well, now you do and there's nothing you can do to change it.
Insert sound of the mocking laughter of Nelson Muntz here.
I am aware that in large enough doses the radiation in Kryptonite can affect non-Kryptonians, but enough to make Batman drop to his knees and go "ARRGGHH"? As if. Still, I loves me some butt-kicking Lois Lane (which reminds me that during my next trip to the bin I'm going to pick up some adventures of Superman's Girlfriend).
Best.... Comic.... Book.... Cover.... Ever....
'Nuff said.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you: a paper monster who I shall now dub Origami, The Folding Man.
I'll be here all week.
Batman and The Joker teaming up? Does not compute. Does not compute. Black is white. White is black. Does not compute. War is love. Love is war. Does not compute. Does not comp--
Insert sound of mind exploding.
Brave and the Bold, #196, March 1983 ($4.00)
For those of you who have never heard of Ragman, just think of him as a much, much, much poorer version of Batman. How much poorer is he? He's freaking Ragman, f'r cryin' out loud! Does that answer your question?
Brave and the Bold, #199, June 1983 ($4.00)
Oooh, notice the subtle difference between this and the other issues? That's right, this isn't Batman AND The Spectre, it's Batman VERSUS The Spectre. Shits going to come down, yo.
Seriously, this cover is all sorts of spooky (and I should know gawshdarnnit), especially since the redheaded dude with the white streak in his hair is Jim Corrigan and he IS The Spectre. And I thought the cover for issue #191 was mind blowing!
So, that's what I picked up during my first ever Bin Adventure. It was actually a lot of fun, now that I've blogged about it.
Oh.... My.... Gawd....
I think I just stumbled upon another Intermittent Feature!
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