"Don't You Dare Miss Model Leah Samonte.... LIVE As 'Lava' ....

And Pick Up a Copy of Lava #1"

Was what the flyer that was passed out as we stood in line outside the Convention Center read, as my sons and I entered the 1997 San Diego Comic Con ten years ago this summer!

Leah Samonte was there to greet all those who entered the 'Independents' Section of the Con, (actually the Small Press area), and of course I had to have my sons get their picture taken with the model.... Dads do that you know !!

Naturally at their young ages they were a bit embarassed to have their photo take with a great lookin' gal, but every year at the Con they were put up to it!  I told them one day they would look back and be glad they had pics like that of good looking women with them!

The name of the comic that Leah Samonte was promoting was LAVA #1 which was from the publisher 'CrossBreed Press'.

In the early to mid 1990's 'Good Girl' and 'Bad Girl' art in comics was the latest 'Hot' Fad, and there were plenty of models that had comics books based on their adventures. Most of them were sold based on the photo covers or artwork inside.

This comic book on 'Lava' had art by Ruben Gerard, and was written by Max Espinoza.

The boys and I had a great time during that 1997 SDCC, and this is just one of the memories we have. Tina and I have several 'Bad Girl' and 'Good Girl' comics listed in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store for sale!  Thanks for reading this comic book blog post!

Michael

 

Lava's own (one and only?) comic book from 1997 !

MARVELMANIA INTERNATIONAL !

Couldn't resist posting the membership card to the MarvelMania International club pictured at the top right, as I have been re-discovering even more treasures while sorting and moving hundreds of boxes in preparation for our home office flooring to be demo'ed and replaced with vinyl tile.  (I wore out the carpet with all the photographing / listing / invoicing / packing / & shipping going on !)

The MarvelMania Club had started in 1969 and early members received kit #1 which had its' membership items in full color.

When I joined in 1970, kit #2 was mailed to me. For a whopping $1 bill I received:

1. Club Merchandise Catalog #2
2. Official Membership Certificate (Yellow)
3. Official Membership Card (Yellow) see above pic
4. Sample Issue Of  Their Marvelmania Magazine
5. Six Mini-Posters With Art By Jack Kirby
6. Various Merchandise Flyers

Note: Marvelmania Magazine only lasted for six issues.  This was the second club based on Marvel Comics, however it was a business outside the direct control of the Marvel Comics publishing group, but like the earlier M.M.M.S. it didn't last long....

The membership kit included flyers to purchase additional items.  As I was just graduating high school and entering college, my discretationary income was minimal. The few items I did buy from the club were resold at the SDCC during the following years.

For those interested in seeing Marvel comic books, we have several thousands of that publishers' comics listed in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store!  Thanks for reading this comic book blog post... Feel Free to Comment!

Michael

 

The above MarvelMania International Club Card is from my own personal collection when I joined back in 1970! True, it is a little worn, but I was really proud to be a card carrying member back in the early 1970's !!!

The Above Picture is Showing Michael Selling Marvel Comic Books at the  San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in 1973!  OK, there were also other Publishers comics I was selling, but as you can see all the front ones in each box were Marvels (LOL) !!

Wonder Woman Bilocates on Network TV! 

For those interested in TV show comics like '24', we have several Movie and TV based shows comic books in our eBay Featured Comic Book Store and eBay Pro Store with comic books. 

Tina  

Bonanza.... As Seen on TV and

At the Ponderosa Ranch !

Couldn't resist posting the below bottom right scan of the travel brochure on the Ponderosa Ranch of Lake Tahoe, as this weekend I have been sorting and moving hundreds of boxes in preparation for our home office flooring to be demo'ed and replaced with vinyl tile.  (Wore out the carpet with all the photographing / listing / invoicing / packing / & shipping going on !)

I visited the Ponderosa Ranch a while back, as I was in the area conducting due diligence on a purchase, and needed some relaxation other than casinos on the Nevada side!

I had a great time there! But they didn't sell the comic books from the show... so for those interested in reading Bonanza or other TV Western comic books, we have several hundred western comics listed in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store!  Thanks for reading this comic book blog post!

Michael

John Travolta.... Trading A Dress For A Stetson???

Imagine my surprise after writing a blog post on John Travolta in comics earier last week and then to see the above mentioned in this past Sunday's Parade Magazine !

John Travolta just recently finished his role in the upcoming 'Hairspray" musical film which is due out July 20th.

So the mention about 'trading a dress for a Stetson' was about his going from the 'Hairspray' role to the J.R. Ewing role in the film version of the 1980's TV Series 'Dallas'.

According to 'Parade' Magazine, the casting for that updated movie version of Dallas is in 'flux', with only John Travolta remaining attached!

Others rumored to have been in the cast were: Jennifer Lopez, Meg Ryan, Luke Wilson, Brad Pitt and Shirley MacLaine!

Dallas was a very popular, long-running  primetime television soap opera about the Ewings, who were a very wealthy Texas oil family. The show initially aired on the CBS network for 13 seasons, from April 2, 1978 to May 3, 1991.

Dallas was broadcast around the world and is still considered today to be the most successful drama series in TV history!

The Dallas TV series is probably best-known for the central character of J.R. Ewing.    J.R. was the vain, scheming, crass oil baron played by the Fort Worth Texas native Larry Hagman for the TV show's entire run.

Ironically, J.R. was only meant to be a supporting character when the show first premiered! The show was originally to be based around the life of J.R.'s brother Bobby and his new bride Pam. However, with Larry Hagman playing the J.R. role, the popularity of J.R. took off and he became the focus of the series. 

In my mind John Travolta, who looks really distinguished in a suit, (see top right pic), could play the J.R. role convincingly.  Too bad the film pre-production is in a state of flux. 

Then again, most of the remakes I have seen of my favorite TV shows have been really messed with, sometimes with no real link to what the film was originally based on! Or the characters are so changed they aren't like what made the TV show a hit!

For those interested in seeing more TV Show & Movie Comic Books, we have several comics listed in our Featured Store and eBay Pro Store!  Thanks for reading this comic book blog post!

Michael

 

John Travolta's role as 'Vinnie' in the Comic Books  based on 'Welcome Back, Kotter!'

Michael Selling TV Show Comic Books at the  San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in 1973!

My Favorite Signature of All Time....

...Is the Personalized Signature of Stan Lee on my Fantastic Four #1, which was originally cover dated November 1961.

Stan signed this prized book to me, plus he signed my copy of Strange Tales Annual #2 featuring the first Amazing Spider-Man crossover, at an autograph signing at the 1993 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), which was twenty years after my first officially setting up a booth at the SDCC as a college student! (See bottom right picture for pic & link to that story.)  

I have previously written about how the comic book, Journey Into Mystery #72,  cover dated September 1961, was the first comic book which made me realize that 'real people' were producing the comic I was holding.  I would have been nine years old at that time. 

Although it first was the artwork that made me realize that the comic was vastly different from the 'cookie cutter' art  of the funnybooks I had been reading till that time, (i.e. Chilly Willy, Woody Woodpecker, etc.), it was also the story that kept me awake at night!!  That story was written by Stan (the Man) Lee himself!

I had been able to see Stan multiple times during the years, both at signings and at comic convention programs and panels, but I finally broke down and had him sign my tattered copy of this 'key' Marvel book, because I decided I would not sell it but keep it for myself. Even though it is in 'Poor' condition due to the top left corner of the book, it was just too sentimental an item to let go of. It was the 'Holy Grail' of what was once my complete Fantastic Four collection!

I personally want to thank Stan Lee for the years of reading enjoyment he gave me during the formative years of my childhood, 1961-1970, and the ongoing opportunity today to spot his cameos in movies and TV shows, (his cameo as a bus driver in the NBC TV show 'Heroes' being the latest one!).  Thanks Stan !!

For those interested in seeing more Stan Lee comics, we have several hundred in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store!  Thanks for reading this blog post. Feel free to post your comment!!

Michael

Stan Lee Posing With My Copy of FF #1

Michael Selling Scores of Stan Lee Written and / or Edited Comic Books at the  San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in 1973!

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Honorary Member of.....

... the Fantastic Four !

Couldn't resist posting this Super Hero FotoCard, as this weekend I have been sorting and moving hundreds of boxes in preparation for our home office flooring to be demo'ed and replaced with tile.  (Wore out the carpet with all the photographing / listing / invoicing / packing / & shipping going on !)

Anyway, that isn't Captain Nice to the right with three members of the Fantastic Four, but instead its' yours truly, Michael !

Michael

 

The above Super Hero Card is from a 'Limited Edition' of ONE from the 1996 print run of Fleer Ultra FotoCards! Non-Sports Cards were 'hot' during the mid 1990's !   They would print anything! LOL !

The Above Picture is Showing Michael Selling Just Comic Books at the  San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in 1973!  Non-Sports Cards Were Far and Few Between in Those Days!!

To Think, That This Is What Started John Travolta On The Road to Super Stardom !

Yes, John Travolta had his first movie role as Billy Nolan, who was a sadistic bully who taunted actress Sissy Spacek's 'Carrie White' in the horror film 'Carrie' which was released in 1976.

But, around the same time as his role in the movie was being developed, John landed his star-making role as 'Vinnie Barbarino' in the half hour TV sitcom 'Welcome Back, Kotter' !  

The TV show ran from 1975–1979 and this was definitely the role that launched his career that contines to this day!  

He stole the show from the major star Gabe Kaplan, and also was prominently featured on the covers and the interiors of the ten issue comic book run from DC Comics, of which issue #7 is shown to the above right! The series ran from November 1976 to March/April 1978

For those interested in seeing more TV & Movie comics, we have several comic books listed in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store!  Thanks for reading our blog post!!

Michael

Michael with his long hair back in 1973 while selling at the SDCC !

Never Fear.....

Captain Nice Is Here !!!

With all the Comic Book Movies that are being released this year, they remind me that for years super-heroes were alreay on TV in the mid 1960's due to the 'Batmania' craze!

For instance, Captain Nice was a truly funny comedy TV series that ran from January-May 1967 on the NBC network.  The show's premise involved the police chemist Carter Nash, who was a mild-mannered mama's boy and discovered a secret formula that, when taken, transformed him into 'Captain Nice'.

Truly Captain Nice didn't behave much differently from Carter Nash himself. In fact, Captain Nice ran around in a pajama looking costume sewn lovingly by his mother.

This TV series was created by Buck Henry, who was a co-creator of the spy hit TV series Get Smart, (mentioned in a previous blog post).

 

 The above comic book cover was from the Gold Key Comic Book, 'Captain Nice #1, a 'one-shot' publication from November 1967!

Michael Selling TV Show Comic Books at the  San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in 1973!

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman & the Flash ALL In One Movie.....???

It just may happen as Warner Brothers fresh with its' latest hits of 'Batman Begins' and 'Superman Returns'  is looking to make a theatrical film based on DC Comics' Super-hero Team the 'Justice League of America', by hiring the writing duo of Kiernan and Michele Mulroney to pen the script!

The film is thought to include some combination of DC's most widely known super-heroes, although the studio would not confirm which ones would be cast in the film.

The JLA, since its' inception in 1960 as a comic book, has featured almost every major hero or heroine in the DC Comics universe, although the 'core 'team has basically been Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman,  Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter.

Since these are DC's strongest heroes, they are typically united together to fight alien menaces or groups of supervillains.

The newly hired writers caught the attention of studios around tinsel town with their rewrite of 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' for Fox Studios. Their other screenplay works included "Paper Man" and "Worst Case."

For those interested in seeing Justice League of America comic books, we have several in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store!  Thanks for reading this comic book blog post!

Michael

This Is What Started Me As A Collector....

... of comic books.... Journey Into Mystery #72 from Atlas Comics, (Atlas evolved into what we know as Marvel Comics today).

Before I was given this comic book, all I had been reading were 'funnybooks' with an occasional National (Superman) comic book thrown in.

Journey Into Mystery #72 was cover dated September 1961, which would have made me nine years old.  The title had started with issue #1 in June of 1952, which would have been a month older than I was.  

What made this one issue stand out enough to make me start collecting comic books???

It was the artwork that did it for me. It was when I first truly realized that it was real people that drew these comics, in this case they were Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, who signed their work 'Kirby/Ayers'. 

Before this comic, all that I was aware of were the 'cookie cutter' artwork in funnybooks of Chilly Willy, Woody Woodpecker, Mickey Mouse, etc.  The art from one artist to another was almost indistinguishable, and no one signed their names to the artwork...   However the artwork of this Journey Into Mystery was so far different from what I was used to, that I immediately looked for more by the Kirby/Ayers team and kept the book in better shape!

I didn't have too long to wait... as Kirby drew Fantastic Four #1 for the November 1961 cover date, which I picked up after seeing Fantastic Four #3 from March 1962 where the FF wore costumes for the first time!

It was unusual that this comic was given to me as it was a 'monster' comic, which probably would have been thought to give me 'nightmares', but I am glad that it was given to me and that it started my lifelong collecting bug of collecting comics!!!

I was fortunate to meet Jack Kirby at the SDCC before he passed away, and to have met Dick Ayers at Wonder-Con and the SDCC a few times through the years.  They were definitely the great guys I thought them to be when I was a kid!!  Thanks Jack & Dick for the memories !!

For those interested in seeing more Jack Kirby comics, we have several in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store!  Thanks for reading !!

Michael

No, That's Not A Command... It Was a Comic Book!

And a TV Show... and a Theatrical Movie.... and a Toy Line....

For those wanting to 'Get Smart' or even close to being smarter, we have TV & Movie Comics in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store! 

Michael

Howard the Duck last ran for Prez back in 1976, as seen by the RARE Howard the Duck Campaign Button to the left.

Howard was originally just a comic book character, but became a movie star in the 1986 film produced by Lucasfilm and Universal Pictures, after his presidential campaign bid fizzled out...

The film about his life on Earth was directed by Willard Huyck from a script by Huyck and his wife Gloria Katz. The film starred Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones, Tim Robbins, and Chip Zien as the voice of Howard.

Supposedly the film was inspired by the Marvel Comics characters Howard the Duck and Beverly Switzler who were created by Steve Gerber, although their appearance and portrayals in the film almost completely ignored their original source material.

The film was widely panned by the critics and was a box office bomb and reviled by fans, but it renewed enough attention on the character for the Marvel Comics Group to keep Howard the Duck in the Marvel Universe as a Guest Star here and there....

So since Howard the Duck isn't as busy as he once was, perhaps it is time for us to draft him as a presidential candidate again!  Instead of these early mud-slinging contests, Howard would excel at 'shaking the tail feathers' contests!!  Especially since the Rock Band 'Kiss' has special interest in performing at his gigs, (See issues #12 & #13 of his first solo series).

For those interested in figuring out if Howard is truly the one to vote for, we have a few comic books about his early adventures in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store!  Check them out and vote early (and often!!).

Michael

Namor the Sub-Mariner... the Movie ... & Comics...

Namor the Sub-Mariner is a character featured in the Marvel Comics Universe, and is one of their oldest superheroes.

The Sub-Mariner was created by writer-artist Bill Everett in the Spring of 1939 for Funnies, Inc., which was one of the first "packagers" in the early days of comic book publishing. Packagers would supply whole comic books on demand to publishers looking to enter the new medium without setting up their own shop.

The Sub-Mariner was created for a promotional comic, of which a few samples still exist. He was officially first published in Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), which was the first comic book from Timely Comics which was owned by Martin Goodman. Timely was the name of the 1930s-1940s predecessor of the company of which Marvel Comics is today.

During the Golden Age of Comic Books, the Sub-Mariner was one of Timely's top three characters, along with Captain America and the original Human Torch, (not the Torch of the Fantastic Four).

Namor was born to a human Sea Captain and a Princess of the undersea Kingdom of Atlantis.  His powers were inheirited from his mother's side which had great strength and aquatic abilities.

The publicity that Namor has received since the 1940's is that he has alternately been portrayed as a short fused superhero, or as a hostile invader seeking vengeance against the surface dwellers for destroying his mother's realm.

Thus he was the first known comic book anti-hero. The movie in developement is supposed to play off the two sides of his origin, and is to be mostly an underwater film.  The Magic of CGI !!

Tina thinks that Namor is one hot hunk, he is her favorite super-hero in the Marvel Universe.... even tho she thinks that Hugh Jackman makes an excellent Wolverine on the big screen !  So she is looking forward to the development of this film.

For those interested in comic book movies based on comic books, we have several thousand comics in both our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store.  Thanks for reading !!   Michael (and Tina)

Jack Keller...   Six-Gun Western Artist.........

I would have to say that the main reason for Kid Colt Outlaw being my favorite Marvel Western Comic was due to Jack's artwork.  It was a mainstay during my reading of the comic book and I looked forward to the continuity of the comic book artwork. When the title went all reprint I stopped picking it up off the newstands.                

For those interested in western comic books inlcuding Jack's work on Kid Colt and more, we have several hundred in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store.

Michael