Yes, the comic collection was an easy thing on the allowance back in the day. Not only did new comics fit neatly into an allowance of a handful of dollars a week, but if you had a few used book stores nearby, then the pickings on used comics were excellent. Sure you'd miss an issue here and there, but with some scavenging and persistence, you'd often find it -- even if it was months or years later.
Pity it didn't last, but no form of entertainment is safe from the childhood predators, whether they are after the child's money or the child. They go where the victims are, and comics often attracted kids. Takes a lot of hate to destroy an entertainment form that brings joy to the young.
The second hand shops on the bike circuit took all afternoon. But that thrill of victory. Looking back over the collection now, they really were remarkable. It’s what inspired the idea for this post.
I’ve come to realize how important Lee and Goodman were on the business end. The scrambling old pros. Add that Kirby-Ditko-Buscema-Colan generation of industry professional artists and it was lightning in a bottle. I don’t know if they could have kept the boomers away as that group aged out.
Unfortunately, they were invited in, as any vampires are. Really no way to keep them out when Cadence and Warner Brothers gobbled up Marvel and National Periodicals in the late 60s. Production took over. Constraints on Marvel were removed for the number of titles, the old Bullpen moved on from Marvel or from Superheroes, and the Oil Crisis hit comics with increased paper costs. No comic company was doing really well from about 1969 to 1974. Roy Thomas was the shining light for Marvel’s fortunes in 1976/77 with that little known Sci-Fi adventure film come to comics — Star Wars salvaged a lot of things for Marvel.
Victims of their own cultural success. And no one could foresee what it became. What's interesting is that lightening in a bottle moment from the personalities and historical moment. None of them came close again. Goodman's spam approach crashed and burned with the new Atlas. Stan was a mediocre writer when he had to do the whole thing. And Jack with/without Stan is Thor v. New Gods. Even if his art became sublime. Thomas was a much better comic guy than a person.
The unstated circumstance was 1/3 of us getting aborted. There's always talk of abstract "declining sales" without looking into where the kids went.
I could rant for days on the ruination of comics, but for now I will just caution any parents who might be reading this - do not buy modern comics for your kids. There might be a couple good ones out there, but most are so invested into Clown World they should be burned. Superman having a gay son, Spider-Man being part of some "throuple" or whatever the hell it is, and so on. Even comics that don't actively push Clown values are written by people who have no understanding of how mature human beings actually speak or act. And drawn by artists who don't understand how human bodies work.
Thanks for emphasizing this. I could have been more blunt. Something like the Ms. Marvel ad is nothing like an recommendation. Just a weird and sudden change that reflects some superficial awareness of strategic failure. But the same deviant niche environment. And the art has become ghastly. Weird, inept, and unheroic.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Arkhaven Comics. There aren't that many compared to the big indies or majors, but the degeneracy and perversion is overtly forbidden.
This is brillaint - the way childhood objects becme these almost mythical totems really captures something powerful. I had a similiar thing with old Star Wars figures that felt like they carried this weight beyond just being toys. What sticks with me is how the article connects that nostalgia to identity formation, like those comics weren't just entertainment but actualy part of building who we were.
Yes, the comic collection was an easy thing on the allowance back in the day. Not only did new comics fit neatly into an allowance of a handful of dollars a week, but if you had a few used book stores nearby, then the pickings on used comics were excellent. Sure you'd miss an issue here and there, but with some scavenging and persistence, you'd often find it -- even if it was months or years later.
Pity it didn't last, but no form of entertainment is safe from the childhood predators, whether they are after the child's money or the child. They go where the victims are, and comics often attracted kids. Takes a lot of hate to destroy an entertainment form that brings joy to the young.
The second hand shops on the bike circuit took all afternoon. But that thrill of victory. Looking back over the collection now, they really were remarkable. It’s what inspired the idea for this post.
I’ve come to realize how important Lee and Goodman were on the business end. The scrambling old pros. Add that Kirby-Ditko-Buscema-Colan generation of industry professional artists and it was lightning in a bottle. I don’t know if they could have kept the boomers away as that group aged out.
Unfortunately, they were invited in, as any vampires are. Really no way to keep them out when Cadence and Warner Brothers gobbled up Marvel and National Periodicals in the late 60s. Production took over. Constraints on Marvel were removed for the number of titles, the old Bullpen moved on from Marvel or from Superheroes, and the Oil Crisis hit comics with increased paper costs. No comic company was doing really well from about 1969 to 1974. Roy Thomas was the shining light for Marvel’s fortunes in 1976/77 with that little known Sci-Fi adventure film come to comics — Star Wars salvaged a lot of things for Marvel.
Victims of their own cultural success. And no one could foresee what it became. What's interesting is that lightening in a bottle moment from the personalities and historical moment. None of them came close again. Goodman's spam approach crashed and burned with the new Atlas. Stan was a mediocre writer when he had to do the whole thing. And Jack with/without Stan is Thor v. New Gods. Even if his art became sublime. Thomas was a much better comic guy than a person.
The unstated circumstance was 1/3 of us getting aborted. There's always talk of abstract "declining sales" without looking into where the kids went.
I could rant for days on the ruination of comics, but for now I will just caution any parents who might be reading this - do not buy modern comics for your kids. There might be a couple good ones out there, but most are so invested into Clown World they should be burned. Superman having a gay son, Spider-Man being part of some "throuple" or whatever the hell it is, and so on. Even comics that don't actively push Clown values are written by people who have no understanding of how mature human beings actually speak or act. And drawn by artists who don't understand how human bodies work.
Thanks for emphasizing this. I could have been more blunt. Something like the Ms. Marvel ad is nothing like an recommendation. Just a weird and sudden change that reflects some superficial awareness of strategic failure. But the same deviant niche environment. And the art has become ghastly. Weird, inept, and unheroic.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Arkhaven Comics. There aren't that many compared to the big indies or majors, but the degeneracy and perversion is overtly forbidden.
This is brillaint - the way childhood objects becme these almost mythical totems really captures something powerful. I had a similiar thing with old Star Wars figures that felt like they carried this weight beyond just being toys. What sticks with me is how the article connects that nostalgia to identity formation, like those comics weren't just entertainment but actualy part of building who we were.
Absolutely. Star Wars was a paradigm shifter for me too that carried into the figures. Being the same scale as the Micronauts was an added bonus.
I was raised by the science-loving Gamma boomers. The basic good-evil morality, honor, and courage were huge building blocks for young me.
"financialization kills"
In my new substack (free unless you're desperate to give me money) this is one the realities we will explore in great causal depth.
If you're interested, stop by sometime: connectiondynamics.substack.com