Tales from the 25¢-50¢ Bin!

Hello fellow Hordytes! And welcome to another edition of Tales from the 25¢ Bin, or what we may be forced to rename Tales from the 25¢-50¢ Bin due to the fact that my favorite local used bookstore has seemingly decided that their cheap-o bins weren't making them enough scratch, and so what were once piles of comics for a measley quarter each, are now piles of comics that vary from 1/4 to 1/2 a buck. 

I guess this was inevitable. But it does make me a little sad. It won't stop me from buying comics from them, but I will be a bit more choosey from here on out, because I'll buy just about anything remotely interesting for a quarter, but for some reason, as soon as it hits the two-for-$1 range, I get all stingy like a Great Depression baby. 

Anyhoo, that didn't stop me from bringing home a pretty epic haul the other day. I actually snagged a bigger stack than this, but I thought today we'd just take a look at all the comics I nabbed from the much-loved (by me, anyway) and long-gone Gold Key comics.

First up we have The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan. I have vague memories of this cartoon which was basically the cartoon version of a somewhat racist portrayal of a Chinese detective from a series of 1940s movies, but if he had a buttload of kids. You know, just what kids love.

Next up are a couple of issue of Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery. These sort of weird tales had nothing to do with Boris Karloff, he didn't write them or draw them, nor were the stories even about him, but his picture was on each cover and a little drawn version of him introduced each story like a dapper Crypt Keeper. Odd as all of this sounds, I used to love these comics when I was a kid.

Next we have two issues of The Funky Phantom, which was about a gang of mystery solving teenagers (really, Hanna-Barbera?) that hung out with a colonial-era ghost in a tri-corner hat. You know, just what kids love.

 Here we have an issue of Walt Disney Showcase featuring Mickey Mouse playing the Watson roll in a Sherlock Holmes-like story. I bought it because I love Mickey Mouse, and I may be crazy, but I swear I had this very issue when I was a kid.

Next up are three issues of a comic I loved to death as a kid. I adored Ripley's Believe It or Not collections of the classic newspaper strip and the mega-creepy show hosted by Jack Palance when I was a kid and the few issues of this comic book, which focus solely on "true" ghost stories, that I had back in the day were especially treasured. 

These classic Scooby Doo issues are like gold to me! I've long been a fan of the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You? animated show and these comics, which came out around the same era (pre-Scrappy Doo, pre-Pup Named Scooby Doo) still have some of that classic spooky vibe.

And finally, I picked up this issue of Turok - Son of Stone, which is about a Native American who still lives in a land of dinosaurs, because like I mentioned before, I'll buy just about anything for a quarter.

That's it for this haul, kids! Check back for more Tales from the 25¢-50¢ Bin!

Is That... OH MY GOD, IT IS!

So, there I was, browsing the toy section at my local Target, not really looking to buy anything, but just seeing what was new, when I found myself looking at these little rubbery Spider-Man Fighter Pods dudes...

I was just about to walk away when my awesomeness radar went off and forced my eyeballs to zoom in on this badass little piece of web-slinging pork...

Sweet molten cheese balls! It's Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham!

This was one of my all-time favorite comics back in middle school and I've been dying for a really well-done Spider-Ham action figure. Sadly, this set was $6.99 and I just couldn't drop that for one little rubbery piglet, but maybe I can hunt him down on eBay.

Still, seeing this warmed my heart knowing that he's not forgotten.

Here's to you, Spider-Ham.

Groo the Wanderer from Eclipse Comics! Wait... What?

I guess this post should technically be listed under Tales from the 25¢ Bin, since this is where I found this comic book, but since it's just the one, and since it blew a hole in what I thought was my wall of Groo knowledge the size of a bowl of cheese dip, I figured it deserved its own post.

So, I present to you, Groo the Wander #1, from Eclipse Comics...

Now, I've collected a ton of Groo comics and followed the character from his original PC Comics, then on to his long run with Marvel, then during his stint at Image and onward into his tenure at Dark Horse, but I had no idea that the sword-wielding mendicant was ever published by Eclipse Comics.

But as it turns out, for one issue at least, he was.

The blurb to the left pretty much sums up the situation; Pacific Comics went down the crapper and didn't have any money to continue publishing, so the "final" issue of Groo was kindly printed by Eclipse, while Sergio and MArk waited to start at their new home, Marvel.

Had I known about this issue when I was 12 years old, and full-blown Groo crazy, I would have flipped.

This issue is pretty much what we could always expect from a Groo comic, but this one was a bit more special...

Because it reprints the very first Groo story!

He really looked different back then. Yet, somehow the same.

But the real treat for me was the section in the back that included the absolutely brilliant cutout figures! For a long-time Groo fan, who also happens to be in the papercraft business, this is like finding a long buried treasure.

You can jolly well count on me making color copies of these, printing them out on cardstock and cutting them out to adorn my desk at work. And then I will have tons of Groo adventures! And even more tons of cheese dip!

1983 Return of the Jedi Marvel Comics 4-Pack!

There is a spot in my memory banks reserved for family trips, and a good section of those fond memories is taken up by little vignettes of a much younger me carefully picking out a small pile of comic book packs from highway oasis spinner racks and later spending the quieter moments of whatever trip we happened to be on sinking deeply into the worlds of Flash Gordon or haunted ghost stories or even the silly technocolor adventures of Bugs Bunny.

Thanks to these memories, polly-bagged sealed comic book packs will always hold a special place in my heart. But had I found today's example out in the wild when it was first released, it surely would have been the king of all comic packs.

I'm sure I don't need to go into how crazy I was about The Return of the Jedi when it first came out. And I truly treasured my Marvel Comics adaptation of the film, but I only had the large magazine format release (a publication that caused many ooohs and aaahs in my 4th grade class), and I never did find the individual issues.

Had I gone to a Toys R Us back in '83, I would have dropped $1.72 on this 4-pack faster than Boba Fett dropped into the Sarlaac.

The covers on these are just beautiful. The three-figure portraits are far classier that the usual Marvel covers.

 

But it's the art from the inside that instantly takes me back. I remember poring over these illustrations over and over again back in '83. I would carefully examine and redraw several of my favorite panels.

I remember thinking that Han would have totally broken his hand if he had punched a Biker Scout. Even at 10 years old, I started to wonder about the quality and effectiveness of Imperial helmets.

I also remember especially loving the below splash page. The final fight scene between Luke and Vader was amazingly tense for me and had me on the edge of my seat. So I guess that deep feeling of excitement translated well in this comic page.

And here's an extra added bonus... no Hayden Christensen...

May the Force Be with You.

1956 Sunday Funnies!

Inspired by my fellow bloggers, I've taken to keeping my eyes peeled for garage sales and yard sales here in Seattle while driving around on my usual weekend errands. I don't always find much but last weekend I shelled out one of the best dollars I've ever spent when I found this almost pristine copy of the Seattle Post Intelligencer's Sunday comics pages from 1956.

The cartoon and comic strip nerd in me practically did a big girly cartwheel when I found this. What a beautiful slice of comic strip history, perfectly preserved and now made a permanent part of the Lair's collection.

I took some pics to share with you all. Sorry that they're not great, but if you click on them, you should still be able to read them. My favorites are The Phantom, the Lone Ranger and Flash Gordon. Also note that the entire centerfold section was ruled by Disney back then, with Donald Duck, mickey Mouse and even Uncle Remus comics! I even included the ads. So much classic awesomeness.

Enjoy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not bad for $1, eh?