Welcome!

INTRODUCTION

When I was a young little misfit going to junior high during the height of the 80's, I discovered the colorful world of comic books. Alone, as I often was, I'd take my hand-me-down banana-seat bike on explorations of my small midwestern town. This was before the rise of the big-box grocery store that would later dot the outsides of towns like mine, so during my little jaunts I was still able to stop at any one of the locally owned little groceries around town whenever I felt I was getting thirsty and buy myself a Jolly-Good. It was on one those summer bike-rides that I happened to be searching the magazine racks, probably looking for something on Madonna or, more likely, the Goonies (I was obsessed that summer!) and came across a bunch of comics.

I never really paid much attention to them before, but as I was leafing through one I saw this amazing group shot of all these super-heroes I knew from the Super Friends standing around greeting each other. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Hawkman, and a bunch of others I didn't recognize.

A couple pages later, there was Aquaman - my favorite Super Friend!

I guess he couldn't make that great meeting a couple pages earlier because, as I read along, he was already over in England investigating...the Seeds of Doom! Wow! I was reading the first issue of a new six part mini-series called Super Powers! The greatest heroes of the time had gotten together to fight the power of an evil spacelord named Darkseid who was trying to conquer and remake the earth in his image by using these giant destructive seeds that could protect themselves by transporting anyone who messed with them back into time! Aquaman and some green guy (no, he wasn't the Hulk - he was the Martian Manhunter!) were sent back to King Arthur's time. Because of their super powers they were mistaken for witches, and therefore, were going to be burned at the stake! What was really helpful, and in turn quite instrumental in transforming me into a true comic-geek, was this section after the story which featured biographies of different characters so new readers, like me, could know what the heck was going on. With Super Powers #1, an obsession was born.



Now, I came from an upper-lower class, blue collar family and I didn't get much of an allowance. Actually, my mom was notoriously stingy, and I remember I only got a quarter a week back then (though I remember being grateful to get even that). New comics cost 75 cents plus tax. An early obsticle to a burgeoning hobby. Luckily, for me, my parents dragged my sister and me to flea markets and local antique malls so my mom could buy all this boring junk that teenage boys have no interest in whatsoever; however, certain dealers, to my utter glee, had quarter bins of old comics out to be sorted through. This is how my love of comics started and grew.

Soon, in order to get my hands on more comics, I concocted a plan when school started in the fall. Luckily, my family was poor enough that we were getting government assistance and I got free hot lunch tickets to use at school. Every week I'd pick up these tickets and sell them to the other kids who were too impatient to wait in line themselves. I'd go across the street to a small grocery and buy new comics. With what I had left I would spend at the flea markets on whatever I found in the bins. My abuse of the system worked pretty well. I was becoming immersed in the likes of Aquaman, the Justice League, the All-Star Squadron, Superman, Donald Duck, Scamp (the naughty puppy from Lady and the Tramp), and whatever else (except Marvel for some reason). A growing demand for more and more comics plus the fact that I was starving soon put an end to my white-collar criminal antics and I soon got myself a real job as a paperboy. What I bought back then became the foundation for my love of the four-color medium, and therefore, I dedicate this blog to those quarter bins of yore.


GOAL

This blog is an offshoot of my main blog, "Bull Roar!" where I can go off on whatever subject on comic-books that I want to, without having to bore my non-comic-following readers .

It is with this blog that I'd like to present a discussion and review of comics that I've been reading, old and new. I especially hope to compile a chronological listing of such favorites of mine: Aquaman, Walt Disney's Scamp, Harvey's Black Cat, the Super Powers mini-series, and whatever else strikes my fancy. At the moment I'm without scanning equipment, so the graphics, unfortunately, may be kept to a minimum. I'd like that to change within a few months. Hopefully, I'll be able to present a forum that will keep your interest regardless of the number of images I'm capable of posting.

Happy Reading - here's to the quarter bins!