“I stayed at home on the Fourth of July
And I pulled the shades so I didn’t have to see the sky
And I decided to have a Bed In
But I forgot to invite anybody”
– “Fouth of July”, a song from the 1990 album “This Is Our Music” by Galaxie 500.
Those following lyrics that I just quoted…that’s exactly what I did today. I stayed at home for the Fourth of July. Not complaining though, ’cause I was working on some forthcoming stories. One is for the next season of Shitty Mickey, the webcomic I’m doing with writer extraordinaire John Reed. The other story is for a future comicbook anthology.
I only stepped outside once today from my apartment. Got my usual iced coffee and the latest issue of Rolling Stone, which I haven’t read in a hot minute. On the cover was Lady Gaga adorned in riffle gun glory. Ted Nugget would be jealous. The current cover price for Rolling Stone circa 2010 is $5.99. Made me wax nostalgic for the days when comics were $1.oo, and music magazines were $2.00 -$3.00 a pop. Not gonna lie; during my ‘tween’ years I wasted my allowance way more on music magazines than on comics. You see, I went from Harvey comic titles straight into Rock and 80s New Wave. Later on I became a serious comic fan thanks to Love and Rockets.
Safe to say that if I was a teen today, I would probably skip publications like Rolling Stone and go straight for graphic novels. For starters, most new music is utter crap. Knowing me, I would probably be the only kid in junior high who would know, for example, who The Gossip is. That’s exactly what my tastes would most likely gyrate to. Like back then, I was the only kid into bands like (early) The B-52s, Devo, Bow Wow Wow, etc. And I watched reruns of Doctor Who, when Tom Baker was king. So most likely, if I was a kid now, I would probably go online and order graphic novels from Amazon. I mean…$5.99 for Rolling Stone? And where’s my hommie, Hunter S. Thompson? No thanks.
Anyway, a few hours later, the boyfriend starts digging through his Captain America back issue slash. For the occasion, he showed this particular one:
Wow, this took me back. For those who don’t know, the Marvel Treasury Editions were oversized comics popular in the 1970s. Usually it had the legendary characters like The Hulk, Conan, Thor, as well as the lesser known ones like The Defenders and Luke Cage. DC had oversized comics too, but for today we’ll focus on the Marvel stuff. Oh, and btw, you know you were made in the 1970s when you landed your very own Marvel Treasury Edition. The infamous rock band Kiss had their very own edition. So if you translate this into today’s terms, no doubt Lady Gaga would have one to call her own.
The films of the days got their own Marvel Treasury adaptations as well. I can fondly recall getting my Star Wars copy, thanks to mom. Strange, I have no idea whatever happened to that issue. Actually, I can’t really recall whether I had issue one or issue two, but I did own a Star Wars edition.
You learn something new everyday. I just found out that Stanely Kubrick’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey” also reached Treasury status. Bet you it must be really trippy.
Years later as an adult, I got a Treasury edition of Howard The Duck. Picked this one up last year at the Boston Comic Con.
Back to the Captain American issue. The artwork was done by the man himself, Jack Kirby. Check out the back cover featuring Uncle Sam (which Cap affectionately just calls ‘Sam’) and a funky inside splash page. The back cover is particularly fetching since Jack Kirby was a veteran of World War II.
Sorry about not being able to fit the full size of these Marvel Editions onto my scanner. These Marvel Treasuries are of course, oversized. Then again, its “fitting” to say that nothing’s more American than being ‘oversized.’ The only difference between these and let’s say a McDonald’s ‘Supersize’ meal is that these comics were much more healthier. Plus comics last longer. You never have to worry about sequential art infecting your colon while leaving behind unwanted calories. So there.
WitchesBrewPress's Blog 