Birthday Gifts Part 2

For part 2 of my showing off the birthday swag, I am showing off 2 comic books my buddy, George, gave me. Now these are comics from my childhood, the 1970's. When I tore off the wrapping paper and saw the comics I got, I was quite pleased to, say the least.

If you were a child of the 70's, you owned over sized comic books or Treasury Editions, at one time or another. Usually, the stories inside were reprints of older stories, but there was about 3 or 4 stories in these issues. I remember owning quite a few of these. I would lie on the floor, on my belly and read these books. These were my graphic novels, before there were graphic novels. I read stories about the Justice Society Of America, Superman, Wonder Woman, and one shot stories like Spider-Man vs Superman or Superman vs Muhammad Ali and loved reading them. George had given me a Spectacular Spider-Man book and now he added these two to my collection.

I had been actually watching a few eBay auctions, hoping to snag this book. Luck would have it, I got one for my birthday. Love the cover art on this book. Unfortunately, it doesn't say who drew it inside or out. There are 5 Batman stories inside written by writers like John Broome, Bill Finger, Denny O'Neil and art by Neil Adam, Carmine Infantino and Dick Sprang. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I really can't wait to read some of the classic stories that are inside.

A shot of the back cover

A look at some awesome Infantino art on the inside.

Here's a book I had owned as a kid and was thrilled to re-add to my collection. I loved reading this adaptation  of The Empire Strikes Back. Marvel did an excellent job with it and  look forward to re-reading this again. The book was written by Archie Goodwin with the art shared by Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon. Not an exact word for word retelling of the movie, but it didn't have to be. The writing was real good in this book and the art was fantastic. Flipping through it bought back tons of memories for me.

A look at the back of the book. AT-AT's on a cold Hoth day.

A look inside of the book. What did I tell you about that art, huh? Pretty sweet.

Big thanks to my buddy George for the trip down memory lane with these two awesome comics. I am definitely to old to lie on my belly on the floor (I might be able to get back up), but I am going to have fun reading these books and feeling young while doing so.

God, I Miss These...

I have to admit, as of late I have been on a serious Batman kick. I read nothing but Batman comics, watch Batman movies, peep out Batman cartoons (The day I finally bought Filmation's The New Adventures Of Batman on DVD, I danced a jig right in Barnes N Noble) buy Batman goodies,and rock my Batman t-shirts. I have been bitten by the Bat-Bug, if you will (Dusty Rhodes in da hiz-ouse).

Lately, I have been wanting to change out my shelf and display some of my Batman toys and memorabilia. As I started to think about what I wanted to display, I started thinking about some of the stuff I had as a child of the late 70's, early 80's. My first thought was "God, I'm old". Then I thought of all the cool things I owned and lost or had tossed out by my mom. 

Here are some of the awesome things I had and will someday re-own. These are not my photos, so to the people who posted these on the internet, I thank you for the loan.

1-Remco Batman Helicopter

This thing was pretty tricky to use. You had to use a set of 2 levers to lift and lower the Bat-copter and pick up cardboard figures of The Joker, Riddler and Penguin. If memory serves me correctly, that was pretty much it. Not even sure I ever mastered the maneuvering of the Bat-copter. 

Avon Batman Hairbrush

I remember getting this brush from my aunt one Christmas and using it to brush my mane everyday. I had long, hippy hair as a child and this brush came in handy, except for brushing out tangles. The bristles in this brush were soft, but still hurt when you had a determined mother trying to get that last and most difficult knot out. I believe this brush met an untimely end when it dropped off the dresser. I remember dropping to my knees like Wilhem Dafoe did in Platoon.

Duncan Yo-Yo

One side Caped Crusader, other side Dynamic Duo. I won this Yo-Yo at a Yo-Yo demonstration at the Riverdale Public Library. I don't remember what the contest was, but I do remember that I was handed a Yo-Yo of the Incredible Hulk and the other kid I was paired up with was given the Batman Yo-Yo. Now, I was (and still am) a huge fan of the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno Incredible Hulk T.V. Series, but The Hulk was no Batman, dammit! Plus, the kid who got the Batman Yo-Yo was wearing a Hulk t-shirt, so you would have thought that the lady would have given the kid the Hulk and me Batman. The kid came up to me and asked if I wanted to trade. Um, did Burt Ward have a Holy something for everything? I accepted the trade and played with that thing until some dimwitt stole it off my desk at school. Sigh, I miss Walking The Dog with that thing.

Duncan Batmobile

I remember laying with this car on the floor of my room for hours, running over my other toys with it. All while singing The Batman Theme from the 1966 TV Series in a loud, obnoxious kiddie voice. I'm sure it annoyed my mom and sister to no end. Is it any wonder this turned up among the missing not too long after I got it? It turned me into Encyclopedia Brown, trying to learn it's location. I interrogated my mom and sister. They weren't talking. My mom claimed I left it at the park, but I know better. when Jimmy Hoffa is finally found and there is a Duncan Batmobile next to him, please return it to me.

Ben Cooper Batman Jiggly Figure

As weird as this thing is, I had an absolute blast with it. He fought crime, he bounced, he did the Bat-Tutsi. I think Ben Cooper came out with a few others. I have the Spider-Man one, but I would love to get this one back in my collection someday.

Mego Bat computer

Yeah, I know. I've talked about this thing ad nausea already. But I absolutely loved this thing, not I could actually make any communication with anyone on it. When my granddad gave it to me as a Christmas gift, little did he know that I would, again, drive my family crazy with it. It made a lot of sounds, picked up police and truck driver radio signals and oh those pretty, blinking lights. It was beautiful. I was the moth being led into the light. Plus, it's a Mego toy. This is one of my holy grails and I will have this again.

Sooner or later, I will come up on all these awesome toys from my childhood and I won't be able to resist adding them to my Batman collection. Once I re-added my vintage Spider-Man bank, it was on. I started a quest for my holy grails and I will not be stopped until my vintage Batman collection has all these goodies and more. Que the Indian Jones theme and hand me that Fedora and whip.