The 58th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: Great Dollar Bin Comics

Now if you're a comic book collector like me then you'd probably know what that means, The Dollar Bin.  I actually didn't know what a Dollar Bin was when I started reading and collecting comics, I had read the term, heard it being used here and there but I had no idea what it was.  I was a shy kid with a chip on my shoulder (strange combination, I know) so I refused to ask.  Did I try and find out?  Not really, I was of the mind that if I found out, I'd find out, if not, no loss, no gain.  Now in hind sight I think that was a bad idea to be so ill informed about what a Dollar Bin was.  Well, is. I guess there are still some stores that have Dollar Bins.

Welcome to the 58th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast.  I know I have not been updating the broadcast lately, I was busy with a project and the client was a little...no actually the client was extremely difficult to deal with.  Dealing with this client took up a lot of time and I had to forgo updating the broadcast.  Well, the project is DONE. I finally have some time to myself and I decided to get back in front of my laptop.  Coincidentally I had taken pics of a few comics I found many months ago and I realized that I haven't posted those pics in the broadcast, so I guess it's time I shared those comics.  Now bear in mind, these comics were the ones I bought in stores which couldn't sell them.  These were the comics that no one wanted and they were left in a corner somewhere in the store to practically rot away.  Talk about out of sight, out of mind.  Some were in really terrible condition and some were actually okay.  I've seen some store owners actually tear off the covers to indicate these were like discarded comics.  I didn't get those, I usually tried to look for comics that still had their front covers, ones that were still okay.

This is DC Silver Age Classics Showcase # 4 reprinting the first appearance of Barry Allen, The Flash.  The Flash made his first appearance in  that comic right there called Showcase issue # 4 which was released in 1956.  Now when I saw this in the pile of unwanted comics, I thought I hot a gold mine.  I thought I had a real classic comic, I was on Cloud 9.  After a while I realized it was a reprint.  This issue was written by Bob Kanigher, penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Joe Kubert.  This 36 paged comic featured two stories featuring the Origin and first appearance of The Flash [Barry Allen].  The first one was titled: Mystery of The Human Thunderbolt.  The second was titled: The Man Who Broke The Time Barrier written by John Broome, art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert.  I was puzzled how the store had this in their unwanted comics pile.  I asked and the store owner said that sometimes his customers would ask if they could sell their comics in his bookstore.  this usually happens when they wanted to get rid of their comics.  Apparently when I found them, this was all that was left. If only I had found out sooner.

Through this issue, I was introduced to the artwork of Carmine Infantino.  I had never seen his work before and at the time I wasn't appreciative of older comics, these days I try and collect as many as I can.  I found out a little but about Carmine Infantino and it seems that he had a lot to do with the character of the Flash and others as well.  During the time referred to as the Golden Age, Carmine Infantino introduced Black Canary in "Johnny Thunder" before Denny O'Neil stole her thunder. In the Silver Age, he modernized The Flash under Julius Schwartz (also with writer Robert Kanigher). He was promoted to art director (later editorial director); he brought O'Neil in among other new blood  After giving his publisher role to Jenette Kahn, Carmine went back to drawing, first at Marvel, then at DC. 

Here's another comic I found while going through a pile of comics a few years back.  This is Sgt. Rock Special # 7.  When I saw it, I wondered to myself, do I even want this?  I was a big fan of G.I. Joe back in the day, so I thought yeah why not.  It's a comic that I could just buy and read and not really have to take care of.  Well, to my surprise this issue of Sgt. Rock is still pretty good.  It's not mint or even close to near mint but it's pretty good, I think it's in the fine category.  This again is another issue that reprints some old war stories from various titles.

This issue had three war stories, the first is titled: Ice Cream Soldier featuring Sgt. Rock and Easy Company.  Written by Bob Kanigher, pencils and inks by Joe Kubert.  The second story was titled: Devastator Vs. Big Max featuring the team The Losers, now this one was a shocker for me.  It was written and penciled by Jack Kirby, inks by Mike Royer.  up until this comic, I had never seen Jack Kirby doing War comics before.  I was a little surprised.  The Third story was titled: Aim Your Cannons At Me featuring Tomahawk, written by Howard Liss, Art by Frank Thorne.  This was probably my first ever Sgt. Rock comic. I remember reading a few after this one.  War Is Hell was one of the catch phrases I remember from the issue I read.

 Now whether you're a fan of this genre of comics or not, you'd have to admit that Joe Kubert did some really great work on this character. I loved how Joe Kubert's art was so fluid and laid back and detailed as well.  You could actually feel the grittiness of the soldiers and the harsh environment the soldiers were in.  I still have that issue to this day, just wish that store owner didn't stick that price tag on it, then again it was in a pile of comics nobody wanted, sold to me for next to nothing, guess I shouldn't complain.

 The next comic was found in a store that had some comics for sale, more than the usual newspaper stands.  This shop I think was new and they stocked up on some comics and when a store is new, you get people asking them to sell their old magazines and comics.  Back in the day, these collectors just didn't care about their old comics, they didn't see anything of value in them and just wanted to get rid of them asap.  Sad.  Again I wish I had been there when they wanted to get rid of their "old unwanted" comics.  So, as I was looking through the unwanted pile, I came across this rather odd looking comic.

Anyone recognize this comic? Anyone?  Yep, this is Marvel Comics' adaptation of the Movie Buckaroo Banzai.  The year was 1984  when Marvel adapted  the 1984 film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.  The movie's original screenplay was written by Earl Mac Rauch.  This is Issue # 2, when I saw this I looked for Issue # 1 but it was nowhere to be seen.  I bought is because the art was actually quite good.

The artist of this 2 part limited series, Mark Texeira delivers solid actor likenesses in these panels of Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai, Ellen Barkin as Penny Priddy, Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Sydney “New Jersey” Zweibel and John Lithgow as Dr. Emilio Lizardo, in Marvel Comics’ 1984 official adaptation of the movie.  I liked the art, I was hooked, I bought it.  The limited series was written by Bill Mantlo, Mark Texeira and Armando Gill delivered the art.  In this issue, Buckaroo gets unexpected help from the eighth dimension to overcome Lizardo's evil alien gang.  Now reading this comic was like walking into a cineplex halfway through a movie but what could I do, the first part was missing.  I sometimes would read it just for the art and to this day that artwork still looks good.  Did I ever try to look for Issue # 1, nah, never did find it.  To this day I only have Issue # 2. Oh, the artist Mark Texeira would go on to be the regular artist for Ghost Rider and The Punisher.  Bill Mantlo wrote The Incredible Hulk and later Alpha Flight.

Do you remember the time Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen and a whole bunch of recording artists got together for the recording of We Are The World to fight famine in Africa?  Well, this is sorta like that, only with comics.  This is Marvel Comics' Heroes For Hope Starring The X Men.  The beautiful cover is by Art Adams.  This is a 'Jam' issue where a writer, artist, inker, letterer and color artist did from 1 to 3 pages, and each group of pages which is too many to list here.We had of course Chris Claremont, we Alan Moore, Mike Grell, John Byrne, John Romita Jr, Gray Morrow and so many others.  I was surprised to see this in a dollar bin/ unwanted pile.  It's such a unique book with so many famous names in one comic.  Yeah, the comic is not in great shape to say the least but I still have it and I think I'm gonna keep it.  If you have not read this comic, try and find maybe a digital copy, it's really interesting to read a story as told by so many creators.

Okay, when I saw this issue, I knew it was not the original, this is a reprint.  Marvel Tales # 173 reprinted The Amazing Spider Man # 34 written by Stan Lee, penciled and plotted by Steve Ditko and inked by Steve Ditko.  Marvel Tales was a comic you read if you couldn't get the original issues.  It even reprinted all the original letters the editors received in 1966.  So that was unique.  if you're wondering, this was the issue where Kraven dresses up as Spider-Man and harasses J. Jonah Jameson to get Spider-Man to come out for a re-match of their last fight.  

Anyone recognize this comic? This is Hardware Issue # 1 published under a DC Comics Imprint called Milestone Comics.  Hardware # 1 featured a cover by Denys Cowan and Jimmy Palmiotti.  Hardware was written by Dwayne McDuffie, Art by Denys Cowan and Jimmy Palmiotti.  When Milestone Comics started up, they also had a premium version of this title, one where the cover had silver ink on it.  It was the time of gimmicks I guess.  This was one of those surprise finds, one I never expected to see because this was not a newstand edition, this was the Direct Edition.  Looks like someone decided to throw out their collection by either selling them cheap to a bookstore some where, just to get rid of them.  In issue # 1 of Hardware, we meet Curtis Metclaf aka Hardware and we get to find out how he became Hardware.  Interesting issue.  Wish I had more of it, as I only found this one and issue # 2.  

Wow, taking a look at these issues reminds me of the time when I bought a lot of discarded, unsold and unwanted comics.  Some of these comics were really great comics, some were great finds which I keep to this day.  These days being able to find some old comic, some gems in those dollar bins is not something that happens too often.  But I guess that's where the fun lies sometime, to stumble across a gem of a comic in a dollar bin or in my case the unwanted, discarded comics pile.

Oh, there is this one comic I found in a dollar bin many years ago.  It was just in terrible shape but it has become a comic I still cherish to this day and that's want I'll share with you on the next edition of the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, until next time, you take care and enjoy your comics.