It’s amazing how many times on Facebook, or different message boards someone gets made out to be the bad guy. I tend to take most of these comments as nothing more than someones opinion, not necessarily fact. I have also noticed how many of the masters have disparaging things said about them or that they have opinions that are, well, opinionated?
There are a lot of great bits of info or storytelling to be made out of the many comments you find, but one of the things that burns me is the lack of respect by many of the said commentators to the very thing that they themselves are doing. Expressing an opinion.
In these over the top, hyperbolic times that we live in, where narratives are created and pushed on a daily basis, I like nothing more than to be able to curl up with a good book and view some of the great art and stories that have brought me such joy over the decades.
Today we are able to pick up a ton of information on the creators many of us grew up with, very simply, though not necessarily without somewhat great expense.
Two Morrows Publishing has a treasure trove of information available on creators of the Golden Age up to the Modern Masters. Autobiographies and interesting interviews that were not available to the general public back when I started collecting comics. The Modern Masters series from Two Morrows publishing showcasing everyone from Frank Cho to John Romita Jr to Lee Weeks. The only thing we had was the comics themselves…and Stan’s Soapbox. Now we have a veritable treasure trove of material available with the click of a mouse. Alter Ego, Comic Book Creator and Draw!
At your favorite booksellers, books such as Big John Buscema Comics and Drawings, Mark Schultz Portfolio, Frank Frazetta Legacy, Tim Sale Black and White, Frazetta Sketchbook, The Creativity of Ditko, not to mention prestige editions like Absolute Dark Knight or Alex Toth Bravo For Adventure. Just to name a few!
No shortage of IDW Artists Editions with some stuff that is up coming like Jack Kirby Heroes and Monsters and the never before seen original art for the Prisoner, which has been, who knows where, since the mid seventies. And who isn’t saving up their nickels for the soon to be released John Byrne’s X-Men Artifact Edition!
So we live in interesting times indeed, where we can get just about more info than you need regarding the creators that have brought us joy, and more importantly, we can get our hands on these gorgeous books with more art than you can shake a light saber at and reprinted stories in a multitude of formats the satisfy the hunger we have for all things comics!
So make a list of your favorite creators and check out some of the publishers mentioned. I am sure you won’t be disappointed!
Continued Happy Collecting!
5
You are so right. As a guy who has been collecting and also dealing in all these comics-related books for almost five decades now…whew…I want to second you. This IS the Golden Age for books about comics and comic artists, and books collecting old comics and newspaper strips. It’ll never be better than this. As we boomers age out, the market for Golden Age material, especially nostalgia-inducing newspaper strips, is going to shrink. And I am at the younger end of the boomers, born in 1952, my older customers, the core market for many of these books, are retiring, down sizing and, sadly, passing away.
Interest in comics is already migrating seriously from Gold to Silver Age. The dealers confirm this. And even secondary titles from early Silver Age will also begin to lose its appeal as guys like us who grew up them age out.
The top stuff will always be reprinted and read by younger readers. Superman, Batman Spidey and primo Marvel, EC. But its the slightly lesser material will be slowly forgotten and no longer collected.
The Golden Age Daredevil. Plastic Man. Boy Commandos. The Golden Age Sandman. Blackhawk. Golden Age Ghost Rider. ACG.
And the strips…Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Rip Kirby, Cisco Kid, Little Orphan Anne, Bringing up Father, Dick Tracy, will go the way of Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Big Little Books, even Dime Novels. .. Publishers need base audience of people who once read and have always wanted the material. Or at least the following generation like me, like you and I who grew up in the Silver Age, and wanted that work from the generation before we began reading conics. Thats a much longer stretch for modern kids, far more removed from their world.
And of course there is so much for out there to interest younger fan that we had, when in our world comics were only 25 or 30 years old.
I see the same thing happening in the world of Illustrated Books circa 1890-1950 and Victorian books from before 1900. The very best gets collected on the internet and in the very occasional print edition. But lesser lights are neglected now, material that was hot 25-35 years ago.
So enjoy it while it lasts! I am.
Dennis/Bud
Couldn’t agree more with what the pair of you have posted here.
Dennis, totally agree the amount of available printed knowledge on the history of comics from artists to writers has never been better. I lived through a lot of it as a comic fan and collector, but do find the personal accounts from creators of how and why things happened. in many cases to be more interesting than the books themselves. Thanks for posting this Dennis.
Bud your assessment of the current and future market mirrors my own “gut feel” of the situation and hearing from you only helps confirm/cement those feelings. In particular the Platinum and Golden age books. Thanks for the comments Bud, from another “late boomer”..
Great to hear from you both!The fact that the collectable market is so nostalgia driven cannot be denied.Sure there are a few anomalies but it is becoming more apparent with each passing year and the loss of the great creators that we had best enjoy it while we can because there is so much to enjoy and unfortunately, so little time.