Here comes…Daredevil!

One of my go to comic characters from the 60’s was Daredevil. He was easier than most comic characters for me to relate to. No real super powers, Matt Murdock had acquired enhanced sensory powers when he lost his sight in an accident while trying to save someone when he was just a kid. He didn’t let his loss of sight slow him down and the youngster grew up to be a successful lawyer and the longstanding crime fighting hero Daredevil. My initial comic reading of this character took place in the issue’s #20 thru #53 time period. Our arc and run feature today take’s place right in the middle of this run and we also take a quick jump over to the Fantastic 4 to complete our story. Let’s take a look at this run, broken into four story arcs.

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Hidden Gems

This train of thought got me wondering about those books that have no real financial value at all. That is you could probably find them in quarter bins or bargain basement section of your local comic book shop. These comic books probably wouldn't ever be worth anything, but they have one redeeming value; they are great stories. They are these amazing little gems that for whatever reason will never be a big book or sought after by any collector except for the absolute completionist, but man are they great stories. Here are 3 of my favourite hidden gems.

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Slam-Bang 7

This week I want to talk about a significant comic from the late WECA period, Slam-Bang Comics No. 7, with a cover date of May, 1946. (Jim Finlay informs me that his indicia for this issue has the date July, 1946 pencilled in, maybe with the May date whited out? Anybody else have a copy they could check?) It took the cover banner from Fawcett’s short live run of a same titled series of 7 issues from 1940, but why it began in Canada with an initial number 7 is still a mystery. Perhaps it was some sort of nod or licensing response to the Fawcett run, but who knows?

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The moment that almost ended the Batman! Not a hoax!

Where’s MY parade? Where’s MY party? Where’s MY 75th anniversary? Sheesh! None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for me! But you don’t see any 3-d holographic wrap-around foil covers with MY mug on them! You don’t see any $699 maquette statue with HARLEY QUINN rubbing her tatas on me! How about a little slice of the 75th anniversary for me? YOU GUYS OWE ME!!!

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Saakel’s Satire

The Whites were not only about the cliffhanger dramatics of superheroes, spies, and soldiers taking on the Axis. Satirical strips like Steele’s Private Stuff and Saakel’s Spike and Mike, both in Joke Comics, were just plain tongue-in-cheek fun.

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I am Starlord!

Every time there is a new release of a comic book movie, I help out Big B Comics in Barrie at our local theatre with a table. We have a display set up helping promote the store, and we give away comics and prizes before each screening. The last couple times Dee (Stephanie) and I dress up in cosplay and have fun with the crowds. Seven days before the movie's release we decided we would try to come up with a Guardian's themed costume. Time would be tight, but we scrambled to find the materials it would take to put it all together.

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Black and White and Bronze

When Marvel stepped into the B&W magazine business in the early '70s it was a bold experiment. There were a few fits and starts along the way with well over two years between Savage Tales number 1 and 2. But by the time The Savage Sword of Conan came about the market seemed to get a lot of the distribution problems and scheduling pretty well done right.

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News From Comic Con

Well, another year and another San Diego Comic Con has come and gone. With it brought a deluge of announcements on new projects, movies, tv shows, video games, and comic books. Some of the announcements were pretty obvious, and others caught me by surprise. Here, in no particular order, are the things that I was excited to hear about.

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TAS: Masks, Calories, and Beavers

In late 1944, Steele seemed to have come up with the idea of doing cut-out masks of a few of the lead Bell characters on the inside covers of some of the Bell Features books. We modern collectors look back somewhat aghast on this because, just like Bell’s placement of cut-out coupons in similar locations, it must have led to wanton disfigurement of many of these books, but such were the ways of the world back then towards something that was seen as ultimately disposable and easily remaindered. Steele signed these "fathead" portraits with his shortened monogram "TAS."

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