Silver Comics for the Holidays? 

That's no typo... I didn't mean 'Silver Age Comics' for the Holidays; I did mean 'Silver Comics' as shown in the above right top photo!  That's because I was asked by a potential customer what comic books I would recommend for a pre-teen son of theirs...

This question was asked in between the time we held a 'Black Friday Special Event' and then our 'Cyber Monday' listings.  This question is one of the HARDEST questions nowadays for me to answer, because most of the comic books being published today are definitely NOT for Kids!

And yes, I do read, and possibly review those other comics and also graphic novels here in my Blog!   But I do put warnings as to whom I think those comics / graphic novels are meant for.

So I mentioned the above 'Silver Comics' to the potential customer, and sent them to the Silver Comics web site to purchase them from since we don't currently have them in stock.  I also mentioned at the same time that I had grown up during the 'Silver Age of Comics' and really enjoyed this  9 issues series myself, and that others that grew up during that time period would more than likely also enjoy this series!

I've already blogged about issue #1 here before (click here)... and then jumped to Issue #3 that had covers by George Tuska, (who passed away recently), and Nick Cardy, (click here for that post).

However, I'll just backtrack for a moment and blog here about issue #2.  First, here is the press release info on the second issue, as to what stories it contains:

Cloud Buster: "The Bigger They Are -- The Harder They Fall!" Johnny Ortiz (story, penciller), Dan Beltran (writer), Alfredo Nunez (inker) Doctor Prime works with Tom (and his damaged Cloud Buster armor) in the lab. Tom remains a giant; he and the armor will not reduce back to normal size. General Holt's army attacks Ash Island. Dr. Ash transfers his mind into the body of a giant troll.

Sea-Bolt: "The Attack of Dr. Dark's Brain!" Johnny Ortiz (writer, penciller), Dan Beltran (co-writer), Tony Hamad (inker) Zarro's sub (with the captured Sea-Bolt inside) is attacked by another sub controlled by Dr. Dark's brain. An American destroyer drops a sonic charge at both subs. Sea-Bolt retrieves his helmet and tail section and fights Zarro. Both subs explode. Sea-Bolt survives, but is captured by a giant sea-serpent.

Dr. Monster: "The Origin of Dr. Monster, Part 2: When Titans Crumble!" Johnny Ortiz (story, penciller), Dan Beltran (writer), Lou Rodriguez (inker) Timo watches in shock as Man-Star, under arrest for murder, is led into a transport rocket. Timo hopes that Countess Kira can help Man-Star. Kira's father, set to take control of the Council, assures her that although Man-Star has been a hero to their world, the law must be upheld.

The Man Called Santa: "Jingle Hell! Jingle Hell!" Johnny Ortiz (writer, artist), Dan Beltran (co-writer) Santa fights back against Satan. Rudolph the Laser-Nosed Reindeer defeats the Martian commander Nodge. However, Satan has captured Santa's soul.

Here are my thoughts on those stories:

Cloud Buster:   This series continued to remind me of the early 1960's tales when the MoNSTer comics were evolving into Sci-Fi and then Superheroes comics.  Still kept my interest!

Sea Bolt:   In a previous blog I mentioned that this story reminded me of the Sub-Mariner stories in the 'Tales To Astonish' title.  Subby is NOT one of my favorite Marvel characters, I liked it mostly for the Adam Austin (Gene Colan) art, but this Sea Bolt storyline continued to remind me of why I liked the Subby series!

Dr. Monster:  The origin of Dr. Monster continues... like most 'origin stories' you kind of are waiting for the action to begin... but this origin has a good background going on.

The Man Called Santa:  Because of the 'cartoony' aspect of the artwork, I'm okay with still recommending this comic book title as a whole for pre-teens, even though Satan is involved in the storyline.

So I've presented you with what the 2nd issue contains and my thoughts on it.  Also I've provided you with links to my blog posts on the 1st and 3rd issues for my other reviews.  So you can see that I do enjoy this series, and do highly recommend it for those that are looking to get others interested into comics that are NOT ready for the 'grim n gritty' comics that you find so often out there at the LCBS in your area.  Plus, I truly believe that they make a great gift for someone who used to read comics during the 'Silver Age of Comics' and hasn't read a comic book in years!  And you know what...?  I'd even mention it to those that like the 'grim n gritty' comics of today just to expand their horizons in reading!

You can find out about their latest updates plus what you can purchase from the Silver Comics folks by going to their Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!

If you aren't a member of Facebook, then you can go directly to their web site at: http://www.silvercomics.org/

Thanks again to Johnny and Vince for taking the time to introduce me to this series when I met them at the recent Long Beach Comic Con (LBCC)! 

Last Friday, Tina and I held a 'Black Friday Special Event' at our exhibitor table at the Facebook Comic Con for ten hours...

Facebook Comic Con is a 'virtual comic convention', so having what is traditionally seen as a 'brick n mortar' event online on a Friday may seem a little strange.  However we were attempting to tie into the national event that according to CNN's Heidi Collins report that I just viewed while having breafast, had 195 million shoppers attend!  The average of what each shopper spent however was $343, which was down from last year.

Today's "Cyber Monday" is expected to have 100 million 'attendees' browsing on computers, especially at those attendees' places of work!  Tina commented while watching the CNN report with me about who doesn't have some sort of computer at home by now?  But I could see that several persons were too busy with guests over the long weekend, and otherwise occupied, so I could see several persons sneaking onto their 'work computers' to attend 'Cyber Monday'!

Anyways, I'm just posting a shorter blog post this morning, so I can get back to listing comics, graphic novels, toys, etc. in our own online store at: http://www.MakeItSoMarketing.com .  We had almost 6,000 listings posted as of last night, after selling quite a bit over the 'Black Friday Event / Weekend'.  So we'll see what happens today on 'Cyber Monday' saleswise.   

Thanks again to those that joined us during our 'Black Friday Event', and for those that stopped in at our online store over the weekend!  For those of you that are looking for inexpensive comics or back issues for yourself or your comics collector / reader friends, our store is always 'open' whether it's Cyber Monday or just a regular Tuesday!  We do have several thousand back issues of comics starting at only $1.95 plus shipping! 

Two Weeks ago I started blogging a series about "The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego", as told by Jamie Newbold  of Southern California Comics in San Diego, (click here for Part I) and (click here for Part II)...

Southern California Comics, a.k.a. SoCal Comics, is owned by Jamie Newbold and is one of the major places in Metro San Diego area that I stop in at for comic book supplies and new comics for myself. 

When I stopped there the previous week for the FACTION comic book signing, (click here for that blog), Jamie and I went over what's been going on in San Diego sales wise for comics. 

Part I of this series was an introduction to the Store, Store Sales, and New Comics. Part II was on individual Comic Book Publishers' titles sales at his store. The following is from Jamie's own words about his activities at Southern California comic book conventions:

"CONVENTION SALES:  On a convention level, my main show presence is at the San Diego Comic Con International. I also attend one or two other shows during the year. I gather gossip and stories from other dealers (including other Overstreet advisors).

Patterns develop each year and I’m privy to the information that explains those patterns. One pattern that escaped my best prediction was the lack of sales at the 2009 San Diego Con.

2008 was a banner year for us in that the convention was just a good, easy show all the way around. However, in 2009, the show was set squarely in the second year of our country’s economic recession. In contrast to the previous show, I felt the reluctance of buyer’s spending money this year. Factors included an overcrowded dealer’s room, freebie frenzy by attendees, a lack of back-issue buyers (the common feeling was that many held off until Sunday to make their purchases) and the Hollywood distraction.

I commiserated with many fellow dealers and learned it wasn’t just me who experienced low sales. No one changed seller styles or offered different products...which generally stay the same each year. The fact is that we didn’t change--the Con changed. One major difference that many have seen is that the Gold and Silver Age sellers have reduced in numbers but attendance has increased.

Where and why have all the buyers gone? One dire consequence of dealer placement and large crowds are the throngs of people blocking access to one booth to get freebies or signings at another. Small press and publishers have been crammed into the same, tight area we occupy. They run promotions that generate huge lines of people and block aisles.

Back issue guys don’t draw large crowds so we can’t fight back. The Con managers do little or nothing to alleviate the stress. What a zoo. The sheer volume of people at our end of the room makes access to our booths a struggle. I’d like to see the show authorities fix that.

One irksome, logistical nightmare that Comic Con presents is their feedback period. Dealers with issues relating to convention problems are welcome to present them on the last day of the show. As a veteran of many Cons, I’ve gathered plenty of complaints, but I never get to air them.

Why? The main reason is that the forum is held for one hour late in the afternoon on the last day when business and theft are especially heavy. When we are all busy standing in long pre-registration lines for next year’s show. When the crush to leave the dealer’s room is at its greatest I’m stuck at my booth working. In fifteen years I’ve never had a problem-free show and never been able to make it to the forum. COME ON!

I give kudos to the fledgling Long Beach Comic Con. Wizard World LA left a gap when it disappeared. The Long Beach people happily filled that gap. I thought the little show had heart. Now, go see it and spend some money when it returns!

Terry’s Comics runs its own annual show in Orange County. It’s dominated by Terry’s desire to honor the traditions of shows of yesteryear where back issues were the draw. Support Terry and all of us Gold/Silver/Bronze guys and show up."  (Michael's Note: Show is called the CalComicCon)

Jamie went on to talk about his Web Site Sales / and eBay & other Auction Site Sales, which I will be posting in Part IV to follow soon... 

Thanks again to Jamie Newbold for sharing the above with me and giving me permission to post it in my Blog!

For those of you that are looking at visiting the San Diego area soon, be sure to visit Jamie's SoCal Comics store.  There is much more to comics in San Diego than just the once a year Comic Con International: San Diego (CCI / SDCC) that over 125,000 people attend!

Here's the direct link to Jamie's store:  http://www.socalcomics.com/!

Yesterday was our Facebook Comic Con | Make It So Marketing exhibitor table's Black Friday Special Event...

I decided to set up and run this special event, on my own, after seeing no other Facebook Fan Pages or Group Pages that I belong to, doing such an event, or at least publicizing it by Tuesday evening.

So, I set up the 'Event Page' first with just the preliminary data to have a 'flyer / poster' to promote. That was finished at 6:45 PM on Tuesday evening.

What's an Event without prizes?  So I thought since the Black Friday Event would be running from 8AM PST to 6PM PST on Friday, I should have hourly prizes.  So I pulled a few comic book sets and graphic novels that I had been sent by the creators of those projects for possible review to give away as prizes.  I only pulled the items that I posted favorable reviews on, as in the back of my mind I wanted to use those publications as additional promotional bonus for those creators / publishers. 

Then I started sending out 'invites' on Wednesday Morning, the day before Thanksgiving Day to those 'Facebook Friends' of mine at 4:45 AM. 

Since I was going to have to shut down operations for the day to drive up to Los Angeles at 10AM, there was only so much I could do to send out invites and continue setting up the event.  So only approximately half of the 3,200 Facebook Friends that I have in my network were sent 'invites' to attend at that time.

When I arrived back to my 'home office' later that day, I was able to send out a few more invites, but the final ones were sent Thursday morning, (yes... Thanksgiving Day), to the rest of the Facebook Friends.  Since I was getting a late start in setting up and promoting this Black Friday Event, I wasn't able to send out email invites to non-Facebook Friends.  That would have involved retrieving their email addresses and inserting into the invitation messages.

Next I started adding more Free Prizes to be given away.  There would have to be a total of ten prizes, as I figured giving out one an hour, on the hour.  So the first one would be given away at 9AM PST.  That went smoothly, except for one thing I noticed...

In the Event text, and in the communications I was sending out, it stated that to be eligible to win a Free Prize you had to be 'attending'.  What?  Isn't Facebook Comic Con a 'virtual comic convention'?  How could you be 'attending' an event that is in a 'virtual world'? 

Well... in the RSVP Box at the Event itself, there were three choices to choose from:  'Attending', 'Maybe Attending' and 'Not Attending'.  In the actual emailed invites that went out to my Facebook Friends there was another choice, 'Ignore'.   

With over 3,200 Facebook Friends I get a LOT of invites to Fan Pages, Group Pages, Events, Causes, Game Applications, etc.  And yes, I do click the 'Ignore' button on 'Causes' and 'Game Applications'... I do admit that! 

Additionally, since I am a comic book dealer online as well as a blogger that reviews comics, graphic novels and other publications, I don't want to possibly alienate my potential sales or reader base by joining causes!  Causes that I either believe in that may not be 'popular' with some or all of my friends, group members, or readers, OR causes that I just don't want to be associated with, even though they may be 'popular' with many others but not with me.  So I do click the 'Ignore' button on Causes that are sent to me to join. 

I also click on the 'Ignore' button for All Applications sent to me now.  I used to participate in several, but found as my 'Friends' Network grew, it took longer and longer for several of the applications to work.  It had to be something about pulling up the increasing numbers of Facebook Friends in the Network I've been building to make the application (app) work.

As a side note, I read recently that the 'average' Facebook user had 152 Facebook Friends.  My network is now over 3,200.  The maximum number of 'Friends' a person is allowed to have is 5,000! So if you have a smaller network of 'Friends' then an app would probably work faster... 

Getting back to our Facebook Comic Con (FBCC) Group Page... I also want to mention that the FBCC is a network of creators and other exhibitors such as ourselves that are involved in the comics / cartooning industry.  Tina and I are online comic book dealers, who also happen to have a Blog, (http://www.comicbookcollectorsblog.com/  ), that you are reading right now.  

The Facebook Comic Con network has over 380 'exhibitor tables' under the FBCC umbrella.  FBCC was founded earlier in 2009 by Michael Netzer.  I have written a few blog posts about other sanctioned events that the FBCC has put on.  An important number to remember is that according to Facebook policy, a 'Group Page' can only have 5,000 group members.   You may see other pages that have up to a million 'fans'.  Those pages are 'Fan Pages', which don't have a maximum set number of who can join.  A 'Group Page' is limited because there are supposed to be only so many members in a 'group', and 5,000 was the chosen number of maximum membership.

Okay, so I've covered FBCC itself, our FBCC - MISM exhibitor table, and the special FBCC - MISM Black Friday Event.  From there I've gone into setting up the Free Prizes to be awarded, and the invitations... So What Happened Yesterday?

First, sending out invites and the responses:   The person(s) setting up the event can't see how many invitees actually clicked the 'Ignore' button on the actual invation.  The person(s) setting up the event can see the number of 'Confirmed Guests' - those that clicked the Attending radio button.  They can also see the number of 'Maybe Attending'.  In my Event's case I deliberately set the 'Not Attending' persons to Not be seen by others, as those numbers would more likely be higher than those 'Attending'.  I could still see those persons named as 'Not Attending' in the Event administrator's control box.  The last number would be those that I would be 'Awaiting Reply'.  As you can see below, that number is quite large for this event.  But remember I only started setting this up on Tuesday night.

Here is a link to the actual event from yesterday:  

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=345907200385&ref=mf

Here is a link to the main Facebook Comic Con Page, which is actually defined as: FACEBOOK COMIC CON is an unofficial virtual comics, animation and media convention bringing together the robust community of industry professionals and fans registered on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63366131619&ref=ts

So, I've covered the invites and responses participation.

What about the Prizes?   Yes, All ten of the prizes were awarded!  And will be shipped Free of Charge by us to the winners. The full list of winners will be posted on 'The Wall' of the Event, as I have received a message this morning already asking for a full list.  What I had posted was each winner's name along with the prize that was awarded after each hour.

Participation is the next part of this blog's topic.   For whatever reasons, there were still invitees that chose to only 'Maybe Attend', even though in the communications sent out and on the event page itself, it stated that you had to click the 'Attending' radio button to be eligible to 'win' a Free Prize.   I do appreciate those that chose to 'Maybe Attend', but sorry to see that their names would not be eligible to 'win' a prize.  And the Prizes were good! 

Here's the link to the prizes that were given away:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=345907200385&ref=mf#/photo_search.php?oid=345907200385&view=all 

My thanks to those creators / publishers that sent me those publications to read and possibly review in this Blog!  They made wonderful prizes, and I included a link on each photo's page to the review blog I wrote about each publication.

My thoughts yesterday, and now this morning after the event as to why the participation was lower than we would have liked.  Yes, the event invitations went out a little late.  But usually 'Black Friday Events' are sprung on the public just a day or two in advance in the 'real world'. 

Secondly, it seems that the idea of 'Attending' an Event, even though it is a 'virtual event' in a 'virtual world' is a little hard to convey to the invitees.  I've noticed that before at other sanctioned events at the main Facebook Comic Con.  All I was asking for was for the invitee to click the 'Attending' radio button in the 'RSVP' box to be eligible to win a Free Prize!  No Purchase necessary!

Purchases?  Yes, during this 10 hour Black Friday special event, we at http://www.MakeItSoMarketing.com were  giving 'Free Shipping' to any purchases made by those with US mailing addresses during this time. Besides getting our own online store's name made more 'visible', along with our Group Page for 'Facebook Comic Con | Make It So Marketing', our intent was to also give our Facebook Friends OR our Group Page Members a chance to purchase back issues of comics, graphic novels, and other items with FREE shipping as a Bonus during that ten hour period.  

I have learned a lot during the past few days on setting up a Facebook Event, promoting it, running it, and communicating before, during, and now after the event itself.   Those that say every business should have a 'Facebook Presence' probably have never set up and run a 'Facebook Event'!

I have already set up several Fan Pages or Group Pages for others during the past year+ I have been on Facebook as a paid consultant.  Trust me on this one our blog readers, setting up an Event on Facebook is 'rewarding' in more ways than one.  But it is a LOT of work!  Especially if You are the person that is doing the majority of the set up and running it, in the hopes of making it 'interactive' during that period of time the Event is running.  I'm glad that we decided to only run our Event for the 10 hour time period... I was groggy by 6:00 PM after being up at 4:45 AM yesterday getting ready for the Event! 

My Thanks to all that participated in this special Event yesterday, whether by donating the prizes awarded, or by clicking the 'Attending' or 'Maybe Attending' buttons.  And my Thanks for those that either publicly wrote on the Event's wall or my own personal Facebook member wall or sent me a private message!

AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!  

For the past several years during this Thanksgiving Holiday time I have had a blog series of "Whom I Am Thankful For"...

This year I have been so busy that I haven't blogged a series like that so far, but I did find after checking our blog stats yesterday, that those earlier archived blog posts on "Whom I Am Thankful For" were being viewed by several other readers of my blogs...

So that I can share those posts once again for those that are new to this blog, PLUS the fact that the original blog posts posted on the eBay blogs are no longer remaining due to eBay closing down 'their' blogs platform; here are the reposts from those archived blog posts and a couple of new ones added. The blog series was entitled:  

"Whom I Am Thankful For", and Included the following so far, with some minor updated revisions:

Part  I -   Stan Lee, who will be celebrating his 87th birthday this year! Stan and Jack Kirby were the reasons I started collecting comics, instead of just reading 'funnybooks'. Stan is shown to the left, signing my personal copies of Fantastic Four #1 and Strange Tales Annual #2 for me several years ago. Below is the text from that blog post:

Today is the time of year that many Americans stop, reflect and give thanks...

I am no exception to this as Tina and I get ready to go to my folks for Thanksgiving Dinner.

I was thinking about this as I was getting cleaned up just a few minutes ago...

I am thankful for many things, which is why this is but Part I, but one of the earliest things I can remember being thankful for was the early ability to read and comprehend which helped me become an 'A' Student in High School.

I have of course my great aunt and uncle who started me off with 'funnybooks', but it was pretty much one writer that moved me to look up new words in our dictionary that he wrote on his pages! Stan Lee also introduced new concepts and other genres of writing besides superheroes to me.

Additionally he made me and probably millions of others feel that we were part of a different world, that of 'Marvelmania' via his 'Bullpen Pages' where he wrote to fans like me!

His gift was that he never wrote 'down' to his readers, and his writing improved my vocabulary and started my interest in other pop culture items like Movies and TV Shows,  etc.

I am thankful that he and I have finally seen the fruits of his early labors make it to the 'Big Screen' in the past few years. I am truly thankful that my love of comics in printed format have finally been transformed to good/great comic book movies that I am viewing today 49+ years later!

Part  II -  Engineer Bill ... who has passed away since this blog was first posted. He had a great afternoon kids show with cartoons in Los Angeles during my childhood there. Below is the text from that post:

Yesterday was the time of year that many Americans stopped, reflected and gave thanks...

I was no exception to this as Tina and I got ready to go to my folks for Thanksgiving Dinner.

I am thankful for many things during my life, which is why this is but Part II, but one of the earliest things I can remember from my childhood was when my dad was stationed in Long Beach.

It was then that Engineer Bill (Stulla) hosted a kid's TV show on KHJ Channel 9 in Los Angeles.

He was a favorite TV show host during the 1950's and 1960's.

His show was broadcast on every week day about when school had been out for a while.

What really stuck out in my memory was his 'Red Light - Green Light' portion of the show, where my brother and I would drink, stop, drink, and so on when he would say 'green light' for us kids to drink the milk out of the glass, and 'red light' to stop drinking!

Some of the things that stick in your mind don't always make sense years later, but it was here that I found that drinking and eating what's good for you was fun!

By the way, other local televised kid's shows of Los Angeles during that time were Sheriff John, Chucko the Clown, and Bozo the Clown.

I don't remember many 'National' shows that I watched during that time but one for sure was Captain Kangaroo seen in black and white format.

Part III -  Sheriff John ... who also died since this blog post was published, (he passed in 2008). He was another of my favorite kids TV Shows hosts in Los Angeles. Below is the text from that post:

Yesterday was the time of year that many Americans stopped, reflected and gave thanks...

I was no exception to this as Tina and I got ready to go to my folks for Thanksgiving Dinner.

I am thankful for many things during my life, which is why this is but Part III, but one of the earliest things I can remember from my childhood was when my dad was stationed in Long Beach.

It was then that 'Sheriff' John (Rovick) hosted a kid's TV show on KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles.

He hosted the show from 1952 to 1970!

His program would open with Sheriff John entering his office while lip-syncing to the record lyrics of "Laugh and be happy and the world will laugh with you when people see you smiling, they can't help smiling, too..."

After that Sheriff John would go on to the check list, the  bulletin board for pictures about safety, and then to the US flag for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The big thrill for kids with birthdays would be to hear your name called on the show!

Plus a birthday cake would be decorated with thick frosting, candy and lollipops. Then while Sheriff John sang the birthday song, the carousel cake spun in a circle while displaying the words "Happy Birthday Brigadiers" on the side of the cake!

It may sound cornball by today's standards, but it was fun in those days! Plus it started me on the 'straight and narrow'!

Part  IV - Fess Parker.... Davy Crockett!  ... who turned 85 years old in August!  One of my best Holiday Seasons was in 2003 when we stayed at his Inn in Los Olivos, California! (See  photo of us with him to the left.) Below is the text from that Blog Post:

Yesterday was the time of year that many Americans stopped, reflected and gave thanks...

I was no exception to this as Tina and I got ready to go to my folks for Thanksgiving Dinner.

I am thankful for many things during my life, which is why this is but Part IV, but one of the earliest things I can remember from my childhood was our black and white TV set where I saw several TV Shows including one of my folks' favorites, 'Walt Disney'.

I definitely can remember those early years of watching Fess Parker as 'Davy Crockett' and made sure I would re-watch them when they were repeated years later!

Tina and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Fess Parker a few years ago at his Hotel/Restaurant in Los Olivos, California.

We had visited his Fess Parker Winery, his Hotel/Spa in Los Olivos, and had a great dinner in his restaurant while visiting 'Wine Country' in the Santa Inez Valley.

I appreciated finally meeting the man who had given me so many years of entertainment and was a good role model for me while growing up!

Part  V - Howard and Marge McIntosh.... My Great Uncle and Aunt who are both responsible for giving me the first comic books to read at their house years ago!  Here is the story:

Years ago when my folks would drive to Howard and Marge's house in Los Angeles, Howard & Marge would have 'funnybooks' for my brother and I to read in the back patio, so we wouldn't either bother the adults or get bored listening to the adults talk!   The 'funnybooks' were a different world for me, and led me to really look forward to our regular visits to their house.  Because we could take the 'funnybooks' home with us!  

We are sharing this year's Thanksgiving Day with Great Uncle Howard with my folks.  Howard turned 95 years old this year.  Sadly, Marge passed away a few years ago. 

Definitely Howard and Marge were instrumental in getting me to enjoy reading more via funnybooks, and that in turn led me to read the comic book that Jack Kirby / Dick Ayers illustrated, (mentioned in Part VI), that started me collecting comics!

Part  VI - Jack Kirby, who 'showed' me that comics were made by real people and didn't all have to be 'funnybooks', as evidenced by the cover of Journey Into Mystery #72, which featured the 'Blob' - a MoNSter that stuck in mind for years!  That comic book is what started me 'collecting' comics instead of just reading them....

Definitely that led to my life long fascination with reading and collecting comics, even though my tastes in comics have changed since I first started reading 'funnybooks'.  In the photo to the left: Jack is shown at the left, with inker Joe Sinnott shown at the right.

Plus it was his artwork that kept going with comics, when I was told that 'comics' were for kids.  I knew different as I watched Jack's pencils become more and more illustrative in the late 1960's and into the mid 1970's.  Now it's known that comics aren't just for kids!  Sadly though, most comics are printed for 'kids' anymore either... Thanks Jack for keeping comics important in my life during those transition years of 'comics are for kids'!

Part  VII -   Tina LoSasso, with whom I celebrated our 8th year of marriage this month!  As shown at the photo to the left... we are on quite a journey. It's like I've stepped into a different portal to a new life being with her!

It's Tina who has merged my love of comics and her love of books into what we are both doing today; a business built on promoting comics and books, book launches and other publicity, including attending comics conventions, book signings and blogging!

Today is the day that I give thanks to Tina for a Great Eight Years, and here's to many more!   She would be here blogging too an addendum, but she's been baking pies for two different Thanksgiving Dinners we are attending on Thursday! 

Part  VIII -   Francis and Lois Hamersky, besides being my folks, were instrumental in giving me an 'allowance' during my early childhood, thus 'allowing' me to buy more comics to feed my 'collecting bug'!

In the photo to the left, my little brother Frank, and I are shown in the front of the Disneyland car, with Mom and Dad in the back. This is from a 1959 photo of my family when we were chosen 'Navy Family Of The Month' at the Naval Base in Los Alamitos, California, and awarded an all expense paid trip to Disneyland!

Today is the time to thank them also for helping form my life.  Thanks Mom & Dad!

BTW, I must have gotten that 'collecting bug' from my Dad, as he had a great coin collection for many years!

I am of course also Thankful for a LOT of other people in my life, and they will be mentioned as the year(s) go on in this blog.  After all it's not even a 'Top Ten List' yet!

Thanks again to all of those named above that have helped form me into the person I am today!

AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!