Still working

"Hey, is this blog still working?"

someone asked.

I think about it often.

It's dormant until I have the time to do something with it again.

Still London. Still loving the comics. Just don't have as much time to read or write about them as I did.

Gosh!

I'm so out of touch that I had no idea about this: http://www.goshlondon.com/move/

I'll definitely be there on the 30th to bid farewell to the old shop (and meet Alan Moore).

The new place sounds like it'll be just grand.

Gene Colan and Night Force #12

Gene Colan. Others out there can write a good deal more articulate obituaries and summaries of the man's career. They have. Go read them.

He was obviously incredible. Grab yourself a Marvel Essential Tomb of Dracula - the fact that they are in black and white is good. The art is amazing.

I remember a couple of years ago when Colan did that Captain America special, Marvel offered the standard version and a black and white variant. I bought the variant, obviously. Given that he was an octogenarian with eye problems, some of it was predictably rough, but there are parts of that comic which were still incredible. Get a copy on ebay, it's worth a look.

Why Night Force #12? That cover. I picked it up from the newsagents back in the day - I must have been about 11 years old - because it was just one of the random haul of American comics which had turned up that particular month.

I had no other issues of Night Force, but the cover really unsettled me, so I bought it. It's the nutso second part to a story about The Beast from The Book of Revelations, rumbling through a 1920s funfair killing people. I always thought the cover was the view of someone stuck at the top of a ferris wheel. It stuck with me, and it was the first thing that came into my head when I heard Colan had died. Great artist. RIP.

Seen on ebay

Description: "Intact and no rips"

ON YOUR KNEES!

Creepy praying doll...

You click. Make Big.

Scan from the back of The Mighty Thor #267, January 1977

Magnificent Mart

MART!

Wasn't really in the mood for the stinkfest at the start of the day. I was knackered, it was pissing with rain outside and I've just got heavily into this online pinball game.

Still, I am nothing if not dedicated to tat, so off I trudged to meet Mr Bishop at the bus stop. There we boarded a 476 where we found this chap...

11.30am and unconscious. The smell of vodka hung about him. It was impossible to wake him up. We told the bus driver who stopped the bus and called an ambulance. This annoyed one lady who was more bothered about the fact that her bus journey had been affected than the welfare of this poor sod. Yay London! What a cuntwitch.

Anyways we made the mart. Given the weather we thought it would be empty and grim. Not so!

It was one of those marts where they open up the back room and fill it with British tat - and it was heaving. The busiest mart I've been to for some time. Not only that, it was LOADED with treasure.

First stall BOOM! I complete my run of Teen Titans for £2 and pick up the first few issues of Alien Legion for pennies. Mr Bishop scores a silver age Captain America for 50p. Further in more bargains to be found. Plus beauty.

Oh yes, real beauty...

Shrines to 60s tat!

Shrink wrapped 80s wank mags (under the counter, if you please)

Blurred British Annual stall - trust me it looked lovely

Batwomen

Original fucking Ezquerra 80s Strontium Dog pages - obviously the robber selling them wanted hundreds of pounds. But still they were lovely.

THAI HORROR FILM POSTERS!!!!

THAI HORROR FILM POSTER MAN!!!

He kindly agreed to hold my favourite poster on his amazing stall (Evil Dead II) up for me

What a nice man. What an incredible stall!

WHAT AN AMAZING FUCKING MART!

I bought heaps and heaps of good cheap rubbish. Even managed to score some reasonably cheap Heroclix off the notorious Heroclix robber.

All the dealers seemed to be doing pretty well. Absurdly high priced near mint silver age key issue man was there. I saw him sell five comics to one bloke for £1,100. "Shall I charge it to the usual account, sir?"

EC comics man held court. Krypton comics man smashed out his 25p boxes of filth. All was good.

In amongst the man throng, I caught up with LLC chum Tam, and then went for post mart drinks with Mr Bishop, Dex and special guest star Bruce - who had come all the way from Hitchin just to load up on 25p issues of Captain America. What a man!

The now traditional window seat was a fine place to compare our water-damaged, creased and torn treasures and to watch the dealers loading their boxes back into their vans. One of them dropped a box in a puddle, picked it up, wiped off a now wet copy of Valiant and shoved it back in the van.

Truly, the best mart for years. Huzzah!

Ace reporter

I should probably explain.

I haven't been updating properly because I've got a new job as a reporter on a local newspaper. It's punishing and consumes all my time, leaving me exhausted - in my pants, on the carpet - every night.

Don't get me wrong, I love it. But basically, it's killing me and I just haven't had the energy to blog recently.

Oh, and my scanner's blown up again.

Anyway, I suppose I'm sort of still here. I do love doing this blog. But until I get used to this new life...fergedaboudit.

PS I am planning to do the mart next weekend and I WILL write a report. Promise.