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Rob Kelly My Mom is a wonderful person. Kind and generous, she's only ever been concerned with my well being and has always been supportive of whatever it was I wanted to do, both as a child and as a (hollow laugh) adult.
But one thing she cannot, and has never been able to, accept is science-fiction, in any way, shape, or form. Set a movie in Victorian England where everyone has British accents and are repressed, she's happy as a clam. But set a story five minutes into the future she tunes out, and you'll never get her back.
Growing up, I saw every cool sci-fi/fantasy/action movie there was: the Star Wars films, the Star Treks, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Swamp Thing, the Sinbad movies, etc. My Dad, much more able to deal with fantastical premises, took me to the overwhelming majority of these movies, and they remain some of the best memories of my childhood.
Of course, growing up when I did, the Christopher Reeve Superman movies loomed large in my imagination. Superman: The Movie and Superman II were amazing spectacles, with Superman III being...dismal, to say the least. But one bad movie was not enough to dispel my love of the Superman movies, so when it was announced there was going to be a Superman IV, I was thrilled and determined to see it.
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace came out July 1987; I was a month shy of my sixteenth birthday. Still too young to drive myself to see a movie, so, for whatever reason, I ended up talking my Mom into taking me to it. In that pre-historic, pre-internet age, there was no "bad buzz" about the movie, or if there was I wasn't aware of it.
So we sat down to watch the movie, and it didn't take long to realize that, despite the return of most of the original cast (Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper, Gene Hackman) this was an awful movie. As it continued to run, the horrendous jokes, embarrassing dialogue ("Arrrrrrrrrrr!"--Nuclear Man), gleeful disregard of basic scientific principles, and low-rent special effects made me sink in my seat further and further. How could a Superman movie go so wrong?
By the end of the movie, I dreaded what my Mom's reaction was going to be. She turned her head, and quietly said, "You like this stuff?" instantly classifying all sci-fi/fantasy movies--my life's blood--into the same category as this piece of garbage. I tried desperately to explain to her that, no, I didn't like this stuff, this movie was terrible, but there are others that are...
But I knew it was a lost cause. Whatever slim chance I had to show my Mom that a lot of the stuff I liked wasn't just absurd nonsense was lost, forever. Lex Luthor himself couldn't have plotted a more nefarious plan to discredit Superman in the eyes of the adult world.
Of course, that was decades ago and I've grown up, no longer needing anyone's tacit approval for me to enjoy the stuff I like. And while Mom's horizons have broadened as well, I'm still not taking her to Man of Steel. Just in case.
After far too long a period of Radio Silence, I am ready to announce that Hey Kids, Comics! the book will be published later on this year, first as an ebook with a print version following soon after.
There are of course many, many details to come, but the first thing I wanted to mention is how you--yes, you--can be involved!
Accompanying some of the essays in the book are vintage photos of the authors engaged in their first love: comics (as you can see above). I really get a kick out of seeing photos like this (I posed for a few of them myself since comics were so important to me and I wanted everyone to know it, in perpetuity!) so I think they'll add a lot to the book.
But the photos aren't limited to the contributing authors; no, I'd like to include a lot more of them, and that is where you all in come in! If you have a family photo like one of the ones you see above and would like to submit it for possible inclusion in Hey Kids, Comics!, here's what you have to do:
--Send a 300 dpi (or better) scan of the photo to heykidscomicsbook@comcast.net
--The photo must be of you, so you have the legal rights to offer it for publication
--Any file format is fine, but JPG or TIFF preferred
--Please identify who is in the picture, and if possible when or where it was taken
If you have any questions, please email me or "Like" the Hey Kids, Comics! Facebook page and inquire there! Thanks!
I was watching the swell film noir Cry Danger (1951) the other day, and couldn't help but notice these props in the background of a scene. They go by pretty fast, but they looked like comics to me!
So I checked the GCD and, sure, enough, D.S. Publishing put out a comic called Public Enemies, from 1948-1949, which fits in perfectly with when this movie would have been filmed.
It's hard to make out, but I'm pretty sure that's a copy of Public Enemies #3, cover-dated Aug. 1948. I love the idea that in this movie's film noir world, there are probably only film noir comics! Even little kids can't get away from the darkness...
What comics fan hasn't been here? Numerous times I had my Mom or Dad pull me away from a newsstand full of comics, because I just couldn't decide which one(s) I wanted (sometimes I hoped my indecision would cause them just to buy me all of them to save time).
This photo was hard to pin down, date-wise, until I could make out a copy of Avon's White Chief and The Pawnee Indians #1--the only issue--that came out in 1951, just to the kid's left.
Aww, Dad, just a few minutes more!
A little somethin' for the ladies (and gay guys) in the house: a skimpily-dressed Rock Hudson reading the Sunday Comics!
Can't tell which ones Rock is reading, but at the time this photo was taken, Mr. Hudson was the coolest of the cool. Neat to know he enjoyed comics once in a while!
With Captain America: The First Avenger hitting theaters today, this seemed like the perfect time to post this vintage(?) photo!
I put the (?) after vintage because, while the photo looks pretty authentic, I have my doubts this is real: the kid is reading Captain America #2, cover dated April 1941. I can't imagine any kid could be that into Cap after just two appearances, not to mention the costume being really, really good--a little too good.
Of course, this pic could have been taken just a few years later, and the kid was reading a (by then) older issue of Captain America. Who knows, and I guess who cares? Its a great photo anyway!
I found this photo being used, of all places, for the website of a luxury spa called Foxhills.
Why one of their guests is reading Tintin, I know not; nevertheless I agree, its a great way to relax!
