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The Rumblings Abdominal
6 years ago
Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts
Sunday, March 18, 2012
where you can find the Konas
I realized I ought to say where on Ebay my surrealistic Kona comics are. They are here.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Mickey Mouse, Secret Agent...
I'm still putting stuff on eBay. Comic books from my lost youth, chiefly. Recently, I stumbled across a set of comics that were genuinely bizarre—"Mickey Mouse, Super Secret Agent."
In 1966, Walt Disney and Gold Key comics decided to get into the booming spy-story market (this was when James Bond and the Man From Uncle were at their peak). And so, Mickey Mouse was promptly retooled as a kind of furry, big-eared 007.
The comics produced on this theme are almost surreal. In them, Mickey and Goofy (as the only anthropomorphic animals in a world inhabited otherwise entirely by humans) engage in 007-style adventures, complete with Bond-type villains and beautiful heroines.
I've got two that I'm offering for sale. The first is the premier issue of the series, "Mickey Mouse, Super Secret Agent in Assignment Time-Lock," which is dated June of 1966 and recounts Mickey and Goofy's unwilling recruitment into "PI, police international." The second is "The Mystery at Misty Gorge," in which our heroes venture into "Africa's Taboo Territory," to rescue Mara Doorna, a brilliant scientist who just happens to also be a willowy blonde. It seems she's been kidnapped by bad guys who want her to use solar power to make artificial diamonds. (No. Really. Could I make that up?)
On one level, these stories are merely bizarre. But, on another, there is something wonderfully subversive about them…an excursion into a parallel universe where the conventions and pretensions of the Spy Flick, the Comic Strip, and the Real World come together disastrously in a sort of three-way car crash of the intellect.
Which brings up an interesting question. To wit: I'm trying to market these to comic book collectors. But, I wonder if I'm not barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps I ought to be selling them to tenured professors of postmodernism and gifted directors of Absurdist Theater.
All a question of market niche, as it were.
Ebay
In 1966, Walt Disney and Gold Key comics decided to get into the booming spy-story market (this was when James Bond and the Man From Uncle were at their peak). And so, Mickey Mouse was promptly retooled as a kind of furry, big-eared 007.
The comics produced on this theme are almost surreal. In them, Mickey and Goofy (as the only anthropomorphic animals in a world inhabited otherwise entirely by humans) engage in 007-style adventures, complete with Bond-type villains and beautiful heroines.
I've got two that I'm offering for sale. The first is the premier issue of the series, "Mickey Mouse, Super Secret Agent in Assignment Time-Lock," which is dated June of 1966 and recounts Mickey and Goofy's unwilling recruitment into "PI, police international." The second is "The Mystery at Misty Gorge," in which our heroes venture into "Africa's Taboo Territory," to rescue Mara Doorna, a brilliant scientist who just happens to also be a willowy blonde. It seems she's been kidnapped by bad guys who want her to use solar power to make artificial diamonds. (No. Really. Could I make that up?)
On one level, these stories are merely bizarre. But, on another, there is something wonderfully subversive about them…an excursion into a parallel universe where the conventions and pretensions of the Spy Flick, the Comic Strip, and the Real World come together disastrously in a sort of three-way car crash of the intellect.
Which brings up an interesting question. To wit: I'm trying to market these to comic book collectors. But, I wonder if I'm not barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps I ought to be selling them to tenured professors of postmodernism and gifted directors of Absurdist Theater.
All a question of market niche, as it were.
Ebay
Sunday, January 22, 2012
addiction
As you know, I'm getting ready for our move to New Mexico. In the process of weeding out my all too copious possessions, I've been selling stuff on Ebay.
I've discovered, though, that there is a danger in online auction sites. They're addictive. I find myself compulsively checking every few minutes to see if I've gotten any new sales or, at least, if any of my auctions have gotten any new watchers. (In fact, upon completing that last sentence, I did exactly that. I checked Ebay. I was delighted to see that one of my sets of comics has been bid up all the way to $3.75. Ah, the free market system.)
I'm not sure what it is that makes the game so playable. I wonder, though, if the appeal isn't that Ebay is sort of like a puzzle to be solved. How do I list an item? What minimum bid should I set? How do I use Ebay to print out postage and a mailing label?
All things to be ascertained. Like the clues in MYST. Or the telltale signs of unrequited love.
*
The good news, as my son points out, is that if I have gotten hooked on auctions, at least it's in selling rather than buying.
*
The comic books are doing remarkably well on Ebay. Which is a good thing since I have several hundred of them, comics I mean, mostly dating back to the 1960s. Even then, it seems, I was addicted to ink.
So, Scrooge McDuck, Donald and the Boys, Grandma Duck ("and her farm friends"), Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Baby Huey, CARtoons, Hot Rod Cartoons, Chip and Dale, "Millie the Lovable Monster"…these and more I peddle to the world.
Does it reveal anything about me…anything disturbing…that my childhood reading centered on rodents, barnyard fowl, dragons with eyelashes, and very large internal combustion engines presented in precise, photo-realistic, almost loving detail?
*
Most of the comics I'm selling are between thirty and forty years old. But, for various reasons, I do have a few recent pubs. I've even got one — City of Tomorrow by Howard Chaykin (with Michelle Madsen)—that classifies as a "graphic novel."
Strangely, it's the City of Tomorrow that has attracted the least attention. I don't know why. It's got dirty bombs, terrorism, a corrupt American government, lots of high caliber firearms, tons of mostly gratuitous violence, and a sexy robot who dresses sort of like a dominatrix.
I mean, what's not to love?
I've discovered, though, that there is a danger in online auction sites. They're addictive. I find myself compulsively checking every few minutes to see if I've gotten any new sales or, at least, if any of my auctions have gotten any new watchers. (In fact, upon completing that last sentence, I did exactly that. I checked Ebay. I was delighted to see that one of my sets of comics has been bid up all the way to $3.75. Ah, the free market system.)
I'm not sure what it is that makes the game so playable. I wonder, though, if the appeal isn't that Ebay is sort of like a puzzle to be solved. How do I list an item? What minimum bid should I set? How do I use Ebay to print out postage and a mailing label?
All things to be ascertained. Like the clues in MYST. Or the telltale signs of unrequited love.
*
The good news, as my son points out, is that if I have gotten hooked on auctions, at least it's in selling rather than buying.
*
The comic books are doing remarkably well on Ebay. Which is a good thing since I have several hundred of them, comics I mean, mostly dating back to the 1960s. Even then, it seems, I was addicted to ink.
So, Scrooge McDuck, Donald and the Boys, Grandma Duck ("and her farm friends"), Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Baby Huey, CARtoons, Hot Rod Cartoons, Chip and Dale, "Millie the Lovable Monster"…these and more I peddle to the world.
Does it reveal anything about me…anything disturbing…that my childhood reading centered on rodents, barnyard fowl, dragons with eyelashes, and very large internal combustion engines presented in precise, photo-realistic, almost loving detail?
*
Most of the comics I'm selling are between thirty and forty years old. But, for various reasons, I do have a few recent pubs. I've even got one — City of Tomorrow by Howard Chaykin (with Michelle Madsen)—that classifies as a "graphic novel."
Strangely, it's the City of Tomorrow that has attracted the least attention. I don't know why. It's got dirty bombs, terrorism, a corrupt American government, lots of high caliber firearms, tons of mostly gratuitous violence, and a sexy robot who dresses sort of like a dominatrix.
I mean, what's not to love?
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