It was a once in a lifetime opportunity...
THE PHANTOM BLOT, my all-time favorite comic book villain, came all the way to New York to visit my home!
...AND I WASN'T THERE TO GREET (and probably have been taken prisoner by) HIM!
Lucky for me - and my comic collection - according to this wonderful comic by Achille Talon, some other familiar faces (from the many "Secret Societies" who inhabit my Comments Section and, apparently my house as well) were there to give him a warm "Secret Society Welcome"!
Click to enlarge - or I'll just break it out into panels below...
Oddly, I feel honored - in the same crazy way Scrooge McDuck must feel honored by The Beagle Boys!
But I'm still glad he didn't get away with my PHANTOM BLOT comic collection!
There they are... all EIGHT of 'em!
HEY! WAITAMINNIT!
WHAT'S THAT?!
It looks like he might have gotten away with my copy of PHANTOM BLOT # 7 after all!
Well, at least he didn't get my copy of the very rare PHANTOM BLOT # 8!
I would REALLY hate to lose THAT ONE!
6 comments:
That is indeed #7… and what's more, the Gorilla's fist rests upon #5, recognizable by the purplish tinge! Fancy that… a gorilla stepping on an elephant!
(The Crocodile, on the other hand, is holding an issue that intentionally does not exist… or doesn't exist now, at any rate, but you know how those retconning reptiles are!)
Achille:
That REALLY IS # 7?! Fer gosh sakes!
And here, I thought I was seizing upon a just-noticed serendipity!
The Horror! The HORROR! A gorilla has dropped my # 5 from a FINE to a POOR with but one flick of the fist! Depending on what else he does, I’m not sure I even want that one back! …How much lower can a grade drop below a POOR.
The Crocodile, no doubt, is holding a (future) copy of PHANTOM BLOT # 75 written by 27-year-old me and drawn by Paul Murry just before he retired. The last comic he ever did, and one of my very first for early ‘80s Whitman! And it… was/could-have-been… a doozy! That’s the way you gotta roll with those chronal clobbering Crocs!
Sometimes, they work to great advantage, though… as you’ll notice that, after 50 years or so of waiting, I …finally have/have always had… a PHANTOM BLOT # 8!
Looks like a narrow squeak to me, Joe!
I guess it's flattering that the PB has his eye on your collection! To paraphrase from a totally unrelated classic film, "Their magic must be very powerful, or (he, not she) wouldn't want them so badly."
But now I have an "Adventures in Comic Boxing" poser. Into WHICH box does that last-mentioned comic get boxed? Does it go in the box with the Walt Disney Showcase issues dating back to the early 70's, assuming its rightful place as Walt Disney Showcase #6 of the second run (#60 if you include it in the numbering of the first run)--or does it go in the box containing PB #1 through #7 as Phantom Blot #8? I suppose the only way to solve this conundrum would be to purchase an extra copy so that one could go in one box and the other in the other box. Or would it do to shift one's lone copy around on occasion from box to box, depending on which box was currently being adventured? I suppose the only real solution is the purchasing of a second copy so that each box can maintain its own integrity. But I leave it up to the wisdom of others far more experienced and knowledgeable in such matters than I.
Scarecrow:
You know something… Perhaps there IS some “magic” to a collection like mine, which (despite my lone “first comic” coming in 1958) began in earnest in 1959 – thanks to Grandma Millie and continues to this day, providing unparalleled enjoyment, inspiring me… and, yes, even shaping my life!
It may very well be something “bigger” than just a room full of boxes, as each contains a memory of “when/how I got it”, “when I read it”, “how much of it (if any) has remained in my consciousness over the years” (…a LOT of them have)!
They’ve traveled with me, over some incredibly varied life-situations (from “beyond amazing” to “the worst of the worst”), and were always there to make the good times better – and the bad times not-as-bad! (Except for one “eight-year break-up” in the ‘70s! ...But we won't talk about that! It was all my fault... chasing after girls instead... Sniff! Sniff!)
My “relationship”, if I may be allowed to use that word, with my collection sort of parallels Scrooge McDuck’s “relationship” with his money, with many commonalities – except for that “diving, burrowing, and throwing-upward-and-letting-it-hit-him-on-the-head-thing”!
…Or maybe it’s more like “The Maltese Falcon” - "the stuff that dreams are made of."
So, perhaps there IS some “magic” the Blot seeks to unlock! Though, for all our sakes, I hope he never does! Okay, enough mooning and romanticizing, and let’s get to practical matters…
WE'LL BREAK THE COMMENT HERE, BECAUSE GOOGLE SAYS WE MUST!
WE NOW RESUME OUR COMMENT... THANKS, GOOGLE!
Ever since the ‘90s, I’ve wanted to attend, or put together, a panel on organizing and storing (and sometimes moving) a large collection of comics! Obviously, despite any other similarities which may exist, I can’t just dump ‘em into the bowels of some great cavernous building like Uncle Scrooge.
I’ve done it a number of different ways over the years, correcting and refining my approach as I go. But, even today, with (all together now) “The Great Comics Organization and Storage Retirement Project”, it’s still an evolving process. I like hearing about how others approach this necessary task and, when it’s applicable, “borrow” something from their methodologies. Maybe I’ll just open a Blog post on the subject one day. I already have one in the works about one of my biggest mistakes in that regard, so why not expand that into a greater whole?
As for your specific question… I keep a copy of said comic directly behind my PHANTOM BLOT # 7! Why? Because of its kinship to the PHANTOM BLOT title, more than anything titled WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE!
It contains a book length story as did the original BLOT issues, displays the classic 1964-1966 PHANTOM BLOT logo in its cover – and, in a very special kinship of which few folks outside of the this Blog may be aware, it contains a gag that I conceived waaaay back after reading PHANTOM BLOT # 7 in the summer of 1966! Therefore, it is just as much (if not more) PHANTOM BLOT # 8 than it is WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE (IDW) # 6!
…And, as this post shows, I even “doctored it up” to show the number “8” - albeit to the BAG and not the book itself!
For what it’s worth, I also keep duplicate copies of the four issues of WALT DISNEY’S COMICS AND STORIES that presented “The Return of the Phantom Blotl” (1964) directly in front of my PHANTOM BLOT # 1! …Having “everything sixties Blot” (including my 1966 gag published in 2018) all in one neat little row!
On the other hand, since I received comp copies from IDW for my work on the book, I also have one in its (so called) “proper place”, with the first five issues of IDW’s WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE – having it BOTH ways! I do not see any connection to the Gold Key run of WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE, beyond a similarity of title.
Finally… YES… every box should “maintain its own integrity”! At least that’s what I strive for, in my sometimes-quirky way!
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