It is hard to believe, but I
lost my last full-time job nearly a year and a half ago.
It seems like even longer, but right at this point, it is more than 17 months ago that I last had a place to go to each weekday to make my weekly wage.
I lost my job before most of us knew what the word “pandemic” meant, and certainly before we knew what the “coronavirus” was.
So many things in our lives have changed during the course of the past year, but I guess I had a head start on what was going to befall each and every one of us when I lost my job on October 11, 2019, a day that will live in infamy in my life as the day the company I had worked for for nearly a quarter of a century went under.
It took a while, but as you know, I retired, or actually semi-retired, as I was able to get a remote writing/editing job, a job where I simply continued to write about the subject I wrote about for all of those years, military resale, or military stores.
Anyway, when I lost my job all of those many months ago, I set out on what I kind of figured and what turned out to be—a completely fruitless crusade to find another full-time job, and when the coronavirus came to our shores, that was really the death knell for my job pursuit.
But I kept pretty chipper, found things to do at home, and when the virus came and changed our lives, I got a real head start over most people about how to cope and how to keep busy at home when there is nothing else to do..
Among the things that I did was to clean out my daughter’s old bedroom—the room where I store my record collection—and while the closet in the room is still crammed full with junk, the actual room really is spic and span. I can actually walk in the room without having to step over the stuff that was all over the floor for months before I kept a promise to my wife to clean it up.
I went on to discover and rediscover many things that I had in the room in one place or another, and even outside that room, I unearthed things that I had not seen in decades, just because I was trying to keep myself busy.
As many of you know, I sold most of my 2,000-issue-plus comic book collection a number of years ago, and to this day, I rue the day that I sold the collection, but it was something that had to be done. It was taking up too much room in my parents’ part of the house, and let’s just say it was time.
I sold probably two-thirds of what I had, and I did pretty well, but there was still that third of the collection that I still have, that still sits in a closet in my old room, collecting dust because except for when I tried to sell the entire collection, I hadn’t picked up any of these comics for literally decades.
Most of what I collected were DC—Superman, Batman--and Marvel—Spider-Man, Daredevil--comics, but there were plenty of other comic books, by companies like Harvey and Archie and Charlton and Gold Key and Dell, and a lot of others that I can’t remember.
Anyway, just on a lark and with nothing to do, I went down to that closet the other day just to see what I had—or what I still had left--in my comic book collection, and I discovered that I had as much as I did, which kind of surprised me.
I sold the issues that were worth the most, and those who bought my collection didn’t want the others, so I just kept them, and I am keeping them for prosperity.
I haven’t gone through everything that is left, but I did find three items that caught my eye, and that you are seeing as part of this Rant.
Comic books related to popular TV shows have been around since the 1950s, and I remember I had comic books related to “The Honeymooners” and “I Love Lucy” in my collection at one point. I don't know if I still have them.
In the late 1950s and through the 1960s and very early 1970s, it was almost a given that if a TV show with a large kids audience hit the airways, a comic book would certainly follow, so there were comic books for shows like “Star Trek” and “Bewitched” and shows like that, which mainly came out as part of the Dell and Gold Key lines of comic books.
This situation lasted through the early 1970s, and when that came to an end when the publishers of these comics went out of business, the TV-related comic book spin-offs were picked up by the larger comic book publishers. I do remember that DC put out a successful series of “Welcome Back Kotter” comic books in the mid-1970s.
But what made the 1950s, 1960s and very early 1970s TV-related comic book spin-offs so special were the covers of these comics.
They used stills and publicity photos from the actual shows on these covers, so they were collectible because the covers were so well done.
Inside, the stories weren’t really very good, the artwork was passable but nothing to write home about, and these comics were really directed at very young kids, those in the five-to-eight year old time frame.
Personally, I bought some of these, but even in the age group that these comics were directed at, I think that I was a bit beyond these books' very simplistic stories and art, and I kind of stayed away from them—when you could even get them, as they were not as well distributed as comics under the DC and Marvel banners.
But I did buy a few—and you see three of them here, from the series of “The Monkees” comic books that came out from 1966 to 1969—actually outliving the show they were based on, which ran from 1966 to 1968.
It seems like even longer, but right at this point, it is more than 17 months ago that I last had a place to go to each weekday to make my weekly wage.
I lost my job before most of us knew what the word “pandemic” meant, and certainly before we knew what the “coronavirus” was.
So many things in our lives have changed during the course of the past year, but I guess I had a head start on what was going to befall each and every one of us when I lost my job on October 11, 2019, a day that will live in infamy in my life as the day the company I had worked for for nearly a quarter of a century went under.
It took a while, but as you know, I retired, or actually semi-retired, as I was able to get a remote writing/editing job, a job where I simply continued to write about the subject I wrote about for all of those years, military resale, or military stores.
Anyway, when I lost my job all of those many months ago, I set out on what I kind of figured and what turned out to be—a completely fruitless crusade to find another full-time job, and when the coronavirus came to our shores, that was really the death knell for my job pursuit.
But I kept pretty chipper, found things to do at home, and when the virus came and changed our lives, I got a real head start over most people about how to cope and how to keep busy at home when there is nothing else to do..
Among the things that I did was to clean out my daughter’s old bedroom—the room where I store my record collection—and while the closet in the room is still crammed full with junk, the actual room really is spic and span. I can actually walk in the room without having to step over the stuff that was all over the floor for months before I kept a promise to my wife to clean it up.
I went on to discover and rediscover many things that I had in the room in one place or another, and even outside that room, I unearthed things that I had not seen in decades, just because I was trying to keep myself busy.
As many of you know, I sold most of my 2,000-issue-plus comic book collection a number of years ago, and to this day, I rue the day that I sold the collection, but it was something that had to be done. It was taking up too much room in my parents’ part of the house, and let’s just say it was time.
I sold probably two-thirds of what I had, and I did pretty well, but there was still that third of the collection that I still have, that still sits in a closet in my old room, collecting dust because except for when I tried to sell the entire collection, I hadn’t picked up any of these comics for literally decades.
Most of what I collected were DC—Superman, Batman--and Marvel—Spider-Man, Daredevil--comics, but there were plenty of other comic books, by companies like Harvey and Archie and Charlton and Gold Key and Dell, and a lot of others that I can’t remember.
Anyway, just on a lark and with nothing to do, I went down to that closet the other day just to see what I had—or what I still had left--in my comic book collection, and I discovered that I had as much as I did, which kind of surprised me.
I sold the issues that were worth the most, and those who bought my collection didn’t want the others, so I just kept them, and I am keeping them for prosperity.
I haven’t gone through everything that is left, but I did find three items that caught my eye, and that you are seeing as part of this Rant.
Comic books related to popular TV shows have been around since the 1950s, and I remember I had comic books related to “The Honeymooners” and “I Love Lucy” in my collection at one point. I don't know if I still have them.
In the late 1950s and through the 1960s and very early 1970s, it was almost a given that if a TV show with a large kids audience hit the airways, a comic book would certainly follow, so there were comic books for shows like “Star Trek” and “Bewitched” and shows like that, which mainly came out as part of the Dell and Gold Key lines of comic books.
This situation lasted through the early 1970s, and when that came to an end when the publishers of these comics went out of business, the TV-related comic book spin-offs were picked up by the larger comic book publishers. I do remember that DC put out a successful series of “Welcome Back Kotter” comic books in the mid-1970s.
But what made the 1950s, 1960s and very early 1970s TV-related comic book spin-offs so special were the covers of these comics.
They used stills and publicity photos from the actual shows on these covers, so they were collectible because the covers were so well done.
Inside, the stories weren’t really very good, the artwork was passable but nothing to write home about, and these comics were really directed at very young kids, those in the five-to-eight year old time frame.
Personally, I bought some of these, but even in the age group that these comics were directed at, I think that I was a bit beyond these books' very simplistic stories and art, and I kind of stayed away from them—when you could even get them, as they were not as well distributed as comics under the DC and Marvel banners.
But I did buy a few—and you see three of them here, from the series of “The Monkees” comic books that came out from 1966 to 1969—actually outliving the show they were based on, which ran from 1966 to 1968.
The Monkees were hugely popular back then, and the series of comic books based on the show was quite expansive. I believe that there were 18 comic books in the entire run, which is quite substantial, because most of these TV-related comic book series might run two or three or four issues, and that was it.
Of course, the Monkees TV show lived on in reruns after its initial NBC run, turning up on Saturday mornings for both CBS and ABC, geared toward young children, so the comic books were a natural extension of the TV series, even in reruns.
I thought I had four of these issues, but I could only find three, the fifth, eighth and 10th comics of the series. I could swear I had another one, but I can't find it just yet. I will have to do a little more searching, and maybe I will find it—or maybe I sold that one too.
Along with the records I have, these comics are nice additions to my Monkees side collection, of which I have some other things, which I will talk about at another time.
Those Monkees comic books—and my entire collection, which as I said is pretty much gone now—really was my childhood, right there in the covers and the pages of those books.
I hated to get rid of them, but the time had come. My kids didn’t want them, they were taking up valuable space, and honestly, I needed the money at that point in time.
They served their purpose, and the memories that I have of those comic books will stay with me forever.
It was just time to get rid of them, and I did what I had to do. I wasn’t too happy to do it, but I guess time moves on.
If I find any other of these TV-related comic books, I will let you know. Although they weren’t a huge part of my comic book collection, their presence in the collection signified exactly what my mindset was as a kid growing up.
And heck, I taught myself to read with these comic books, so I owe that collection I have and had a great debt of gratitude.
And by the way, as an aside, these TV-related comic books go for a pretty penny today.
Just for kicks, I checked out eBay, and the entire run of the Monkees comic book series just sold for more than $200, and other TV-related comic books from that ere are also pulling a bit of money in today’s collectors’ universe.
Heck, maybe it is time for me to start collecting comics again, not only trying to get the entire Monkees run but get those original “Star Trek” and “Bewitched” comics too.
Maybe … nah, there must be other things to do in this house than to start collecting comic books again …
I think.
And by the way, as an aside, these TV-related comic books go for a pretty penny today.
Just for kicks, I checked out eBay, and the entire run of the Monkees comic book series just sold for more than $200, and other TV-related comic books from that ere are also pulling a bit of money in today’s collectors’ universe.
Heck, maybe it is time for me to start collecting comics again, not only trying to get the entire Monkees run but get those original “Star Trek” and “Bewitched” comics too.
Maybe … nah, there must be other things to do in this house than to start collecting comic books again …
I think.
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