Fred Hembeck Sells the Marvel Universe (One Shot)

 

Comic: Fred Hembeck Sells the Marvel Universe

Where Purchased: JAF Comics in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

When Purchased: June 20, 2024

When Read: November 17, 2024

When I first started collecting comics, Fred Hembeck was the guy who drew a little 3-panel comic strip that appeared in DC comic books. Usually funny, always irreverent.

Along with the "Ask The Answer Man!" column on those Daily Planet promotional pages, Hembeck helped me deepen my understanding of the history that came before.

He also featured prominently in the Marvel Age publication, contributing a 2-page humor strip for most of the comics run.

I also own a few of the black and white magazine-sized format books that FantaCo published back in the day (a rare exploration of something non-Marvel or non-DC for me back then) and I love love LOVE the Fantastic Four Roast that he wrote and laid out the artwork for from Marvel to commemorate the FF's 20th anniversary. 

It features one of the first wraparound covers I had ever seen. 

I always felt he rather cleverly recounted the FF's origin... 

One of my favorite sequences from the story is the X-Men page.

So when I came across "Fred Hembeck Sells the Marvel Universe" I had to pick it up.  I am glad I did as it is a hoot.  While not for everyone, this is a fun flashback to the early days of collecting for me.

I snagged this during a work trip in Pennsylvania this past summer.  All in all, I think we've made four or five trips that had us driving across most of the state in the last two years.  There are only a few spots where there are any comic shops worth popping into.  Mostly we have hit antique stores.

I visited JAF Comics in Bethlehem, PA this time.  It was a little out of our way but Nan was determined I would find some comics on this particular trip.  It was worth the stop, as I found this book as well as two decently priced, gap-filling issues of Super- Villain Team up and an issue of Captain America.

  

"One of these things is not like the others..."

I don't even pretend to understand how Facebook tracks the things I do or like or how the algorithms are created.  But a colleague put a picture on their FB wall and I liked the sentiment and I like the lady so I liked the picture.

Once I did, I was invited to like these things that were "similar"....Now I don't know a whole lot about MacFarlane....maybe he is a big supporter of autism research or what not, but something didn't seem right about this....

"Oh...it's that man teacher!"

A group of students in the Art room next to my classroom heard our raucous math game this morning and commented "Oh...it's that man teacher!" when they heard my voice through the air ducts.  It made me realize that I am indeed a minority in my school and in my profession.  My teaching partner is a male and there is a male kindergarten teacher but that is it for classroom teachers in our elementary school.  We have some males in the Unified Arts and lots of them in the middle and high school buildings.

However, that isolation is nothing compared to that felt by the men who have led this country.  I'm not commenting on the "selfie" brouhaha or the sign language boner from the recent Nelson Mandela memorial service.  Instead, I was struck by these recently released behind the scenes photos.  I cannot imagine what these men talk about...

This Day In History: September 20, 1988

Today is the "anniversary" of my brain surgery.  I was once told that it was probably always "there" and was somehow "activated" the summer after high school.  I have lived much longer without the tumor than I did with it.

When the tumor was discovered, it was about the size of a golf ball.  It about doubled in the week between discovery and removal.  Apparently, things were touch and go on the day of the operation but I never fell below the surgeon's 50/50 level of confidence.

I have some chronic pain in my joints due to the medication I was on before and after the operation.  I am facing the prospect of full knee replacement at some point.

But at least I'm still here....

"Argo f*ck yourself."

#42 on my flickchart

I am taking a personal day tomorrow to deal with some family issues.  Nothing too major, but the timing during the day end up necessitating a full day off.

Knowing that, I decided to rent some movies just for myself.  Nan made it clear that she was not interested in seeing this, so I figured I'd give it a go after she went to bed.

Argo is the first Best Picture winner I have seen since The Departed in 2006. (The last Best Picture I saw in the theater was 1997's winner....I went to see it during the worst ice storm and prolonged power outage in Vermont's history...it was a long movie and I needed somewhere warm to be...I also saw Costner's The Postman for the same reason!)  .  I've seen some of the recent nominees, but none of the winners.

I liked Argo.  I have recollections of these events.  I was in third or fourth grade and beyond reading items on Wikipedia, I've not really delved into what happened.  This was a harrowing film.  And the look of it felt very much of the time...on screen fonts chosen felt sort of 1979/1980 retro.  There was a slightly washed out look to the movie.  

My complaints would be minor.  I think I would have preferred the opening narration to be replaced with on screen lettering.  The movie might have been a shade too long.  But all in all, Affleck has yet to direct a movie I didn't like.  And I still like him as an actor, too.

My only two Affleck connections...we attended the University of Vermont at the same time (though I did NOT know him).  And once my family was camping at a semi-remote location and the campground owners were convinced I was Ben Affleck incognito.  I claim NO resemblance at all...it was all them!!!

In all honesty, I usually "get" Ed Helms....

It's like looking in a mirror!!

Weekend Recap 3-24-13

I spent all of last week disturbingly obsessed by the Taco Bell Cool Ranch Doritos Taco.  I can't explain the fascination.  Regardless, once school was out on Friday (and my teaching partner and I had our monthly debriefing beer), the family and I headed out to the mall and had the taco.

meh.

I think we were all underwhelmed by the experience.  After dinner, we wandered into a collectible shop.  I have a list of movies I've been hoping to find and FYE had none of them at a price I was willing to pay.  We hit the jackpot...at 3 for $10 I couldn't pass these up...the numbers are my flickchart ratings...

#1

#98

#113

#280

#103

#392

#343

#336

#829, 735, 894, 186

The four pack made it an average price of $2.50 per movie!  Cheaper than renting them again!!  We did "Spies Like Us" once we got home.  Most of the movie seems to have held up and the one or two borderline jokes ("What's a dickfer?") seemed to go over the kid's heads.

Saturday was...interesting.  I drove to Rutland (about 2 hours south) and met Marc for lunch and "Olympus Has Fallen."

#146

We had a fun time.  The movie was over-the-top, gratuitously violent and jingoistic.  Marc provided my two favorite moments....First, there was a on screen "18 months later" graphic...Marc paused just long enough and leaned over and said "That's a year and a half."  Second, as the end credits rolled, Marc summed the movie up as "So, the whole movie was about a guy trying to get his job back."

I left Marc to meet up with my folks.  We went to the memorial service for the man who performed my brain surgery all those years ago.  His wife was the head nurse and the first person who got me out of bed and started me on the path to recovery.  I got word of his death last week after dealing with some other rough family stuff.

I stopped at a local video store near our house on the way home and picked up a few more movies.  At four bucks each I got...

#688

#341

#245

I passed on Dredd....which I am regretting, even though it was $7.....  

I also hit the local comic book store and grabbed a few things....which made me realize I need to do a proper comic post REAL soon!

Last night we watched "X-Men: First Class" and today the weekend is ending with a handful of "Law and Order" episodes before everyone woke up and then viewings of "Jurassic Park III" and "Journey 2 The Mysterious Island".

So just some babble....

Challenge Accepted!

Recently, on his wonderful blog, Comics Make No Sense, Adam ran this Avengers cover.

Adam then wondered "Now just imagine how awesome that would be if you got rid of the dialogue, the sound effects and the "The Coming of Red Wolf!" blurb."

Well, I only have an old Paint program, but this is my quick and dirty version....

You can see where I had trouble blending and fixing things (especially Thor's helmet wing!) but all in all it was kinda fun...Makes me wish I had a decent editing program!

Winter Storm Euclid

I'm not sure when we started naming winter storms....nor am I sure when weather started delineating between regular storms and "super" storms...

Either way, this year's version of Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, Snowzilla or whatever it is called is on its way as I type this...I'm up there by the left side of the dash between the 12" and 16" prediction...

It's fine with me, as I never really got to test out the new snowblower last year and this won't result in a snow day, so no extra days tacked on at the end of the year...and it MIGHT actually "cancel" a planning meeting we set up at school for tomorrow, so it would be comics and beer all day long!!

Back to Normalcy Tomorrow...

I'm not sure who is luckier...

The votes have been counted...

I was so pleased by the suggested names for this blog...especially when I hadn't any idea of where to go with a title on my own.

My wife and I batted the suggestions back and forth over the Thanksgiving Break and settled on Bubba Shelby's suggestion for several reasons....

But first, the others were all so good....Nan liked the wordplay that The Armchair Squid came up with and I am seriously thinking of changing my on-line persona to Tony's suggestion but in the end....

I realize everybody's blog is their outlet.  Some of you are so well organized and so well written.  My little corner of the "world wide web" is a place for you to check in with what is going on with me...to find out "what's up"....

I also like the Looney Tunes connection.  The cartoons where a staple growing up and remain a favorite to this day.

And lastly, an unexpected connection.

Before we got married, my wife and I lived with my grandparents for a year.  Each winter my grandparents went to Florida for several months.  Before their last trip together, my grandfather spent a night with us going through a box of photographs from his time in World War II....from training camp to his posting to his capture and his liberation.  It was an incredible evening that brings tears to my eyes as I type this.

We ended the night with his sharing everyone's nicknames...they all had nicknames.  I asked his.  He told me "They called me Doc."  I asked why...eager to hear another story and curious about the origins...excited for more insight into this man I admired so much.

"It rhymed with Mock...they weren't very clever."

Busy Weekend

We had last Thursday and Friday off from school....remnants of the old "Teacher's Convention" of yesteryear.  The convention is gone but the days off remain.  Thursday was slotted as Parent Teacher Conferences, but my team tries to be flexible and hold them mornings and evenings the week before and the week after the Thursday...all to get the day off!

My wife and kids still had school.  The town we live in went through a Teacher's Strike several years ago.  As a result, they missed a lot of school days that year and ever since the calendar has been different from the surrounding districts.

I didn't do much on Thursday as a result of a REALLY late night on Wednesday.  Dinner with my teaching partner and then some late night prowling with my cousin as he waited for a flight to arrive.

Thursday was my wife's birthday.  The kids and I gave her her presents before they all left for the day.

The rest of the day involved a long nap and a re-watching of "Serenity".  The movie grows and grows on me with each viewing.

# 84 on my flickchart list

After picking up the kids and dropping them off where they needed to be, I put an episode of The Mike O'Meara Show on to my iPhone and mowed the lawn.

We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants that night and then settled in for the night.

Friday was rainy and cold, so we settled in for a mini-film festival.

# 3 on my flickchart list

 

# 34 on my flickchart list

# 240 on my flickchart list

Plans got a bit screwy for our family and I ended up seeing "Looper" by myself.

# 139 on my flickchart list

It is rare these days where I care enough to pay to go see a movie but this one had enough buzz and an intriguing concept.  It is also rare where I avoid all spoilers and can be truly surprised by a movie but I did my best with this one.

I left slightly underwhelmed but it is growing on me in retrospect.  I think I need to see it again at some point. I won't spoiler it for anyone who may be waiting to see it.  Needless to say, if you think this is your sort of movie, it probably is....some action, makes you think, sort of a twist ending....

On my way home, I stopped at one of the few video stores still in business and bought four movies.  One for the kids, two for all of us and one for me.

Saturday involved breakfast out after a few episodes of "Law and Order".  We also played a game of Monopoly.  Nan got kind of bored after an hour and "killed" her player (we don't tend to use the Monopoly pieces....usually there are HeroClix or MiniMates or the like on the board).  We then proceeded to play "Haunted Monopoly".  The rules got weird, but we swapped Nan's figure for a ghost and had to pay "Exorcism Fees" and deal with "Fright Attack" damage.

The night ended with a game of poker.  The Armchair Squid was there and will probably do a better job of writing things up.  There was a LOT of Texas Hold 'Em when I was hoping for a variety of games, but it was a fun night.  I left with about $12 more than I arrived with!

Today's highlight was watching one of our new movies..."Unstoppable".

# 38 on my flickchart

If you've stuck around this long, I'll give you the short version.  I really liked this movie after I first saw it.  It kind of stuck with me.  I'm not so good with the reviews but this was a fun flick.  The characters got established quickly.  The writing was crisp and the interactions were believable.  The story is credible and edge of your seat tense.

Much longer post than I usually do.  I erased and rewrote it a few times but will leave this babbly version.

And I realize I left out so much! Part Two tomorrow?

Keep Calm and Carry On

via xkcd

Something about this picture resonated with me this morning and I thought I would post it.  Even though my school year has started well and everyone in the house is healthy, there are just enough confusing and frustrating things swirling around.

I had a chance to chat with The Squid this morning to try to clear up one thing.  He made things better but also made things worse because he is just so darn nice and understanding. ;)

I've noticed smacky comment a few times in a few different places that a lot of folks seem to have hit the pause button on their blogging.  I think I've fallen into that trap.  I'm trying to read and comment but am once again so far behind...which compounds some of the guilt and frustration.....

I am so desperately trying to live by the bumper sticker on the back of my jeep...

T-Shirt Tuesday: 6/19/12

This is my newest t-shirt!  I received it on Fathers Day, though my loving family nicely bought me a "large" that we had to exchange for an XL.  I also got a matching bumper sticker that is on the hatch of the Jeep.

This photo is part of Nan's upcoming blog post about the major landscaping she is undertaking this summer.  The device is a manual sod cutter she rented!

And a few more blogs that have theme days and are fun reads:










Rip Jagger's Dojo

"It's Time I Had Some Time Alone..."

Last week I was bemoaning my lot in life....not really.  I was just trying to figure out how to "fix" the funk I was in.  

Some of the plans I initially considered got thrown by the wayside rather quickly.  My brother was unavailable to golf.  Logan's friend (and several students from my school) was doing the 5 K run to wrap up Girls on The Run and we decided to go and cheer them on!

After the run, I headed out to Bear Brook State Park in New Hampshire.  I decided to camp by myself and head to the Granite State Comicon on Sunday.  In between, I would hit some Targets and try to find some items on Nan's list.

All in all, it was a great trip.  I feel recharged for the up coming week. I'm ready to pack the classroom up for my move, organize report cards and student work, and to say goodbye to the class by which I will judge all other classes.

Here are the babble-y  highlights from my trip!

A very isolated camping site!  As I unloaded the Jeep, I suddenly remembered that I forgot to grab the current insurance card!  I also noticed the tags had expired!  Luckily, Nan was able to renew online.  I also try to obey the speed limit, so I wasn't really worried.

The Con was a blast.  So many people dressed up.  There were established groups of Pirates (The New England Brethren of Pirates), Ghostbusters (ghostbustersnh.com) and Stormtroopers (501st New England Garrison ) present.

He was walking the line as I entered.  He was complaining to the guy in front of me about teenagers who were are a recent event with him.  "So many store bought costumes" was his biggest complaint.

This young lady was in line in front of me.  I asked her to pose with the plants in the lobby.  She had her eyelashes done, too!

My last pic.  Morpheus was reluctant to join.  With the number of men who backed out when I asked for pictures, I am betting that mostly the females get photographed.

The Iron Man had glowing parts to his armor.  The Scarlet Witch was EASILY 6' 6"....if not taller!

I thought the Flash was being interviewed, as there was a lot of press at the show, but when I walked away, I noticed her name badge indicated that she was the character's wife!  Very clever!

She was rather intimidating in person!

A second Poison Ivy.  It was kind of neat how some people took a moment to pose in character when you asked for a picture.

Blurry Doom is blurry!

I was wary of taking photos with other people's kids in the shot, so I hurried this one up.  The Red Hood and Cobra Commander were very cool.

R2-D2 was being discreetly remote controlled by someone standing nearby.  All the kids were impressed.

There were many Harley Quinns.  I was getting ready to ask the Comedian and Silk Spectre for a picture when Harley started talking to me.  I felt obligated to snap a photo.

 I went to the show with $50 in my pocket.  I left with 25 comics for Logan and I (only one was actually on my list!), 4 Heroclix for Logan, and I left with $35 remaining.  Not bad considering I had to pay to get in!

Before the show I went to Target.  There were four things on my list (pool timer, new right hand golf glove, solar lanterns, and a part for my electric razor) and these were the only item I found.  Not the exact ones Nan wanted, but they are summer-y and should work just fine.

Lastly, I tried to eat all my meals local.  I had a delicious sub for dinner in Concord at a place called "Yellow Submarine" and lunch on Sunday before leaving town at "Brookside Pizza".  

Just an interesting note, both places cut their bread as shown above,  as opposed to the sideways cut of Subway and local shops here at home, and all the veggies (except the tomatoes and banana peppers) were diced!