Paintings and Ice Schooners Lead Me Down A Rabbit Hole

Beautifully packaged parcel from Peahen In The Tree

When I started putting my thoughts together about returning to the world of blogging a year or so ago, I never imagined I'd be writing so much about my book collection.

But then I discovered Booktube, and my perspective shifted somewhat.

The other day, a random eBay advert hit my eyeballs for different edition of a key book from my formative years as a young gamer: Wereblood (or, in this iteration, Were Blood) by Erik Iverson (aka alt-history maven Harry Turtledove).

My 'new' copy of Wereblood

But what made this printing of particular interest to me was the painted Boris Vallejo cover (see above), which bore no relevance to the Gerin The Fox story told in Wereblood whatsoever.

In fact I knew it from a 1985 roleplaying supplement from Mayfair Games' Role Aids line that I was mildly obsessed with as a youth. Ice Elves did exactly what it said on the tin (and in Vallejo's 1978 painting).

It was an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure and rules supplement that explored the idea of a race of elves living in the frozen North, getting around on ultracool "ice riggers".

The reason I was rather hooked on this supplement is because of the similarities, especially in the whole "ships that glide over ice" aspect, to the first Michael Moorcook book I ever read: The Ice Schooner.

However, the more I thought about this - especially when my parcel from online book trader Peahen In The Tree arrived - the more surprised I was by the fact that Vallejo's art didn't decorate the covers of the either of the two editions I have of The Ice Schooner.

My two copies of The Ice Schooner

But a wee bit of Googling quickly revealed it had, of course, been used as a cover illustration for a 1978 Dell Publishing edition of The Ice Schooner:

Was this painting originally commissioned for this book?

A key aspect of the book that introduced me to the wonderful writing of Michael Moorcock is that it was another purchase from P&P Book Exchange in Goods Station Road, Tunbridge Wells.

This is the same - sadly, long-gone - second hand book store where, four decades ago, I discovered the cosmic horror of HP Lovecraft for the first time and was transformed from a "dabbler" in comics to full-on collector when I purchased piles of Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans and John Byrne Fantastic Four comics.

It's no understatement to say that one store played a major role in shaping my lifelong geeky interests. 

The world needs more browsable, brick-and-mortar, second hand book shops.

The Complete Timeline Of The Fantastic Four

This video looks at all the complete publishing history of the Fantastic Four from its beginning in 1961 to modern times. It highlights the major developments, changes in creative teams and why the title has stopped and started numerous times over the last six decades.

Another quality feature from the marvellous Strange Brain Parts, the erudite king of comic book analysis on YouTube.

This 13-minute film breaks down the various incarnations of the main Fantastic Four title, since their creation by Stan Lee and Jack Lee, right up to the modern Ryan North era. It also offers some suggested "jumping on" points for newcomers to the title.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: My (Continuing) Adventures With Superman

My deep affinity for the character of Superman has a poignant origin story. I had this copy of Amazing Heroes magazine, which takes an in-depth look at John Byrne's impending (at the time) relaunch of Superman for DC Comics (post Crisis on Infinite Earths) when I travelled up to Stoke-on-Trent in 1986.

I was visiting my dear friend Matt, who was studying at university there, and I have a vivid memory of sitting on a small hillock in some parkland, waiting for him to turn up.

As I sat there I was reading Amazing Heroes and becoming increasingly convinced that I was going to really enjoy this era of Superman's comic book adventures.

Now, of course, this is also another strong memory I have associated with my gone-too-soon old pal.

I was already a massive fan of John Byrne's work from his stint on Fantastic Four (still a benchmark by which I judge most other superhero books) but I'd only really dabbled in Superman titles up until that point.

I had a few random Bronze Age issues, including both parts of Alan Moore's classic Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow? story (I was a big Alan Moore fan, as most people were at the time, religiously reading Watchmen and Swamp Thing) and this particularly memorable issue of Action featuring Captain Strong (most definitely not a Popeye knockoff):

As Byrne's The Man of Steel (the six-issue miniseries introducing us to all the key players in the key Superman mythos) was published, I knew I had found "my" Superman.

I treasure my original collection of The Man of Steel, for the artwork, stories and memories

As I wrote on Facebook the other day:

"Although I'm a fan of all eras of Superman (with a particular penchant for the wackiness of the Silver Age these days), it was John Byrne's 1986, post-Crisis, relaunch, with The Man of Steel miniseries, that truly sold me on the character. For me, this remains the definitive take on Superman and his supporting cast."

Luthor was no longer a 'mad scientist' but a corrupt businessman

But, of course, me being me it's not just Superman comics I collect (... and films... and T-shirts), it's also the occasional action figure, miniature, and Funko Pop.

For the longest time, it wasn't even a conscious effort to accumulate these artifacts, but as time passed I realised my 'horde' had a definite Superman bias.

I'm not a hardcore hunter of such Superman memorabilia, but if I see something that catches my eye (and I can afford it at the time) I always like to add it to the shelves of my gamesroom:

Alongside Beppo The Super-Monkey, Bizzaro and Doomsday, one of these Supermen
is actually a "Superman Robot" - can you pick him out?

A selection of Supergirls (from TV and comics),
with Krypto and Streaky The Supercat and Wonder Woman

A comic-accurate Kelex, soon believed to be appearing in the new Superman film

Funko Pops of Superman and Lois from the original Christopher Reeve movie

I love my collection of miniature Smallville residents from the Silver Age comics

My shelf of Superman graphic novels and omnibuses - along with a Daily Planet pen holder.