"It’s not a carpool. It’s a starpool!"
(A family of comic fans have picked out their comics at our store and are ready to check out. The little girl of the family, about 5 or so, wants a comic book too, so the other family members try to help out)
Older sister/aunt/whatever: “So look, there’s Action, there’s Cable/Deadpool, there’s X-Men…”
Little girl: “Oooh, there’s Krypto! I like Krypto, I’ve seen him on TV!”
Older sis/aunt/whatever: “Krypto? Really? Nah, you don’t want that. Look, here’s Martian Manhunter, Witchblade….”
Okay, when I heard “Witchblade” I had to step in and gently suggest that, really, you should probably get the little girl the COMIC SHE’S ACTUALLY INTERESTED IN. It’s a good read, perfect for her age group, and (I didn’t say this next part, though I really should have) a lot more appropriate than freakin’ Witchblade, for God’s sake.
And, thankfully, they did buy her Krypto, grudgingly, but made the little girl very happy. So disaster has been temporarily averted, as I’m sure the family is going to continue to give her grief over picking Krypto over something “cool” like Captain America or Outsiders or some darn thing.
So we recently bought a good-sized collection…well, we bought a small portion of it, and the rest of it ended up getting dumped on us anyway (which is where a lot of my recent Starlog scans and quotes are coming from, but more on that later in the week). Anyway, in one of the old Famous Monsters of Filmland mags we found a folded-up Playboy poster featuring nekkid Bo Derek from Tarzan the Ape Man (the one with how much Keeffe? “Miles O’Keeffe!”*).
Another item in this collection was a copy of the Kitchen Sink Press ‘zine Weird Trips, which cover-featured an article on the infamous murderer Ed Gein:
However, the previous owner of this comic added a special bonus feature to this mag: a period newspaper clipping featuring the obituary of Mr. Gein:
I wonder what other surprise bonuses are hiding in the pages of the books in this collection?
Speaking of stuff from old Starlog mags:
“Join the Starpool fleet and cruise the galaxy with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock at your side. Whatever your mission – school, work, or around the block, you’re part of the Federation with Spock and Kirk in the back seat of your car. It’s not a carpool. It’s a starpool!
“Here’s how it works!
“Starpool kinetic passengers move as your car moves. Face and hand mechanism attach easily to back seat car windows. Spring-action hands wave any time the car is in motion. Spock gives his famous Vulcan salute. Kirk delivers an important command on his communicator.”