A lot of us have Ronald Regan to thank for getting us into comics...
"What do you mean miraclemet?"
Im glad you asked! ;)
Back in the early 80s one of the things Regand did in his first term was to eliminate legislation that restricted companies from using non-ad TV to promote/sell products (not sure if it was specific about the "to kids" part or not). With those restrictions lifted we saw a huge boom of toy related programming targeting kids to entice them into buying GI Joe, Transformers, Go-Bots, and He-Man toys. Yes man of the crappy Saturday Morning Cartoons like Rubix Cube were produced just to sell more product...
Im sure many of us saw the cartoons, bought the toys and then also bought the comics soon there after... I know my childhood collection was filled with G I Joe, Transformers and other "toy line" comics...
Great story about your Uncle. I have a friend that is legally blind but loves comics.
I remember one of the CGS guys mentioning the ComicsPimp (the guy that occasionally calls into CGS) is legally blind. Is friend the Comics Pimp? ;)
Nah, My legally blind buddy is around my age,so late 30s. And I know he listens to CGS but has never called in. Now I wish the comic's pimp would call in again. I have always enjoyed his calls.
The old Adam West Batman show and the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man cartoons. Also the Superman/Justice League hour or whatever that was. Since spinner racks were in practically every store, the conduit between the shows and the comics was pretty hard to avoid, I think. ALL kids had a few comics (early seventies). They were like candy.
I so want to get another spinner rack. I use to have 2 of them. But i sold them when I moved from Texas to Mississippi. When I had them one was always full of comics that I hadn't read and the other was full of unread trades.
I loved how back in the late 70s thru the late 80s it seemed like comics were everywhere. Way before I went to my first comic shop I would go around to various drug stores and grocery stores and get all my monthly comics off the spinner racks. Plus there was always those magazine sized black and white comics that I would get. I think if comics were sold in more places more kids would be into them now. But it seems like over the past 3 years I am starting to see comics in more places. Back in 2007 when I first moved back to MS the only comics I could find in town were the Archie Digests at the checkout lines. And it was hit or miss. But now at Walmart I see lots of volumes of manga. Plus it seems at least at the Walmart in town they get in some of the Archie floppies each month and the Sonic the hedgehog comics. And just tonight I saw that mixed in with the kids/young adults books they had the first 5 trades of the Walking dead and a Sonic the Hedgehog trade. So just made comics being found outside of a comic shop might be making a comeback.
The main thing would be comics themselves. Seeing them in grocery and convenience stores where I spent a fair amount of time at a young age. Also movies and tv such as the Capt America tv movies, Superman1-2, 60s batman and superfriends, spiderman cartoons etc.
I can remember being so excited for the second Captain America tv movie. Then I saw it and even as a very young kid I was very very disappointed.
oh yeah they stunk, but back then, most everything of the sort did... we just couldnt be too picky. I miss being able to ignore and overlook the flaws and failings and being able to take away only the bits I enjoyed as I was able to as a kid.
Does anyone else remember there being small mini-comics at 7-11 stores? They were similar to those that came with Super Powers figures? Each told the origin of specific DC heroes. Those helped me get into comics quite a bit.
The main thing would be comics themselves. Seeing them in grocery and convenience stores where I spent a fair amount of time at a young age. Also movies and tv such as the Capt America tv movies, Superman1-2, 60s batman and superfriends, spiderman cartoons etc.
I can remember being so excited for the second Captain America tv movie. Then I saw it and even as a very young kid I was very very disappointed.
oh yeah they stunk, but back then, most everything of the sort did... we just couldnt be too picky. I miss being able to ignore and overlook the flaws and failings and being able to take away only the bits I enjoyed as I was able to as a kid.
Does anyone else remember there being small mini-comics at 7-11 stores? They were similar to those that came with Super Powers figures? Each told the origin of specific DC heroes. Those helped me get into comics quite a bit.
Are you talking about "Bubble funnies"? I remember them being in gumball machines. Tracked down the Cap issue a few years back. I also remember sometime in the very early 80s Hardee's fast food chain had a great promotion. Each kid's meal box came with a comic strip that told a Marvel hero/heroine's origin. And they were in 3d. I would love to get ahold of some of them again.
Comments
"What do you mean miraclemet?"
Im glad you asked! ;)
Back in the early 80s one of the things Regand did in his first term was to eliminate legislation that restricted companies from using non-ad TV to promote/sell products (not sure if it was specific about the "to kids" part or not). With those restrictions lifted we saw a huge boom of toy related programming targeting kids to entice them into buying GI Joe, Transformers, Go-Bots, and He-Man toys. Yes man of the crappy Saturday Morning Cartoons like Rubix Cube were produced just to sell more product...
Im sure many of us saw the cartoons, bought the toys and then also bought the comics soon there after... I know my childhood collection was filled with G I Joe, Transformers and other "toy line" comics...
Thanks Ronnie!
I loved how back in the late 70s thru the late 80s it seemed like comics were everywhere. Way before I went to my first comic shop I would go around to various drug stores and grocery stores and get all my monthly comics off the spinner racks. Plus there was always those magazine sized black and white comics that I would get. I think if comics were sold in more places more kids would be into them now. But it seems like over the past 3 years I am starting to see comics in more places. Back in 2007 when I first moved back to MS the only comics I could find in town were the Archie Digests at the checkout lines. And it was hit or miss. But now at Walmart I see lots of volumes of manga. Plus it seems at least at the Walmart in town they get in some of the Archie floppies each month and the Sonic the hedgehog comics. And just tonight I saw that mixed in with the kids/young adults books they had the first 5 trades of the Walking dead and a Sonic the Hedgehog trade. So just made comics being found outside of a comic shop might be making a comeback.
IAWTP
But didn't Reagan also change some legistration that ended up creating the informerical? If so that totally counteracts the one good thing he did.
Does anyone else remember there being small mini-comics at 7-11 stores? They were similar to those that came with Super Powers figures? Each told the origin of specific DC heroes. Those helped me get into comics quite a bit.