Captain George's Memory Lane on Markham Street

When I was young I collected comic books and was always on the look out for new places to buy back issues. The first store we found was the Montgomery Book Store on Queen near Parliament.

It was a small used bookstore on the corner but on Saturday mornings he would bring out old comics for "collectors". There were cheaper comics in the bins 3 for 10 cents and more expensive ones behind the counter. One comic that I do remember buying was this one.
Brave and the Bold #80
Illustrated by Neal Adams.

I then discovered the Acadia Book Store on Queen near Sherbourne.
They had a huge selection of back issues.A guy named Joe worked there and would go on to have his own used bookstore at Queen and Parliament years later. Someone at school (grade 8) told me about another store near Honest Ed's on Markham Street so we had to go there.

George Henderson (Captain) in front of his store on Markham Street.
Unless you'd been there it's almost impossible to describe the interior of that store.
It was a rat's nest of nostalgia. Packed floor to ceiling with old comics. magazines and movie posters. George sat behind the counter, smoking and talking to his customers.

My membership card circa 1971.

Back of card. Not sure what V.W.O. stands for.....

Captain George being interviewed by the CBC in 1970.
And another good article here.
Critics At Large: The Declining Art of the Movie Poster
An ad for Markham Street from 1969.
There's a good radio interview here.
The story has now come full circle as I've recently purchased this page of production art from Brave and the Bold #80.....

Gemini Spacecraft Model Contest

This ad ran on the back of comic books in 1967 and at the time seemed just too good to be true.
According to an old issue of Boys Life, the winner was Alen Hanshew (age 13) of Portland.
According to a Revell spokesperon:

To confirm for all, this was not a model. This was an actual replica that was produced by McDonald Douglas. The capsule had to be shipped via railroad direct to the museum. The prize was awarded via a sweepstakes type entry, in order to win; the winner had to agree that they would donate to a local museum for two reasons, (1) So that others may enjoy and (2) Because it had to be shipped via railroad direct to the donation site.

A little more trivia for you, the cost of building this kit was $5,000. In 1967 $5,000 was unheard for any type of prize. Plus the additional model kits that the kid won. At least the kid got to keep all the model kits as he watched his beloved capsule given away. There were numerous glitches along the way in production. At the last minute McDonald Douglas said they would not provide the capsule. However, after seeing all the press etc, they some how found a way to complete the project and deliver to the museum.

The capsule's current location is in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

Curt Swan -Just For Fun

In my opinion, Curt Swan was the definitive artist on Superman Comics
through the 60's and 70's.
His crisp anatomical style defined the look of the character
and inspired a generation of new artists.
Here is a page of original art that I bought recently. From Superboy 10,1990.
Somewhat less expensive than most of Swan's original work.
this page doesn't actually show Superboy in uniform.
The cover.