Friday, March 21, 2008

Tomahawk And The Bicentennial


In looking for reprints of Tomahawk Comics, which I thought would be a good resource to compliment the John Adams' HBO series, I went to Forbidden Planet on Broadway and 13th Street. No such thing, but one of the clerks told me that a store called the Time Machine on 14th Street and 8th Avenue (Roger''s Time Machine
207 W 14th St Second Floor, (212) 691-0380) might have old copies at a reasonable price. Well, what a find that store was. As one reviewer writes, "It's not a place to bring a date," not because it's seedy, but it's a bit on the worn side. Lots of comics in bins, all conditions, all prices. The owner, I think named Roger, was very menschy and when I told him I wasn't a collector, but a teacher, he steered me to a couple of amazingly inexpensive comics that fit the bill. One was a Superman Bicentennial Issue (large format) that had several Tomahawk, American Revolution themed stories. I scanned the first story and cropped it to fit the Google Video player and added some music from the Patriot (forgive me Mel Gibson haters). Here's part one:
from treasurycomics
Limited Collectors' Edition C47 - 1976
The most awesomest back cover ever--a history of the US presidents! I learned who the presidents were from this cover more than any history class. ...Oh, I guess I should mention the front cover and the insides, shouldn't I?
The front cover re-uses a classic Superman cover by Jack Burnley. That original appears in the new book Superman Cover to Cover as an example one of the finest Superman comic covers.
This book is a bit of a cheat--great front cover, but the insides are all reprints of DC's Tomahawk series. (and not even those cool Tomahawk issues by Frank Thorne with the Kubert/Adams' covers! *Yawn*)
Sorry, I don't mean malign the fine efforts of the writers and artists who crafted all those years of Tomahawk comics. Its just that, if you're gonna call the book Superman Salutes the Bicentennial, it's gotta be Superman doing the saluting.

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