McD's

Does it always end up at McDonald's? Otherwise, Madeleine on the look out for "buddies" or stuffed animals on the Canterbury high street and she eventually buys #110, #111, #112 - some even have names. 

I am pleased to find a comics book store with rows of boxes containing sealed originals from the older stuff like "Fantastic Four," "Captain America" and the "X-Men" as well as newer "Dark Knight" and others. I strike up a discussion with the owner who looks about what one would imagine: short on height, bald, thick glasses and wearing an "ACME Comics" T-shirt. He is totally engaging and notes his mission: "just trying to keep the tradition alive" when I say there are a rare-few comics stores left. 

In my yuf Telegraph Avenue owned Comics World and Comics And Comics within two blocks of each other. I learn that before 1969 new-guys Marvel Comics found themselves at the back of the dominant rival D.C. Comics (Superman, Bat Man, etc) - literally, as D.C. owned the distribution and refused Marvel and others their shelf-space; instead D.C. offered the second half, or least desirable part of the book while retaining editorial rights. From 1969, however, D.C. forced open allowing Marvel to develop its own independent comic-lines giving us Spider Man, Hulk, FF and many others in circulation still. 

I ask the fellow if he has read Michael Chabon's "The Adventures of Kavalier And Clay" - which I now read thanks to Christian - the story about a couple of Jewish kids in New York during WWII and the Golden Age of the comics industry. 

I end up buying him a copy and lucky for us because we find Eitan's whoopy-cushion, left on the counter, upon our return. Needless to say, its loss would have been everybody's loss.