Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
My favorites:
The ad is from a 1971 Co-Ed magazine via Phoney Fresh.
George Goode is the artist, and he did a number of similar designs (viking and zulu warriors, etc.) in the late ’60s for the same company. There’s a George Goode who worked as a storyboard and layout artist from the early ’70s to the mid-’90s on nerd-canonical animated shows like Star Trek: The Animated Series, Godzilla, Dungeons & Dragons, G.I Joe: The Revenge of Cobra, and The Transformers. I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same guy.
I first talked about Dragonlance way back here. I was obsessed with the books when they came out, although I reread Dragons of Autumn Twilight a couple of years ago and it didn’t really hold up. Not all that surprising.
I never got into the minis. I always found them interesting and would have liked to try my hand at painting a few, but they were too expensive. Making the sculpts is certainly an art form. The art on the box cover is by Jeff Easley from the Dragons of Flame module (1984).
Somebody give Toede a flame-throwing guitar!
I can’t find any info on the fanzine the Chairman (far right) is holding. The first San Diego Comic-Con was held in 1970. Photos from the 1973 SDCC are here.
(Image via SDSU’s Comic-Con History Project)
My first guess for the year was 1978, but the 2600 model looks like the four-switch, wood veneer version first released in 1980, and the date in the top right corner looks like ’83. I’m betting Video Olympics is what they’re playing.
There’s a record in front of the stereo I can’t identify. I wish I had that chair.
The good: Warduke, Warduke’s Shield, Strongheart’s mustache. The bad: Castle. The stupid: Charmay (I don’t want to know what she’s holding). I like Garn too, but I think it’s because he reminds me of the zombies in Ghosts ‘n Goblins.
Item sold on eBay for $26.00.
A new adventure begins, this time with the creative team of David Anthony Kraft (writer) and Pablo Marcos (artist). The cover is by Earl Norem.
Kraft started at Marvel as the editor of FOOM in 1978 and had a memorable run on The Defenders. Throughout the ’80s he worked on promotional materials, coloring/activity books, and the Marvel Books imprint. He went on to found the influential Comics Interview, which ran from 1983 to 1995.
Peruvian Pablo Marcos emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1970s and got his first American comics work with Warren and Skywald publications before moving to Marvel. He is best known for penciling Tales of the Zombie and inking John Buscema’s Conan the Barbarian.
As for the story thus far in The Crown of Rulership, my only question is, why the hell is the map to the all-powerful Crown shoved in willy-nilly with all the other scrolls, and very much out in the open? Better yet, why hasn’t someone of lawful good alignment already secured the Crown, to prevent evildoers from doing the same?
More to come. The AD&D Characters Coloring Book, if you haven’t seen it, is here.
Models in the first four ads are, from top to bottom, Morgan Brittany (Dallas, Glitter), Lauren Hutton (Lassiter, Once Bitten), Tom Berenger (eating spaghetti, for some reason), and Bruce Jenner. Brittany and Jenner hosted the second season of Star Games (1985-1986), a sports competition show featuring teams of celebrities.
The Swatch craze was absolute madness, and probably the first time I had a real conception of economic class. There were so many fashions and fads going on at the same time, and only the kids with money could keep up with them. The idea was to wear as many Swatches as possible (wrists, arms, ankles), and the gluttonous, neon ’80s did not disappoint.
(Images via Wishbook)
2 Warps to Neptune 