Sunday, September 10, 2006

Raggador Madness

I'm not one for drug humor because I find it a lower source for the funny than Power Girl's breasts and drugs are stupid, but sometimes a comic book image comes along that doesn't really lend itself to anything else.

Panel from Bullpen Bulletins feature, Strange Tales #139 (December 1965)

This pipe-like device might be a mailer for subscription comics so they don't get damaged when shipping. It might be a mailing tube, but it looks to me more like Doctor Strange is chilling in his Sanctum while conjuring a mystic portal to the Stash Dimension where he stores his party supplies.

I don't know what genius thought mailing precious comic books by tightly rolling them up was a good idea but it is stupid. It's just as stupid as when they used to mail them flat with just a band of paper around the middle of the book, leaving all the edges to get torn and messed up. Plus, you know all the mailmen were totally reading your Fantastic Four before you did which is wrong on many levels.


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3 comments:

  1. from the length of it I'm guessing it's designed to hold a poster. It's far too long and skinny to hold a comic.

    I did briefly have a subscription to a Marvel comic when I was a kid. I don't remember if it had a full envelope or just a mailer band. What I do remember is that either way, it was folded in half first.

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  2. It WAS actually used for a Spider-Man poster.

    One of the FIRST such jaunts into merchandising that the fledgling MARVEL had made.

    AS for comic subs, I had subscribes twice in my lifetime.

    The 1st time (early 1980's) they came with JUST a brown paper band (about 6inches wide) circling the book, allowing anyone to slide it out, read it, slide it in and/or mash the corners pretty good.

    The 2nd time (mid to late 1980's) they came sealed in a flimsy plastic bag (kinda like what magazines, like Wizard are sold in) with a wafer thin "backing card" that would have a graphic of some character (sometimes, the character who's title you were receiving), and your mailing info was affixed to THAT.

    Luckily, I had NEVER had a comic stolen or mangled.

    The occasional ding, but all-in-all, not too bad.

    FAR better than the nightmares of years prior where they would FOLD the comic in half, and then slide it into a sleeve.

    ~P~
    P-TOR

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