I'm back! It's been a long summer, but I think it was worth it. I took the Maryland bar exam at the end of July, and then took a two week vacation in Minnesota to visit my family and friends. While staying at my parents' home, I decided to rummage around in their storage unit to see what sort childhood memories I could uncover. And sure enough, I found a couple of gems.
This is my very first eBay purchase, a Royal Portable typewriter! I bought this machine over 10 years ago, placed it on a shelf, and then never used it. I'm so ashamed. To make it up to myself and the typewriter, I took it to Vale Typewriter in Minneapolis where Rich, the proprietor, was able to clean, scrub, and oil the Royal back into premier shape. There are still spots of rust, but Rich says that their spread should be halted by keeping them oiled. Here's to hoping.
In addition to my vintage typewriter, I found a small cache of comic books. I was absolutely thrilled.
As a middle schooler, I collected Green Lantern comics, and I had a few issues of independent titles, including the above pictured 3 Geeks comic. I totally related to the book, it was about a group of guys that hung out at a comic book shop, unabashed by their geekness. The guy that worked the shop counter was named Colonel, and the guy that manned the counter at Uncle Sven's Comic Shoppe in Saint Paul where I hung out was also named Colonel! It was as though I had no choice in buying the comic.
I'm writing about 3 Geeks here on Everyday Correspondence because, wouldn't you know it, the premise of issue 5 is about writing letters to comic book authors and artists. In virtually every printed comic there is a page or two at the end of each book dedicated to the mail bag, where fan letters are printed and the author of the book responds. While I've never written a fan letter to a comic, I'm lead to believe that having your letter printed is the ultimate honor for a fanboy (or fangirl).
Well, having come upon both a typewriter and 3 Geeks issue 5 in my parents' storage unit, I felt compelled to write my first ever comic fan letter to the creator of 3 Geeks. While I doubt that my letter will be printed, I take satisfaction in giving a creator appreciative feedback for his work.
Have you ever written a fan letter to an author or artist? Have they ever written back? Have you had your letter printed in a comic book?
3 comments:
Congrats on passing the bar. Looks like you're a local (that is, reasonably near to Washington, DC) so you should consider attending either Baltimore Comic Con (http://comicon.com/baltimore/) and/or the Small Press Expo (http://www.spxpo.com/). The latter is dedicated to indie comics; the former less so.
@melydia Thanks! Although, I've only taken the bar, results are released in November. I actually plan on heading out to the Baltimore Comic Con this weekend - it'll be my first, and I'm really looking forward to it! I'll look into the Small Press Expo. Thanks for the tip!
My mother has one of these and my sister and I used it to type out our reports in j.h and h.school. It was a refreshing memory recaller to see this picture. Mom lives two doors down. Or should I say I live two doors down from Mom? I think I'll go over and drag that thing out of the closet.
I saw on an episode of Pawn Stars a guy came in with some sort of Royal typewriter and they only wanted to give him $75 for it. I would have just taken that thing back to the house with me.
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