Joys Of The Back-Issue Bins

As much as we like to review the newest, coolest, hippest release, it is sometimes nice to remember that there are treasures to be found in the bins, some from our childhoods or even before we were that glimmer in somebody’s eye. Comics have a rich history, there’s a reason why this is a cool media.

Neither can we ignore the cheesy or cutesy, from Disney to DC’s Sugar and Spice, legacies that continue through to today. Did you know the original funny animal character Peter Porkchops (who had quite the impressive run of issues for the time, heck, even by today’s standards) became Pig-Iron of the Amazing Zoo Crew? Impressive huh?

Which brings me to the discovery in those back issue bins this weekend gone. I have enthused about the current re-launch of the Red Circle icons by DC, and personally miss the ill-fated !mpact titles. That version of the Crusaders was not so hot, but The Fly and The Comet were excellent reads (and worth digging out.) However, as seen in the image, how could I resist a team-up between the Mighty Crusaders and Thunder Bunny (a character that I had heard of but never actually read)?

Now although this is the Crusaders at their home publisher, this was after they had already been around for twenty years, as they first arrived on the scene back in 1965 and this was dated 1984.  Yet there was no sense of being bogged down by history, but no ignoring that history either. What was interesting was how the issue was a single story, beginning, middle and end, no cliffhanger required. Of course it followed the standard pattern of heroes meet, heroes fight and then team up to beat the villain (with an added dose of morality thrown in), but it was clean and uncomplicated. Oh how I miss those halcyon days, where the strength of a title was not just reliant on that infernal cliffhanger.

Comics have moved on from those days and in many ways for the better.  Still, this is a perfect example of what initially hooked me on comics in the first place. If you have a dollar to spare this week, rather than looking for yet another new title, have a dive into the bins and see what you can find from yesteryear, you may find that love all over again.