By Toy Boy
TheGlobalCollector.com
comic books/toys blog 

For those that do not know Toy Boy personally, you may not realize that — if you are a fan of films that fall toward the fantastic — you may have read an interview or two of mine in the odd genre magazine, Scarlet Street and Rue Morgue among them. And if you have read these mags (in particular my work) you would notice a distinct trend in the majority of them: The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Today, with the heaviest of hearts, I must report that the original Gill-Man — Ben Chapman, who played the scenes of the Creature above water — has passed away. He was 79.

I first met Ben at a convention in Pittsburgh for an interview that would turn into a cover story for Rue Morgue Magazine. Having had the pleasure to inteview a few notables in my writing career, I was immediately struck how genuine Ben really was a human being, meaning, how much he enjoyed talking about his role as the Gill-Man, how happy he was to meet his fans, how warm he was as a person. There was nothing phony about Ben. He was the proverbial real deal, both as a man and a celebrity (something that deseredly came to him late in life, for years it was not readily publicized who played this titular character. Ricou Browning played the Gill-Man underwater). 

It wasn”t long before Ben and I were spending time in the hotel lounge afterward, like two old school chums who hadn”t seen each other in far too long. Ben was like that. He had that connection with people. 

I certainly wasn”t alone – several people would stop by his table at subsequent cons just to give him a hug and what not. Ben was a special, special human being. Even my wife loved him, especially after the ever-smooth Ben gave her a three-kiss hello upon meeting her (”This one’’s for you, this one’’s for me, and this one’’s for us!).

Soon after, if a convention appearance was within driving distance to our home base, off we were (Toy Boy and anyone else he could gather) to places such as the forementioned Monster Bash in Pittsburgh — on a number of occassions, I might add — along with Frightvisions in Cleveland and even a Spookenanny gathering in Defiance, OH (which is a story unto itself, really).

There was Ben, usually clad in his Hawaiian shirt, always ready with a warm Aloha! for me and my troops, ready to induct and welcome a new charge to his Black Lagoon with a personalized, autographed photo. No one ever left disappointed at meeting Ben.

Dr. Mindbender and I had two special rendevous with Benny (as his friends would often call him) at both the Monster Bash Convention in Pittsburgh and the last time we both saw him, a few years back at the Fax Expo in Toronto. The time we spent with he and Caroline Munro in Pittsburgh is one of the best memories I have as a fan and writer, with the evening well-set when we walked into the bar with The Doors” “The End” blaring in Apocalyse Now-like fashion.

Ben then spent the evening trying to teach the good Doctor how to properly speak French, given that Ben spoke a number of languages himself. We will never forget this great evening — where Ben also continually bought everyone drinks — and speak of it often. He was a blast to hang around with and — despite the age difference — was simply one-of-the-boys after-hours. He was an old-school Hollywood partier that knew how to have fun. We consider ourselves lucky to have even met him, let alone having the chance to get to know him as a person.

Every year Ben would make it a point to send me a personalized Christmas card, complete with a Gill-Man drawing stamp on the inside of the card. That’’s the kind of person he was. Rest assured, these were instantly among “My Favorite Things” — and you should all know what kind of crazy collector I am. I felt blessed that he would even think to send me one of these, let alone repeatedly, year after year, up until the last few . . .  when Ben’’s health began to grow worse, and his appearances on the convention circuit fewer and fewer. Note — not that this stopped Ben much. Even for the Fan Expo in 2006, his health was poor, but Ben would hear nothing of doctor’’s advise not to fly to Canada from his home in Hawaii. He had Canadian fans he had never met, said Ben, and if he died trying to meet them, so be it. That was Ben. He loved his fans, and they loved him right back in return.

Your suffering is now over, Ben, with nothing but good times ahead of you. Wherever you are today, I”m sure everyone around you is having a better time than they were before you arrived. You have that affect on people, and I will miss you forever. Thank-you for all the great memories. Until we meet again, my friend . . . God bless you and your family. 

Visit Ben’’s official page to leave your thoughts by visiting the-reelgillman.com

It has been nearly a week now since the news broke across Toy Boy’’s morning newspaper. “Superhero slain” screamed the headline, with the picture of a downed Captain America, bloodied and apparently deceased, ran big and boldly across two columns. Sure, I don”t read near as many comic books as I once did, but I have to come clean: it was as if a huge part of me was lying on those steps along with ol’Cap that morning. Now, before we get too far in to this column – yes, I know – Captain America is but a fictional character. Toy Boy may be a lot of things, but dumb is not one of them. A tad romantic, yes, but dumb? No. However, seeing one of the most-iconic figures from my lifetime succumb to a cheap publicity ploy that chilly winter a.m. really sent home a message tinged with the foul stench of ever-dreary adulthood: all things are a commodity, and all good things must come to an end. Because of this, I say let Steve Rogers rest in peace. 

Immediately, quick chats among fellow comic book fans all held the same opinion: “He’ll be back! Just like Superman!” For a while, Toy Boy resigned himself to this notion as well. “Sure,” I thought. “I mean, how can they just go and kill Captain America?!? Right?” And then I had another thought. Only this one has stayed with me for far longer. The year is 2007, gang. Captain America has been around since 1941, if you can believe it. After all, the Cap we knew growing up in the 80s was old even then, brought back only a decade and bit earlier thanks to a serendipitous encounter with the Avengers and an ice flow. How long will these characters we all grew up with really stay around? Surely, everything must eventually have a finale, no? Is there something so wrong with this? Such is life. We are all born to die. That is a cold hard truth everyone must learn.

Yes, a Captain America movie is allegedly in the works. And yes, there were even rumblings that this may even be a cheap ploy by Marvel Comics to lessen the importance of a lawsuit brought about by Cap’s original creator Joe Simon. A pox upon all of Marvel is that is true. Regardless, the fact remains that the character remains too profitable for the company to be left dead for long. But here’s hoping it won’t be Steve Rogers. Seriously.

Why not make a superhero death mean something for once? Rise above the shock value, and have the ending of a major character actually mean something for once. Let one of the all-time greats go out with some dignity, not to be resurrected by some twist of fate dreamt-up by a writer most-likely to have never had a Captain America can of crazy foam as a kid. Toy Boy says Steve Rogers needs to stay exactly where he is today: a legend in the hearts of fans everywhere, and the man who was Captain America for more than seven decades. It is time for another to proudly dawn the Star-Spangled suit of patriotism. Toy Boy’’s sure Steve would have wanted it that way.

Do you remember Captain America? Have some stories about your Captain America collectibles? Anything to say on this topic at all? Drop us a note by using the comments link below. Toy Boy sure loves to chat a wee bit about things near and dear to his ever-lovin” collectin” heart. Thanks for visitin”!

By Dr. Mindbender
TheGlobalCollector.com
comic books/toys blog

We thought for an installment of the Global Collector it might be fun to show off some nifty Christmas related comic book covers. While having a recent conversation with my good pal and GC founder Toy Boy about the subject, we both had fond memories of the oversized DC Treasury Editions, specifically close to our heart were the two Christmas With The Super Heroes editions that were published way back in the 1970’s.

Unless you’re in the same age demographic as many of the contributors here at the good ol’ GC you may have no idea what these oversized pulp oddities even were. Basically what started out as 10×13 full color reprints of key first appearances of some of the famous DC Comics characters who made their debuts the late 1930’s and early 40’s. Dubbed Famous First Editions and sold for a mere buck, these massive four color comics were the good Doc’s (and surely most collectors) first opportunity to read Action Comics #1 in it’’s entirety, meaning not just the Superman story, but all 72 pages of this genre defining publication. Including such DC oddities Tex Thomson, Scoop Scanlon and a Chuck Dawson story complete with a B&W page originally designed for a 1938 coloring contest with a grand prize of a whole dollar to the winner!
I loved these books and amassed quite a collection, however never able to find them in variety stores back then (this was long before I even knew what a comic shop was) But rather via small ad in a comic book for a fella who sold comics out of his hotel room. Yeah sounds a bit strange but a friend and I went with his father after calling and making an appointment. When we arrived both of our jaws dropped to the floor when we saw piles and piles of comic books on rows upon rows of metal shelving, fifty to a hundred of the same issue stacked neatly side by side, basically some sort of comic book warehouse. This guy had everything and for the first time I finally saw these Famous First Editions which up to that point only existed as ads in comics that I just stared at for hours wishing I could ‘send away’ for. So needless to say I spent my meager allowance on every one I ever wanted, making regular visits to this kindly gentleman for months forking every penny I ever earned mowing the lawn or shovelling the snow.

Among my favorites were easily the FFE’s, I have especially fond memories of reading and rereading Whiz Comics #2, All Star Comics #3 and Sensation Comics #1 over and over again. Where else could I read a story featuring Ibis the Invincible or The Gay Ghost I ask? After collecting all of them, I decided to move on to the many other treasuries, focusing on the ones containing the older reprints of stories I could never possibly ever read let alone afford to actually purchase. I was always attracted to Captain Marvel/Shazam so I started there, once those quickly dried up and I think that was pretty much it for the older 40’s material I grabbed whatever was there and had the most attractive cover.

At this point I recall Marvel getting into the act as well, and many of the treasuries contained to my disdain even at a young age newer material meant specifically for this format. The first Star Wars movie adaptation was originally released in this format as well as one of Toy Boy’s all time faves Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (still to this day a permanent fixture in the basement of his parent’s house, behind the bar).
I still can’t pinpoint what exactly it was that triggered this desire to read older comics when I was young, I’m still trying to figure that out and while I love reading new comics, I would always take a reprint over a new story if given the choice. So needless to say my love for the treasury eventually petered our, but not before buying Christmas with the Super Heroes, which along with more contemporary stories, contained a few nuggets from the vault and to this day I can’t think of Christmas without thinking about one of these two memorable covers dancing about my head. (Swan? Cardy?)
Oh and I must make one thing perfectly clear, I never owned one Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer treasury, they have been included here strictly for holiday purposes. In fact I don’t ever remember seeing one of these at any point in my life which is especially puzzling considering that of all the characters to ever star in a treasury, Rudolph rivals only Batman and Superman having seven (!) separate editions devoted to his adventures! Wow, the 70’s were a very strange time indeed…Enjoy the images and Happy Holidays!