Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Datajunkie and Captain America


Now here's a novelty--something I not only have never owned but had never even seen until this morning! This CAPTAIN AMERICA paperback was one of two Marvel novels to come out in the mid-sixties. The other was THE AVENGERS BATTLE THE EARTH WRECKER. Now THAT one I had--twice! Written by Otto Binder, best known for his sci-fi novels and his comics writing for CAPTAIN MARVEL and SUPERMAN (was this his only Marvel-related work?) I couldn't get into it when I bought it used in 1970 (10 cents!) so I tried again some years later (seven dollars) but still didn't care for it. I had heard about the CAPTAIN AMERICA one all along but never saw a copy at a convention or anywhere else! Then, this morning, this turned up on datajunkie, a marvelous site that I have been remiss for not mentioning during my radio period as they have been consistently posting dozens of OTR shows--in some cases entire series!--online for our enjoyment (if we had all the time needed to listen to all of them anyway). Today's post offers some SUSPENSE episodes and then a whole run of just really cool sixties and seventies mass market paperback covers--including this one. Ted White wrote the novel. I knew his name at the time only from his chapter in ALL IN COLOR FOR A DIME but he had been a BNF (Big Name Fan) in sci-fi fandom for years. He went on to be a respected sci-fi novelist and essayist as well as an early editor of HEAVY METAL. If I recall correctly, White was more than a bit into the counterculture. It would be interesting to read his particular take on Cap in the sixties. Today, as Dr. Progresso, Ted White maintains an online presence with a fascinating music website. Check him out!

2 comments:

  1. Oh I remember this one. I read it when it first came out.

    Isn't this the one where Ted wrote in a minor character who was killed off in the first chapter named Monk Mayfair -- he didn't realise there were any other people who remembered Doc Savage until he started getting complaining letters ("How dare you...")

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  2. Anonymous2:06 PM

    this brings back memories

    I bought this in 1968 9or ('69)
    It cose me $0.50 and I recall using a Half-Dollar coin to purchase it.

    I now own 2 or 3 copies of it; the conditions of each varies. Also some have the original .50 price and others say .75c or $1.00.
    I forget which.
    so it WAS reprinted a time or two since the price was different.

    Like you It didn't thrill me much at age 8. It was a bit over my head.
    I've tried reading it since then and just can't get into it.

    I see copies of this every now and then in used book stores.

    Oddly enough I've yet to see a copy of the Avengers Paperback you mentioned.

    Alan Bryan
    JettBlackBerryX
    alan.bryan1@us.army.mil

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