According to the Superman Homepage, the bandleader Freddie "Schnickelfritz" Fisher's 1941 song "Superman" might've been the first. It's hard to pinpoint the very first song to make a comic book reference. It feels like validation for my geek passions. When Springsteen mentions the Batmobile in "I'm a Rocker," I wonder if it's because he's a loyal reader of Detective Comics or if a rerun of the '60s TV series inspired his pop culture reference-heavy song? (I hope it's the former, but the latter explanation seems more likely.) Even now, during a time when movies and TV have put superheroes in pop culture's pole position, each time I catch a reference to Iron Man or Batman makes me smile. And while we have never been blessed with having a version of the Teen Titans tearing it up onstage as the late, great Darwyn Cooke envisioned, we have had some cool and quirky music inspired by capes.Įvery time I hear a song that name-drops a comic book character (and it's much more common today than it used to be), I wonder if the singer or band are actual comics fans. When it comes to collecting and reading comics, taking care of them is fairly easy.Music and comics have been crossing paths for decades.įrom 1960s psychedelic shout-outs to some of the wilder elements of Silver Age Marvel, to original tunes crafted for Broadway shows and present-day hip-hop and metal tributes, comics have long provided inspiration to musicians. A lot of care taking that goes into the hobby comes down to storing comics safely. It is unavoidable sometimes, due to human error, to never run into any maintenance issues. For the most part, fixing any issues with a comic book are fairly straightforward. Collectors know too well that one of the most common problems is a comic book spine roll. We will take a look at the ways in which comic book collectors can avoid this issue through care and storage, then examine why this issue occurs. To equip you with the ability to fix the problem, we will then go through the process of fixing the spine roll, and lastly will make sure to wrap up any tips or tricks to keeping this problem out of your mind as much as possible. In most cases, comic book damage can be avoided. Of course, it is not worth beating one’s self up about little spills or tears: they happen. Nevertheless, knowing the secret behind proper care of comic books is important for beginning collector’s. Likewise, a refresher for seasoned comic fans is never a bad thing either. When it comes to handling and reading a comic book, a few easy solutions can help avoid major issues. The first and most easy to accomplish is making sure you only read or handle a comic book with clean hands. Simply taking 30 seconds to wash your hands before reading can save you the stress of a stain or smudge. Keep Food and Drink Away from Comic Books Not only is food and drink residue present on the hands without our knowledge sometimes, but it can also slip the mind after a meal. While on the topic of food and drink, avoiding either to be present near comic books at any time is a good habit to get into. It only takes 30 days to make a habit permanent, so even if snacking or drinking some coffee while you read is a habit now, it won’t be in a month. Keeping Comic Book Page Angle at 180 Degrees or Less Making an effort to kick this habit eliminates two major accidents waiting to happen. The movies and TV shows like to display kids or adults reading comics with the book folded over for convenience. Bending the comic from cover to cover for one-handed reading is terrible for comic book care. Nobody in any situation should be reading a comic book like that. Two hands, at no more than a 180 degree angle, is crucial to the longevity of the book. This gets into specific care for the spine roll. When bending the book from cover to cover, the spine roll begins to loosen and warp. In many cases, this can cause damage that is difficult or impossible to reverse. Let’s take a look at more spine roll concerns when it comes to comic book care. Step 1: Understand Your Audience Before you dive into the nitty-gritty of writing your artist biography, make sure you have a firm understanding of your audience. Avoid Causing CreasingĪ lot of comic fans who maybe take their books on the go will use items to bind them into more compact shapes. If this occurs, it could seriously damage the spine roll. A common item that gets used is a rubber band. The rubber band rolls the comic together into a cylinder, making it pocket friendly, and easier to store in certain areas. While, yes, it does make it easier to carry than normal, it can cause serious damage to a comic’s spine. It’s clear to see from the many issues above how spine roll damage can occur, and just how easily it can happen. Overall, it is important to understand the spine roll and its configuration to know how to care for it. Spine roll is an ever present problem for comic collectors. When a comic book is stored improperly, the cover begins to fall out of line.
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