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Friday, April 24, 2015

True or False: I Have Comics-Related Goodness on Display in My Home or Office



Doug's desk in his office at school, with Spidey and Cap guarding the family photos and other memorabilia.

Posters referenced by HB in his first comment today.

33 comments:

  1. True! Soon after we got married, my wonderful wife (who is not a comic book reader) bought me a signed & framed Alex Ross Spider-Man print from Dynamic Forces. They were running a two-for-one special so she also got me a signed & framed Hildebrandt Bros. print. They're both hung up in the house and displayed prominently.

    - Mike Loughlin

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  2. Well, my entire home office is like a comic book shrine. On top of my desk hutch I have 4 Spider-Man statues. Above that on the wall I have 4 framed prints from the Bruce Timm Batman Animated Series. I also have 3 collector plates hanging above the window of Animated Batman, an Amazing Fantasy 15 reproduction, and Plastic Man by Alex Ross. Then I have no less than 9 posters on the wall: Captain America and Batman by John Byrne, The X-Men by Art Adams, Ninjak by Joe Quesada, 5 Spider-Man posters by John Romita (2x), Todd McFarlane, Alex Ross, and Joe Quesada, and a Marvel Universe print by J. Scott Campbell. Then I have a bookcase against the back wall filled to capacity with trade paperbacks, and hardcover collections. On top of the book case sits an Animated Batman/Superman piggy bank, a 3D Animated Batman/Catwoman collector plate, A WB Store Animated Batman maquette statue, a Franklin MInt Spider-Man/Green Goblin mini-statue, and a WB Store Animated Batman Beyond statue. Then there is my closet full of action figures. Of which several are on my desk right now.

    So I guess I'd have to say TRUE.

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  3. Oh, very true. On my desk at work is an old calendar composed of various classic Marvel comics covers. At home, there are several pieces of original art framed, including works by Walt Simonson, Joe Staton, Al Milgrom, Terry Austin, and William Messner-Loebs. Then there is Mickey Mouse, framed in the living room; that one is my wife's favorite...

    Mike L- great gifts from your wife, she apparently has excellent taste in art!

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  4. William- those Bruce Timm prints would be awesome; absolutely love his work! You have quite an impressive array there...

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  5. You guys are shaming me!

    But I do have my comic room at home, which I've shown around here a few times.

    Waiting for David B. to chime in with the current status of his work desk!

    Doug

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  6. William- awesome! Wish I had a home office...

    Redartz- Nice art collection! I have some original art I have yet to frame and display, notably a P. Craig Russell page and a Bill Sienkiewicz sketch. Space is a factor. Again, wish I had a home office!

    Doug- I'm hoping for a comic book room at some point. Maybe when the kids move out in 10-15 years...

    - Mike Loughlin

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  7. Don't feel bad, Doug. I have to answer a false to this one, for both my home and office. The closest thing I have is a b&w photo-copied image of Kirk and Spock on the wall next to my desk at the office (hope that link works). Otherwise, I do have a sketch of Monark Starstalker drawn for me by Howard Chaykin, and I even had it framed, but I have yet to hang it up anywhere...

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  8. Edo, clicking on that link gets "this content is currently unavailable". Well, it does when I try it.

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  9. Oh true, definitely true. Although it takes its place beside all sorts of other pop-cultural, personal memento, theatrical, art-from-the-kids, and hipster/random decorative paraphernalia. The clutter/collage vibe definitely holds sway in my decorating aesthetic. Beatles and Dr Who get a lot of exposure as well, y'see.

    Geeze, if only I could figure out how to attach photos from my phone to actual emails (which I cannot seem to achieve successfully--).

    As part of a birthday/Christmas decorating surprise a couple of years ago, my scenic artist covered the entire bathroom door at the shop w/ animated Avengers wrapping paper and a bunch of bows. . . and I couldn't bear to ever take it down-- so that's a permanent fixture now. In the pass-through/stairwell to out main work area, there are a couple of posters provided by my associate: the Avengers Movie poster, and that Marvel Universe poster from 2010 that has several hundred characters gathered in deep perspective. Above that-- a VERY cool artifact-- we did a play a few years ago called THE HISTORY OF INVULNERABILITY, about Jerry Siegel's struggles & the relevance of Superman to the struggles of Jews in the mid-20th century (particularly in relation to the Holocaust). The designer came up with a floor treatment made entirely of Superman comic book pages and covers and images-- all overlaying each other in a huge collage and adhered to the floor-- then sealed over a few times w/ polyurethane. The shape of the floor area itself was defined by four large, stacked chest-shield-shaped platforms. This made for a remarkable playing surface-- and the original poster-sized sample is hanging on our wall as well. (A LOT of discarded comics met their demise to make that floor, I must confess-- but they were all very recent fare that was being tossed by some LCS's, as it turned out.)

    And most days, I'm wearing some sort of superhero t-shirt/workshirt-- so I'm able to boldly proclaim my loyalties w/out a second thought. It's become a bit of a "thing" for my crew to do the same on the first day of our load-ins over the course of the season. . .

    (In some ways, other than financially, I really do have a great, great job, I must confess. . . )

    HB

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  10. Ohhh Doug, you remembered.. I don't know if I have any pictures to post, but my enormous cube area look pretty much like 'Big Bang Theory' threw up in it, at least that's how I described it.

    I have some 11x17 glossy pics (in those plastic sleeves, velcroed to the fabric cube walls..) of the following..:

    - HTD Treasury Edition cover
    - that famous GL/GA Adams calendar page (from the '75 DC Calendar)
    - Doc Strange poster
    - a b&w '65 Stones poster and other 11x17 Keith pics
    - And a broadway play framed poster, a great Reagan glossy and my Texas Longhorns banner.

    In addition, my 1973 Ideal Spiderman playset (still wrapped in original cello) encased in a custom-made acrylic display case, a Steranko SHIELD comic in plastic protector sleeve, a nice Legends diorama of Doc Strange hovering over some Hydra soldiers (with a little wired Legends YJ flying next to him). The Hydra soldiers and base were from that Marvel Select Spiderwoman set a few years back (I just replaced her with Stephen..). Oh and both a Major Matt Mason Astro-trac, a BSG Viper and a Space:1999 Rescue Eagle (Product Enterprises).

    I had the MU blue/yellow variant Goliath standing next to my desktop PC but finally started scaling back (I know, what a shock..). Plus I have 3-4 creeping, leafy plants that are threatening to take over the entire office area, which I keep healthy with lots of watering and classical music playing in the background (ie, 'Little Shop of Horrors'..). And to complete the look, a few vintage framed albums which I shift out, currently up is the Stones 'Satanic Majesties' and the Beatles MMT album (vintage Hor-Zu Dutch cover with the purple/green cover).

    Yes, I DO get a lot of visitors stopping by.

    My boss still commends me 'for my decorating restraint'.

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  11. Wow. That is all so awesome. I'd like to see some pics of the above sometime.

    For me, True at home and False at the office. My work office is pretty sterile...like Boring and Beige and Saltine Crackers got together and puked. At home my wife for a Christmas a few years ago converted a spare bedroom into my "hangout place". She had a mural painted of Giant Man, Vision, Union Jack, Stingray, Bug, and Thing bursting through the wall (just some of my favorite characters). That room was mine for about a month and then the kids invaded and it is now their play room. I still have Byrne, Perez,and Colan art that I really need to frame and hang.

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  12. I have to say, DaveB, that yours sounds like just about the most comfortable, friendly, retro-pop-cultural womb that anyone could ever hope to visit-! The creeping plants are a perfect touch. In spite of the Little Shop connection, they very much bridge the gap from being potentially geekily-off-putting to having an eccentric but welcoming vibe. (Coincidentally, we've just started toying w/ a couple of plants here as well. . . !)

    HB again

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  13. I've got a few things here and there, but no "shrines" on display. Currently the only comic book related thing in my living room is a Funko Spider-Man:http://faos.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-14310088dt.jpg

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  14. HB --

    The image you emailed us has been affixed to today's post. Thank you!

    Doug

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  15. Ah, you're the best Doug, thanks.
    Yes, that's the Superman floor sample. The final product mixed a wider variety of images & pages & different looks--- even some B&W reprints and some reprints of old Action comics. This sample was more beautiful as its own image-- but would have been too visually distracting as a true floor.

    I love it, though.

    A few pieces of the true floor were cut to a smaller shield size (app 20" x 30") and given away as mementos at the designer's request.

    HB

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  16. HB, you pegged my cube atmosphere perfectly.., especially the 'vibe'. My humble thanks.

    I just bought my new home (built back in the '30s..) a few months ago and am allowing financial 'dust to settle' before redecorating 'my new library/home office' upstairs.., thinking about putting thin red brick up with mortar on the walls, some built-in bookshelf cabinetry with crown molding, perhaps (possibly) taking out the ceiling (to expose the finished attic above..) and showcasing all my Kenner SW, my 1:6 scale '60s/70s GI Joe vehicles above (to include my recent vintage 'Action Man' european purchases..). And yes, many more framed prints (Steranko FOOM poster, some Kennedy portraits, Gemini astronaut stuff), my guitars.

    I will slowly de-geekify my gov't office workspace eventually, but the stuff just needed a home for now.

    The mind literally boggles at the potential..

    I want to hear more from our other loyal BABsters..!!

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  17. Ooh- DaveB, Lowe's carries a 4'x 8' sheet of brick-embossed hardboard for $25-$30 that works beautifully for what you're thinking of-- designed to fit & match side-to-side. Especially good for interiors where you don't have to create outside corners.

    Say, do we have any unfortunate pals out there who have to work in an environment where even a little bit of personal expression like this is verboten? Any "Office Space"-type experiences to share--?

    HB

    PS-- Lordy, these food-based captchas are makin' me crazy-! I can't recognize about a third of the more complicated dishes they offer--

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  18. I've got some cover art from Classic X-Men/Marvel Tales; they used to reprint the original cover in the back, and I cut a few of them out and put them up. That's about it...except for the odd poster, and a map of the galaxy from a Star Trek fan magazine. I really should get more stuff, but I never seem to get around to it.

    Mike Wilson

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  19. Thanks, Edo - the second link worked fine. That's a nice looking poster but I can't make out what is on the smaller picture above :)

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  20. Hmmm-- perhaps it's the Rhino's final, this-time-we-mean-it, upgrade/mutation---?

    HB

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  21. HB, I thought it might be something from Star Wars - even looking at it up close with my magnifying glass I still can't make out what on earth it is, there might be somebody riding on the back but I just can't tell.

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  22. david_b- best of luck on your personal space room! Nice to have a finished attic to work with. Sounds like you have some good options. We also moved into a 30's vintage house several months ago, and I'm creating a little studio/collectibles room upstairs. It's a nice space, but very hot in summer and chilly in winter.

    Oh, and that Project Gemini memorabilia sounds great...whatever happened to the Space Age...

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  23. Waitaminnit, waitaminnit-- I've been zooming in and everything else, and. . . . . . I'm thinking-- that's just a rather up-close picture of a regular (maybe white?) rhino, in fact-- isn't it? Not a special effect or anything? I daresay it's from the perspective of a photographer who's 1.2 seconds away from experiencing a serious trampling. . .

    HB

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  24. Colin and HB, I find your speculations about the sparse content of my wall at work rather amusing.
    First, Colin, that pic of Kirk and Spock isn't even a poster; it's just a photocopy on a normal sheet of paper that someone gave to me as a joke ages and ages ago and I just kept it.
    Second, the image above is indeed simply a rhino (and yes, I'm pretty sure it's a white rhino). It's from a DVD documentary that I bought for about $3 at a supermarket well over 10 years ago. I keep pretty much all of my DVDs in those little carrying cases (with all the books and comics me and the little lady have, there's no way valuable shelf space is going to be used to hold DVDs in their original packaging!), but when I like the inserts, I keep them and sometimes use them for wall art, as is the case here.

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  25. Edo, I feel like an idiot - it was the odd angle that confused me, HB got it though. And that Star Trek picture still looks cool even though it's not a poster :)

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  26. Gahhh! FALSE! Reading about all the fun stuff you guys have displayed has me looking around my own place with the realization that I have not item one to display! Double gahhh!

    I would like to have something tasteful and not to have too many comic-related items around--mustn't appear geekier than I want the "real world" to know about.

    This post has inspired me. So I need to get something in the olde abode: a Wolverine figurine? Daredevil? Batman? An FF poster? A signed, numbered lithograph? I'm leaning heavily towards a small figurine...more to follow. Gosh, I can't believe I've never done this.

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  27. False.

    I mean, if you went into the home office my wife and I share you'd know I was into comics b/c there'd be comics scattered around, graphic novels/trades on the shelves and my comic boxes under the desk, but no statuettes or posters. I do have some in storage (cover art posters) for later framing when I have my own office, but right now, limited wall space and a wife who is not into comics.

    My office at work is shared with two other people and I am the low-man on the totem pole. . . but maybe one of these days I will do something to personalize it a bit and ask my officemates to move some of their stuff.

    I don't like statuettes/toys and am not into superhero t-shirts and the like.

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  28. Me thinks I'll have to snap some shots and email to Doug this next week..., alas still a meager contribution when compaired to the fantastic guests posts of late.

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  29. Sadly, false in my case. Like the good doctor Osvaldo, I have a ton of comics, novels and magazines in my bedroom but no dolls, er, action figures.


    - Mike 'I love dolls' from Trinidad & Tobago.

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  30. False, I'm afraid. I have no personal items at all on display in my office. I guess my office is just my office. Sigh.

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  31. FUNNIEST thing.., I just got an inter-office memo (regarding my cube..).

    Per OSHA, live plants in the work environment are considered harmful.., citing the following.

    "Plants are prohibited per MC Memo 00S-24 due to indoor air quality and adverse reactions by individuals."

    Ohhh, yes apparently the high air quality of this yet un- or under-checked air-purity/filtration system of the century-old brick building I currently work in must be somehow severely compromised.

    Sheesh... Will take some pictures quickly.

    {.....sob......}

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  32. I think my fellow BABers can be credited (blamed?) for me having purchased the "Marvel Select" Brood figure from my LCS! I plan on searching for a size-appropriate X-Men character to display alongside the alien menace!

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