Feature: Collecting TV memorabilia
Space Collectibles!
 "Great shades
of Pluto!" His mission: to save a Star Trek comic book from
scissors-wielding relatives. Mark Phillips has experienced the gains and pains
of collecting classic TV memorabilia.
I never considered myself a true memorabilia collector. I didn't keep gum
cards in plastic wrappers or sequester toys in their boxes for investment
purposes. My Star Trek model kits were always quickly assembled and then
accidentally smashed while staging Space battles. Pieces of my Dark
Shadows board game were lost, stepped on or mangled by the house cat. But
comic books were a different story. They were like mini-treasures. In the early
1970s, they were the most colourful and affordable pieces of memorabilia around
for kids.
DC Comics specialized in superheroes like Batman and Superman but it
was the Gold Key TV comics that caught my pre-teen eye. One of their comic
books was based on Star Trek, and the first nine issues featured cover
photographs from the TV show. The comics ran from 1967-1979 (61 issues). Even
as a kid, I realized the artwork and stories had idiosyncrasies. The landing
parties wore backpacks, Scotty had blonde hair, the ship's controls were a
series of wheels, gears and levers, and the Enterprise had flames spitting out
of the nacelles. The primary artist for some of these issues, the talented
Alberto Giolitti, lived in Italy and had never seen the show. All he had for
reference were some early publicity photos.
Some of Mr Spock's dialogue also seemed out of character. In
Issue #1, as plants wrapped around him, a panicked
Spock screams, "They're out to destroy us! Guards! Guards!" In
another issue, he furrows his brow and exclaims, "Great shades of
Pluto!" Yeoman Rand's dialogue ranged from "Eeeek!" to
"Sob, sob." while Captain Kirk chimed in with lines like, "Great
gosh!" or "Howling comets!" and "We're sunk!"
Cousin Scissorhands
One summer, when I was 11, I visited my grandparents and cousins. I already had
a burgeoning collection of TV comic books: my younger cousin Danny also
collected, but for an entirely different purpose. He would return from a
friend's house and dump an armful of comic books in our grandparents' living
room. When reading time was over, Danny would pull out a pair of scissors and
begin cutting the comics into shreds...
"What are these comics?" I asked. Danny replied, "Oh, just
stupid Space stuff." He picked up a copy of The
Invaders and scissored it in half. I looked down at the floor and saw
scraps and ribbons. My dawning realization turned into horrified astonishment.
The paper pieces were remnants of Land of the
Giants and Wild, Wild West comic books.
Comic books highly prized and from what I could see, issues I didn't have. But
just as I made sense of all this, Danny picked up another comic book and poised
his scissors to strike. "No, Wait!" I cried. In his hand was a
Star Trek comic book. I could tell that it was an
issue I didn't have. "What's wrong?" Danny asked, slightly annoyed.
"Can I read that one first?" I sputtered, pointing to Mr Spock on the
cover. He handed it over to me, but his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Okay,
but I want it back!" I took the comic gingerly, and like a squirrel with a
highly prized nut, I marvelled at the bizarre story of monster plants that
threatened to engulf the galaxy.
I gazed at the colour photos on the cover, especially the rare shot of the
Enterprise in orbit. I looked at the copyright date, 1967. Wow, so long ago. My
eyes transfixed on the issue number: #1. Great flaming moons of Orion,
what a priceless find! I knew two things right away: How rare it was and how I
had to have it.
RRiiippppp!! I looked over to see Cousin Scissorhands tearing out a
photograph of Rod Serling from a Twilight Zone
cover. He plastered Rod's face onto the petal of a sunflower. I looked down at
Mr Spock. Was this in store for him as well?
by Mark Phillips
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