Sometimes you just miss the bus. Or elephant. Or auction.
When the snack Screaming Yellow Zonkers came out in the late 60's-early 70's there were a lot of comments that what was on the boxes were better than what was inside. The high point of the original box, for me, was the add on the back at the bottom: "Win a Continent! Now Zonkers offers you the chance to win the continent of your choice. And all you have to do is correctly identify this mystery voice, 'Hello, what is my name?' The winner will be judged strictly on the basis of originality, and correctness of the answer. No entries will be accepted after August 21, 1947." That ad has always been to me the epitome of missing out on a contest because you didn't know about it.
I bring this up because I was doing a web search on another matter and hit a web page about a charity auction to save the house in Cleveland where Jerry Siegel first created Superman. Looking over the description of auction items I saw the following:
"Judd Winick
Title: A Personalized comic page featuring Winick’s fan-favorite creation, Barry Wean, and YOU!
Description: The high bidder will receive an original Barry Ween 1-page story starring Barry and the high bidder. Hate your boss? Hate your neighbor? Bid here and watch Barry unleash on whoever you want in the strip (limit one person unless the gag calls for two). A truly one-of-a-kind item."
It was like running water in the sink and getting that tickle that means you need to replace the wiring for the disposal RIGHT NOW! Barry Ween, Boy Genius? (Good spelling job, auction page.) The brilliant (350 I.Q), sarcastic, profane (think Hunter S. Thompson on a good day), hysterically funny (with the occasional serious note) comic that Judd Winick did and then left to sit in favor of developing television projects and writing at DC? A whole page of original art with me in it? SELL THE CAR AND GET IN A BID!
And then I looked at the auction date. Sept. 2 - Sept. 30, 2008.
""Win a Continent! Now Zonkers offers you..."
Listen, if Jim Bricker, who did the wonderful set-in-San-Francisco relationship comic Open Season ever did the same thing PLEASE don't tell me about it, O.K.? I still get grumpy I couldn't afford to go to California to see the stage play and finding out about a similar art offer would just about kill me.
And don't bring up the CBLDF Barry Ween shirt either. I've been told that if it graces my closet it will rapidly visit Goodwill. Mmph.
I bring this up because I was doing a web search on another matter and hit a web page about a charity auction to save the house in Cleveland where Jerry Siegel first created Superman. Looking over the description of auction items I saw the following:
"Judd Winick
Title: A Personalized comic page featuring Winick’s fan-favorite creation, Barry Wean, and YOU!
Description: The high bidder will receive an original Barry Ween 1-page story starring Barry and the high bidder. Hate your boss? Hate your neighbor? Bid here and watch Barry unleash on whoever you want in the strip (limit one person unless the gag calls for two). A truly one-of-a-kind item."
It was like running water in the sink and getting that tickle that means you need to replace the wiring for the disposal RIGHT NOW! Barry Ween, Boy Genius? (Good spelling job, auction page.) The brilliant (350 I.Q), sarcastic, profane (think Hunter S. Thompson on a good day), hysterically funny (with the occasional serious note) comic that Judd Winick did and then left to sit in favor of developing television projects and writing at DC? A whole page of original art with me in it? SELL THE CAR AND GET IN A BID!
And then I looked at the auction date. Sept. 2 - Sept. 30, 2008.
""Win a Continent! Now Zonkers offers you..."
Listen, if Jim Bricker, who did the wonderful set-in-San-Francisco relationship comic Open Season ever did the same thing PLEASE don't tell me about it, O.K.? I still get grumpy I couldn't afford to go to California to see the stage play and finding out about a similar art offer would just about kill me.
And don't bring up the CBLDF Barry Ween shirt either. I've been told that if it graces my closet it will rapidly visit Goodwill. Mmph.