Comments on: Another Long Weekend on the Road

By: Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » This Year’s Long Weekend on the Road

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:37:15 +0000

[...] first time out we ambled through the southeast Cascades until we ended up in Hood River, and the second time it was down back roads along the Olympics until we hit [...]

By: Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » This Year’s Long Weekend on the Road

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:37:15 +0000

[...] first time out we ambled through the southeast Cascades until we ended up in Hood River, and the second time it was down back roads along the Olympics until we hit [...]

By: Comics Should Be Good! » Last Sunday’s Outing

Comics Should Be Good! » Last Sunday’s Outing — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:10:03 +0000

[...] my wistful sighs over the John Carter comics we saw at Excalibur Comics in Portland during our summer road trip. “You’ll never see them again,” she said. “You should just get them [...]

By: Darlene Davis

Darlene Davis — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:08:31 +0000

try coming into the store sometime, right across from Dark Hourse corner of Main and Monroe, in downtown Milwaukie, you will be surprised! Main Street Collectors Mall and Soda Fountain

By: Inside Amazon.com — News, info, deals and more from the largest online store.

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:50:03 +0000

[...] your own Comic-Con Greg Hatcher at Comics Should Be Good wrote about some exciting discoveries he made in an antique store on his family’s annual [...]

By: Edo Bosnar

Edo Bosnar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:42:20 +0000

Rob, Like I said, the last time I visited Newport was in 2000 - there's a chance the place isn't in business anymore (really sad, if that's the case). It was a rather large building on a street corner, on one of the main streets running north-south through Newport, maybe even on U.S. 101, although I think it was farther west - closer to the Nye Beach beach side than the Yaquina Bay side (Nye St. or Coast St. if I'm remembering the names correctly). Sorry I can't be of any more help. By the way, thanks for the tips on other places to check out - I'll keep those in mind next time I'm in Oregon (soon, I hope...)

By: Rob Allen

Rob Allen — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:20:25 +0000

I was at the coast a little further south two weeks ago. We stayed a week in Newport. (Ed Bosnar - if you remember where that store was, let me know; I didn't find anything like that in Newport). The best store for geeky stuff that I found was Robert's Books in Lincoln City near the dinner theater. I know they had some pulps & Big Little Books; didn't have enough time to search further. In other trips to that area I've bought old comics at a place called Eager Beaver on West Olive in Newport, and at an "antique" store in Depoe Bay. There's also a large used book store on Route 18 near Spirit Mountain Casino that I've always intended to stop in some day. This store was listed on an online "master list" of comics shops, so I'm optimistic about finding comics there. Greg, next time you're in Portland, there are some new stores to check out - Floating World Comics is downtown, not far from Powell's and next door to the Sequential Art Gallery, and Bridge City Comics is in the rapidly-gentrifying North Mississippi Ave. neighborhood.

By: Mitali Perkins

Mitali Perkins — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:42:56 +0000

Hey, Greg! I was excited to see you mentioned over at Fuse No. 8's School Library Journal blog and came hurrying over here to read your post. Happy Anniversary to you and Julie! So glad to see that you're still writing for Carol at WITH.

By: Ian A.

Ian A. — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:45:43 +0000

The world needs more Christopher Cool. Or at least reprints, so we can bask in the awesome (for the first time).

How did his adventures not become film fodder?

Teen James Bond is the kind of high concept Hollywood loves.

By: Ed Bosnar

Ed Bosnar — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:45:24 +0000

I have to de-lurk here just to say thanks, Greg, for a really great story - as a native Oregonian who's been living in Croatia since the early 1990s, it really brought back some memories - and aroused a bit of envy as the other Greg mentioned... Anyway, I just wanted to mention that worth visiting in this sense is Newport, Or. - there's this absolutely awesome, large antique/collectibles/etc. emporium on one of the main streets (can't for the life of me remember what it is called) with a basement full of used books (mainly paperbacks from 1980s back to at least the 1930s), magazines (pulp & otherwise) and, yes, comics - and everything is dirt cheap. If it still exists (last time I was there was in 2000 on a visit with my Croatian better half), it is definitely worth your time when you take another road trip in the area. p.s. now that I've already took the trouble, I wanted to convey a much belated thanks and compliments on your "4 decades of Fridays" series - also brought back many fond memories of raiding the comic book spinracks of supermarkets, drugstores and convenience shops of Salem and Woodburn, only a few years after yourself...

By: Greg Hatcher

Greg Hatcher — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:44:53 +0000

And Powell's. Damn, what a mecca that place is.

For west coast book people, it really is. We didn't actually get to my favorite bookstore in Portland, though, which is Cameron's, downtown on 3rd and Stark. It used to be the kind of place where you could walk in with $5 and walk out with a library; the guy didn't care very much about his paperbacks, he was all about the back issues of Life and National Geographic. The books were an afterthought. So you could get incredible deals, especially on weird old out-of-print licensed paperback rarities and things like that, which I am interested in. All my Agent of T.E.R.R.A. and Baroness books came from there, as well as the Gold Medal Matt Helm books. But it was a Monday afternoon and we didn't want to deal with trying to park and so on downtown. Hawthorne on the east side seemed more do-able, so that's mostly where we went.

You know, those Christopher Cool books sound quite awesome, but then you get "and his Apache Indian roommate, Geronimo Johnson," and it just becomes the awesomest thing ever. I really do hate you, Other Greg, for making me want to buy all these nifty things. Damn you!!!!!

And I didn't even mention the rocket-powered flying shoes that are a standard-issue item for TEEN Agents. You can find the first three in the series for pretty cheap on Amazon; I think they must have had a much larger print run and wider distribution. It's the fourth, fifth, and sixth where the price takes a big jump up to twenty and thirty dollars. Of the first three, Mission: Moonfire is the best, though all three of them are great fun. I'm also partial to The Three Investigators, but those are often harder to dig out than Chris Cool. Of course, I'm a snob and want the real ones with Alfred Hitchcock. If I could bring myself to settle for the edited, newer, paperbacks it would be a lot easier. More info on Chris Cool and other obscure young-adult series can be found here.

By: Perry Holley

Perry Holley — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:36:50 +0000

I love these stories about you and Julie in foraging mode. There's something incredibly satisfying about finding something you've been looking for in a used bookstore or discount comic book box, something that just ordering it off the internet will never quite match.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:30:02 +0000

Seaside is a nice little place. I get sick with envy whenever you post about these trips. I am happy to hear that Excalibur hasn't gone downhill at all. I miss it. And Powell's. Damn, what a mecca that place is.

You know, those Christopher Cool books sound quite awesome, but then you get "and his Apache Indian roommate, Geronimo Johnson," and it just becomes the awesomest thing ever. I really do hate you, Other Greg, for making me want to buy all these nifty things. Damn you!!!!!

You might not like SDCC, but did you see a slutty version of the Little Mermaid in Seaside? I think not! Score one for the con!

By: Matt’s Bookosphere 7/26/08 « Enter the Octopus

Matt’s Bookosphere 7/26/08 « Enter the Octopus — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:14:14 +0000

[...] Roadtrip! Comic books, Weird Tales, vintage paperbacks - sounds like my kind of day [...]

By: RAB

RAB — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:49:12 +0000

I just spent my vacation in the exact same town...in Massachusetts. In fact I think your version looks gorgeous and I'd like to check it out in person someday. Until then, thanks for this post!

(P.S.: I enjoy conventions and all, but I've still gotta say I'd rather visit a place like this than be at SDCC.)

By: Grico

Grico — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:27:25 +0000

well i got to learn what Big Little Books actually were thanks to this article. Jack Knight mentioned them in one of his traditional collectible trains of thought in Starman and I only had a guess as to what they were.

By: NW Limited...History in Vogue

NW Limited...History in Vogue — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:13:17 +0000

Aw, it's too bad we had no idea you were coming through! Would have loved to have you stop and see what we have.
We have a few pieces in Amazing Stories. Brian's great!
Glad you were able to find some treasure here on the coast.
There used to be an amazing trove of such things (the basement was ALL the great stuff like the True Crime mags and the earlier "skin" mags were kept down there along with comics), but it's been gone several years. I don't know if they moved or what. I keep meaning to track them down. It was located near Tillamook.
Anyway, stop by our website and/or blog (address should be given).
Enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks for the info on the place in Seaside. Good to have recommends for out of towners since we live here, no reason to find out what's really good and what's not in the hotel/motel/b&b kind of world.
Geekdom is alive and well!
L.