Bye-Bye Batman and Friends.
In which I send some of my comics art collection in the direction of a new home. Seems that there was a bit of podcasting over the last week too, covering the worlds of The Beatles, Doctor Who, and th
A couple of weeks ago I came to the realization that it was about time that some of my original comics art collection that had just been sitting around for several years got a chance to be appreciated by a new audience.
It was not an easy or quick decision as every page I owned had a memory attached to it. With only a couple of exceptions I would buy original pages directly from the artists at a convention. Looking, and holding, a page would bring back instant recollection of the particular convention and often the conversations I had with the artist.
So earlier this week I took a quick trip up to visit the fine folk at Heritage Auctions and consigned a batch of pages to their first step towards a new home.
I look forward to seeing them go up for auction, probably in September, and will post links here and on my various Social Media feeds when they are available for anyone who might be interested in taking ownership of these little slices of comics history.
Other Stuff
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Brabazon Bits
My research into the construction of the Brabazon Hanger (See last week’s newsletter) took me down an avenue I hadn’t considered this week, and an area I really know little about - how do you maintain a steady working temperature in such a large building?
I found this aspect both fascinating and ironic. Ironic as when I worked at Filton my technical documentation team was located in the old No 5 Drawing Office Building, which was a wooden structure built on a raised platform atop a small hill across the apron from the Brab Hanger (The building is long demolished and that location is now the site of the Airbus wing fuel testing rig). Anyway due to its location, age, and building materials, No 5 D.O., which was a lot smaller than the hanger, could never maintain a steady temperature, it was sweltering in summer and freezing in winter.
So how did they manage it in a hanger with a total enclosed volume one-million cubic meters?
A major problem for the Brabazon assembly hall building was presented by the need to design an effective and efficient space-heating system. Under extreme winter conditions it was required to raise to comfort level the temperature of the enormous single air volume contained within the walls of the assembly hall. The design of the heating system decided upon had to ensure that no pipework of any kind could be buried in the floor, as the complete floor area had to be free of any restrictions placed upon the future fixing of any holding-down arrangements for plant and machinery.
The heating and ventilation system chosen for this large space was a unit-heater arrangement which continuously re-circulated room air. Eighty unit heaters were installed, of which forty-two were positioned around the perimeter walls of the hangar. A further twenty-six downward discharge type heaters were fitted at high level and the remaining twelve heaters were sited at the entrance doors to automatically operate in groups of four when the main doors were opened during the heating season. They were to provide a heated “air-curtain” at the door entrance.
I remember feeling the effect of the “air-curtain” on my various visits to the hangar, but I never gave it a second thought. Wish I’d known more about the operations of the hangar at the time, as I could have appreciated it more.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2023 - “The Escape Artists“ by Neal Bascomb.
I’ve always enjoyed a good WW2 escape story, Colditz, Stalag Luft III and more, but I’m ashamed to say I was unaware of WW1’s own “Great Escape” story.
This volume corrects that oversight with the story of the escape of 29 British POWs from the Holzminden camp in Germany.
Like the best escape stories this is a story about the people rather than the mechanics of the escape. The focus on a select number of individuals gives their plight, determination, and eventual flight across enemy territory to the Dutch border a real sense of immediacy.
Podcast Procrastinations
The Before They Were Beatles podcast - This week I posted the 25th, and final episode, of the first iteration of the Before They Were Beatles podcast as we complete our journey as The Beatles return to the recording studio, make their TV debut, and say goodbye to Hamburg.
But this isn’t the end for the podcast - for there are other tales still left to tell.
Whatever happened to Pete, Ken, Norman, Johnny, Colin, Rod, Stuart, Eric, and more who all played their part along the way?
We will be sharing their stories when we return in a few months for Season Four with a new series of shows: The Forgotten Beatles.
And talking of Before They Were Beatles, just a reminder that if you’d like to keep up with the progress of the work on the 20th Anniversary edition of the Before They Were Beatles book you can sign up for a subscription to the dedicated Substack monthly newsletter HERE. -
I had great fun earlier this week joining John S. Drew and Jim Beard on The Doctor's Beard Podcast to discuss the first Doctor’s singing western adventure - The Gunfighters - although I think I spent just as much time talking about the historical Wyatt Earp as I did the good Doctor himself.
You can judge for yourselves right HERE.
Jarrod and I returned to the soundtrack of Tomorrow Never Dies in the latest Six of the Best: Bond Music episode on the On Her Majesty's Secret Podcast network. Why revisit a movie score we've already covered? Well it's all thanks to the fine folks at La La Land Records and their limited edition expanded edition that includes an extra 40 minutes plus of music. We just had to check it out. So were the extra tunes worth the price of admission? You can find out right HERE.
Weekly Web Round-Up
The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week as we move into March 1968 with editions published in Brazil.
The standout for me this week was this Brazilian version of the Justice League - with a original cover from a local artist. - I have no idea who the giant guy with the helmet is supposed to be.
As always, thanks for joining me this week. If you know someone else that might enjoy the contents of this week’s newsletter, or just my weekly ramblings in general - please feel free to share by clicking the button below.
See you next time
Alan J. Porter