Welcome to the Future

I am amazed and humbled, to be alive, in a future, that seems just a little bit unreal... I mean to say, aren't we supposed to be attended to by robot servants and zipping around in flying cars?

That was the future that,

The Jetsons,

showed us all living in, back when I was a child.

It was a prediction, based on the all encompassing belief that SCIENCE would save the day

BUT

as we can plainly see, that isn't happening and despite all of the rhetoric, it is unlikely to happen.

A sad statement, on the idiocy of the human race and our ability to delude ourselves, even in the face of calamity.

Ah, well... on a lighter note

I loved Calvin and Hobbes, for the years that it ran and I still do.  I own all of the reprint volumes, except for that amazing and huge, collection that came out in 2012.

Bill Watterson was at the Festival of Cartoon Art, 

way back in 1989 and his speech was a high point of the show. It is still the only occurrence of the Festival, which is now known as the 

CXC, or Cartoon Crossroads Columbus,

that I have ever attended but it was most memorable!

Way back, in the September of 1977, when I first visited Toronto, Ontario, I had no idea, that in three short years, I would be living there.  With that in mind, I spent most of my holiday money at 

The Silver Snail comic emporium

which, at that time, was located at 

321 Queen Street West

and was just over a year old.

One of the best things that I found there, 

was a copy of CPL #12

which had oodles of art by the John Byrne, 

who was making waves in the comic book pool at the time, 

taking over Marvel Comic's flagship title

The X-Men

and combined with Chris Claremont's writing and Terry Austin's inking, made for a memorable run of art and story on that title.

The other day, I was amazed to discover, that someone not only owned the original artwork for that cover but that they had posted it too... for our edification!

I found it interesting, that the price of the issue, was included as part of the artwork and obviously, somewhere between the artwork being made and the publication of the issue, the price had risen!

That explains the staining over the "60 cents", because someone had to letter up an overlay, adjusting the price to 75 cents and stick it down on the artwork.

For me, discovering images like this, is the best part of the future that we live in.  Our ability to share documents has never been easier and I, for one, am grateful for it.

Happy New Year.