6 MILLION DOLLAR MEMORIES

If you’ve been reading my blog and if you’ve been following along then you know all the parts about having lived in Roosevelt L.I. and having Eddie Murphy dump my bubbles and how I used to get beat up walking to and from school. You’d also know about the rare kidney disease I had until I was 15 years of age. Then you may also be aware of the swamp and my dog Duke and my love of comic books and adventure. Well…beyond that swamp was an industrial park and in that industrial park there were stores on the far side…a little tiny strip mall…there were four stores in that strip mall. A Barber, a Deli ,a Pizza parlor and a Stationary store. The year was 1976…I’d been living at my new home for over 7 months now and looking to find stores that had comic books.
I did not discover any comic book stores yet and I’m not sure at that time there were any in that area yet. ( Not until a year later ) I loved Super heroes and cartoons and watched avidly anything that had to do with either.
“The Six Million dollar man” was a hot TV show at the time and my absolute favorite. I could not wait…week after week I’d watch as Steve Austin would battle bad guys and Androids and Android Bigfoots and other Cyborgs…it was a fantastic show a great idea and as far as Sci-fi television goes one of the better concepts since STAR TREK.
I had always liked Lee Majors and remembered him from The Big Valley. When he took on the role of Steve Austin he became the greatest super hero since Superman or Captain America.
In 1976 Charlton comics had been putting out SMDM comics…on this one day in particular I stumbled into that Stationary store with some friends from the neighborhood who were looking for Baseball cards. I noticed stacks of comics on a ledge in front of the counter. There were Archie and Sad Sack and Casper’s…none of that was my speed…I liked the Super heroes. Then I saw on the wall…below some girlie magazines…Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Legion of Monsters , Marvel Preview and…the first issue of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN magazine!!!! I thought….”Wow…it’s a comic?” But not quite…It was a Magazine. A black and white magazine with cover art by Neal Adams. I recognized Neal’s work from a couple of Savage Tales magazines I had acquired in a trade for some baseball cards from another friend from school. But It was a dollar. I only had 50 cents… I didn’t buy anything that day but instead saved my 50 cents so I could come back next week and buy the magazine. Well …alas…I never did get that magazine. When I went back it was gone…so I bought a Coke and some candy instead.
Last week (35 years later)…I visited my local comic shop…the comic shop with the largest selection of back issues here on LONG ISLAND and a gentleman came in selling some comic books…one of those comic books…was THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN regular series comic from Charlton with cover art and interiors by the great Joe Staton. Immediately my antennae went up and I made the guy an offer. It was more than the comic was worth but…It fed an old need and touched a nerve. I stood there and told the guy how I’d always wanted this comic book but never bought it. (I was really talking about the b/w magazine)…then I proceeded to tell him about the magazines. He seemed interested and then I recounted my little tale about how I’d always wanted it but never was able to buy one. Then…by coincidence after 35 years…he comes in with the comic book that triggered a memory and got my collective juices flowing and got a whole entire new treasure hunt going. I plan to go to conventions and visit every comic shop from College point, Breezy Point, Montauk Point and all points in between ( All Long Island locations ) to find those magazines and those comic books. Sure I could find them on E-bay…but that would defeat the whole purpose of the thrill of the hunt. Incidentally I did find a copy of the first issue of the Magazine on E-bay for 10 bucks…other sellers had it for 35 to 50 dollars but one guy had it for 10 bucks….so guess what? I have it now. Firmly implanted in my brain the indelible image of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN…tearing the engine out of a car by Neal Adams is now a reality…I can read the magazine and hold it and turn the pages…I never owned it until recently but…The SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN magazine has always been one of my Favorite comics and it bears…one of my all-time favorite covers by Neal Adams.