Reliving the Plasm Binder
Dec 10, 2004 16:18:24 GMT -5
Post by Defiant1 on Dec 10, 2004 16:18:24 GMT -5
Okay, so I actually pull out the card binder that I never look at.
My binder is pretty much flat and like new. There are no ripples like I see on other binders. I store mine in the same shrunk-wrapped plastic bag it came in. I slit the top carefully years ago and it slides in and out easily. So I open it. Inside (and loose) is a signed Unity #0. It's signed by Janet and Jim. It just strikes me as odd. I've never met either and I got this before 1997. 1997 is the year I first got online. That's a mystery. I don't intentionally collect signed books. I don't even pursue them. This must have been a thank you gift from Janet. It must date back to 1993 when I wrote her. I wrote her to ask "What Happened (at Valiant)?" and she answer via snail mail. It was before Defiant had ever released anything. So immediately my brain is forced to remember events long forgotten. So I open up to the introduction. It's hard to believe that 10 years after the fact I own a copy of the original document file used to make this page. Skip aheap to the splash page. This page and story has a bit of personal meaning. Not because of the art. Not because of the coloring or inking. Not because of the quality of writing. The subject matter of the plot alone has personal meaning. I lost the girl I loved to a car wreck just a few years prior to this. The subject of losing someone you love was not just an edgy plot twist. It was something I'd been forced to confront every day. So I look at this page and remember the number of times I just stared at the title back in 1994. I own Janet's color art to this now. I was disappointed last year when my friend bought it from her. I don't know exactly what he paid. but I do know I wanted it, so I probably paid 3 times what he paid to pry it out of his hands.
A little bit of info I learned years ago is that you don't have a problem if you can buy your way out of it. Problems only exist when there is no resolution in sight. Faith to solve a problem is defined in a similar way. Faith is believing in what you can't see. If you can see an answer to a problem, the proper word would be "anticipation".
So I thumb through and look at the art. The views, the close-ups, the angles... they all appear very cinematic to me. This is a quality that I liked about Valiant. I like all the pages with Laygen on them.... the scenes in cards 82-90 express such happiness. Very well done. The backs of cards 100-108 definitely evoke a mood. Does good writing have to be sadistic? Is that a prerequisite?
I skip ahead again to the character cards. Mine are probably different than yours. My binder has the foil character cards. They sold them at Revco. They were better thn the ones in the initial card set, so I swapped out and put the better ones in my binder. I'm annoyed that they would even release two versions, but I want my binder to be it's best. 33 cards don't fit in 36 pockets. Here is where I start getting annoyed. I wanted to be proud of the binder, but the sets didn't fill it out evenly. I leave the three spots empty.
I must have pulled my level 1 chase cards out at one point, because I only had three in the binder. I dig around and found two more. Now I'm missing 4 of those. I think I have them, but it's possible that I don't.
I think I have 2 of the level two cards... but aren't there 4? I think there are! Four cards don't fit into the three empty slots and I don't want them in front of the level 1 cards. A 9 card set should be together. I left the level 1 cards on a page by themselves.
What about the Overstreet cards? Everyone laughs and chimes "not part of the set"? Oh yeah... that's easy. If I collected cards I might understand that most people don't get the binder to collect their cards. I started in high class style.
Weren't there cards with the tin set? You'd think some combination could fill out the binder and define what went into the 3 slots, but 10 years later I'm unable to find any forethought placed into this matter at all.
Hmmm? The splatterball comic. It sure would be nice to have that with my comics... but no... It has a slot here. I decided it belonged here or the binder is worthless. I have a current size backing board behind it. It can still slide around and get bent. Time to upgrade. I have a golden age size acid-free backing board to use. That's overkill for a polypropylene binder, but I'll make the sacrifice.
The back page. Another mystery. I have the send-away art slid into the front of the piece that came with it. Odd....I never sent away for it. I seem to have a faint memory of a retailer giving me this when he closed his store. Sad.
These reflective thoughts and memories would go really good with a cigarette. I don't really smoke and I have no desire to smoke. Maybe I should start?!
Defiant1
My binder is pretty much flat and like new. There are no ripples like I see on other binders. I store mine in the same shrunk-wrapped plastic bag it came in. I slit the top carefully years ago and it slides in and out easily. So I open it. Inside (and loose) is a signed Unity #0. It's signed by Janet and Jim. It just strikes me as odd. I've never met either and I got this before 1997. 1997 is the year I first got online. That's a mystery. I don't intentionally collect signed books. I don't even pursue them. This must have been a thank you gift from Janet. It must date back to 1993 when I wrote her. I wrote her to ask "What Happened (at Valiant)?" and she answer via snail mail. It was before Defiant had ever released anything. So immediately my brain is forced to remember events long forgotten. So I open up to the introduction. It's hard to believe that 10 years after the fact I own a copy of the original document file used to make this page. Skip aheap to the splash page. This page and story has a bit of personal meaning. Not because of the art. Not because of the coloring or inking. Not because of the quality of writing. The subject matter of the plot alone has personal meaning. I lost the girl I loved to a car wreck just a few years prior to this. The subject of losing someone you love was not just an edgy plot twist. It was something I'd been forced to confront every day. So I look at this page and remember the number of times I just stared at the title back in 1994. I own Janet's color art to this now. I was disappointed last year when my friend bought it from her. I don't know exactly what he paid. but I do know I wanted it, so I probably paid 3 times what he paid to pry it out of his hands.
A little bit of info I learned years ago is that you don't have a problem if you can buy your way out of it. Problems only exist when there is no resolution in sight. Faith to solve a problem is defined in a similar way. Faith is believing in what you can't see. If you can see an answer to a problem, the proper word would be "anticipation".
So I thumb through and look at the art. The views, the close-ups, the angles... they all appear very cinematic to me. This is a quality that I liked about Valiant. I like all the pages with Laygen on them.... the scenes in cards 82-90 express such happiness. Very well done. The backs of cards 100-108 definitely evoke a mood. Does good writing have to be sadistic? Is that a prerequisite?
I skip ahead again to the character cards. Mine are probably different than yours. My binder has the foil character cards. They sold them at Revco. They were better thn the ones in the initial card set, so I swapped out and put the better ones in my binder. I'm annoyed that they would even release two versions, but I want my binder to be it's best. 33 cards don't fit in 36 pockets. Here is where I start getting annoyed. I wanted to be proud of the binder, but the sets didn't fill it out evenly. I leave the three spots empty.
I must have pulled my level 1 chase cards out at one point, because I only had three in the binder. I dig around and found two more. Now I'm missing 4 of those. I think I have them, but it's possible that I don't.
I think I have 2 of the level two cards... but aren't there 4? I think there are! Four cards don't fit into the three empty slots and I don't want them in front of the level 1 cards. A 9 card set should be together. I left the level 1 cards on a page by themselves.
What about the Overstreet cards? Everyone laughs and chimes "not part of the set"? Oh yeah... that's easy. If I collected cards I might understand that most people don't get the binder to collect their cards. I started in high class style.
Weren't there cards with the tin set? You'd think some combination could fill out the binder and define what went into the 3 slots, but 10 years later I'm unable to find any forethought placed into this matter at all.
Hmmm? The splatterball comic. It sure would be nice to have that with my comics... but no... It has a slot here. I decided it belonged here or the binder is worthless. I have a current size backing board behind it. It can still slide around and get bent. Time to upgrade. I have a golden age size acid-free backing board to use. That's overkill for a polypropylene binder, but I'll make the sacrifice.
The back page. Another mystery. I have the send-away art slid into the front of the piece that came with it. Odd....I never sent away for it. I seem to have a faint memory of a retailer giving me this when he closed his store. Sad.
These reflective thoughts and memories would go really good with a cigarette. I don't really smoke and I have no desire to smoke. Maybe I should start?!
Defiant1
