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Hey Kids, Comics!: True-Life Tales from the Spinner Rack
An anthology of true-life stories from comic book legends, authors, TV and film writers, journalists, and people from all walks of life on how comic books changed their lives. Accompanied by vintage photos, HEY KIDS, COMICS! is a must-read for any comic book fan or student of pop culture history.
Rob Kelly is a professional writer, illustrator, and comics historian. As a writer and comics historian, he has written articles for Back Issue! and Comic Book Creator, and since 2006 has been the creator/EIC of the daily blog The Aquaman Shrine. In 2012, he won a Philadelphia Geek Award for Comic Book Writer of the Year for his work on the webcomic ACE KILROY. As an artist, Kelly has produced work for clients such as the National Basketball Association, Harper Collins, Estee Lauder, and magazines like ESPN, Vibe, Forbes, Popular Science, Golf Digest, The American Prospect, and Time Out New York.
Rob Kelly is a professional writer, illustrator, and comics historian. As a writer and comics historian, he has written articles for Back Issue! and Comic Book Creator, and since 2006 has been the creator/EIC of the daily blog The Aquaman Shrine. In 2012, he won a Philadelphia Geek Award for Comic Book Writer of the Year for his work on the webcomic ACE KILROY. As an artist, Kelly has produced work for clients such as the National Basketball Association, Harper Collins, Estee Lauder, and magazines like ESPN, Vibe, Forbes, Popular Science, Golf Digest, The American Prospect, and Time Out New York.
- GenresComicsNonfiction
262 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2013
6 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 23, 2016
The last couple of nights this collection of essays has served as my bedtime reading. The theme is childhood recollections of comic books and their impact on the lives of the essayists. Some of them were good and cute. Some of them terribly written endless listings of titles with no real content. One was a good meditation from a person of color on black characters and writers in comic books. Then last night, suddenly, I was sucker punched by one of the essays. It started with a single stoic tear and eyes welling up. As I kept reading it turned into full-on wrenching sobs. That one essay is worth the price of the book alone. I won't reveal which one, in the hopes that others might have that same powerful response.
August 9, 2024
Earlier this year, I read Give Our Regards To The Atom Smashers. A book with a great title and premise but lacking in what I was looking for. This book (same great premise and equally great title) was what I was looking for.
There were a couple of duds in here, but for the most part, it really captured that special magic that can only be found in comic books.
There were a couple of duds in here, but for the most part, it really captured that special magic that can only be found in comic books.
November 5, 2013
As someone who hears editor Rob Kelly on a podcast every week, I was pretty excited to learn about this book coming out, when he announced it. I bought it as soon as I could, and even though time constraints kept me from reading it as quickly as I wanted, I'm glad that I gave each of these essays the time they deserved.
There were a couple that were a bit dry for me, and a few that I'd like to see more of, but this book is absolutely worth buying. The last three essays, in particular, were fascinating to me. Tim Neenan's story of a childhood with comic books and his brother brought a tear to my eye, and Chad Nance's book-finishing tale of his two sons made me look forward to sharing the things I love with my own children when that time comes.
Buy this book, and you will not regret it. For an extra-special way to enjoy it, listen to the episode of Kelly's (and his cohost's) podcast where they discuss Hey Kids, Comics! and play audio clips from some of the essayists. It brings another level of enjoyment to this fantastic book, and I'll be one of the first in line, if Rob Kelly announces a second volume.
There were a couple that were a bit dry for me, and a few that I'd like to see more of, but this book is absolutely worth buying. The last three essays, in particular, were fascinating to me. Tim Neenan's story of a childhood with comic books and his brother brought a tear to my eye, and Chad Nance's book-finishing tale of his two sons made me look forward to sharing the things I love with my own children when that time comes.
Buy this book, and you will not regret it. For an extra-special way to enjoy it, listen to the episode of Kelly's (and his cohost's) podcast where they discuss Hey Kids, Comics! and play audio clips from some of the essayists. It brings another level of enjoyment to this fantastic book, and I'll be one of the first in line, if Rob Kelly announces a second volume.
August 16, 2015
Yes, I have an essay in here and consider editor Rob Kelly a friend. That said, this is a valentine to the magical days we all experienced with our first love: comic books. The affection, nostalgia, and enthusiasm felt from these essays can easily be transferred to coins, stamps, books, etc.
Much of the material collected here comes from people close enough to my age that I am fascinated at the similarities in experience across the yeas and miles. I can easily understanding their trials and trevails. Pieces write by younger contributors may have the same feel, but they are clearly from another era, as the had comic shops as first experiences, changing the dynamic of discovery and collecting.
This volume has a nice mix of work from old-timers like Steve Skeates and Steve Englehart, Paul Kupperberg and J.M. DeMatteis, and yeah, me. But there are others from the blogosphere, fim, television, and elsewhere providing a nice mix of perspectives. If you have the bug, the you will find this enjoyable reading.
Much of the material collected here comes from people close enough to my age that I am fascinated at the similarities in experience across the yeas and miles. I can easily understanding their trials and trevails. Pieces write by younger contributors may have the same feel, but they are clearly from another era, as the had comic shops as first experiences, changing the dynamic of discovery and collecting.
This volume has a nice mix of work from old-timers like Steve Skeates and Steve Englehart, Paul Kupperberg and J.M. DeMatteis, and yeah, me. But there are others from the blogosphere, fim, television, and elsewhere providing a nice mix of perspectives. If you have the bug, the you will find this enjoyable reading.
April 30, 2015
This is kind of a "how I met my first love" for nerds and geeks. No, it not about sex, but a more lasting attraction -- comics. Told from a variety of perspectives, discover what it felt like for those of us (and I'm one of them)met the comics of our lives for the first time and how the romance continues (or didn't). For all of us who felt we were "different" meet others like ourselves who live in the DC, Marvel or other universes of comics, graphic novels, ten cent thrillers and all those other "flavors" which jump off the page and into our psyche.
June 26, 2021
This is an excellent collection of essays reflecting on the impact comics have had on the lives of various people, from all walks of life.
February 28, 2016
It took me a long time to finish this book. I basically put it down for a year, and then finally came back to it just to clear my "to-be-read/still reading" shelf a little bit. Since the book is an anthology of anecdotes and reflections about comics fans relationship to comics (usually re-telling some childhood tale about discovering and/or obtaining comics), it is not as if putting the book down for month made me lose any momentum, the stories themselves did that.
I ordered this book as soon as I discovered it existed. I love the idea of people telling their stories of comics fandom and collection, and it falls directly in line with my scholarly work. However, the problem with such a project (essentially collecting in print testimonials from a popular blog of the same name) is that most of the writing is pretty bad. It is not only that for the most part these are not professional writers (that is, of course, forgivable), but rather that there seems to have been no editorial oversight in order shape and revise the writing into something like compelling prose. A book like this would work better in the vein of a Studs Terkel oral history.
As such the book is wildly uneven and mostly overwritten in crude imitation of good writing.
That said, the good one are good (I esp. liked Evan Narcisse's essay for actually looking beyond himself to a social and cultural context of race and representation) and over all I think the information about collecting in the 60s, 70s and 80s is fascinating, if you can see through the thick nostalgia. I am just not sure buying this book is worth it when you can probably read similar testimonials online, and the anthology itself is not providing anything new in terms of an overarching perspective.
I ordered this book as soon as I discovered it existed. I love the idea of people telling their stories of comics fandom and collection, and it falls directly in line with my scholarly work. However, the problem with such a project (essentially collecting in print testimonials from a popular blog of the same name) is that most of the writing is pretty bad. It is not only that for the most part these are not professional writers (that is, of course, forgivable), but rather that there seems to have been no editorial oversight in order shape and revise the writing into something like compelling prose. A book like this would work better in the vein of a Studs Terkel oral history.
As such the book is wildly uneven and mostly overwritten in crude imitation of good writing.
That said, the good one are good (I esp. liked Evan Narcisse's essay for actually looking beyond himself to a social and cultural context of race and representation) and over all I think the information about collecting in the 60s, 70s and 80s is fascinating, if you can see through the thick nostalgia. I am just not sure buying this book is worth it when you can probably read similar testimonials online, and the anthology itself is not providing anything new in terms of an overarching perspective.
October 26, 2013
Wonderful group of essays about what it means to grow up with comic books. Funny and heartfelt.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews