Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne's Guide to Successful Project Management I just read Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. Besides a great book and a fun read, I found there to be a number of principles in there that are useful for managing and executing any project or undertaking. Without giving away too much of the book if you haven't yet read it, here it goes:

1. Singleness of purpose: Phileas Fogg had one goal in mind. It was not to tour the world and learn about new cultures. It was to win the bet with the Reform Club that he could circumnavigate the globe in 80 days or less. Granted he may have missed out on some chances to learn a new language or receive insight into the way others live, but that was not his goal and he knew it.


2. Availability of resources: It's true that money can't buy you love but it can buy a heckuva lot of other things! Having the cash that he did bailed him and Passapourt out of many a jam throughout their adventure. You should always count the cost before taking on any venture in terms of financial and human resources.


3. Keep a cool head: If Phileas Fogg was nothing else it was unflappable, composed, self-possessed, and cool-as-a-cucumber. No matter what the obstacle, he never lost his composure. Bringing a project in on time and within budget means dealing with all of the issues that come up with coolness, logic, and good decision-making.


4. Openess to risk: Phileas Fogg was willing ot risk his entire venture to save the woman Auoda from death. He was not reckless, however! He was able to work himself into a position to take this risk by getting ahead of schedule where he could afford to try and save the woman. Success in this venture leads to one of the greatest benefits of the entire voyage although he does not know it at the time.


5. Expect the unexpected: Early in the tale when confronted with all the uncertainties involved in his proposed endeavor, Phileas states simply that "The unforeseen does not exist." What he means is that every roadblock can be anticipated with enough foresight. Likewise, we can use careful planning to mitigate many of the possible pitfalls for any given project we undertake.

A great exercise would be to have your young reader (11 or older) read the book and see if they can pull any of these principles out and use it as a discussion starter. Enjoy Jules' fun classic of adventure!!

  ¶ 1:37 PM 0 comments

  The Language Barrier I just went on an international trip and when re-entering customs continued to be amazed at the selection of people to work in those areas. I could barely understand the US citizen employees that were talking to and trying to usher people through lines. Visitors was morphed into "BeeZeedors". Why not say "non-US"!? They were getting exasperated with the bewildered foreigners who had no clue what they were saying!  ¶ 2:07 PM 0 comments

  Collecting Al Hartley's Spire Christian Comics This is for those who are interested in learning more about Spire Christian Comics (SCC) written and illustrated by Al Hartley and especially for those who wish to collect Spire Christian Comics. I came across SCCs while buying comics for my kids. I purchased several lots of funny books from Disney, Archie, Warner Bros., etc that contained some of these. I recognized them as different. They intrigued me and so as a comic collector of typically Marvel superhero titles I went to learn more and ended up attempting to collect the entire set. And here I am now several years later writing this for you to read! I did not find a good resource to help me out to understand what these comics were, how many of them there were, and how to go about collecting them.

What are Spire Christian Comics?

SCC was the inspiration of Al Hartley. He was primarily an illustrator who worked on numerous comic art projects starting in 1945 and running through the 1970s. After becoming a Christian, he became disillusioned with the art that he was being asked to produce for the Marvel magazine Pussycat in the late 1960s and began looking for an outlet in which to relate the Christian gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. He was asked by publisher Fleming H. Revell, brother-in-law to Dwight L. Moody, to adapt the novel The Cross and the Switchblade into comic book form (below). This was the first SCC to be published and the year was 1972. Other book adaptations such as God’s Smuggler and The Hiding Place soon followed. Not long after this, Hartley received permission from John Goldwater, president of Archie Comics, to use the Archie characters in a series of Christian-themed Archie comics of which Archie’s One Way was the first (below).



There are a couple of websites with links below which provide a great and detailed history of Al Hartley’s career in comic books. For information on Al Hartley, or from Wikipedia you can find info.

A list of all titles published by SCC that were written by Al Hartley as well as interesting history on the publishing history of SCCs is also available. I believe this list to be complete. They also break them down into useful categories of "Biography", "Archie", "Bible Story Adaptations", "Book/Movie Adaptations", "Kiddies Christian Comics" meant for younger readers and "Miscellaneous".

Price and Publisher Variants

Not shown in the website above are all of the price and publisher variants for SCC. In the early 1980s, Hugh Barbour, a relative of Fleming H. Revell, acquired the rights to the SCC books and reprinted many of them under the NEW Barbour Christian Comics indicia. An example of the possible different variants of a given issue is shown below. While it is true that for a given issue of a title it is fairly easy to find a copy, gathering all price variants of single issue is not so straightforward. I have found that the .49 copies are typically harder to find than the .35/.39 copies. I do not have print run data to back this up and is only an observation based on how often items become available on auction sites such as eBay. For instance, the issue titled "Attack!" I have never seen for sale on eBay in the .49 cent version, only the .39 cent version although I am quite sure the .49 cent version exists. For information on the extant variants the best resource is the Grand Comics Database. To find the issues published by Revell, search by Publisher and type in "Fleming H. Revell". To find the Barbour published issues, search by Publisher and type in "Barbour". It can be seen that there are a great many more issues to add from the Barbour Publishing Company of Hartley's books. An example of the different variants for a given issue of one of the Spire comics is shown below with Archie's Sonshine.

Archie Sonshine variants: (left to right) .69c New Barbour Edition, .49c, .39c, and no price Fleming H. Revell editions.

The Hiding Place variants: (left to right) .49c New Barbour Edition and .39 c Fleming H. Revell edition.

Jesus variants: (left to right) .49c New Barbour Edition and .49c Fleming H. Revell edition.

Challenges Associated with Collecting the Comics

Depending on what you value as a collector, there are certain challenges associated with collecting SCC. For If you are not concerned about condition or price variants, you can collect nearly every SCC title and issue in a short amount of time by diligent work on eBay and have a lot of fun receiving and reading these books. If higher grade condition is a priority, there are two challenges to consider. Number one is that these comics are typically purchased to be read and so have usually seen a lot of wear by the time they make it to an eBay auction. Number two is that these comics are not typically collected by mainstream comic collectors nor sold by comic dealers. As such, they usually fall into the hands of garage sale goers and antique shops and others who do not have experience in grading comics and conveying those points important to condition. Some of the best condition SCCs are from lot finds that were purchased and ended up in an attic or garage and then make it to the auction site 30 years later. A primary difficulty with collecting price variants is that often the comics are sold in lots and a picture is taken of them from about 10 feet away and it is difficult to see the cover price without asking the seller. Usually the seller complies but it makes the search a little more tedious. Also, I have found the Overstreet Price Guide to be very out of touch with these issues and sometimes they have the publication information correct and sometimes they don't. The Guide will sometimes list the variant versions but they are nearly always incomplete.

In the 38th Edition of the Overstreet Price Guide, Overstreet Advisor Doug Sulipa writes that "The Spire titles are by far the most collected of the genre (Crhistian Comics). These 19 Archie titles are always in the highest demand at 125-150% of Guide. Scarce Archie Spire titles include: Archie and Mr. Weatherbee, Archie's Circus, Archie's Date Book, Archie's Festival, Archie's Roller Coaster, Archie's Sports Scene, and Christmas with Archie. There are about 38 non-Archie Spire titles and many completionists that want them all. Spire comics are typically found in G or VG condition, with FN copies being uncommon and VF or better copies being scarce. The bestsellers are Hansi the Girl Who LOved the Swastika, Hello I'm Johnny Cash, and Tom Landry and the Dallas Cowboys."

Different Opinions on SCCs

One thing you will find if you get very far collecting SCCs is that many people have very strong feelings towards them. Some experience nostalgia and joy upon reading or re-reading them and others feel anger and resentment and even describe the Archie books as “creepy”. This is the typical range of reactions to the message contained within the comic pages and shows that Hartley presented this message in an effective manner. These responses are part of the reason these comics are still interesting and relevant to many people today.

The main thing to remember is Have Fun collecting and reading and best wishes from me to you and your family!!!

  ¶ 12:05 AM 0 comments