Bob Bablah

I've been getting rid of my accumulated junk, simplifying and getting ready for a move to a smaller home with less storage space. I sold off my records, donated bags of clothes, and threw away useless scraps of paper. I'm still asking myself why I hung onto GTE phone bills from the '90s for so long. On the packrat scale of 1 to 10, I'm somewhere in the 7 or even 8 range, so it's a good feeling to finally let go.

Amongst other holdovers, I'm now down to one box of comic books. My old DC favorites, including the Perez/Wolfman era Teen Titans and Earth-2 titles like All-Star Squadron, are awaiting final judgment. I didn't realize I had so many Bob's Big Boy comics from the days when the restaurant would hand them out to customers.

I took another drive by the almost completely demo'd Johnie's Broiler in Downey that's being restored to a new life as a Bob's Big Boy. I caught the sign contractor in action...

The Adventures of Big Boy in Downey

As a kid I loved Bob's Big Boy. I could care less about the food, and I wasn't the type to run up and hug a plastic statue with a pompadour. I was in for the free comic book, the Adventures of Big Boy. I'd grab a copy on the way into the restaurant, and I'd read front to back. I even read the letters to Big Boy...funny, I remember one from a girl oddly named Keith.

You don't see too many Big Boy restaurants anymore. Aside from the historic Bob's in Toluca Lake, you won't find too many thriving locations. And last month the one on Wilshire in Los Angeles was demo'd to make way for a BMW lot.

But...Bob's is coming to Downey, on the site of the Johnie's Broiler restaurant that was almost completely demolished without permits January 2007. The restaurant will be rebuilt to recapture the original Googie design, and with luck should be up and running next year. The mess is finally cleaned up, but those pesky taggers have had their way with the chub sign.