Comic Book Collecting

[horrorhunter]

Masochism? Could be.

That crack was just a joke, of course. I believe the most common reason so many collectors keep feeding coin to the slabbers is because that's what the culture of comic book collecting has become the last 20 years. Most younger collectors have grown up drinking the CGC Kool Aid and it's so ingrained into their collecting habits they just keep following the leader and walking off the cliff. Many older collectors never fell for the whole slabbing thing and just keep collecting as they did before CGC and the other grading companies began duping people.

Btw, I have nothing against buying a slabbed book, but I won't pay a cent over what I would pay for it unslabbed ("raw" just sounds goofy), and I have to see good pictures of the book since I'm buying the book, not the slab, and I have little faith in so-called "professional" graders. The slabbed books I've bought have been cracked out and put in my collection in Mylar bags and acid-free backing boards inside acid-free boxes. The useless plastic slab then appropriately discarded. I've never submitted to a grading company and never will. "Submitting" seems telling in this case.

[Rex fury]

When I started collecting in the 60's, fellow collectors shared insights  on characters , artists, companies, and outside influences (Comics Code, Dr. Wertham, etc.) on the hobby.  Letters of comment analyzed stories and yes, even contained criticism. These customs are absent in today's collectors. Current discussions focus on the value and the grades assigned to certain books. I believe this is a total waste of time! Why collect a comic simply for its value? If money is the sole driver there's way better investments with guaranteed returns than comic book collecting.
Remember when Robert Bell started the Bell comic bag? I wonder if anyone at the time would've conceived of "slabbing " a comic in such a way that it's contents could never be seen or enjoyed?
RF

[horrorhunter]

When I started collecting in the 60's, fellow collectors shared insights  on characters , artists, companies, and outside influences (Comics Code, Dr. Wertham, etc.) on the hobby.  Letters of comment analyzed stories and yes, even contained criticism. These customs are absent in today's collectors. Current discussions focus on the value and the grades assigned to certain books. I believe this is a total waste of time! Why collect a comic simply for its value? If money is the sole driver there's way better investments with guaranteed returns than comic book collecting.
Remember when Robert Bell started the Bell comic bag? I wonder if anyone at the time would've conceived of "slabbing " a comic in such a way that it's contents could never be seen or enjoyed?
RF

The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide started a snowball effect of price-focused collecting which was carried on by Wizard magazine and then online (mostly by eBay). I remember those great early days of collecting when we were more concerned with artists, story content, and characters, than we were with pricing. I started "collecting" in the mid '70s, but I was certainly reading comics as a kid in the '60s and I was a fan of comic book culture as a reader. Yeah, I was a Marvelite, but also a fan of DC (mostly Horror and War) and Charlton, Harvey's Sad Sack, Warrens' monster mags as well as Skywald, Eerie Pubs, Stanleys, and others. When I started collecting and going to cons I got into fanzines too. The pricing-focus got stronger as the new comic book market got weaker. Now new comics are bought for covers more than for content. Endless variants and "ratios" rule the market. It's mostly gloss at the expense of substance.

I'm just glad there are so many great comics, mags, and fanzines, still available on the secondary market for us to keep enjoying past glories when the books were the best, 1950s-1970s. New comics haven't interested me in several years. I think the last new series I was interested in enough to finish was Future Quest because I'm a big Hanna-Barbera fan. I hear enough through YT videos to know the scoop on the new comic book market, and I don't care for it. I had much rather buy a mid-grade Silver Age issue I need for $15-$20 than to go to an LCS and get a couple of new issues of any title.

And what's up with the way they do signatures these days. They have witnessed "signings" and the signer defaces the cover with a marker and they charge a small fortune. I have a few signed books, but they signed neatly on the first page back then without writing on the cover. These days people sign books who didn't even work on the book, like TV and movie actors. A few years ago it was all the rage to get Stan Lee to sign just any Marvel book, even the ones he didn't write, then charge a fortune for the thing. Comic collecting is madness these days.

[horrorhunter]

Some of the Hanna-Barbera characters Silver Age comics have gotten expensive. Here's an eBay auction for the Gold Key Space Ghost #1 in low grade that sold for $168+ shipping and tax.

Space Ghost # 1 - Spiegle art G/VG Cond. centerfold detached at bottom staple | eBay



The Gold Key Jonny Quest 1-shot is another one that has gotten expensive. I'm glad I picked up my SG#1 and the 7 ish run of Gold Key Super TV Heroes back when they were affordable. Still don't have JQ#1 but I'll have to pass at current prices. I have most of the HB cartoons on DVD and still enjoy watching them.

The link I posted above now goes to another SG#1 listing. The old listing doesn't show on my eBay Watching page, so I guess it was removed. It usually takes a long time for ended listings to be removed.
?

[Rex fury]

I just picked up a Headline Comics 37 this last week, from Queen City Comics in Cincinnati. It's special in that the cover is a photograph featuring Joe Simon as a police officer and Jack Kirby as a thief! 
I'm in Cincinnati occasionally visiting my daughter and she always humors me by taking me to the comic shops in the city. If you're visiting, I recommend Queen City comics , Rocking Rooster, and Maverick's . They're great old style comic book stores.
I was sorely disappointed with another shop, one recommended by a well known Marvel editor. It was upscale and greatly overpriced. Such shops cater to speculators and not collectors.
At any rate, I'm enjoying Headline 37!
RF

[Rex fury]

Another new edition to the collection was Teen Titans 10 (1968). I've always enjoyed when the characters interact with other literature, in this case A Christmas Carol. I'd read the story in an old Treasury edition and decided I needed the original! That led to a revival of interest in DC silver age stuff. Next on my list is to acquire the issue of Detective where Bat Girl purposely tears her tights to distract the male villains fighting Batman and Robin. Can't get better comic stories than that ( lol)!
RF

[Golddragon71]

I just picked up the Dark Horse Universal Monsters Mummy Comic.
Untitled by Michael Kramer, on Flickr
Unlike the previous three series, The Mummy is pretty much a straight-up comic Adaptation of the original film. (The others were more like extra scenes around the main action...or in the case of the Creature, a story surrounding the original concept set years later with an entirely different cast of characters).

[Rex fury]

The DarkHorse adaptation of the Mummy is a great comic, glad you got a copy. On the other Universal releases, I think you may be confusing the recent series with the ones from DarkHorse.
The DarkHorse CFTBL is a straight adaption of the first movie with Art Adams art. If you don't already have this one it's worth picking up!
There's also the Dell stories. They deviate from the movies in a bunch of different ways. However they too are fun comics and I'd recommend checking them out. If memory serves, the comics were recently collected in a hard cover edition which is probably less expensive then the originals.
Finally, just for fun, check out Black Magic 33 for a story about an intelligent shark! It's by Simon and Kirby who seem to be channeling the CFTBL in a way only those two could pull off. No need to purchase the comic as it's available on the various websites which reprint the old comics.
Best,
RF

[horrorhunter]

Vampirella #1 in FN sells for a $grand$.



It looks like Vampi pretty much held the same monetary value from the "boom prices" of 2-4 years ago whereas so many key issues dropped in value since then. A lot of Marvel key issues especially lost value after so many fans became disenchanted with MCU shenanigans. I decided to post this auction result in this thread because it's sort of a catch-all for comic book collecting in general, including fanzines, monster mags, memorabilia, books about comics, and just about anything to do with comic book collecting and related endeavors.

To give an idea how Vampi #1 has gained in interest and value over the last few years I'll relate my own experience with buying my copy (also in FN) around 20 years ago. I was at a con in Atlanta and a dealer had several books I wanted so we arranged a bundle deal. For $750 I purchased four books from him: Vampirella #1 (FN), Famous Monsters #1 (VG), Famous Monsters #25 (VF), and World Famous Creatures #4 (VF). He ended up knocking about $150 off of his marked prices for the bundle. I figure the Vampi #1 I bought probably accounted for about $125-$150 of the total. I ended up completing that Vampi run along with most of the Warrens except for Eerie #1 ashcan, the Saha book, and the Westerns. I bought a reprint of the ashcan. I just won't pay what that ashcan sells for, or what the Heidi Saha book sells for. I meant to get the Westerns mostly for the Jack Davis art but never got around to that. But I got the Warrens most important to me- the Horror, and also stuff like Blazing Combat and Spirit. Anyway, I'm glad I bought the Vampirella #1 back when it was affordable because nice copies are out of reach for many of us now.

I tried to post a link to the auction, but it keeps taking me to another live auction. More eBay aggravation. Anyway, the auction mentioned in this post can be found on eBay Sold listings (it sold for $1,009 + $11.71 shipping with 34 bids).

[horrorhunter]

Yet another Fantastic Four movie is coming.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Four:_First_Steps

I'll probably pass on this. It will doubtless have spectacular special effects and look awesome on the big screen...but.
I'm past tired of MCU character gender changes (and sexual orientation changes as well). The Silver Surfer was not a girl in the original 1960s issues (though over 20 years later in a mini-series Marvel did turn Shalla-Bal into the Surfer but the old MCU gender-swap seizing on that is bad judgement in my opinion for laying important character groundwork). I never liked that ridiculous robot the cartoon replaced the Human Torch with on the silly assumption that some kid would set himself/herself on fire. I grew up reading FF and I don't appreciate the level of tampering the MCU indulges in. If I want to enjoy the Fantastic Four then I'll read my original comics.

[Rex fury]

One thing the new movie did motivate me to do was catalog my FF run. My kids have been bugging me to create a record of my comic collection. When my time comes to pay the final check, they'll at least have some idea of what lurks in the 90+ boxes. Since finishing the FF collection I've been working through the other boxes.
My FF run consists of most issues from 1-200. After 200 (around the time of Herbie's arrival) I lost interest. John Byrne's run renewed my enjoyment and I collected all of his work on the tittle. After that, my interest fell off again.
My all time favorite stories are from 39 and 40. These issues guest star Daredevil and Wally Wood provided the inks on the character. I also enjoyed the "World's Greatest Comic" series which had the younger generation ( Erik Larson, etc.) doing their best to ape the Kirby/Lee style.
I'm ambivalent about the new film. I like that it's set in the 1960's and that Galactus in an actual character. Not a purple fog bank as shown in the last film.
FF

[horrorhunter]

Maybe the worst condition House of Secrets 92 I've ever seen.







Sold at eBay auction for $361.56 + $7 shipping. With tax that's probably a bit over $400.00. By Overstreet grading I doubt if this would be considered FAIR (1.0). Most would grade this as POOR (.5) just for excessive wear and water damage even if it's technically complete.

When books are this bad, I would just opt for a reprint unless I could get it for next to nothing. I have a couple of expensive books in FR (1.0), but they aren't this wretched, and I gave around $10 for each of them (DC Star-Spangled War Stories #90 and Personal Love #32 from 1955 with Frazetta art). I'm baffled why anyone would give $400, or even $100, for a book worth around $1K in VG, in POOR. It had 19 bids so several people bid it up. Hard to believe it sold for so much. 

[horrorhunter]

Conan #1 in nice condition sells for close to $500 at eBay auction.





The exact selling price was $449 + $6.06 + tax with 31 bids. The seller claims "high grade" but the corners are a little rough so it's probably in the FN/VF (7.0) range. I still think the buyer got a pretty good deal, especially if they took the seller up on the offer to pay with a money order or check and avoid the sales tax.

Conan #1 is a very important book in the history of comics. It's one of the few books which ushered in the Bronze Age of comics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age_of_Comic_Books It established the characters and stories created by Robert E. Howard as a powerful force in comics. It also established Barry Smith (pre Windsor) as one of the most popular comic artists. Conan #1 kicked off a sweeping change in popular culture which spawned the movies with Arnold and made the Sword & Sorcery genre immensely popular spawning many comics in the '70s and movies in the '80s and beyond.

When I started collecting comics in the mid '70s Conan #1 was already a huge expensive book. All of the early Conan issues were sought-after and expensive for the time. I picked up as many as I could but #1 was beyond my being able to afford for years. In the early 2000s I finally bought a nice copy of Conan #1 (VF/NM range) for $150 at a comic convention. A few years later I was able to complete the original Marvel run (275 issues, 12 annuals, 5 Giant-Size) as well as a run of the Marvel magazines Savage Tales 1-12 and most of the 235 issues of Savage Sword of Conan. I also have the Dark Horse issues and a few others but those early Marvel issues by Roy Thomas mostly adapting the original REH pulp stories are the real prizes. I still love the Howard Conan stories and often listen to them as audio books on You Tube. I'll always be a Conan fan.

[Rex fury]

I'm a big Conan fan too. I was really fond of Barry Smith's artwork from that time period. Unfortunately Barry isn't. I asked him to sign some early Marvel books for me. He literally scribbled across the cover of my Conan #1. To this day this is one of my worst SDCC memories!

[horrorhunter]

Marvelmania Magazine is a 6-issue fanzine published in 1970-1971. The 2nd issue features the first appearance of Conan the Barbarian before Marvel began the title with #1 soon after in 1970. Marvelmania Magazine was published as part of the fan club Marvelmania International.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvelmania_International

All 6 issues are somewhat hard to find these days and command some high prices, but the #2 with the 1st Conan has become very expensive and highly sought-after. There are two listings for it on eBay, the copy in the pic below listed at $1,500 and another at $1,800+ in lesser grade but not slabbed.



I have 3 issues of Marvelmania Magazine including #2. I bought these at a small comic con in Knoxville 20-25 years ago and they were only $10-$20 each as I remember. The fanzine issues are cool pieces of Marvel Comics history. I read comics growing up in the '60s but sadly I never joined the clubs or sent away for merch until the '70s with Marvel's FOOM. I'm glad I grabbed those Marvelmania Magazine issues back then when they were affordable. I remember buying my copy of Savage Tales #1 (7.0) from the same guy for $25 as well as several other Marvel monster mags for low prices.