Comic Book Collecting

[John Pertwee]

I just ordered one, but I am also excited for the next issue of What iF? Marv Wolfman wrote a Tomb of Dracula story.

[Rex fury]

Very cool! I hadn't heard that Marv was doing a new story for TOD. I'll have to check it out.
RF

[judd]

In October 2024 Marvel is releasing a color omnibus collection of the 70's Godzilla comic series.  It was reprinted years ago as a black and white essential collection.  That edition is now expensive to purchase.

I've ordered a somewhat rare newish graphic novel, it's a bit cyberpunk.  I'll explain when I receive it.  The book is professional and it's not vulgar or anything.  Please don't judge me.

[Mike Scott]

Please don't judge me.

Can I Judd you?

[Rex fury]

I read the new What If Dracula by Marv Wolfman. It was okay,  it not his best work. While the art was great by today's standards it was not your father's TOD. Too bad Gene Colan is no longer around to team with Marv. Thanks to Marvel for keeping some of the older professionals working.
RF

[Rex fury]

Here's a shout out for Another Dimension Comics in Calgary, AB, Canada. My friend and I traveled to the city for a Loreena  Mckennitt concert this evening. Having some free time in the morning I checked out the store.
There was a nice collection of figures including several Universal Monsters, throughout the store. Both Twomorros and Warrent publications were well stocked - I picked up the Marvel Comics in the 60's volume which I'd been meaning to purchase.
Alas, there wasn't a large Golden Age collection of comics ( which is the case in most comic stores I visit) but there were large runs of Bronze Age material and some Silver Age. I picked up a couple Secrets of the Haunted House for a reasonable price.
If you find yourself in Calgary I recommend a visit to the store. Bring your MTB too if you enjoy that sort of thing. We fond some awesome single tracks around the city.
RF

[judd]

I received my graph novel today.  I've been looking at the lovely art.  It's Artemis written and created by Lindsey Stirling. 
I'm going to see her Christmas concert next month.  Most of the meet and greet tickets were sold out but I have one.  So I'll be meeting her in person.  What?
I happen to enjoy music videos like Snow Waltz when Victorian era vampire zombie women emerge from their coffins on Nov 1st and don't know what to make of Christmas decorations.
So also produced a violin version of Phantom of the Opera.

[Rex fury]

Enjoy the show, Judd. It sounds really fun! I think I saw that video with the young ladies and the coffins ... my kind of holiday😎
RF

[judd]

Thanks for the support.  The comic she wrote is manga style. The bright colors pop off the page.  The dark fairy tale scenes aren't as colorful but this isn't a doom and gloom death and destruction comic book.

Fun fact.  The Snow Waltz video was filmed in a warehouse during hot weather with no ac.  It was a difficult shoot.

[Hepcat]

I happen to enjoy music videos like Snow Waltz when Victorian era vampire zombie women emerge from their coffins on Nov 1st and don't know what to make of Christmas decorations.

Hey, wow!

Snow Waltz - Lindsey Stirling

It's fabulous.

[Hepcat]

Here's a few more ARCHIE themed horror covers:

Archie published a lot of comics with monsterrific covers over the years. I was looking over the Laugh and Pep titles in 1961-62 and found these gems among others:

[Rex fury]

Anyone visiting the Cincinnati area should check out Queen City Comics. They have a great back stock of old comics and a very helpful proprietor! I'm in the city visiting my daughter for Christmas, and we went to the store. My daughter and the owner worked a deal where she bought a comic I had been eyeing ( House of Secrets 89) for a Christmas present for me without my knowledge. I was looking in another section of the store and went back to get the HOS 89. The owner told me it was gone; sold while I wasn't looking. Then surprise; this morning it was one of my presents! A great gift from a great daughter and a cool comic store owner!
RF

[Hepcat]

In my case, they significantly dropped the price on a 1950's western comic I wanted. An Avon comic, Jesse James 5, featuring a Wood interior page and three Kubert stories. I'd seen it offered by another seller, in less collectible condition, for a higher price. Four Color came through with the better offer and the better copy.

Cool! How extensive is your collection of 1950's Western comics?

[Rex fury]

Well, I'm partial to the western Ghost Rider as my namesake implies. I have all the Tim Holt, Black Phantom, B Bar B Riders , Best of the West,  and Ghost Rider comics  from that era. I also have an original piece that Dick Ayers was kind enough to draw for me. The only thing I've never  found is the premium mask that was sold through the comics.

I'm also a Black Rider, Durango Kid, fan and of course the Lone Ranger is in there too. I have large runs, albeit not complete , of those three titles .

Finally, from the Golden Age, I have many Dell westerns. Rex Allen, Roy Rogers, Wild Bill Elliott, etc.
They're great comics which seem to get overlooked by the spandex fans.

In closing I'll add the reason I am so fond of the Ghost Rider is due to my Dad. He was a life long cowboy fan who really liked Tom Mix. I'm a monster kid and we found we could relate to each other through the spectral cowboy.

RF

[horrorhunter]

Good to see UMA back up and running, and good to be able to log in again after the "error" fiasco.

I haven't bought many comics of late, a few issues of Boris Karloff (Thriller, then Tales of Mystery) as well as a few various Silver Age mid-grade Harveys (mostly Sad Sack). I've been trying to recapture '60s issues I had as a kid. Most of my OTR (off-the-rack) copies were read to death and discarded, but I still have a few original OTR copies from the late '60s-early '70s because I was old enough by that time to be more careful with them. I appreciate mid and low grade copies now much more than I did when I first started collecting...the prices are much more reasonable and some of what most people call "defects" lend a bit of charm and character, like subscription creases, date stamps, store stamps, and just wear appropriate to age and past appreciation for that copy.

I'm at the point where I collect nothing Modern at all. The Modern cover variants leave me cold. Didn't we go through that silly mess in the '90s. The MCU hasn't held any joy for me since Endgame. I have no respect for any of the pro slabbing/grading companies which look more and more like a mega scam with their zombie-like followers continuing to walk off of that money-cliff to "crack and resubmit". I find the slabbing game amusing and a bit tragic and mostly it just fills the pockets of 3rd party grading companies at the expense of Joe-Blow collector. I don't mind buying a slabbed book, I just won't pay extra for the fact that it's slabbed and I crack it out right away and put it with the rest of my books. No wonder the bottom fell out of the comic book market...again, with all the crap the hobby's been through in the last 20 years. Mass greed has left it's mark.

So, I just hang on to my collection and enjoy it, not because of "what it's worth $$$", but because it represents a huge chunk of my life and has been a lot of fun. And, they're still great to read and reminisce about when you bought that particular copy and such.

I don't collect comics like most people do these days. I still do it the way we did last century, albeit with Mylar and acid free boxes for storage. To each their own.