Whilst rummaging through my collection this evening, in search of a particular comic, I came across a 32 year old blast from the past... the pairing of two of Comicdom's most iconic cosmic heroes: The Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock.

Marvel Comics was generous in reprinting one of the greatest comic runs in its rich history: The Silver Surfer, Volume 1, No.'s 1 - 14. This was gifted to us all in Fantasy Masterpieces Volume 2, No.'s 1 - 14. On top of that, beginning with issue 8, Adam Warlock was added as a back-up feature, reprinting Jim Starlin's classic run from Strange Tales 178 - 181, and Warlock 9-11. And can you imagine... all for the incredible low asking price of just 75 cents?

I bought these comics (see pic) when I was 11 years old. Judging by their condition (I'm guessing 8.5), they were very well read, but with good reason... the stories are just mesmerizing. When it comes to the Silver Surfer, Stan Lee was at the height of his storytelling powers, coupled with the gorgeous majesty of John Buscema's illustrations... the pair created what is otherwise hailed as a masterpiece; a cosmic spanning saga still unrivaled today. Is it any wonder why the Surfer's first volume commands premium prices in the collectibles market?

32 years ago, I had a near complete run of Fantasy Masterpieces Volume Two, a volume which included classic reprints of the Surfer's origin story where we witnessed Norrin Radd's ultimate sacrifice by electing to serve the planet-cannibal Galactus as a herald in order to save his beloved planet Zenn-La and the woman he loved, Shalla-Bal; the classic slugfest which took place on the hallowed halls of Asgard, where the ever mischievous and manipulative Loki convinces the Surfer that Thor is the enemy; and my very favorite... the first meeting between the Surfer pitted against that Mephistopheles-like underworld demon known as Mephisto.

So what happened to these comics? I am not exactly sure what possessed me, but I remember one day I was overcome with a strange fever... an insatiable hunger to own a vintage comic book... something old with a cover price below 20 cents. I was very naïve back then... and at a spur-of-the-moment, I hatched an ill-conceived plan to obtain such a book. So this is how it went down... with my heart pumping and my knees wobbling like they were made of jelly, I made a two mile trek to Continental Comics on a hot summer day. I staggered in, all sweaty with a stack of comics, and plunked them down on the glass counter. A dealer gave me the once over and I half-coherently stuttered what I wanted. He flipped through my books and looked at me unimpressed. He was a bit forward and with good reason... He certainly didn't need a snot-nosed kid to waltz into his store demanding a boatload of cash for a stack of comics he also had sitting unsold on his shelves. Instead, he generously proposed an alternative deal... choose one comic worth $20 bucks from his "Vintage Wall of Fame", in exchange for the stack.

So I traded them all (save for the two provided in the pic), in exchange for just one comic: Silver Surfer Volume 1, No. 11... in so-so grade. What a sucker! I made out like a bandit! So I thought back then... today... I don't know.

In that stack of comics (about 50 or more), I know I gave away a number of issues that today, in the condition they were in, could fetch good returns, especially if graded. I know I traded away Amazing Spiderman No's. 198, 199, 201 and 202 (I kept 200). Those last two issues alone feature early appearances of The Punisher spitting out his "Mercy Bullets" on gangsters and non-powered criminals. I also gave up a small run of Power Man and Iron Fist, which included No. 84 (4th appearance of Sabertooth). But I also gave away lots of ... like Shogun Warriors, and a handful of other reprint volumes of X-Men (I actually miss these since they were reprints of early X-Men featuring the first appearance of Magneto, Mastermind, and the Blob), the Avengers, and the Hulk.

Why did I keep these two in particular? Well for certain... I can say about issue 14, I kept it simply because in late 79', I bought the hardcover first edition of How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way (at a time when I wanted to be a cartoonist) as a teaching aide. In it, it features John Buscema's marvelous step-by-step breakdown of one comic page from Silver Surfer No. 14, where he battles Spider-Man on a rooftop. The other I kept because of the Warlock back-up feature, which reprinted Warlock No. 10 featuring the origin of the dark Titan himself, Thanos. Incidentally, I recently bought that Warlock issue at CGC graded 9.8, and posted it in an earlier journal. In hindsight, I'm so glad I made that purchase and have now decided that I won't sell it even if Warlock comics skyrocket in value based on speculation of a movie appearance.

Years later, I did buy some additional Volume 1 Silver Surfer's: issues 9 and 13... which are in decent grade.

Anyway... barring any prophesized cataclysmic event, I'm going to get back to searching for that comic I was originally looking for. I just hope it wasn't part of that stack I traded away so many years ago.

If you got any similar stories... please share.

Happy Collecting!

To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.