RICK STARR

Steve that is a beautiful MGA there. Bill, you pretty much got all the lava creatures covered. Only one I could find is this one. They look plenty hot enough to me.

Adam, when was that poll done and what was the consensus of the top covers?

Great pickup Darth (thumbs u Bernard Bailey horror covers ROCK!! Here is another one of his classic's

This article is from The Comic Book Marketplace # 12 dated 1992. This will clear up the question of the significance of certain prehero issues as ST #67 and JIM # 50 and others. Also, check this issue # 21 1993. It gives a great in depth feature of prehero books by Dr. John Townsend. Very recommended!!!!

Keep them coming Bill, great stuff. Someday I'll find a scanner that's CGC slab friendly. This will have to do for now.

Here is a scan of the splash page from the Matt Baker story in the Strange Fantasy #2. Looks like an original story and not a reprint.

I agree that the ST 67 and the JIM 50 are just as significant as TTA #1 and TOS #1. The JIM 50 came as at the same time, Jan 1959 as the two number ones. The ST 67 was a month later. Oversteet makes absolutely no reference to these books as being unique in any way. Just run of the mill issues as ST 66 or JIM 49. Its a disgrace. I had this conversation with other collectors over the years and I believe a few have brought this to the Overstreet guide people's attention, but to no avail. Some great posts guys. DRX, your TOS 15 looks awesome. Easily looks 8.5 or so. I was going to post my ST 67, but it pales in comparison to Rosland's 8.5, WHOA !!. Here are some others. Just finding some of these issues in a solid fine condition is an accomplishment and worthy addition to any prehero collection. The highest graded copy of this issue is a CGC 9.0 which sold several months back on the Link (I think) for over $ 1700.00. Stunning!

Thanks, Scrooge for posting the rest of the Williamson story. I just did not have the energy to scan all the pages. It had been quite awhile since I looked inside that issue of OFTN and forgot what a terrific job Williamson did with that story. John

A Few books from my collection. Beware 16 very under rated issue, fairly HTF with AC Hollingsworth art. Out Of The Night #1 - 1952 has a real nice Al Williamson 9 page story. Here is the splash page of the Williamson story. I'd like to show it all, but its 9 pages long Doesn't this cover have a wow factor!! Classic Norman Saunders issue # 10. This is issue # 2 - 1952 has a Matt Baker story, pretty nice.

I saw two episodes of that Twilight Zone marathon and the Burgess Meredith episode was one of them. Have not seen that one in many years, Bill. More Atlas goodies, sleep tight kiddies...

Here are some HTF JIM's. All these issues in the 50-59 range are very tough in HG. And, I'll throw in my favorite Ditko prehero cover

Man, what great books you guys are posting. Here are a few more that I picked up from the Connect (Metro) auction last month. This one has been on my upgrade list for at least 15 + years. Finally snagged a nicer copy. Since this issue is a post-code, I thought I'd post it. The other precode ST's I'll post on the Atlas thread. This issue number is almost "impossible" in HG. A Maneely masterpiece of a cover.

YOWAZAH, what great books Jimbo and Adam. Adam, that ST 85 wouldn't be a WM copy by any chance??

Here is my TTA 16. Certainly, not a 9.6 but pretty decent. Here's my JIM 62 to go with my new # 66 Some other nicer issues I picked up over the years Now here is an interesting story about my TTA # 1. In the early 1980's, a book shop outside Washington DC (where I use to live) sold comics when ever collections came in. I was going through his boxes, when there was not one, not two but four TTA number ones!!! Of course, I asked the owner how did he come by 4 copies of this HTF issue. He tells me, oh, there were NINE copies mixed in with some old newspapers he had picked up. These were the only ones left. I chose the best one and ,of course,years later, asked myself why didn't I get them All. I think it was on some previous page of this thread about a reference to the Portsmith, Va. collection. This issue with a little certificate is from that collection. And the Big Kahuana.

(thumbs u It looks sweet to me. I found that for every issue I slabbed, I went and bought another copy to be able to look through.

Thanks, I'm real happy with the 66. Yeah, I tried to snag the AA # 2 , but it just got to be too much. It actually looked better than the VF grade they gave it. The main story in AA 2 is one of my favorites from all the presupes. Poor boy in the end rubs their noses in it.

Thanks Jimbo. JIM 66 seems to be a toughy. I have two HG copies of the JIM 62, but could never locate the 66 in HG. Several of you guys have been posting on this thread for quite awhile. I just recently got into the CGC chatrooms and wondered why I took so long. It's great to find other collectors with similar interests and willing to show off their collections to the rest of us. I have an idea, why don't each of us assemble, in each our own opinion, the 5 most difficult prehero issues of the "big 4" to locate in say VF or better. It would be interesting on the differences and similar opinions. By combining the lists, an overall consensus could be made of the hardest to find in HG. How about the issue number ranges be: JIM 50 - 82 ST. TALES 67-100 TTA 1-34 TOS 1-38 I'll start with the TTA and these are in my order of difficulty. # 3, # 11, #5 ( many always have marv. chipping), # 22, and tough choice between # 28 or # 32. But I'll say # 28. Look forward to your responses. BTW, nice books Bill. Your TTA #5 makes my list look bad, but being a WM pedigree, its sort of an exception. John

I bidded on these books from the Comic Connect auction. I was told that these were not from their stock, but from private owners. I picked up some nice Strange Tales, also. I'll post them later on. I never would have believed a 9.6 TTA #16 could exist. Cannot be many preheros around in that grade. Would love to know the history (source) of that book!

WHAT happened to this thread?? Where is everyone? Thought I would give it a bump by posting some books I picked up from the ComicConnect ( Metro) auction last month. They had some real nice pre-hero books. Their grading seems right on by the books I received. Sources are few and far in between for HG preheros , so when some do surface, we pay the piper. Anyone else pick up anything new?? JIM 66 was graded 8.0 TTA 19 was graded 8.5 TTA 24 was graded 7.5 TTA 28 was graded 8.0 --- very tough book in HG

I like the cover to MGA # 51, too. Very tough to find in HG. In fact, the Mound City copy in 9.4 sold for over 1000.00 Mind blowing.

A few more from my collection. This one is quite simply an Everett classic cover. A very bizarre Maneely cover. What an outrageous but great cover.

Thought I'd post more MGAs. More bizarre creatures and weird predictaments for your viewing pleasure.

The AD #13 is a sweet heart of a copy, picked it up last summer at a local con. Here are some hard to find number one post codes. The covers are interesting on these, but for the most part, the interior artwork is very mediocre. The exception is the Torres story in the WOM # 1. World of Fantasy # 1 - talk about a difficult book to find in HG!! I found this one with the WOM #1 in San Diego a couple of years ago from one dealer. They were both probably from the same collection. WOM #1 - Everett cover with a nice Torres story. Advt. into Mystery #1 - Everett cover

The True Love Pict. # 11 is certainly a classic Baker cover. Oh Joanne, I just know you want to get rid of that lousy Teen. Tempt. #1 of yours. You can "dump" it off to me anytime. Here are some more issues out of my archives.

Here are a couple of more Unexpecteds' which I dug up out of the Archives.