sfcityduck

After looking at this further, Zaid's above argument for which version came first has fallen apart for me. Why? Because the inside back cover for the glossy/slick version he describes in his post is materially different from both versions of the glossy/slick inside cover I post above. Neither of the versions I post advertises both a "standard version" of the comic and a paper version. Which means that there are three different versions of the slick/glossy version based just on the inside back covers. I now believe that any copy advertising for personalization on the outside back cover (slick/glossy and newsprint) was a solicitation copy sent gratis to prospective customers.

Not Golden Age, but a cool more modern CCA rack is worth noting anyway. The actual wire and tube rack structure dates back to the mid-1960s, but the signage looks a little more modern than that to me:

Interestingly, the CGC has graded a number of the newsprint cover versions and this one slick cover version, but has not differentiated between the newsprint and slick cover versions (oops!):

I just picked up this copy of "The Two Faces of Communism" on eBay tonight. It appears that there are at least four (and maybe five) versions. There are two newsprint cover versions with version A having an ad soliciting customers to order customized copies on the last page and version B having the customer's customization or a blank space on the last page. There are also two slick cover versions with version C. having an ad soliciting customers to order customization on the back cover and version D. having a blank back cover (or a customized back cover which I just haven't seen yet). The chronology on these versions is unknown, but Mark Zaid surmises that the newsprint versions came first so, for now, I'm going with that. The slick covers are harder to find and are cooler in my humble opinion. Zaid's argument (see up thread) for why the newsprint version predates the slick cover is based on the listing of product for sale on the inside back cover of the slick version. Another argument he didn't raise, but I find more convincing, is that the sequel to this comic - "Double Talk" - only exists (as far as I know) in a slick cover version. So here's my newly acquired version C (slick cover - solicitation ad for customization on the back): Here's Ver. A (newsprint cover with solicitation add for customization on the back page): Ver. B.1 (same newsprint front cover with customized last page - names of different customers and blank space versions seen): Ver. B.2 (color variant front cover - grey hair and orange "faces). These were obviously printed to order because of the customization on the back page, so a batch paper to have resulted in a color variant. I have not seen this color variant in a slick cover yet. Ver. C - Slick cover with add solicitation add for customization on back page: See my version above. Ver. D. - Slick cover with blank back page (same front cover). I suspect that this version probably is just a customized version with no customization. In other words, the versions with ads offering customization were some sort of promo solicitation version and the subsequent versions with customization or a blank space (their choice) were ordered by customers:

You just sold me!

Tax avoidance is ok. Tax evasion is a crime. I suspect we have our share of criminals on these boards. You cross the line to committing a crime when you don't report taxable income. You can likely avoid a lot of the taxable income for selling a comic by taking into account the cost you paid for the book and certain other off-setting costs. But, you don't get to offset the $5K you made by selling a comic with the $4K you spent buying another book. Not unless you are organized as something other than a normal collector. Good news for collectors is that if you held the comic for more than one year, it's likely taxed at the favorable 28% long term capital gain rate, not the higher rates paid by folks who actually work for their money. In America, we give tax breaks to folks who make money on a passive investment, and tax folks more who earn their money by working hard. Go figure. But, keeping that in mind should take the sting off of paying your fair share from selling a passive investment. After all, paying taxes is how the vast vast vast majority of us actually patriotically support our country.

IF you're talking strips, you got a host of other great titles, starting with Prince Valiant and Terry and the Pirates.

Current Projects: The EC Archives (Dark Horse) reprints all EC's by title as they were published in full color oversized HC format. The EC Artists Library (Fantagraphics) reprints EC stories in undersized b&w HC format with all stories in a given volume by the same artist. EC fans argue about which they prefer of the above. Past Projects: The EC Library (Cochran) reprints all EC's by title in b&w oversized HC format. The EC Annuals (Cochran) reprints all EC's by title in color comic sized SC format.

A bold statement on a GA forum. But, it's the same way I feel about everything published since the end of the 1980s (and I know I'm probably on shaky ground founded mainly on ignorance in holding that opinion). We tend to like what we're familiar with. Still, I don't know how anyone can find Kurtzman's "Corpse on the Imjun" and "Big If" or Feldstein & Krigstein's "Master Race" or Toth's romance output for Standard or so many other highly influential works of the late 1940s and early/mid 1950s, all of which predate my lifetime (I'm GenX) as "unreadable." That was a very high point for the industry.

For me - Jimmy Thompson. Incredibly talented, ahead of and out of his time in his portrayal of Native Americans (and his friendship with them) a focus of his early work, very adept at multiple genres (including superheros), and so prolific that new work of his kept appearing for three years after his death. He did an incredible 76 page Red Eagle comic early in his career (1938) that has art that dramatically stands out from the norm of that time (although reminds of Foster): He did superheroes for DC and Timely in that wonderful mid-1940s style that was as good as Eisner and Cole: He did amazing genre work in the later 1940s (published into the 1950s). But, he's not well known and I'd like to know more.

EC's have GREAT artists, and anything drawn by Kurtzman is fantastic, BUT (and I know I'm going out on a ledge here) I've always thought too many EC stories had too much text. There are a few EC stories which are the best of the best, but if I were doing a top to bottom comparison, I think I might give the nod to Atlas! <ducks tomatoes> So Atlas makes my list along with EC. I agree with Tri-Color Brian, but I'd also add that my favorites include: Late 40s to early 50s DC anthologies (Star Spangled, Detective, Action, Adventure, and (maybe less so) Sensation) because they have a really entertaining mix of characters, art, and genres in each issue.

I love those red scare comics. A lot of crazy notions back then. A snapshot of a dark period in America that included comics being burned in bonfires!

And this is why Cat is a fashion legend on these boards!

Steve's website www.lostsoti.org has a list of what's left.

Cat, I agree with your even handed take on Wertham. I also agree that anti-comics was a "bandwagon" that a lot of people jumped on, although I personally think Wertham was one of them and not the first. I think you probably know this, but for others it is worth noting that the site you link is SOTIcollector's baby. I think Steve has probably done more in the past decade or so to find "lost SOTI" books that anyone (no slight to Robotman and others who pioneered a lot of the SOTI spotting back in the 70s or so). I know that SOTIcollector is always on the lookout for new info, but I also suspect that a LOT of it has already been found. Still, I'm always happy when I can pick up a cool item, like a CCA pamphlet I just on got on eBay (but I am sure SOTIcollector's already got one). I'm gonna store it on my CCA rack (pics taken down due to site issue).

Folks make fun of Kirby's hands, But its his legs which make me think of him as a rubberband style artist. Is this hero bulemic? Or is it that he has an abnormally long and thin left (our right) leg?

1947 promo ornaments I wish I owned: The mismatched Buzz Sawyer ornament in the picture below is from the 1960s, not 1947, and is probably part of the same set as the ornaments posted earlier in this thread:

One of the rarer King Features promo I've only seen come up for sale a few times - the 1939 box of 32 Christmas cards: Examples: There are some cool 1950s cards which are much more common.

On the subject of ornaments, here's another promo item sent to editors. Sold by Hakes a few years ago:

Never seen those, thanks for sharing!

No prize if you can name every character on the cover (I can't)!

I've read that King Features Syndicate used to sometimes send promo items out around Christmas, presumably to editors or others who were clients of the syndicates. I've posted this book and slipcase featuring covers by Hal Foster and cool interior "jam" illustrations by the King Features artists in the wraps, which I think is one of those promos: : But this King Features Christmas promo (I think) I just picked up is to new to me. Anyone got one?: Select interior pages: I think its cool.

I'm not sure that's true. Wertham jumped on a bus in motion. He got some great press for his book and a few articles, but there were probably others who might have had the same impact in the dark days of the 1950s when censorship was on the rise in a lot of areas and government was trending towards authoritarianism in important areas. After all, the comic publishers adopted other "codes" before the CCA.

When it comes to how he portrayed the contents of comics, I don't there can be much dispute that much of the comic content he described has proven to be an accurate description. SOTIcollector has found many comics matching descriptions Wertham made of comic content without identifying the title. There's also no doubt that the portrayal of women in comics during the late 1940s and 1950s are not the portrayals a father would want to show his daughter today. Where he went wrong was in his analysis of the impact of abhorrent content on kids. He fell prey to the classic mistake of reasoning by analogy instead of relying upon scientific analysis. He may not have recognized his error. It was less falsification, than logical fallacy. Sadly, that kind of anti-scientific reasoning is still used by many good, but misguided people, today. So I don't think there is much need to demonize Wertham.

You make a really good point! CGC should note when EC Annuals are SOTI books. I guess Overstreet cannot because the contents change. I gotta say, though, you need a new GA collecting focus to occupy your time. Meeting a collecting goal is great and horrible at the same time. You do it, and you have to find a new goal. Given how much intellectual energy you put into your collecting, I'd suggest you go after comics that are off the beaten path, yet culturally significant like some of the red scare giveaways or other themes of that nature.