sfcityduck

There is always more to find and no doubt he is looking! What a great collection!

👏

Great story. I went to that exhibit at the U of Oregon art museum. It was quite good as was the art of superhero exhibit as both featured really peak OA. I have the exhibit pamphlets and will post one tomorrow. I also had no knowledge of Roger Hill but I am sorry for that gap in my education and quit pleased to fix it now.

John Prentice? Wow. Didn't know he did comic covers. I only know him as a newspaper cartoonist (took over Rip Kirby when Alex Raymond died).

In answer to the thread title question: The one romance comic I'm looking for. Seriously. I've been looking for years. Here's what I've discovered: You can find lots of LB Cole and Matt Baker, that market appears to be thriving, and Toth books also are on the market, as are DCs, Atlas, and especially Harvey ("file" copies). But a lot of "lesser" Romance books and publishers seem incredibly hard to find. An obvious exception are warehouse finds like Charlton's True Life Secrets 23 for which it seems you can't swing a stick without hitting one. But, for example, other Charlton books never hit the market. Makes the romance area a bit frustrating. Much harder than PCH. Maybe the hardest genre to locate a book? I think so.

Caniff Steve Canyon issue of Scoop now discounted to $50.

Yep. One reading might be: "Yo s h i t aka [put name here]"

Send PM me your shipping info, preferred payment method, insurance requirements, etc. and I'll get back to you later today.

I wasn't expecting to revive the selling on the other two items on this thread, but since that has happened I might as well go with it. I'll be discounting the remaining items as follows and also listing some more interesting items later today. First the discount: Below item (both Scoop Mags) discounted to $100 for the pair or $60 $50 if you only want one or the other (specific which you want) the Caniff Steve Canyon one (Peanuts is now sold):

It's a cool item! Just to make sure we're on the same page, you want the Adventure in Leather CGC 8.5. If so, just PM me your preferred payment platform, shipping address, shipping method (keep in mind I have not shipped to Canada), and confirm if you need insurance (alternatively, if you have your own shipping/insurance arrangement let me know). Also, sounds like there's a deadline, so let me know what that is so I can make sure I can get it from SF to you in time. I'm happy to work with you to make sure you get it in time without excessive additional expense.

I agree on Aquaman. Never even made a cover in the GA (at least not in the U.S.). The only reason MF 73 matters is Green Arrow (as distinguished from the years earlier Arrow) & Speedy.

Over exuberance.

[UPDATED TO ADD:] Manga Yonin Shoshei aka the Four Immigrants Manga is, I am pleased to report, SOLD! Purchase price was $35,000 inclusive of $5,000 of conservation by one of the world's leading conservators of Japanese art on paper. Reversible conservation was a condition of the sale imposed by me. You can read below if you want to know why. For me, personally, it was an honor to own and a great satisfaction to pass on to a new owner who recognizes the historical import, cherishes the book, and wants to ensure it is preserved for future generations. I am pleased that the book is leaving my custody in better shape than when I gained it. I am also very very pleased that this book remains in private hands (there are sufficient copies in institutional collections) so there remains the hope and opportunity of collectors to have at least a glimmer of a chance to someday acquire this item (the buyer is not a flipper so don't seek contact info from me) which is the crux of several neat collecting interests (original graphic novels, English language manga, platinum or early Gold era comics, etc.). [END OF UPDATE]

Also because it has no subscription fold. For a subscription variant to top census is a true unicorn. You win the momentary admiration of your peers!

Subscription stamp!

That’s one great reason, a right answer for me, but I was thinking more generically.

Off-white, and down 40% in the market. But even down 40% it is still $50K for a mid-run DC. This unicorn which tops out Census over file copies impresses me more (bonus point if you can guess why) although that Batbook is a total gem (no dis from me of that book):

My GA collection was commenced by my dad giving me his childhood collection of later 40s to mid 50s books in the late 70s. Overstreet around that time had hyped Barks, EC and LB Cole. SOTI always seemed big. I always thought there were a lot of folks focused on that time period. I also always viewed Barks and ECs as two of the most heavily collected groups of books with Barks being more popular because they were easier to get. The Barks and EC reprint HCs put out by Cochran did not hurt that perception. I have always viewed Barks ducks as one of the pillars of the hobby.

I like the GA being 1933 to Aug 1945 and Atomic Age Sept. 1945 to Mar. 1955 better than the timeline you were floating up thread. But, why does the Atomic Age end March 1955?

I love that book. Jerry Robinson cover shows that the post-war GA had attempts to create more superheroes. At the other end, Powell's 1955 Avenger for ME has a similar but even more modern look.

I always have an interest. We all have only limited time. DC pioneered 100% original comics in 1934. By 1935, Siegel & Shuster were already doing Doctor Occult (pre-Superman) at DC and started Federal Men in 1936. Other artists working at DC prior to 1/37 included Creig Flessel and Leo O'Mealia. As of January 1936, 30% of the titles on the stands were published by DC (3 of 10 titles). It was a small industry and it was a significant player. But, then again, they all were at that time. DC was a quality participant. DC wasn't the outlier on superheroes, it was the standard bearer and biggest publisher. Timely is out of superheros by January 1950 (except Venus which is really now a genre title), but Fawcett, Quality, and Harvey still are putting out superheroes. DC had, of course, started Superboy in 1949 and keeps the core titles. Timely is back in August 1950 with Marvel Boy who runs into 1951, and then back again in 1953 with Cap. America, Human Torch, and Subby, who run until Oct. 1955. DC adds Superman's Pal in 1954. Other companies are also testing out superheroes at various points prior to Showcase 4. But it is no longer the dominant genre. I agree the CCA contributes to the revival of superheroes as a major genre, but that really doesn't happen in any significant way until 1958-1959 when Lois Lane and Flash graduate to their own titles, so it was a very slow burn that cannot really be seen as entirely caused by the CCA given the delay from its 1954 implementation to Showcase 4 to Flash 105. I love the terms "pre-Code", "post-Code", and "PCH" to explain the 1950s, but the "Atomic Age" concept does nothing for me. It doesn't explain anything important in the comic industry. A-Bomb covers and communist menace material survived after the CCA was implemented. If we're talking superheros, the original conceptions of GA and SA really make the most sense. If we're talking the broader comic market with all of its genres, then the "ages" really don't help much. They end up becoming very very short and irrelevant. Your GA is only six to eight years long and ignores all other genres. Your atomic age is only eight years long and starts the SA on a date that has nothing to do with second age of superhero comics (its in the mid-point of the failed Atlas revival).

There was high quality DC material prior to Action 1. The quantity was small because the comic industry was young, there were few publishers, and they were undoubtedly figuring out format, printing, distribution, marketing, and how to scale up a business dependent upon artists and writers. It was a new industry in area where the potential participants were risk adverse and were trend followers. Looking just at DC, they went from 1 title in 1/35, to 4 titles (1 w/ superhero story) in 1/39, to 5 titles in 1/40 (all w/ a superhero story), to 10 titles in 1943 (all with superheroes). But in 1/44 DC again had a title with no superheroes, 2 non-superhero titles in 1/45, 5 non-superhero titles as of 1/46, and by 1/47 of 19 titles there were no superhero stories in 7. The thing is though, 1/47 was the highpoint of DC superhero titles for the 1935-1950 era with 12 titles with superhero stories. January 1948 held steady with 7 titles with non-superheroes but only 10 titles with superheroes. January 1949 featured 18 titles 9 without superhero stories and 9 with. January 1950 featured 20 titles with 12 non-superhero titles and 8 with superheroes. In 1/56, after the CCA was adopted but before Showcase 4, DC had 32 titles of which 8 still had superhero stories. Don't think these numbers match up with your Atomic Age concept.

"Golden Age" and "Silver Age" do add a certain shine when dealing comics.

True. And one of the mistakes we should not repeat is the unhelpful "ages" concept, especially when that entails abandoning the shared concepts of the last 50 years by adoption of new end and start points. If you want to tie comic history to real world events, I find the terms "pre-war", "post-war," "pre-code," "direct market" etc. very helpful. Atomic Age as you use it just doesn't work because 1946 is not the year of the detonation of the Atomic Bomb and 1954, the date of the implementation of the CCA, is not the start of the DC superhero revival, let alone in earnest, and has nothing to do with the A-Bomb (culturally the Atomic Age kept going well after 1954).

I think you need to delve deeper into comic history. Comics were far from just newspaper strip compilations. While it is true that some comics were published by or licensed from the newspaper cartoon syndicates, other comic publishers were putting out original material - most notably DC (National Periodical Publications and All-American Publications) which started putting out comics of all-original comic material in 1934. (Earlier, the first comic page format (six panels and word balloons) all original material graphic novel (hardbound book) came out in 1930). DC went along at a decent pace with a large share of the comic market with non-superhero material for three or four years before Action 1. In addition, other publishers were also putting out original non-superhero material prior to Action 1 and all major publishers continued to do so after Action 1 even as they jumped on the superhero trend in earnest starting months to over a year after Superman debuted.