sfcityduck

Neal Adams first interior work for a comic publisher was for MLJ in 1960. That's a very neat item. But Neal Adams is a strong contender for the greatest comic cover artist of all time. So what was his first cover? In November 1960, Adams worked on the promo comic "I Am the Guard" promoting the U.S. Coast Guard. CGC has deemed it the first Adams cover, but not GCD or OPG or Mycomicshop. CGC has clearly got this wrong. Here's the cover of the comic: Does this look like Neal Adams? No. Look at the Heath style cross-hatching in the top two panels, lack of detail, rough and akward posing, and the randomly applied inking. There's nothing Adams about this cover. Ironically, mycomicshop notes this book is the first comic work by Adams in his own distinctive style because his prior work was done in the MLJ house style. They are right about the Adams art in the interior of that book. But this cover looks like the non-Adams art in the interior: GCD does not attribute the cover to Adams. And any doubt that the cover is not Adams is eliminated when you contrast it with the interior story which was by Adams: The bottom triangular panel on the cover relates to Adams' story in the interior. But the level of detail in that bottom third of the cover is a shadow of Adams' interior art. The instrument panel on the cover looks nothing like the detailed panel in Adams' interior, nor to the MiGs which have completely different tails. The cover and the interior are by two different artists. The next contender for first cover by Neal Adams came out six months later in May 1961 for a promo comic that GCD doesn't even list - Adventure in Leather. Adventure in Leather appeared on a checklist on Adams' own website. And the cover art clearly looks like Adams style, albeit early: The art on the cover is consistent with the Adams art in the interior: There should be no doubt that Adventure in Leather, not I am the Guard, is Adam’s’ first cover. Not sure how CGC got this so wrong.

"Adventure in Leather" - you only get one. Meeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooooowwwwwww!

Neal Adams first interior work for a comic publisher was for MLJ in 1960. That's a very neat item. But Neal Adams is a strong contender for the greatest comic cover artist of all time. So what was his first cover? There's two contenders. Adams did interiors for both. But only one can be his real first cover. In November 1960, Adams worked on the promo comic "I Am the Guard" promoting the U.S. Coast Guard. Here's the cover of the comic: Does this look like Neal Adams? No. Not really. Look at the Heath style cross-hatching in the top two panels, lack of detail, rough and akward posing, and the randomly applied inking. There's nothing Adams about this cover. It instead looks like the non-Adams art in the interior: GCD does not attribute the cover to Adams. And any doubt that the cover is not Adams is eliminated when you contrast it with the interior story which was by Adams: Neal Adams next cover was in 1961 for a promo comic that GCD doesn't even list - Adventure in Leather. Adventure in Leather appeared on a checklist on Adams' own website. And the cover art clearly looks like Adams style, albeit early: The art on the cover is consistent with the Adams art in the interior: And this, my friends, is the highest and only graded copy of Neal Adams' (may he rest in peace and enjoy his place in the pantheon of all-time comic greats) very first cover: The highest graded copy of the very first cover by comics' greatest cover artist? My price is low: $600 and seller pays shipping and insurance. Feel free to PM if it sits with no offers. Same rules as immediately above.

As the process continues on the above item, I thought I'd list some interesting off-the-beaten path stuff. These are for Peanuts fans who thought they'd read every one of Schulz's Peanuts Sundays and Caniff fans who thought they were fully versed in Steve Canyon. Surprise! Scoop is the annual yearbook of the San Francisco Press Club. In 1967, Charles Schulz was feted and Caniff got his own appreciation in 1971. These yearbooks are a very interesting document of their time - full of famous strippers (Carol Doda, etc.), actresses and beauty queens (Dinah Shore, etc.) - and featuring in their respective issues photos and articles and art about and by Schulz and Caniff, as well as tribute cartoons by other artists (not all of aforesaid shown in pics). How often do you see these? I keep my eye out and the answer is "almost never." Seriously. I've seen each issue only twice. These are g/vg with the usual problems associated with that grade range. I like to think I'm strict, so you can form your opinions from the pics. Pictures speak better than words. (Note: A black cat statute by Beni Bufano is the mascot of the SF Press Club.) Rules: No problem children or HOS members. Postage varies depending on what you purchase and where it goes. I prefer USPS priority mail medium box. I prefer to sell only to US addresses but might make an exception. An "I'LL TAKE IT" icon takes it first. So, keep that in mind if you want something. But feel free to PM an offer if its not moving. I would prefer checks or Money orders or Zelle but will accept other options if necessary. Returns: 5 days from when tracking says it was delivered. Return postage is on you unless I make a gross error and in that case I will "man-up" and pay return postage. PRICE: $50 OBO for the Caniff Steve Canyon (when have you ever seen these and when will you again?). But if they aren't moving PM me.

Raboy’s CM Jr., Kirby Sandman, Cole’s Plastic Man & sidekick, Caniff’s April Kane, Starman, Wonder Woman, Action 1, Wildcat, Classic Sandman, Green Arrow & Speedy MF years, Dr. Midnight. Cop? Maybe by Shuster?

Just an fyi to everyone that pms are coming in. As I said above, I will entertain offers but give preference to full price purchasers subject to the caveats above. This book deserves a good home and I will ensure it does get one.

I will take some questions from the peanut gallery if anyone is interested in the book but has no interest in a purchase. Size comparison to modern reprint:

[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] Today's offering is the only copy you will ever have a chance to buy of the original 1931 edition of Manga Yonin Shosei aka The Four Immigrants Manga by Henry (Y o s h i t a k a)* Kiyama. (* Censored by GCC if spelled without spacing. From now on that name will be denoted by an Y*.) "To be fair, it hasn't been seen since its original print of only a few hundred copies back in 1931. But Manga Yonin Shosei by Henry Y* Kiyama, translated as ‘The Four Immigrants Manga’, arrives as nothing short of a history-making revelation: America's - and the world's - first graphic novel. In spite of the Japanese title, author and main characters, 'Four Immigrants' is completely American. First published in San Francisco - locus of the underground comix explosion 35 years later, Kiyama's book focuses on that fundamentally American experience - the life of the immigrant. Told with naturalism, humor and a sharp social conscience, it reads as a remarkable primary historical document with surprising resonances to modern times. … Henry, the author's surrogate, wants to study art, giving the story a personal verisimilitude that makes 'Four Immigrants' not only the first graphic novel, but the first autobiographical graphic novel as well." - Time Magazine, "A long Lost Comix" (19 Feb. 2005). The Basic Facts That Buyers Might Care About: This graphic novel is widely regarded by academics and historians as: The first comic book page format graphic novel (classic six panel layout portrait orientation of penciled/inked comic/cartoon style drawings) of original non-reprint material issued in the United States (predates DC's New Fun Comics by four years); The first autobiographical graphic novel; The first manga issued in the United States (per The Comics Journal, "A FIELD GUIDE TO PRE-TEZUKA JAPANESE COMICS IN ENGLISH PT. 1" (25 Feb. 2014)); and An incredibly important document of the Asian-American immigration experience covering approximately 1900-1924, including events such as the 1906 SF Earthquake, WWI, the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, anti-Asian racist incidents, Asian racism towards other minorities, and other important historical events. Only five copies are in institutions according to the World Cat. Copies are held by: Ohio State U.C. Berkeley Stanford U.S.C. Library of Congress As far as I can tell, only three copies are in private hands - and the other two (not held by collectors) will not come to market as they are heading to institutions. I believe all of the copies existing in institutions today came from West Coast sources. The only copy in a non-West Coast institution, Ohio State's copy, was donated by the legendary Bill Blackbeard of SF. Why so rare? It was issued out of San Francisco's "Japantown" neighborhood in 1931. Because it was written with English and Japanese dialogue, presented in a left to right (opposite of manga) format, the intended audience was clearly Japanese immigrants to the U.S. - most of whom were on the West Coast. Few others would have been able to read it. Unfortunately in 1941, about a decade after publication of The Four Immigrants Manga, all of the Japanese-Americans on the West Coast were rounded up and sent to camps for the duration of WWII with only the possessions they could carry themselves. Items like books were heavy, and many thrown into the camps left items like that behind or they did not survive the harsh conditions. The copy for sale today was carried in and out of the Tanforan Relocation Center and Topaz Internment Camp. It is a rare book that made a difficult journey. If Gerber had rated its rarity it would be a 10. But as a practical matter, it will soon be an 11 to the comic collecting community if not purchased from me. Because if I don't sell this copy, I will be sending it off to a museum. Some dealers in the fine art world have a saying: "Museums are mausoleums!" What they mean by that is that items which are sold to museum never come out and may disappear into vast storage areas to only rarely be seen or appreciated. Consequently, those dealers don't want to sell to museums for fear that works that would be appreciated by collectors will become, as a practical matter, lost works. I have some sympathy for this attitude. So if I can find a good home in the comic collecting community I'll sell the book - preserving the ability for the collecting goals this book represents to be met. If not, then it will go to a museum some day and for all practical purposes this book will become a Gerber 11 unless other copies come out of the wordwork. I want to ensure that this book is properly preserved and cared for. The Discovery: In 1980, Frederik ("Fred") Schodt was a young translator of manga at the start of his career. He was fresh off of completing his translation of Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix into English, the first of many translations he would make of Japanese comics for English markets, including Tezuka's Astro Boy, Riyoko Ikeda's The Rose of Versailles, and Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen. Fred, a San Francisco resident, was researching a book he had decided to write on Japanese comics. That book, Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics!, would be a groundbreaking work which would earn Fred the Japan Cartoonists Association's Manga Oscar, Special Award in 1983, the first of many honors for him. But in 1980, he was still researching that book and one day his researches brought him to UC Berkeley’s East Asian Library. Fred was searching through an old, pre-digital-era paper card catalog for manga-related Japanese texts when he saw something titled Manga Yonin Shosei (literally, “The Four Students Manga”), written by a “Henry Y* Kiyama.” When Fred pulled the book and paged through it, he was stunned! It was a hardback comic book of 112 pages. The layout was the classic six panel comic format and Fred noted: "the drawings were in the style of the famous early 20th century American newspaper cartoonist, George McManus, but the dialog was bilingual, hand-written in a now-archaic Japanese and broken English. And the place of publication was not Japan, but San Francisco in 1931." Fred had discovered a forgotten graphic novel presenting a comic history of Japanese immigrants in San Francisco! The Reveal and Reaction: Fred would spend parts of the next 15 or so years translating the book. The translation was finally published in 1998. That's when the existence of this book first came to light. When the re-discovery of Four Immigrants Manga was revealed, the worlds of academia and also of comic history and collecting took notice. I learned of it around that time, and embarked on my own many years long search for one. As word filtered out and the book became taught more and more frequently in colleges, warranting additional printings, even national publications like TIME Magazine took note - see above. Notable comic scholars and publications also took notice of The Four Immigrants Manga and weighed in with commentaries: "Forty years before the birth of underground and alternative comix, Henry Kiyama was experimenting in comic strip form with comics as autobiography, comics as personal statement, comics as sociology, anthropology, and political science, not to mention comics as a comment on racial and class attitudes and antagonism. In a time when traditional comics didn't dare venture into this territory, Kiyama covers it as a matter of course, as if his strip is no more or less than his bemused comic diary. It is that, but it is more, much more." - Jules Feiffer (cartoonist, comic historian, Pulitzer Prize winner, Inductee - Comic Book Hall of Fame, and Lifetime Acheivement Award - Writers Guild of America and The National Cartoonist Society) "Kiyama's The Four Immigrants Manga is a treasure. Like the Yellow Kid and Jiggs & Maggie, it is a splendid and authentic example of the immigrant literature of the period. More candid and outspoken than any of its contemporaries, it is a classic that demonstrates the true literary role of the comics to reflect ordinary life. Moreover, it is fun to read. It belongs in every library." - Will Eisner (Legend) The Artist: Henry Y* Kiyama was a skilled artist who took classes at the San Francisco Institute of Art in the 1910s. He won several awards between 1915 and 1920 for his portraits. He was also awarded a scholarship to attend the New York Art Institute but chose instead to get married and establish his own art studio where he specialized in realistic portraits. It is believed that sometime after 1922, Kiyama joined the East-West Art Society as he was friends with members Chiura Obata and Perham Nahl, who were both notable artists and Berkeley professors. Kiyama exhibited his paintings, including a solo exhibit at the Golden Gate Institute sponsored by The Three Primary Colors Art Group in which, with his paintings, he displayed fifty-two episodes of a cartoon created in the style of American comic strips of the 1920s titled Manga Hokubei Iminshi (translated A Manga of North American Immigrant History). Ultimately, in 1931, Kiyama arranged for that art to be printed in a book format, in western left to right style, for distribution out of San Francisco as The Four Immigrants Manga. Obata drew a frontispiece for The Four Immigrants Manga depicting Kiyama with an oversized pen and Nahl wrote as a caption for the frontispiece "Occident and Orient laugh together at the playful pen of Kiyama." That Obata, now regarded as the leading Asian-American artist of the 20th Century and renowned for his woodblock prints of Yosemite which are on display in the Whitney and Smithsonian and many other respected museums, and Nahl, a member of a family of accomplished California artists who was well-known for painting "The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules," the thematic image for the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915, executed the frontispiece for the book speaks to Kiyama's stature as an artist. Kiyama's paintings and his original art for The Four Immigrants Manga reside in museums in Japan. This is because Kiyama had traveled to Japan in 1937 by steamship for a visit with his family - which typically for Japanese-Americans could span a year. However, while he was in Japan, war broke out between Japan and China (July 1937). As a result, Kiyama was unable to return to the U.S. Following WWII, he created a sequel to Four Immigrants Manga which addressed the difficulties that Japanese immigrants to the U.S. had in assimilating back into Japan when they returned. A fair number did return after the US passed a law in 1924 precluding Japanese immigrants, even those with American citizen children or spouses, from obtaining citizenship. That story would have resonated with Kiyama after he got stuck unwillingly in Japan. Although the original art for the sequel survives, it has never been published. Kiyama died in Japan in the early 1950s. An Important Historical Document This graphic novel presents a wealth of information about the immigrant experience of Japanese Americans and race relations more generally. A couple examples make the point. For ease of reading, I'm going to post some of the pages from the reprint. But first, here's a key page from the graphic novel about the "Turlock Incident," a real event on July 19, 1921, in Turlock, California, in which Japanese farm workers were herded into the back of pick-up trucks at gunpoint, and after being driven out of the city, were warned never to return again. Kiyama captures this Turlock Incident in one of his comic strips, and somehow manages to find humor in it: As you can see, the Japanese characters speak Japanese. The American characters speak a broken English. It reads that way, because that is how it sounded to Japanese speakers not well-versed in English. In Fred Schodt's translation, the Japanese speakers are quite articulate when speaking Japanese and when speaking English they're speech is broken in the same way that they hear English. Fred substitutes typed English for native Japanese speaking to signal the characters are speaking Japanese, and leaves the original hand lettering for when characters are speaking English. The following two pages address the fact that Japanese immigrants who fought for the U.S. during WWI were not granted citizenship despite that they had fought for their country: But far from just focusing on bigotry and injustice towards the Japanese characters, Kiyama also documents Japanese immigrants' bigotry against blacks and Chinese using the same racist imagery used by white artists of the time. It is a fascinating document. About This Copy: As I said this copy made it through the Japanese internment. The OO is known. He was approximately, 19 or 20 at the time the internment commenced. It was well-loved, well-read, and the fact it survived the torrential rain storms at Tanforan and the heat and dust storms at Topaz is a testament that the book, which was issued when the OO was 9 to 11, was a favorite of his. He died long before I acquired the book from a SF Bay Area book shop via eBay. I will provide a serious buyer candidate with the back story on the OO. The book is far from what book dealers would call "Fine" condition and what comic collectors would call "NM." It is what I would call good condition, and I believe it needs conservation to abate some foxing, to restring the pages, and dry cleaning to remove soiling. This book is as much a piece of fine art as it is a graphic novel. And in the fine art world, which is the kind of museums that want this book, conservation of the type this book requires is not at all frowned upon - especially for an item which made it through the internment. But, I know comic collectors frown on conservation. Hence, I have had no work done yet. One reason I am offering to sell it now is that I will be getting work done if no one is interested in this item. Frankly though, given the rarity of this item and its historical import, conservation versus non-conservation is not a debate. All reasonable efforts must be made to preserve items as significant and rare as this item. RULES: I realize that buyers may want a lot more detailed information. I'm happy to provide it to serious buyers. First, "I'm Interested" on thread wins the right to a first shot at the book at the posted price. I assume we'll need to have off-line information exchanges to nail down a deal. I reserve the right to reject any buyer who does not fit my personal criteria for "a good home." Second, "I"m seriously interested" on thread wins the right to second shot at the book at the posted price. Etc. If you want the book, get in line. Independent of that, I will consider offers below the posted price but the "I'm interested" responders will trump if they ultimately agree to pay the posted price. Buyer pays actual shipping cost including insurance for full purchase price. If you have your own collectibles insurance and want me to ship under your shipping label, that's fine. You get to pick shipping means, but I get a right of reasonable refusal if I'm uncomfortable with the means. For some destinations, I might deliver. I would like payment by check, m.o., wire, Zell or equivalent. I will consider other options. While I will generally take a return within 3 days of delivery, I expect that we will have detailed discussions about condition (including transmittal of many photos) and there may come a point when I will view the extent of disclosure as obviating need for a return. I am not providing extensive photos of this item on this posting because I do not want them in the public domain. No one has imaged a fully copy of the original book and I am really pissed at folks pulling images off of the web and selling them. Price: $35,000.00 (offers will be considered and I expect to have a dialogue with prospective buyers given the unique nature of the item). Notable unique or exceedingly rare items are hard to value. A lot of buyers want the comfort of comparable sales. You won't get it on this thread. This item is for the advanced collector focused on comic history. If you want comps, buy a GSX 1 or IH 181. Just realize, this is the only chance you'll ever have at something this unique, historically significant, and rare. Buyers of notably unique or exceedingly rare items from me on this site include SOTIcollector. I can provide other references if desired.

If I owned a Superman 1 I would have that emotional reaction. But from the perspective of the integrity of the market it is nice to see the venue not engaging in an artificial attempt to prop up an illusionary value. What most auction houses would have done is had a reserve and just said it did not hit the reserve which creates the illusion the book is worth more than it is.

No. My question assumed there are differences. But I am missing why a buyer might want to avoid Goldin for a cgc book.

Why? Most collectors I know will go anywhere for a book they want or a good deal. I know folks who are picky about dealers they trust for a raw book, but for a CGC encapsulated book? No. Again a number of books at Goldin have done very well but if you are right it is a “buyers market” why would any buyer avoid it? Makes no sense.

Donald Duck. Romance. I don’t think sf was ever that big.

I'm going to disagree. Everyone on this board knew about this book. The folks who swim in the deep pools either knew about this book or their agents did (like Fishler who, after all, buys big books for clients on other auction sites). I don't think you can blame the venue for the outcome. I might buy that for lesser books. But for an Auction with both a Superman 1 and an Action 1? Nope. Best evidence: How many here are complaining about the Action 1 3.0 price?

Now that is a comprehensive swipe! Any chance he swiped himself?

The printing figures I've seen support that the original print run is not more prevalent. In any event, as one of the variants will encompass two print runs, and the other won't, we can't know which is more prevalent until CGC starts counting. But I don't think that matters. The earlier printing(s) of Superman 1 will outperform a later print. That's just the way most of us collectors (apologies to the OCD modern collectors) think about these things. First prints are special, later printings less so. It is the book collecting tradition that infuses our culture. And I think you are missing my point. If CGC wants to maximize profit (and they never seem to lose an opportunity), then they will start noting the two variants on the label. Why? Because it will inevitably cause resubmissions. A lot of people probably don't know what printing they've got. As soon as CGC notes the variation, they're likely going to crack out their books to see if they are on the lucky side. Anyone who doesn't crack out their book and resubmit is going to be assumed to be selling a "now on sale" version. Heck, any recently graded copy that doesn't disclose what the interior ad says is clearly a "now on sale" version. Why wouldn't they disclose the ad content if it could hype the book? Silence is damning. So the price will be depressed for "now on sale" variants no matter what. Buyers not in the know as to what they have will have a big incentive to crack our their book to see if they are lucky. Bottom line, cgc can expect more big book submissions by including the notation. They might well offer a discount to incentivize those resubmissions. It would be smart business to do so for a limited period of time.

Sounds like Atlas. Which would make sense for a UK publication. I have digest sized UK publications that date to the early to mid 60s jam packed with Atlas stories of this type. L. Miller & Sons publications like "Suspense" I think. That's where I'd start for search terms on the GCD. There's a story called "No Where to Hide" that may be possibility. Good luck!

I'm curious why CGC hasn't done it. After all, as soon as they add the notation "on sale June 3rd variant" or "now on sale variant" to the label, there will be a rush of collectors resubmitting their "June 3rd variant" copies to get the price bump (which is inevitable). More money for CGC. Any copy that comes to market after CGC adds a "June 3rd variant" notation will be assumed to be the "now on sale" version, but smart buyers will crack it out to see if they got a winfall. Still more money for CGC. Unless Halperin is sitting on a really nice "now on sale" copy, I'm not sure why CGC hasn't done this yet. This is not like MC 1 where you can see on the cover which version it is (but they still should be broken out also).

Who said there were no superheroes in the 50s? I think this was J.R. Sr.'s first cover: He was a damn fine penciller back in the Atlas era.

Yo! Can you get me in?

I don't think anyone saw that differently.

Mitch is old school secret. Nothing wrong with that. The guy certainly has owned some great stuff, including at one time Krigstein’s OA for Master Race. But lots of folks do not feel an obligation to posts books or OA here. I really only post books that I either think are off the beaten path and have a good story or I plan to sell.

Vacation Parade 2 is Scrooge’s first cover. FC 353 is his first cover by Barks. FC 379 certainly also predates FC 386.

First, the only things we know that came from the Sol Harrison estate were the covers bought by Gary/Moondog and Fischler. Fischler made a Frankenstein. Second, we know that the first copy to ever pop up at all, the 1975/1976 copy was in nice shape according to someone who saw it back then for sale. Could that have come from Harrison? Maybe. Or it could have been stolen from DC. Same for the other high grade copies. Maybe an early theft and a few years later a more expansive theft. Third, we don't know where any other copy came from definitively. Its certainly possible that a copy was given away to a kid visiting the DC offices back in the day. That without a doubt happened with an ashcan. The Double Actions had no legal or other significant to DC, so giving them away would have been no big deal (they just look like failed comics). So the low grade copies could have been in some kids collections and well-loved.

Seifert looked for a DC trademark filing for double action around the time 2 came out and did not find it. Since that is the only reason to do an ashcan he went with the theory above. But now that we know there was a Double Action 1 the question is whether there was a trademark granted around that time. If not, then I think that bolsters his theory. Why would DC test a title for which they did not own the TM? They would not. But would they print up a few to coerce an agreement with MLJ? Yeah seems like a good reason.

Mark Seifert presented a convincing theory on the old thread I linked above: