sfcityduck

Getting rid of ashcans because they are legal creations or, at best, production artifacts not intended to be actual comic books, I would be going with three out of the below: * the destroyed red seal comics (violated paper rations) which haven’t emerged yet (the same sort of Bigfoot as Double Action 1) but I bet exists somewhere; • the Nightingale (maybe 7 copies exist but is it a comic or a disguised children’s book?); * Four Immigrants Manga (but is it GA when pre-1938, and it is a graphic novel if that does not count); * The new Adventure 26 (but also pre-1938 and it is DC - is it rare or rare to market?) or * some rarely seen giveaway or genre comic from the 1950s like True Life Secrets 25. I do not think it would be a book that is heavily collected, Those might be rare to the market but is not the same as rare.

Just in Foster Christmas cover:

Looks like it could be same company. And it has Disney and non-Disney characters.

I agree Elmer is a candidate, but I think he’s too young as he’s a kid Elephant: Looks to me like that piece was unauthorized, ripping off characters of the 1930s, and not just Disney b/c that looks like a Babar rip-off to me. The plagiarists make the characters very close to the originals but change enough details (like Donald’s hat) to maybe get away with it.

Elmer was a kid. That looks more like Babar (created 1931) than Elmer to me. It's a clever piece that has enough variation from the real characters to allow for denial of plagiarism.

ROM is one of those nostalgia titles for people "of a certain age" when it came out. The interiors basically suck. The story is nothing special. But the Golden covers were fantastic -- talk about a bait and switch! I, like many collectors, bought the run for a while when it first came out - suckers looking for the next big book and after the Golden covers dried up there was nothing to keep us going. But a lot of younger readers seem to have fond memories of it. Micronauts on the first hand started strong with great interior art! But Golden left that title too. Sad.

Just out of curiousity, are you dividing your comics up by where you lived, or does that mean something different? I am impressed you've submitted 79 of your childhood collection!

Sounds smart. The only pedigrees that warrant a price boost are ones that (1) have some significant history associated with them (Okajima, maybe SF or Promise), (2) some real comic book collecting history associated with them (Cosmic Aeroplane and Mile High), or (3) some association that is cool or interesting to comic collectors (Gaines File Copies, Pay Copies, etc.). Why? Because a "pedigree" in comic collecting is nothing more than a pre-internet and pre-CGC concept developed to provide buyers with some reassurance that the books they were buying through the mail really would be as nice as they were described. It was a form of reputational security. We don't need that any more because you can get high definition pics or already graded comics. The "pedigree" concept for comics is largely obsolete -- unless there's a good story associated with it. (In the fine art world, a "pedigree" is a different concept - a chain of ownership that can establish a painting is not a forgery or was painted by a particular artist). For most comic pedigrees, especially modern ones, the backstories don't warrant a price increase. The concept really just means "big collection." Worse, my best surmise is that for some pedigrees, the backstory is largely confined to kid buys a lot of comics, keeps them without reading them much, decades later a dealer buys them from the kid or his family for pennies on the dollar in an unconscionable transaction, and dealer then hides identity of the OO in order to make sure that no one ever contacts the OO. That's not an association which makes me want to pay a premium. As for "registry points," so what? The very best collections aren't registered and may never be. Call me a cynic. For an equivalent or lesser price, buy the best book unless there's a super compelling reason not to.

What pisses me off more: There's now folks selling prints of fine art pieces. Usually, that's done by a museum selling a poster or print of a picture in its collection. But now there's folks pulling images off the internet, usually dealer listings, and issuing posters/prints of those stolen images. And, in fact, a print of an original piece I own was lifted off the dealer website I bought it from and is selling for $79.99. This pisses me off for two reasons: (1) A relatively obscure artist is now spammed all over ebay listing with what infer are print on demand images and (2) its my frigging piece. I have the original on the wall and images (obviously of lesser quality) with its distinctive signature and a previous collector's stamp are being offered for sale. That seems wrong. I expect that soon that will happen with OA, if it has not happened already.

Based on my father's collection I now own, which is full of superhero comics, SF, Westerns, Dell, etc. of the late 1940s and early 1950s, I just don't think War Comics were that popular a genre. Only a small portion of the collection are real War comics - an Our Army at War 1, GI Joes, etc. - and some lighter military themed GGA titles. My guess is that by the time the Korean War rolled around that American's were largely sick of war. Eisenhower after all ran and won on the platform of getting the U.S. out of Korea. I suspect that kids largely weren't reading or saving those comics in the same number they did other genres which might have been more amenable to repeat reading. That may explain why War Comics are rarer in the Atomic Age than other types.

Honestly, I feel safer in SF than I did in Downtown LA the other weekday. Felt more deserted than SF and has a homeless problem like SF. Both SF and LA have seen better days and will again. Of course I'm talking about the downtowns, the nice neighborhoods haven't changed at all. Interestingly, I was on vacation in London, Porto, and Madrid in March. All three cities were much better off than any American cities. I'm talking clean, busy, and no different than they ever were. Probably due to the fact that all three countries have extensive medical and financial safety nets that helps prevent the large populations of homeless folks impacted by mental illness and drugs that we see in the U.S. But, their comic book stores suck. Link? I think so. Folks there don't have the same quantity of excess cash and embrace of frivolity in acquisitions that we do.

Now that is a well-loved comic book that evidences it brought joy to its reader with repeated experiences! Right, Marty? My own copy doesn't appear to have been a repeat experience - nicest 7.0 white I've seen (sorry about the bad pic technique) - and now its locked away and can't be read at all. I only sent it in b/c I thought it would rate much higher. Sad:

Fair enough. Live and learn. I had posted price was coming. But I did delete the return policy.

My apologies for the delay on the other thread due to my mother's day obligations to my wife. The CGC Mods apparently missed my apology and explanation on that thread, or thought it was an inadequate excuse, and deleted the thread based on the delay. Maybe I'll repost some other day. For now this thread too is closed.

Bob Kane (and so many other GA artists) did so many swipes of Raymond and Foster, it is hard to keep track.

I will be coming back to this thread tomorrow. Probably first thing in the morning Pacific, I will be posting a new thread for one book only. But, right now, have to head to dinner with my wife and kid. I have other stuff I'm cleaning out of my office, so look for other cgc comics, etc. later tomorrow on this thread. Hope you find these threads a bit entertaining and informative and off the beaten path.

For your comic book room: Rarely seen - a very early (maybe earliest?) magazine cover showing what we all love to see - someone reading a comic. Our Navy (Mid-April 1945). $50. A cool bit of interior decorating at a price that you don't need feel stress for putting it on display.

Hors d'oeuvres 2. For owners or wannabe owners of Reform School Girl (the comic) and maybe also the paperback, who would like to complete the set: The back cover is all that matters on this book. An outtake from the photo shoot for Reform School Girl's cover featuring model Marty Collins, but here censored with a crude paste up skirt extension. AVON Pocket-Size Books 399 - ...plus Blood in Their Veins by Robert Paul Smith - VG-F (comic grading with defects shown in pics) - $25 (postage for this lot also included). This rounds out the story of the Reform School Girl comic and paperback.

Hors d'oeuvres 1. For the Caniff's Steve Canyon collector who thought they'd seen it all but now finds out they hadn't: The Press Club of San Francisco's annual publication - Scoop (1971) $45 (and for this lot only includes shipping). I'd call it g/vg (but grade may largely be irrelevant because has anyone else got a copy?). The cover is a specialty Steve Canyon Sunday drawn for the SF Press Club. Hardly ever seen. I've seen two and I bought them both. And this wasn't a one off for the SF Press Club, they also got Charles Shulz to do a specialty Sunday for a cover for a different year's annual:

Next up: I'm back from lunch. So I'm ready to move on to a few cool hors d'oeuvres offerings and then, I've convinced myself, one once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at a very rare and historically significant book. And I mean that seriously.

Apologies to you as well! I will pm you shortly.

Its yours! Sorry for delay, but was away getting lunch with my kid freshly back from abroad. I will PM you regarding shipment details.

Two Faces of Communism nn - SLICK COVER SOLICITATION COPY VARIANT (Christian Anti-Communist Crusade (1961)) - CGC 6.5 ow/w. Here's the first secret: The CGC census shows 14 copies. BUT there are FOUR VERSIONS of this comic! 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 solicitation versions would have preceded the versions that have blank covers or customization. And here's second secret: The slick cover solicitation versions are the rarest examples of this comic! This CGC 6.5 is the highest graded copy of the slick cover that I've seen (and believe me I look). Subject to correction, I believe this is the highest graded slick cover copy. It presents beautifully $700.00:

I would never call Toth, Barry, Thompson, Frazetta, Krigstein, etc. "too clean." I wouldn't call Foster, Raymond, or Adams that either, but they are all "very clean" illustrators. Those DC back-ups just had some great art in support of stories with a tone that some comic fan, maybe most, find uncool today. As I understand it, DC made an intentional decision, that Timely did not, to stop running WWII stories or covers in its superhero titles before the war ended. The reason it did so was because it thought kids were suffering war fatigue, didn't want constant war reminders, and its superhero comics would sell better if they turned away from the war. The strategy worked for DC (and other publishers) so its sales sustained the core titles, unlike what happened with Timely's superheros. DC consequently focused on crime and costumed criminals, science fiction, and imaginary themes to keep reader interest. That also worked. So DC's heroes (and some others) had a staying power that Timely/Marvel could not emulate. The end result are comics in the 1950s that are NOT "cool" in the dark and gritty sense of the 1980s. Instead, the DC superhero comics of the 1950s are entertaining, funny, diverting, and very enjoyable so long as you are not looking for any profound meaning or graphic violence. Like Barks' Duck books, they are lighthearted adventures intended to entertain. And they did. Most folks my age first encountered these comics in the Superman, Batman, and Captain Marvel 1930s/1940s to the 1970s books. And reading the Batman and Superman books certainly helped me appreciate how the characters' portrayals changed and the various merits of the different versions. My guess is that DC evolved the characters away from being a gun wielding vigilante and a New Deal liberal crusader against fascism in the US and abroad, and into role models for kids, for good commercial reasons. The fact that the "cool" dark and gritty portrayal of the 1980s helped propel comics into a much smaller and more adult audience than anything seen in the GA when comics were at there distribution heyday may retrospectively vindicate DC's decision back then or it may not. It does not really matter, those 1950s stories were popular and they certainly had a lasting impact on me and others. I still prefer the happy Batman family of the early SA to the hellish Batman dysfunctional family of the modern world. Color me a Ted Lasso and Marvel movie fan, but a little humor, joy, and overall happy endings fall within the spectrum of comic stories I enjoy and appreciate (of course I also loved Miller's Dark Knight and appreciate the dozen or so pre-Robin stories).

Some of the lighter DC back-ups of the 1950s that I've always found enjoyable. "Grittier and dark" just wears me down after a while: