sfcityduck

The cover art for DC genre books of the late 1940s and early 1950s was nothing to sneeze at:

True, but rarity can depress prices.

To me superhero’s are pop culture at this point based on looking at box office results. But as to your question, who can say? Batman 1 has been a strong book but the pool of buyers shrinks as prices increase. It takes a lot more resources for a Batman 1 to double in price than a Pep 22. I don’t really “invest” in comics so you can get better answers, but Action1, D27, Superman 1, Batman 1, are all going up most of the time.

You are a tough audience. LoL!

What decline? So many artists peaked in the 1950s. Maybe the best example is Bill Everett! But all the famous EC guys (Kurtzman, Frazetta, Williamson, Krigstein, Craig, etc.) were hitting highs in the late 40s and 50s at EC and elsewhere (DC, Atlas, etc.), DC guys also were hitting highs in the late 40s and 50s such as (Toth, Infantino, etc.). Romance books had incredible art by Baker and Toth others in that time period, PCH had so many interesting artists, War was becoming a genre that mattered, and some of the storytelling innovations used in that time period were literally decades ahead of their time. The SA was a decline in art compared to a lot of what you see in the 50s. And then there were the Ducks. Barks also hit a high point in the late 40s and 50s. And he's on the Mt. Rushmore of Comics as a result. Timeless stories that are still inspiring tv shows today. Superheros never went away. Aside from DC which was constant, Atlas had new titles and a revival in 50s pre-dating the SA, Quality never stopped, Fawcett would not have stopped but for lawsuits, Harvey, Charlton and lots of cool little publishers also put out superhero books. For me, the late 40s to mid-50s was a high point for DC, with a lot of really fun superhero stories featuring the big 3 (Superman, Batman & Robin (who was a solo star)), as well as WW, Green Arrow, Robotman, Vigilante, Shining Knight, Wildcat, Aquaman, etc.).

The 6.5 is the third highest graded copy. The top graded is an 8.5. The 6.5 is a very beautiful book. There are raw copies that likely would grade out higher than the 8.5, so I would not buy the 6.5 thinking it will stay no. 3. But Pep 22 is a rare book, has continuing pop-culture significance, a fantastic WWII cover, and is treasured by collectors. What's not to like about this 6.5 copy? The second highest graded 7.0 ow/w sold for $143K prior to the Pandemic and Promise Collection bounces in prices. A 3.0 hit $66K in 2021 after the bouncing started. I think this 6.5 ow will go north of the 7.0 price easily, despite the slightly lower page quality, but others on this site are better at judging prices than me because they buy, sell and actually might be bidding on a Pep 22.

Wow. That is sharp and detailed! Great art! You should frame it.

How about MM? Don't know that one.

Care to share?

Not mine. But a cool object. And inexpensive.

I'm an outlier when it comes to "cover only" books. For me, a comic can be collectible for a lot of reasons, including a great cover. But there are so many other factors, including great interior art, historic significance, pop culture significance, a notable story or writer, provenance, completing a run, first appearance of character, etc. etc. etc. The most valuable comics have multiple factors - sometimes all of them. I just don't think a "cover only" book ticks enough boxes to warrant some of the prices we saw during the Promise frenzy. Part of the reason why I think this way is that there are a lot of competitors for a comic that is viewed as just a nice piece of cover art. Obvious examples include posters (movie, rock, black light, comic related, etc.), fine art, advertising art, and even objects like pinball machines you can play with: And MANY examples of those alternatives are available for a fraction of the price that issue of Suspense got during the Promise frenzy. I do think the Promise collection brought attention to some really beautiful examples of covers that may have been overlooked. And in some cases, the prices paid for the Promise copy appear to have found significant support from transactions in non-Promise copies. For example, the incredible Mary Marvel 5 cover was unknown to me. Prior to Promise, this 8.5 MM 5 sold in 2018 for $900: Prior to that, the highest prices paid for 8.5s were below $300 - both for the above copy and this one: Things changed during the Promise auction which resulted in some incredible prices for MM issues, including for this perfect 9.6 MM 5 for $21,600 - 9.6 for a black book!: People noticed how cool some of these MM covers were, and after Promise we've seen this non-pedigree 8.5 MM 5 sell for $7,800 - pretty much validating the Promise price: To me, $20K is pretty reasonable for a "cover only" book, and for some folks a copy of MM is more than just the cover as its not an insignificant run. But the price for that Suspense? Seems very high. I like your $35K gut reaction much better than the purchase price of that Suspense. Because if I was going to spend $100K+ on art, instead of comic history, pop culture significance, first appearance of a character, etc., I would be considering whether my money was better spent on buying a bunch of other pieces of art - some of which display a lot better - instead of a comic that doesn't have anything going for it other than its a nice piece of printed art. Having said that: There's nothing rational about buying art - its only worth what people will irrationally pay for it.

You know, I believe that it is not derailing a thread about a person’s passing to discuss the passions and information he wanted to pass along. It instead is evidence of a legacy. When I die nothing would make me happier than if some folks remembered some of my threads and thoughts and gave them some discussion. I like to think I had something helpful, interesting or valuable to say. People die but it’s like a rock thrown ito a pond and the ripples that result. The hope is the ripples are noticed.

Willits was the first fan to ascertain Barks’ identity and get his contact info. He was also the first fan to meet Barks in person. That bound volume was signed at that meeting at Barks’ house. It is a very cool momento of the moment that Barks met his first fan in person - the one who had discovered him. No longer would Barks labor in obscurity with his accomplishments unrecognized. Barks was now on the road to recognition, fame and the validation of being recognized as a “Disney Legend.” A great moment for comic fandom. PS The first fans to talk to Barks, on the phone, were the Spicer brothers. Barks appreciated the fan contact and added a shout out to one of his stories:

And here's an interview of Richard that he sent me. Probably not a surprise to some here that I like comic history. So I was grateful that Richard shared this material with me. I re-read these after reading this thread, it was nice to see the stories again and the posts above by others with more to share. I didn't really know him well, but I'm grateful for his generosity. He emailed me once: "If we ever get the chance to visit, I will tell you some amazing stories." I never did. I really am glad that others who knew him are sharing those stories and that some of them ended up being put down on paper like the interview below. One of the last communications began with the statement "Comics have always been a part of my life, sometimes a large part, and I have been fortunate to be involved at just the right time." Later the discussion turned to a particular issue of Uncle Scrooge in high grade, but hadn't found one for all his efforts. He stated: The juxtaposition of the statement about how he'd been fortunate be involved at just the right time in the 1950s-1960s, and how it was still "just the right time" because great books (like, he hoped, a US 6) found back then would be coming to market is something I found touching. It was a mixture of optimism, delight, maybe a bit of melancholy, but mostly something I'd call wisdom. My sympathies to his family and you folks here who knew him much better than me.

Well, no one knew himself as well as he did. He sent me an article he wrote about Leonard Brown and Malcolm Willits. He clearly was very proud of the association he had with them, although he did not hide that he largely exited their story due to the choices he made to pursue his academic and professional pursuits. He sent me this article he wrote about them:

Richard and I started corresponding a bit when I sold him a copy of FC456, which I gathered was his favorite book. It was a census topping copy and he was concerned enough about the book that he offered to fly my wife and I to New Orleans so I could personally deliver the book and hang out with him at his house. I regret turning down his offer but I was busy with cases. Richard was kind enough to share with me stories and information about his early days of collecting. I am grateful for his generosity. In one of our exchanges he posted something I feel compelled to share: ------------------------------------- Richard, I am just curious if you bought, or know who bought, the Barks bound volume inscribed to Malcolm Willits. I don't want to harass the owner or seek to buy it, but I am curious if it found a good home. I know you love ducks, and that bound volume is, in my opinion, an important historical document that deserves to be owned by a true duck lover. On the off chance you don't know what I'm referring to, this is a link. https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/humor/dell-giant-comics-bound-volume-signed-by-carl-barks-dell-1949-51-/a/122049-11117.s?type=lotlink--bidnotice-tracked-dailystatus Hope you are happy and healthy! Stay safe. Alec ————————————— Alec, I did not buy the volume, and neither of the two major duck collectors I talk with most frequently didn't buy it either. However, I think the bidding was strong enough that it went to a collector who will treasure it. Mal did write me in early 2020 and say that he had decided to stop going to doctors and taking his meds because he had had enough. He died a few months later and I think of his handwritten letter to me as a sad but important piece of comic history. Leonard Brown and I had a mail-order comic business. When I didn't want to open a store with Leonard, he found Mal and they opened Collectors Book Store in 1964. The three of us would have lunch together when I visited my parents at Christmas in Long Beach. I visited Leonard for a week before he died, and Mal joined us one day and I treasure the picture Leonard's wife took of the three of us as it was the last time we were all together. We liked to think that we were one of the driving forces in developing the rare comic business in Southern California. Now they have both died and I am 76 and when my time comes, it will mark the end of an important chapter in the history of our hobby. Take Care, Richard

The reviews of this movie are off the charts! Never seen so much positive writing.

Kirby is probably on my Mt. Rushmore for comics overall. But the GA? Nah. His art style in the GA was not up to his early SA standards, and his GA “creations” do not impress me as much as others. Capt. America was created by Joe Simon and was an unoriginal copy of the Shield. It might have been the first example of Marvel trend following. Both Subby and Human Torch were much more original characters. Moreover, Kirby did what - ten issues of CA? And I view Schomburg covers as the definitive GA portrayal of the character. I just don’t think that CA measures up to a lot of other creations of the GA such as Superman, Batman, etc. Bucky, like Toro, was just a copy of Robin. The Kid Gang concept was not something I view as a major innovation just a kid Blackhawks. S&K rode that horse as far as they could but To me that was an commercial trend that petered out. Romance comics was just a commercial idea of Simon’s adapting a major magazine genre to comics to capture female readers, and romance had been done in comics before - Simon just went all in which was a smart economic move. I would not call Kirby the top romance artist by any means. Kirby did introduce a unique style for portraying fighting action. It was a great style. However, other artists also introduced their own innovations for storytelling, pacing, portrayal of action, etc. For example, Eisner, Kurtzman, and Krigstein in comics and of course the strip artists like Raymond, Foster, and Caniff were all influential. Kirby’s style got much more traction in the SA. To me Kirby’s GA reputation is a bit overhyped thanks to Stan Lee. In my book, for example, Everett was a more significant artist for Timely/Atlas in the GA. There were a lot of important artists in the GA and for me Kirby was not the top.

My only point is that Kirby was not King of the GA. Other guys had better resumes. Kirby took it up several notches in the SA.

I don’t think any competent -script writer would write this stuff. It is way too implausible and dramatic. PS Ant-Man Paul Rudd was at the game filming Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney shedding tears as they won. It is a wonderful story. I was in London last months and caught Crystal Palace beating Leicester for thei first win of 2023 which put them out of the relegation zone. Never have I seen a stadium so happy, and I have seen the Giants win a World Series and the Ducks win Rose Bowls. But it does not come close to the scene in Wrexham on Saturday. Amazing, inspiring, emotional, and utterly a joy to watch!

Mission accomplished. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🥲 <a href="https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VancityReynolds</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/RMcElhenney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RMcElhenney</a> in tears watching their <a href="https://twitter.com/Wrexham_AFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Wrexham_AFC</a> seal promotion <a href="https://t.co/xZ7fCbfaRh">pic.twitter.com/xZ7fCbfaRh</a></p>&mdash; Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1649858947493289987?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2023</a></blockquote> <--script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></--script>

The best Star Wars printed works to me are the first three Zahn books, the Daley books, and the Rogue Squadron books. Almost all printed works are not canon anymore though and nothing is really safe including details from the Lucas films.

The final episode of Andor is one of the best tv episodes I have ever seen. The acting is incredible. The first three episodes are necessary background but the series gets better as it goes along.

A recurring theme of the show is family. The main character is an orphan who lost his family. He has now become a father. Romance was a recurring theme in season one. Bo is setting herself up to become a Queen who is seeking to restablish her dynastic line and repopulate her world. There is I think a subplot. We will see. No demands are being made by me (which is what shipped I think accurately means) but I have a different view of the writing than you guys do. Maybe because I do not carry the baggage of watching the clone wars cartoon. I am curious to see where they take this Thrawn plot but I am confident it will not be true to the Zahn books as that ship sailed. So I don’t spend much time worrying about prior stories. But I certainly could be wrong.