sfcityduck

And this is what I think is Frazetta's first cover (again let me know if I'm wrong): Edited: I was wrong!

Alright, we got Neal Adams and Dave Stevens, so it seem fitting that we add in John Byrne's ACA Comix 1 from May 1971:

Yep. My view is that crypto currency is a potential tax problem when you sell it to get $$ to buy other investments like cash or real estate, but don't keep cash reserves to pay your taxes. Last time I looked, Heritage did not take crypto currency, so if you have been buying promise books using crypto wealth you had to be selling your crypto.

That's cool cover! As part of my birth month collection, I've got the similarly themed World's Finest 157 by Swan. This one's going on my list to get. HOWEVER, Curt Swan's first cover was back in the 1940s according to GCD. Action 232 was his first cover on that title.

And just to keep the thread going, here's what I think (feel free to disagree) is Dave Stevens first penciled (and inked) cover on a comic related publication (here, a fanzine): Mysticogryfil 2 cover dated May 1975 with image dated 1974 by Dave. This is not my copy (I don't have an image of that handy):

Some folks over in Bronze were surprised to find out that Neal Adams' first comic book cover was Adventure in Leather. More interestingly, they were more than a bit surprised that they couldn't find a discussion on the board of what Adams' first comic cover was before I posted my copy (sole copy on CGC census). So let's get a thread going on comic creators' first comic (or related) cover. I'll kick things off with Neal Adams:

I've been suspicious as well. But, I've heard second hand that Heritage has been talking about how Promise has brought in "new money." The last year seems to have been stupid money. So I'm thinking that we are seeing a new kinda cat, not the type of traditional collectors who have dominated the hobby (who seem to be increasingly priced out of the market). But, I'm open to theories and evidence.

I think you have it backwards. The risk for a crypto investor is that they cashed out Crypto in 4Q last year when prices were high (as high as 67K a bitcoin in November), to buy other investments like comics or real estate, but did not set aside money for taxes. This is not unusual. They may well have thought they could sell in 2022 to pay 2021 taxes. (If you wait to fund the taxes in 2022 then you do not have to pay taxes on that transaction until 2023.) If so, such a crypto investor may be in a bit of bind and facing selling while underwater if they bought crypto any time other than the month of July last year. It may well be more palatable to unload part of the investment they bought than to sell more crypto at this point.

Interesting past week. Stocks are down and Bitcoin is trending the same as stocks (except much worse). Why? Seems mostly due to a fear of inflation and speculator jitters. So much for Bitcoin being a hedge against inflation! Net impact is that the Bitcoin crowd has lost a LOT money at the start of 2022. Over $130 billion as of yesterday, and the fall continues (down another couple thousand dollars per Bitcoin today and overall down over 50% from highs). Which sucks if you are a Bitcoin investor planning to cash in to pay taxes for last year's realized gains put into other uses - like comics. I am super curious to see if this has an impact on the purported "new money" buyers who have come into the comic market the past year. If these "new money" buyers are speculators, they may need to sell off to right their portfolios. I remember hearing, and maybe someone here can confirm, that the MH Flash run sell-off bloodbath was initiated due to a downturn in the owner's real estate investments. Is the past an indicator of what will happen? We'll see. It may have no impact, or maybe there will be less crazy buyers (I'm looking at you $3.3M OA buyer), or maybe we'll see a relatively quick sell walk of shame. Should be interesting.

Not true (the team in BB 54 acts just like the team in Avengers 1). Not what DC thinks. Not what CGC and OPG thinks. And this debate has gotten stale. No need to hijack the thread to revive it.

Another way to have that same kind of fun, but also make a quick return, is to go out and find copies of something seldom seen and relatively unknown and then make it pop. You get the fun of the hunt, the fun of helping others appreciate an overlooked book, and the fun of creating a market. Is it hard? It just takes some research into comic collecting to identify targets - and that too is very fun - as well as the willingness and creativity to hunt up a copy (might be outside of traditional comic venues). And, as an added bonus, you can also find yourself helping others meet their collecting goals by helping them get something they never knew they needed or could get. I've found some very cool stuff for two figures and then sold for four with a great deal of enjoyment during my period of ownership. And there are many opportunities still out there. If all you do is chase the hot books hoping they'll get hotter you are nothing but a trend follower. Far more fun to attempt to create the trend. My latest such adventure to return from CGC is the only census copy of the first comic book with a Neal Adams cover. Hard to believe with all the Neal Adams cover collectors that this book wasn't really on folks' radar. Also very underrepresented on the census is the first penciled cover that the great Dave Stevens ever did - which is also hard to believe with all of the Dave Stevens collectors (and not on the census at all is Dave Stevens first interior comic story, I have not submitted mine yet) - which you can find for two figures. Worth remembering that all of those comics which are "hot books" because of their covers became hot because dealers like Redbeard and Robotman etc. were hyping covers as the reason to buy those books starting back in the 70s. They'd discover something, hype it, and next thing you know its a classic cover. You can do it too. There are still opportunities for the emergence of classic covers from the GA and SA which are overwhelmingly overlooked. That's a very fun form of collecting which educates while maximizing a return.

My nominee for post of 2022.

As Keller’s Flash run auction bloodbath illustrated, what may seem like a “stupid money” record may turn out with time to indeed be a “stupid money” purchase which does not hold up the next time it is auctioned. I would bet that way on the interior page of the seven months or so after it’s debut black costume/Venom.

Looks like Rick Fletcher (born 1916) who worked out of Chicago on strips. All that OA looks to be strips to me. Here's a profile from the "Stripper's Guide" blog called, interestingly, an "Ink-Slinger Profile" (you might want to reach out to Allan Holtz who runs the blog): https://strippersguide.blogspot.com/search?q=fletcher For your convenience, here's the substance from the link: Thursday, October 11, 2012 Ink-Slinger Profiles: Rick Fletcher Richard Eugene “Rick” Fletcher was born in Burlington, Iowa on June 1, 1916. His birthplace is from his National Cartoonist Society (NCS) profile, and his birthdate is from the Social Security Death Index. In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, he was the youngest of two sons born to Russell and Maude. They lived in Burlington, Iowa at 604 South Gunnison Street. His father was a railroad foreman. The 1925 Iowa State Census recorded him in Burlington at 418 South Leebrick Street. He was the second of three children. The 1930 census recorded Fletcher in Burlington at 909 Garfield Avenue, where he was the second of four children. His father remained with the railroad. In the book, Tracy and American Culture: Morality and Mythology, Text and Context (2003), Garyn G. Roberts wrote, “Fletcher started his career at age 18 as the one-man art department of Tri-City Star in Davenport, Iowa. He had no formal art training but learned his craft by studying art books in the public library of his native Burlington, Iowa.” The Official Nebraska Government Website has samples of Fletcher’s artwork used on flour sack puppets, “while he was an artist for the Rudy Moritz Advertising Co. in Davenport, Iowa.” Fletcher has not been found in the 1940 census. He enlisted September 29, 1942, according to U.S. Veterans Gravesites at Ancestry.com. On his NCS profile it said, “During WW II served in the ETO in 5 campaigns with the 83d Inf[antry] Div[ision], a Bronze Star and a Captain's rating. In 1946 joined art staff of the Chicago Tribune. Studied comic strip technique under the late Carey Orr, Pulitzer Prize winner.” Roberts said, “From 1953 to 1965, Fletcher drew the well-known historical strip ‘The Old Glory Story’ for the Tribune Syndicate….in collaboration with Athena Robbins…” According to Ron Goulart, in The Funnies: 100 Years of American Comic Strips (1995), the Tribune had the distinction of having two cartoonists named Richard Fletcher. Today’s subject is Rick Fletcher. Fletcher was the artist of Jed Cooper. The Park Forest Star (Illinois), February 3, 1953, profiled Rick Fletcher but referred to him as . Fletcher Feature Strip Makes Debut Along Marquette street people are pointing proudly at No. 114 as the home of Fletcher, one of the creators of a feature strip which made its debut Saturday in the Chicago Tribune. But they aren’t nearly so excited as and Beverly Fletcher are themselves over the fact that the strip which has been in the making for two years has finally made its debut and has already been syndicated and placed in newspapers in Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, Baltimore, Fort Worth, Kansas City and Brooklyn. The strip is in color and is called “The Old Glory Story.” It is “different” in that it will give the children—and the adults—who follow it real history about the flag of this country. In Saturday’s first installment readers saw the landing of Columbus in America and the flags which he brought to these shores. Here Two Years Historical material for the weekly strips is gathered by Athena Robbins, a copywriter in the advertising department where is an illustrator. Two years ago she came to with the idea and asked him to do the art work. is 37 and, with his wife and two-year-old Kathy, has lived in Park Forest almost two years. They lived in a rental unit at 27 McCarthy road before moving to their present three-bedroom home on Marquette street. One of those bedrooms has been converted into a studio for . It is here that he works on the strip. A gate at the door keeps Kathy in hearing distance but discourages any direct “help” at the drawing board. On Saturday night and Bev went to a gathering at a friend's house where they met another couple whose son was a Cub Scout. The youngster had read the first of 's strips on the flag that morning and liked it so much that he had already started a scrapbook. “That really thrilled me,” said the happy Mr. Fletcher. The NCS profile said, “In 1963 began his 15 year association with the Tracy comic strip, as Chester Gould's assistant. On Dec 26, 1977 Fletcher took over as sole artist on the strip when Chet retired. Max Collins of Muscatine Iowa does the writing….” Roberts wrote, “…On Friday, March 11, 1983, Rick Fletcher produced his final work for Tracy. The next day, he went into Memorial Hospital for McHenry County near his home in Woodstock, Illinois. On Wednesday, March 16, 1983, the greatest comics artist of guns, hardware and machinery in the history of the medium died….” The Tribune reported his death the following day and made a correction on April 3. Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles # posted by Alex Jay @ 8:00 AM 2 comments Comments: Thank you for posting this about my grandfather! What a nice passage about his debut as an artist! Kind regards, Jessica Fletcher # posted by Jessica Fletcher : 1/30/2015 4:49 PM 1963 seems wrong, since 'Rick' was one of the names mentioned as the group of people working on Tracys filler strip for the Chic Trib, The Gravies. Indeed, on his bio page, 1961/2 is mentioned as the true date. # posted by Ger Apeldoorn : 10/09/2019 11:54 PM Post a Comment Tuesday, June 12, 2012 Ink-Slinger Profiles: Rick Fletcher A Short Biography of Rick Fletcher by his son, Ross Fletcher [Stripper's Guide thanks Mr. Fletcher for allowing us permission to print this essay, which is copyright (c) 2012 Ross Fletcher. All rights reserved] Rick Fletcher was born in Burlington, Iowa on June 1 1916 to William and Maude Fletcher. He was the second of four children: Russell, Richard, Martha and Edward. Rick had a keen interest in drawing from an early age. Encouraged by his mother, he drew every day and studied art and anatomy books from the local library, teaching him perspective, composition, color and technique. In his diary, he wrote that when asked how he learned his art skills, “I say that I go to art school at the library.” After graduating from Burlington High School with the class of 1934, Rick and his family moved to Galesburg, Illinois. There his father worked for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad as a fireman on the steamers, and later as an engineer on the stainless steel Burlington Zephyr. His mother was a happy homemaker who loved to raise her family and cook wonderful meals, including Eggplant Parmesan, Rick’s favorite. Rick’s career growth in 1935 was quite remarkable. During March, the 18-year old Rick and his younger sister Martha started a business. Rick would design and draw paper dolls and Martha would sell them at school to her friends. A diary entry recorded his take, “Made twenty six cents.” Rick also entered the Knox Laundry Anagram contest, winning three tickets to the Orpheum Theater. The following week he used his little brother Ed’s name and won first place again. The third week he entered with a neighbor girl’s name and won yet again. Another quote from his diary said; “The president of Knox Laundry asked the girl’s sister if Rick Fletcher didn’t do the drawing. My reputation is getting out.” On May 2 1935 Rick won a twenty-two dollar Mixmaster food mixer in the Doyle’s Furniture Store contest; this further boosted his confidence. He gave the food mixer to his mother. On September 26 1935 Rick wrote to a longtime friend, Joe Weber, who was working as a photographer at the new Tri City Star newspaper in Davenport, Iowa. He asked about the possibility of a job in the art department. Weber brought Rick to the attention of Mr. Hinkle, the publisher, who liked Rick’s work and hired him for fifteen dollars a week starting October 3 1935. Rick soon moved to Davenport to become a one-man art department. Within a week he complained in his diary, “work is coming in too fast to get any quality” but decided “composition is what puts the drawing over.” Rick went to the Davenport Library for more art instruction material. Rick worked at the Tri City Star for two years, then found a more desirable position at the Rudy A. Moritz Advertising Agency in Davenport. Rick was hired as the art director, producing ads and campaigns for national accounts. This position allowed him more time to produce higher quality work. Rick’s final entry in his 1935 diary summed up the enthusiasm he held for his career. “This has certainly been some swell year, all because of my artwork. My first big cash in was the Mixmaster food mixer that I won and gave my mother, and then the big achievement which was the job at Tri City Star. My greatest help has been from Joe Weber and Mr. Hinkle, the Publisher of the Star and the Beacon Publishing Company…I can consider 1935 as a year I was launched in my career, which I hope will reap me rich rewards and fame in the future, it really was an eventful year.” In 1942, Rick’s career was interrupted by World War II. He went to Camp Dodge in Iowa on September 29th1942, then on to Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. He was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers in April 1943 and assigned as a First Lieutenant S-1 Adjutant to the 308th Engineer Combat Battalion with the 83rd infantry Division. Rick went through five European military campaigns from D-Day +10 at Omaha Beach, the Battle of Normandy through the hedgerows zigzagging across France, into Belgium, Holland and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He raced through the German Wehrmacht into Germany along with the 83rd Infantry Division when General Eisenhower ordered the Army to stop. He was in Zerbst Germany near the Elbe River just eighty-eight miles from the bunker where Hitler was hiding in Berlin. Two weeks later Hitler committed suicide in the bunker when the Russian Army invaded from the eastern front. Rick received the Bronze Star for his service in the war in Europe. At the end of the war until his trip back to the United States, Rick was assigned various positions; commanding officer of the Sonndorf Prisoner of War Camp in Germany; purchasing and contracting officers to build camps for Displaced Persons and Prisoners of War; and trial judge advocate. Aside from his regular duties in the U.S. Army, Rick hand-lettered signs and painted vehicles. He also passed the time by drawing caricatures of himself, expressing his moods in his letters home. Rick’s desire to draw became increasingly problematic as many supplies were scarce while overseas. Rick frequently instead relied on his 35mm Leica camera to produce quick, convenient photographs. Throughout Europe he took photos of citizens, soldiers and landscapes, eventually making a scrapbook. He later made a watercolor painting of Belgian peasants based on a photo he took from his jeep. He was separated from service as a Captain on February 27 1946. His name is inscribed in the Book of Honor at the Court of Patriots - Rock Island Arsenal Museum, located on the same property as the National Cemetery in Rock Island Illinois where he is buried along with his wife Beverly. After the war Rick was offered jobs at two locations, the Chicago Tribune and a local engraving studio. In a diary entry Rick decided to choose the Tribune because “I just liked walking down Michigan Avenue and going into the Tribune Tower, which has quite a mystique in Chicago.” Rick joined the advertising art department in April 1946, handling illustrations and cartooning. Rick studied for several years under the supervision of Carey Orr, Pulitzer Prize winning chief editorial cartoonist; learning advanced comic strip technique. Orr taught many illustrators, including, back in 1917, then high school student Walt Disney. Tribune colleagues took notice of Rick’s art, which showed quality and versatility. While he worked in the advertising department, Rick continued to pursue opportunities in illustration by submitting original samples of his own work to editors at the Chicago Tribune. The Old Glory Story was Rick’s first strip, a color Sunday feature, starting in February 1953. Written and researched by Athena Robbins, this award-winning story began as an illustrated history of the American flag. The feature was so well received that Robbins and Fletcher were asked to continue it after the initial story was completed, exploring other aspects of American history. The unique aspect of The Old Glory Story was that all the stories, flags, people, uniforms, weapons and transportation were illustrated with historical accuracy and reproduced in full color. The feature ended up running over thirteen years, finally ending in April 1966. The stories told in the strip are as follows: The Old Glory Story 2-15-1953 – 9-25-1955 Daniel Boone 10-2-1955 – 1-8-1956 George Rogers Clark 1-15-1956 – 4-29-1956 John Sevier 5-6-1956 – 8-19-1956 Captain Robert Gray 8-26-1956 – 11-18-1956 Mad Anthony Wayne 11-25-1956 – 2-17-1957 Lewis and Clark 2-24-1957 – 7-7-1957 Zebulon Pike 7-14-1957 – 10-6-1957 Stephen Decatur 10-13-1957 – 12-29-1957 William Henry Harrison 1-5-1958 – 4-6-1958 Andrew Jackson 4-13-1958 – 8-24-1958 Defense of Baltimore 8-31-58 – 11-23-1958 Stephen F Austin 11-30-1958 – 2-22-1959 Astorians of Oregon 3-1-1959 – 5-24-1959 Lewis Cass 5-31-1959 – 8-23-1959 Jed Smith 8-30-1959 – 12-20-1959 Dewitt Clinton 12-27-1959 – 3-13-1960 Sam Houston 3-20-1960 – 6-12-1960 Great Western Migration 6-19-1960 – 9-11-1960 Kit Carson 9-18-1960 – 12-25-1960 Old Glory at the Crossroads 1-1-1961 – 6-6-1965 Frontier Adventures 6-13-1965 – 4-17-1966 Meanwhile, in 1961, while working on Old Glory at the Crossroads, an opportunity was presented by Chester Gould, the creator of Tracy and Rick’s colleague at the Chicago Tribune. Gould’s young assistant, Locher, had to leave for family reasons, and Gould hired Rick as a part time assistant artist, His duties for Gould included penciling panels, illustrating and inking backgrounds, advertising layout and illustration, as well as developing story-lines. During the spring of 1962 Gould hired Rick on a full time basis to be part of the Tracy production team, which at the time included Chester Gould’s brother, Ray, for lettering; Jack Ryan, production art, and Chicago Police Detective Al Valenis for police-related research. Rick concurrently worked on The Old Glory Story and Tracy from 1961 until the last Old Glory strip was completed in 1966. Rick performed as a member of Chester Gould’s production team for the Tracy comic strip continuously for 16 years, 1961-1977, learning Gould’s unique drawing and story style that Rick called “Gouldism”. This long-term experience and an already award-winning illustration career led Chester Gould and Tribune executives to agree to have Rick Fletcher take over production of Tracy when Gould retired on December 24 1977. Working with a young new writer, Max Allan Collins, Rick began showing his strengths by equipping Tracy with state of the art equipment: a nickel plated Colt Trooper MKIII .357 magnum revolver with illuminated night-sights and the 2-way wrist TV (which Rick created with his younger brother Ed in 1963 while working with Gould). Rick drew the Tracy comic strip for five years, always researching the latest technologies, reflecting current trends in popular culture and listening to his fans. Rick also utilized proper law enforcement techniques and procedures learned from several of his friends in law enforcement. Among them were Julio Santiago of the Dakota County Minnesota Sheriff’s Office, friends working at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and his old friend Al Valenis from the Chicago Police Department. Contributing time and talent to his local community in Woodstock Illinois, Rick produced several illustrations for fundraising auctions, as well as personal cards for friends in the hospital. On several occasions Rick acknowledged friends and family by using their name or likeness hidden somewhere in the background of the Tracy panels, then present them the original art as a gift. Teaming with the Chicago Tribune from early 1946 until cancer took his life on March 16, 1983; described by his colleagues as the “world’s greatest artist of guns, hardware and machinery in the history of comic strips,” and having hundreds of millions of readers around the globe agree, Rick proved his abilities to manage and produce exquisite, timeless American illustrations.

I go by decades now. The GA, SA, Bronze, Copper, whatever really have no consistency and no useful meaning other than implied hype (Gold is better than Silver etc.). BUT, if I was going to define the difference between the 70s and 80s, it would be the proliferation of independent publishers and direct sales in the 80s. Dazzler 1 was a landmark worth noting. The first time I think a comic collector used the term GA was around 1948. The term became popular in fan circles in the early 60s. Back then it was great term to explain the difference between the original DC superheroes and the DC superhero revival that started with Flash. It worked for Marvel comics because they were (1) in part a revival and (2) were inspired by DC's revival (Goodman was a huge and repetitive trend follower). But, once you feel a need to define an "end" to the SA, the whole concept breaks down. You cannot do it with reference to superhero characters as the guys who invented the GA/SA terms did. So fans fight over artificial and forced demarcations which involve prices, title expansions/contractions, changes in how comics were sold, etc. It is all meaningless and forced.

My kind of census entry:

The story is he side by sided it and the copy he chose. DA has a legendary collection because he actively pursued the best and upgraded. Anyone want to try and list all the legendary top copies he has?

This is the copy DA rejected in favor of the copy he has now.

Nah. There was one on eBay. Snatched up shortly after I posted in this thread.

Up thread I made that comment. Now, I'm seeing on eBay sellers claiming that the art for the Atomic Revolution is by John Prentice (who followed Raymond on Rip Kirby). There is no evidence for this assertion that I know of. I think it is just some sloppy reading of this thread. Here's an update on my own pet theory that Noel Sickles was the artist: Milt Caniff's personal papers include a copy of this comic! Why? I'd say maybe because his buddy Noel gave it to him. Speculation, I know.

So you just bought one?

Neal Adams' first comic book cover, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong, but it is undeniably Neal Adams' art):

The big question is: Is there going to be long term price support? Seems like a lot of new money has come in. Out of love of comics or lust for profit? Love can be eternal, lust is fleeting.

The nature of popular collectibles is they appreciate in price (until they don’t). That alone does not make you an “investor” or the collectible a “good investment.” I think it comes down to mentality. Are you trying to amass cool comics or stacks of green paper.