JvR11

1 minute ago, Sqeggs said:

Your copy has very nice colors.  My copy is a bit washed out.  There's also a 7.0 and two 7.5s on the census.  Iirc, one of the 7.5s is from the Sixth Street collection.

When I was looking up this issue it looks like one sold about 6 years ago 7.0 at ComicConnect for $550.  I think this would go for 3 times that nowadays.  Nice copy.

5 minutes ago, 29dukedog said:

My TR 19 is kind of a "do it yourself" copy... first I found a lower grade copy with a decent cover, and decent PQ... but the CF was missing.  Then I found another very beat and very cheap copy which I bought just for its CF.  I married that CF to the first copy, and that's my TR 19.

Several years ago, Tomorrow's Treasures had an upper mid grade copy for sale for almost a grand.  I passed on it because it seemed to me the colors had mellowed, and I really prefered my colorful homemade copy. 
 

I believe WR #5 has one of those, too.  It's cool to see Baker's art printed in b&w like that.  

That's the way to do it.  I would scan my interior but it's not in the best of shape and I don't want to cause any damage.

What is also a real treat is when you find the square bounds that have not been flattened.  I don't remember where I got this one but I do recall it being an upgrade.  

Never did get the opportunity to upgrade TT2.  I like this cover more than most in the series.  I know some of you have some nice grades in this one.  I'm not sure this would fly today, guy looks like he should be her teacher.

Here is my copy of TR 19.  What is also really rare is that there is a storyline on the interior front and back covers.  

I'd have to say that Teen-age romances 19 is a really difficult issue to get.  I have a very low grade copy.   Are there even any high grade issues out there?  

I know it isn't romance but the reprint in Daring Adventures (Phantom Lady) is still a great deal considering how Bakers have gone up in value. You can get a decent copy for $50 and under.

12 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

I think maybe for a reason -- they actually aren't up to his previous standard, imho. It's a mystery to me how inferior his Quality covers are to the covers he was drawing for St. John just a couple of years earlier.  Granted, the Quality work was post-Code and most of his St. John work was pre-Code, but he did a lot of covers for St. John that wouldn't (I don't think!) have run afoul of the Code.  And his late covers for St John were among his best.  The CL covers, for instance, were all published in 1954-1955, although perhaps some of them may have been drawn somewhat earlier.

The HT 46 has a pub date exactly two years after CL 25 and just 14 months after CL 29.  Yet if you were to ask someone unfamiliar with Baker to guess when he drew HT 46 relative to the CL covers, my guess is most people would think the HT 46 was an early effort.

Had his health already taken a turn for the worse? Had he burned out on drawing romance scenes? Was the pay too low (I can't believe that near the end at St John the pay would have been lavish)? Was he distracted by other commitments? 

Or am I just not appreciating his work at Quality? 

There are some non-St John interior stories that have some great art work but yes, I agree his artistic merit at St. John was his best in romance comics.  You also have to take into account his magazine illustrations.  These were later on his career as well and they were really well done.  Maybe he just had more license to be creative in magazine illustrations.

1 hour ago, comicnoir said:

Joanna, is this your OA?

If so congratulations.

Yes, I have had it for quite awhile. I wish there was more of his OA out there.

Here's a Glory Forbes OA panel.  It's amazing just to look at the details in Baker's ink work.  

The panel that made it to print...

15 hours ago, comicnoir said:

Here's the group shot. The 26& 28 have been upgraded.

Great group shot

Does anyone else have a Heart Throbs 46?  I don't see anything on the census and rarely for sale.  

9 hours ago, Shrevvy said:

That is the plan. My Jumbo collection is still missing some issues. So, I don't have all the material yet. I'm on the road, but I have the book mapped out at home. It is a couple hundred pages of Skygirl material, if I remember correctly.

Which issues are you missing?

3 hours ago, sacentaur said:

The TADS 9 reprints stories from TADS 7, combined with the pocket format and blown-up panel cover it seems to be a cheap gimmick (though acknowledged as super-tough).

From what I understand is that the TADS9 might have been remainder copies of TADS 7.  The pocket editions maybe didn't sell very well.  

Notice the similarity in composition of this panel to the TR 41? 

1 minute ago, 29dukedog said:

I do agree that's an outstanding Baker splash page.  As I recall, you introduced me to that story about ten years ago, and you even supplied me with a nice copy of Love Romances 45 in a trade (a book I still have, btw).  

I believe I also have a few scans of Baker's Atlas splash pages I can post here...   

Love Romances 77 

Lovers 81 

Lovers 85 

True Secrets 34 

 

These are awesome.  Thanks for sharing.  

15 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

The Art of Glamour notes "A Love for Life," which appeared in First Love Illustrated 90 (Feb 1963) -- more than three and half years after his death.

You should stop by more often!

Thank you.  Crazy how the stories weren't published for 3 1/2 years.  

I was also curious if there had been any consensus on the last Baker story to appear in print?  

This is from  First Love  89  1962 "Dungaree Doll"

Hello all    I thought it might be nice to share some splash pages from outside of the St. John Baker collection.  Anyone have any other splash pages from outside of St. John to share? 

Lovers 71 "Paris In The Spring"

My Own Romance 56 "Another Girl's Man"

Love Romances 57  "You Belong To Me"

Love Romances 45 "Heart and Soul"  I think DukeDog would agree this is one of the top splash pages outside of St. John.  Love the illustrations on this one.  

16 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

I just picked up this one.  Unless I'm misreading the census, it appears as if not a single copy of any of the six issues in this series has been graded. Kind of surprising, I think.

 

You don't often see cover with the saddle shoes.  Haven't seen this one before.  Nice copy.

These aren't St. Johns.  I've had these awhile  and just realized they are the same characters.  So cool! 

4 hours ago, BakerFanOne said:

As we are on giants, I have always liked this one among Baker's Crime genre.  The front cover looks decent, but the back cover has some water damage. 

I know this one isn't as rare but I didn't manage to get find this one either.  Great cover.

1 minute ago, 29dukedog said:

Here's yet another one... but I still haven't found the lot where my copy originated.

Count is now six. 

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/romance-comics-group-st-john-1949-group-includes-giant-comics-edition-7-fn-13-fn-matt-baker-and-joe-kubert-art-total-3-comic-books-item-/a/801-5317.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

 

You've got mine counted in.  I think the the Diary Secrets NN is less common.

4 hours ago, BakerFanOne said:

Hope you find one soon.  Here is my copy that I have owned for 20 years if I remember correctly.

 

Lovely copy