AJD

I've got the Aurora copy of WS #14 It's not uber high grade, but it's a really nice book in hand.

Thanks guys. While few of those comics are hard to find, getting runs with the right grade/eye appeal can take a while. There are plenty of low grade EC readers out there, and Gaines copies come up fairly regularly. But nice midgrades can be surprisingly hard to find for some of those issues. My next goal is to finish off the sci-fi runs. I'm about 10 short now.

This shot was six years in the making. I'm pleased. Goes very nicely with these. And these. Love me some EC war comics.

My collection intersects with the Four Color title in various places. Here's one of them:

Very pleased to have got a few books in this week that finished off another run. Back in June of 08 I read a critique of atomic age comics which mentioned that Two-Fisted tales and Frontline Combat were the best war comics ever in the author's opinion. So in June 08 I bought one on eBay to see (Two-Fisted #26)... six years later, here we are, all done. The Frontline group is earlier in this journal. Here's the Two-Fisted run from #18 (1) to #41 (24). These are great comics. The only ones that are a bit sub par are the 36 - 39 "New Two-Fisted Tales" run, where Kurtzman stepped aside as editor for John Severin. Still a few excellent stories, but also some real clunkers. Judging by how the title and style reverted for the last couple of issues, the readers at the time might have felt the same. My favourites are the two Civil War issues (31 and 35), but all of the Korean War issues (19 - 31) have some powerful stuff in them. My favourite single story is probably the Indo-China War Dien Bien Thu in #40. Thanks for reading. I'll have another complete group shot to share in a week or so when the last book arrives from the US. It's a slightly different genre to this one!

He was just a couple of months back, so PM him.

Great journal - really enjoying it. Any interest in funny animal space covers? There are a few nice ones - such as the Dell Four Color below (in spoliers because this is your journal and should be about your books):

Grade looks ok to me. 5.0 can have those defects and it looks like a solid midgrade.

Weird cover idea! And the artist had a bet each way on the handedness of the swastika. I've sometimes thought that a 'wrong orientation swastika' collection would be fun. Thanks for sharing those books Jon (and others), some genuine GA goodness in that bunch.

Very much like this one! Might have to pick one up.

L. B. Cole Congrats - that's a stunner!

Some great stuff to come in this thread. So pleased for you Jon.

This has been a surprisingly tough book to run to ground. Even tougher is #6, also a bonds cover, but I haven't seen one for sale in years.

So I decided after more than six years it was time for a new avatar, but I wasn't sure what would work. Then I saw this in a recent Australian Phantom comic (in a reprint of an ad from years ago): Decision made - The Ghost Who Hops, cannot die.

Forgot to post this one. This has to be the war bonds comic collector's dream - every page has a different cartoon strip/character extolling the virtues of buying bonds. Some of the content verges on unreadably purple prose... especially if you read WWII history and understand the true nature of MacArthur and his contributions:

Another one - they keep trickling in.

Cool photo, but it might be a little earlier than 1952. The Crime Patrol 12 was mid-1949 according to the GCD: http://www.comics.org/issue/7664/ Even allowing for a lag for the comics to get to England, late 1949 seems a better bet.

I feel so dirty. Still a great cover. Buettner was no slouch. Too true! I guess I can change my comment to, "Top 10 Donald Duck cover." We'll allow that.

Now that's a Barks duck. Buettner looks right for the 291 cover.

Before I settled on war bonds covers as a theme I mulled over some other possibilities. Submarines... and kangaroos. I never noticed that one before. It's interesting to see how American artists drew them - that guy would have a very hard time hopping far with all the weight he's carrying.

I really like the cover of Four Color 291 as well. The green shade is really attractive on a well preserved copy. But I'm pretty sure that isn't a Barks cover. Doesn't look at all like his Donald to me.

Well, this is the second Five Year Plan. Like the Soviet Union, I plan for success but reality often looks a bit different!

Thanks n2wdw, much appreciated. I really like your sig line, incidentally - that shows an eye for a diverse range of books, all of which are cool in their own way. Great stuff! As for the WDC&S, I keep fairly good records on my purchases, so it's interesting to compare where I am with where I thought I might be on this run. It's been a bit harder than I thought to get a solid mid-grade run assembled. I suspect it's relatively easy in low grade, but waiting for the 'right' copy can take a while. Back on 1 June 2012, not long after I got my 50th book in the run, I said: Since then I've bought some more early books and had a pay a bit more to fill gaps. The statistics are now 4 years and 7 months gone, and only 68/100 books acquired - so five years isn't going to cut it unless something extraordinary happens. The main culprit has been the siren call of other GA books (ECs, Fiction House, war bonds covers...) As for costs, so far it's a touch under $6k but now about 64% of guide on average. I still really love these books, so let's see what happens in the next five years... First stop, I think, will be to fill in the six books in the 40s I need and/or the two books required to have the 20s covered (21 and 23 if anyone has one to sell).

Nice tb - I really like the offbeat FC238 story. And thanks everyone for the comments on my WDC&S collection. it's interesting to go back to earlier posts from March 2010 onwards to see my new run start to come together. It's been a bit harder than I thought to get a solid mid-grade run assembled. I suspect it's relatively easy in low grade, but waiting for the 'right' copy can take a while. Back on 1 June 2012 I said: Since then I've bought some more early books and had a pay a bit more to fill gaps. The statistics are now 4 years and 7 months gone, and only 68/100 books acquired - so five years isn't going to cut it unless something extraordinary happens. The main culprit has been the siren call of other GA books (ECs, Fiction House, war bonds covers...) As for costs, so far it's a touch under $6k but now about 64% of guide on average. I still really love these books, so let's see what happens in the next five years... First stop, I think, will be to fill in the six books in the 40s I need and/or the two books required to have the 20s covered (21 and 23 if anyone has one to sell).