porcupine48

CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 - It's all about the Art!
 
I bought this beat up copy for $7.50
 
I may have my issues with Steranko the 'person', but he certainly created some of the most memorable handful of issues ever made in comics. Probably no artist in history has less work that is more popular than Jim Steranko.
 
Captain America #113 was the third of 3 issues he did in 1969 - the first two #110 and #111 interrupted by the origin retelling in #112 that Jack Kirby reportedly had to do in a weekend because Steranko was late.
 
That's of course what you get from people who are more geared toward design and interesting artistic expressions.... they tend to be a lot LESS geared towards deadlines and structure.
 
NOTE: According to the ever eager to promote himself Steranko, he penciled, inked, colored and lettered the cover and on the inside, plotted the story (dialogued by Stan Lee), penciled it, had Tom Palmer ink it (other than the 2 page spread that HE inked and lettered), while Artie Simek lettered all but the center spread.
 

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 - cover dated May 1969, on newsstands February 4th, 1969 with cover art by Jim Steranko)
 
 
In the issue, we see from the opening splash page, the type of work that would inspire artists for the next couple of decades. Steranko was inspired by a creative genius' from HIS younger days, the amazing Will Eisner, who had a real flair for opening pages in his Spirit stories.
 
Combined with his obvious love for movies, this opening splash makes perfect sense. 20 years later Frank Miller would beat this idea to death in DKR.
 

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 - cover dated May 1969, on newsstands February 4th, 1969 with art by Jim Steranko)
 
 
Speaking of influencing Frank Miller, why doesn't anyone ever mention Steranko's influence on his Sin City? Isn't it obvious?
 
This is a great sequence from an art perspective, but from an editorial point, it... sure does take up a lot of room to put forth a simple idea. That's why I'm NOT a big fan of editors - it's COMIC books, not BOOKS... it should ALWAYS be about the art and the design and the ability to tell the story with the ART. This does it amazingly.
 

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 - cover dated May 1969, on newsstands February 4th, 1969 with art by Jim Steranko)
 
 
Same thing here... what's with all the wasted space?
 
Well... it LOOKS cool. That's what it's supposed to do. Really, when it comes right down to it... there are really only a handful of comic book STORIES that are worth saying are really GREAT. Most of of them just follow the basic guideline of - Bad Guy shows up, looks like he'll win, Hero beats him. 
 
So make it LOOK good. 
 

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 - cover dated May 1969, on newsstands February 4th, 1969 with art by Jim Steranko)
 
Now THAT is a two page spread. Steranko was great at these...
 
Really, did we criticize the Image Comics guys for the wrong reasons? Wasn't all of that art supposed to LOOK cool. Did it really matter that the STORIES were... regurgitated drivel? What are Marvel and DC's stories? Regurgitated drivel.
 
Make it LOOK good.
 

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 - cover dated May 1969, on newsstands February 4th, 1969 with art by Jim Steranko)
 
 

Love me the oversized,the thicc,gimme some big page love!And when it's a Dell price variant..oh,baby

Can't say I love the journal format though.Not a fan

Love me the oversized,the thicc,gimme some big page love!And when it's a Dell price variant..oh,baby

Can't say I love the journal format though.Not a fan

Love me the oversized,the thicc,gimme some big page love!And when it's a Dell price variant..oh,baby

Can't say I love the journal format though.Not a fan

Love me the oversized,the thicc,gimme some big page love!And when it's a Dell price variant..oh,baby

Can't say I love the journal format though.Not a fan

Love me the oversized,the thicc,gimme some big page love!And when it's a Dell price variant..oh,baby

Can't say I love the journal format though.Not a fan

Hello 
Thanks for visiting my Journal. Or John's, if you're into frippery.
My name is Steve, I'm based in England, and for the last ten years or so I have been on a mission to confirm and record every first printing UK Price Variant that exists for the seven known American comic publishers that produced them. As well as that I have gathered data on other types of first printing price variants including Canadian and Australian books. Basically, all those little nuances that most people wouldn't give a flying fart at a rolling doughnut for.
You will find posts in the journal which summarise the latest position on 15 separate research strands (the first seven are the UKPV summaries):
Archie UK Price Variants Charlton UK Price Variants DC UK Price Variants Dell UK Price Variants Gold Key UK Price Variants King UK Price Variants Marvel UK Price Variants Charlton Canadian Price Variants Charlton 15c Price Variants Marvel Australian Price Variants Marvel L Miller UK Indicia Variants Marvel 1999/2000 US Newsstand Price Variants Marvel Thorpe & Porter Indicias Marvel US Price Font Variations Thorpe & Porter UK Distribution Price Stamp Numbering Each summary post has a hyperlink to discussion threads in which you will find a lot more detail if you are mad interested. 
For the lazy, each square below will take you to the respective Journal entry:



 
Meanwhile...
How to Tell a UK Price Variant From Something Else That Looks a Bit Like It
A question I am often asked, especially offline by those who can't bring themselves to post at CGC. Take a look at these four books (pictures always help I find):
   
                1.  US Cents Copy                             2.  UK Price Variant                     3. US Cents Copy (UK Stamp)                    4.  UK Reprint Title
The four books are:
US Cents Copy  UK Price Variant US Cents Copy (UK Price Stamp) UK Reprint Title The first three were all printed in America, at the same time on the same presses - they are part of the first end to end printing run / state. The fourth book is a reprint, manufactured in the UK specifically for the UK market and long after the original US production event. 
Of the four, only number two (get your jokes in now) is a UK Price Variant as it is the only copy from the original US production run with a printed UK price. A cents copy with a UK distributor stamp (our example book 3) is just that - a cents copy. It is not a UK Price Variant or a 'pence copy'. If you ever see a cents priced book with a UK distributor price stamp referred to as a 'UK Price Variant', or 'pence copy', know that that is wrong. Similarly, if you ever see a reprinted / repackaged title with a UK price on it, know that that also is not a UK Price Variant. A UK Price Variant can only exist if there is an original US publication for it to be the variant of, and only where both books were printed at the same time on the same presses.
So, those four books again:
US Cents Copy - the original book, produced by the US for the US market. The guvnor. A first printing. UK Price Variant - produced at the same time as the guvnor, as part of the same print state, but with a price plate change for the UK market (we like them too). A first printing. US Cents Copy (UK Price Stamp) - the guvnor again, just with a UK price stamp on it to show that the book was shipped to the UK to be distributed and sold there, usually because no UKPV was made.  A first printing. UK Reprint Title - nothing to do with the first three books. Not a first printing. Just a book the UK obtained the rights to to produce an after the event, repackaged title for the UK market. Such books should never be called the 'UK Edition' of a US original comic as they often are when they share a common cover or content. They are not - they are their own publication and nothing to do with the original US title that they reprint whether in whole or part. In the example shown, 'Spider-Man Comics Weekly' should never carry the designation of 'UK Edition'. It is a specific UK publication and should be referred to as such.  Hope that helped.
While we're on the subject, here are two examples of my many attempts to explain why I favour the term "UK Price Variant" which you'll find scattered among CGC board threads:
https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/24238-price-variant-club/?do=findComment&comment=11617626
https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/485687-value-of-uk-price-variant-sa-grails/?do=findComment&comment=11674225
Additionally...
UK Price Variants - How Many of the Bloody Things Can There Be?
As I said earlier, there are seven known US Publishers who produced UK Price Variants and here are the up to date issue totals for each as at the 11th of December 2022:
Archie UK Price Variants - 26 confirmed issues  Charlton UK Price Variants - 598 confirmed issues DC UK Price Variants - 840 confirmed issues  Dell UK Price Variants - 223 confirmed issues Gold Key UK Price Variants - 122 confirmed issues King UK Price Variants - 24 confirmed issues Marvel UK Price Variants - 3,023 confirmed issues  That makes a total of 4,856 confirmed UK Price Variants if you're feeling ambitious. And patient. And rich.
Have a read of my discussion threads and / or journal summary pages to see how many more UKPVs may be out there for each confirmed publisher.
Thanks for looking and be seeing you... 

 

This year has been a series of kicks to the junk, but luckily, it's nearly over!
And I do have a couple cool announcements. Tomorrow, I'll be appearing on a Disney YouTube livestream to discuss my comic and how the latest issue was influenced by Disney theme parks! And this weekend, I'll be appearing at the NorthEast Comic Con in Boxboro, MA, so if you're at the show, stop by and say hi!
I made a little video about these announcements:
https://youtu.be/WJlXIn03IAo

Marvel Comics - UK Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the Marvel UK Price Variants that I have discovered hiding between the dates of May 1960 and December 1981 inclusive.
UK Price Variants were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced counterparts. They are part of the same first printing run and are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the Archie discussion thread in which we talk about them in more detail:
         
In April 2019, CGC changed their labels from "UK Edition" to the more appropriate "UK Price Variant" for these first printing books. You can see their official confirmation of this here 
Meanwhile, here is an up to date summary of what I have discovered so far, which I hope you will find interesting.
The Headlines
Marvel UK Price Variants (UKPVs) have been found to exist between the cover dates of May 1960 to December 1981 inclusive. Across those cover dates, a total of 6,744 cents priced comics exist spanning 260 titles. At the time of writing, 3,023 of them have a matching single printed price UKPV confirmed spanning 119 of the 260 overall titles. The comics are believed to have been printed at the same time and in the same location as their US cents priced counterparts, but with pence only printed cover prices and, in the early years, regional UK indicias. There is currently no evidence to determine which books were printed first – cents or pence – or indeed whether they alternated (Matt Nelson of CGC has taken up the challenge of trying to establish the sequence, having noted page quality differences between pence and cents copies). The first Marvel UKPVs known are Gunsmoke Western #58 and Journey into Mystery #58 cover dated May 1960. No pence copies dated prior to May 1960 have been found: Gunsmoke Western #58 (with a regional L Miller & Co indicia) Journey into Mystery #58 (with a regional Thorpe & Porter indicia) The last UKPVs are cover dated December 1981. From January 1982, Marvel introduced dual cents / pence pricing for all their Direct Editions, effectively ending the existence of UK Price Variants for Marvel (Newsstand Editions remained cents only priced). No UKPVs have been found for comics cover dated December 1964 to July 1965 inclusive. Most monthly titles have a 9 or 10 issue gap around these dates, potentially due to shipping strikes. Almost every title which crosses the cover dates of October 1966 to December 1966 has a two issue pence gap. This may explain why Amazing Spider-Man completists haven’t found #42 and #43 yet - they probably don’t exist.Ditto Avengers 33/34, Daredevil 21/22, Fantastic Four 56/57, Sgt Fury 35/36, Tales to Astonish 85/86. However, Strange Tales only misses one issue (#151) as does Tales of Suspense (#84). Two-Gun Kid has all issues as pence copies but as a bi-monthly title you can see there may have been a missing issue had it been monthly. No UKPVs have been found for comics cover dated December 1967 to March 1969 inclusive – a 16 issue gap. No UKPVs have been found for comics cover dated April 1974 to July 1974 inclusive. This 4 issue gap coincides with the transition from 6p to 7p. No UKPVs have been found for comics cover dated February 1981 to March 1981 inclusive. This 2 issue gap coincides with the transition from 15p to 20p. Many single issues do not appear to exist when the issue was double sized, e.g. Avengers #200, Astonishing Tales #8, Ghost Rider #50, The Invaders #41, Thor #300, X-Men #137 No UKPVs have been found for the ‘Giant Size’ titles of 1974 and 1975 (72 issues across 28 titles). Only 5 annuals have been found with pence only printed copies, all cover dated 1965 (Amazing Spider-Man #2, Fantastic Four #3, Journey into Mystery #1, Marvel Tales #2, Sgt Fury #1). A further 96 issues exist without UKPVs across 32 titles. All UKPVs were requested by and distributed in the UK by Thorpe and Porter. The only known exceptions are the following 9d cover priced issues which were exclusively distributed by L Miller & Co (Thorpe & Porter took over these three titles from September 1961, becoming the sole distributor for Marvel comics in the UK from this point): Gunsmoke Western #58 and 59 Rawhide Kid #17 Two-Gun Kid #54 and 55 The following pence prices exist: 9d, 10d, 1/- (one shilling), 6p, 7p, 8p, 9p, 10p, 12p, 15p, 20p, 30p and 40p. No other cover prices exist. In November 1971, UK cover prices changed from ‘old money’ to new as a result of decimalisation. Accordingly, UK copies changed from a one shilling price (1/-) to the modern pence price. The November 1971 US issues of the time were mostly one off 25c over sized issues and ten pence priced copies are known to exist. Of those ten, six were priced at 8p and four were priced at what would become the standard price of 6p. Despite better reflecting the increased content of the oversized issues, the 8p price appears to have been a mistake as many UK copies can be found with a standardised 6p sticker covering the 8p printed price: Amazing Adventures #9, 6p Amazing Spider-Man #102, 8p Avengers #93, 8p Conan The Barbarian #11, 6p Daredevil #81, 8p Fantastic Four #116, 6p Incredible Hulk #145, 8p Sub-Mariner #43, 8p Thor #193, 8p Where Monsters Dwell #12, 6p As well as the 3,022 ‘regular sized’ comics, 23 Treasury Sized Editions exist with 50p and 75p cover prices (see my discussion thread for the full list). A handful of magazine titles also exist. Marvel UK Price Variants differ from those of other publishers in as much as they have a number of printed differences between the pence and cents copies, and those differences vary throughout the UKPV production period. Early books have missing cover months, regional UK indicias and, of course, pence cover prices. Later in the run, the cover mastheads were amended to 'Marvel All-Colour Comics' to inform the UK audience that these books were indeed printed in colour (many UK reprints were not). I have covered every known difference in the discussion thread. So, only 3,023 books to collect if you want the set. Marvel have the most price variants of any publisher by far and I feel they are the most interesting to study with so many quirks and variations to track. I believe that there are no more UKPV books to be discovered, based on my research into regional indicias and US price fonts. Only time will tell if I'm right.
Happy hunting, if you decide to build a set!
13/03/21
By Stephen Cranch based on v5.1 of the ‘Marvel Comics – UK Price Variants Summary’
 
Confirmed UK Price Variant Titles / Issues             Title Confirmed UKPV Issues Total    Title Count         2001: A Space Odyssey 1-10 10 1 Amazing Adult Fantasy 7-14 8 1 Amazing Adventures  5-6 2 1 Amazing Adventures 2nd Series 3-22, 26-39 34 1 Amazing Fantasy 15 1 1 Amazing Spider-Man 1-17, 28-41, 44-54, 71-120, 215-223 101 1 Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2 1 1 Astonishing Tales 2-7, 9-22, 25-36 32 1 The Avengers 1-8, 19-32, 35-45, 63-120, 153-182, 184-199, 201-203, 206-214 149 1 Battle 70 1 1 Battlestar Galactica 2, 9, 19 3 1 Black Goliath 1-5 5 1 Black Panther 1, 7-15 10 1 Captain America 159-171, 176-253, 256-264 100 1 Captain Marvel 12-21, 25-30, 34-48, 53-62 41 1 Chamber of Chills 19, 20, 22, 25 4 1 Chamber of Darkness 6-8 3 1 The Champions 1-12 12 1 Conan The Barbarian 11-35, 41-53, 57-81, 121-129 72 1 Creatures On The Loose 31-37 7 1 Crypt of Shadows 21 1 1 Daredevil 1-3, 9-20, 23-33, 51-108, 112-149, 151-160, 163-168, 170-177 146 1 Dazzler 2-10 9 1 Dead Of Night 10 1 1 Defenders 4-7, 9, 11-12, 15-54, 71-91, 94-102 77 1 Doctor Strange 4-21, 25-34, 46-50 33 1 The Eternals 1-18 18 1 Fantastic Four 1-31, 42-55, 58-68, 85-143, 149-175, 177-189, 212, 229-237 165 1 Fantastic Four Annual 3 1 1 Fantasy Masterpieces 1-2 2 1 Fear (Adventure Into) 23-31 9 1 Frankenstein 12-18 7 1 The Ghost Rider 1-6 6 1 Ghost Rider 1-4, 7, 9-19, 22, 36, 39-49, 51-52, 55-63 40 1 Gunsmoke Western 58, 59, 66-77 14 1 Howard The Duck 1-26 26 1 The Human Fly 1-19 19 1 The Human Torch 8 1 1 Incredible Hulk 1-6, 114-152, 161-166, 258-266 60 1 The Inhumans 1-9 9 1 The Invaders 3-40 38 1 Iron Fist 3-7 5 1 Iron Man 12-42, 47-66, 69, 71-111, 122-142, 145, 147-153 122 1 John Carter Warlord Of Mars 24-28 5 1 Journey Into Mystery 58-60, 62-109, 119-125 58 1 Journey Into Mystery Annual 1 1 1 Journey Into Mystery 2nd Series 8, 9, 12-18 9 1 Jungle Action 11-23 13 1 Ka-Zar, Lord Of The Hidden Jungle 5-18 14 1 Ka-Zar The Savage 1-9 9 1 Kid Colt Outlaw 91, 95-119, 124-129, 133-137 37 1 Kull The Conqueror / Destroyer 7-11, 18 6 1 Logans Run 1-7 7 1 Luke Cage / Power Man & Iron Fist 20-57, 65-66, 68-76 49 1 Machine Man 10-18 9 1 Man-Thing 8-22 15 1 Man-Thing 2nd Series 1, 6 2 1 Marvel Chillers 1-5 5 1 Marvel Classics Comics 5, 7, 9-36 30 1 Marvel Double Feature  10 1 1 Marvel Feature (2nd Series) Feat. Red Sonja 2-7 6 1 Marvel Premiere 22, 24, 26-34, 37-57, 59-61 35 1 Marvel Presents:  1-9 9 1 Marvel Spotlight 8-13, 17, 26-31 13 1 Marvel Spotlight (Volume 2) 1-7, 9-10 9 1 Marvel Super Action 30-37 8 1 Marvel Super Heroes 72, 80, 103, 104 4 1 Marvel Tales 104, 126-134 10 1 Marvel Tales Annual 2 1 1 Marvel Team-Up 24-37, 39-80, 82-99, 101, 111-112 77 1 Marvel Triple Action 28, 30, 32, 43-47 8 1 Marvel Two-in-One 11-71, 74-82 70 1 Marvel's Greatest Comics 68, 93 2 1 Master Of Kung Fu 36-96, 99-107 70 1 The Micronauts 28-36 9 1 Monsters on the Prowl 9-12, 15-16 6 1 Moon Knight 1-3, 6-14 12 1 Ms. Marvel 1-23 23 1 My Girl Pearl 7 1 1 Night Rider 5 1 1 Not Brand Echh 1 1 1 The Man Called Nova 1-16, 20-24 21 1 Omega The Unknown 1-6 6 1 Patsy And Hedy 70-71 2 1 Patsy Walker 89 1 1 Rawhide Kid 17, 24-42, 48-54, 56-60, 151 33 1 Red Sonja 1, 7-14 9 1 ROM Space Knight 1-3, 17-22, 24-25 11 1 Sgt. Fury And His Howling Commandos 1-10, 21-34, 37-47, 107-117, 128, 132, 152, 163-167 54 1 Sgt. Fury And His Howling Commandos Annual 1 1 1 She-Hulk, The Savage 9-10, 15-23 11 1 Shogun Warriors 4-20 17 1 The Silver Surfer 11-18 8 1 Skull The Slayer 2-8 7 1 Son Of Satan 1-4 4 1 (Peter Parker) The Spectacular Spider-Man 1, 53-61 10 1 Spider-Woman 5-34, 37, 38, 40, 41 34 1 Star Trek 13, 14, 16, 17 4 1 Star Wars 2-5 4 1 Strange Tales 75-77, 79-125, 136-150, 152-162, 175-187,  89 1 Sub-Mariner 12-69 58 1 Super Natural Thrillers 13, 15 2 1 Super-Villain Team-Up 3-9 7 1 Tales of Suspense 10, 13-58, 69-83, 85-95 73 1 Tales To Astonish Volume 1 10, 14-61, 71-84, 87-97 74 1 Tales To Astonish Volume 2 4-14 11 1 Tarzan 24-29 6 1 Thor 126-132, 135-146, 163-221, 226-282, 285-299, 301-303, 306-314 162 1 Tomb Of Darkness  10-20, 23 12 1 Tomb of Dracula 7-18, 23-28, 55-62 26 1 Two-Gun Kid 54-55, 60-72, 77-90 29 1 Vault Of Evil 23 1 1 Warlock 4-5, 9-15 9 1 Weird Wonder Tales 5-11 7 1 Werewolf By Night 6-14, 20-39, 41 30 1 Where Monsters Dwell 3-23, 25-27, 30, 32-37 31 1 Worlds Unknown 8 1 1 Wyatt Earp 29 1 1 Uncanny X-Men 1-7, 13-24, 27-37, 55-66, 73-86, 89-93, 96-101, 108-120, 123-136, 138-141, 144-152 107 1                   Confirmed UKPV Total:              3,023               Title Total: 119  
Titles With No UK Price Variant Issues Produced / Confirmed     Title Title Count     A Date With Millie 1 Adventures On The Planet Of The Apes 1 Amazing Adventures Feat. X-Men 1 America's Best TV Comics 1 ARRGH! 1 Beware! 1 Captain Savage 1 The Cat 1 Chili 1 Combat Kelly & The Deadly Dozen 1 Crazy 1 The Deep 1 Dennis The Menace 1 Devil Dinosaur 1 Doc Savage 1 Doctor Strange (1st Series) 1 Dragonslayer 1 Dynomutt 1 Fantasy Masterpieces (2nd Series) 1 The Flintstones 1 For Your Eyes Only 1 Francis, Brother Of The Universe 1 Fun & Games Magazine 1 Giant Size.. Titles (See separate tab) 28 Godzilla 1 Groovy 1 Gunhawks 1 Gun-Slinger 1 Harvey 1 Homer The Happy Ghost 1 Iron Man & Sub-Mariner 1 Island of Dr. Moreau 1 Kathy 1 Ka-Zar (1st Series) 1 King Conan 1 Laff-A-Lympics 1 Life With Millie 1 Li'l Kids 1 Li'l Pals 1 Linda Carter, Student Nurse 1 Love Romances 1 Mad About Millie 1 Man From Atlantis 1 Marvel Adventure Featuring Daredevil 1 Marvel Collector's Item Classics 1 Marvel Feature  1 Marvel Spectacular 1 Mighty Marvel Western 1 Millie The Model 1 Modeling With Millie 1 My Love 1 My Own Romance 1 Nick Fury Agent Of Shield 1 Night Nurse 1 Our Love Story 1 The Outlaw Kid 1 Patsy Walker's Fashion Parade 1 Peter The Little Pest / Petey 1 Raiders Of The Lost Ark 1 Red Wolf 1 Ringo Kid 1 Scooby-Doo 1 Shanna The She-Devil 1 S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury And His Agents Of  1 Special Marvel Edition 1 Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends 1 Spidey Super Stories 1 Spoof 1 Spotlight (Hannah-Barbera) 1 Tales of Asgard 1 Teen-Age Romance 1 Tower Of Shadows 1 TV Stars, Hanna-Barbera 1 Uncanny Tales (From The Grave) 1 War Is Hell 1 Western Gunfighters 1 Western Kid 1 Western Team-Up 1 What If? 1 Where Creatures Roam 1 Yogi Bear 1 Annual.. Titles (See separate tab) 32     Title Total:  140  

 


 

 
 

This has been a set that has long been a dream of mine. Batman is my favorite single character in comics; the X-Men are my favorite team. I don't know how much of that is due to the fact that, when I first got into comics, X-Men, especially from the Bronze Age, were "out of reach" expensive. GS #1? X-Men #94? Yeah, ok. Not going to happen.
But, as I slowly filled out my collection, I tended to buy more and more copies of X-Men...starting with the "cheap" #150-ish to #260. I think my first Byrne X-Men was #141 that I paid $7 for from the Land of Nevawuz in 1990, I believe. Sadly, X-Men got really hot again in 1991, and stores jacked up their prices accordingly. I wish I had known then what I know now...the $3-$4 or so I spent for copies of #183, 178, 194, etc, still aren't worth that. Sigh.
In any event, I started to buy earlier and earlier, and by the time of eBay in the late 90s, I could finally afford "the big ones." And, by that time, the entire market took a dump, so it was a great time to be buying. I don't remember the first #94 I ever bought...I know I TRIED to buy one in a Scott's Valley comic store in 1995-1996, but that guy would not budge off of his mid-grade copy at $150 (more than OPG, for those wondering.)
But, somewhere in the early 2000s, I completed this run, and kept buying and buying and buying, focusing more on the Byrne and earlier run, and stopping buying the vastly overprinted #150-up....except, of course, the keys, which I can never get enough of. I probably have a long box just of Mutant Massacre (#210-213.)
In any event...in the last couple of years, I've wanted to translate that into a 9.8 set, signed, at least by Claremont, since Byrne won't sign, and Cockrum is no longer with us. Here, then, are the results of the last couple of years of effort:





So, I have a #127, #130, and #140 on their way back from CGC as we speak...so that makes 30 of the 50 different books.
#94 is going to be expensive, but not too difficult when I can gather the $$. Of course, I'm missing most of the big guns...#96-#101 especially. They are tough, tough books in 9.8, especially #97-#99. 
And, of course, some of the more expensive, like #104, 107, 109, 120, 129 are also missing. I have a #141 that should have graded 9.8, but a grader saw something that wasn't there, and graded it 9.4. It will go back for review at some point.
But, hey...60% there. Of course, I also have a ton of 9.4s and 9.6s as a result, but hey..at least they're not worthless! And...I do have some of the most difficult books, like #114 and #116, which are a BEAR in 9.8. Just hideously difficult. They have some of the lowest 9.8 counts of the entire run, so...yay!
When I get the others, I'll post them.

Marvel Australian Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the Marvel Australian Price Variants that I have discovered hiding between the dates of January 1991 and November 1996.
Australian Price Variants (APVs) were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced headliners. They are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the discussion thread in which we talk about them:
          
 
Notes and Observations
110 Marvel titles have been found with one or more AUS single priced issues (note: annual titles are recorded separately, i.e. ASM and ASM Annual are recorded as two separate titles). Only official ‘regular sized’ first printing Marvel comics have been captured – magazines, fanzines, reprints and over-sized publications are excluded 1,339 issues have been found across the confirmed 110 titles so far All issues are newsstand copies. No AUS direct editions have been found Australian priced issues exist in two cover date blocks: (AUS) January 1991 ~ (AUS) April 1994 inclusive US February 1996 ~ US November 1996 inclusive All ‘first wave’ AUS issues cover dated January 1991 to April 1994 inclusive have cover dates that are 3 months later than their US counterparts (presumed to accommodate shipping times). For an AUS book cover dated January 1991, the US version will be dated October 1990. The indicias of both copies are as per the US versions. Often, the barcode month numbering reflects the three month gap (i.e. when comparing an APV to it's US newsstand copy equivalent) All ‘second wave’ AUS issues cover dated February 1996 to November 1996 inclusive have the same cover dates / indicias as their US counterparts No AUS issues have been found between cover dates May 1994 (AUS dating) and January 1996 (US dating) inclusive – this block separates the two known runs of AUS books For the first January 1991 AUS issues, Avengers West Coast (#63 & 64) and Daredevil (#285 & 286) have two issues cover dated January 1991 Many of the final November 1996 dated titles are priced at $2.75 whereas the preceding 1996 issues were priced at $3.20 Ten Annual titles have been found so far – Amazing Spider-Man #27, The Incredible Hulk #19, The Punisher #6, Silver Surfer #6, The Spectacular Spider-Man #13, The Mighty Thor #18, The Uncanny X-Men #17, X-Factor #8, X-Force #2 and X-Men #2. All are 1993 annuals and all have an AUS cover price of $4.75 Only five titles have been found to have issues cover dated April 1994 (AUS dating) – Captain America #423, Ravage #14, Spider-Man 2099 #15, Spider-Man Classics #10 and Web of Spider-Man #108. Issues for this date appear particularly scarce and, by way of illustration, no Amazing Spider-Man #385 has been found in ten years of searching Only eight titles have been found to have issues cover dated March 1996 (US dating) – Generation X #13, Marvel vs DC #2, Uncanny X-Men #330, Wolverine #99, X-Factor #250, X-Force #52, X-Man #13 and X-Men #50. Issues for this date appear particularly scarce and, by way of illustration, no Amazing Spider-Man #409 has been found in ten years of searching Bi-monthly ‘early / late’ issues exist for many titles between AUS cover dates of October 1991 to April 1992 and, the same months for the following year, October 1992 to April 1993 There are currently no obvious gaps where different titles are missing issues for the same months. Analysis suggests that some titles do appear to have limited issues produced however. For example, the title Ghost Rider has a potential AUS issue range of #6-75. No AUS issues have been found for 6-19, but most of the issues from 20-45 have been found. This indicates that 6-19 may not have been produced as the likelihood of not one issue surfacing are slim. In a similar vein, The Avengers has all copies between issues 325-363 confirmed but not one after In respect of whether all issues for each title exist, the McFarlane 1990 Spider-Man run could have AUS copies for issues #3-74 yet only ten copies have been found so far. All the hologram issue #26’s found available from AUS sellers online are the US newsstand copy and CGC has no graded copies (whereas it does for the Spectacular Spider-Man #189 copy of the same month). So it may turn out that, like the UK price variant copies, not all issues of each confirmed title will have AUS copies Many titles exist for which no AUS copy has been found. Many notable titles are missing copies, e.g. Doctor Strange. For this title, every issue on eBay Australia is a US copy. It seems unlikely that a copy has yet to surface and this indicates that many titles are likely to have been omitted from the AUS treatment (this also mirrors the UK price variant scenario where many titles did not have pence copies produced) In respect of content, the only differences identified between the AUS and US newsstand copies are the price and, in respect of the first run of books, the cover date / barcode month numbering. No other generic differences have been found For the 110 titles found so far, there is a maximum number of 1,721 issues available within the (AUS) January 1991 to November 1996 date ranges, excluding the May 94~Jan 96 period where no copies have been found. However, it is clear that of those remaining titles, many appear to have gaps and missing issues which may not have been produced. Given how scarce many are, it may be difficult to impossible to confirm a definitive AUS issue total Regular sized issues are priced at AUS $1.50 from January 1991, increasing to AUS $1.80 from May 1992. The price increases again to AUS $1.95 from July / August 1993. Issues from February 1996 tend to be priced at AUS $2.50 or $3.20 with the final November 1996 issues priced at AUS $2.00, $2.75 or $3.95. Individual special / double sized issues can vary wildly and can be priced up to AUS $6.50 (Midnight Sons Unlimited #1). All ten known annuals are priced at AUS $4.75 In addition to the standard comic sized titles documented above, 3 magazine titles are confirmed to have APV's, all now believed to be complete: Conan Saga - 39 of 40 possible / 39 expected confirmed (all first wave books) Conan the Savage - 4 of 4 confirmed (all second wave books) Savage Sword of Conan - 39 of 40 possible / 39 expected confirmed (all first wave books) Happy hunting, if you decide to build a set!
By Stephen Cranch based on v11.1 of the ‘Marvel Australian Price Variants Summary’ (19.02.24)
 
 
Confirmed Australian Price Variant Titles / Issues
 
Title Possible APV Issue Range* Confirmed APV Issue Numbers       Total               2099 Unlimited  1-3 1-2 2 Adventures of Spider-Man 1-8 8 1 Adventures of The X-Men / Adventures of Spider-Man (Flip-Book) 1-8 3-7 5 Alf 34-50 35-46 12 Amazing Spider-Man 340-385, 408-417 341-384, 408, 410-417 53 Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1993 Only) 27 27 1 Avengers 325-370, 395-402 325-363 39 Avengers (1996) 1 1 1 Avengers West Coast 63-102 63-92 30 Barbie 1-35 1-4, 8-19, 21-27, 34, 36 25 Barbie Fashion 1-35 1-6, 10, 12-19, 21-26, 34-36 24 Blaze: Legacy of Blood (1-4) 1-2 1 1 Bruce Wayne: Agent of Shield 1 1 1 Bullets and Bracelets 1 1 1 Cable 1-7, 28-37 2-6 5 Cable - Blood and Metal 1-2 1 1 Cage 1-20 3-12 10 Captain America 378-423, 448-454 378-423 46 Captain America (1996) 1 1 1 Clive Barker - Ectokid 1-5 1-4 4 Clive Barker - Hokum & Hex 1-5 1-4 4 Clive Barker - Hyperkind 1-5 1-3 3 Clive Barker - Saint Sinner 1-4 1-3 3 Conan The Barbarian 237-275 237-275 39 Daredevil 285-324, 349-358 285-314 30 Darkhold - Pages From the Book of Sins 1-16 1-6 6 Disney Comic Hits 5-14 13 1 Doom 2099 1-13, 38-44 1-12 12 Elektra 1 1 1 Fantastic Four, The 345-384, 409-416 345-374 30 Fantastic Four, The 1996 Series 1 1 1 Gambit 1-2 1 1 Generation X 12-21 12-21 10 G.I. Joe 105-144 105-143 39 Ghost Rider, The 6-45, 70-75 19-29, 31-44 25 Ghost Rider Annual 1 1 1 Ghost Rider / Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance 1-18 1-16 16 Incredible Hulk, The 374-413, 438-447 374-412, 447 40 Incredible Hulk Annual, The 19 19 1 Independence Day 0-2 0-2 3 Infinity Crusade 1-6 1-6 6 Infinity War 1-6 2-6 5 Iron Man (261-332) 261-300, 325-332 261-299 39 Iron Man 1996 Series 1 1 1 Lethal Foes of Spider-Man 1-4 1-4 4 Magneto and The Magnetic Men 1 1 1 Marvel Tales 242-281 242-280 39 Marvel Versus DC 2-3 2-3 2 Midnight Sons Unlimited 1-4 1 1 Mission Impossible 1 1 1 Morbius The Living Vampire 1-17 1-12 12 New Mutants, The 94-100 94-100 7 Nightstalkers 1-15 1-5 5 Night Thrasher 1-6 1-5 5 Night Thrasher: Four Control 1-4 2-4 3 Onslaught: X-Men (#1 Only) 1 1 1 Punisher, The 41-86 41-85 45 Punisher 2099, The 1-12 1-11 11 Punisher Annual, The 6 6 1 Punisher Holiday Special 1-2 1 1 Punisher: The Origin of Microchip 1-2 1-2 2 Punisher Summer Special 1-3 3 1 Ravage 2099 1-14 1-14 14 Ren & Stimpy Show, The 1-14, 39-44 12-13 2 Sabretooth 1-4 1, 3 2 Secret Defenders, The 1-11 1-10 10 Sensational Spider-Man, The 1-10 1, 3-10 9 Silver Surfer 42-88, 113-122 42-87 46 Silver Surfer Annual (1993 Only) 6 6 1 Silver Surfer / Warlock: Resurrection 1-4 1-4 4 Spectacular Spider-Man 169-208, 231-240 169-207, 231, 233-238, 240 47 Spectacular Spider-Man Annual (1993 Only) 13 13 1 Speed Demon 1 1 1 Spider-Boy 1 1 1 Spider-Man 1990 3-42, 65-74 32-41, 65, 67-74 19 Spider-Man 2099 1-15, 40-46 1-15, 42-46 20 Spider-Man Classics 1-10 1-10 10 Spider-Man Unlimited 1-3, 11-14 1-3 3 Spider-Woman (1-4) 1-3 1-2 2 Star Trek Voyager 1 1 1 Stryfe's Strike File 1 1 1 Tekworld 1-17 1-7 7 Thor, The Mighty 424-470, 495-502 425-469 45 Thor, The Mighty Annual 18 18 1 Thunderstrike 1-4 1-3 3 Transformers 71-80 71-80 10 Transformers: Generation 2 (1-12) 1-3 1 1 Uncanny X-Men 269-308, 329-338 269-307, 329-338 49 Uncanny X-Men Annual 17 17 1 Venom, Funeral Pyre  1-3 1-3 3 Venom, Lethal Protector  1-6 1-6 6 Venom, The Madness 1-3 1-2 2 Warlock Chronicles  1-6 1-6 6 Web of Spider-Man  69-108 69-108 40 Web of Spider-Man Annual 9 9 1 What If… 18-57, 82-91 18-56, 84-91 47 Wolverine  32-77, 98-107 48-56, 58-76, 98-107 38 Wolverine and The Punisher: Damaging Evidence  1-3 1-3 3 X-Factor  59-98, 119-128 59-97, 119-128 49 X-Factor Annual 8 8 1 X-Force  1-30, 51-60 1, 3-29, 51-60 38 X-Force Annual 2 2 1 X-Man 12-21 12-21 10 X-Men 1-28, 49-58 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 2-26, 49-58 39 X-Men Annual 2 2 1 X-Men 2099  1-4, 29-35 1-3 3 X-Men Adventures 1-15 1-14 14 X-Men Unlimited 1-3, 10-12 1-2 2 X-Men vs Dracula 1 1 1 X-Patrol 1 1 1                                         Actual Issues in APV Cover Date Range:   1,721                                                  Confirmed APV Total:        1,339         *Based on current known cover dates                         Magazines               Title Possible APV Issue Range* Confirmed APV Issue Numbers       Total         Conan Saga (43-97) 43-82 43-81 39 Conan the Savage (7-10) 7-10 7-10 4 Savage Sword of Conan (178-235) 178-217 178-216 39         Actual Issues in APV Cover Date Range:             84      Confirmed APV Total:   82         *Based on current known cover dates                      
 
 
 
 
   
 
   
 

King Comics - UK Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the King Comics UK Price Variants (UKPVs) that I have found hiding between the dates of August 1967 and November 1967 inclusive.
UK Price Variants were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced counterparts. They are part of the same first printing run and are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the Archie discussion thread in which we talk about them in more detail:
          
The Headlines
King Comics UK Price Variants have been found to exist between the indicia dates of August 1967 to November 1967 inclusive (King Comics for this period have no cover months). Across those indicia dates, a total of 24 cents priced comics exist spanning 6 titles. All 24 of them have a matching single printed price UKPV confirmed. All 24 UK Price Variants are priced at 10d - on some issues, the US 12c price is still visible behind the UK price, indicating that they were likely overprinted at the end of the US run. The title Jungle Jim commences with issue #5, is cover dated December 1967, and therefore misses the UKPV date range by one month. Its cover date of December 1967 also coincides with the move from 12c to 15c for US priced editions and may have a bearing on why the pence copies ceased. All UKPV copies are standard sized issues and no ‘oversize’ copies exist e.g. double size, giant sized or annuals. The only difference between a pence priced UKPV and its cents priced equivalent is the cover price. Unlike, say, Marvel UKPVs, no other elements differ for King Comics books and the indicias are the same in both editions. This is true of every copy I have found so far. It is not currently known who was responsible for distributing King Comics Comics in the UK. I have not personally seen any copies which betray branded UK distributor marks around the UKPV period, or any 'smoking gun' evidence to indicate who it may have been. Some of the issues for the lesser known titles are extremely scarce, so happy hunting if you decide to build a set!
By Stephen Cranch based on v1.8 of the ‘King Comics – UK Price Variant Summary’

 

 

 
Here are six cover examples - one from each known title 
  
  
       
 

Gold Key Comics - UK Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the Gold Key UK Price Variants (UKPVs) that I have found hiding between the dates of March 1973 and November 1975 inclusive.
UK Price Variants were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced counterparts. They are part of the same first printing run and are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the Archie discussion thread in which we talk about them in more detail:
            
The Headlines
Gold Key UK Price Variants have been found to exist between the cover dates of March 1973 to November 1975 inclusive. The total number of cents priced comic titles existing across those dates are too numerous to list – the salient point is that only 8 titles have pence copies. At the time of writing, 122 single printed price UKPVs are confirmed across those 8 titles. The first known Gold Key UKPV copies are Pink Panther #11 and Tweety and Sylvester #69 cover / indicia dated March 1973 and priced at 6p. The last known UKPV copies are Pink Panther #30, Star Trek #35 and Tweety & Sylvester #51, all cover / indicia dated November 1975 and priced at 8p. Of the scores of titles in scope, only the following 8 are confirmed as having one or more UK Price Variant (the eligible issue numbers are shown in brackets): Beep Beep the Road Runner (#35-54) Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery (#46-64) Pink Panther (#11-30) Ripley’s Believe it or Not! (#39-58) Star Trek (#18-35) Tom and Jerry (#270-300) Tweety and Sylvester (#29-51) Yosemite Sam (#13-32) All UKPVs are priced at either: 6p - cover dates March 1973 to June 1974 inclusive 7p - cover dates July 1974 to July 1975 inclusive 8p - cover dates August 1975 to November 1975 inclusive All known UKPVs are standard sized issues and no ‘oversize’ copies are known to exist e.g. double size, giant sized or annuals. As a rule, only difference between a pence priced Gold Key UKPV and its cents priced equivalent is the cover price - the indicias and all other aspects are the same in both editions. The only exception to this is for the following UKPV issues which are missing the ‘16 Page Fun Catalogs’ that can be found in their US cents priced equivalent issues. The UKPV covers are also missing the ‘Fun Catalog’ cover wording and have masthead banners noting the comic title instead where applicable (or a missing bottom corner cover blurb in the case of Boris Karloff #58). The eight affected UKPV issues are: Beep Beep the Road Runner #40 & 47 Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #51 & 58 Ripley’s Believe it or Not! #44 & 51 Yosemite Sam #18 & 25 For the title Tom and Jerry, only seven consecutive UKPV issues have been found (#270 to 276) despite the title having eligible issues up to and including issue #300. It is possible that pence copies ceased with issue #276, dated November 1973, so as not to clash with an existing UK produced comic titled ‘Tom and Jerry Weekly’ (first issue dated October 1973). The total, continuing absence of UKPV issues between #277 and #300 seems to support this theory. Given the popularity of the TV show and films, the title Star Trek has been researched at length by various collectors over the years and the list of missing UKPV issues is widely accepted as being accurate. Consequently, UKPV copies are not expected to exist for issues #21, 24, 27, 30, 32 and 34. This shows that the distributor was clearly happy to miss issues and it therefore follows that the missing issues for the other seven titles may be permanent / by design. Six of the 8 titles have ‘one on, one off’ gaps towards the end of their UKPV runs where pence issues are absent over an eight consecutive month period. For example, Beep Beep the Road Runner has the following pattern: Apr - #49 – 7p May – no issue this month Jun - #50 – 7p Jul - #51 – no pence copy found Aug - #52 – 8p Sep – #53 – no pence copy found Oct – #54 – 8p Nov – no issue this month The ‘on / off’ pattern appears to exist by design with only the Star Trek title breaking the pattern (Tom & Jerry has no UKPV issues in the date range so is out of scope). See the illustration below showing each title’s end of UKPV run gaps, and also the detailed explanation in the discussion thread (here):
I believe Williams Publishing were responsible for distributing Gold Key Comics in the UK. Whilst there is no direct printed evidence to support this on / in the comics themselves, a number of UK fanzines of the time state that to be the case and they are the logical candidate based on their publishing history. A number of copies exist just prior to the printed UKPV dates which have ‘official’ looking 6p price stickers on them, which mirror the eventual printed price font, indicating that Williams may have started this way prior to requesting printed priced copies.
Happy hunting, if you decide to build a set!
18/02/21
By Stephen Cranch based on v2.9 of the ‘Gold Key Comics – UK Price Variant Summary’
 

 
 
 
Here are eight cover examples - one from each known title 
 
  
  
 

Ok this lady is rough, subscription crease (ok not really a subscription crease, since this was probably not a subscription order, more likely a "fold it in half so no one sees the cover and shove it in my back pocket" crease) along with a ring "stain" (color loss, we'll see about water damage), and a rough spine... but Intimite Confessions #1 is one of those "Bombshell" bad girl covers, that you just cant hate, no matter the condition... Red dresss, blonde hair, stole, plunging neck line, this lady has it all! And she's mine.