L'Angelo Misterioso

Better be agnostic about what a "reasonable price" is, because even low grade copies of these kinds of comics demand several hundred. They're probably the most fun comics in the history of the medium, and the demand reflects that. Imagine if these went for Silver Age Marvel prices. I'd collect the entire Marvel Mystery run so fast!!

There's been an amazing exception that has come up recently, though. A woman on reddit has been posting about uncovering her grandfather's OO collection of around 800 Golden Age comics, all found in a barn. All mid-to-high grade, Timelys, DCs, Fiction House, Fox, PCH, etc. She is trying with CGC for a pedigree status for the collection. At first the story seemed very fishy (to me); It's a really amazing story. Here's her Phantom Lady run from the collection.

KCOComics pointed out the key titles that define wartime comics. I'll add that a general rule of thumb for Golden Age collecting is that if the cover depicts the war in any capacity, the book is probably worth way more than books in the same series that don't depict the war. People like the war covers and will pay a premium for them. People are a lot less interested in the post-war superhero books that show evidence of the superhero genre noodling around after losing a bit of its purpose. Covers that depict significant war figures are extra valuable (e.g. Cat-Man #20, Submariner #3, Young Allies #1, Master Comics #29, Spy Smasher #9, Real Life Comics #3). In the wider comic book collecting space, there is great debate of whether vintage comic books will retain demand over the long term, because people say that eventually there will be no one who has nostalgic memories of bygone comics. These WW2 comics will always have value, a collector's market, and they WILL accumulate value for a long time, particularly Captain Americas, Marvel Mysterys, Action Comics, and Schomburg covers.

Nothing could have prepared me for all of that. That is the most impressive collection I've ever seen.

Golden Age hero covers don't get much better than that! This thread makes me want to dedicate my comic book money to collecting Timelys.....But they're just so hard to get!

I was gonna say, I would flip if I found any VG non-Dell non-Gold Key GA at that price point.

Sad that not much of the superhero content is worth reading. Imagine if Marvel Mystery or Wonder Comics were comparable to the iconic Silver Age stuff.

I understand that due to the nature of the comic book industry at the time, very few of these GA books are actually well-written. From what I can tell, most series were anthologies and not much thought was given to continuity, an expanded universe, recurring villains (some exceptions are Joker and Red Skull), character development, or nuance. Stories were very formulaic, dialogue was stilted, etc. I'm wondering if there are any series that transcend ephemeral novelty and are actually enjoyable reads. I have seen a lot of people say that the best GA in terms of quality are the ECs, Planet Comics, The Spirit, and early Batman/Detective Comics (this last one surprises me, though I've never read any of early Batman). Are there any series that you think are worth the read? It's hard to get information regarding the quality of GA books, partly because they're so old and out of the fray of media competing for our attention, and party because they're typically discussed with respect to investment and collecting.

This thread just makes me wish my Marvel Mystery #83 didnt have three-ring binder holes grrrr

So THAT'S where my copies went!

Sort of a pre-code vibe to the cover

Whoa for a moment i thought you just uploaded the same pic twice!

I hate when reprints change content. I bought a raw copy of Crime Suspenstories #25 recently, and one of the first pages (I think the first? I dont have the book with me right now) is dedicated to mocking the anti-comic hysteria that was taking root at the time of its publication. The $1 reprint from the 70s removed this, inexplicably. So there was a loss of something that made the original book unique.

Cool Daredevil!

Very cool. My favorite is the bottom left corner flag cover!

I suppose Silver Streak is still known to GA comic book collectors, but I'd have probably never heard of this guy if it weren't for Daredevil

The shift from wartime to post-war Marvel Mystery covers is so amusing. It's like "well, back to fighting petty criminals and gangsters!"

Yeah that definitely doesn't seem worth it

I know I said earlier that Marvel Mystery covers were consistently good, but I have to say the ones late in the series are pretty disappointing. They feel very phoned in compared to the first 60

Weird to see two Imperial Japanese tied up in the place of Toro and some damsel in distress

You're correct, and GermanFan is alluding to a certain unsavory theory that has no real basis.

Lol only slightly more insulting than the guy who seriously offered me only $300 for it. When I'm back home I'll take pics and submit it to the PGM subforum. Not really expecting it to get better than a 2.5 (the front cover looks very nice still, though) but I'd appreciate an idea of where it would land. I'll probably end up keeping it because it's too badass of a find. And I'm only 20 so who really knows when I will even afford an additional Marvel Mystery issue... Thanks for the advice guys

I discovered that there are what I assume to be foxing spots on the interior cover of my Marvel Mystery Comics #48. I inherited it and I suspect this is a product of bad storage, as it was forgotten about for a long time. My main concern is this: will the foxing spread within the book, and will it spread to other books kept adjacent to it? I keep this with 3 of my other GA books, all are individually bagged and boarded. Should I sell the foxed book to get it off my hands? What a sad thing to find on such a nice book