Thegoldenage

13? Ouch!

It was a lot easier to track Wilhelm before ebay began blocking the search engine function for users registered in Germany. Prior to this another collector and I were able to get him suspended several times. Perry Albert (Starwind1 on ebay) was the other collector and he has much more info on this rat.

Any interest in selling that 40?

There have been 3 copies on ebay in the past month. The scarcity designation may not be so well deserved if this keeps up...

It could not be.

Metarog has it right. The cover is phony. Ian Levine either had it made, or bought it like that. The artwork is at best crude, and not at all similar to the type of non-superhero covers that were being drawn in 1939. I believe I saw a copy of Double Action Comics 1 at the 1988 San Diego Con. I am not sure however, as it could have been number 2. I am fairly certain tho that it was number 1.

Your scan is of a fantasy cover. I believe the real Double Action 1 exists, but where the two copies are is anyone's guess.

You sure it's the Church copy?

I collect credit card statements. My collection is large and growing!

Sweet Funny Pages! I recently bought a 41 on ebay, and consider myself lucky to have been able to do so.

I met Nick in 1990 at the local con where I used to set up. He was only 10 at the time. His mom used to bring him to the show and waited for him in the lobby, sometimes for 2 hours or more. Both of his parents were very devoted to him and his brother. Although quite a bit older than Nick, I learned quickly that he was one smart kid. Maybe too smart in the end. At age 11 he was taking advanced college math! His knowledge of comic books far exceeded his age, and was well beyond a lot of adults who I knew in the hobby. Nick only lived about 20 minutes from me, so I used to go to his house, pick him up and we would go to shows in Boston and New York. His mom is a wonderful person and was happy that Nick was going to the shows with an adult. I used to laugh when she told me to watch out for him. It was the other people at the cons that should have watched out for Nick. He became well known for getting books at great prices and snagging books that were way under market potential. Remember, this was in the days before the Internet, and all research was conducted by phone, conventions and with a lot of hard work. As time passed Nick and I started doing phone auctions together. A lot of his early material was from my collection, although he had quite a bit of his own stuff to sell. nick taught me quite a bit about the business end of the hobby, as up to that point I was strictly a collector. Nick and I were good friends until shortly after the 1997 San Diego Con, when he began to implode. I believe that his internal demons began to take over. I won't get into details, as they aren't important, but lets just say there is a thin line between genius and insanity. Nick was too smart for his own good, and sometime after I lost track of him he got involved with alcohol and drugs. I am not sure how his life ended, but at 20 years of age, it was and is tragic. Had he lived and stayed with the hobby, I have no doubt that he would be one of the largest, if not the largest forces in the hobby today. I am only sorry that all of our long talks during those long drives to conventions couldn't help him.

Thanks for clarifying the origin. Nick told me that he was going to fly to California to view the collection but, that Dan had screwed him out of it. Of course with Nick, one never really knew if he was telling the truth. I looked long and hard to find a sweet copy of Action 12. Can you tell me what was wrong with it prior to the restoration? The book doesn't appear to have had much work done.

I recall that Nick Kronfeld and Dan Greenhog had something to do with that collection before you purchased it. Can you clarify? It has been a loooong time and my memory is foggy.

I own the More Fun copy of Action 12. Unfortunately it, along with several other books from the Action run were restored in one manner or another.

I met Jon Whitman today at my local con. He is the son of Maurice Whitman, who did many of the Fiction House covers in the 40's, along with Jumbo's, Jungle's and a host of other titles. He told some fantastic stories about his dad and other artists of his father's era.

Nice Tec 32!

This might be him. Wonder Woman 1

Sorry, but anyone who would send that kind of money to Germany, without seeing the book first other than in scans should consider having his financial transactions supervised.

This guy has been on ebay under many different names. About 5 years ago another collector and I spent some time chasing him around ebay and getting him suspended. He just kept popping back up. I finally gave up after ebay refused to do anything about it.

I had a nice copy of Victory 1. Wish I hadn't sold it!

Isn't the Tec 5 on Metropolis site?

Uh-oh. Looks like Ian's collection isn't complete after all...

If I say "Ian" three times, will you disappear?

That Suspense 3 is a beater, but still a way cool book. I need an incomplete copy to go with my coverless!

Picked up a Detective 6.