Doctor Obscure

Oh wow I thought meant it was back as in, the older series is heating up on the back issue market. So Battle Chasers got rebooted?! Joe Mad ain't drawing? Wow!

so thats the "rosebud" lmao its just that you guys have like, a pathological need for people to accept comic reading even tho the ppl laughing at it dont care about comics.. "made it cool to be a comic geek" you dont speak for everybody who read comics in the nineteen sixties surely? this stuff went on in the eighties too... "comics arent just for kids anymore!" comic fans need acceptance from the mainstream, thats whats caused so much damage to the business... so much. all because of insecure dorks! ha ha ha ha ha

Look past books per se. Seek out the EARLY issues of TwoMorrow's 'Alter Ego' magazine, the interviews by Jim Amash especially- for a wonderful period, he sought out and interviewed many, many Golden Age creators and, as such, you discover things about the publishers, the distribution and the general perception of the comics industry through these transcribed interviews. A serious gift for anyone who appreciates history.

Some links: https://lithub.com/only-in-florida-couple-steals-rare-books-vintage-comics-and-endangered-tortoises/ https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/54160/comics-stolen-indiana-superhero-museum-surface-florida https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/couple-accused-of-stealing-tortoises-rare-books-now-facing-more-charges/ “There were some pretty substantial Golden Age books stolen that’s worth tens of thousands of dollars if not more,” said Leto. “This is a very substantial theft.”

I haven't been part of this community long but I took some interest in the Hall of Heroes (Heros?) museum having a bunch of Golden Age comics taken about a month ago and read the thread reporting it. I apologize if this was reported and discussed here elsewhere but I didn't see an update and, being a curious sort of madman, looked up this story to see if there were any leads or updates... and boy, was there! Again, apologies if this has already been shared. Also, one of the couple was working as a Correctional Officer (!): "Rare comic books stolen from the Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum in Elkhart have been recovered. They made their way all the way to Florida and were recovered alongside two Galapagos Tortoises and dozens of other priceless historical written works. A press release from the St. Petersburg Police Department indicates that the comic books are just a small portion of a collection of stolen items retrieved from the home of Joshua and Dashae McCarty-Thomas. The duo is accused of the theft of several rare and historical items including two tortoises that came up missing from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park on Nov. 30, 2022. An arrest affidavit also claims that the duo are responsible for rare book thefts from as far back as Oct. 2019 and include Lighthouse Books, Dade City, Fla.; Haslam’s Book Store, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Read More Comics, Brandon, Fla, and the Hall of Heroes in Elkhart. Police executed a search warrant of the McCarty-Thomas home on Tuesday and found one juvenile tortoise dead in the freezer, another alive in the yard, and verified the tortoises’ chips as those taken in November. A probable cause affidavit indicates police also found a 1917 Boston American bound newspaper in Dashae’s possession, as well as Uncanny X-Men Lot #120 and #121 Alpha Flight in Joshua’s possession, which police say came from Hall of Heroes. After the search, St. Petersburg investigators contacted Hall of Heroes owner Allen Stewart, who told police he’d purchased the comics from an eBay account, recognizing them as the books stolen from the museum. The couple appears to have used eBay for many of it’s transactions, using the account “You_Can_Never_Have_Too_Much_Awesome.” Stewart told investigators that the museum’s copy of Captain America #37 was also being sold under the account. Around 50 comics books — all early key Marvel comics — were stolen, including Captain America No. 1 and Young Allies No. 1, Hulk No. 1 and No. 2, X-Men No. 1 and No. 2, Tales of Suspense No. 39, a 1st Iron Man and more were stolen from the Hall of Heroes March 19. The real hero of this story, though, isn’t a cop or a detective, it’s comic book guy Dino Leto, who told reporters: "When a comic book goes missing everyone finds out about it. There were some pretty substantial Golden Age books stolen that’s worth tens of thousands of dollars if not more. This is a very substantial theft.” He probably visited the museum and did a case job. That’s classic crime 101. Any Batman villain would do that before they executed the action. Given time good will triumph in the end.

Perhaps I was too harsh. But 65 bucks for Iceman #2 is ridiculous, even if I like Alan Kupperberg's pencils.

I had no idea about that. This is a serious question but is he trying to get a world record for largest collection or some kind of record/validation for having the largest collection... does anyone know who has the world record for most comics?? That's odd, I guess he bristles every time someone buys a copy of Youngblood.

Well Ken, I didn't expect that but that's possibly because I've never shopped on MHC's site before. I am surely learning.

So it is predicated on needing a Sales code on every book? I guess that explains it though it would make shopping slightly unwieldly... an odd sales plan. But thank you.

Not trying to troll... genuinely wondering what the deal is, what your thoughts are. Can prices go up if the store in question is notable due to ads within comics? I'm asking seriously here... Just as a random example. Iceman #2 is 65.00 in NM at Mile High Comics. Sixty-Five Dollars. What am I missing. By contrast, Iceman #2 is 7.20 in VF at MyComicShop. Seven Dollars and Twenty Cents. No, I do not work at MCS and I have no prior interaction with Mile High. I genuinely went on Mile High to look for back issues and initially thought there was a mistake with the various non key eighties books I looked at. So... what am I missing about this store?

I love it and thank everybody who shared. I remember some article a few years ago pointed out that Jack Kirby was "the only major comic book artist that literally killed Nazis" which I thought was just a fantastic tag for anybody.

I hope this is a real thing. I have some theories on Nightmask. And hasn't the StarBrand been used in modern Marvel titles? It's not unreasonable to think that some degree of the New Universe, admittedly tiny, might make it's way into the MCU... stranger things have happened.

Ask and I will answer:

I wonder if the 1960s' Ditko Blue Beetles will see a spike at all with the release of the first Blue Beetle film trailer. Of course, you all know that Marvel's initial 2099 line from 1992 are going to be valuable keys in the near future. You all know!

Don't rely on what people tell you. Do the research. It's better. Read every Stan Lee interview that exists, seriously. Read interviews with people who worked with him both pre and post Marvel. It will take years but as you absorb the entire context and scope of his life, career and output, you'll see.... that factually, with no bias, that the Stan myth just doesn't hold up. It's a necessary myth for fans who need Stan as the genial geek ambassador but really, the evidence for Stan is remarkably slim and the evidence for him getting the credit he did as a result of the corporate buyers of Marvel at the time Martin Goodman selling it needing to tie up freelancer's claims is much higher and much easier to see. Stan has more documented cases of declaring his lack of interest in comics, passion for comics, and reading comics than he has documented cases of him declaring that he even likes comics. He explained dozens of times how he tried to get out of comics. And once he could use comics as a chance to go to L.A., he did. Stan Lee is a myth. Being an admittedly witty and affable Editor and decent dialogue writer on finished fully drawn stories does not constitute what Stan gets. But again. Those grown men NEED Stan. It's hard to let go of nostalgia and sentimental value, honestly. I have a hard time too, to be honest.