walclark

As the dust settles, a few quick thoughts. Others have said much of this before, but here goes. First and foremost, thank you to Mr. Berk for sharing his knowledge, passion, and ultimately, his collection with us. From his writings as a comic historian to his posts on these boards and now to sharing his collection through this auction, it has been a wonderful gift to the hobby. I hope he will continue to pop in and contribute from time to time. Second, I didn’t attend the Sotheby’s auctions, but I do remember getting the catalogs and mailing in my bids. This auction had the same kind of feel. The anticipation in the weeks leading up to the auction and the excitement on the boards this week as the auction unfolded have been tremendous fun. Third, I echo Sharon’s sentiment that I hope this collection and the auction results have served to temper some of the disdain for restoration. No question that unrestored books will always be preferable, but maybe going forward, the hobby will be a little more accepting of restoration. Last, congratulations to all the winners. While I would guess that no one got everything they wanted (there was just SO much quality material here), hopefully everyone got something that they will cherish and enjoy.

I thought that World Famous Heroes #1 had your name written on it, so I didn't even bid.

Well said, Sharon, but this was a dirty little secret I was hoping to keep to myself. Now you've gone and let the cat out of the bag!

Unfortunately, my Predators couldn't stretch it to a seventh game. You wouldn't believe how electric the city of Nashville has been ever since the sweep of the Blackhawks. It has been a wild ride.

Some pedigrees

Let's see those WWII Japanese Covers I couldn't find two threads that I had bookmarked on the old boards... the previously mentioned war bonds thread titled War Stamps/Bonds/Loans - let's see 'em and What Hitler and Axis Cover Comics Do You Have? Maybe they didn't migrate over with the new board.

Thankfully, I was able to add some of the big ticket books when they were 3, 4, or (in the case of Cap #1) 5 figure books. Now, you have to add a zero to the back end of many of those prices to be able to play.

Took me thirty years, but I finished my run of all the Golden Age Hitler covers. Some were quite elusive and there is pretty intense competition for copies.

Congratulations! A super accomplishment!

Four. They're multiplying like rabbits!

These two would be a stretch, but Blue Circle #3 shows Hitler as a frightened octopus. You could argue that this is a furnace made to look like Hitler and not actually Hitler and that would disqualify it.

An interesting subject and I would bet there are lot more splash pages with these types of demonic depictions of Hitler, but the only other one that I can think of is Headline #8. Prize #32 might barely qualify. He is somewhat spectral in the image. On that cover, he just appears to be a frightened ghostly image, but his features aren't altered.

Some more comics that I thought I would get slabbed.

Not the main focus of the cover, but it does compare Timoshenko to George Washington.

Are you talking about him or me? Doesn't matter. Both would probably be the correct answer. In preparation, I'm stockpiling instant ramen.

I clicked on the link and my wallet disappeared! Thankfully, a deposed Nigerian prince is going to provide me sufficient funds to just buy the entire collection. Just a few details to work out, then the rest of you can quit looking.

Only four on the census, but may just be due to a lack of collector interest. Still, Schomburg packed a lot into the cover, including a blood dripped swastiki.

You and I do share many similar comic book interests. SO QUIT BUYING ALL THE COMICS I WANT!

Had a box of stuff come back from CGC yesterday. A few highlights:

When they were eating, it's where Richard put his pizza. Didn't want to mess up the table.

This one because I think Everett did some excellent work here: This one because of Solomon Grundy: This one because of the rare "Bucky in bondage and Cap to the rescue" theme: (Wait, what? It's not rare for Bucky to be in trouble? Oh well, too late. It made the list.) This one because Edgar did such a nice job of preserving it: This one because I am contractually obligated to post a Hitler cover: