bronze johnny

Thanks. I will say with a high degree of probability that this book was restored given it “was treated with something more” than dry cleaning.

Yep, but that’s not surface dirt and agree with your point about staying away from that book.

So can you tell me how that’s removed without say using peroxide or some other cleaner?

There’s no way that was removed by dry cleaning. That’s restoration.

Great books Hap! I can see “Hap’s Horror 25.” What I’d like to know is why you chose these books like @Darth Corgi? Also, Underworld Crime 7 needs to be include in a top 25 crime list. I’m sure you also have those. Jay, same holds for you given your taste in Precode books!

I don’t see any key books in the video and photos: https://nypost.com/2023/04/21/comic-book-hoarders-house-buried-in-vintage-collectibles-worth-millions/

The 6.0 you sold would make it the highest graded copy. Who knows, maybe this book is destined to cross your path more than twice in a lifetime?

Great Crandall cover and one of the scarcest 50’s books. Check out the census on this book.

Joker will lose his hand or it will be deliberately amputated by another rogue (Ras?) who is going to put it on Batman. Batman will then be affected by the evil spawning from the new hand and cause him to kill someone close to Bruce Wayne. The story arc will then go another 20 issues of how Batman deals with whether he is or is not a murderer. The people of Gotham believe he is. Will the rogue behind this achieve their objective in making Batman public enemy number one? Will Robin or some other believer in Bruce Wayne have the hand surgically removed and replaced by a bionic version with A.I.? Can Batman prove he’s not culpable for what the idle hand did? Stay tuned.

My favorite and his best! This would be my cover to Wells’ “Things to Come.”

Cartoonist Heaven just got better! Jaffee the man may be gone but his art is forever!

What’s the deal with this one?

Jay, I’ve always wondered why the “Terror” never got its beard trimmed?

The most gruesome cover in one of the best non-EC precode horror runs says a great deal. We need to remember that a blue label without the“Classic Cover” notation does not in any way define cover of the book inside the slab. It takes a consensus of true collectors and those who appreciate this art form to decide whether a cover is a classic. The flip side to this is who doesn’t think the cover to Thing 7 is a classic?

This is a classic injury to eye cover by Lou Morales. Look at how fine Lou’s pencilling is. Would love to see the original art on this one. Gruesome and bloody. One of the top injury to eye covers in precode horror!

Comic book historians and collectors know that Fawcett’s Captain Marvel was the most popular superhero on the Golden Age whose comics regularly outsold DC’s Superman, Batman, and Timely’s Captain America. DC’s copyright infringement lawsuit later put an end to Captain Marvel. The character would ironically become part of the DC Universe in 1973 and called Shazam because Marvel Comics had the rights to the name Captain Marvel. The question remains whether Marvel Comics/Disney should permit or even license the name Captain Marvel to DC Comics for the character known only as Shazam. Neal Adams fought for comic book artists and creators throughout his legendary career and he had an opinion on whether Billy Batson’s alter ego should be called Captain Marvel, which might hopefully inspire others to express their beliefs about this issue given it’s the character’s original title. Neal’s legend as one of the two greatest comic book artists ever (Kirby being the other) isn’t his only contribution to this American Art Form. Neal was outspoken on many issues and spoke his mind. He weighed in on the issue of the original Captain Marvel and defended the right to continue a Golden Age legacy: I agree with Neal. Do you?

Pike was one of the greatest romance artists ever. Schomburg, Baker, Kamen, Feldstein, Doolin, and Lubbers laid the foundation for GGA/Romance but Pike took it to another level.

Agree and will add that what’s also interesting from a historical perspective is how what was published during the period before Wertham’s book, and the move to censor the comics for “negatively impacting” children is something we have seen (and may be currently seeing) in different mediums like television, film (see Precode v. Code), records (see Heavy Metal), and now there are concerns about TikTok (just mentioning here and taking no position). There are episodes throughout American History demonstrating reactions to mediums and in some cases, resulting in the industries self-censoring their content. Even Major League Baseball took on its own Commissioner to regulate the game after the 1919 World Series “Black-Sox” Scandal. The comics, like other art forms, can give us insight but it’s also important that we are careful to do our best to accurately interpret these primary sources. Television wasn’t prevalent prior to the 1950s and film was provided a rating system once the movie industry self-regulated. The comics during that period, were an important entertainment medium that was accessible to most Americans and reflected many readers’ views of the times they were published. There are views acceptable then that are unacceptable and even offensive today. The standards back then were different from those we see today. Studying the history gives us some insight into how and why. Learning and knowing more about that period of time is one of the reasons why some of us collect the comics. Santayana’s point about forgetting history is a difficult challenge to say the least because time has a way of wiping out the past. Collective memory passes with the passing of each generation. There is a certain amount of knowledge passed from generation to generation but like “telephone talk,” the information and stories change over time. There are many of us who lived during a time when there were veterans of WW1 (Billy Parker may have known Spanish-American War Vets?) still alive who shared their personal experiences of the “Great War.” The same holds for the last of the “Greatest Generation.” The 20th Century and its historical lessons grow more distant as we venture further into the 21st Century. Historical memories are slowly disappearing. People who impacted 20th Century history have died or are close to it. What’s left for us now and posterity, is the historical record, and that can only give us so much insight into the past. The warning Santayana gives for future generations, is that history or what remains of it in the historical record (includes literature, film, art, sport, etc.), be studied and accurately interpreted. This means that future generations must be careful not to see the past entirely through the “filters” of their time. It’s a difficult challenge given that we inject our subjective insight when working on objective projects. The same can be said about seeing through the lens of our “collective generational views.” Still, we can achieve a substantial degree of objectivity when also discussing and debating the issues that arise with others who have a level of understanding and passion for knowing what actually happened and why. It’s not always easy to figure out and will in many cases, require time and work - more than a visit to Wikipedia to survey the subject. The period of time’s composite of moral, cultural, class, racial, ethical, sociological, political, and economic forces that result in history must also be taken into account when looking at and providing interpretation to historical primary documents. The comics were primarily entertainment with exception to the Classic Comics/Illustrated comics that my dad and his friends relied on to read instead of the actual literary works and before Monarch and Cliff Notes. This is important because the interpretation of these cultural historical items must be carefully made, which also means that personal judgements based on current views should not be the “filter” through which to see the past. It’s of course fine to say that one personally disagrees with how things were back when. We have personal opinions and that’s what makes us who we are so long as those opinions don’t lead us to misinterpret our readings and studies of the historical record. This is the best way to avoid Santayana’s point. It’s also the best way to avoid Orwell’s warning that those who control the past, also control the future. -John