dgarthwaite-migration

Those other books are more rare, for sure. I think this was the first ever Valiant made book; other books to find that are quite rare are the variants of the Nintendo Hardcovers. Also, the 4 TPB books are pretty tough to find, and good buys anywhere south of $20: "Mario Special Powers", "Koopa Kids", "Battle against Bowser" and "Tantaga Invades Earth". If you can find them in high grade, jump on them, they basically don't exist! I think I can safely say that Cheesasarus is NOT one of the first books. These would have been made towards the end of Shooter's reign if I'm not mistaken. This 4 page (?) flyer is one of the first things they produced. It was sent out with Previews to the retailers... or so I'm told. Many were thrown away along with the other ads that get sent out. This would have been their first comic... The Nintendo Action Books are something I never owned. I've only seen one in person and the condition was pathetic. It had been owned by a small child evidently. I do own the wrestling books in the same format. I had offered to scan comics for Joe Petrilak in the late 90's but I think I offended him by sending scans of the wrestling comics and Nintendo hardbacks first. This promo rarity was also a gift... This comic is quite common, but how many people have Bob Layton's first comic art for Valiant signed by him? Bob told me "he drew it in the lawyers office". I have the Mallard Press Hardcovers which seem to be common. DG

Not sure how rare it is. I have a copy. Tor Love Betty #1 (Eros Comics) DG

I looked for this around the time it should have come out and had no luck. Years later it was given to me as a gift. Valiant promo comic... DG

Dracula: Vlad the Impaler foil variant... limited to 500(?) This version has no price on it. DG

This was a freebie preview of a Dr. Strange Comic. There should be about 5,000. Not super rare, but more rare than some other comics shown in the thread. Marvel Watch #0 DG

I never see this for sale in shops.. A promo comic from Marvel sent to record store to promote the album "Busted" DG

I'm going to suggest that the Cartoon Network promo comic for the TV show is pretty darn HTF DG

Animal Fables #1 DG

Coming from a technology industry, I've come to realize that most "inventions" are merely tweaking that which has already been done in another context or setting. While it's nice to think that comics were invented by visionaries and pioneers with an original concept, quite often all they do is change one little thing and it appears as though they had an original idea. Those little changes can result in big changes over time. I laugh a little when I see people like Neal Adams creating "motion comics". It's already been done. It's called "animation". DG

This isn't going to be popular and it's 100% speculation. I believe that comics are merely a byproduct of the motion picture technology as it was developed. The earliest device which was used to project pictures was the magic lantern. Projection lanterns appear to date back as far as 1420. (http://www.magiclantern.org.uk/history/history3.html) Here is a nice site covering the subject. http://www.magic-lantern.eu/ "There has been some debate about who the original inventor of the magic lantern is, but the most widely accepted theory is that Christiaan Huygens developed the original device in the late 1650s.In the fifteenth century, however, Giovanni Fontana, a Venetian engineer, had already created a lantern that projected an image of a demon. And other sources give credit to the German priest Athanasius Kircher. He describes a device such as the magic lantern in his book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae. There are possible mentions of this device associated with Kircher as early as 1646. Even in its earliest use, it was demonstrated with monstrous images such as the Devil. Huygens's device was even referred to as the "lantern of fright" because it was able to project spooky images that looked like apparitions. In its early development, it was mostly used by magicians and conjurers to project images, making them appear or disappear, transform from one scene into a different scene, animate normally inanimate objects, or even create the belief of bringing the dead back to life. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_lantern#History ) As light sources became better, Edison was eventually able to make a camera that captured moving images. This is when comics started expanding as a form of art. I contend that there is noting particularly original about "comics" and that it is a byproduct of the moving picture technology that was simply displayed in a different form. The desire for word balloons would have been part of the natural evolution of this technology. Check out the rare uncut Magic Lantern transparencies from France. http://www.toverlantaarn.eu/transparency_1.html Seeing this technology would have been the equivalent of seeing a comic. DG

I discovered it many years ago and had to dig up the link which was now dead. Thanks for the update. Perhaps a better title for this thread would be "Roots of the American Comic Book". These previous incarnations do not fit the modern format and periodical nature that was popularized by Max Gaines. I have proposed a theory that Thomas Edison may deserve credit for the popularization of sequential art. A movie is a photographic sequential series of pictures and his invention of "moving pictures" would have inspired artist to duplicate what he'd done with film. DG

My first... Cavewoman: Rain #1 Page 9 This is the first appearance of Meriem in the issue. I bought several other pages from Budd the same day. DG

For what it's worth...Max Gaines wrote an article on the history of comics in 1942 for this magazine and traced back the origin to cave paintings. A now defunct (but cool) page on the history of speech balloons via the internet Archive. http://web.archive.org/web/20070221005058/http://bugpowder.com/andy/e.speechballoons.evolution.html DG

I'm pretty sure I have that. DG

With tape on the interior? Nah. DG

Hi there dgarthewaite! The Wrightson cover you show is not Collage #12, although you're real close. It's the cover of Rockets Blast Comicollector #86 from 1971, edited/published by the very same individual as was Collage - the late and great G.B. Love! I met the current owner of the stunning original Wrightson painting last year at OAFCon in Oklahoma City. He had bought it from GB about 20 years ago for an obscene amount of money and had no intention of ever selling it. Thanks for the clarification. The above item (as well as some of the other items posted) was/were hand picked by me and acquired from a long time reader of comics with somewhat eclectic tastes. DG

Scholart Institute "Comic Book Illustrators Instruction Course" Lesson 1 Here is page one: My copy has obvious bug damage (the large white patches), but I thought it was neat. I bought it from an antique shop about a decade ago. The lesson plan is dated 1954. There is a list of other lesson books on the back, but someone has drawn a line through the list in pen and written "discontinued". I like it. I wish it was better shape, but heck... it's 1954 and it's Joe Kubert. DG

I assume this is a first printing. A lot of history is recorded in these but I never read this. DG

Rocketblast Comicollector #110 DG

REH: Lone Star Fictioneer Vol. 1 #4

Collage #12... or so I assume. It has no date in it or issue number. They solicit back issues from #1-11, so I assume this is #12.

Voice of Comicdom #16 A neat little publication that is mostly dedicated to Richard Corben. It also has a neat article on Frank Frazetta with plenty of art shown for both creators. DG

Not really fanzines, but they are industry publications about comics.. Atlanta Retailers Seminar Program Book 1993 Marvel Comics 1993 Direct Meeting Pack Sales To Astonish Update '93 Sales To Astonish (Dec. 1994, creased) DG

Paragon Golden-Age Greats DG

Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (May 1975) DG