SOTIcollector

But wait, there's more. I found another that fits nicely in this thread. Inside Crime (nn), CGC 8.5 OW/W. Tied with one other for second highest on census. The highest is a lone 9.2. $225 shipped in the US. Wally Wood cover.

And finally, this will be the last one of the thread. True Crime #3. Like the last copy I offered, this is low grade. Unlike the last copy, this one is complete. Well worn, brittle edges, FC tear upper right. CF attached at only the upper staple. $595 shipped in the US. One of the best crime covers of all time, plus over-the-top drugs and other crimes inside.

And here's one of my personal faves, the one Wertham loved to hate, True Crime v1 #2. Front cover tear that is covered with tape that wraps to the back. Supple pages. Snug centerfold, cover attached. $495 shipped in the US. Classic "Murder, Morphine and Me" story by Jack Cole. Drug use, injury to the eye panel, over-the-top violence. The "Boston's Bloody Gang War" story features people being dragged behind a car to erase their faces. Brutal stuff. Mentioned numerous times and pictured twice in SOTI, as well as other places. PICTURE BELOW IS JUST FOR REFERENCE! Compare the US version to the Canadian version.

And now a tougher one. True Crime #9, published by Alval in Canada. This is the Canadian version of Magazine Village's True Crime Comics v2 #1. Looks like a pretty sharp copy, perhaps hitting the 5.0 or 6.0 range, with one large exception. Staples with an extremely serious case of rust migration. If rust migration were a desirable trait, this would be a 10.0. $100 shipped in the US. This features the story "Boston's Bloody Gang War", which was originally printed in True Crime v1 #2, and was also mentioned in Seduction of the Innocent. Wertham was probably following this series closely, given that he referenced True Crime v1 #2 so many times (in SOTI and many other publications), plus the fact that SOTI specifically mentions that the publishers reprinted this story, "Boston's Bloody Gang War" in this issue.

And now, one of my favorite series: True Crime Comics by Magazine Village. It took me years to complete my runs of my two favorite crime series: Crimes by Women and True Crime Comics. True Crime #5. Low low grade. Some massively serious defects: missing the back cover, rusty staples and brittle. Spine splitting. Front cover tape, and taped to the book. But, hey, it's unrestored and all the interior pages are there. $25 shipped in the US.

Thanks for the purchase!

Last one for tonight: Love & Death. How can I do a thread with SOTI and both POP's if I don't add L&D? Love & Death, softcover. $50 plus $5 shipping in the US. Five years before SOTI, Gershon Legman's Love & Death tried in its unique way to claim that comic books are dangerous.

And continuing with the classic Archie covers, we have Betty & Veronica #40. A really solid copy except for that darned chunk out of the lower right. Thankfully the missing chunk sort of blends right into the yoga mat. $200 shipped in the US. While I'm on the subject of classic Archie covers, I'll answer the next question. No, I will not be selling my copy of Archie #78. I'm a sucker for those innuendo covers, and can't bear to part with that one.

Here you go. The most trashed copies... er... I mean, most affordable copies of the most in-demand Archie books. These make a great matched set, so I'll offer them as a set. If you only want one of the two, feel free to make an offer via PM. Archie #50 (missing CF) and 53 (complete) $200 for the pair including shipping in the US. Both of these books have a lot of problems, which I tried to capture in the photos. #50: Missing CF, plus one panel ripped out (see photo). At least one loose inner wrap. Cover detached. Very heavy wear all over and writing on the cover. Crosswords completed in pencil. Basically, think of a defect and this probably has it. But it's an Archie #50 that won't break the bank. #53: Well worn, perhaps somebody danced on it. Ragged, brittle edge. Severe spine roll. Cover detached. CF detached at lower staple, plus at least the next wrap also detached at the lower staple.

Thank you very much!

And a teaser for upcoming items the next time I get some time to post... Love & Death The Archie that your collection needs. In fact, every collection needs it. More True Crime!

Seduction of the Innocent by Dr. Fredric Wertham. 1954 first print, first state (with bibliography), with dust jacket. $795 shipped in the US. Book: Very tight and clean. Tight spine. Unmarked except for one stamp from a book rental service on the inside FC and another on the front free end paper. Small amount of tape residue front cover and back cover (evident in the photos). All pages are present, including 16 pages of illustrations as well as the bibliography leaf that was excised from most copies of the book before distribution. Jacket: Dust jacket has some paper loss at the head and tail of the spine, edge wear, and two small closed tears on the FC. Bonus jacket: Comes with a reproduction dust jacket (see last photo). The red ink of the dust jacket is notoriously susceptible to fading. This repro dust jacket will keep your red text, especially that fade-prone red spine text, looking good.

Parade of Pleasure, UK edition, 1954. Chunk out of the back cover of the dust jacket, but the front presents really well. All illustration pages present, including Marilyn Monroe and all of the comic book pictures. $595 shipped in the US.

Thanks for the interest. I'll work on that one later tonight.

Cool books: Five Mighty Midget Comics. Four in really sharp condition; Lance O'Casey has a lower right corner nick. Not scarce, but really cool. Take all five for $68 +$5 shipping in the US. Where else will you get high grade books from 1943 for under fifteen bucks each?

Here's some stuff that used to be scarce. Famous First Editions, ten bucks each or all three low grade books for $20 +$8 shipping in the US. Back in the 80's and 90's, I searched forever to find copies of the Famous First Edition hardbacks. I listed them in want ads in the Comics Buyer's Guide and I asked at cons. Nobody had them. It wasn't till the era of eBay that I was finally able to put together a set, and upgraded a couple times. And now they sell for, well, a good bit less than I paid for any of them. I still think they are really cool books to have, and it's a great way to read these Golden Age beauties. As you might guess, I'm tired of battling the photos from my phone (in Apple's HEIC format) to try to get them into something the rest of the world can use (JPG) and get them oriented properly. I use a PC, and photos that are correctly rotated on my PC end up completely incorrect when I upload them. My apologies for forcing you to turn either your head or your screen. FFE Hardcover, Sensation #1, copy A. Large rip to dust jacket. Water damage to book and jacket (for example, see water stains on splash page). FFE Wonder Woman #1. Low grade dust jacket has been (gasp! choke!) taped to the hardcover book! FFE Sensation #1, copy B. No dust jacket. BC splash stains that I hope are just yogurt or milk.

Coming up, perhaps tomorrow: Another SOTI, this one with the bibliography! Another POP, this one from England! And more! Of course there's more!

True Crime #3. One of the greatest crime covers of all time. A CGC 5.5 CR/OW just sold for $1800 on eBay tonight. Well worn copy, presents nicely. The biggest problem: one page missing at the centerfold. $295 shipped in the US. True Crime is one of the most outlandish crime series there was. Issue #2 was cited by Wertham more than any other book. He mentioned and pictured it several times in SOTI, as well as in his Ladies' Home Journal article and elsewhere. Issues #2 and 3 were both pictured on a posed newsstand rack of comics that was pictured in Wertham's Ladies' Home Journal article. Volume 2, number 1 was also mentioned in SOTI, so Wertham probably read the entire series. The term "classic" is tossed around a little too freely for my liking, but if this doesn't qualify as a classic cover then nothing does. Okay, maybe Action 1 and AF15 are more classic. But this one is way up there anyway. This book has it all: action, suspense, murder, drugs, Jack Cole, and that classic RAT cover!

Thanks!

Are you ready for some BAKER? Phantom Lady #20, low grade copy, $650 shipped in the US. This book has a significant accumulation of defects, but on the plus side the pages are nice and supple. Piece out of FC at right edge. Page 1 had a small chunk out that was taped back in. CF loose at the top staple. There are numerous tears on some pages that are repaired" with tape. For a long time I thought the piece on the back cover was amateur restoration: it looked to the naked eye like somebody had taped in a small pink piece of paper to make up for a missing small piece of BC. As I inspect it closer (these old eyes need to use magnification), I see that it is actually just a tape repair and the paper is original to the book. It appears that after the BC got a tear, a piece was folded under and then somehow got stained pinkish. Then years later the folded-under piece was restored to its rightful place with a piece of household tape. There is a name penciled on the BC that somebody tried to erase. Beyond that, I inspected the book for restoration and I found nothing: no color touch, no trimming, and no pieces added. I am confident that this book is unrestored, and of course I will back that up with full return privileges if you find that I'm mistaken. GPA shows only three copies sold in the last year. The closest comp is a 2.5 that went for $800 in 11/2019.

Parade of Pleasure, by Geoffrey Wagner, US edition, 1955. With heavily worn dust jacket that has pieces missing. The book has some waviness to the pages from moisture damage. Name (I presume) inside FC has been scribbled out. All pages are intact, including all of the comic book illustrations and the Marilyn Monroe photo. $295 shipped in the US. This book is basically the UK's answer to SOTI. Author Geoffrey Wagner takes on not just comics, but paperback books, pinup magazines and movies as well. Last I knew, Overstreet's entries for POP were incorrect. Here's what you need to know. There were two worthwhile printings of POP, and then a third printing (softcover) that was a piece of . The editions of POP were as follows: 1) First edition, 1954, hardcover published by Derek Verschoyle, London. Issued with illustrated dust jacket that includes photos of comics. The book has gold lettering on the spine and an illustration of a woman on the cover. The back of the jacket is blank. 2) Second edition, 1955, hardcover published by Library Publishers, New York. Issued with illustrated dust jacket that includes photos of comics. The book has a blank front cover. The back of the jacket has a list of other books available from Library Publishers. 3) Third edition, 2010, softcover published by Pure Imagination. Not issued with a dust jacket. This book includes none of the illustrations that were in the first and second editions. Instead, all new illustrations were added. The text of the book appears to have been generated by running a previous printing through a really bad OCR device and then printed without so much as a simple bit of proofreading.

Picture Post with article "Should US 'Comics' Be Banned?" British mag with cool photo of a kid reading a comic, and reproductions of dangerous comic book panels. Rusty staples, with some pages loose at the staples. $65 +$5 shipping in the US. I love the fact that they felt compelled to put the word "comics" in quotes.

Your Child and Radio, TV, Comics and Movies booklet by Paul Witty and Harry Bricker Not rare, as touted by some eBay sellers, but still a really cool look at how comics were viewed in the mid-1950's. $35 plus $5 shipping in the US.

Coming up, I have all of your favorite anti-comics books: SOTI, POP and L&D, as well as a cool anti-"comics" article that you may not have seen! Here is the first SOTI: Seduction of the Innocent by Dr. Fredric Wertham, first print, second state (no bibliography), with dust jacket. $275 shipped in the US. BOOK: The book is clean and unmarked. Some minor handling wear and corner bumps. All typical pages are present, including all 16 pages of illustrations. The bibliography page is absent, so I added a tipped-in photocopy of the bibliography. DUST JACKET: The jacket is solid, with fading of the spine text and some paper loss at the head and tail of the spine and at the top & bottom of the flaps. The jacket is protected in a Brodart-style sleeve. Wertham's anti-comics work helped spark comic book burnings, a televised United States Senate investigation into the dangers of comic books, and eventually the Comics Code. Large numbers of publishers collapsed and creators were put out of work. This is the book that almost killed the comic book industry back in the mid-1950's. If you're looking for a copy of SOTI, the first thing you need to know is that the listing in Overstreet is rife with errors. They list the editions incorrectly, they list the same dust jacket twice with different prices on each, and there are a bunch of other problems with it. I tried years ago to get them to correct their errors, but that didn't work out. They fixed some errors, but added a slew of new ones. The first copies of SOTI were: 1) First Edition, First Print, First State. This came out in April, 1954. The book has an "R" colophon on the publication page. The dust jacket does not say "SECOND PRINTING." The term "first state" refers to the bibliography leaf on pp. 399-400, which is intact. 2) First Edition, First Print, Second State. After the books were printed, the publisher (Rinehart) determined that they might get sued by comic book publishers for all of the damaging things that were written about them. So Rinehart ordered the bibliography removed from all of the books prior to its distribution. Most copies, like the one I'm offering here, don't have the bibliography leaf because a Rinehart employee sliced it out. If you own a copy of SOTI, and you look carefully where pp. 399-400 should be, you can typically see a stub that shows you where the page was sliced out. 3) First Edition, Second Print. At some point in the mid-1950's, I suspect it was late 1954 or early 1955, Rinehart created a second printing of SOTI. This has two distinguishing characteristics. On the publication page of the book, the "R" colophon is absent. On the dust jacket, the term "SECOND PRINTING" appears at the top of the front flap. Apparently the process of typesetting and printing was very expensive back in the middle of the last century, because the second print seems to have been printed using all the same plates, including the bibliography. Once again, the bibliography was removed manually from these books, leaving just a stub where pp. 399-400 should be. As near has I have been able to tell, no copies of the second print survived with the bibliography intact. After that, there was a UK edition (Museum Press, 1955), then a second US edition (Kennikat Press, 1972), and then a whole slew of print-to-order books since about 1996. The modern reprints all claims to be part of a "limited edition" of 220 copies, but don't let that fool you. They print a batch, sell 220 copies, and then print another "limited" batch. If you just keep printing every time you run out, that seems like "unlimited" to me and their claims of "limited edition" are extremely misleading.

Here's a beaut. Strange Terrors #6. Fantastic bondage cover on this 100-pager. It's a former CGC 5.0, cracked out (label included). I tried to get pics of the significant defects. One slightly unusual defect is the tag hanging off the back cover. It looks like a piece must have been folded in when the book was cut, leaving this small tag that sticks out beyond the edge of the book. Other than that, you have a some small rips in the edge of the FC and BC, and some impact damage at the top center of the book. $500 shipped in the US.