Cat-Man_America

Yeah, the full hook is probably less common, but Schomburg art was enough to hook most readers. The thing that amazes me in the detail work is that Alex had the forethought to include a powder room. These would be essential additions with women replacing men as factory labor during the war!

While the pressing boat has sailed ...getting relatively no press coverage these days... I'm much more sanguine about restoration. FTR, I don't normally seek restored books, although I'm not opposed to them and own a small number that benefit from it. I'm sure those books were restored long before I acquired them; I'd be unlikely to have professional restoration removed from a high grade book as the risk of damage might increase as would my displeasure if the removal impacted the book's appearance in any way. Like it or not, restored books are an important part of the market and I'm confident the popularity will grow allong with percentage of Universal grade values over time. The only issue with restoration carried over from the early days of grading has always been disclosure. And with third party grading being the marketplace standard, that issue was laid to rest even before the pressing debate started. My two cents (ale extra).

USA appears to be gaining in popularity again (who would've thunk it!?); just for the halibut here are my odd copies...

Here's the front and back cover of Squa Tront's first issue from Sept. '67 with Roger Hill's early fan art... Note: The back cover is unsigned; I'll double check my copy, but I believe this was also contributed by Roger.

Roger Hill was active in fandom when he worked with Jerry Weist to create Squa Tront back in '67. While I didn't know him personally back then, over the decades became aware of his passion for the hobby and commitment to EC's legacy, first as a fan and artist, eventually as a dedicated publisher of books about EC's artists. But most of all I knew him as a wonderful human being. The joy you see in his face in photos is a 100% accurate reflection of the person. His passing is a sad loss to our community, one that'd even bring tears to the eyes of the Crypt-Keeper, Vault-Keeper and Old Witch. Here is a photo I took of Roger at an OAFcon ...based on my Wayback Machine's best memory... circa 2016, with original Wood EC art and the amazingly detailed Wally Wood diorama:

Liniment, ...for my sore muscles after putting up this tree...

Fleeing mad furies to dispatched by angry gargoyles...

More AAA contenders (not comics, but unquestionably GA books with triple A covers)...

Double header: Having reviewed reactions of the many awesome covers gracing this thread, my only surprise was that these triple A books were completely ignored! Am I the only one who likes this team??? While this experiment was orphaned by it's publisher after two issues, ...obviously a thinly veiled attempt to compete with DC's ALL STAR team-up... these are unquestionably A-list attention getters in the pantheon of Timely hero books and in my humble view at least worth of an encore in spite of receiving no initial reaction from the esteemed scholarly minds on these hallowed boards. So with that bloviated introduction, ...a reprise of the classic ALL WINNER'S SQUAD; ...I'll dodge the tomatoes!

Paul to Paul...

Frank R. Paul cover art to Frank R. Paul cover art...

Hugo Gernsback (Editor) to Hugo Gernsback (Editor)...

The year isn't over yet, and comics aren't the only thing I've been drawn to acquire, but here's a pick-up from the OAFcon awhile back...

Astonishing to Astounding...

Flying rug to flying BUG...

Flying claws to flying Claus...

It seems like this is the right time of year to reflect on our personal acquisitions and views of the hobby in general. This thread's emphasis should be on collectible comic books, pulps, art, movie posters, lobby cards, music collectibles and memorabilia and even movies (BD, DVD, 16mm, etc.) including recommended reading and goals for the new year we choose to share. No limitation on items presented for forum consideration. Whether you mortgaged the farm to acquire the holiest of grails or cracked open the piggy bank to snag an oddball treasure reacquired from your childhood, it’s all game. My goal for this thread isn't the business side of collecting, the financial health of the hobby or applauding which acquisition was best, but if you want to claim bragging rights for acquiring that grail trophy for a song and can do it in the right key, hey, that's perfectly fine. Also, I’m leaving room to acknowledge best publications that comic and nostalgic memorabilia collectors should embrace. We already have threads that focus on current trends in the hobby such as it’s financial health and MasterChief's got at least one pedigree completely sorted. In short, this thread's focus is primarily a personal collecting year in review thread. Whatever you're proudest of having added to your collection since January 1st of this year is fair game for inclusion and discussion. Hopefully this thread will do justice to all aspects of our nostalgia collecting interests in 2023 ...including those unexpected holiday delights to come. This will remain open for additions through mid-January 2024 to capture late arrivals ...and probably won't disappear unless or until it scrolls off into obscurity and I lazily cut & paste it next year. As always, I’ll add my meager contributions to this thread as it evolves. Have fun!

There are several Kirby covers that I like as much as Cap #1 (which always looked a little off because of the "wings" on the right side of his mask being off ...but that's nitpicky) For Alex Schomburg, it's difficult because there are so many great ones, but MMC #46 with nazi zombies and ghoulish green Hitler cover is just hard to top...

GL's wonder dog Streak to Silver Streak's Daredevil battling The Claw in a dog collar belt!

Blackhawk to Private Dogtag...

caveman in a Nazi Viking helmet to red headed caveman and clothed monkey speaking english...

bookended EC to seeing double (bookend) EC...

ghastly EC imitation unearthed to Ghastly EC migration unearthed...