Mmehdy

As we are heading to FF#1 and as a person who paid 10 cents off the new stand, probably supermarket, I was at a San Diego Comic Con one year, and noticed a 50% discounted book entitled "Fantastic Four #1 Panel by Panel hardcover." I remember how great that book was But is was 4, 5,6 which really stood out in my mind, still I did a blind buy on it. To my surprise I learned a very important lesson. Going Panel by Panel in original comic book form I was simply stunned how really great this issue was. I had read probably 50 times FF1 in my lifetime which included the 25 times as a Kid. Jack Kirby put Roy Lichtenstein to shame 100 times over. I was stunned and my taken for granted appreciation hit a brick wall. This is a "pop art" 25 page masterpiece on elevated level yet to be achieved in comic book history. I highly recommend this still highly discounted book. It opened my eyes up and I was there from the beginning. I look forward to your amazing insight on the real creation of the marvel universe big bang. I do want to do a shout out to the late Greg Theakston and my conversations with him at SDCC on his very important "Pure Images magazine #1 (vol 3) and #2 on with his "birth of marvel comics"...I believe he was the first to publish the Ditko AF 15 cover and an early FF cover reject also....those articles were fantastic as they were not Stan Lee marvel propaganda. This guy interviewed Kirby, Ditko( who refused to let Greg use him word for word) and Ditko's former roommate in PERSON. There is a 33 page history in depth article. However it was my conversations with him concerning the birth of both Marvel Comics which I was really interested in, the stuff that never made either publications which simply blew me away. If anyone has those and can post those issues, I think it went about 4/5 issues, I have them but they are in storage as a supplement to this best article of all time on marvel, which someday should be consolidated in a book or website...bring them forward. I can still remember the look on his face, the smile with pride on my comment to him about How did you do this?...this is simply amazing....since this is 3d party I will qualify my comments to remind you in the future about the source....The conversations along with the great magazines changed the way I thought about the Big Bang coming up with FF1 and after. That is why this posts and your other ones are so refreshing, honest, and reflective of a past lost with the real story being brought out month by month. Keep up the great work!!

Here is a thought Steve Ditko sends in story with his signature and Stan later adds his name knowing that Ditko would never check… it appears Stan’s signature was done after Ditko ……

I agree on this "big change" and I do not want to get ahead of myself...but to me the biggest change came in the total story page count of FF1...earlier you had Marvel editions asking if readers liked the expanded stories from 7 to 10 to 15....but FF #1 was 25 pages.....that to me was the key, I do not know the page count of the All Winners Squad issues but do you know what was the last 25 page Timely/Marvel story before FF#1 in any format?

This careful issue by issue, month by month, year by year analysis which I cannot recall every being done by anyone gives us a real perspective of what was actually done compared to what the hype has been or more accurately assumed that Stan really created it all. Again from my unique chance of seeing Stan autograph a original FF #12 page at SDCC with his showing of where is dialog that he wrote pointed out and his comment that a number of pages for some reason did not contain that...his emotional response which you could clearly see in face...showed that either he believed that his contributor as the writer had been undermined by recent opinions being expressed by the late Jack Kirby at that time he had passed away. Sometimes we ourselves can convince ourselves of a exaggeration and make it become part of our memory . Confirmation Bias have 3 types...one is based on a biased memory in which memory distortions are stored as exact replicas of reality. If I had to guess, I think Stan believed he did much more than he actually did. You evidence thus far is clearly showing this. I can hardly wait to we hit FF1 month and your commentary.

Wild price fluctuations on Amazon as the price is back up to over $183 dollars and a different seller which is “book depository “ However the outstanding prices on Avengers and AMSM are unchanged. Anyone get the FF book from Amazon yet?

His Tashen AMSM review was top rate also, he is an interesting fellow and has number of great review videos on Marvel Masterworks etc....but he is located in England that is about all I know

Outstanding!! let us know what you think about both of them. Dollar for Dollar best comic book buy out there...

Super nice …. Look forward to getting your opinion on the overall book .. congratulations on low number!

Remember the old saying...you get what you pay for. Now I pre-ordered early and just received a notice that my copy will not ship until estimated Jan 13,2023...it might be shipped early or later than that date and it was a Amazon direct purchase. Here is a tip on Amazon buying: check to see who you are actually buying from. It is located right below the yellow buy button. Here is why....If it sales sold by Amazon it means they have the book in stock at their wherehouse or have it confirmed with a sub-supplier. So the AMSM#1 and Avengers #1 both are sold by Amazon. FF MCL is a whole different animal. The first shipment Amazon got of FF MCL was sold out as it was stated on the website and it was priced at $181...after that a second supplier stepped in "superbpookdeals" and if you look at their reviews one of them says that they ship "late". Also there is a number of negative reviews 5-10%...so they say very cleverly "usually ships in 2/3 days" I suspect that might not be realistic especially since they no longer take direct orders on their website. Your $ should be protected as Amazon will probably not pay them until shipment. Those who got the book from Tashen will have a super Christmas present of a great read. In the meantime waiting for a board member review!

You will get yours before me....please let us know your thoughts on the job Tashen did...thanks

FLASH...Amazon has put a black Sat sale price of only $155.00 on it...if you are on the fence this is your opportunity!!!!!!! PS :Spidey at only $147 the both of these are best bang for your holiday bucks.

simply put another fantastic post, especially when you click on the pics and they are blown up...thank you for all you very great time and effort, especially on these smaller and in some way better shows, the magic is still alive with the feel of a "real comic book" convention.

It is on at Amazon...$181 and available this and the Frank Frazetta Tashen Big book coming out in March are my most awaited comic and fantasy art book of the year...now lets get some reviews going...waiting for shipping news.

It’s in stock and available now at tashen… Amazon should be tomorrow … did anyone get either the SM or Avengers deluxe edition…. Opinion at to there worth as opposed to the extra costs as I know there had a very limited print run with slipcase

Stage 1 spot on, used books stores used sell 12 cent comics for only 10 cents or less early 60's FYI Stage 2--Overstreet was the "market" and everyone was looking for not only the underpriced books, but the unknown books like Earth Man on Venus, Mask of Fu C etc.... Stage 3-The market changed to only high end buyers for the cream of the crop, Action 1 in VF sold by Bruce Hamilton for 25K which was a big deal...1982 Stage 4-Infomation explosion helped pricing upwards but it was the age old factor of Demand which increased from the Rocket Blast comic collectors to the entire world via Ha, Ebay and of course CGC which gave the market confidence to increase prices to investment level.

please give us a review as they might send your before Amazon ever gets it...can't wait for board member opinion...

I think the fact that the book was a “giveaway “ with no price on the cover will hold it back from ever hitting one million let alone 2M. Historically I think the book is important… but it’s not Super/Bat/Cap league. There always is a possibility that two timely whale collectors could go toe to toe but would be a contest and not true actual market value upon evaluating possible resale with real collectors with real budgets would be able to bid. Is it undervalued… it certainly has been public sales wise under the radar which is sometimes a recipe for undervaluation but not 80x times prior sale. It would be interesting to set up a vote to see what would be the top 5… if any board member can do that help me out…

There is a new 19 min review posted by Andrew Buckle on you tube entitled “ fantastic four marvel comics library 3 Taschen marvel book review”. I like andrew’s reviews in general and fairly balanced and he has also reviewed 1 and 2 both of the taschen’s first releases. I especially liked his review of Spider-Man voL 1 flat out the book looks fantastic! If someone can link this video to the thread it would be helpful. Again I will be posting my own review once I receive my copy from Amazon.

Very true the rarest books have scarce info on GPA or current market prices. In some ways that actually holds back value as depending upon the economy and the market at the time, measuring value based upon the last sale is very unreliable. 13 years between sales at Ha like the above is a real unknown. There probably is some super rare GA book out there one of kind(any pics on these) that can never fully obtain true value because of that very fact. MPF #1 today would bring around 100K in my opinion...yours?

Yes you are right, its too bad those six issues were great reads.....any other guesses out there. I will give you my review as soon as I get the book which should be very fast after that date as I am a prime member, anyone else have it on pre-order....best price?

Amazon has finally posted a release date of November 26, 2022 for the regular edition. If anyone gets their copy early please chime in on your impressions. After Cap GA edition comes out the real mystery is what would be next… Hulk 1-6 which would mean probably a smaller price point would be my preference as a collector and I bought all those issues from my local drug store… but they might go for Thor because of the success of the movies…. Any suggestions? Guesses?

I think the interesting thing was when they expanded the monster stories to 13 pages or greater and asking the readers if they liked longer stories which you called my attention to in looking at the old stories..it set the foundation fo FF1 to be a book length masterpiece. Another is a return such as the Hulk monster in which you would relate to a sort of monster universe. I know Dr Droom is coming and I cannot wait to hear your take on that Character effect of FF, Hulk etc. 1961 and especially 1962 were my favorite year to collect comic books.

The next volume is going to be Cap I think 1-12 or 1-13 and I assume it GA material if anyone knows let me know about the exact contents coming please confirm that. I will second if Tashen is looking for especially the early Ant Man issues which I bought off the news stands, the early issues were quite popular when released among current collectors especially 35-43

If anyone else gets their copy please chime in with your impressions, I think $200 version is gonna be in Late Nov and the special edition is in Dec.......especially if you get a review copy or if a firm date is established for the releases please give us a heads up.

Wow never knew about that, but the dual appearance of both a house AD and a new color created page with Both characters clearly is heads above any single panel or advertising in establishing a true first appearance....this is head and above the usual reference and to my mind clearly establishes what Cap first published appearance is......This book is THE best underpriced buy out there in the GA by a mile...especially given the recent record prices for Cap 1.