OtherEric

Agreed. I'm finding cycling what I'm focusing on with EC's to be very useful. Can't find copies of the last few MAD's I need? Go get War for a bit. War is getting harder to find cheap issues? There's quite a few inexpensive issues of Shock around. (Admittedly, inexpensive Shock is still pricier than War. But compared to itself...) Shock is drying up? Go grab some SF. I'll probably go after a few of the Two Fisted Tales I still need next, they've been out of the cycle a while and more are popping up.

And, with this book, I now have all of the New Trend humor books (as opposed to books in other genres that had humorous stories) : Mad, Panic, and one story in this. It's admittedly one I might want to upgrade at some point because of the chunk out of the cover. But the price was right, with the two sets of glasses:

A couple in today. First off, another issue of Weird Science. I'm definitely filling in the later issues pretty well:

Today's digest pick-up. The last SF magazine I needed with an H. Beam Piper story, there's still one non-fiction piece he wrote for TRUE magazine that I don't have. I'm also missing the handful of books he did that came out in hardcover:

Bookery's guide lists it as scarce as well.

This one, unfortunately, has a detached centerfold on an otherwise beautiful copy. I blame John G. Fantucchio, they should have taken better care of the book. (I think this is only my second book to belong to a recognized pedigree, I have a Don & Maggie Thompson issue of Panic as well.)

Got about a dozen NatLamps in today. Here are the two big ones. The January 1973 is a reader, but the cover looks decent and I'm happy to get a copy.

I actually think that one generated LESS controversy than National Lampoon frequently did, actually. As near as I can tell it's been considered a classic roughly since day one, and one of the all time great magazine covers. The issue has a new Neal Adams Deadman story, so I could definitely go either way with including it among comics.

http://bookscans.com/Publishers/twins/twins.htm I'm not even slightly a fan of the layout of that site, and the images are frequently tiny. But in terms of sheer numbers of covers, it's one of the best out there.

New York World's Fair, first published story. Adventure #40, the story was produced before the NYWF story, but made it to print later.

I know you were really looking forward to that one! Some stunning gloss on that cover.

I absolutely believe you, as just a couple years ago I got a Crime & Justice 20 and a Space Adventures 13 (with Blue Beetle) for $5 or so from KAYO books in SF. There was clearly a find of late '54 Charltons down in that area a while back.

Nah, I'm grateful for him, actually. If he hadn't abused his copy, my 22 year old, ice cream truck driving self, couldn't have afforded that Mad #1 on layaway 27 years ago. And while it wasn't the first comic book issue of Mad I owned, it was the book that taught me that not only could I get old comics, I could get KEY old comics. That book was a revelation to me. And I am still amazed at the weight of history in my hand when I hold it. Mad #1 is one of the most important books of the 20th century in terms of the influence it had and what it started.

Glad I was able to upgrade that coverless #3 fairly quickly, as well... but was very glad to get it when I did. #3 isn't as tricky as #5, but it may be the second hardest comic book issue to track down. I'm also a firm believer in Murphy's law... you skip the filler copy, you'll regret it because you won't see another for years. I'll need to make sure it finds a good home sometime soon. So cool that you still have your first back issue like that! I've still got my first 10c comic (a Looney Tunes), but I know a lot of collectors have long ago let go books like that. They're landmarks in a collection that you can never replace even if you get different copies. Here's the first EC I ever got; to my regret I sold it about 15 years ago to help pay rent. Then, about 5 years ago or so I stumbled across it from a different dealer at Emerald City Comic Con... the copy I had sold, I recognized the wear on it. I didn't realize how much I had regretted letting it go until I found it again. It's not leaving my collection now that I have it back, no matter how battered it is. And amazed that I was lucky enough to come across it!

And finishing up with the first three Feldstein edited issues, which have inventory material from Kurtzman still. I certainly don't dislike the later issues... I've probably got close to 100 scattered issues... but this is the part of the run that I've focused on, and completing the 1-31 run is a major accomplishment in my collecting.