OtherEric

Buckler. You can actually see the signature near the spine, right under the Black Bolt corner circle. But it's clearly Buckler in his full blown channeling Kirby mode.

In today, courtesy of @GACollectibles, with an assist from @dover:

Excellent choice, this one has "There Will Come Soft Rains", which is probably my single favorite EC story.

I'm curious why you think this is the most important story Warren published. I can see a case being made for it, but it doesn't strike me as an obvious candidate for the title either.

That reminds me of a similar yet very different reaction I got from a dealer at a show a few years ago. I pulled out a couple of the Baker Lassie issues, he asked why I was interested in them since he knew me well enough to know they weren't my typical pickup. I told him, he looked and said "These are Matt Baker?" He then flipped them over, saw the back covers, and said "These are Matt Baker!!"

Creepy #32 thoughts: General issue note: this issue is listed as "scarce" in Overstreet, and it ties for the third most valuable according to the listings. I'm really not sure why, it's not particularly hard to find, and it doesn't have the excuse the Eerie #17 or Vampirella #3 do of having sold out unusually early in the back issue ads. They were asking $20 for it near the end of the run, which was even more than the #1, though. This was actually one of the earliest Warren issues I got when I started picking them up more consistently a few years ago rather than the handful of odd issues I had gotten over the years. I want to say I got it from @TerrysComics at the Jet City Comic Show (now Grit City) in Tacoma for $10. Cover: I agree with the indexer that it looks to me like a more human sized creature staring down on the town, but there really isn't that much to indicate the scale properly and I figure Ellison interpreting it as a giant is equally valid. More comments further on. Loathsome Lore: Sutton is really good at these, which is probably why they keep assigning them to him. Not his best but still pretty decent. The Story Behind the Story: While I'm sure some of this is perhaps exaggerated, it says here... and Ellison repeated it other places... that the cover came first and Ellison based the story on the cover. So I'm really not sure why the index seems confused on the sequence of events here. It's also worth noting that this unusual hype page is probably a rare case where a story probably deserved the hype, at least in terms of the creative team. Ellison was a highly respected writer who had won multiple awards, Neal Adams was probably the hottest artist in comics at this point, compared to his debut in the Warrens a few years earlier, and Frazetta was, well, Frazetta. Getting them as a team on a story was undeniably a coup for Warren at this point. Rock God: Comics were never Ellison's primary writing, but he dipped his toe into the field pretty much throughout his long career. He's another EC alumnus they got for Warren, with his first professional sale being a story in Weird Science-Fantasy. His Warren output ties his EC output... one story each per publisher. The short story version of Rock God appeared at close to the same time as the comic version, in the November 1969 issue of the short-lived digest "Cover 13". No, I never heard of it before I just looked it up either. I've never felt this was one of Ellison's better stories, in either text or comic form, honestly. But the Adams art is magnificent, and lesser Ellison still hits a fairly high minimum level of quality. Death is a Lonely Place: A nice, moody, introspective piece. I almost want to describe it as an un-horror story, taking the trappings of horror to tell a story that really isn't. Great stuff. I... Executioner: I guessed the twist on page three. Decent filler for the issue, but nothing terribly impressive. A Wall of Privacy: A great concept, a very nice twist, and great art by Colon (as David StClair for some reason). V.A.M.P.I.R.E.: I can only assume this was meant as a parody and the writer failed at the goal. "Willamsune"'s art seems rather uninspired by the -script as well. Movie Dissector: Amusing but slight, I have almost nothing to say on this one. The 3:14 is Right on Time: An excellent conclusion to the issue. Billy Graham continues to amaze me, and Ken Dixon provided a story worth of his talents, with a surprisingly sympathetic murderer character. Great stuff. Overall, a very good issue, but I'm starting to wonder if increasing the page count back up wasn't slightly counterproductive, and we might have a better book if they dropped one or two of the lesser stories. I'm definitely not sure about that, though, because often you can't tell what will work and what won't until it's actually done, at which point they pretty much need to print it to stay in business. Never mind the fact that creators get better by making mistakes.

The Legion fanbase these days is fairly small, but very dedicated. I've got the entire run back to Adventure #247 raw, but in mixed grade at best.

So, my local store turned this up in a lot they got. They have no idea if it is legit, or even how to start figuring that out. I'm wondering if anybody here has any information on the subject. The picture is 8x10 inches on heavy stock. Thank you in advance.

Nice! I've only got five Weird Tales with Conan stories, including the three parts of "Red Nails". Not nearly as nice as your copy, though:

So glad I’ve already got this. Also, seriously?!? https://comics.ha.com/itm/magazines/vintage/liberty-magazine-january-4-1947-liberty-publishing-corp-1947-condition-vg-fn/a/40233-81074.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115

Same. I definitely appreciate it being posted, but it doesn't fit the quick reaction choices well. I think ill go with the thank you as the best choice.

Late 1962 at the earliest, I think that's a cover proof for Uncle Scrooge 40 in the foreground.

Also, obligatory at this point: Edit: While obligatory, it only makes sense if you see my post at the bottom of the previous page.

Had to post this here, there are some pence variants in the mix. More than I can pay for the collection, but I've got to admit I would love the provenance on these: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/freddie-mercury-a-world-of-his-own-crazy-little-things-2/comic-books-the-fantastic-four-x-men-and-booster?locale=en

Fun books, even if Kurtzman was no longer working on it by that point. I think it's an underrated little run.

And my actual addition to the collection today, the highlight is a Clark Ashton Smith Zothique story:

A Creepy Monday:

Today's book:

I think quite a few of us here can play that game:

Today's book. This gives me all of the "Murder of the Month" issues before the title became Murder Mystery Monthly with #5. Also showing off a Shadow digest I got last week, since I figure it will interest people here with the Woolrich and MacDonald stories.

Bonus image: The cover of Shock Suspenstories #17, illustrating "Four-Sided Triangle", since I mentioned it above:

Eerie #26 thoughts: Cover: Bode has a different collaborator on this cover, Basil Gogos. I must respectfully disagree with the indexer calling it "ugly", although I'll agree it's not Bode's best cover for the Warrens. You can see another Bode-Gogos cover on the previous page of this thread. Monster Gallery: At least this qualifies as a Monster Gallery, although the monster is a very human one this time. I Wouldn't Want to Live There: Probably the best story from Parente yet. Despite their alien appearance, the protagonists are very relatable in their actions and despair. The cover fits the story perfectly, and the twist is one of the best I've encountered yet in a Warren. An incredible start to the issue. Southern Exposure, Part 2: Nice art by Sutton, but it really didn't deserve the two-part treatment, and the two parts don't match up that well, honestly. Partly redeemed by very nice execution of the otherwise underwhelming twist, though. I would rank it higher if it had been a single chapter, I think. In the Neck of Time: A so-so story that probably should have been at least two pages shorter, with a meaningless double twist at the end. Very nice "Williamsune" art, though. I particularly like the last page with Cousin Eerie sitting and admiring the devastation. No need to keep you hanging in suspense, @Axe Elf: It's NOT a vampire story. Spiders are Revolting: Bill Warren does about ten stories for the Warren magazines, I have no idea if he's related to James Warren or not. This story is a bit of a change from what we've seen from Warren (the publisher) so far, going a bit deeper into body horror and gross-out imagery. Not normally my cup of tea, but it's definitely done very well here. Still one I give a far higher technical score to than my own personal enjoyment, though. The Scarecrow: I think this is the first story we've seen Frank Bolle do for the magazine originally, although we had reprints from the Christopher Lee book by him. A decent story, it feels to me like it was very loosely inspired by "Four-Sided Triangle" in Shock Suspenstories #17, although it definitely went in very different directions. I almost wonder if a page was accidentally dropped before publication, there seems to be something missing between pages 48 and 49. I'm not sure it's a whole page worth of story, though. Tuned In: Ken Dixon only does three stories for Warren (or comics altogether, for that matter), two of them in this issue. This one has a nice underlying idea, but getting music to work in a comic is always a challenge. At the very least, a more experienced artist than Piscopo was needed. Still, I'll give them a couple points for trying something interesting, at least. Cyked-Out: Dixon's other story works much better, it's over the top but in a good (but not great) way. Fun but minor; I think the idea would have been better served by having the twist at the end of the story come around page three and then giving us several pages of the gloriously ludicrous concept we get there playing out. Another very good issue, no reprints helps and even if not everything is to my taste I appreciate the variety of material here. This is what the book should be like at the moment, at least until they figure out how to give the three magazines distinct voices. And that evolution is still a ways off.

One of the very few SF book covers by Basil Gogos, better known for his Famous Monsters of Filmland covers. Here's the only other one by him I have, a collaboration with Vaughn Bode:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obnoxio_the_Clown I would say mascot more than feature, but my Crazy collection isn't very big either.