OtherEric

Found at a local store today:

I've got all of Zenith Phase I and Phase IV, all of the interludes or other side stories, and a handful of Phase III. Phase I was all in the wild finds, but I put some effort into finding the stories that weren't in the Titan collections back when it was unclear if Phase IV and the other odd bits would ever be collected or not.

Today's book. This gives me, if not every book with the "Warren Presents" label, the run that's generally considered the comic magazine run under that title.

Thank you for the heads up about KAYO, I’ll hopefully be getting there around Halloween. Such a spectacular store

Looking at the lot, and checking MCS's supply of the title, I can't see why anybody would have consigned them in the first place. Just the buyer's premium and shipping costs would push the prices too high to be worth bothering on qualified books, even if you got them at the minimum bid, I would think.

Only one addition today. I've actually got two of the original four parts in Argosy, as well:

What’s special about the Rogue Queen? I think I’ve got a copy of that edition somewhere.

Pulps have been going bonkers the last few years, that's for sure.

There's another collection that's just called "Weird Tales" where they did the same thing, new Finlay cover on the 1st two printings and Batwoman on the 3rd. But they changed the background from Brown to Green on that one. I don't have a copy of that one, need to get one.

Sorry, crashed early last night and forgot to post this morning before work. Vampirella #2 thoughts: Cover: Much better than Bill Hughes' cover on Eerie #30, that's for sure! This one is, if not quite a classic, definitely well known and well regarded. Feary Tales: A good piece by Sutton as far as it goes, but it feels more like something that belongs over in Famous Monsters than Vampirella to me. Evily: As usual, I'll grant that Grandenetti does good work even if I'm not a fan. The story itself is completely inconsistent with what we later learn about Vampirella, and doesn't even match that well with the one story we've already had. Between those factors I can't really assess the story as a whole very well; it would have read very differently when it first came out. Montezuma's Monster: A decent but rather slight feeling story. Down to Earth: A story that's far more interesting for things other than the actual story. We get what appear to be caricatures of Forrest J. Ackerman and James Warren, and the introduction of Vampirella's sister, Draculina, as a one-time host. As far as I know she doesn't show up again until the Christopher Priest run starts fifty years later; where she's now on her second limited series tying into the main Vampirella storyline Priest is doing. But for a long time it was just another anomaly everybody ignored. Queen of Horror: I believe this is the the Warren debut of D. Piscopo, who doesn't seem to have that extensive a comic career; a handful of stories for Warren over a few months and then some stories for Charlton in the mid- 70's. Decent but not spectacular art that matches the decent but not spectacular story by Glut. The Octopus: William Barry is another debut artist who does a handful of stories for Warren and not much else. I could see the plot working better in other hands, but with inconsistent art that doesn't suit Cuti's deliberately melodramatic --script this is disappointing, in part because the next to last panel shows just how effective this could have been. One, Two, Three: Excellent art by Colon, matching a great story by Cuti that all falls apart halfway through the last page with a completely ineffective, out of nowhere twist. Rhapsody in Red: The index is right, this is the best story/art combo in the issue; ending the book on a very high note once again. This issue is a mixed bag. We're seeing new creators figuring out their craft, as well as creators trying to add a little more depth to the host character than we've seen in the other books. So there's a lot of good, a lot of bad, and the whole winds up as less than the sum of its parts here. This is tempered by the sense that the series is generally regarded as having gotten a reboot with issue #8. With hindsight, we expect the first year to be a bit messy at best given that.

Curiously, this is the third printing. The first two had a new Finlay cover. I got confused and picked up both this and the 1st at the same time down at KAYO book last year. I've made worse mistakes.

I wasn't able to get a #19 before prices went insane. I'm just lucky to have my low grade 17 and 18, at least.

Surely four versions?

Take per PM.

That’s a little more than I want to pay for that one, but not that much… Am I allowed to preemptively say “I’ll take it” if it lasts long enough to go to 30% off?

They are DC, but it is the complete output of that particular imprint.

In this case, it's actually Edmond Hamilton. As far as I know it was only ever used on Captain Future stories, plus one stray Ray Bradbury tale when he had two stories in the same magazine. Even then, Hamilton normally got to use his real name on the Captain Future stories, it was only during a brief window when others were writing them because he was in the military during WWII that they used the "Brett Sterling" name. Anyway, great pickup! If I didn't already have my copy I probably would have been trying to grab it as well.

Another comic cover by McGinnis that arrived today, with the standard version from the GCD for comparison. I know I've said it repeatedly, but I love that he's still doing covers. I need to track down the couple I'm missing.

I think I've told you this before, Marty, but seeing your original owner collection books is always a special treat!

And, just before it becomes tomorrow where I'm, the last of today's books with the Aces:

I'm in!

A few more. Green Dragon is another imprint I'm unfamiliar with.

A couple Lions and a couple Populars. Does anybody know the artist on the Popular 222? More later... I haven't even gotten to the Aces yet!