OtherEric

In today. I believe I'm just down to needing We Can Build You for first editions of all the PKD paperback originals. But that one is proving hard to find a 1st printing, most listings are unclear at best.

And this finishes off my 1984 run. My 1994 run is still about 12 issues shy of complete, though

The spine looks a bit banged up, but it's cheaper than you would normally find a reader copy, I think. Definitely some nice Perez art in the book.

Today's addition. Story is complete, but the seller split it at the wrong point:

I’m now tempted to buy a couple low grade copies of the 1986 Incredible Hulk and Wolverine reprint (which was accidentally printed on newsprint, not Baxter paper) just to tear out pages to use as packing material to mess with people.

I recall at least one package of comics I bought from a boardie used coverless comics as the packing material, although they weren't crumpled up... they used enough to fill the box tightly.

By the time I was getting my subscription, they were no longer folded, although otherwise the mailers looked similar... Just twice as wide.

The winter issue was the first 1949 issue. It could have been Winter 1948-1949. The last issue was Summer 1949. However, several years later Walter Gibson wrote another Shadow novel that was published by Belmont books; which is generally included on lists of Shadow novels. (The later Belmont books are not generally well regarded and don't always make the list.) So a list that automatically correlates titles and dates could have put "Return of the Shadow" into a nonexistent Fall 1949 slot. As far as I know, the Shadow novel was written new in the 60's; unlike the corresponding case with Doc Savage where an unpublished novel by Lester Dent was located and finally printed in the 70's.

Mine all came in brown paper wrappers. I've actually got a couple of those in a box somewhere, but not from my personal subscription... a local store bought a lot of books from somebody who had kept the books in them; they were just going to dump them but I asked for and grabbed a few. No idea where I put them or what books were originally in them, though.

Oh, one other detail that probably doesn't matter but might be worth mentioning: the subscription was when my family was living in Germany, on the very off chance the books going international had some further difference. Which seems highly unlikely, but goodness knows we've run into details that initially seem irrelevant but turn out not to be in this thread more than a few times.

I could be wrong, but I believe the "Marvel Subscription Insert Included" means a subscription ad bound inside the book similar to a Mark Jewelers insert, not that it is somehow a subscription copy. I can't imagine why a subscriber would get a 3rd print in any case.

Well, here's the cover of my subscription copy from 1981. And, in case there's any bonus data you can glean from it, the indicia as well:

I believe I still have all the issues from that subscription (issues 49-60 of the original Marvel Star Wars run), they are much loved but I've still got them. I will try to dig them out soon, but not sure where to look at them for differences.

I haven't had a subscription to a comic since 1982, but back then they were the newsstand version, not the direct. (For reference, the book was Star Wars, and the last issue of my Subscription was #60.)

This week's addition:

It's clearly 1/-, Malacoda. (I'll be here all week, folks, and don't forget to tip your servers...)

And it coincidentally works out that we're doing the Christmas issue on Easter Sunday. Are we turning into the National Lampoon Reading Club here?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_seal Just in case anybody else was wondering, I vaguely recalled them.. but only vaguely.

Creepy 25 thoughts: Cover: The cover on this one is just weird enough to work, barely. I shall not be so kind the next time they take a picture of a mask and use it as a cover. Loathsome Lore: Nice art by Colon, but the writing borders on incoherent, taking several tries for me to figure out what it's trying to say. Keep Your Spirits Up: Beautiful art by Crandall, the -script serving largely as a framework for Crandall to have fun drawing. Not the first nor the last time we'll see that sort of story in the Warrens, and if not done too often it can produce some wonderful results. Witches' Tide: Still a very nice piece by Goodwin & Colan. Their Journey's End: Pure SF rather than horror. The addition of a little shading really helps Colon's work, I think. It That Lurks: Still a good but not spectacular piece by Goodwin & Adkins. I'm not sure reprinting two stories from the same issue of EERIE is optimal, but at this point who knows what they're thinking? Deep Ruby: Magnificent Ditko art. If they have to go for reprints I'll never gripe about those reprints being Ditko. An Unlikely Visitor: A good but not particularly outstanding story by the Williamsune/ Parente team. But for an anthology like the Warrens, there's too much material required for everything to be outstanding... and having good stories rather than garbage as the lesser works in an issue is vital. This is another solid issue. They're still awfully heavy in the reprint aspects of the dark ages, but the new material here is hitting a decently high standard overall.

No idea on the value, but the signature at the bottom is Quesada + Rubinstein, not just Rubinstein.

Thread needs a bump. Today's book:

Today's addition:

Today, a brace of Ace:

No. Isfdb says it's by Walter Velez. One of there years I'll find my Steranko Shadow covers in storage and post them here, though.

Today's mail call: