vaillant

I've always loved the cover of #24, so spacey and crazy. It took me a while to finally get one at a price I was willing to pay. You can only imagine how dreamy it was when, as an italian collector without much income, I first got an issue under #20. I think I stared at my #16 for years… That and the #8 which I purchased for $60 when I visited Los Angeles. And had it signed by Jack Kirby in his own home! – Still unbelievable, but it happened.

#16 and #24 have also been among the first ones I purchased (I loved #24!) – and for a long time #16 was the lowest numbered in my collection as well.

In Italy, at the time, there was a sort of "renaissance" of publishing of material from american comic books: they published basically EVERYTHING, so it’s no surprise at all that they published Batman Adventures. They probably did not use the cover to #12, however, I don’t recall.

Wow Jason, I do not envy your mother-in-law! All the best for the new store, keep us updated!

What is 9-9?

Buy it for your son who likes Deadpool: he probably won't be disappointed!

This story in Italy (and other countries) is comparable to one of Barks' of Gottfredson's best stories when they came out first. Here’s your occasion: it’s coming out first for the first time in USA! P.S. Scarpa was directly inspired by Alfred Hitchock's "Vertigo" for this classic story: Mickey Mouse's sinking into his unconscious!

If quality matters, you should get this (and the following issue), because it’s a "must have" (more details if you want, but it’s a first edition of a classic Scarpa story from the "atomic age", never published before in USA):

It’s a single storyline. :shrug:

Yeah I guess it is tiresome, but how else would a book like Thor 132 or 133 ever shoot up in value without some movie hype around it. I don't see any harm unless you are trying to complete a run of Thor and now a couple of books became a little harder to obtain. I don't think people will be doing hoops to buy the first appearance of Ego I said the same thing about Howard the Duck and Rocket Raccoon after GOTG1. People are bananas. True. But everyone had heard of Howard the Duck and I think many of us knew of Rocket, so I think these books have collectible value in them in grade. But "Ego"? No. This is comic book speculation at its finest -- has nothing to do with collecting. Strictly speaking, Ego is a lot more important than Rocket Raccoon. If no one would have used (and thwarted) Rocket Raccoon in this "Guardians of the Galaxy" the character's popularity would be very limited. Also, one should also think "globally" nowadays: each and every italian reader of Thor in the 1970s and the 1980s still remembers Ego, while Howard the Duck was basically never been published here (until recently, as they did an Omnibus). On top of all that, Ego was created by (Stan Lee and) Jack Kirby.

I'd replace endless reboots and deaths/rebirths with history and continuity. 50, 60, 70 years of continuity - nobody can remember all of that stuff. Publishers don't care and writers don't want to be hampered by something that happened decades ago. I believe you are mixing a lot of elements, all of this does not justify the lack of respect Marvel has been showing for at least twenty years. And if you really cared about a character, you remember everything, at least you remember what counts. Marvel does not. To keep the spirit Hector probably wanted for the thread, I’d say that Marvel will have to replace me very soon. It has been difficult, but they finally managed to do it.

Well, one thing is "a soft spot", and one thing is objectively judging these new authors when they started. In 1989-90 I was already 20, and have been "reading" comics and drawing since I was 3, and Ron Lim's Silver Surfer was just… Not so good.

The Dream Queen was a little later. The Alphas of the 50's were....I can't quite remember, as there was so little that recommended them, and it's been years. The Dream Queen was the 60's/70's. But yes, nice Jim Lee art, and you could see his work really evolve here. I actually think that Portacio's finest work was on X-Factor and Uncanny of this time period, 1991. It's beautiful stuff. I love the cover to #281. Stunning. One of the best covers of the run. A lot of people don't like his exaggerated mouths, stretched open beyond reason, but that's a small quibble, I think. I love the long hair he drew on all the women, and his eyes. Yes, in the beginning he was more promising. I still have to read The Legion of Night, which I bought at the time as I am a big Steve Gerber big fan, but found weird how it was conceived, and how Portacio drew Fing Fang Foom.

How many do you have, Bosco?

Ill try with the pair I recall: Alpha Flight #51 should be Jim Lee, Hawk & Dove obviously Liefeld, and X-Factor should be Stroman (which I still have problems with). Very good! The only error is X-Factor #63, which was Portacio's breakout. Stroman was never "hot enough" for "long enough" for any of his work to be broken out. I was reading Alpha Flight, and loving it, at the time. I just started to follow the titles in original edition (not in italian), so I recall when Jim Lee arrived, and I quite liked him. Not much afterwards. The Dream Queen storyline, right? Portacio wasn’t bad either, but I believe all pretty much ruined themselves coinciding with their "popularity rise". Although some improved, it took… well, a lot. For anyone wondering, I was of course speaking for myself when i said I would not probably buy a #300 at the ongoing prices. I have it, luckily.

.... only my opinion, but the continued popularity of the book could be due to more than just 1st Venom. It's got a decent cover, it's an anniversary ish, it's a McFarlane book from a famous run, and very nice copies can still be had for less than 500..... which is the glass ceiling for 98% of collectors. It also gets the ASM bump. GOD BLESS... -jimbo(a friend of jesus) It’s not necessarily because of the subsequent popularity of Venom as a "standalone character" that #300 is shought after. Jim is right on all his points. Except for the fact I would never buy it for over $100…

I’ll try with the pair I recall: Alpha Flight #51 should be Jim Lee, Hawk & Dove obviously Liefeld, and X-Factor should be Stroman (which I still have problems with). Collecting for the artist… Well, I have done so for Quitely, mostly. Hey, I even bought Jupiter's Legacy… It takes Quitely to make me buy a book written by Millar.

I started reading it with #306, so luckily I purchased #300 slightly afterwards the issues in the #310s, but I seem to recall it was already a book which costed slightly more than the others (around 1990) – may it be?

To be honest, I am not crazy about these two painted covers reinterpretations… They are a lot less dramatic than the originals. But if I recall correctly, the one of Fantastic Four #5 is quite nice, I’d like to see it once again.

Many thanks! I added your journal thread to my favorites, I must get back to Iron Man in the future, as I am no engineer but loved the armor changes regardless…

Early Marvel books from the german publisher have recolored covers, and "striking" color schemes, so the early french Lug editions… I don’t like them but after a few issues the german editions use the regular colors. I love that Iron Man, and following the armor developments in Iron Man is a thing I’d have loved to do, but I was focused on more "urgent" issues. Do you have a checklist for these?

Simply put: Thor, if he has to be the norse god of mythology, is NOT a woman. Making it a woman does not make sense, and it is even irritating to use Jane Foster. Also, Jason Aaron does not have the background to write this kind of things. I am not annoyed by Falcon taking the mantle of Captain America, but the whole idea about Thor does not make sense to begin with.

It looks like a very well done site, but I agree with Hector's considerations.

This says it all. This specific thread is about value speculation. I think we can say that many books don't fall into the "I've read that" category. There are plenty of threads praising comics and stories that people like, gasp... just for the story. If you can spot quality, you may easily be able to pick up books cheaply while the fan base develops. Reading the books is an important part to any speculative approach. This is reason many people smart people were buying Saga #1 when it was $20 raw or $100 in CGC 9.8. I wish this was true, but in real life reading (as well as artistic, lets not forget) tastes differ. Theres no one book that appeals to all. Some like the camp stuff (which is 90% of your golden-silver age stuff) and some like the darker and more thought provoking stuff (which is some bronze and heavily influenced within copper-current reading material) On the art side of things that is very much the same. Take for example, Arthur Adams. Art was probably the reason why we have Liefeld, Mcfarlane and many other successful artists in our industry, and his art is superior to theirs when it comes to quality and style, plus he's a pioneer. His books never appreciated in value significantly UNLESS they were manufactured collectible variants (which both you and me hate). The reason why a comic book elevates its status from reading material to collectability is demand. And nowadys, sadly, that is mostly generated from hype. While I would not definitely reduce things to a mere matter of "taste", I see Aweandlorder point as being reasonable, but I can just use it in reverse: speculating on things just trying to guess what will become "hot" merely increases momentary demand and gives a false perception of inherent value. The bottom line, for me, is that this kind speculation is never good.

I’d love a Whitey-white #24 to upgrade mine… but glad with my midgrade copy anyways.