vaillant

to both.

Wow, four in a row? When did you picked them?

Oh well, history is never so easy.

That is a beauty! I was still seriously hoping you could have been able to put me in touch with Norem but well, oh, Our Lord disposed things differently. God bless him and may he rest in peace!

I believe Jack intended it as symbolic as much as it is literal. #102 is not the same thing, as the cover is already by Buscema. It is one of my favorite covers, even if it has some sadness to it, as you say.

Not for the coffins themselves. "Disturbing" in a way more subtle manner. It is a sort of visual representation of the end of an era: the Fantastic Four apparently defeated by anonymous masked villains (all looking the same), and then put into (white) coffins.

I love that Bomber. Would like to have one from the series, for the Kismet feature. My favorite would be Captain America Comics #1 but since I will never be able to afford it, I’ll say Daredevil Battles Hitler is fine.

Nothing wrong with that copy at all. I have lots of "Reading Copies" because it makes/made collecting affordable for me especially with the older books I am now collecting and I would rather complete my runs than have high grade books with lots of holes in the series that I could never afford to fill. Yes, it‘s not an issue I was willing to spend much on, and it’s so sought after – I paid even too much I believe. Now the problem is I think the story is in two parts and ends in #51 so I'll have to get that one as well.

Hi Reno, I see what you mean with the "drek". With ASM you aren’t much safer. If I did not buy them when they came out, I doubt I would fill my 1990s Fantastic Four books which – sad to admit – but often were "drek". My idea is that you could just skip sequences. I think I will get rid of some, later on, when I have completed the series. And I am still looking to get for free (or nothing) the Claremont/Larroca vol.2 issues…

Nice! I just have the early issues of Werewolf by Night.

This, at least, is nice.

#101 is an important issue: last Kirby cover and very meaningful if you analyze it. A bit disturbing too, in some way.

It’s somewhat a rag, but I can finally read it.

That's just shrewd marketing if you ask me. :thumbsup: That’s just pure if you ask me.

Nope, but this has to be at the top of the list. Maybe this was a joke? Or the owner just wanted Stan to deface the cover? I have no explanation for this one it goes like this "Hi Stan, I'm a big fan. Can you please draw a spider for me?" "I'm not really an artist." "No problem, I understand. Nevertheless, I'd still love to have the spider..." "Ok.... here goes! Whoops, sorry it doesn't look great, I told you I'm not a great artist." I fear you’re right… :shrug:

The thought of stopping at #100 never crossed my mind, not even for a millisecond.

Very sweet! Is this that one you picked from Jay?

Nope, but this has to be at the top of the list. Maybe this was a joke? Or the owner just wanted Stan to deface the cover? I have no explanation for this one…

Obviously signatures are meaningful, even more if you managed to met the artist/creator, but they should be on the book. :shrug: But to me they truly make sense in the insides, where you can choose a place where the artwork is not altered or covered. Comics are not posters.

That #56 is really pretty. Actually in #53 we see Kang and his origin, but the "costume" (which in fact is his physical appearance as "solidified sound", IIRC) only came in #56 when he returned in this form.

Steve, you can always pretend there is a Kirby signature inside and that CGC forgot to state "Jack Kirby written on first page" in the label. And yes, that signature is surely original, and better than mine (Jack was younger and signed better, I also like the cleaniness, as much as I love my own dedication).

I sort of deduced that you have shared a story of how this book was signed and personalized. I would like to read that story. Can someone point me to where this was discussed previously? thanks! No, I didn’t – I just talked about it here and there, sometimes privately via PM, sometimes when we were talking about Jack in threads. Simply put: I managed to phone him when I visited Los Angeles in 1991 and he and his wife were kind enough to receive me for an afternoon. Which, regardless to say, was dreamlike. My interview was also published in USA a pair of years later in "Comics Interview", but they stated it was conducted in San Diego so it appeared less "dated", but it is from 1991.

Sweet #10 and #26 guys…

It is. I’m 100% sure, even if the picture is small to see well. Hey, that is the twin brother of mine…

Sorry everyone: no, I did not tell as I wished to make a surprise. I forgot I had him autograph two books, not only the Fantastic Four #8. I would have gladly sold it to you Jack, but it’s inscribed "to Claudio" like the other one. The reason for my choice was that at the time they were my two favorite stories ever. After a re-evaluation the #8 would be probably replaced by a #65 if I had to choose now, but all three remain very dear to my heart, especially the Annual #6 for its "family and life and death" value. (thumbs u