vaillant

Yes, "general view of grade" is appropriate. The main difference is that, in the USA if you want a truly high grade book (expensiveness aside) you can buy it, while here in Italy it’s a hunt. This of course has its advantages, but an equal number of disadvantages. Also, being the majority of our Golden Age-equivalent production journal or tabloid sized, the collections in high grade are extremely rare. I collect the years 1937-1947 of a title which represented the very first italian title publishing 100% italian comics, and it’s a gamble to find decent copies, especially of 1943, 1944 and 1945. Italy, towards the end of the war, was quite a mess, so certain single issues were lergely destroyed due to certain circumstances. This is the Christmas issue of 1940 – 1940 is not one of the extremely tough year runs but this specific issue (and the following one) had a full crib scene to be cut out of paper, and thus you can imagine: whose kid would not have cut it out?

I have never had a FF#1 in hand… I must see it! (at least…)

No, that’s not accurate: as far as Italy goes, think of it as mostly unexistent between Very Fine and Mint. In the 1970s you had grading, while most collectors did not even look at it here.

That was probably intentional, Darkseid was meant to be in the shadows…

That is so beautiful I could cry, tb…

Very nice, but the #100, technically is Silver Age. (thumbs u

You can navigate that old site to see the content of most Corno series (Corno was the publisher of italian Marvels up to 1983-84). (thumbs u

In which sense? Content? It‘s an issue of the italian Thor, this issue contains the following material adapted in italian: # 79 - (23/04/1974) THOR - Non più Dio del Tuono - 19 p Thor - No more the Thunder God (Thor, 179 - Marvel, 1966 - 1/1 - 08/1970) S.Lee - J.Kirby - V.Colletta & John Verpoorten Thor Box (Rubrica della Posta) - 01 p Copertina tratta da Creatures on the Loose_[1971], 16 di G.Kane - 01 p GULLIVAR JONES - Guerriero di Marte - 10 p Gullivar Jones - Warrior of Mars (Creatures on the Loose, 16 - Marvel, 1971 - 1/3 - 03/1972) R.Thomas - G.Kane - B.Everett GULLIVAR JONES - Il Fiume dei Morti - 10 p Gullivar Jones - River of the Dead (Creatures on the Loose, 17 - Marvel, 1971 - 1/3 - 05/1972) R.Thomas - G.Kane - S.Grainger CAVALIERE NERO - senza titolo - 06 p Black Knight - The Vikings (Black Knight, 2 - Marvel, 1955 - 1/4 - 07/1955) ? - J.Maneely - J.Maneely See here for more details on the series: http://atomik67.altervista.org/COMICS-EDITORI/CORNO/THOR-DOCUMENTI/Thor_Crono7.htm

IIRC, "The Pact", who would not love that? @Monstro: Loving your copies, man I think mine are not so nice…

Man, I loved the #8 when I read it (in italian): "Death wish of Terrible Turpin", and #9, the Forager… – Kirby at his finest! You’re transferring on me insane ideas of upgrading my (already decent) copies…

I think the popularity of FF #48 has been more due to the Silver Surfer than Galactus, anyway.

You’ve done an awesome work, Jim. (thumbs u I think it’s pretty much legit to give less importance to the Hunger Dogs (and I might always extend this to the #6 of the reprint series) – as you hear in the audio snippet Jacks tells he considered an almost fortunate event the cancellation of the titles, as he himself would have found problematic to give a proper "conclusion" to the struggle between Darkseid and Orion. Now I need to work on the Jimmy Olsens I am still missing…

Okay, after the brief discussion on the origin of the name, started by jools&jim, we can now have a full-fledged thread dedicated to Jack Kirby’s most unexpected creation, often dismissed and criticized for a lack of better comprehension. We know it starts with Jimmy Olsen #133, but I don’t have it at hand, rather one of the first 4th world books I picked when I started collecting in english was #134, and surely not for "Darkseid’s 1st appearance" – I did not even know at the time – it’s just that I always loved this cover which for me epitomizes the conflict, a lot more than generational, and the conflict and tensions of the early 1970s: youth movements, counterculture, and of course a misunderstood concept of "authority" (which clearly the superhero in some way represents). And I love it…

It‘s also a Man-Thing story…

Agreed. Jack’s reflections on Superman were awesome…

Wow Tim, a Hulk from the Philippines? This is a nice italian Hulk magazine, as it features the artwork from the original book (which was a picture frame) on the full cover. Art by the great Earl Norem…

Yes, that's very incorrect - Canada, the United States and the various countries in South America are very distinct and don't always like being associated like that. Yes, we're linked by continent name (North and South America) but I, as a Canadian, am NOT American and don't subscribe to lots of American politics and values. It's not the biggest deal to blur the lines, but I hope that makes sense. That is correct, but it’s the term which is used incorrectly. When I say "America" I don’t think of the United States, but of America as a whole, because that is the meaning of the word. And of course I do not make any kind of associations between Canada and the United States when I say "America". I just do not accept when words are not used in the correct way: I know it’s usual to use the adjective "american" to address US culture, and I myself often made this mistake in the past, but this does not change the fact that it’s not correct. As far as the price variants are concerned, I thought they were printed by Marvel itself at the very same moment of the US ones, hence my comment.

I am still missing some Jimmy Olsens, so it would be a good reminder for me as well… (thumbs u

Movie just gave an ambiguous popularity, that’s all. Both for good and for bad… Stan and Jack? Or Steve But seriously Murphy Anderson and many others many great comics at the time... But like Valiant says the movies are what really pushed all these above SC4 etc. And no-one knows if Flash and others will reclaim the throne in the future thus making their first appearances, origins and first issues more desirable again. What? I was just suggesting that movies gave the characters an ambiguous kind of popularity, for the good and for the bad: ambiguous because on one side, they publicize the characters, and on the other, they have little to nothing to do with what’s substantial about them. That’s all.

Luckily this not happened with my audio-cassette: I made a copy as early as 1992, and then digitized it right now. Not bad for a twenty-years-old tape. And yes… in the interview Roz speaks as often as Jack (although on the background). I also recall Jack had some kind of stroke, or anticipation of a stroke, before the San Diego 1993 Comic convention, and I do not exclude he had suffered from something similar previously, as I am pretty sure he had difficulties to write already in 1991 when I visited – I am convinced the pieces he signed for me were signed by Roz. Not that matters, but just to say… (thumbs u Did you work in the comics field?

Yes, but the term "America" has been generally used for decades (and I think it’s not correct) to indicate mostly the United States, but also South America and Canada are America, right? I thought they were printed at the same time in the USA, anyway.

I know people love them, but it’s pretty hard for me to consider Canadian editions as variants (indeed they are). As easy as it is with UK Pence copies, I have a hard time to see them different. Maybe it’s because both Canada and United States are, in the end, America to my european eyes?

On another matter, did you like the audio snippet?

I have bought two GA books from Andy (a Foxhole and a Dell book) and my friend in the USA got them super-fast. Thanks! (thumbs u

You’re welcome. Italian books usually had one or two backup features (they were more pages, usually 48 pgs. each) – in this period the backups were Captain Marvel and Dr. Doom stories from Astonishing Tales. @Trev: Great score on the #10, Trev – I can’t wait to pick little by little all the low number FF I am still missing…