Crimebuster

I had a chance to talk to Barbara Friedlander at Terrificon yesterday. She was very nice, and gracious. I definitely got the impression that this was all new to her, and she was really amazed anyone knew who she was. She had a little book she had put together on her table that people could look through that had scans of some of her work, to explain who she was and what she did. I think it took a little bit of convincing before she understood that not only did I already know who she was, I had stuff for her to sign, and had basically come to the show to see her. Because of this, I didn't get quite as much information as I was hoping - I asked if she had a bibliography, and she told me to look in her book for an idea of what she had done, but it was basically just a printout of the GCD. Which I get - she had a few of her comics on hand as well, but she said she had to rebuy them all, because back in the day she had just given all her comp copies away. I have an idea she didn't keep close track of her assignments, and might not have a full list or recollection of everything at this point. One bit of information I did learn, though, is that she wrote the entire Three Girls run in Heart Throbs. GCD lists her with credits for one issue - episode 16 in #117 - but she said that in fact, she wrote the entire run in its entirety, which would be 22 issues from #102-123. She said that she loved the serials, so I asked if she had written the April O'Day serial in Girls' Love - I forgot that those were credited to Robert Kanigher. She didn't mention Kanigher, though, instead citing editor Jack Miller for that. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to her too much more. I told her I was going to circle back around after doing some shopping to try and find more of her books now that I had a slightly better idea what to bring her. When I returned, though, she had left the show - I gather there was some sort of mixup with her offical invitation from the con so she cut her time short? I hope whatever the problem was it gets sorted out in time for another convention appearance soon, either at Terrificon, or somewhere else in New England. She was very, very nice, and actually gave me her phone number in case I wanted to talk to her more about her comics, or get other books signed. I might be too shy to call her, but I certainly have more questions! I also got 3 of the 4 issues in the 20 Miles to Heartbreak arc signed, though I am still missing Secret Hearts #142 unfortunately!

The last couple years I've thought the guest list here was vastly superior to any of the other New England shows. People here I've never seen at other area shows before. This is two years in a row I've skipped Boston to go to Terifficon instead. As long as they keep getting guests of this caliber, I will keep going!

Thanks guys. I will report back with my findings.

Shot in the dark here - anyone have a list of romance comics written by Barbara Friedlander? There are some listed on the GCD, which is helpful, but it's just a handful of issues. Since there weren't any credits for most DC romance comics at the time, it's pretty hard to figure out except in a handful of instances where someone or other's logbook listed payments to her (or other creators). But I am hoping some of you knowledgeable folks might have some inside info on what she wrote for DC romance. I know she did the 20 Miles to Heartbreak story in Young Love - anything else like that? Was she involved with the Life and Loves of Lisa St. Clair or any of their other serialized stories? I'm asking because she's actually appearing at a comic con near me and I want to bring some stuff for her to sign. I will be able to ask her in person what she worked on, and what the experience was like working for DC romance line, but if I can find out anything before I go to the show, that would be great! Paging @Dr. Love!

In the conclusion of our two part discussion of Brave and the Bold #50-73, former comic book pro MDG and I discusses Brave and the Bold #57-73, including the first appearances of Metamorpho and the Teen Titans. Enjoy! https://classiccomics.podbean.com/e/classic-comics-forum-podcast-20-brave-and-the-bold-50-73-part-2/

Some nice early Bronze / late Silver Charltons that caught my eye. These weren't on my official Big List of Charltons to buy, but since I found nice copies in the wild for cheap, I had to get them. I really dig the Statue of Liberty background on this one: The funky mural on the left really caught my eye. I suspect those are the artists' initials hidden in the design?

Mid-grade, but I was happy to find this cheap at my LCS

Considering he apparently appears in the film as Bill Foster, Hank Pym's scientist assistant, you'd think Avengers #32 would be the key issue, since it's his first appearance, and introduces him in that role.

Closing this thread and sending these to a nice farm upstate.

Price drop!

I find both titles to be a very mixed bag at best, but there are definitely some standouts that I'm not sure everyone is aware of. As an Avengers fan and huge fan of Kang the Conqueror, it wasn't until many, many years after I finished my Avengers run that i discovered to my complete befuddlement that there's a big 3-part Avengers/Kang epic hiding in Marvel Team-Up #9-11. Kang defeats the Avengers at the start of #9, except for Iron Man who manages to escape and get help from Spidey, and then it spirals from there to include the Human Torch and the Inhumans among others. Only #10 mentions Kang on the cover, though, so unless you read the issues you'd never know what was hiding inside.

$10 $8 each for these books! Man of Steel #19 - 2nd print - 6.0 front is nice, back cover has a couple large creases on the upper left. Adventures of Superman #497 - 3rd print - 8.0 Justice League #69 - 3rd print - 7.5 Action Comics #684 - 2nd print - 7.0 Bottom right corner has some internal pages that got the corner folded over. C0uld probably be pressed out, but doesn't quite lie flat as a result. Superman #74 - 3rd print - 8.0

Man of Steel #18 - 4th printing - 6.5 - $15 $12 Front looks very nice, back shows some pull lines at spine and some scuffing and discoloration. Honestly not sure if it's dirt or a little foxing - looks better in hand, but looks like it might be foxing in scans.

This is for a bunch of later printings from the Death of Superman series. Most in decent shape, but nothing super high grade - someone read these things once or twice, which is crazy, but it apparently happens! 1. no Hall of Shamers, etc. 2. first in thread wins, and trumps any PM conversations 3. PayPal only please 4. USA only, sorry international friends. If you're in Canada... maybe we can figure something out. 5. I ship via USPS. 6. Shipping is $4 for the first book and an additional $1 for each book after that. The Books Man of Steel #18 4th printing - 6.5 - $15 $12 $10 $8 each for these books: Man of Steel #19 2nd printing - 6.0 Adventures of Superman #497 3rd print - 8.0 Justice League #69 3rd print - 7.5 Action Comics #684 2nd print - 7.0 Superman #74 3rd print - 8.0 or all 6 books for $50 $40 shipped!

#89-91 tell a (sort of) complete three part arc introducing Trula Twyst as Moriarty to Jughead's Holmes. For me, it's an all-time classic Jughead story, one of the top ten. Awesomely, the covers for the three issues kind of tell their own story as well - you get the whole arc in a nutshell here. I'm definitely going to display all three of these side-by-side-by-side! Despite #91 saying "Final Round" on the cover, and the storyline ending in this issue, it actually doesn't really end. At the conclusion of #91, Trula has seemingly won, but Jughead is plotting his revenge. They don't wait long for the conclusion - after skipping just one issue, #93 and #94 have the "Target: Trula" story that wraps up her initial storyline. So it's really 5 parts, not 3. But whatever. #93 and #94 don't feature her on the cover for whatever reason anyway.

Okay, here it is! The 1st appearance of Trula Twyst! Jughead is one of my favorite characters in all fiction, period. I'm still working on putting together a complete run of Jughead, but I've read a lot over the years; right now I'm three issues short of having #99-up, so I've read 50+ years of Jughead stories. For me, the series and character have two high points, one being the early-mid 60's, and the other being the long collaboration between Craig Boldman and Rex W. Lindsey. I'd put their best stuff up against anybody. Frustratingly, I think their best work is right in the last year or so of Jughead vol. 2, just before it was cancelled. The biggest addition they made to the Jughead and Archie mythos was the itnroduction of Jughead's archrival/frenemy/love interest Trula Twyst. She hasn't appeared much outside of their Jughead run, but within the pages of Jughead, she was a main character for many years. So i am totally stoked to have this cover depicting her first appearance! There's more as well, but I wanted to post this as soon as I got it unpacked. I'll have pictures of the rest in a bit!

Just picked up one of my personal grail bits of Archie OA. It's a modern, so probably doesn't mean that much to anyone else, but I'm stoked. It hasn't arrived yet, but once it gets here, I'll post pictures! Oh, and if anyone happens to know who bought the cover for Jughead's Double Digest #191 off of ebay last year, let me know! Looking for it!

I used to have a full run of Groo that I bought off the stands, but I got rid of most of it when I realized I was never going to re-read them. I am currently collecting Nam. I've put together #1-50 for next to nothing. Haven't really even come across later issues much in the wild though. The first 30 issues or so seem extremely common in quarter or dollar boxes, but past #40 they seem to be few and far between. I'm sure if I wanted to spend any actual money on issues I could find them, but on a budget, I'm not seeing later issues around at all.

These are really Bronze books, but I just finished reading Just Married #93-101, which includes a 9-part serial detailing the romance between David and Eileen. As the cover of #93 says, "Should a Jewish boy and an Irish girl fall in love?" By Irish, they mean Catholic. ALmost every issue has a story that revolves around the difficulties in a mixed-faith marriage, especially for 1973. Some of the stuff is really well handled, surprisingly well considering some of the other stories printed in these issues. There are some really good issues where they both consider converting to the other's religion, or have difficulties over deciding whether or not to celebrate Christmas, etc. It's a stark contrast with the other stories appearing in these issues, which consistently have the recurring theme that women shouldn't work, and will be happier as homemakers. And multiple stories where the guy is flirting and messing around with other women, so then the gal does the same to make him jealous, and it works too well, but he proves how manly and in love he is by laying down the law with her, which is all she wanted. #94 and #95 have some truly egregious stories, one of which involves the guy spanking his wife to teach her a lesson. But the David and Eileen stories are much more nuanced at times. And the art is really good. It's credited to A. Martinez on pencils and J. Zuniga on inks; don't know who those people are, but it has a very South American or Filipino sketchiness to it that is really different and excellent. I should also say that I'm really coming to appreciate Art Capello. I think his later work is actually better than his earlier work. It feels like over the years, he gets simpler and more bold, less detailed and sketchy. More design elements. This may sound crazy, but there's almost a touch of Alex Toth in some of his work. #101 has a really nice cover by him, but the interior work is even better.

Are there any Richie Rich books worth any money, other than 1st issues or his 1st appearance? There are so many titles with so many issues, it's hard to even know where to start. They all just seem interchangeable, especially in the Bronze Age. Yet I get the sense form looking at ebay sold auctions that people do collect them. A couple in particular had me scratching my head - what seemed to be a random issue in CGC 3.0 with brittle pages - brittle! - sold for $51. That was a Silver Age book, but... yeah. Don't even know where to start when it comes to Richie Rich. Any pointers appreciated!

GRAIL ALERT! GRAIL ALERT! Paging @Dr. Love!

I was told that Ted at Superworld began his back issue business after finding a trunk full of Golden Age comics at the dump. Don't know any details though!

I have to say. I collect many of the runs people have mentioned here. I just finished my Master of Kung Fu run - other than #15, I didn't pay more than a dollar for any issue until I got down to just two left, then I went and bought them online just to get it done with. I also have full runs of Warlord, Ghost Rider, West Coast Avengers (bought them all off the stands), Superman Family, the bronze and copper Blackhawk, Strange Tales (from #135, and vol. 2), Supergirl in Adventure, Doctor Strange, Jonah Hex, have nearly completed full runs of both Conan and Savage Sword of Conan, and am currently working on Weird Western featuring Scalpunter. However, I did sell off my full set of Kull, because that turned out to be a bridge too far. I also had a full run of World's Finest from #197-321 that I sold off because they just sucked so bad. Series even I can't get into collecting: Beetle Bailey? Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact?

I mean, what's the first appearance of Valkyrie?