CentaurMan

That Adventure #55 is ridiculous. Drop dead gorgeous. And I love how the words "dynamite exploder" are written on the dynamite exploder.

Dave must be sniffing some of the laughing gas he administers to his patients! He also once tried to sell me a set of "VF/NM" Marvel keys, each was replete with some of the worst marvel chipping I have ever seen. The rest of the books were stunnning...if you could get past the 1/4" wide, cover length section missing down the right edge of each cover!! But, he did manage to buy/trade me out of my Bob Kane painting.... I know, I know... But sometimes it feels good to So, just to confirm, which Dave didn't grade well, Anderson or Alexander?

You know, between the Obidiah Oldbuck thread and my accidental visit to the Comics General forum (oh my freaking god, what a mess), I'm struck by the urge to simply post more scans. So here's Adventure Comics #39. Like #38 above, this is another cover that GCD credits to Flessel which I believe looks more like an O'Mealia:

Congrats!! That's such a cool book, and that's probably one of the nicest copies out there. Good job!!

Woo hoo!!!

It's crazy how the Ellsworth humor covers grind this thread to a halt. While those aren't the most visually appealing books, they so freaking early in the development of comics that they're fascinating to me. The interiors are cool for the same reason. Lots of experimentation going on back then. A full set of New Comics #1-#11 would be a hell of a challenge. (Of course, that's still much easier than the run of New Adventures from #12-#31). Here's Adventure Comics #38. The GCD credits Flessel with this one, although it looks kind of like O'Mealia to me.

Ok, so not a lot of interest in #35. That's fine, moving on to another Flessel..... Adventure #36 is one of my favorites. I can imagine being a kid looking at this cover in amazement. Must've been pretty cool to see something like this in a time with no color TV's. This was cutting edge entertainment.

That is totally awesome! Your collecting tastes are phenomenal, IMO, and you've chosen very wisely on the covers you've gone after. I can't wait to see this collection grow!

This one isn't a Flessel, but Fred Gaurdineer did a good job on it. New Adventure #35, featuring every lumberjack's worst nightmare:

Here are a couple of rarely seen pre-Centaurs from 1937, issues #4 and #5:

GCD credits Mystery Men #7's cover to someone named Charles Nicholas. I don't know who that is.

Neat covers, Scrooge, thanks for posting them. While we're on the subject of Flessel and water, here's Adventure #32. In my experience, this book isn't as scarce as the ones before and after it.

That's one cool cover! Very nice.

Hmmm, not sure, maybe Joe Simon?

Another Flessel water cover, New Adventure #31 (the last issue before they dropped the "New"): Flessel drew quite a number of different races in his span of pre-hero Adventures.

I'll keep the thread from getting bogged down on my Adventure #40 by posting one of my other favorites, #37: I forget who did the cover; was it Flessel or O'Mealia? Looks like Flessel but I thought he usually signed his work.

Wowzers Win, I can't compete with that...very nice presentation (I'd love to see that copy out of its tomb!). May I ask if it's a small or large logo label, and what is the page quality? STEVE Got Larson? Small logo (old label), cream to off-white pages. Label also notes "very minor amount of glue on cover", so technically it's one of those restored blue label books. I've been unable to spot the glue through the slab, but I'm not surprised by that (I imagine it could be at the spot of the bottom corner tear for conservation, but I can't see it). Although I'm a Centaur guy according to my user name, I'm a big fan of this book and obviously took my avatar from it.

Crack it. Crack it ... unless you break my heart and tell me you have another reading copy? Actually, I'm keeping it slabbed for now because of the long tear in the bottom right corner (which brings the grade down to a 5.0; the book is gorgeous otherwise). I feel as though the slab is keeping the tear from getting larger, and given that I handle my books quite a bit (see any Chicago forum dinner), I can't be trusted with not exacerbating it.

I am reminded of the line by the Caribbean woman at the end of the movie "Trading Places," who, when asked by Coleman whether she wants the lobster or the cracked crab for lunch, replied, "Can't we have both?" Also, do you have a #40? I bet it'll be dwarfed by RHG's #40, but here's mine: One of my few slabbed books. Blue label 5.0.

Beautiful! That's a very scarce issue, and underrated as well. I like NA #15's cover better than I do some of Flessel's other "kids adventuring" covers in the early #20's. Here's New Adventure #30, another example of Flessel drawing the ocean. I'm normally not very grade conscious, but I definitely want to upgrade this one. The rat chews in the bottom corner are something. Great cover, though.

Beautiful!! I love that 'Tec 30. Fantastic book. So, what, was that guy with the knife trying to mug a welder? There had to have been an easier target, wouldn't you think? Is there a corresponding story inside?

I've never even seen a copy of NA #14 before. How hard is that to find compared to #13, which I think may be the toughest of them all? Given that I have a New Adventure #14, I have a New Comics #2, and I have a bead on a New Adventure #26, but have no idea where to go about finding a NA #13....I'd say the #13 is just stupid rare.

Thanks Ryan - glad you're enjoying them! Over 25 years collecting GA. Lotsa hard work and lotsa luck (e.g., I just recently stumbled into the National 7 - it was the only superhero book that the elderly owner had left - which he had kept because it was his favorite). It's been a great ride so far. STEVE Got Larson? Well, your collection certainly has the markings of a GA "vet"... it is a fine accumulation, from what I've seen (and I'm sure thats just the tip of the iceburg). The books are beautifully consistant in their condition and colors! I, myself, have loved GA books since I first saw them (about 1980), but have only recently had any money to actually pick up the books I wanted. I envy guys like you who have been in the game for a while!! Seems like there was alot more to pick from, say, fifteen to twenty years ago, or is that just my immagination? NO KIDDING! I've been after the early GA books for like 5 years now, and let me tell you, it's brutal when guys like Steve and Jon have all the good stuff locked away!! And then they tell stories about buying enormous Centaur collections for 5x guide ($20 each). Just kills me.

Here's an obscure one more in keeping with the Ellsworth humor covers of New Comics 1-12, New Adventure #14:

Here's another hard-to-find issue, New Adventure #29: It's funny, the Flessel covers for pre-Batman Detective Comics are widely known as classics and are in heavy demand. Yet I believe his work on the pre-Sandman Adventure Comics is equally impressive, maybe even more exciting due to the broad range of subject matter (Flessel stuck to the "Detective" vs. "Adventure" themes very nicely). But for some reason, these early Adventures don't sell for the same premiums as the early Detectives. I think they're a good bit scarcer, which is part of the problem. People don't even know of them except as a vague run.