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My comic collection is pretty eclectic- It includes undergrounds, tijuana bibles, tabloids, digests, magazines and every mainstream genre including funny animal and romance. I'm sure I have at least one comic published from every year from 1940 to now. In addition to comics, I pick up pulps, 60s Men's adventure mags (sweats), and the occasional mystery digest and vintage paperback when the cover appeals to me, but I don't have a want list or anything for that stuff. When I was younger and frequented flea markets, I used to collect vintage shot glasses with racist, sexist and alcoholic gags on them - I have about 40 different ones, but I stopped looking years ago. I also used to collect terrestrial globes, but after accumulating about a dozen spanning the 1890s to the 1960s, I felt I had enough representative ones, including some great illuminating ones from the 30s. It would be cool to have some from the earlier part of the 19th century, and even the 18th century, but they tend to be pretty pricey if they are in any kind of decent condition.

Punyhuman, You're making me want to collect old Fox books. Seriously, they seem pretty reasonable in the guide - what percentage of giude do they usually sell for in say 4.0?

I've heard some opine that this one is actually harder to find than Capt. Aero 26 - I really must upgrade one of these days.

And another.

Here is another classic cover by the ever popular L.B. Cole

S&K, Hitler & the Red Skull!! How can you not love that cover!!

Sweet! That's the kind of restored book I love. Looks great, no pieces added, but a bargain compared to a true high grade.

I've long wanted that pulp - hard one to find. I don't think that one is purposefully trimmed - It looks like the overlap has just worn away in places.

You can't go wrong with Schomburg covers.

One of the great covers of the run!!

Real men collect romance comics.

Great Catman 31! It's a close call, but I like that cover more than 32. And now for something completely different:

Beautiful book, Mephisto. You can't go wrong collecting nice copies of Joker covers, especially since they only seem to have a 20% premium in the guide, but the demand has to be alot greater than for more run of the mill covers.

I love the 'Tec 69 - by far the coolest Joker cover of the title - beautiful copy as well. What came first Detective 69 or Headline 8 ?, one has to be the inspiration for the other.

Definitely cool covers from my collection, not recent purchases.

Love the All-Winners 17 - Atom spies!! Now that's more like it. Subby strangling the baddie until his face turns purple is too much. I keep on thinking that All-Winners would be a great title to collect - you get Cap, Subby, Torch, S&K , Schomburg, the Red Skull, A Hitler-Hirohito cover,other classic covers, and the All-Winners Squad all in 20 issues.

Amazingly, Air Ace V.2 #2 is only listed with a scarcity rating of 5. I was lucky to find a copy at the guide price 4 or 5 years ago. The only other copy I've seen for sale was in Robert Beerbohms catalougue around the same time- I think it was a mid to low grade copy that he was asking $250 for. The Salida copy of War 11 would be a cool book to have. Non-DC War books are really a bargain compared to other pre-code stuff. VG copies of alot of titles seem to sell routinely on ebay for under $10, and even the "classic" covers are cheap when compared to other genres from the early 50s. While they routinely sell at 2-3X guide, that still makes them cheaper than alot of pre-code horror.

Great Schomburg cover Timely!! Even though it's sad to see that with the japanazis dispatched Cap & Subby are reduced to beating up fur hijackers. I can see why after the war, kids started to feel maybe superhero comics didn't do it for them anymore, and they'd rather read comics with half-naked jungle girls or bloodthirsty killers running around in them. Ah, imagine a parallel universe where Timely kept it's hero books going strong with airbrushed Schomburg covers featuring barely dressed beauties tied up in the foreground while Subby beat up alligators in the background, or a Syd Shores cover featuring the likes of Cap decapitating a deranged killer with his shield, or Bill Everett depicting the Human Torch battling decaying corpses in a graveyard.

And now for the Korean War. Flamethrower covers are a niche collectible among War comic fans. For my money this Russ Heath cover smokes the rest.

Here is one of my favorite WW2 Japanese covers. It makes Schomburg look racially sensitive in comparison.

That Pep 30 rocks! Of course war era Peps are always cool. Another cover I had overlooked in the Gerber. I had forgotten about the Schomburg Pep 29 cover, didn't he also do the cover of 38? I still haven't unpacked my Gerbers from a move over a year ago. I once made my self a list of all Schomburg's war covers with the idea of eventually collecting them all. It was well over 200, so it's a very long term goal, but I do try and pick up a few every year.

Another classic Schomburg. Someone once described this as "the poor man's Suspense #3", that's an overstatement, but it does seem almost as hard to find. It's interesting that when "scarce" books start demanding high prices they start getting easier to find (seems like somebody is always selling a Cap 74 - you know there's more than 20 out there, hell, even I have one) - conversely alot of books with classic covers that aren't regarded by Gerber as being especially rare, hardly ever seem to be for sale. AllNew 8

Great books Timely. I'd vote for the 10 though as having the better cover - something about those yellow cover Timelys.

Thanks for letting me know - It has been corrected.

The link below takes you to a scan of my favorite Human Torch cover, the sought after #12. This copy is evidence that slight restoration can be the bargain hunter's friend. It has a spot of glue where the cover had come loose from the staple, and an added staple to reinforce it. It also has a fingernail sized piece out on the back cover where the cover had become detached. the spine itself has no splitting. Had the cover not been reattached, I figure the book would grade a 2.5 or 3.0 (I'm not sure how CGC grades for a loose cover, but otherwise the book is a solid VG) Anybody who has looked for this book knows that it usually sells for well over guide, but I was able to pick it up for 140% of 2.0 guide. I know some out there distain restoration of any kind, but a spot of glue and an extra staple isn't any more ugly than a piece of tape, and it made this Timely classic an affordable book (now if only I could find a Cap 46 in the same shape). Human Torch 12