Brandon Shepherd

From the Rockies comes a cover of evil and fear. In continuing my countdown of books that I could not part with I'm almost to number one, but I have three more stories to tell first. The book I have at number four on my PSL is Action Comics #410 (March 1972) from the Rocky Mountain pedigree. This piece is near and dear to me for a few reasons, I'm partial to the Rocky Mountain pedigree and I'm also partial to covers by Nick Cardy. Several years ago I was in a comic shop in Cincinnati, Ohio where I saw a raw copy of Action #410. I remember the book looking really nice with a bright cover, there were signs of aging but the book presented very well. At this point in time I had never seen a near mint/mint book from this era and CGC was very new to me, I have no idea what grade the raw copy would have gotten if submitted. I ended up getting a different book that day but I almost picked the raw Action #410. The cover features the satanic son of Superman, with the Man of Steel ready to defend his son against an angry lynch mob, the son looks pleased with the chaos. Is this an imaginary story, a story about misunderstanding, has Superman been tricked or is the cover an exaggeration? Since I have not read the book I do not know, I prefer to keep it a mystery. We all know how dangerous fear and misunderstanding can be, especially when a lynch mob is involved, and this simple cover reminds me of that every time I gaze upon it. A year or so before I picked up this piece I tried for another 9.8 copy of this issue but I was outbid. This worked out for the better since I was able to get the Rocky Mountain copy with the exceptional quality that is consistent with this pedigree. This was my oldest 9.8 example for a time, now it is my third oldest 9.8. This piece takes me back to that moment when I saw the raw copy and how I had yet to see a near mint book from this era, this also reminds me of how I once had 9.8 books from the early '70s on an unattainable pedestal. Now that I think about it the concept of the pedestal can be dangerous as well... See more journals by Brandon Shepherd

Interesting, I will have to keep an eye out for these gems next time I go to a show! I sincerely doubt you'll find them at any show in the States. All of the ones I have came from various sellers outside the US with very few exceptions. Oh, I meant the US title, Unexpected. See how I keep messing up on this thread?

Interesting, I will have to keep an eye out for these gems next time I go to a show!

Is this better?

When it comes to Cardy you can't discount the romance books he did either. Those are some of my favorites that he did. If you haven't seen them I definitely recommend checking them out. (thumbs u I took a look at a gallery of Cardy's romance covers, he could draw some beautiful girls!

To those who have posted about House of Mystery, Nick Cardy and DC, I have come to appreciate and enjoy those covers over the last few years. At this time I do not have any Bronze Horror, the closest thing I have are a handful of raw copies of early '70s Batman and Detective books, as most of you probably know, these covers are dark, eerie and have a macabre feel. I mostly focus on '70s Action Comics, especially covers from Nick Cardy, so it has been a treat to discover more of his work outside the superhero genre. I have to admit that sometimes when I purchase a high CGC graded 20-cent cover from Action Comics at a decent price, I can't help but think that if this Action Comic were a horror cover, or Neal Adams cover from the same time period that this piece would be well out of my price range. If money was no object, I would expand to into 20-cent covers and 52 Page Giants from DC in general, especially the horror covers. Thanks for sharing all of these great covers.