Randall Dowling

On 1/29/2024 at 1:56 PM, Pat Calhoun said:

I lika the pyramid!!

For some reason, the last episode kind of missed the landing for me.  I like Alan Ritchson quite a bit but it felt a bit predictable in the end.

Yes.  I'm on season 4 and it's really pretty addictive.

On 1/27/2024 at 7:40 AM, Surfing Alien said:

I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up a small collection of very high grade Pyramids recently. All unread with perfect spines and just a dimple here and there. They are pretty stunning in hand. "Love Camp" is the nicest copy I've ever seen, which is why I put my undercopy up in the board sale this week. I may put a few more up. They are such nice little productions with art by the likes of Julian Paul, Victor Olson, Lou Kimmel and Frank Cozzarelli. I know, I know, I always gush about my love affair with Pyramids

Here's a few highlights:

 

 

Those are damn pretty copies, pal! 

On 1/27/2024 at 9:50 AM, dover said:

Loooooooove these!!

Those are very cool! 

On 1/22/2024 at 5:51 PM, OtherEric said:

I like the way you Brundage, pal! 

On 1/22/2024 at 4:26 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Woah!!  One of those books is not like the others.  Great grabs, SA! 

On 1/18/2024 at 12:59 PM, jimjum12 said:

I wouldn't mind a stickied thread that lists websites or eBay handles of Boardies who also sell PB's and Pulps. 

GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

On 1/18/2024 at 1:57 PM, johnenock said:

I wouldn't mind a for sale section just in the pulp section of the boards!

This guy's pretty good to purchase from:

https://www.ebay.com/str/buddhasbooksandmusicgear?_trkparms=folent%3Abuddhasbooksandmusicgear|folenttp%3A1&_trksid=p3542580.m47492.l74602

The show is ramping up to a powder keg ending.  Most episodes are structured well with a cliffhanger as a cherry on top and this week doesn't disappoint.  Can't wait for the finale!

On 1/10/2024 at 4:16 PM, johnenock said:

Just picked up this unread(for now) copy. A dead, naked, midget and a freak show. What more do you need?

 

 

That's a beautiful copy, sir! 

But find another copy to read.  That one's too nice. 

On 12/31/2023 at 3:56 PM, moonpool said:

So after a couple of years with nothing, 4 Heades in one year is a cornucopia.

Well, I don't recall ever seeing any of those before (but then I'm not a super Heade collector, just a half dozen or so nice copies I've picked up over the years).  I do know enough that those 1 schilling books are ridiculously scarce.  Nice grabs, sir!

On 12/26/2023 at 6:30 PM, agamoto said:

Since I already looked at all the ASM 300's a few dozen pages back, I thought I'd go back and look at them all again, but this time look at the entire submission groups when those ASM 300's were submitted. Found quite a few suspect books that will need closer examination, some already uncovered such as the ASM 194 I confirmed swapped in one of my other posts. 

Well, popped a red bull and looked at all the CGC cert pages for the books from his ASM 300 submissions, and found some more suspect books to look closer at.

Notes. Those saying the date doesn't get changed on a reholder, I may have to disagree with ya on that, as these results seem to indicate when the GROUP submission's original grade date was and with much different grading dates for a few of the books. I also flagged the books that had images in the census before CGC announded in 8/1/2023 they'd be providing that info for everyone to enjoy.

What is completely blowing my mind here is the consistency with how often similar books are being sent in, and how consistent the 9.8 assignments are, especially with all the really rare books like the canadian price variants. Many of the 9.8's have grader notes that indicate bends and/or stress lines you'd think would normally disqualify a book from a 9.8

Again, this isn't an exhaustive list of every submission, just the one I generated based on all the ASM 300's he submitted.

Quite a remarkable track record. 

4071124001 - 6/01/2022 ASM 194 9.4
4071124002 - 6/01/2022 ASM 194 9.8
4071124003 - 6/01/2022 ASM 238 9.8
4071124004 - 6/01/2022 ASM 300 9.8
4071124005 - 6/01/2022 ASM 300 9.8

4106625001 - 8/10/2022 ASM 238 9.8
4106625002 - 10/27/2022 ASM 194 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect Book (date)
4106625003 - 8/10/2022 ASM 300 9.8 
4106625004 - 8/10/2022 ASM 300 9.8

4094947001 - 7/25/2022 ASM 194 9.8
4094947002 - 7/25/2022 ASM 194 9.8
4094947003 - 7/25/2022 ASM 300 9.8
4094947004 - 7/25/2022 ASM 300 9.8

4154321001 - 1/5/2023 ASM 238 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect Book (date)
4154321002 - 11/09/2022 ASM 238 9.8
4154321003 - 11/09/2022 ASM 238 9.8 
4154321004 - 11/09/2022 ASM 300 9.8
4154321005 - 11/09/2022 Batman 608 9.8 Retailer Incentive
4154321006 - 11/09/2022 Secret Wars 8 9.8
4154321007 - 11/09/2022 Secret Wars 8 9.8 Canadian Price Variant

4109596001 - 8/12/2022 ASM 194 9.6
4109596002 - 8/12/2022 ASM 194 9.8
4109596003 - 8/12/2022 ASM 194 9.8
4109596004 - 8/12/2022 ASM 300 9.8 - Suspect book... This one sold THREE times on eBay
4109596005 - 8/12/2022 ASM 300 9.8

4137132001 - 10/11/2022 Secret Wars 8 9.8
4137132002 - 10/11/2022 Secret Wars 8 9.8 Canadian Price Variant
4137132003 - 10/11/2022 ASM 300 9.8
4137132004 - 12/01/2022 ASM 238 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect Book (date)

4129851001 - 9/22/2022 FF 48 5.5 
4129851002 - 9/22/2022 IH 181 7.5 
4129851003 - 9/22/2022 ASM 300 9.8

4121886001 - 09/12/2022 ASM 194 9.8
4121886002 - 09/12/2022 ASM 194 9.8
4121886003 - 09/12/2022 ASM 300 9.6
4121886004 - 09/12/2022 ASM 300 9.8
4121886005 - 09/12/2022 ASM 238 9.8
4121886006 - 09/12/2022 Secret Wars 8 9.8

4199541001 - 02/08/2023 ASM 194 9.8 Suspect Book, has image/custom label, prior to 8/1/2023
4199541002 - 02/08/2023 ASM 194 9.8 
4199541003 - 04/04/2023 ASM 238 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect Book (date)
4199541004 - 10/30/2023 ASM 300 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect Book (date)
4199541005 - 02/08/2023 ASM 300 9.8
4199541006 - 02/08/2023 Secret Wars 8 9.8

4148457001 - 11/01/2022 ASM 300 9.8
4148457002 - 11/01/2022 ASM 194 9.6
4148457003 - 11/01/2022 ASM 129 8.5 Suspect Book, has image/custom label, prior to 8/1/2023

4221342001 - 3/20/2023 ASM 238 9.8
4221342002 - 3/20/2023 ASM 238 9.8
4221342003 - 3/20/2023 ASM 252 9.8
4221342004 - 3/20/2023 IH 340 9.8
4221342005 - 3/20/2023 ASM 300 9.8 - Suspect Book, sold multiple times on Ebay
4221342006 - 3/20/2023 Secret Wars 8 9.8 Newsstand

4245189001 - 5/1/2023 Secret Wars 8 9.8 Newsstand
4245189002 - 5/1/2023 IH 181 9.0 - Suspect Book, has image/custom label prior to 8/1/2023
4245189003 - 5/1/2023 ASM 300 9.8
4245189004 - 5/1/2023 ASM 300 9.8
4245189005 - 5/1/2023 Captain America 261 9.8 - Quadruple Cover

4265049001 - 6/2/2023 - Secret Wars 8 9.8 Canadian Price Variant
4265049002 - 6/26/2023 - ASM 238 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect Book, date, and image in census shows a Canadian PV. Label Wrong 
4265049003 - 8/2/2023 - ASM 238 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect, date, Canadian Price Variant, it's imaged, Not the same book as cert#4265049002
4265049004 - 6/2/2023 - ASM 194 9.8 - Suspect, it's imaged in Census prior to 8/1/2023
4265049005 - 6/26/2023 - IH 340 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect, date/imaged prior to 8/1/2023
4265049006 - 6/2/2023 - ASM 300 9.8

4252433001 - 6/14/2023 - ASM 238 9.8 Newsstand - Suspect, imaged in census prior to 8/1/2023
4252433002 - 5/11/2023 - ASM 238 9.8
4252433003 - 5/11/2023 - ASM 252 9.8
4252433004 - 6/14/2023 - Secret Wars 8 Newsstand Canadian Price Variant - suspect Imaged in Census prior to 8/1/2023
4252433005 - 5/11/2023 - ASM 194 9.8
4252433006 - 5/11/2023 - IH 340 9.8
4252433007 - 5/11/2023 - ASM 300 9.8
 
4153803001 - 11/18/2022 - UF 4 - 9.6
4153803002 - 11/18/2022 - UF 4 - 9.4
4153803003 - 11/18/2022 - UF 4 - 9.8
4153803004 - 11/18/2022 - ASM 300 - 9.6
4153803005 - 11/18/2022 - Batman Adventures 12 9.8
4153803006 - 11/18/2022 - Detective Comics 411 8.5

4324007001 - 9/13/2023 - X-Men 266 9.8
4324007002 - 9/13/2023 - X-Men 266 9.8
4324007003 - 9/13/2023 - ASM 252 9.8 Newsstand
4324007004 - 9/13/2023 - Secret Wars 8 Newsstand 
4324007005 - 9/13/2023 - ASM 300 9.8
4324007006 - 9/13/2023 - ASM 300 9.8
4324007007 - 9/13/2023 - ASM 300 9.8

4287881001 - 7/19/2023 - ASM 194 9.8 Newsstand, Suspect, Imaged prior to 8/1/2023
4287881002 - 7/19/2023 - ASM 300 9.6 Suspect, Imaged in Census prior to 8/1/2023
4287881003 - 7/19/2023 - ASM 300 9.8 Suspect, Imaged in Census prior to 8/1/2023

 

Reading this list, I'm reminded of these threads:

On 12/25/2023 at 12:15 PM, The Commissioner said:

My admission into the world of comic magazines.

I like your choices. 

On 12/17/2023 at 8:42 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Goals?

 

2. Fine-tuning my "Foreign Pulp Cover Art" collection and keeping a max limit of $350 per piece.

This guy is pretty amazing and he did thousands of covers and movie posters.  Can't say enough good things about his work, very underappreciated- Jose Luiz Benicio.  I first discovered his work on Spanish pulps like Brigitte en accion and other Archivo Secreto books.

https://geekynerfherder.blogspot.com/2019/12/artist-spotlight-art-of-jose-luiz.html

https://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/keyword/José+Luiz+Benicio.html

He's clearly been an inspiration to a lot of current artists.

I used to wake up at 6:30 in the morning on weekdays to watch this show in the late 70s.  It was awesome!  Very cool books, Jeff! 

P.S.  Merry Christmas, sir!

You're one of the best, @jimjum12 , really sorry to hear about this.  Take care of yourself, pal, and get better soon.

Yep, really enjoying this season so far.  Highly recommended, Alan Ritchson has a gravitas that very few actors can bring to the screen.  And the producing, directing, and writing are all working in concert.

On 12/11/2023 at 5:01 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Every once in a while you take a gamble on something no one knows what it is and it pays off. Just got in this exquisite piece of Gothic PB original art.

It's the cover art to "Shadow Of Polperro" by Frances Cowen, Ace Books No. 760181 published in 1973.

 

I've figured out that the artist is Norman Adams, who I had never heard of because he is in a later period of pb artists than I usually collected, however his Trompe L'oeil techniques are incredible.  He was a commercial Illustrator in New York starting around 1959 through the mid-70's when he left commercial art (and New York) to become a highly respected wild life painter. Here's a link to a bio about him:

http://www.normanadams.org/

He had covers on many major magazines, including the moon landing cover for Reader's Digest in July 1969, which I thought was incredibly cool.

Here's a nice Flickr page with a whole bunch of his stuff:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/illustrator_normanadams/

 

The picture can't do justice to his work, the details are so fine, it's mind boggling. There is almost no depth to the brush strokes so this is either watercolor or gouache applied in many super thin layers and likely the reason it wasn't thought to be a painting, the surface appears to look like a print. It is a painting on illustration board with all the usual commercial illustration tags and scribbles on the back of the board.

I was struck by the image itself anyway because I love good gothic covers and this one has all the elements, including an excellent portrait, far larger and more detailed than you usually see, as well as a great castle-like manse and gates (noticeably cut down in publication)   It probably wouldn't fetch big money but I love it and the whole journey of discovery

Here's a pic of the PB, not something I'd usually pick up but now I gotta get one.

That's an awesome grab, SA!!! 

On 12/10/2023 at 11:21 PM, OtherEric said:

Lots of publishers did that.  Ace is the first that comes to mind.  What annoys me more is when they sometimes do and sometimes don't... Avon, I'm looking at you here.

My few Graphics.  I think I may have one or two more but they're not scanned:

 

I like your taste in authors, sir. 

On 12/9/2023 at 3:58 PM, FoggyNelson said:

Looks just like a issue of MAD ‼️

I call it the "Jack Davis" effect. 

On 12/3/2023 at 12:19 AM, Darwination said:

I think I've seen the Bouncing Betty issue of that one for sale, but I'd have remembered if I'd seen this second issue - as I tend to like a catfight   :

Is it illustrated?  More like a pulp or a magazine?

I don't have a copy but I seem to recall that it's a magazine.  Both covers are pretty awesome.