aardvark88

U must kow tow b4 Metropolis b/c they have 3-10 copies of every bk in stock. Their catalog was incredible 10 yrs ago. BEST inventory.

Vinnie's younger & friendlier trying to boost up Metropolis web & con sales. Fischler was Master of the NY neg attitude, u peon.

Talk about conflict of interest. Susan Ciccone did the best resto work 12 yrs ago & was buddy buddy w/ Fischler. Then Sotheby's recruits the best restorer in the business to identify resto (her own included) in all those gold & silver bks for the big Sotheby's auctions 10 yrs ago. But back then, SLIGHT resto was readily accepted b/c a comic in a mylar looks the same as its neighbor. Now Heritage & new Sothebys.ebay auctions need to contend w/ the dreaded purple label & lack of bids. No wonder Nic & the other big bidders fr 10 yrs ago r peeved.

BW Smith Red Nails story. Can't remember if it originally came out in Savage Tales or Savage Sword mag. Was reprinted in Conan (baxter paper) 1 shot.

Think they reprinted FF 51 in a squarebound bk compiling the Best Marvel comics/stories of all time.

Ergo, the BA started around 1966(?) when Vampi mag #1 came out?

Correction. That should have been Avengers 58 Even an android can cry.

Marshall Rogers Detect where the evil Dr Hugo Strange(?) takes over the cape & cowl fr Batman. Front cvr is blue & white showing Batman on a funeral slab. N@sty.

FF 51 This man, this monster.

FF 58 Even an android can cry.

Cerebus 4 intro of Elrod the Albino. Gr8 BW Smith take-off.

Too bad the cgc census on Conan 1 is almost as high as Capt Amer #100 w/c Mark Wilson found a hi-grade speculator stash of (all the 1968 1st or anniversary issues).

Danno,

U better be polite to the society of 88s or the Cgc triad in Vancouver is going to accidently drop your C #1 while we scrutinize to determine if counterfeit or not. At the very least, we will sweat on that black spine cvr. Nasty !

Dan my Man,

How about Dec/77 Cerebus 1 as the start to the Independent Age? Pre-dates Fant Quarterly 1 (1st Elfquest, Spring '78 w/ 6 pgs D Sim art to boot) & TMNT 1 (Mirage, 1984) b/w EXPLOSION.

I think G Kane's His Name is Savage mag (1969?) was direct sales (self-published). Eclipse's P Gulacy Sabre 1 graphic novel was direct sales b4 Dazzler 1. Also Fantasy Quarterly 1 (Elfquest) & Cerebus 1 (Dec/77) were direct sales. How about ugs fr 1960s? Direct sales via baby stroller distn fr pot shop to pot shop in Haight Ashbury, CA.

I thought the 1st direct sales comic was a Superboy 1 shot by DC w/c predated Dazzler 1. Death knell of the B.A. was Legends of Dark Knight 1 (1989?). Mass speculation & multi-colored "variant" cvrs for no reason other than to increase sales for completists. Some con dealers bought a long box of this gr8 bk & were wondering why they couldn't sell a single copy. Everybody & their dog bought multiple copies just like X-men 137.

Would say the 1st bks speculated in were the Marvel 1sts fr 1968 evidenced by all the hi-grade warehouse/speculator stock that MarK Wilson (PGC Mint) found. Mass speculation was prevalent on Conan 1 b/c some collectors missed out on N Fury 1, Iron Man 1, Cap 100, Dr Strange 169, Iron Man & Sub 1, Sub-mariner 1.

I think Conan 1 helped start the bronze age. 1st time in a long time that heroes did NOT wear colorful spandex. Its success lead to King Kull comic & mag, Red Sonja, Solomon Kane, Savage Sword mag w/c lasted over 235 issues. Savage Tales 1 (1971) mag w/ its beheading cvr may have put the seed into creator's head's that violence is possible in comics. If u STRETCH this theory, may have lead Marvel to greenlight Punisher in ASM 129. All this "hero" does is assassinate or skewer ppl (like F Miller's Wolverine mini-series). Just my opinion.

Sign out or use a different computer to access the Board, if u wish to be anon so u can slander someone.

I collect mid-grade silver DC b/c I can't find or afford nm copies.

Dan,

I'm embarassed to say I've only had 3 FF #1 in stock the last 12 yrs. Have 1 Cgc'd left. I'll trade it straight across for your Hulk 181 Cgc & a long box of Kicker's Inc. .

U can diversify your collection by buying movie poster 1 sheets or lobby cards related to what u enjoy: Spidey, X-men 2, DD, King Kong, Tarzan, Planet Apes, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Terminator 2, etc.

Dan,

Back in 1985, u would have had to deliver a heck of a lot of newspapers to come up w/ $1,500 for FF #1 or say $1k for ASM #1 vf-. Else trade in your run of X-men 94 up, Hulk 181, & set of Howard Duck to come up w/ the scratch.