AshKenziePaul

WHHOOOOAAA!!! So the guy who nabbed all the 9.8s @ $350 ended up being a genius..... Son of a Bia...... If you'd have told me two months ago that all this would happen, I'd have asked for a rip off of what you were smoking. I really hope this isn't all just hype that dies out, because I'd LOVE to see Valiant finally reclaim all of the respect and admiration that it lost. So at this point.....the question is, what's the next book to go ape shart like this one??

The important thing at the time was that these were the hot upstart super-hero universes crossing over. There was tons of speculation of titles from both publishers, so naturally the crossover was amped up that much more. Of course, now Image doesn't have as visible a cohesive shared universe (sure there are a few that take place in the same world, but it's a minority of the publisher's output), and the Valiant of that era is a dead universe too. Oh I remember how big of a deal it was.... I just don't see these leaving the 50 cent bins Back in the 90s, I got into plenty of this hype stuff.....remember Image #0 ...I think that I gave my copy away.

I dunno about you guys, but I just don't see Deathmate doing anything. When they came out I wasn't impressed and I don't recall anything of importance that would make any of them a hot book. I literally just thumbed through tons of them in a 50cent bin this past week. I feel like Deathmate was the height of ridiculous 90s comics. It was suprising that they didn't come an with ultra foil super 3D holographic chomromium gatefold yada yada yada cover that was bagged with random yada yada cards and the chance for a thisnthat!

I am honestly still trying to discern the significance of the book. -J. It may take awhile It is a neat book and was a bit undervalued but has shot way past a reasonable price for it. It is basically the first comic with Aquaman as the main feature/main character on cover. Cool book which I do like, but I can think of a lot of other cooler comics to spend my money on I see A LOT of sellers on ebay calling it "the first SA Aquaman", "first Full Aquaman", etc. Undoubtedly that mis-information also has something to do with it. Money would be better spent on a BB 28 which predates it by nearly a year and also has him on the cover. I think there's a whole lotta shuckin' and jivin' going on with this book. -J. ...and Adventure 260 is before either. I don't personally think a cover appearance is more important than the true first appearance. Prices might disagree with me in the future though. Time will tell.

I have the Turok #1 with dual signatures and Valiant cert, also still has the original Valiant labeled mylar. According to the certificate, it is limited to 5,500.

+1 Or... you know... just any day, but not here. Agreed. I don't stop by to see people whine at eachother.... this place is for discussing comic books. Take your personal issues elsewhere (private would be best).

Nice!! I've been doing the same but can't find any XO#1 locally. (apparently you haven't had that problem!)

I know shop owners who tossed out their Valiant in the garbage along with their late 80s early 90s baseball cards. I'd never throw out any comics but I did make my entire recycling bin full of 80s-90s baseball cards, last year. The Valiant stuff was too good to ever have no value in my eyes, regardless of how dark their days have been.

That letter from Wizard is probably more valuable to a Valiant collector than the books (even if they were gold). There were very few official Valiant letters (or Valiant-sponsored letters like Wizard prizes) that survived, so collectors generally pay a premium when they can get something that ties directly to the early Valiant offices. So I went to find the Wizard letter and I found a couple of other interesting Valiant related items that were next to it inside a file. ...and then there was this Bob Hall sketch of Master Darque that he did for me way back when at SF wondercon..... ....and this Joe Q signed print or whatever it is....I really can't remember any details on this aside that I've had it for a long time.

Great question! I'm interested in the answer too (since I haven't read any of the new stuff).

.....are people really expecting something from Master Darque?? Did I miss something here?? Harada and Master Darque have a huge impact to Valiant. I had that book on my watch list. I was going to come in and snipe it. I was too! Honestly I think that price was a good deal. Only going to go up! One of if not the main villain in the Valiant universe. I liked Harada but didn't think too much of Darque. I guess I don't recall Valiant stuff as well as I thought. I don't recall Darque being in any of the future stories, just a Shadowman villain. Time to bust out some stuff and reread, it seems.

.....are people really expecting something from Master Darque?? Did I miss something here??

That letter from Wizard is probably more valuable to a Valiant collector than the books (even if they were gold). There were very few official Valiant letters (or Valiant-sponsored letters like Wizard prizes) that survived, so collectors generally pay a premium when they can get something that ties directly to the early Valiant offices. Few that survived? I would think everyone who ever won would have kept their letters as a special prize. Then again, they might have been kids like me back then.....

Hah! The only "legit" Valiant Gold I own (as in, won as a giveaway) is also an Armorines Gold. It was during the Deathmate tour at my local comic shop, & I think it was Bernard Chang asking the questions. Basically, they were giving Golds to people who could name members of the H.A.R.D Corps beyond the basic four. Forget who I said to win it, but my copy is double-signed, albeit pre-CGC. Speaking of winning Valiant comic books.....way back in the days of when Wizard Magazine was popular, my brother and I quickly solved and sent in a Star Wars word puzzle thing (if memory serves correct) and we ended up being the winners of their Unity give away. I still have the congratulations letter from Wizard and a couple of the issues from the Unity set. I would've much rather won some gold issues like you guys, but that wasn't the prize. I had to search hard back when they came out to get my hands on an Eternal Warrior 1 gold and a Rai 9 gold.

This is awesome.... or I am just completely misunderstanding what's really going on here. So there's really a guy named Paul who's these books were? The one and same Paul and you guys seek out and collect his old books? Being named Paul myself, this is just too cool to me. I want some Paul books too..... does it count if I make some of my own? JK

Same book, just one. You just flip it over to read the other book.

I'm seriously impressed with the steam that this book has picked up. When I just took a look at Ebay completed auctions and started seeing beaters like the following auction, I really wonder where the ceiling is. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-1-First-Print-1977-/221710413407?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339ef86e5f&nma=true&si=dHx9BjYcEj%252FJkUOPt58UEdJZ51o%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 We still have 3/4+ of the year until the movie even comes out.

Estimated at about 3500. From the Valiantfans grandpappy. Print Run Estimates Adjusted - using all available data That's a nice link! Thank you I didn't see Rai #9 gold on it though.....any ideas on that one?

If I can't post a scan of a 9.8, it must be tough. I had always been under the impression that the gold embossed version was a smaller print run than the flat gold? Is this wrong or is this true and it's just harder to find the 9.8 on the flat? The "official" story is this: The A&A #0 and EW #1 were the first golds that Valiant made. Up to that point, however, Marvel had been making gold (and silver) second printings for a couple of years, starting with Spiderman #1. The books had print runs of 5,000. Reportedly, 2,500 were accidentally shipped to the west coast, where dealers who got them thought they were second prints, and put them on their shelves for sale. Now..I never actually witnessed this, but I *was* told this was the case by a dealer in Hayward (something comics n' cards, long since vanished) shortly after it was supposed to have happened. As a result of the mixup, Valiant apologized, and printed 5,000 MORE EW #1 golds...only this time, they made sure to remove the cover price, and added the gold embossed foil. That's the story that's been around since the beginning. How much of it is true, is really anyone's guess. Well .....so I went after what is essentially the second print. Kept it all these years not knowing that I had passed on the real deal (flat one) several times without thinking twice. So AA0gold has half the run size of EW1gold and is a more important book anyhow. I guess I'll have to grab one of those AA then. Any word on the run size of Harbinger 0 pink? (thank you much for the info!)

If I can't post a scan of a 9.8, it must be tough. I had always been under the impression that the gold embossed version was a smaller print run than the flat gold? Is this wrong or is this true and it's just harder to find the 9.8 on the flat?

That's got to be a listing mistake...or the seller is just trying to gain some attention? Nice feedback they have too

So now that we're hot and heavy on the Valiant topic.... Are there any Valiant books that are actually rare? I can't think of any off the top of my head (but maybe I'm not aware of some). The book I had a hard time getting way back when was the gold embosses Eternal Warrior #1. They seem easily purchased on Ebay though.

Stunning. Keep an eye on Adventure 260. A CGC 4.0 sold for $286 last month so it's following a similar trajectory as Showcase 30. I would love to see a "trajectory" on this book. I have been looking for a halfway presentable copy at any price for the past three months and not one has made it to market. This book may be too "rare" for speculative fever to ever reach it - you can't have a headlining sale if no book is ever sold. Just took a look at Ebay and yeah the pickings are very slim. Nothing on there that isn't falling apart! Wich one is more important ,Adventure 260 or Showcase 30? I would think Showcase 30 I've spent time studying both books and I think they are equals: Adventure 260 is the first Silver Age Aquaman because Arthur Curry is revealed as the son of Tom Curry, a lighthouse keeper who falls for an Atlantean. This origin story is retold in Showcase 30 which is published about 15 months later. Showcase 30 is Aquaman's first full-length book, although not his own title. That's why I think both are important, but neither book has an edge over the other. I've been waiting to see the jump on these after the Jason Mamoa picture released. Anyone notice anything yet?

How about Marvel Super Special #16 instead? Or Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of The Empire Strikes Back. A plug for my site: http://swcomiccollector.blogspot.com/2014/12/first-appearance-boba-fett.html Question about this Marvel Comics Illustrated version - Your site mentions that this version contained the original design Yoda within it. I have only the Marvel Super Special #16 and on at least one panel (that comes to mind off the top of my head), this version of Yoda is seen as well. Does the version you spoke of originally have only the original Yoda within, in every panel?

How about Marvel Super Special #16 instead?