PopKulture

"Here's your Bill!" Classic pre-code gore! I love it. I've never seen this one full-size before. Keep 'em coming!

I don't even know what issue you're referring with first "Call of Cthulhu," but your other nominees are solid. The Tarzan All-Story is a no-brainer. So are the Shadow and Doc for importance. To that I would add the first Spider and Operator 5. If you're expanding the list to 20 or 25, a few other hero pulps like Secret 6 and The Octopus would vie for inclusion. WuFang and Dr. Yen Sin as well. First issue of Weird Tales for sure. To some extent, the same thing is happening in pulps that happened in comics - the great, in-your-face covers are seeing huge price spikes, like the Saucy's and Spicy's. Contents be damned. Forty years ago pulp collectors cared 95% about what was on the inside. I think the first Buck Rogers in Amazing Stories has to make the list for importance, and there are the Black Masks with firsts by Chandler and Hammett, etc. that some would justly argue for. The first appearance of Zorro could squeak in there as well. And then there are the oddballs and esoteric pulps like Zeppelin Stories with the famous "Gorilla of the Gasbags" cover. That's going to make your top 20, and maybe the first Thrill Book.

How this is not designated a classic cover is beyond me, given some of the recent "classic" designations that might appropriately be designated merely "noteworthy." Marvel Mystery is definitely a run with so, so many amazing covers, it's difficult to narrow it down to the real classics. It reminds me of Spinal Tap: "These go to eleven." My friend and I used to have the same discussion about the Baseball Hall of Fame, and how it was getting watered down. Look at a picture of the inaugural class and contrast that with some of the players who've squeaked by in the past few decades. Keep the classic cover designation for books like More Fun 54 and Superman 14.

By now the title is really settling into its groove, with the familiar cover formula being a man, a woman, and any number of skeletons! What's no to like??

When I was amassing paperbacks as a teen in the 80's scouring used bookstores and flea markets, I used to overlook the Pockets with the silver spines as shown, mostly in favor of the earlier painted covers. Now I have a greater appreciation for them and the dozens I did pick up here and there. Of course, now they are twice as old as when I got them, and nostalgia seems to grow stronger with time.

How did I forget Hawkman 1??

And as was previously indicated, there were a number of movies released that loom large in the American consciousness:

Local history - In New York, where the majority of comics were created, there was a world's fair:

This isn't necessarily the case. The Fifteenth Amendment was passed in 1870 and stated that rights shall not be abridged based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Of course this makes no mention of women, who had to wait until 1920 (except in local and state elections). Black males voted in numbers early on, even in the South where it took little time to disenfranchise them via poll taxes, literacy tests, etc. By the 1880's, what are generically termed the Jim Crow laws were in full effect, but most starkly in the southern states. In the north, these same efforts were less concerted, but intimidation certainly occurred at the local level. What the 24th Amendment did was to prohibit that manner of disenfranchisement explicitly. People argue to this day whether the prohibition of disenfranchisement is akin to enfranchisement, but African American males voted in national elections prior to the Civil War and certainly prior to 1964.

True, true... but I wasn't trying to be completely random. Anti-organization to that degree requires... errrr, organization. Of sorts. But, sure, maybe I could've worked a romance and/or funny animal in there.

Four boxes, eh? Well at least it sounds like maybe the Avons will stay together.

Does anyone else enjoy a little disorder now and then? Collecting, whether it's comics, coins, cards - whatever, usually entails organizing: in runs, by publisher, by genre, etc. While I appreciate all my Blackhawks sorted by issue number as much as the next boardie, I strangely appreciate it when other books are grouped solely by approximate era. I don't know... I somehow find the randomness refreshing, like this handful that lives together:

Only four issues into the run, and I must shamefully confess that I'm already green with envy!

Even though it's now been more than 60 years, here are a few DC's:

Great voyeuristic fodder. Thanks for these glimpses.

I was thinking along these same lines, Robot Man! Baker does seem to be near the top of the class now, along with Schomburg, Fine, and L.B. Cole. Kirby suffers from being ubiquitous, I think, probably unfairly so. Raboy seems to have cooled, but remains one of the all-time greats, as does Eisner, the quirky Wolverton, Barks, Walt Kelly, Everett, among others. And that EC stable, as you mention: Wood, Williamson, Frazetta, Evans, Kamen... So, SO much great comic art out there to appreciate...

Totally awesome action" cover!! And that Journey into Unknown Worlds is one of my faves of the run, and that Uncanny makes me green with envy. Congrats!!

Super stand-up of them, and good luck on the auction and getting past all this.

Great run!! I've never seen ANY of these in the wild. Couldn't have been an easy run to assemble - congrats!

And here I thought you guys were talking about Silver Streak 6 when you wrote SS 6! I mean, classic cover n all...

I was bagging some vintage movie magazines tonight. Here are a few: I like Betty's initials on this one: And how's this for a cover by Zoe Mozert? It's always fun to thumb through these old issues. They're chockfull of Hollywood royalty.

Fun report and cool items as usual, Robot Man. I picked up a stack of beater Dells for $10 over the weekend, as well as a few oddball GA books. There were several Donalds and a few Uncle Scrooges so they'll be fun to read. They've probably been reprinted, but there's nothing like that old comic smell... I also scored a Woody Woodpecker coloring book, but I think Hoppy trumps Woody 90% of the time. The lady I bought the Woody from had 3 different Gold Key Three Stooges issues, but she didn't know they were in the box and wanted to give them to an ailing friend of the family that looks like Curly (even though I pointed out that it wasn't Curly). She was really apologetic about it, and I assured her it wasn't an issue. I've gotten some good stuff from her in the past anyway, so it all evens out in the final analysis.

Very cool pics! I barely follow contemporary comics these days, so thank you for bringing this artist to my attention

I can't possibly pick a favorite from THAT onslaught. Kudos, kudos, kudos!