Zolnerowich

Those colors are insane! Never seen anything like it in the world of More Fun! I'd love to collect the Spectre MF books, but never seem to have the time, er, cash...

Looks fab, Kelly! Wish I'd given you a run for your money on that CLINK book, but saved my pennies for another book, later in the alphabet, that didn't go my way. ?

Nice pair Gino! I saw that #2 on eBay and was really tempted to go for it, but ultimately knew you were meant to be the rightful owner. I'm not surprised you took home the ? !

My humble question about hoarding multiple copies of a comic book... ... only now I realize I'm guilty of the same hoarding tendency!! Here is my Mr. Potato Head "in box" collection, all 30 of them. As you can see, most of them are graded, with highest-graded 9.8 in the center (only copy at 9.8 in the census), plus a few restored, and one NG which I'm hoping to upgrade soon!

Ditto. Junkdrawer (and others), looking forward to meeting you!

Well put. Speaking of no sense, here is me waiting for my Fantastic #3: (comicjack: btw congrats on surpassing 10K posts, if you care about that sort of thing...)

Gentlemen: I, for one, got a really good chuckle from your suggestions. Like kind of a chuckle. Brightened my day! It all now makes perfect (non)sense (?)

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm clearly missing something: why would anyone want to hoard dozens of the same book?

Looks like you had a good day at the mall! LOVE the Flash 86 dino, and the Whiz 4 is smooth as cheeze!

Just wondering: even with graders' notes in hand, is there sufficient fine-grained detail to really know how the final grade was determined?

The label on Tec 27 also reads like more than "slight A-1", given color touch, spine split sealed, cover cleaned, etc., but as noted, the market will determine value. If I had the moolah, I'd certainly go after it! As for restoration vs. conservation, it does seem like splitting hairs. Whatever it's called, the process clearly isn't adding dollar value these days, as lou_fine points out, but in many instances it is adding physical longevity (another form of value) to the books, which many (all?) of us might agree is extremely valuable -- as Punyhuman says, having a book with slight or moderate (or even extensive?) resto is better than a book falling to pieces, and helps preserve the book. Given the increasing scarcity and naturally crumbling condition of these venerated GA beauties, I would think that more consideration be given to the role, "value," and implementation of restoration techniques in the funny-book business... as it has for many centuries in the "fine art" world. (FYI: no conflict here: I buy both universal and restored books, and I have no clue how to restore a book!!)

Right on the mark!? I was so tempted. Got out bid on every thing this auction I'm happy to report that my ComicLink haul was as impressive as Junkdrawer's, including Almost #1 and the Could've Been ashcan copy... I like your positive glass half full of nothin' outlook. Well, to soothe my wounds, I made an impulse buy last night at one of our esteemed boardie's sites. The book should speed up the healing process!

Very nice! Any book with a Fletcher Hanks story is worth its weight in gold. (I assume the 64-page GA books weigh a lot more than the SA and BA books!! )

Right on the mark!? I was so tempted. Got out bid on every thing this auction I'm happy to report that my ComicLink haul was as impressive as Junkdrawer's, including Almost #1 and the Could've Been ashcan copy...

Though unless Marvel Comics decides to re-launch the Fantastic Four, the crash of the Fantastic Four books may be upon us...

Let me be the first to congratulate you! And let me be the first to receive the offer to purchase this book from you when you pick up the Berk copy!

Great one, Gino!! From what I can tell, it looks like the man wielding the diabolical torture device was formerly a victim of said device; his left eye is out of action. Kinda like this I suppose -->

What a great idea for a thread! Awesome how each list is different. I have two versions of my admittedly highly personal list: While I was collecting in the 80's: John Byrne: his new X-Men was the whole reason I started collecting Frank Miller: Daredevil, breathtaking, gutsy, raw Jim Steranko: kaleidoscopic; nothing like it then or since Neal Adams: his work on the old X-Men left me feeling in the presence of something greater than comics While I am collecting now: Lou Fine: his line work and attention to detail is unparalleled (cf: my sig line) Jack Cole: astonishing creativity in how he could stretch, shrink, and bend Plas; oh, and The Claw Jerry Robinson: an iconic artist of GA Batman and Joker Dan Zolnerowich (naturally): some of the most glorious monsters, babes, and ray-guns of the Golden Age if I could build two more faces on my Mt. Rushmore, they would look like Lily Renee and Wally Wood

Hey Rick, if Johnny545 has it right, we're gonna need to think this through a bit more...

Buttock raises a really good point. Maybe a boardie with some clout (which disqualifies me) could put this question to CC directly. The idea of bidding against Fishler or Zurzulo does not sound right at all, on several levels.

Fantastic! I love how the lady is completely unfazed by the brawl, calmly poised with knife in hand.

Amazing colors, Kelly! Your books always shine. Not to take anything away from the great Zolnerowich of course... Intriguing: the gorilla's fingernails are better manicured than Sheena's.

Rick, let's do a time share on Fantastic 3! Rotating the book between us at 6-month intervals!

Interesting discussion. Good points all around. Though the only person who can tell us the motivation for selling Jon Berk's collection is Jon Berk. The evolution from comic book collector to comic book investor/speculator is certainly upon us, but whether the comic market precipice is behind JB's decision, who knows...

Thanks GG and Kelly! Kelly, thanks for the tip. The May CC auction is going to be insane. Leafing through Planet #37 on Comic Book Plus, the amazing splash page for this same story caught my eye -- it was auctioned off at HA some time ago (Aug. 13, 2005, to be precise). Wonder if Jon Berk owns that page too...