MasterChief

From the Toronto Collection (August 1955)

New Hampshire Pedigree Copy from the Overstreet Collection.

From the Toronto Collection.

This was advertised as the "Seattle Copy." I'm not familiar with that collection.

Circle 8 Copy.

Yes. What I'm saying is... Maneely's work in the 50s may have creatively inspired small elements of Leone's work in the 60s.

I agree. Western fans, like myself, are very lucky he was able to do so much work in the genre before his untimely death. And the death of the genre. Maneely's four-color Westerns are remarkable. Gritty composition employing close-ups and wide shots of pistoleers help add complexity, tension, and emotion. Perhaps speculation, but his work may have influenced, to some small extent, the Sergio Leone spaghetti western. Certainty, seeing all of Maneely's western work in one location brings to mind Leone, the sounds of the innovative scores of composer Ennio Morricone, who left us this past Saturday (RIP 1928-2020), and the Greatest Standoff EVER...

Ohio Copy.

Well, I look at the two scans, and I hate to say it but I like the 7.0 better. Most all of the back cover defects are just as present on the 6.5 but can't be seen as easily because of what appears to be a huge difference in the color saturation of the scans. It seems like all that's really changed is that the book has become better centered and in the process flaked a small amount of color on the back cover. In hand I'm not sure its really changed much. But you clearly know more about this than I do. That being said, I certainly hate that this is being done and find 'facejobs' offensive. I've read your copy down through the years and you're no mock-up of a learned hobbyist. I've always appreciated your perspective on things -- no matter the subject of discussion.

I would rather have the 6.5 any day. Not even close. Agreed. Whoever worked over that book is a jack@ss. The Eldon 6.5 was beautiful, nothing wrong with it. Patinated with age, it presented an appreciation for natural preservation signified by time and the book's ability to stand its tests. Now recycled and remade. It exhibits an artificial look manufactured by a flipper who damaged the object of age with wantonness greed.

my understanding is yes but that book looks a bit on the weak side to get a grade bump from a "tuck job" Not sure a staple tuck will work with the Eldon Cap #3. In addition to the back-cover pigmentation loss, seems the face job procedure caused complications that may well inhibit any follow-on cosmetic work.

Lower graded copy is targeted for manipulation.

The back cover images used in the ComicConnect listing are of substandard quality because they appear to have been cropped, resized, and compressed from the original source imagery, which resulted in image quality loss and poor visibility. Here are the original images bearing the Pristine Comics sticker.

No question about it. They are an exact match. The eBay seller swiped the Heritage image and then cropped it for his eBay listing. Not only do the black color printing imperfection line up, so do the scanner artifacts that are visible on the slab itself.

Hey Mitch; Did you see the tag team duo of Adams and Nelson when they did up that big "crock and bull" 5-minute eBay video for the CGC 9.0 copy of Action 1 that ended up seling for $3.2M, but somehow conveniently left out some rather critical details in their timeline history of the book? Edited 20 hours ago by lou_fine Yeah... I saw the Adams cedar-chest provenance picture show. What a gag! It's a fine-tuned confidence game. There's none better. The sequel's something to take pleasure in, too. Adams doesn't mention the provenance of the All-Star Comics #8 or the Sensation Comics #1 in the follow-up show, BUT the (alleged) lineage is used as a provocative advertising lede in many news articles promoting/reporting the Adams' Wonder Woman eBay auction. By the way... If it's true that "advertising is to a genuine article what manure is to land — it largely increases the product” ... then why on earth has ComicConnect not mentioned the distinguished provenance of these two books (original owner bought from a magazine distributor) in their auction descriptions?

BTW... Here's a better scan of the ASC#8 back cover

"These comic books never even made it to the news stands. The original owner started collecting them in 1941. He bought his comics from a magazine distributor and took them directly to his home, where they remained, undisturbed, for 70-plus years." Adam's is the quintessential carnival barker operating a circus maximus of misrepresentations. His comic-book lineage fairy tells eclipse any story dreamed up by P. T. Barnum and substantiate the ole adage "There's a sucker born every minute."

And speaking of Creatures on the Loose! Only three copies of issue #16 have cracked 9.8 in the census. Difficult to find in high-grade? Not for the original owner of the... yup, you guessed it. The Suscha News collection! All three 9.8 copies are from the backroom of the magazine distributor's warehouse. Here's my copy... followed by the other two killer copies for reference.

Your Creatures copy is a stellar example of a very difficult to find high grade black-border picture frame. Currently, only seven 9.8 copies populate the census. And four out of the seven hail from the Suscha News collection. My copy is below. It's one of the Suscha's... captured in 2016 after hunting it from the first day it came to market in 2011.

This Beach-Head Earth! The Marvel King-Size picture frame mag with 34 pages of Neal Adams knock-out Avengers artwork, all for just two bits. Of course, the story by Roy Thomas isn't too shabby, either. (Actually, it's one of my favorites.) Here's more Marvel Lore... The intro and subsequent chapters within Avengers #93, or as they're lettered by Sam Rosen as "Parts", were based on classic science fiction novels Thomas read as a teenager. The story intro, This Beachhead Earth, was taken from the 1952 novel This Island Earth by Raymond F. Jones, which later became a 1950s sci-fi movie of the same name. Part Two, A Journey to the Center of the Android! comes from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, which also was adapted into a movie. And, Part Three, War of the Weirds!, comes from War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, which became another 50s sci-fi classic. Below is the atomic age artwork used for the movie This Island Earth, which is commonly known in the entertainment industry, and to movie poster collectors, as a "one sheet." It's followed by the splash page for Avengers #93.

Gorgeous Suscha News copy! From the data I've collected, it appears as though the original owner may have had an affinity for picture frames (or maybe he had a job during the period that provided extra income to buy multiple copies of every comic available!). Whatever the case, no less than three copies each of the 1972 run of Amazing Adventures were in the collection. BTW... If you didn’t have it already, here's the image of the original label book when the collection premiered. (Oh, and welcome to the boards!)

Sounds like you have an elusive and unique book on your hands. Not only has it survived the ravages of time in remarkable condition, but it is one of possibly two particular 9.2 copies that can bear the distinctive seal of...

Beautiful copy! Marvel lore has it that Roy Thomas tried for years to use the Timely heroes of his youth in the comics he wrote, but Stan Lee would have none of it. It was only after Lee was promoted to publisher and Thomas to editor-in-chief, in 1972, that Thomas was free to revive the Golden Age characters that inspired his career. Avengers #97 is the book, and in particular the cover, that cemented his dream. This cover is an excellent example of the Kane Frame. It's a creative masterpiece of 3-D action rendered from a framed composition that brilliantly captures the illusion of dramatic, heroic movement. Powerful and captivating. It's the perfect newsstand eye candy!