Von Cichlid

The Punisher and Wolverine LS were probably the best in that they both had excellent art and they fleshed out and defined the identities of both of those characters and demonstrated that each was capable of having a monthly title devoted solely to them. These series were both representative of the absolute best that Marvel had to offer in the 80's. The original Aliens and Predator Dark Horse series where awesome too. Unfortunately, I don't think any of the other series involving the two characters came close to the coolness of those originals. Man, there were 19 books between the 4 series I mentioned and at least 10 of those covers are probably classics forever burned into the memories of anyone who was a kid that collected during that time. IMO, the copper age was the pinnacle of both comic art and storytelling as well.

I still don't get the purpose of Bran warging into the ravens. What did that serve? This show is exiting still but the carefully thoughtout realism of the first seasons is long gone and it has been every since the Sand Snakes really. It just doesn't feel like a show for discerning, adult minds anymore. It still has its moments, but those first few seasons I watched again and again and you could scrutinize the layers and you couldn't find any plot holes. Now I find myself ignoring illogicalities all over the place and kind of just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

Same thing happens to me with my LCS sometimes. If I take a couple of weeks off going, when I return I can get great deals if I spend a decent amount and they're happy to make the sell.. But when I was going every other day and spending the same money those deals begin to dry up. It's a great store with a good owner, but it must just be human nature. It's that way with a lot of businesses these days. New customers get the best treatment and older ones are taken for granted. Perfect example being Direct TV . Loyalty gets you nowhere, but threaten to cancel and then they start giving you great deals.

FF 28 ran concurrently with X-Men 6 (You can tell by Marvel Girl's cool headgear which was only used that month I believe). ToS 49 ran in the same month as X-Men 3 though. It also features the X-Men heavily with some of the only Ditko art on the team as well.

I just finished the Tombstone and Punisher/Arranger/Persuader story line last night. Some of those Spectacular Spider-Man issues in the 80's to 90's (not the decades but the issue numbers) were great. I also like the Milgrom covers. He is somewhat maligned as an artist, but I feel like those covers have a lot of simplistic charm that is lost on the "realistic" covers of today that are being discussed in the other forum. My favorite:

I predict the characters most likely to die next episode are Theon (especially how they made it so dramatic his decision to stay and fight), Brienne (her knighting was a way to send her out on top), Tormund, Gendry, Jorah, and Beric. I would say the Hound as well but you know he will have to have it out with Ser Gregor before it is all said and done.

About a month ago a decent ToS 15 first Goom sold for around $60.00. I kicked myself for not bidding on that one. I also have to realize that I would not necessarily had gotten it if I had placed a bid of $61.00. You never know how much the other person would have bid. Sometimes, I think that books like that may only have a couple of determined competitors and that is what is results in high prices in the end. It is only the absence of that 2nd competitor that makes the other guy get such a good deal. What I have gotten in the habit of is checking for auctions ending on days other than Sunday. On a random Wednesday, for example, you can type in "X-Men Bronze Age" and select "auction only ending soonest" and you can be surprised what might turn up. You can get some good deals on those ones. If it is Sunday evening though, forget about it.

This is the dumbest number 1 I can think of. I saw it in the dollar box at my LCS a couple of days ago. I had to pass.

Oh I know. Sabretooth never broke out until X-Men 212-213 and especially Wolverine 10 and then 41 and 42. I was just remarking about what was missing. I rememeber being 12 years old trying to get a Wolverine 42 at my LCS. The owner pulled all new copies right out of the box and never even sold them for the $1.75 cover price. He wanted $5.00 right off the bat.

That is one of the biggest return on investments in the list aside from ASM 194 and 129. I love the anomalies, like how ASM 102 is higher than 101. Also interesting is how X-Men 12 is highlighted as the origin of Professor X. I'd definitely grab one of those at 12 bucks. Funny how there is no Marvel Spotlight 32 or Tomb of Dracula 10 for me to grab. Iron Fist 14 is missing too.

Here's a good one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Incredible-Hulk-187-190-274-Post-181-3-Book-Lot/333107153759?hash=item4d8ebbcb5f:g:h7QAAOSwiZhcb1Oe Like, I wasn't sure the numbers 187, 190, and 274 are after 181. And this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Incredible-Hulk-Lot-Of-9-161-170-no-hulk-181/362296074008?hash=item545a875f18:g:2k4AAOSwKQ9Z5lNR Nope, 181 is definitely not in between 161 and 170.

Here is a current listing. A comic shop owner as well, and he just happened to have 24 issues in stock. No obvious 9.8's but there seem to be a lot of VF+'s in the mix. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Conan-The-Barbarian-s-75-123-24-Books/222868765041?hash=item33e4037971:g:DzcAAOSw~gRV4IIv

One of my recent favorites is a guy who broke his runs of random Conan the Barbarian issues into lots of 24. Clever.

I almost want to sell my 101 that I got 2 years ago. It has more than doubled in value since that time. I just can't get rid of any Spider-Man books though. I don't think the Iron Fist 14 is overpriced. It's not the most common book, it has the one of the earliest examples of Byrne's classic style of art, and IMO Sabretooth was the absolute coolest villain in the MU before they messed him up in the early 90's. My list of overpriced first appearances would be: Marvel Winter Special 8- I love this book with its pretty cover and colors but Squirrel Girl? Sub-Mariner 5- Maybe not too overpriced but I wish I could get a nice one of these without going too much over 50 bucks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-X-Men-109-Feb-1978-Marvel-CLAREMONT-BYRNE-1ST-VINDICATOR-GUARDIAN-FINE/254124112343?epid=85417085&hash=item3b2afa39d7%3Ag%3AbOIAAOSwwPRcMpIk&LH_Auction=1 Sheesh. This might be some of the loosest grading I've ever seen.

Seller has some iffy feedback but I think I am fixing to jump on this. Great deal. https://www.ebay.com/itm/134-141-LOT-OF-2-ISSUES/143104447683?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D691ddce119024200bd7c211e3de53507%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D264123896413%26itm%3D143104447683&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ad1c1809f-21b4-11e9-ba69-74dbd180366f|parentrq%3A8c27468e1680ab6b9b017531fff75cd4|iid%3A1

I see what you're saying with the kinetic energy comment when I consider DD 257. That was one action packed fight with the Punisher and the sequencing was amazing. I loved that issue as a kid. If this is some of the worst art somebodies ever seen, then I don't know what books they've been reading.

I just scored a House of Mystery 201-203 bundle from ebay at a good price a couple of weeks ago. I love those covers. Here are some of my favorites from the era:

I couldn't give my top 10 without giving the runs that I associate with them so here it goes: 1. Arthur Adams- His copper age covers: He wasn't the best interior artist when it came to flow or storytelling, but his covers were unbeatable and he is the epitome of quality over quantity. 2. Steve Ditko- ASM 1-38: There was never a better fit for somebody than those early ASM issues. He was as much style as substance and he was a master of flow and story telling as well. You could just look at the pictures and not read the words and still know what was going on. 3. John Byrne / Terry Austin X-Men 108-143: I couldn't put Byrne w/o Austin. There is not an objectively better combo in existence that lasted this long. There was simply no way to improve upon the work these two did. 4. Mike Zeck- Punisher mini-series and Captain America: The Punisher mini in particular is, I think, the finest thing that involves the Punisher. It defined the character and showed that he could carry his own series. Zeck's artwork was forever attached to this in my mind. 5. Barry Smith- Conan 1-24: A lot of What I said about Ditko ASM applies here. Such a great fit and a perfect balance of style and substance. 6. Jim Lee- Uncanny X-Men 256-277 and PWJ 6-13: I thought he was the best of the "rockstar" lineup Marvel had at that time. These were also some of the first issues I saw on the newstand as a kid. To this day nobody has drawn a better Punisher or Wolverine. 7. Todd McFarlane - Hulk 340-345 and ASM 298-328: Nothing I can say here that hasn't been said already. I must add that IMO he fell off starting with Spiderman series. 8: Paul Smith Uncanny X-Men 165-175: Classy looking work and associated with some of the best stories in X-Men history. Didn't last long enough however. 9. Frank Miller/Klaus Janson- Daredevil 168-184: Perfectly balanced and each page had it's desired impact. Like Byrne and Austin these two just worked well together. I must say that anything after TDKR I am not a fan of. 10. Jack Kirby- Any Marvel prior to 1966. I love Kirby's pre-hero Marvel's and I love how his early super-hero stuff still has that pre-hero Marvel feel. Something had changed by the later FF issues. While still very good, they just lack the mystique of his early Marvel work. Honorable Mentions: Erik Larsen ASM 329-350 (I am probably alone on this.) JRJR- Daredevil 250-285 or so. Ron Lim's late copper Captain America and Silver Surfer stuff. John Buscema Wolverine 1-16 (I am probably alone on this as well) Marc Silvestri (Uncanny X-men 221-255) Rob Liefield- New Mutants 86-100. His stuff starting with X-Force became hard to look at, kind of like McFarlane on the Spiderman self titled series. Neal Adams DC stuff. Kaluta House of Mystery covers. Romita SR ASM Wally Wood Daredevil Dave Cockrum Uncanny X-Men I could go on but I've said too much already.

I was referencing how in the current political climate that it is unlikely that we would see a cover with a hero referring to Native Americans as redskins. You know with the drama about the NFL team changing their name and all that. I apologize if I offended you. Please find a safe-space, a puppy to pet, and page to color immediately.

I would say the front is white because the back cover looks white. You can really tell when some tanning is going on by looking at the edges of the back cover on those early bronze books.

I love the GL run. My favorite cover is this one. I love how the indians are all sitting indian style. Definitely from the pre-politcal correctness era. My LCS has one and I'm thinking about getting it even though I already have a copy.

The thing that jumps out at me is how long those books must have been displayed. It doesn't look like the guy has a lot of turnover. Understandable, given those prices and the condition of the books.