EC Star&Bar

I hope Stan's toupee has survived. A whole new category for slabbing (yes, I know -- in poor taste, sorry

There was never high demand for older titles like Peter Porkchops however, yet the Overstreet guide kept raising values steadily. A longtime dealer I knew commented that guide values for many older DCs had become "ridiculous" and not based on actual sales data. In my opinion, Overstreet -- in the years before CGC existed -- was heavily biased against post-1969 comics. The bias in favor of older stuff, especially anything pre-Code, lead to inflated values of old series that had little collector interest. The existence of CGC did later underscore how comparatively tough it is to find older books in the highest grades. But I will maintain that early '70s House of Secrets always had the potential to be "more collectible" than '50s Binky or Date with Judy. Demand should always weigh heavily (anyone looking for the June 1938 American Druggist mag?). Yet as far as collectibility, Guide values were set high for older titles that would never be in high demand. Look at HOS #92, 1971. There are lots of high-grade copies out there - but finally at some point, the 1st app. of Swamp Thing surpassed that of Buzzy Brown, and never looked back -- despite the census.

As late as 2003, I was buying nice copies of back-issue Charltons with 20 cent cover prices (from 1972-73) at 10 cents each. Lots of Ditko issues. Some had a store stamping on the back covers, but otherwise high grade, unread. I was lucky that an employee of the seller had no interest in Charlton, or he would've beat me to them (he was mostly a Marvel & Batman collector).

Quite a few years back, the contributors to the Overstreet guide commented regularly on how "plentiful" 1970s comics were, AND strongly implied they would never attain any significant value. People didn't go to the trouble of carefully preserving the books -- after all, the experts more-or-less called them worthless. So copies that have survived in very high grade are finally getting their due. I always treasured the copies I hand-selected off the newsstand. My local LCS owner wouldn't even consider buying post-1969 back issue comics from customers as late as 2015 -- a stupid policy.

Marvel's production manager needs to talk to the printer about the problems. They've popped up elsewhere. Not seeing those on other publishers' copies, although I don't buy all that much Modern.

As I said I wasn't out to necessarily defend the seller's practice -- but when you're willing to spend a big amount, not reading the CGC label is potentially a BIG mistake by the buyer. We don't know if the winning bidder was knowingly willing to pay that much for a trimmed copy. I actually use ebay more than I used to because of the zoom feature available for lots of the listings. The old adage applies, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I think I've heard once or twice that the oils in your fingers can begin to re-emerge in as little as 20 minutes. Regardless, if you're handling books for an extended period of time, you may have need to repeat the hand-washing routine. When I handle my trades and hardcovers, I like to use a paper napkin in the hand I'm using to cradle the book's spine. Then I carefully turn pages' edges with the other, bare hand. Just a habit I've formed -- I try to avoid much direct fingertip contact with the pages' and covers' surfaces. I only break out my white "film editor's" gloves on rare occasions.

This is not really in defense of the seller, but you would think when someone is about to spend a few grand on a book, he/she would make sure to read ALL of the comments on the label. I think the seller would be willing to help if necessary in that regard. I've read most of the other thread and I'd like to remain neutral on the matter, but I just think a buyer going for a book of that value would make sure they've read the label...!

When comparing with front cover scans of that same issue, keep in mind how much white is showing on the left sides -- wrapped around from the backs. Obviously a little artwork on the right edge can be lost due to the wrap. I think your Harvey is fine - very likely not trimmed.

The 3 important factors for comic storage are "cool, dry, and dark." Generally the cooler the better. You will be storing those in your home however, so in very cold climates, you can't have temps so cold that your water in your plumbing pipes could freeze (and potentially burst a pipe). If you are comfortable in the room year-round, that's often a good sign that the conditions are okay.

I should correct my earlier statement -- the standard Walt Disney Fox & Hound comics ran 3 issues, not 2. Anyway, by that time Western (under the Whitman imprint, 1981) was no longer having their comics distributed as returnable newsstand issues. So, as bagged non-returnables for these, we likely will not be able to establish a true on-sale date (despite cover dates being known from the issue code or otherwise). I do remember solicits as late as 1984 for some Whitman issues going to LCSs as Direct. I have a copy of one version of the mag-sized Fox & Hound one-shot (there are 3 versions known) and it has nice production values.

For The Fox and the Hound, I don't think we can state conclusively whether the Western one-shot shown in this thread (mag size, cardstock cover, nice paper) was reprinted from the 2-issue WD F & H series (standard, newsprint). The story seems to have been published in the 2 formats more-or-less simultaneously. (If I had to, I would say the standard comics were split from the one-shot.) A rep of Marvel once stated that movie stories were printed in various formats partly to recoup the licensing fees. You would routinely see mag, standard comic, treasury, and mass-market PBK all in fairly short order. Different formats for the same story/art didn't always allow for a clear case of one "reprinted" from another. That may be the case as well for some of the Western stuff (under Golden, Whitman, etc. imprints). This is a wild guess regarding Buck Rogers, but it's possible that Marvel's involvement had to do with licensing costs for the movie adaptation -- maybe Western was not in position to take that expense on.

Too much shadow added to the main character by this cover's colorist. In my opinion, when you do that it sends the viewer's eyes to secondary stuff and it confuses the scene.

I've watched for a couple of reasons: I've been trying to get up to speed on some moderns, and also keep an eye out for some older obscure comics to edit info for the GCD. It's sad that a couple of these guys, who are high-profile and have bought collections as large as 100,000 books, seem to have a really limited comics publishing knowledge. For example, when you've bought a What If? #1 from 1977 among a select group from an LCS, and point out that it's the "Newsstand Edition," keep looking for that "Direct" -- even though such across-the-board variants wouldn't exist for 2+ years...!

You're thinking of The Double Life of Private Strong, which ran for 2 issues in 1959. By Simon & Kirby, with more hands involved in the second issue. Also, the first couple of issues of Archie's Jaguar title pre-dated FF #1.

Thanks! That's great, Ill send it over.

The golf story, some claim, is apocryphal, but anyway Julius Schwartz was never claimed to be involved -- from DC, it was either Irwin Donenfeld or Jack Leibowitz. And both apparently at some point claimed they actually didn't play golf with Martin Goodman.

I've owned double-cover copies from DC and Gilberton, but never Charlton. Very nice.

We could use a front-cover scan of the blue cloth Mad for Keeps over at the GCD (comics.org) as an "additional" cover.

If you have a university nearby, I would contact their library and talk with their restoration/conservation department. They will be experienced in moisture-related problems and likely have a sublimation chamber. They can also advise you on freezing techniques. You will want to read a few online articles about freezing temps to kill silverfish. Some of the more valuable books may placed in plastic containers and frozen, to ensure no live activity. (I know, it's unsettling to have that in with your frozen pizza, etc,) Also look into some more deterrents: diatomaceous earth (powder), lavender oil, and mothballs. Here is a trick on a small scale: take a glass jar and cover the outside with masking tape. Place some bread with water and some sugar inside. Make some room in the box for placement. The silverfish will enter, but not be able to escape due to the slick interior. Good luck - remember librarians have dealt with these pests for many many years.

DC's SA science-fiction, war, children's (Sugar & Spike), and romance ALL were superior to the Marvel output. What did Marvel offer that was comparable to Rip Hunter or Sea Devils? Where was their historical-based adventure material to rival DC's Viking Prince, Robin Hood, and Frontier Fighters? That last part of your sentence (earlier post) is somewhat insulting. I'd rather read an 8-page Bill Finger Batman story from 1957 than most any Marvel, with the exception of some of the best Lee & Ditko work. Just preference. Marvel was Lee, Kirby, and Ditko. Once they were no longer producing there, things fell off pretty dramatically. Basically Marvel had 10 years of compelling superhero work starting in '61. But DC had set the stage with titles like Showcase, The Flash, and Challs. To dismiss SA DC in such a harsh manner is as unfair as if I were to dump on Bronze Marvel -- which is unfair due to Conan and ToD being good, while most Marvel hero titles slipped badly after 1971.

No one can convince some Marvelites that SA DC had good stuff. But Marvel had its share of mediocre material as well. Like when practically EVERY male member of the earliest X-Men drooled over Jean Grey, including Professor X. I'll take the sublime DC SA artwork of Kubert, M. Anderson, Heath, and G. Kane over Marvel's Werner Roth, Al Hartley, and Don Heck any day.

You can look up the Marvel treasury-sized Smurfs issue (from '82 or '83) by its ISBN: 0939766175.

Stewart's costume from The Greatest American Hero may be a fake, unfortunately for him. A guy who's knowledgeable about those claims all 4 that exist have been accounted for in the hands of collectors elsewhere, and Stewart's was likely created by a scam artist out of Florida. One thing I will say about the appraiser is that he was willing to gamble on an ungraded 'Tec 69, though his graded book was pretty low. I'm guessing at some point he would want to examine it closely.

There are some nice Harry G. Peter "Man O'Metal" stories from 1942 in Dan Nadel's book "Art in Time: Unknown Comic Book Adventures." They're scanned directly from Reg'lar Fellers Heroic Comics (Eastern Color, 1940 series) nos. 13, 14, & 15