HuddyBee

Buy DC not Marvel

1 minute ago, kav said:

I know i do not like Curt Swan inking his own work.

Interesting. I can't think of any examples of Curt Swan inking his own stuff, did he do it often? I will say, I do enjoy Anderson inks on Swan pencils, so I think I'm gonna edit my previous statement: "I generally prefer artists that ink their own work," unless Murphy Anderson is inking their pencils, in which case I probably prefer that .

I've always wondered, did Kirby ever ink his own work? I'm sure he did somewhere but are there any comic books penciled and inked by Kirby? If so I'd be interested to check it out as I generally prefer artist's that ink their own work.

I'll be honest. I'm a bit of a Kirby hater. The man created a ton of heroes for both Marvel and DC, and I really value his contributions. I can also respect a lot of his more dynamic and action oriented framing, and I can stomach a lot of his BA DC work. But I'm really not a fan. His style, while unique, is just far too brash and blocky for me.

I'm much more a fan of finer/smoother more traditional artwork like Murphy Anderson's. And Kirby is almost the opposite of Anderson if I may say so .

I also noticed some people talking about Kirby's backgrounds. This is actually a beef I have with him and early Jim Steranko. When Kirby is paired with certain inkers I find his backgrounds far too elaborate. That coupled with Marvels poor printing quality in the 60's often leads to a distracting jumbled mess.

33 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

Perhaps you purchased a copy that was cut extra tall at the printing plant?

I'm sure I did. Most books would probably be around 10.25". I know that golden age books often have irregularities between issues during printing (at least with width), so I figured that this was probably a fairly common occurrence (a book being too tall) however I'm guessing maybe it's not.

3 hours ago, adamstrange said:

I use Super Gold from Bill Cole which is 8.25" wide x 10.5" tall

Yeah these are the same size that I use. My boards and bags are 10.5" tall however the problem is that the book I have is about 0.5-1 cm taller than the boards/bags.

Edit: So the book is actually probably more like 10.75" tall

So I recently purchased a raw copy of Captain Marvel Adventures No. 30 from 1943, and to my surprise the book was about 1/2 cm taller than my bags and boards for Golden Age books (BCW). I've never run into a Golden Age book that was too "tall," sure too wide, but never a book that was actually taller than my bags and boards.

I haven't been collecting Golden Age books for a long time (more of a silver guy), so as you can imagine this caught me completely unaware. What do you guys do when you acquire a book that is taller than the traditional bags and boards? Are there special "tall" bags/mylars I can buy? Or is there an alternate type of storage that you usually use for books that are too tall?

Any insight would help, thanks.

Edit: I realize I could just use magazine bags/boards, but I'm wondering if there isn't a better solution.

40 minutes ago, rjpb said:

1) The Marvel cinematic universe has elevated awareness of even 2nd tier Marvel characters above may DC characters from the same era. More people know who Hawkeye is than Hawkman. This could conceivably change, but I'm doubtful.

It really is a shame about Hawkeye and Hawkman...

But on a serious note. I think it's possible to overestimate the importance of the MCU. For example look at the character Captain Marvel (the original Fawcett character). Back in the 40's he was the first hero to get his own movie serial, and he was the highest selling comic character of all time, selling 1.3 million copies a week. If you would've told anyone during that time that Captain Marvel would be long gone and forgotten in just 10-15 short years, people would've laughed. But look where the character is now, aside from the recent movie, he's been (sadly) dead in the water for the past 80 years.

I know these two scenarios are completely different, but I think it goes to show that pop culture phenomenon rarely stay. There's a lot of hype around the MCU, and that might not change, but it also might. Who knows what collecting will look like in 20 years?

I do know that for a long time SA Marvel and SA DC were pretty equal in terms of value between various counterparts. I would think that the market would eventually revert back to that after enough time. But I could easily be mistaken. Just my 

1 hour ago, Bluemedgroup said:

Now in 2021, the DC keys have been stagnant for past 3 years while my Marvel keys went up 3x in value.  Looking back, I wish I hadn't bought any DC keys and had put it all in Marvel keys.  

I think with DC, one should be looking more towards long term growth. With everyone and their mother buying Marvel, I don't think it makes sense to assume that DC will spike just like Marvel did with the MCU. However, because of the MCU, DC books aren't getting nearly the same amount of attention they used to get 10+ years back, and therefore aren't gaining value at the same rate. So now is probably the best time to buy SA DC, though not for a short term gain, but for long term. But of course if you don't like DC, then don't but DC.

But for all of us DC fans, I think right now is definitely more of a buyers market. But don't think that DC will always be a buyer's market, or that Marvel will always be a seller's market, both markets looked very different just 10 years ago.

Although I will say there are some surprising SA DC books that have had some impressive short term gains. I purchased a low grade copy of Hawkman #4 back in 2016 for $40, that's now probably worth $250. And I imagine the gains on higher graded copies are much greater.

1 hour ago, rjpb said:

None of this stuff is remotely scarce in low to mid grade, but the market is a seller's market to a degree I don't recall. The blue chip keys may never be a bad investment, but it feels like the wrong time to start collecting SA Marvels. 

I agree, tho to be fair BA Marvel isn't looking too different from SA Marvel in terms of price jumps.

Maybe its time for the OP to jump into SA DC... 

Some of the stuff uncovered about Sarge Steel #6 is very interesting. Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help. I think I'll definitely be picking up a copy of this book now if I can find it. 

3 minutes ago, bronze_rules said:

Thunderbolt 52.

Thunderbolt 52 is dated 6/66 while Judo Master 89 is dated 5-6/66.

Would I be correct in assuming that "5-6" means that Judo Master 89 most likely came out before Thunderbolt 52, or is there really no way to tell?

8 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

It would be odd to reference a character in 'his own title' if that title's cover didn't actually include his name wouldn't it. It says on sale now though, not forthcoming, which ties with them being available at the same time. 

Yes, but Special War Series #4 was titled that really in name only. The cover proudly proclaimed the Judo Master logo. It would also seem very odd for it to be referring to Judo Master 89 (his 1st self-titled book, essentially #1) as that book is cover dated June (a whole 7 months after Sarge Steel #6).

Special War Series #4 cover:

1 hour ago, Get Marwood & I said:

 

 

It's interesting to note that the box denoted from the asterisk next to Judo Master says, "WATCH FOR HIM IN HIS OWN COMIC... ON SALE NOW!!!"

I'm assuming this is referring to SWS #4, which might make one think that Sarge Steel 6 predated SWS #4 even though both were published the same month. It very well might not have, but this would seem to make some sense.

6 minutes ago, Prince Namor said:

That would make it the 1st appearance (as a cameo)

Interesting, as both Sarge Steel #6 and Special War Series #4 are both dated November '65. Either way I think it would probably be fair to consider this cameo, thus making 89 at least his 2nd full appearance.

I do find it really odd though that CGC has a label noting his 1st and 3rd appearance, and not his 2nd. Hmmm...

14 minutes ago, Chaykin Stevens said:

Sarge Steel #6 (cover dated November 1965,, approximate on sale date September 1 1965)  included a 3 pager by McLaughlin entitled What Is Karate?, which was introduced by Judomaster, who appeared as a headshot in the first panel only.

 

Interesting, now I'm wondering why wouldn't CGC note it on the label? Considering they've noted his 1st and 3rd appearances on separate books.

CGC lists Special War Series #4 as his 1st appearance, and Judo Master 89 as his 3rd appearance. I've looked everywhere and can't seem to find what book is his 2nd appearance. The only luck I've had is with places that list Judo Master 89 as his 2nd appearance, however I've questioned that due to CGC's recognizing it as his 3rd.

Could CGC be noting this book (#89) wrong, or am I just completely missing the book that's between these two? Thanks.

Didn't Overstreet used to allow books the grade of 1.0 for having a non-story page or centerfold missing? I could be incorrect, but if so does CGC still adhere to this, or am I completely off?

I enjoy instagram from a selling standpoint. I don't sell a lot, but generally I'll toss books up on Instagram before sending them off to eBay. It's nice selling through Instagram as there's usually a more personal connection, and you get to meet more people. Also due to their being no fees I can generally price my books a lot lower, and it feels good to give others a bit of a deal.

On an unrelated note, trading via Instagram has also been a great tool to help grow the collection.

On 3/15/2021 at 1:22 PM, wisbyron said:

If that's the case, I guess that could seem frustrating for some people but if they're not illegal to look at or try to obtain, is it really "banned" or "cancelled"? 

That's what the debate was about earlier. It was primarily about whether or not private companies can engage in corporate censorship. And I would say, censorship doesn't have to be a manner of illegal vs legal.

This is a rather extreme example but imagine if every retailer in the country decided to no longer sell "book x," (which is perfectly within the rights of the retailers). It's not illegal to buy or sell this book, but because no retailers are distributing it, it essentially becomes impossible. The only way to obtain this "book x" physically would be to create a copy for yourself or buy one from a peer. So while not banned or censored in a legal sense by the government. Corporate censorship has essentially effectively censored this "book x" at least in physical form.

What a lot of people see here (including myself) is a smaller miniature version of that. A far-cry from most forms of legal censorship, I still believe one could classify this as a form of corporate censorship, and though not illegal on eBay's part, it still is rather alarming.

2 hours ago, Prince Namor said:

It just happens to be the Russian Government. 

LOL

So much for not getting political

10 hours ago, ttfitz said:

I only wish to point out that I don't think that the inclusion of private entities is what is stretching the meaning of censorship, as I have agreed that it is possible for a private entity to engage in censorship. It's stretching when you include private entities making the decision on what things they wish to sell.

fair enough 

28 minutes ago, Prince Namor said:

No, but if they allow you to get away with it, you have to question their commitment. 

And some aren't.

If I own a bar, and I say smoking isn't allowed - it's our official policy - and I even occasionally kick people out for smoking - yet at any given time you can walk in and SEE people in there smoking... I'd say the exceptions prove I'M not following my rules.

This argument is silly. I just looked up the book "Scrambled Eggs Super," (I book I was unable to sell) on eBay, there is currently 1 copy available that was just listed. Previously there were tons of copies of this book that have sold, and there were tons listed. Now there is 1 that is sure to be delisted.

31 minutes ago, Prince Namor said:

Ah, so this is about selling collectibles? Here I thought it was about banning books - you know - that you can buy - like on the biggest book seller in the world's web site - Amazon. But it's about selling used copies of a book that no one wanted until now. Got it. Thank god, eBay is protecting us from THAT.

No. This is about used books. Ebay happens to be the largest website to sell used books. It just so happens that some people call used books collectible books. And again, no one ever said these books were totally being banned. So yes, you thought wrong. It also turns out that there are no longer new copies being produced. Retailers that had new copies are all sold out, so the only way to obtain a copy is to buy a used copy. You can no longer do so through eBay.

35 minutes ago, Prince Namor said:

I can assure you that eBay isn't wearing the same tin foil hat as you.

Like many people, I think your bending it to fit your argument. That's not really how you successfully test a theory. 

Some people will always live their life in fear like their TV tells them. 

I'm not going to respond to this. As most of your rhetoric is rather absurd and helpful in no way.

I will say though, I don't live in fear. And if you think simply voicing a concern is the same as "living in fear," then I'm afraid, my friend, I'm not the only one wearing a tin foil hat.

32 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

Why do some of you keep trying to make this a political issue, especially here, where political discussion is not allowed? Or is that the point? Trying to shut down the thread?

It's hilarious that you keep mentioning this, and I'm sure you don't understand why.

The debate was over the definition of "censorship," and whether or not this situation constitutes it. It just so happens that the definition of censorship often includes the word "political." However that doesn't mean the debate now is somehow political in nature. I could draw a number of completely absurd conclusions with the faulty logic you're employing.

I mentioned "The Communist Manifest" with a list of other media that is generally considered offensive. If you don't consider the Manifesto offensive and think it is therefore "hilarious" that I mention it then that's fine, I couldn't care less.

2 minutes ago, Prince Namor said:

Actually they're not. Three copies are available on eBay right now.

Just because they're doing a poor job of it doesn't mean they aren't censoring it. The exception doesn't prove the rule. Just because I get away with murder doesn't mean murder isn't illegal or forbidden. Books are being taken down. And eBay's official policy is to delist and remove all of these books. Again, the exception doesn't prove the rule.

4 minutes ago, Prince Namor said:

Bigger than Amazon? I think not.

And yes, when it comes to used collectibles, eBay is indeed a larger selling platform than Amazon. Or if I must, I'll rephrase my original comment to "one of the largest."

6 minutes ago, Prince Namor said:

LOL

I'm not quite sure what was funny about my saying eBay is removing these books out of political fear or motivation. Sure it boils down to $$$ for them, but the only reason they would lose money by leaving these books up is political in nature.

As for the rest of your response, I think you are failing to understand the definition of censorship (at least as I perceive it). We clearly don't use or understand the word in the exact same way. Like I said in my last post, this is in most parts a matter of semantics only, so I think at least for the most part the debate over the definition of "censorship," should be put to rest.

And maybe I am making a mountain out of mole hill, but I do find this genuinely upsetting, and I don't look forward to a day when comics that I love and enjoy or books that I want to sell easily might be prohibited from eBay, because they are politically problematic. And this is a very real (maybe not likely to you, but I don't know) possibility.