wpbooks01

I'm glad I no longer have to care about the Big A white box printing, since my interest is only in firsts of UG.....unless there is a significant revision between printings. I was looking at the listings on Ebay for those two FB 1sts with the ink smudge, and one of those 50 cent price's looks more blue than purple, and the sky's on both look like Moriaty was tweaking the mix a bit at the beginning of the print run.....either that or the fading between the two copies is significant.

That's me! My patron saint was St. Frank growing up......guess it took hold like a python boot, eh?

I'm curious, and I don't mean to come off as a total buzz kill, but are you asking this question because you want to know what 'we' really think, or because you aren't sure and want a bunch of strangers to enable your decision and give you rabid rationalization for what I consider to be a purchase that maybe requires a bit more contemplation to conclude whether it was or was not a mistake. My first question would have to be "are you exceedingly wealthy?" If 8G's is a drop in the bucket for you, then who cares? Right? My next question would be "is it the signature or the condition of the Creepy that seals the deal?" I get that both aspects are enticing and may be hard to choose, but I've seen many Frazetta signatures, and while they vary in lushness and detail, to my eye that one appears strained by comparison. No doubt it was done post-stroke, but to reiterate my previous question in a post up-thread, now that I've gone and looked at the completed auction, it's wed to a Jack Davis illustration. I think there's something ironic in that respect, but also kind of odd. Again, I mean no disrespect, but since you did post your purchase as a question, I'm looking at it as if I were the one contemplating the purchase. I confess to not being totally onboard with the whole slabbing, third party grading thing, but I do see it's relevance in the age of internet selling and the like. I can't think of anybody's signature I'd pay real money for, but as I said, FF's could be a work of art, in and of itself, but personally I'm not crazy about that one compared to others. I'm also kind of curious about the original owner and why he/she decided that was the image they wanted FF's signature on. I can't help but think having his signature on a Jack Davis image is about the same as if he had signed a napkin....I can't wrap my brain around it. Obviously if he had signed his interior story that would make more sense to me, but you'd never know unless you broke it out of the slab, negating that sought after badge or label of honor. I suppose I'm old fashioned that way...I want FF's sig on a piece of his art, same as I would rather have Davis sign that particular cover. Had you considered a slabbed copy of a cover painted by FF and signed by him? Are there none available? I admit to being fascinated by this thread, mainly because it appeared out of the blue and deals with a topic I've not considered before. If I had $8000 of disposable income to put towards comics and the like, I think I would have bought some original art. Obviously not a great Frazetta for that price, but there's so much out there that is excellent and one of a kind. I suppose in a way so is the slabbed, signed magazine, but it's also kind of not.....and having read the whole of this thread, up to this point, I see I'm the odd man out. I'm happy for you if you're happy, but I'm also not you so I'll leave it to you to decide what you think my answer to your question would be. Keep it safe!

Did he sign the Jack Davis cover or the inside story he drew?

Osborne is out now while Lynch and Spain 2 are forthcoming. Pretty sure that's how to interpret the reference.

They are featured on the previous page or the one before that.

My brother, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, was lucky enough to have attended the book sale at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, at Ohio State University last week. Kind soul that he is, I just received a lovely 'care' package from him which contained the following that he managed to snag for my benefit! Said no item was more than $2! Good Man!

Jim Osborne book received! An instant classic and well worth it at TWICE the price. So glad it exists. Rebel Visions and Dennis Dread have bestowed a real mitzvah upon us all! A public thank you to you both is more than warranted!

At best a 4th.

From a VHS tape of a news magazine I recorded, originally broadcast on ABC in the early 90's. Can't recall the title.....(shot off my TV screen as I located it tonight while looking for another tape)

Are you allowed to post the article here, for us who didn't make it to Comicon, or is there some sort of proprietary issue? Amazon is torturing me having stated yesterday as the day Osborne would be in stock. Apparently it is, and yet I've received no notice of shipment..! Have not seen a copy in person, so I'm champing at the bit to get my grubby hands on it. Sadistic pigs! Interesting story about the Sheridan book. I've been enjoying it for a couple of weeks now, but I got it through In Stock Trades, which sadly utilizes Diamond as it's distributor, and when I asked about Osborne, was told that it wasn't scheduled through them until Halloween. What kind of game is being played here?

Patrick, Out of curiosity, how does Fantagraphics decide which books are published as hardcovers versus trade paperbacks? Wondering why the Sheridan book gets the HC treatment when the probably as equally obscure Osborne doesn't? Also, I'd think Jay Lynch would be worthy of a hardcover as while his UG material may be less known these days, in recent years he sort of became a quasi-celebrity to a new generation of Wacky Package collectors.....and I do wonder why Wilson's trilogy gets the HC w/DJ honor while Spain rates the TPB treatment? Wondering if you could explain the logistics or thought behind such an editorial or economic decision. Also, looks like the top 2 books pictured are regular Fanta releases while Osborne and Sheridan are part of the Fantagraphics Underground 'subsidiary'. How does that work? Glad that all these books are coming out in any form, but the various forms do make me wonder, sir! Thanks in advance!!!

Those red stickers tend to dry and fall off a lot of the comix they were placed on. I started to collect them......just because! They seem unique in style to UG, and are therefore part of the zeitgeist......at least that's how I appreciate them! Collect them all!

You have been, indeed! Waiting for my Osborne book to arrive and have the others on order. So what film was shown at the JO event? I saw the announcement on the FB site. Wish I could have been there. Congrats on all the new projects! My most anticipated books of this or any year!!! Thanks Patrick!!!!

Haven't seen that cover variant before on the Mad Book Of Magic. Bought a copy when it came out as a 10 year old kid thinking that it would have the best magic tricks, being from Mad and all. One of my favorite early reads, to be sure! Wore out a few copies.....none of which looked like that one! Nice!

You may be correct about Siam, but while I waited for my two pals to finish the game I was directed to a pile of comics that belonged to my one friend's older brother. In that pile were Zap #0 and #1. Hard to go back to Spidey, FF, Supes and the Caped Crusader when one has taken a walk on the wild side at such a formative age. That Estren book was bought by me moments after it was published. For a few years it was my go-to reference in tracking down UG and was my favorite book on comics!

I got into Undergrounds because I was a poor Risk player in the early 1970's.

Edge-a-ma-kate yourself, sir! You'll be glad you did!!!!

I've had a copy on order since 2/12. A week or so ago I got notification it will be shipping soon and I'm paying the around $13 price I locked it in at from Amazon back when I 'purchased' it along with another book that was part of the order and delivered. Looking forward to finally seeing it! Where does the author 'post', BTW?

This issue contains this article which can also be found reprinted in this book FYI

Has anybody picked up this release, which seems like it kind of snuck on in there? Apparently the Cartoon Art Museum had a presentation for it featuring the late Sheridan's wife.

From the good Mr. Rosenkranz........

Should have called, we could have done lunch and I could have showed you where you could have got the City Lights pbs for half price.....at least they were there last week! I love City Lights and enjoy wandering about the store, but I'm also a cheap Bas$ard . I'm looking forward to that Jim Osborne book that Fantagraphics is putting out this week, I think! Seen it? Guess you can't type Bas *spoon* here!

This was created with many of the UG I picked up at Kayo, mentioned above. Sorry if some of the scans are sideways. They weren't that way originally but something gets lost in the upload translation to this forum and I'm too lazy to figure out how to shift the guilty pix.....all necks be aware!