Mushroom

No offence Alex (and you know I love you like a brother) but the signature on that book is better than the artwork.

Sweet as........

Kudos to AlwaysBronze. Very easy to deal with. Thanks Rick.

Just got my most recent set of books from Alex. As always, they were well packaged and full of gems. I worked it out last week that I have been buying SS for more than 3 years and I have got more than 95% from Alex and he is still my favourite seller after all this time.

I saw that. That was over $260 more then the last recorded cgc 9.4 sale of $737 on Feb of 2004.

 

Well technically, I bought a HOM 174 for around $900 or so from greggy, so that's at least two in a row. That's still a good jump, but its warranted because it's increasingly being called a "key". In reality it has reprinted stories and no Cain-just a cool cover and being first in the new mystery format.

and it has an Adam's involvement on the cover.

and so Sal your point is...............

 

i dunno. maybe my point is that i just got Hawkman 12 CGC 8.0 with Murphy Anderson's sig on the first page.

 

i'm not involved in this other stuff. is that okay with everybody?

Sal....writing the blokes name on the first page yourself doesn't count. Just joking......the blue label makes it seem like it is not a signed book, plus I hate the inconsistency with the way CGC handles unverified sigs.

Great book....great sig.....

and so Sal your point is...............

pm me if you decide to do that.

some stuff today. Was going to submit the dragonlance book but tracey hickman dinged it while signing so sending in some others.

 

 

Dragonlance Chronicles signed by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman

 

Very nice pirate. I love weis and hickman. Currently reading the death gate cycle for about the millionth time.

great covers all.............

Stunning. i have never seen those books before. Thanks for sharing.

I am glad that you have reconciled yourself with this scenario and have been able to rationalise the facts into "it was only a one off" and therefore he is good old Doug again. I can't do that same rationalisation........if he hadn't been caught mis appropriating funds would he have still been doing it? if he says he would press....why would I not believe he would do it to a pedigree book (i.e. so he has degrees of greed in that any book that isn't a pedigree he is more than willing to press up but a pedigree book is sacrosanct?) and on top of that he has been caught lying about the JIM (at least to one of the board members involved)........If I was to do an operational risk assessment on him I would have to rate him as a high risk.....

I have tried to stay out of the debate as I am not really keen on mudslinging and to me there aren't any shades of grey either.

He won't get anymore business from me.........

Right now I just can't do it.......there is no logic in it at all, it is purely emotional.

All but one of them has a 1 in it ...........

Miss America #1 NM+

I take it the Church copy, graded a mere 9.4 by CGC, which is currently up on Heritage's January Signature Auction, is not adequate?

Tim...I have a watch bid on it (as well as on the 9.0) but I won't buy anymore slabs.

I own araich's restored #7.5 and I think it is just the most wonderful cover. I gave it to my wife and she has it on display in our bedroom.

B&B #54 NM+

B&B #34 NM+

Miss America #1 NM+

Bat #171 NM

Looney Tunes #1 VF/NM

In one of the Board's more historical great feats (back in the eBay vigilante days ala Rickdogg), Mushroom and I were contacted by the Boards (specifically Tomega) about fradulent auctions we bid on and won.

 

(to those that don't follow, you know how every 1-2 days there is a discussion on some purported fradulent comic auction on ebay - well 3 years ago Mushroom and I were among 20 would-be buyers of HG SA books on ebay. the auctions were discussed at length for a week on these boards, until the auctions closed. the consensus was that the auctions were fradulent. tomega emailed us telling us so, and told us about the boards. of the 20 or so auction "winners", i believe only Mush and I ended up joining the boards...)

 

Thus was the rustysstarwars saga.

What he said..........

An amazing story and great reading. Thanks for the scans.

Hercules is a God too and we've seen what the Hulk did to him in that one shot, . Hulk is the strogest one there is, whether it's the marvel or dc universe, HULK smash!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's not go too far. Superman is the strongest of all.............

Thor has a hammer.....(just like Hank).....Hulk is the strongest.

Just thought I would share some thoughts sent to me from one of the two guys who bought the Jack Adler collection. The reason I have placed it here is that to me the important part of the collection relates to the BA DC Horror genre. Robert from keycomics (ebay id) has been supplying me for quite a while with stunning horror coloured covers, approval covers and production proofs. I know that I should be posting some of this stuff (like the signed Adams HOM #174) but work truly impacts on this and I just haven't got my scanner hooked up to my lap top. I will make a concerted effort to do this in the near future.

I hope that you enjoy reading about this truly remarkable man.

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: KEY COMICS [mailto:keycomics@hotmail.com]

Sent: Tuesday, 24 August 2004 8:04 AM

To: Billington, John

Cc: jbill59@hotmail.com

Subject: House Of Mystery: MORE SIGNATURES OBTAINED!

 

Hi John,

 

I went back to San Diego Comic-Con, and many noteworthy artists were

present. The most exciting was none other than the reclusive JACK ADLER!

Jack Adler was out of the public eye for a quarter century, before making

his first ever convention appearance at this year, at the urgings of several

concerned loved ones. (His beloved wife died recently, at 86 years.) I

went by his designated "Pro Booth" in Artist Alley repeatedly, but never saw

him there. (And I don't blame him, as that speedy electric

scooter/wheelchair he drives would be difficult to navigate through the

pandemonium of the massive half-million square-foot convention center

exhibit hall, with it's countless frenzied fans packing the hundreds of

bustling aisles!) He didn't sign anything after the Golden-Age And

Silver-Age panel on Thursday, needing to get some food, mentioning his

diabetes. Then on Friday I had the good fortune of getting to spend some

time visiting with him and his friendly family, (including his son with his

lovely wife, and his amiable Grandson, Jason.) He signed just a few pieces

for me, then they had plans to go to the San Diego Zoo!

 

He remembered doing this one: SUPERBOY #184 HAND-COLORED, (with a witch

casting a spell, so Superboy can see his reflection in the mirror as an

ancient decrepit senior-citizen Superman; To a cool "52-page bigger and

better" early 1972 issue) Jack Adler himself has signed it by Superboy's

foot, near the lower left corner! I would not expect to see any Adler sig's

hitting the market. Ever. It was clear from talking to his relatives, this

would likely be his lone final appearance as he is very elderly.

 

It was absolutely awesome being able to talk to him about the

stuff, and show him some of the actual pieces he painted. And he told some

great stories. I wrote a little updated "biography" about Adler, which is

more "fit for public consumption", which you may enjoy:

 

Jack Adler was DC Comics' premiere colorist from the early '50's through the

mid '80's, hiring and mentoring many budding young artists as head of the

art department for much of his tenure. He graduated from high school at the

age of fifteen, and quickly got a degree in fine art. He became proficient

at sculpting, pencilling, inking, painting, and photography. He pioneered

the washtone/graytone effect which became so popular on the DC "Big Five"

war titles, which were so popular thirty to forty years ago! In addition, he

inked hundreds of covers over several decades as well; such as dozens of

G.I. Combat covers and the entire run of Sea Devils, for but a couple

examples... (You'll also see his name on the front cover of Plop #18, which

he did with Basil Wolverton!) Moreover, he also developed the "3-D" process

used on the Batman 3-D and Superman 3-D comics in 1953; --so we're talking

about a major contributor to DC history! A couple weeks ago, the living

legend himself, Jack Adler, (thought by many in the industry to have passed

away years ago), at the urgings of his kind family, made his very first

public appearance, at the San Diego Comic-Con! He was honored Thursday

afternoon with the Inkpot Award For Excellence for Outstanding Achievement

In Comic Art, and a rousing standing ovation from the many onlookers at the

panel of Golden-Age and Silver-Age Greats, hosted by Mark Evanier (of

course!) Besides just Mr. Adler, other noteworthy members on the

entertaining and informative panel were Tom Gill, Sid Jacobson, Gene Colan,

Frank Springer, Harry Harrison, and Frank Bolle. On Friday at the Comic

Con, there was a one-on-one panel, with just Mark Evanier and Jack Adler,

titled "Spotlight On Jack Adler", and many questions were answered for the

crowd of audience members, who were kept entertained by the charismatic and

respected living legend. It is amazing how many great names were hired on

or got their start in the industry by him! He also explained how he

invented the 3-D image technology popularly used in Viewmasters, but was

unable to get the deserved patent, as the film itself had been patented,

(but not in a similar 3D format, so he got burned, as viewmaster was able to

capitalize on his invention freely!) Plus, the method that made integrating

photo cover and line-drawn cover art easily into a single cover image was

also pioneered by this influential innovator. (The technology was supposed

to be kept a secret, but was leaked immediately by a DC exec!) Julius

Shwartz had told him "don't tell me about it, just do it", and when it

worked, it worked, and was immediately utilized, as the articulate and

charming Adler related. As an accomplished photographer, he created covers

using photographs he had taken of his own grandchildren, producing his own

copies of Shazam #2 and #6, which were displayed on an overhead projector to

the glee of many enthralled listeners! The picture of Captain Marvel,

sitting reading to the innocent youths, was actually of Jack Adler reading

to his grandkids. (These same grandkids were present at the panel, and

turned out to be pleasant, gracious, and kind adults!) Moreover, he highly

touted the art skills of good friends Neal Adams and Joe Kubert, (relating

entertaining stories, of course!) He helped Kubert set up his now legendary

School Of Comic Book Art. Once the school was set up, he was supposed to

head the school, but had to back out, as he couldn't bring himself to move

to New Jersey! You could write a book on the contributions Mr. Adler has

made to the medium many of us know and love! (An interesting side note is

that he is shock-jock Howard Stern's cousin!)

 

I spoke with Neal Adams quite a bit at the Con, and he was so excited about

Adler being there! Moreover, he had many complimentary things to say about

the long reclusive Jack Adler, including repeating that "he was the only

artist in the DC front office that was worth a $#!T"!, and that he would get

furious any time the DC exec's would permit anyone but Jack to work on one

of his covers, and even tore up a cover or two because Sol or Carmine had

allowed a "hack" to color his art; He insisted they only assign Jack Adler

himself to color his cover art! He enjoyed seeing some of these covers from

the "DC Archives", long treasured and preserved by Adler, including some of

the exact ones you requested, which he signed, which would sometimes remind

him of some pretty colorful and entertaining tales of their adventures back

in the day. Apparently, artistically Adams and Adler were often on the same

page, so to speak, and could collaborate effectively, as each could work off

of what the other had in mind; A skill which apparently eluded most of

Adler's contemporaries. Neal Adams got a real treat last month, getting to

be reunited with his old buddy Jack Adler, (who also spoke very highly of

the skills of Mr. Adams!)

 

Best Regards,

 

Robert Letscher II

KEY COMICS

1318 N Emerson

Mesa, AZ 85201

Phone/Fax:(480)890-0055

KeyComics@hotmail.com

Ebay ID: keycomics

As soon as I get back from interstate I will get it scanned.

No doubt House of Mystery 174 paved the way for the resurgence of mystery books. I do however have no informaiton surrounding the Infantino/Adams collaboration on the 174 cover...any information from the collective would be very interesting...

 

This has been discussed before, and the conclusion was no Adams. However, it looks suspiciously like Adams to me.

If it was not Adams then why would he have personally signed the cover....

You guys might have discussed and dismissed but obviously adams believed he worked on it.

Having just finished perusing Shiver's site (great work) I just thought that I would relate a piece of trivia that I was told by a dealer I buy off. For those who don't know, I collect cover art and my favourite art is the DC Horror from the Adler collection. A month ago I bought the approval cover to HOM #174 and was very surprised when I received the following from the dealer....

"House Of Mystery #174 Approval Cover SIGNED IN SILVER BY NEAL ADAMS. This 1968 issue is the momentous moment that kicked off the horror revival for

DC, opening the door for House Of Secrets to start back up, and in the new

horror format, the following year, with issue #81, and leading to horror in

Unexpected, and eventually Witching Hour, Beware, Sinister House, and all

the others! Mr. Adams related how he and Infantino worked together, at the

same time, developing this cover, and it had all listeners in awe. (In

addition: The classic image was later modified & re-colored and used for the

front cover of DC Limited Collector's Edition #C-23, a huge horror treasury

edition.) This landmark cover has long been credited just to Infantino, as

such it is way undervalued, at least until it becomes more recognized for

also being Adams! "

What do you guys think?

Can't you guys go and play somewhere else?

Here is a teaser for you all.....what is the first Neal Adams horror cover?