10centcomics

I'll take it!

Take via PM! Thanks!

Romance comics generally seem rarer and harder to find in mid to high grade. I think the prevailing assumption is they weren't carefully collected and stored compared to superhero comics. It wasn't a secret from the start that Lichtenstein lifted panels from comics--that was his entire gimmick. In terms of when folks tracked down and mapped his work to specific issue numbers, I'm not quite sure. Digging around on the boards, there is a thread from 2008 asking what comic Drowning Girl appears in. As for the increase in value, I think I paid 1/3 of the final price of this recent eBay auction for a G/VG copy 2 years ago. Doesn't seem too unreasonable given the overall heat of the comics hobby right now. And since these books appear to be relatively scarce, all it takes is for two people to drive up the price.

There are over 50 romance and war comics that Lichtenstein swiped from. As previously pointed out, this is a prominent one as it features Drowning Girl, one of his most famous works that hangs at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Regardless of whether or not you think Lichtenstein is a hack, a connection to a famous Pop artist is significant and noteworthy to some collectors (myself included--full disclosure I collect these books).

DS13: https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?ItemID=54562367 DS17: https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?ItemID=54197362 DS19: https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?ItemID=54012880 Wartime Romances 8: https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?ItemID=54132268

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this! What has been the golden source for determining if something was done by Baker for the Fox comics? Jo-Jo Comics 25 is credited to Baker on the CGC label. In GCD, it states the original indexer credited Jack Kamen for the cover. Do we have any documentation of the debate that went on to make this revision?

Yeah I picked up DS13 and DS17 as well. The Baker covers with suggestive captions seemed to do well!

I'm shocked there wasn't more activity around that one as it's such a beautiful cover. As the winning bidder, I'm not complaining

There must be other issues with the 3.0 Batman 181. Sun/dust shadows aren't too hammered by CGC either. I've seen them in VF and F books.

Thanks for sharing this result, it's very educational! Stains don't seem to be that hammered by CGC. I think you can have a book with half the cover with water damage/staining and still be VG. In this case, the stain happens to be a dark-colored one so it really hits the eye appeal, but not necessarily the technical grade.

Tough question. I've seen blue labels with notes like "slightly affects art" or "slightly affects story" for small missing pieces, generally out of the margins (see example below). I don't know if a head cutout falls under this definition though as I would consider that much more significant.

Oof, this one is definitely interesting to grade. Unfortunately I think the major rat chew keeps this in the 2.0 range at best. No need to press this one as there won't be any improvement in the technical grade.

This is one of those cases where the eye appeal and overall presentation of the book far exceeds the technical grade, which unfortunately is 3.0 due to the very large missing chunk out of the back cover. I'd keep the piece with the book no matter what you decide to do with it. If the piece is re-attached, I would imagine the resulting copy would be less valuable than just a blue label 3.0.

I'd be a little annoyed if a seller described a book with "nice corners" but there was a spine split at one of those corners. Hard for me to judge page quality from photos as lighting can make a big difference. From the pics it appears they are off-white. The minor dirt smudges near the staples should easily come off with dry cleaning.

Solid copy! Perhaps too much spine wear for FN so maybe 5.0/5.5?

I think without the small spine split it could be a 7.0. I think I'd knock it down to 6.0 with the spine split. (I don't see the stain the previous poster pointed out)

Hmm probably too much spine wear for Fine... but also seems better than most VG books... so maybe a 5.0/5.5?

Solid 7.0 for me

Wow these are some tough graders here! This seems like a 3.5 to me.

I don't think a press really helps this book, the major flaws are color breaking wear and tear that you generally see in VG books. There is also major staining and some staple rust migration on the back cover which a press does not help with either. Overall, I'd grade this around VG (4.0).

Looks great from the front but I think the defects on the back puts this at a 3.5

Take per PM! Thanks!

Looks like a textbook VG (4.0) to me! Nice copy!

Congrats on the nice warehouse find! I think some of the previously suggested grades are a little harsh. 1.8-2.0 usually means there is like a missing chunk of the cover, detached cover, spine splits, unsightly stains, or huge color breaking creases. Your copy has spine stress, spine roll (which can be pressed out), soiling on the back cover (which can be cleaned), and staple rust migration (which I see in VG books all the time). I can see this being a 3.0/3.5.

It's an extremely rare book with only 30ish copies on census and Heritage went through a 7 year stretch without auctioning a single copy! The bidders, myself included, probably figured it would be another long stretch before a really nice-presenting mid-grade copy emerges!