Dick Pontoon

And on the other end of the spectrum:

Here's my hastily written two cents. If we consider the parents of Giant-Size, the Annuals or King-Size Specials, then initially those were indeed just as good as the regular series of both FF and ASM. The first annuals of each title were huge and full of all-new material We got the epic Sub-Mariner vs. the Human Race and Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six. Reprint material started to be included with the second issues but the new material was still top shelf. Since Jack Kirby was such a workhorse and endless fountain of ideas, the FF Annuals kept firing on all cylinders until #7 when they went all-reprint. Since an annual basically amounted to an entire extra book that had to be shoehorned into an artist's and writer's monthly workload, it was undoubtedly pretty tough to maintain quality. I think ASM Annuals #3-5 slipped a bit with the usual creative team not at bat, not terrible but not as good as the monthly book. Afterwards the ASM Annual went reprint. When the concept was revised as Giant-Size with all new material we're back in the same boat, trying to squeeze out an extra book in the same amount of time. I started collecting in the mid-'70s, and was buying ASM, MTU, Marvel Tales, FF and Marvel's Greatest Comics off the racks, so I grew up with Kirby/Buckler/Perez FF and Ditko/Romita/Andru Spider-Man. I thought the Giant-Size were a mixed bag. Giant-Size Super Stars #1 with the Hulk and Buckler's Kirby-style art I liked. Giant-Size Super Heroes #1 with Morbius and the Man-Wolf and Gil Kane I liked. Giant-Size FF #2-4 were snoozers and I thought the art was meh. Then they went reprint. Giant-Size ASM #1-3 didn't do anything for me either, despite the regular team being on board. Shang-Chi? Doc Savage? However, #4 with the Punisher was a-okay and felt just like a regular ASM issue, as did #5 with the Lizard and the Man-Thing, two characters I liked a lot. So I guess my answer is sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Giant-Size FF #4 was not an issue that stood out for me, so when prices shot up with movie hype, I sold my nice copy, something I don't usually do. I still have my undercopy.

1) DCs. Which is reason enough. 2) Self-Appointed Forum Police and Lizards2 Haters.

This one is next, no?

Always loved hirsute Hulk, a throwback to early Kirby Hulk.

I thought I had upgraded ages ago but it's either in another box or sold.

Why, I just happen to have a copy of the Penguin edition in my bookcase in the comic room. I've read a good chunk of his ouvré; my favorites are his later books - the Red Night trilogy and the short story collection "Exterminator!"

That's it for me until we hit Giant Size. I wasn't buying them off the rack at this point and haven't had the urge to fill in the rest of the Annuals.

That's a first edition of William Burroughs' first published work. I don't know what FMV is for a copy in that condition, but it's not a cheap book.

I always bought them as a kid but I didn't care for the reprint issues either, with the exception of #8 since #1 wasn't easily obtainable at the time. #10 i just picked up this year. I still don't have Giant Size #5 but if one crosses my path I'd pick it up for the sake of completion though it's not a huge priority.

No #9 @MattTheDuck?

None of it matters since this is another phantom troll post where the OP poses a question and is never seen again.

Oof. That'll be a challenge to find the wherewithal to scan the Coppers.

At least they didn't throw a glass bottle at his head and nearly kill him. Got any crossover western romance titles coming up, like Fistful of Rawhide?

Saw it last night with Mrs. Pontoon, Pontoon Jr. and a buddy of his. We all liked it fine and were glad we went. I have a bit of superhero movie burnout and it was somewhat standard fare but I have no major complaints and liked it better than some of the more recent Marvel movies. I thought the direction was a little ho-hum in the non-CGI action scenes, but was very glad the story was framed around good guy vs. bad guy and not some overly complex cosmicmultiversetheentireworldisgoingtooblivion plot. Plus, it was only 2 hours long! Hooray!

But what's the grade?

I have a nice selection of shops in my area that carry back issues, so it's not entirely unexpected to find things. Here's a few items I picked up that were no-brainer buys; I walked in and knew I'd be walking out with them.