thirdgreenham

Here's a few Our Army At War's to look at...not the nicest shape, but they are examples of what's out there. Starting with #1 then #101...just realized I don't have #100...damn! #200 #300 #400 wish there was a #500.... Andy

Here's a few more G.I. Combat's.... Hope you enjoy these fabulous (ahem) washtones. Andy GIC #86 GIC #76 GIC #75

Ahaha! One of my favourite covers of all time. What's gonna happen next? Makes me want to read that comic. Andy

mmm mm.... keep em comin! Andy

Here's some info from another thread: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The definition from Overstreet (latest one, page 944) states: Grey-Tone Cover - "A cover art style in which pencil or charcoal underlies the normal line drawing, used to enhance the effects of light and shadows, thus producing a richer quality. These covers, prized by collectors, are sometimes referred to as Painted Covers but are not actually painted." "Wash cover" is not listed in Overstreet. And a question similar to yours: Would you mind expounding on what exactly Greytone is? I understand the effect, and results... but it is a wash of Grey under color? Are there set rules to defining what a greytone is and what is not? Or is it a matter of opinion? Either way.. I too like them.. but plead ignorance as to what exactly constitutes a Greytone.. Ze- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ And here's what someone replied to that question: OOH!! I know the answer!! Greytone is created in the original art, consisting of the normal solid black ink work, as well as an "ink wash". By Ink Wash, I mean the inker (or penciller) uses watered down ink to create shades on the original black-and-white artwork. Traditional art is shot as a solid black/solid white, to which colors are applied. Greytone has the original art shot as a "halftone", which keeps the subtle shades, and colors are applied to it just as they are with traditional art. But the grey shades give it more depth than simply adding solid colors inside of a black outlined area. The difference is that traditional art uses the crisp linework as the outline portion of the art, and greytone gives that linework softer shades that resemble that of fully painted art. It's a quick, cheap, and effective way of giving artwork a painted feel. It was started as a way to have painted covers, back in the day when a color separation for a painting was not economically possible for a 10 cent comic book. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This was added to that reply: nice Dice, you saved me the typing. I would add though that some do use charcoal/conte crayon shading, like Early Kuberts & Some Adams (I believe the Bats 232 is an example of that) instead of ink wash. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope this helps.... Andy

I'll re-post a bit of what I quoted from Chris Pedrin's Big Five Information Guide: "Jack Adler came up with the washtone process out of necessity. Jack and his good friend Sol (DC Production man, Sol Harrison-- whom Jack had known since junior high school!), had a problem getting separations done for the cover art. The separations were done by a Union shop, and they did not want to do them. Jack had always wanted to be a photo engraver, but his talents as a colorist went unnoticed by the Union because they locked him out. Jack devised ways around the union rules, one of which was the WASHTONE process, and proceeded, along with Sol to form their own Union! He experimented constantly to obtain the effect he wanted. The process is quite complicated and to accomplish the "look", artistic talent would be required. Jack would receive a piece of cover art drawn in pencil only, on either Strathmore paper or coquille board. He would then "ink" over the penciled work by doing wash separations done as separate drawings, making a watercolor blank being extremely careful with the color bleeds. Visualizing each color while doing the wash in diluted black ink (hence the term WASHTONE). He had to imagine each color and the effect it would have when overlapped with another color! By doing the art in this way, he would be categorized as an inker and the Unions couldn't touch him! And that's only the simple explanation!" I did see another thread that went into the process a little deeper. Let me see if I can find it... Andy

First greytone or not, a nice desirable comic. Mmmm mmm good! Andy

Collect the DC War greytones (or washtones as others call them), the covers are just captivating. Sheesh, makes me drool just thinking about them. Oh, and high grade completionist? Yikes! Noble effort, but best of luck!! Andy

Greytones, of course, are the hardest because there are so many non-war collectors (and even otherwise non-DC collectors) clamoring for those books. But if you can 'settle' for VF on those, you can do really well. For example, a 9.2 copy of Our Fighting Forces #71 came up on Heritage last year. I bid 5x guide... and lost. It went for somewhere north of $500 (before premium) Mine was the last bid to lose, and it wasn't by much. I hated losing that book. I've asked around, and I have not been able to determine who the buyer was. It might be someone on these boards who just likes to keep quiet about such things. Anyway, a few months later, the same book in 8.5 came up on ebay. I got it for $110. Here it is: On a lot of the greytone books, if you ever see them in certified 8.5... I'd grab 'em. They are truly hard to find Shep Well, that isn't too shabby now, is it? Nice pick up. See, I'd much rather have that 8.5 for the price you paid than spending 5x guide (or more) on a 9.2. Grade is key, but price point matters to me as well. Lovely book! Andy

I'm not as much of a high grade collector as I am a completist. I'm sure Shep would have a bit of experience with higher grade G.I Combat's. With my experience though, high grade early DC war comics are just not around. The books were so enjoyable that they were read again and again. If you find nice early DC war in decent grade (VF or better) grab it when you see it. Andy

Yes, very nice indeed! Andy

I've got a nice 8.5 CGC of that book, but always looking to buy more. I'm happy with it in any grade to tell you the truth. A sickness of mine is I'm a little bit of a hoarder of key issues, so I should have about 10 copies of Showcase 45, mostly VG's mind you. Andy

Sweet Jeezus! Nice book. I thought I had a nice copy of that, but mmm mmm that's good! Those yellows and pinks on that cover in nice shape just make it a joy to hold! Way to go, John! Andy

Sure does! Andy

That's nice, but I don't see the Eiffel Tower anywhere there. Andy

Although I like to think I have a nice Sgt. Fury collection, that is certainly not my main area of interest. I love DC war because of the fantastic artwork and the great, often realistic stories (except for some of the Unknown Soldier-but I love those books too). Sgt. Fury was just a little to over the top for me. He rip off his shirt and run into flying bullets on a month to month basis. Ah, that's not fair, he's alright, just not my cup of tea anymore.... Andy

Nice pick ups! Andy Oh...and I'll have a read of those two stories later tomorrow. Thanks!

I just loved this book, the story was so captivating. Besides the fantastic artwork, these great stories would nearly always push these books above and beyond what you'd expect from a comic book. Andy

Beauty Shep! Andy

Umm.... yeah.... Andy

Good luck... of the first three Enemy Ace appearances, Our Army at War #155 is by far the toughest to find in any kind of nice grade. It is one of the few post #100 Our Army at Wars I don't have... and only because I have NEVER seen a 7.0 or better copy. Sheeeeit.... I'd be happy with a nice 6.0 on that book. Gets my vote as one of the two hardest silver age Our Army at War issues, the other being the total pain in hole #172. Shep What, do you mean this book? I knew I had a nice one of that issue somewhere, only wish I had extras for you fellas. Sorry.... Next up is a comic that I'd been searching for and searching for with no luck, only to discover it in a box of books that I had bought many years ago. DC Special Series #13....too bad it didn't say that on the cover...would've made my searching a little easier. Andy

The Pedrin Guide is a guide to the DC Big Five War comics (Our Army at War, Our Fighting Forces, G.I. Combat, Star Spangled War Stories and All American Men of War) that was compiled by collector Chris Pedrin, with articles by some other prominent war comic collectors. While not perfect, it's a really useful guide in that it lists writer and artist credits for every issue of those five titles (and their offspring, Sgt. Rock and Unknown Soldier). It's getting tough to find now, but they do pop up. My understanding is that most of the information from the early years, particularly the writing credits which would otherwise be impossible to find, came from Julie Schwartz' payment receipt records. So it's solid. If you ever want to know which early war stories were written by Bill Finger, or which tale Curt Swan or Bob Brown drew - it's your book. I highly recommend it. If you get pooched finding one, I can probably help you out. Shep Here's one on eBay right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/Big-five-DC-war-comi...1QQcmdZViewItem Expensive with a capital E but you may be able to get it for a reasonable price with the "Make best offer" option. Good luck! Andy

Thanks Marc, you were great to deal with!!! Andy

Ah, it's my pleasure John! Just don't ask for a second copy.... Thanks to you for an easy transaction. Andy