JTLarsen

I love the Market Reports, mostly. But the insanity of publishing next summer market reports written in December about market activity in the months prior to December... SMH...

I always check comics.org. You can also search mycomicshop.com. I try not to rely on one list. And if you want to find more unusual/rarer stuff, you can also try ebay, searching "rare adam hughes" and stuff like that.

That's a cool book. Never seen that one either. Yeah, it doesn't get the love GL/GA 76 does, and it faded in importance for a while, but for a while it was a pretty big deal, bringing Superman into the modern (bronze) world in several meaningful ways. It's come back more recently thanks to the iconic cover. So if you're looking for a STANDOUT representation of bronze, you can't do much better. If you're looking for an AVERAGE representation of bronze, there's tons of choices.

Superman 233.

Yup. Was aware of all of this. Growing up, however, Tec 395 was still considered a standout. So was Adams' first Batman, and his B&B run. But 395 represented another step in the dynamic. It paved the way, artistically, for things like the R'as saga, Batman 234, 237, 251, 255...stories that really made ideal use of Adams's skills.

nothing is one directional, and i didnt say it was going to go down. just that it isnt rising, and its already overpriced Lots of things are one-directional. And if you're saying it's overpriced you're clearly suggesting it could or at least should go down. That's what overpriced means--priced higher than it should be. Which is fine, I just think it's going to go up, which means I don't think it's overpriced.

It may not factor into the price too much, but I also like this issue because 'Tec's circulation numbers were at a pretty low point (around 40,000 for this issue) by the late 800's. It's also part of the acclaimed Snyder run, so it's really got several things going for it. I wish I could have stowed more copies away! Interesting comment on that. I am a huge Marvel guy, and generally despise everything DC (other than Batman). With the new 52 about to be released I thought I would give the main titles a shot. I added, Batman, Detective, Superman, and Action to my pull list just prior to the relaunch (All cancelled except Batman in the first year, Batman now on Rebirth finally cancelled as well). That was how I ended up with my copy that netted me a 70X+ return on cover. I do agree relatively speaking that it was a "lower" print run then some previous ones, it was still quite large compared to smaller series and enormous compared to any modern variant cover. $300US will buy a lot of different moderns in 9.8, I personally think this one is overvalued. (Hence why I was willing to sell mine last spring). I have no doubt in this market any book can be driven up-up-up, but it's always good to compare to what else you could get for the same money before deciding if something really is worth its going price. Iconic title. Iconic hero. Iconic villain. Iconic cover. Most moderns that go up will spike and then settle. Classic Batman covers are one-directional.

Yes to all of this -- though we recently saw Detective 411 enjoy a much-deserved, much-delayed pop. I don't think you're nuts with the immortality connection to R'as, though I do think that debatable aspect will remain overshadowed by the O'Neil/Adams teaming. And, yes, I think virtually all of the Adams books still have considerable room for growth and some will still "pop" as people dig into the run more. Heck, the League of Assassins is getting a lot of play thanks to the movies and Legends of Tomorrow...

Yep. That's his first interior Batman. I think the B&B run mostly gets its due. But I also think that B&B plus the two World's Finest stories illustrate by contrast just how important it was to get Denny O'Neil doing with scripts what Adams was doing with the art. And we don't get that until Detective 395. So, yes, B&B run, very important--with 85 and, later, 93 as a seminal O'Neil/Adams story. The two World's Finest stories as Adams's first interior Batman. Detective 395 doesn't represent as radical a leap as the initial Adams art does, but it is a significant leap beyond just the addition of Adams art. Jonathan (a friend of atheism)

I forgot about the Millennium Edition! And, yes, GL/GA 76 brought relevance to comics--a big, big deal. But what O'Neil/Adams started with Batman in Detective 395 begat Frank Miller begat Tim Burton begat the modern superhero film universes. For Batman to become the global phenomenon he is today, he needed a Detective 395 to get there. If GL/GA 76 helped comics grow up, Detective 395 helped comics grow out.

Omega Men 3 and Spawn 1 seem like the clear leaders here. Maybe not as expensive as some others, but certainly most impactful.

Many years ago, 395 was a key...for ME. The story had been reprinted a lot, and was given a lot of attention for what a radical departure it was. And the cover WAS/IS iconic! A great, underrated book. Could pop again as people continue to distinguish between specific Adams keys...

True enough. It's so weird--I had never even heard of this place and I've been scouring the internets for UK comics for a couple decades now. What a bummer!

Well, if you've seen contemporary issues with comparable page quality, that certainly makes it a lot more plausible. It still boggles the mind that this collection was taken care of in that kind of condition without owner OR THE AUCTION HOUSE! figuring out what they had and maximizing their return on it. Tragic.

Well, a couple things I'd say...first, they could be a mix of facsimiles and real. Second, do we know for sure no facsimile was made of 26? Thirdly, there were facsimiles made of the Capt. Marvel and Capt. Marvel Jr. issues leading up to Marvelman. And fourthly, if that's a word, in my experience the facsimiles of all these issues are more common than the originals. (With a couple of exceptions--Capt. Marvel 20 or so seems to show up a lot). In any case, your common sense and mine have no bearing on what's real. It's simply an empirical question that only someone examining them can answer. I based my guess--and that's definitely all it is--on comparing the pictures with all the early issues I've seen and own. It's hard to imagine how the absolutely crummy paper they used survived this long with that kind of brightness, suppleness, etc. All that said, I could be wrong! Would love to get the story either way.

Yes easily 20k + And agree entirely with your assessment of the bidding too... Still I've had my fair share of wins over the years Actually hope a lot of it comes to market again, particularly the MM & YM books Don't know about you but using Salesroom is very hit and miss. Another auction I'm certain I won everything bidded on but none went through. I'm pretty sure in others I ended up bidding against myself! Someone definitely got ripped off. Either the buyer--because those 25s look too good to be true--or the seller if they're real. It's very hard for me to imagine that someone had 60-year-old comics and didn't do a cursory online search and find out how much interest there was in them. If Ewan didn't hear about this auction, and I never did, then a lot of hardcore buyers probably didn't either, and the seller--IF these aren't facsimiles--could've likely gotten ten times what they got. Would love to see better pictures, but the paper quality of the 25s on top look a lot more like the facsimiles I've seen/have than they do like the copies of the real thing. Would also love to hear from the seller about the provenance! Either way...wow.

crikey which auction was that? missed completely and I'm on most of them daily who bought them? Not me! Details!!!

Keep an eye out on eBay as there are still decent deals to be found in runs/lots of this title. I did not really need it, but I figured that this lot was worth a gamble today: http://www.ebay.com/itm/361770948027?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT It has 70 (all red cover) and 74 (mirror cover) in it. Those two will basically cover your cost right there. Yes the person cherry picked out a few big $$ covers, but missed a few also. I think a few more of these could pop given time. I am surprised one or two of the Zatana covers have not, and there are a few more hard black covers in the run. I think this run is just going to get hotter with time. Wonder Woman, too. Plus the Bolland Wonder Woman run. Some amazing covers...and some just as oddball/eyebrow-raising as the powerless era's SM covers...

Awesome. Now, where'd you score the Uncharted???

I'd look at Tomb Raider and Rose and Thorn.

It's amazing to me that folks don't shop around first before laying down that kind of dough.

Details?

Comicspriceguide.com just bumped Wild Dog #1 up to $10, saying he'll appear in Arrow. Really looking forward to the Sonic Disruptors series...

You need to STOP doing this. It's just wrong.

I'm weeping.