jools&jim

Was very pleased to get this copy in recently -- sold as a "Good", and the stamp (to me at least) was a BIG bonus:

Could one of our fine friends from across the big pond please be so kind as to decode all of the numbers and markings on the price stamp for us pre-decimalisation dullards over here in the colonies? 'Twould be very much appreciated! 

Does anyone still use "OOP" (out of print) on eBay to imply that, for example, a VG Conan #105 is somehow scarce or exotic?

Redondo's art is glorious, no doubt, and the whole series is also very well written by Robert Kanigher (loosely adapted from an obscure 19th century novel). 

A lost & somewhat forgotten '70s gem that yields much enjoyment for a certain kind of reader...

13 hours ago, mrwoogieman said:

Does this one count as Bronze?

 

Works for me!  Is there a story behind it...?

My LCS (a small, two-store chain) is closed to foot traffic and delivery, but is now offering mail order service: I'm a subscriber, so I e-mailed and placed an order for the current contents of my box, some extra books they had on the shelves (which I saw courtesy of a "shelf review" Facebook video they posted), and also $100 worth of random SA/BA comics or mags (any title/grade/issue number/price...their choice). 

I called the store to give them my credit card number: the owner was taking the calls himself, and he said that the phone had been ringing off the hook with similar orders for several days.

I guess it's just heartening to know that fans are out there doing their part when and if they can...

40 minutes ago, ShieldAgent said:

You don't have a problem- I have a problem

30 minutes ago, Zonker said:

I get the Detective #395.  What's the story on the Action Comics?  

Mostly sentimental.  I bought my first copy for a dime at a small basement thrift store back in the mid 1970s (it's not the copy pictured above, but I do still have it). 

At the time, it was one of the oldest back issues in my collection!  First "Swanderson" art on Supes, too, which makes it roughly similar to the 'Tec 395 in that it introduced a (slightly) new, sleeker look for a franchise-level character, and debuted an era-defining art team as well...

15 minutes ago, djpinkpanther67 said:

Wrong.

It was DC, because FD didn’t exist in 1979 

3 minutes ago, djpinkpanther67 said:

Who’s the author?

  .... FD

45 minutes ago, kilowatt said:

I currently have 11 Spidey 129`s. All in different grades. Reader copies to near mint. I missed out on this 1 as a kid, it was always beyond my price range, and now when I see one at a show or LCS I grab it. Maybe because now I can afford it.

PS: extra credit will be given for telling us why you simply can't resist these treasures...

...but ONLY if they're dirt cheap.

Here are two of my many weaknesses...

I obeyed the CDC and stocked up on my medications...

1 hour ago, HuddyBee said:

So I recently picked this comic up from 1979 at local flea market for $0.50. Its an "alternative to abortion" promotion comic. It's pretty cool and details a girl who chooses to keep an unwanted pregnancy against her friend's and mother's advice. I scanned the internet and both CGC and GoCollect don't know of this comic. I'm in Indiana and the address headquarters the publisher in Indy, so this could easily account for my finding it and it's scarcity. It reminds me of the "Hansi" swastika book that is pretty popular. Does anyone else have a copy of this book or know anything about it?

 

Wow -- great find, and clearly not a common book! 

I've been a fan of the Spire line since it first came out: I have never seen this book before, and it is clearly intended to evoke Spire's trade dress and overall vibe.

The title also reminds me of this:

Thanks A LOT for sharing it...!

26 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

Not too sure about the fat shaming of ‘Jumbo John Verpoorten’.

Yeah...it was a much more insensitive era.  I mean...

On the other hand, the older Italian-Americans I knew and grew up around when I was a little kid back in the late '60s skirted the issue by inverting the language: e.g., "Big Tony" was a skinny guy, and "Little Tony" wasn't...

I attended my first con in 1978 at the ripe old age of 13, and remember it very fondly.  And I suppose to me it felt the same way that it did to my earlier counterparts in fandom who attended their first cons during the glory days of the '60s and early '70s. 

John Keats said it better than I ever could:

Quote

Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
    When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
    He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
    Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

Or, to paraphrase Mitch...there was a palpable sense that something special was happening or going to happen.

My point is simply that such a feeling is not confined to any particular era nor con nor age nor setting nor place nor books. 

The wonder and endless possibility of first love is what it is, no matter when nor where it's kindled or found.

Somewhere out there and right now, there is an oddball misfit kid (of any age or gender) who is (or will be, after this present difficulty) attending their first con, and who is looking for a certain book or class of books that many of us couldn't give a damn about.

But when it is found, among an un-guessed and unexpected embarrassment of riches which a con presents...oh what a feeling!

The good old days are now...for someone! 

I think the first sig is J. P. Starlin...

Can anyone tell me if the "Essentials" line ever reprinted abridged stories? 

For example: do the Kirby/Lee Fantastic Four volumes use the original '60s comics as source material, as opposed to using the often edited/abridged versions reprinted during the '70s in Marvel's Greatest Comics, where full-page panels and/or spreads were sometimes removed?

 Thanks!

DARK KNIGHT III - THE MASTER RACE (courtesy of Wikipedia): In DK III, Ray Palmer restores 1,000 of the inhabitants of Kandor to full-size, but they immediately begin to terrorize the Earth. Batman sets out to assemble his former allies against the invaders.

Grabbed these two yesterday @ $3 each...

..

14 hours ago, kav said:

This one:

It's not just the cover that makes this book desirable/valuable -- it's the Beatles connection in the story, too.

Bats 222 has been broken out in the Guide for years as a "Beatles take-off".  Plus, it's a "crossover" item which appeals to Beatles/music collectors as well as comics people...

Great thread...!

Steed is seen reading Tintin albums in several early, black-and-white episodes of The Avengers, and in at least one color (colour?) episode from the Tara King era...

59 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

Some Jack Knickknacks!

I loved this New Gods figure line from DC Direct. And they even let Superman keep his Kirby face for a change!

 

 

Wow!  I've never seen these before.  Very, very cool...