jools&jim

Bravo, thanks! I guess we'll never know for sure, which, if nothing else, does add to the mystique of these titles.

I'm pretty sure it first appeared (formally) as a cover masthead on the Aug-Sep '71 cover-dated Kirby books: But it's possible that it may have been used in house advertising before that, or maybe in a text piece somewhere? Here's a very early house ad (somewhat obliquely) promoting Kirby's move to DC with no mention of it... And a later one, which does use the phrase, after the line of books had been established and the cover price had shifted to 25-cents for the 52-page issues: More house ads are here: http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/557/

I've read many Kirby bios over the years, and more articles, interviews, and on-line analyses of his work than I care to count. But I've yet to discover any consensus as to what, exactly, Jack may have meant by the phrase "the Fourth World" (i.e., the umbrella term for the saga of the New Gods, Forever People, etc., which makes its first appearance on the covers of New Gods #4, Forever People #4, and Mister Miracle #4), nor where it may have originated from. (In fact, it's not entirely clear to me that Kirby himself coined the phrase, but for the purpose of this thread I'm assuming he did, or at the very least did not object to it...) For example, here's Mark Evanier, writing in his afterword to the first Fourth World Omnibus: Then, a few days ago, I stumbled across this little tidbit from an essay on the creation myths of the Zuni tribe (of the Native American Pueblos): Read the whole thing here: http://www4.hmc.edu:8001/humanities/Western/zuni.htm It's crystal clear that Jack was interested in pseudo-science, and especially the "ancient astronaut" theories of Erich von Däniken, whose Chariots of the Gods was published in 1968, and which (among other things) asserted that Mayan civilization was influenced by, or the product of, extraterrestrial contact. A writer named Frank Waters also treated Mayanism in his work on Hopi mythology during the 1970s: Hopis. Zunis. Pueblos. Mayans. Jack clearly loved this stuff (the similarities in design and coloration of some of his '70s characters to ancient Native American "kachinas" is striking and obvious), and was by all accounts a voracious reader. So it's not a big stretch to suggest that he remembered "The Fourth World" phrase from his readings into these subjects, thought it sounded neat, and rolled with it...

Cool haul! Seing that 45 records spool is pretty neat - never saw one before. I could see where they got the idea for the CD/DVD's spools they use when you buy them by the 50's or 100's. Yeah, they're pretty cool: this one is probably from the early/mid '70s -- my older cousin had one just like it at about the same time. The records in it were even better: everything from "Star Wars Theme" to Joe Tex's "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)". Now THAT's a song!!!

Nothing comic related today, but I did pull a few cool things out of the local Goodwill. The Topps Ugly Stickers on the 45 tote (which was full of '70s pop & rock singles) sealed the deal for me, and I can't remember the last time I found a vintage concert shirt "in the wild": The shirt would have been a perfect fit for me...when I was 15. So sadly, this one is off to eBay...

The search function kinda sucks...

...started 10 years ago, with the last (relevant) post from 3 years ago. Just mellow out, tell us the Flying Donut story again, and we'll move on!

"Anyone can have an opinion...anyone can join in and jump..." And I'm pretty sure my avatar is an interior photograph from this issue of Rolling Stone... I had a subscription from '79 - '88 or so, but dumped them all years ago, so I'm not 100% sure...

Reading my April 30 1981 copy of CIRCUS magazine at this very moment, while finishing the dessert I didn't eat after dinner this evening...

Exactly. Google revealed to me that he's a John Byrne imitator of some sort...

This remains one of my all-time favorite threads. And many thanks to Zonker for posting that Rolling Stone article...very, very cool...

Ed is a great seller -- just did a deal with him for some lower grade SA Marvels. The books weren't high dollar, but they were packed like a million bucks, and shipped fast, too. Thanks!

Just bought a really nice Manitoba Iron Fist #12 from Arex -- sweet book, great deal, fast/secure shipping. Great seller, great boardie. Thanks!

BIG kudos to Jer -- great seller, fast & secure shipping, books better than described. What's not to like?

I really dig the dated ones. Stan and his sig are so ubiquitous these days that it's easy to forget what a big deal something like this must have been back in the '70s, especially if you never had a chance to go to a big convention in New York, or were too young to catch Stan on the lecture circuit...

Thanks! So it looks like the Guide has been wrong for a number of years, and that the "limited edition" run was always 2000 copies, not 5000 per OSPG. Overstreet also calls these "2nd prints", but I think that's nonsense...more likely they were the first batch off the press, overruns, or just part of the total print run.

This gets more interesting... If the Superhero Enterprises letter is to be believed (and the wording isn't particularly clear), it sounds like the numbered run of 2000 copies should only have Stan's signature. Remember that the signed book was advertised (I think -- still can't find that d@mn ad!) as having a run of 5000 copies. Here's a copy with both sigs, but no numbering: Note that the Infantino sig is under the Superman logo, and Stan's is under the Spidey logo. I saw one other copy with both sigs in person at a NY show years ago, presented as an original mail order copy, and the positioning was the same. Unfortunately, I can't remember if it was numbered or not. In addition to my copy and greggy's, here's another numbered edition (which was auctioned with the same letter as came with mine) with only Stan's sig... ...and another... And to make it all more confusing, here's one with just the Stan sig, but no numbering: This last one, though, could have been signed at a later date. Finally, my copy is the only one I've ever seen with a hand written date "'76" next to Stan's sig... Not sure what any of this means, or why we should care, but it is kinda fun I guess...

Can anyone post a copy of the house ad offering the signed copies for sale? I've been going through my DCs from the correct period, but can't seem to find it. Google image search isn't turning it up, and it's not on treasurycomics.com, either...

I don't think so. I love treasuries; stuff that was offered via mail order back in the day but which I couldn't afford as a kid or never ordered because my parents wouldn't let me; and oddball little footnotes/scraps of BA history. So this is a keeper on all three counts...

Cool, thanks. Did it have the letter with it?

Hey all, I found a signed edition of the "Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man" treasury today, and an interesting letter from "Superhero Enterprises" (later known as "Heroes World") tucked away neatly inside of it. As old-timers (like me) will no doubt remember, 5000 signed copies of this treasury--autographed by both Stan Lee and Carmine Infantino--were made available for mail order purchase via house ads in various Marvel and DC mags back in the day. But Infantino was replaced at DC by Jenette Kahn sometime during the production of these signed editions, and thus either didn't sign all 5000 of them, or wasn't available to satisfy any additional demand. Here's the copy I found today, along with a close-up of Stan's signature and the signature number (578/2000): And here's the letter I found in the book: My guess is that one of two things happened: • Infantino was canned before he could finish signing all 5000 copies. Stan did his part, and "Superhero Enterprises" tried to dump the single-signature copies on people whose orders missed the first wave, or... • the original 5000 books sold out, but orders were still coming in. With Infantino out at DC, Ivan Synder (formerly Marvel's merchandising guy, then running what would become Heroes World) turned to Stan to crank out 2000 additional copies (overruns maybe?) to keep the cash register ringing. Anyone know the full story behind this? Any guesses what this copy (with the letter) might be worth? I found a few comps on-line, but not many, and nothing super recent. I thought it was a neat little piece of BA history, and probably paid too much for it...but so it goes! Best, Mikey

Hey all...expanding on the post above re: selling toys in the Marketplace: would it be okay to list a complete (vintage) video game system for sale if at least a few of the games included with it are either comic-related (i.e., featuring Marvel or DC characters) or have crossover appeal (e.g., Star Wars)?

Leave it as is! As kids, we didn't care about about the condition of the rack -- what was ON it was what mattered. I was tempted to oil the bearings on my spinner rack (identical to yours) when I got it a few years ago at an auction, but I'm glad I didn't -- to me, that memorable squeaking sound as you spin it around looking for just the right book is a big part of the nostalgia and charm!

I've been looking for one of these Amsco sets for a LONG time. Saw it advertised as a kid, but never saw it for sale in a toy store. Very, very cool!