jools&jim

My old pal John Haines!!!! Wish I could have been there -- I don't live all that far away, but just can't hack the crowds, traffic, parking hassles, etc., these days...

Are those Spideys bagged or bagged-and-boarded? Great stuff, man...please post some more!

I know this has been discussed ad nauseam, but it's still true, and (especially for the younger folk) bears repeating, along with what I am sure is a re-post of one of many primary sources from the era (see below): for those of us who were there, the first appearance of Wolverine was pretty much a big back then; Claremont, Cockrum, and Byrne, on the other hand, was where it was AT, baby!

LOVE the date stamp on this one. OUTSTANDING!!!!

For a cheapskate run collector like me, this was the best $5 I've spent in a very long time (click through for a larger image)...

Very pleased to hear that the OP is fine. On the other hand, it would be extremely helpful if the intent and meaning of the original post was clarified somehow...

Big Anglophile here! I love these things, and buy any and all I can find on this side of the big pond, including this one which turned up in Delaware during a beach vacation last week...

Highly unexpected beach vacation find...

Sorry man...a shoddy false conclusion on my part -- couldn't agree with you more! Jack's dialogue is an acquired taste, it's true. Come to think of it, blowhard that I am, I wrote about it here several years ago:

That's clearly true. But Kirby DID plot...which is, as I'm sure you know, an integral part of, y'know, telling a story. Even Stan admitted (sometimes reluctantly; sometimes much less so) that his artists were co-creators, and were (in the absence of full scripts, which Stan simply didn't have time for) 100% responsible for the panel-to-panel visual continuity -- sometimes with the kernel of an idea from Stan (e.g., his infamously short-handed "The FF meets God" direction for FF 48 - 50); sometimes with a little more than that; sometimes in collaboration with the artists; and sometimes with nothing or very little from him at all. There is NO DOUBT whatsoever that Marvel's glory days in the '60s were a collaborative effort, meaning that Stan and his artists were, at the very least, co-writers and co-creators of their stories. Is it really that complicated? Just because you don't like Jack's dialogue on his later, '70s and post-Stan Marvel stuff (and you're not alone in that), doesn't mean that Jack wasn't a "writer": he was creating characters and telling stories long before he started working with Stan, and long after their partnership had dissolved...

That bolsters nothing. When Smith finally got a gig at Marvel, he was a snot-nosed Kirby imitator with lots of potential but ZERO experience in the big leagues. He was no Jack Kirby back then, and I am confident that he would surely be the first to admit it. That Stan re-worked his novice stuff isn't even remotely surprising...

Technically...that's nonsense. In a visual medium, since when does "dialogue" alone count as a whole story? Have you never watched movies like Castaway or 2001, or anything by Harold Lloyd or Charlie Chaplin? Kirby plotted damned near everything he drew at Marvel in the '60s, sometimes with coaching or the kernel of an idea from Stan, and sometimes completely on his own. Cf. Mark Evanier re: "The Marvel Method": More here...and elsewhere: https://www.newsfromme.com/2017/05/29/jacks-year/ I mean, really Kav...this can't possibly be new information to you, especially as a sequential artist...can it?

This was my introduction to the character (he's prominently featured on the splash page), and also my first Marvel comic: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Avengers_Vol_1_104 Don't know about "Best"...but it's a pretty darn good Avengers story in which QS plays a strong role... ...

My kid and I made our 10th Annual Father's Day road trip to the flea markets and antique malls in central PA today. Here's what I came home with: A no-brainer $20 flea market lot of SA & BA readers (click on the pic below for a larger and non-blurry image)... ...and, unexpectedly!, two '60s DC war books for my Full Date Stamp Collection from an antique mall across the street from the flea market... All in all, a good time was had by all...!!! Happy Father's Day, lads, to all the dads out there!!!

Oh, for Pete's sake! My wife's been pestering me to get my eyes checked again, so I guess it's time... Anyway, thanks Zonk! Much appreciated!

An artist named "John Canlan" was credited with drawing a not-insignificant number of Batman stories during the late 1970s, including the memorable (at least to me) "Who Killed Batman" tale in 291 - 294. And if memory serves, he contributed to other DC titles of the era as well (possibly in various Dollar Comics). Does anyone know anything about him? Google searches are coming up completely and mysteriously empty for me, to the point where I'm wondering if "John Canlan" was a pseudonym...

This is the title of a research paper recently submitted to a leading scientific journal: That is all. Carry on...

...fanzines, box art, trading cards, art books, toys, hardcover collections, unpublished covers, collectibles, personal photos with The King, personal reminiscences, pinups, stuff adapted from Jack's artwork, character designs, videos featuring His Eminence, interviews, etc., etc. -- the works!!!! Surprise us all with your Kirby-centric erudition! Yeah, yeah...I know: TwoMorrows and the Kirby Museum pretty much have this all sewn-up these days. So think of this as the CGC Kirby Annex...an ongoing Boardie repository and tribute to the four-color Father of us All! :P So, here is my weak and unworthy contribution to kick things off: a (slightly) obscure and (borderline) hard-to-find magazine-sized Kirby retrospective, published by the now defunct Museum of Cartoon Art in the mid-1970s...

Here's a pleasant surprise which arrived earlier this week in a small lot of Silver Age I'd ordered, sight-unseen. It was advertised as a Poor/Fair. But in-hand it is 100% complete w/both covers and all pages firmly attached...so much closer to a Fair/Good in my book -- the FULL date stamp on the front cover was very much the cherry on top! Sadly, it is not for sale (I collect date-stamped books), unless someone REALLY wants it! :P

Don't ever give up! I was stuck at a very busy table helping my older sister sell her daughter's '80s toy collection for most of the day, and didn't get to the box where I found this one until later in the afternoon. Throughout the day, I watched several local/veteran dealers (who clearly should have known better) go through the same box and miss it. Bottom line? It's important to try! :P

Flea market find...

Here are a few surprise finds from a local flea market this past weekend, where I was helping my older sister sell off her daughter's large collection of '80s toys. EXTRA CREDIT: "Rod Gray", who wrote the R-rated Bond/U.N.C.L.E. parody/sex-romp novel, was a pseudonym for a writer who should be fairly well-know around these parts. Who was it? (Hint: It's Gardner Fox...)

Good article here... https://www.newsfromme.com/2008/12/02/bookstore-memories/

What makes this thread complicated is the OP's definition of a "great collector" as someone who was also, very early on, a prominent advocate for comics collecting and fandom in general. Edgar Church clearly amassed, for his own reasons and at the very dawn of the Golden Age, a "great collection" -- easily the single most significant assemblage of comics in the history of the medium -- which almost by definition and by any objective standard makes him the "first great collector". But he doesn't make the cut because he wasn't a proto-"fan" in a contemporary sense. That second benchmark is the sticking point, and sets up a kind of false dilemma, I think. Anyway...great thread. I'm looking forward to the big reveal from the OP...

Edgar Church... Sorry! That's what I get for posting on the fly at work. Carry on...