MattrixAlien

Hi. This isn't an official key but according to the online Marvel database, Punisher 54 Vol 2 (1991), is the first appearance of the Punisher's pit-bull pet Max the guard dog Sure to have his own Disney series one day Sorry the cover shot is inside a bag. Doh!

Got it! Now a proud owner of a high grade raw copy of the Punisher's dog Max's first appearance The cover's so fricking black I'm afraid to handle it. I think it might also be the first appearance of his Liefield-esque pouch costume.

Nice to see a portrayal of a Punisher reader which isn't stereotypical

If no one else is going to post this I guess I'll have to do it I used to own a copy of this fun Mignola cover as noted in the Grief Counselling thread but not now so I'll just have to post a image off the web. Anyway without any further adieu I give you Rocket Racoon #1

There are 3 covers which include feet in this thread, not that they are particularly anatomically correct If this thread has proven anything it's that he's still a cold artist

Liefeld avoids drawing feet so I can't remember what they are like

Yes Adamantium, the use of dark areas rather than lines, more than in his earlier work, is evident in the interior art as well. See an example below: For something different I'm throwing in his Punisher cover. I read the c rap out of this issue as a kid

I lied when I said I didn't have any Hellboy in my collection This is it. I think this is the series that Sauce Dog was referring to, which was published in '98 when his style is becoming visibly more minimalistic. Like others have said I love and prefer his copper age work on characters like Batman. (I actually enjoyed Miller's reductive style in Sin City, but Dark Knight Strikes Again killed it for me.)

Wow the trailer for the documentary was great. Thanks for sharing. I'll have to check out the full film when it's released

Agreed. I thought his version of Ghost Rider is one of the best too.

Just did some research and Max the Punisher's dog's first appearance is in Punisher Vol 2 issue 54 (1991). It's not recognised as an official key but as a Punisher fan it would certainly be a fun book to own. I'm a dog person so I'll add it to my wish list. Currently a dollar bin book. Perhaps I shouldn't be posting this

Ouch. I think a lot of its issues would be removed with a press. Don't know if it's worth spending $60 to get it done professionally though. Maybe I should watch some Youtube videos, buy a mini iron etc.. and do it myself

The link works. Thanks Bird!

Love the Byrne/Claremont UXM run. I thought this copy was in solid shape but there's a big ding on the back. I think it could benefit from a press unfortunately we don't have CGC down here in Oz What do you think?

Post your favourite Mike Mignola art here! I never collected Hellboy so if you can chime in with some that would be appreciated so to speak 😊 Mike Mignola is another of my favourite artists to emerge and rise to prominence in the Copper Age. His art has such a distinctive, spectral style. Alan Moore described it as “Kirby meets German expressionism.” Before he became famous as the owner/creator of Hell Boy he worked on a wide variety of projects. Even when I was a kid back in the 80s though, I would read ‘cold’ artist lists in comic magazines, and Mignola would be on them. Why do you think his art hasn’t had more wide spread popularity? Is it too idiosyncratic? I still collected his books anyway. While this wasn’t a good idea from an investment perspective (fortunately I also loved McFarlane’s stuff ) I still love to read it. Here’s some favourites from my collection below: Maybe if he'd done more Marvel art he'd be more popular. Oh well I guess it makes his work easy to afford. His Batman: Death in the Family covers are probably his most well know work outside of Hellboy. Cosmic Odyssey is such an underrated mini series. Take Starlin, one of the best writers of galactic adventure stories, and combine that with Mignola's striking art and the results are amazing. It could be DCs Infinity War. Sorry. This next one is in rough shape. Can even Superman overcome Death?

Good example. That is one that has gone under the radar of McFarlane fans for sure. As littledoom suggested it might be because they don't have particularly cool covers. DC should have got Todd to do a cover with Batman battling an alien If he'd done a similar Marvel cross over event that thing would have gone nuclear by now.

I did a big clean out of my collection earlier in the year. But I just didn't have the heart to get rid of this...

As a Whilce Portacio/Punisher fan I'm embarrassed I've only just added this to my copper age collection yesterday The copy which I bought off eBay actually had a little writing on the front cover which I was able to remove. See a before photo below also....

Thanks for the responses everyone. The consensus is the small amount of writing wouldn't have impacted the grade anyway. I think the copy without writing on the cover presents better though and would in turn sell faster and for more.

As a Whilce Portico / Punisher / Daredevil copper age fan I was long overdue to add a Punisher vol 2 #10 to my PC. There was a copy available on eBay down here for a long time which was in good shape, apart from a small but annoying mark which looked like a +4 written in the middle of the front cover. D&D scribble maybe On close inspection of the photos it looked like it might be pencil rather than indelible ink. So after getting it for a good best offer price I set about cleaning it today. See the results in the photos below.... What if it tears the paper, ruins the gloss and causes a larger permanent smudge.... Yes, it worked! By lightly rubbing the writing with a clean quality eraser I was able to remove it completely. After that I carefully brushed away the rubber crumbs. What impact does removing such a mark have on it's grade? What easy cleaning techniques do you know?

As a fan I agree the popularity of Todd's art can overcome the Marvel bias, but this discussion has highlighted to me how strong that bias is. While there are some exceptions like Swamp Thing 37 (1st Constantine), Omega Men 3 (1st Lobo) generally speaking there's much less demand for DC keys outside of your Batman's as MAR1979 said.

It's funny how the rumour of an appearance in a movie or show can make a Marvel comic explode in value. Meanwhile DC characters with entire critically acclaimed shows eg. Doom Patrol are still cold as ice.

Everything McFarlane touches turns to gold even DC books. It's also villain Mr Bones first app and he looks a lot like Spawn. Check out the cape work Infinity Inc is such a quirky interesting copper age team. Used to enjoy reading it as a kid. Nice to see it getting some love

Well done. When I was a kid I only bought 1 copy of ASM 300 which is now the boss of my copper age collection. I've never liked the interior art of Walking Dead, kind of flat & amateurish, and the single issues progress the story so slowly. The first few seasons of the TV show are so much better than the comic IMO.

Thanks Ganni! Strikeforce: Morituri is the series where he got his start as a penciller. Previously he'd inked the pencils of other artists such as Art Adams.