Aman619

sheeeshhh!

Essentially, the "drug issues" got the series its main press attention, and in turn, got people interested in the whole run. If GL/GA 85 & 86 had never been published, I sincerely doubt that GL/GA 76 would be as popular and revered. thats nonsense, and revisionist history. I was there, youngster! I was there! and when that black guy chastisesd Hal Jordan for not doing nuthing for the black skins, the entire comics business said WHAAAAAA??? Civilization Halt! (Firesign Theatre reference) plus Adams interior artwork made the whole series from #76 a classic in the making. Dont you remember GL was going to be cancelled? and the Oneal /Adams work saved it? It took DC only a few months to realize they had a hit on their hands with theor new RELAVANT approach. The drug issues were actually the LAST issues done... after they had tackled all the other topical political/social issues of the late 60s.

Im partial to the 15 cent changeover myself. When I catalog my books, thats when I switch from Silver to Bronze.

Scrooge, I just meant that the keys arent coveted for the stories. I have no problem with collecting great stories! I think thats a great way to collect. Thats actually th etrend comics collectinf started to take in the 80s when collectors sought out Alan Moore books...

I dont know how much readability plays into collecting key origin stories from 40 - 65 years ago. They are desireable for what they represent now, not so much for how entertaining they might be now so many years and taste changes later. A lot of classic literature is a chore to read nowadays, but it doesnt diminish their 'importance' or value culturally.. That asking a lot of a 40 year old "funnybook" knocked off in an afternoon by some "hack" comics writer.

who is he now?

In the spirit of TTH2, I'll list specific copies... not just the comic... Action#1 - - Church copy Tec 27 - - Allentown copy Batman #1 - - whichever ungraded copy is 9.2 or better! Superman #1 -- - whichever ungraded copy is 8.5 or better AF15 9.6 or a 9.8 if it exists! So aside from the last one, guess I gotta slip over the Virgina state line with burglars tools!! just kidding Dave.

Marvels always lookd rough and scratchy, almost crude, compared to the clean polished DCs. To this day, I look at the earliest superhero Marvels and cant believe how bad the inking was. Faces all crooked, very little detail, almost clumsy brushwork.

Great idea FFB! I really dont remember, other than I was aware of slabbed books growing influence, and heard there were discussions boards where comics lovers were swapping stories and showing books and arguing the merits of what was going on. I started reading until there was a discussion about 'married books'... so I burst in blasting Danny for being th emost notable offender with his Easman File copies. ...and was torn a new arssehole immediately by Methuseleh for cliaming he was Danny himself, as everyone referred to him as, tho he would of course never admit it. and of course he was Danny/Hammer. After that adrenaline rush, I was hooked I guess.

...but, then again, how would I know? I mean, Ewerts alwatys been accused of pressing books, but we all know he's just incredibly skilled at picking nice raw books!

I havent heard of specific cases of falsifying pedigree status for sales, especially with forged or fake certificates. Mistakes yes, and the occasional dealer "exaggeration". But no widespread fraud.

yeah, I actually did pretty well with the B&Bs over the years....compared to other titles.

hard to say for sure. My heart says 9.0. But Borock might easily say 7.5! or less!! Its such a tough book I might get a slight bump...

thanks guys.. that wasnt so hard! heres one more cool book I found shooting the B&Bs:

#3 of three...

#2 of three

by "popular" demand.... Brave and Bolds 1-24 (the #1 was elsewhere and could not make it to the photoshoot!)

well, yes and no. my 'hoard' both proves and disproves JC pet theories about vast hoards of SA books. YES he is correct that plenty of copies are nestled in mylars out there. ...and...NO (as MY collection illustrates) the true NM and NM- books are NOT there in the vast quantities he claims.

Well, all I can say is IT`S ABOUT FREAKIN` TIME!!! In all seriousness, I had a feeling you were going to show some mind-boggling stuff when you finally got around to it. I`m highly impressed, for whatever THAT`s worth! I echo the sentiments that you should show the B&B 1-24, and I`d love to see closer up shots of the Showcase 8, 13 and 14. Finally, interesting to see how different collectors` philosophies can be so divergent. The number of multiple copies you have is amazing, particularly of B&B 28. In contrast, I have rarely ever had doubles, let alone triples and quadruples, because I wanted to fill in the runs and would prefer to sell my duplicates to raise the money to buy more books. I was bummed last night that you werent around as I put them up. As for multiple copies, I just kept buying, figuring if one copy was a good deal, two or more were even better long term.

Great books, Aman! I'd love to see close-ups of the Showcase 8, 13, and 14 too, since you hardly ever see those books in nice shape. Also, how about some pix of the Brave and the Bold #1-25? all in good time! maybe just 1 - 24 since youve already seen the 25! : )

thanx Adam! yeah, my 4 sure looks nice dont it? from afar! and Im into the rest a lot better than the Showcase 4. That book, as you know, got red hot for a while which shot the Guide up a lot back then, and it hasnt budged much since, or not as much as other keys.... So this was, of course, another "unimprovable, once in a blue moon" killer copy and was over Guide by a bit as I recall. lets put it this way: it wasnt sold or stickered at VF Guide!!! At least noowdays, the only boooks that ARE priced at multiples ARE real 9.4 quality copies! Not the VFs like the "good old days!"

this pic just goes to show that even tough books are pretty easy to come by, if you keep buying them in whatever grade you see... One or two, maybe three are nice...but nothing like Dougs Vault copy! yikes!

I dont want to come off as one of those mint freaks who care only for perfection. Those of you who dont have copies and hear me complaining, dont worry, I am very happy to have these copies..... or any copies at all. Im with you. But as I say, its a rude awakening to have thought you were buying the best or near the best, and not to try to upgrade over the years because you felt you couldnt.... and later on realize the truth. okay, on with the show..

heres a closeup of my Showcase 4. probably somewhere between 7 and 8, maybe ... its a poster child for everything I moan about on the boards since I got here, about how this was such a killer copy for years in my collection, but now that I see 9.2s and 9.4s it pales in comparison. Every time I look at it, I see more and more little things that make me go grrrrr.

heres Showcase 1-15. As before they all 'look' sharp, but arent nearly gonna be highest graded copies... Ive upgraded a few of these since then...