Baker Romance 43 43

[Sqeggs]

Looks like I have two VGish copies of 35, although my scans are lost in the wilds of PhotoBucket.  Prefer the cover to 35. 

[Sqeggs]

The Art of Glamour credits Baker with this cover, but GCD and CGC give it to Henry Sharp.  I agree that it doesn't look like Baker to me.  

[Sqeggs]

Believe it or not, this be the census topper. 

 

[29dukedog]

49 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

The Art of Glamour credits Baker with this cover, but GCD and CGC give it to Henry Sharp.  I agree that it doesn't look like Baker to me.  

This cover is actually the back cover illustration of Ziff-Davis' Little Al of the Secret Service #3.   

Edited October 19, 2017 by 29dukedog

[Sqeggs]

41 minutes ago, 29dukedog said:

This cover is actually the back cover illustration of Ziff-Davis' Little Al of the Secret Service #3.   

Cool.  I like the extra detail compared with the APC version. 

[29dukedog]

11 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

Cool.  I like the extra detail compared with the APC version.

Now, if you're a completist, you'll go pick up a copy of Little Al SS #3, too.  (It does have a tasty painted cover, itself.) 

[Sqeggs]

10 minutes ago, 29dukedog said:

25 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

Cool.  I like the extra detail compared with the APC version.

Now, if you're a completist, you'll go pick up a copy of Little Al SS #3, too.  (It does have a tasty painted cover, itself.) 

Are there any Henry Sharp completists? 

[29dukedog]

3 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

 

3 hours ago, 29dukedog said:

3 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Cool.  I like the extra detail compared with the APC version.

Now, if you're a completist, you'll go pick up a copy of Little Al SS #3, too.  (It does have a tasty painted cover, itself.) 

Are there any Henry Sharp completists? 

 

Here's why you should get a copy of Little Al of the Secret Service #3: 

The comic in question has a "Bacon number" of 6.  Six degrees of Kevin Bacon. 

It's a Ziff-Davis comic.  So was GI Joe.  The 2003 film, "GI Joe", featured actor Dennis Quaid.  Quaid was in "Vantage Point" (2008) with Matthew Fox.  Fox was in "Party of Five" (1994) with Neve Campbell.  Campbell was in "Wild Things" (1998) with... Kevin Bacon. 

[N e r V]

11 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Believe it or not, this be the census topper. 

 

We have notes for things like headlights and bondage can’t we get something for butt covers? This book is clearly a classic Baker butt cover. 

I know they won’t call it a butt cover either just like we get headlights for boobs so maybe classic cheeks cover? Full Moon cover? You could even have half moon or little moon covers.

Edited October 20, 2017 by N e r V

[N e r V]

Big Booty cover!!!

[fett]

1 hour ago, N e r V said:

We have notes for things like headlights and bondage can’t we get something for butt covers? This book is clearly a classic Baker butt cover. 

I know they won’t call it a butt cover either just like we get headlights for boobs so maybe classic cheeks cover? Full Moon cover? You could even have half moon or little moon covers.

I seem to remember someone here on these boards refer to them as "taillights". 

[N e r V]

5 hours ago, fett said:

I seem to remember someone here on these boards refer to them as "taillights". 

Wouldn’t “tailpipes”be more accurate?

[Sqeggs]

12 minutes ago, szavisca said:

"Headlights" just works because kids back in the 40s and 50s used the term, just ask Wertham.  So, I'd be curious to know what language was used to describe a nice backside back then.  Maybe one of our resident old farts who grew up back then can tell us? Tricolorbrian you wanna chime in?

(Disclaimer - I use the term "resident old fart" affectionately and with the utmost respect intended)

I don't believe girls had been invented yet in Brian's day. 

[Sqeggs]

17 hours ago, 29dukedog said:

Here's why you should get a copy of Little Al of the Secret Service #3: 

The comic in question has a "Bacon number" of 6.  Six degrees of Kevin Bacon. 

It's a Ziff-Davis comic.  So was GI Joe.  The 2003 film, "GI Joe", featured actor Dennis Quaid.  Quaid was in "Vantage Point" (2008) with Matthew Fox.  Fox was in "Party of Five" (1994) with Neve Campbell.  Campbell was in "Wild Things" (1998) with... Kevin Bacon. 

Well, in that case ... I'm on it!

[rjpb]

On 10/18/2017 at 3:16 PM, Sqeggs said:

A couple of years ago when we had a discussion of the scarcity of APC 18, someone (I forgot who) offered the thought that maybe the image of an older woman bound and gagged was sufficiently unsettling that the issue may not have been displayed on some newsstands.  Given some of the cover images that were displayed on newsstands, I'm not sure how likely that is, but I think it's possible.

I believe it is a tough issue, but whether it merits being a Gerber 8, I'm not sure. 

Michelle Nolan's take from eight years ago now (how time do fly!):  Authentic Police Cases #18 (8) — Why would a fairly well-circulated St. John series be an 8? Still, it's surely a 6 or 7. Matt Baker collectors have these locked up, so it might as well be an 8!

It could just be the random rarity factor.  Let's say there were an average of 100,000 copies of each issue of this title circulated, and the average survival rate was  2,000 copies. That doesn't mean exactly 2000 copies still exist for each issue. It's such a low rate, that it probably varies widely, from potentially just a few hundred to perhaps a few thousand, going from issue to issue. Certainly there are issues that seem far more common than average, even absent a known warehouse find, what would be the explanation for that, other than a random variance in survival rates.

Given that there is no evidence that the more disturbing and graphically violent covers for other crime comics of the era are scarcer than average, I'd say you can dismiss the notion that retailers were bothered by this particular cover. The average retailer at the time wasn't even looking at the covers of these books as they put them on the racks, and the ones who wanted to only carry more wholesome fare likely had a blanket prohibition on crime and horror books.

[Sqeggs]

32 minutes ago, rjpb said:

It could just be the random rarity factor.  Let's say there were an average of 100,000 copies of each issue of this title circulated, and the average survival rate was  2,000 copies. That doesn't mean exactly 2000 copies still exist for each issue. It's such a low rate, that it probably varies widely, from potentially just a few hundred to perhaps a few thousand, going from issue to issue. Certainly there are issues that seem far more common than average, even absent a known warehouse find, what would be the explanation for that, other than a random variance in survival rates.

Given that there is no evidence that the more disturbing and graphically violent covers for other crime comics of the era are scarcer than average, I'd say you can dismiss the notion that retailers were bothered by this particular cover. The average retailer at the time wasn't even looking at the covers of these books as they put them on the racks, and the ones who wanted to only carry more wholesome fare likely had a blanket prohibition on crime and horror books.

I think you may well be right that for this and other GA books, survival rates mainly reflect random factors.  I think average survival rates for these issues are probably much below 2,000 copies.  I would be surprised if even 100 copies of most issues of APC exist -- 200 tops.  But that actually makes your argument stronger because with so few copies surviving of any issue, it's likely that just a very few copies of at least some issues will have survived.

In addition, of course, Gerber's scarcity indexes -- like Overstreet's labeling some books "scarce" or "rare" -- reflects his experience and the experiences of the dealers and collectors he spoke with at a time before eBay and CGC changed our views of the relative scarcity of many books. 

[Point Five]

Here's a recent pickup I was happy to score.

I love the expressions, the body language and the composition Baker has going on on this cover. Unique and so different than the 'average' romance comic.

[rjpb]

2000 is probably high, but I'm betting it's more than just a couple hundred on average.  They show up too frequently to be that scarce.

[Sqeggs]

2 minutes ago, rjpb said:

2000 is probably high, but I'm betting it's more than just a couple hundred on average.  They show up too frequently to be that scarce.

It's an interesting question with no good way to answer, as far as I can tell.  I think the fact that census numbers on widely collected comics from the early 1950s are pretty low may be an indication of how scarce comics from that period are.  Here are the CGC census total for the issues of Action Comics published in 1952 (the year APC 18 was published):

164 -- 7
165 -- 12
166 -- 15 (13 blue)
167 -- 10
168 -- 13 (11 blue)
169 -- 8
170 -- 15 (13 blue)
171 -- 11 (10 blue)
172 -- 6
173 -- 12 (11 blue)
174 -- 12
175 -- 11 (10 blue)

Of course, the census only gives us a hint at how many total copies (including raw copies) may be out there.  But still, given how low these numbers are, and given how much more collectible Action was than APC, and given how much better DC's circulation was than St John's, I would be surprised if more than 100 copies of most issues of APC have survived. 

[rjpb]

Census numbers for any book that sells for around $100 or less in VG are probably not much use (which includes most of the Actions and APCs from this era).  I'm fairly convinced that more than half of extant complete comics from this era are in VG or less, and if you look at sales, graded copies of lower grade books are a tiny fraction of all sales.