Your first golden/atom age book?

[jpepx78]

 

 

after looking at the have a cigar & group shot threads, i am amazed at the incredible ga collections of fellow forumites and the very short accumulation time. many of these books aren't beaters or run-of the-mill ga but golden age keys that would be cornerstones in many ga collections. what is surprising to hear are comments from the collector saying he or she didn't have any ga books or wasn't into ga until a year or few years ago. it is quite a jump to dipping one's toes to test the water to jumping headfirst into the deep end of pricey golden age books. it didn't seem that long ago that rare ga keys like marvel mystery #9 were almost impossible to find even if you had the money. however in the last 6-9 months there were at least 4 copies for sale including one of the higher (highest?) grade copies. as mentioned before, the internet has been a major factor in finding information and getting access to many rare and valuable books. there seems to be a very short transition period now to become a ga collector who appreciates the golden/atom age as compared to my experience where i graduated from reprints (dc 100 pagers, fantasy masterpieces), famous first editions, unauthorized ga reprints, alan light reprints, hardbound reprints, beater ga reading copies to higher grade ga originals. i guess the only barrier now is money but even now that doesn't seem much of a hurdle as seen on these boards.

 

i've only found a few old threads on someone's first ga aquisition so my questions for all you ga collectors are: what was your first ga/atom age book and why did you get it?

 

my first was weird fantasy 21 because i wanted an iconic frazetta cover and my second was four color 367 for the barks story and the rest are a blur.

 

j

 

 

 

[Theagenes]

Cool thread idea. My first atom age books were the three John Carter of Mars Four Colors - 375, 437, and 488. I was a big fan of the books as a kid and had recently reread the first three for fun. After picking up some of the BA marvel series I learned about these earlier books and thought it would cool to pick them. The first copies I had were pretty low grade and I don't have scans of those, but after going through a series of upgrades over a few years these are my current copies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cheetah]

Pretty modest acquisition and I didn't buy another GA book for months. But I really love the Schomburg airbrush covers and I'll get them all some day.

 

[GreatEscape]

 

Bought this as a 9-year-old

 

 

I thought rifles and helicopters were so cool...and still do!

[Theagenes]

My first true GA book was The Funnies 47, again for the John Carter stories. It's long since sold, but here is a crappy old photo of it.

 

 

[mikephoen]

Pretty sure this was my first real golden age book... I had some ECs before this I guess, but for real golden age this was the first. I bought it raw as a VF- at a local show 13 or 14 years ago. I figured it was a touch overgraded at the time, but pre-internet you just didnt ever see golden age in my area.

 

 

 

 

 

[piper]

Weird Fantasy 15

 

[Mutie Fan]

Pep 9 (Detroit Trolley copy) is my first GA book. I only got it about a month ago. I have two more early MLJ books on the way as we speak. I must say I am hooked!

 

 

[Doohickamabob]

My first GA book wasn't anything too exciting. What happened was I decided to complete the collection of Mad magazines I started when I was about 8 years old. I figured I'd finish a full run of Mad magazines #24 (first magazine) through about #250, then sell them all off in one big group for maximum profit (later I learned that's not how it works).

 

I figured I would stop with the magazines. But I started talking to other Mad collectors and they said "If you're going to collect the magazines, you've GOT to collect the comics!" I figured I could never afford it.

 

Then I started to watch the prices. Some Mad comics would sell for over $100. Others would slide by for only $30-$40. First one I got was Mad #23, the last comic issue, with a beige cover and the word "THINK" on it. It also had some childish scribbling on it -- a low-grade copy.

 

I figured I'd stop there. But one Thursday morning, while scanning Craigslist ads, I saw that somebody was selling almost a complete run of Mad comics, Panics, Humbugs, Trumps, early issues of Mad magazine, with a number of Weird Science and Frontline Combat comics thrown in as well. He got them from a deceased uncle, he said, and his asking price was quite low.

 

So, I drove over to the bank, got a wad of cash, and suddenly I was a GA collector.

 

And just like crack, one or two tastes is all it takes for the addiction to set in.

[Trey Cannon]

My First Golden Age book I ever owned was a Batman #18 is was pretty rough but Since I like History that cover was important to me because of the Hitler Hirihito and Mussilini cover

[RockMyAmadeus]

My very first Golden Age book was Famous Funnies #64 (about VG) and Mickey Finn #1 (VG+). Bought for $40 each back in 1992. The Mickey Finn I traded in 1993 for a long box of X-men, and I still have the Famous Funnies somewhere (I hope.)

 

First Atom Age was Four Color #223, the square egg story, bought in the same lot as the above, also $40, in Good. My mom left the box it was in out in the rain one night. Yeah, it's pretty waterlogged, a bit moldy...but still the first one.

[skypinkblu]

A coverless Action 23, I got on Ebay, one of my first Ebay purchases, I bought it out of curiosity, since it mentioned Lex Luthor. I decided to list it and that's how I found the Ebay chatboard and wound up here, eventually.

 

I wish I had kept it...

 

Funny story, Matt Nelson had bid on one the week before and won and I was naive enough to write to him and ask if he wanted another...he was very nice. Probably the first comic collector I met on Ebay. I still remember him from then.

[Cimm]

Geez... I don't remember for sure, but I think it was an All-Star #21... bought it when I was around 12 or 13 (1982-83)... Wish I still had it (I remember it being pretty nice, but that could be anywhere from a VG to VF)...

[Timely]

The 1st Golden Age book I ever owned was an All Star Comics #1 that I bought from my LCS as a kid. It was on consignment. He wanted $650 for it. He also consigned an AF #15, also priced at $650. I made an offer of $650 for BOTH books and it was accepted the next week. I worked an entire summer for that (along with some birthday $).

 

West

[G.A.tor]

Action 1, my first Golden age book ever purchased (figured might as well jump in the deep end, if I was going to jump at all)

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Detective Comics #80. Low grade.

[nearmint]

Superman #37 in about 5.5 for $30 from Dave Smith at Fantasy Illustrated in Garden Grove, CA. He had all his Gold & Silver Age packed up for the San Diego Con(this was many years before it became "Comic-Con") and had to search through the boxes for the book.

 

I was back a week later for an Action 128, then a Superman #33...

[G.A.tor]

Detective Comics #80. Low grade.

good place to start (thumbs u

[Straw-Man]

still have my first one, cap 9. not scanned, but i'll fix that tonite.

[G.A.tor]

still have my first one, cap 9. not scanned, but i'll fix that tonite.

and so, a LEGEND was started