What are the key issues for a horror collector?

[Ken Aldred]

Could ASM 101 make the list even though it's a superhero book?

I think so.

 

Previously in the thread, we've had a super-hero character, Moon Knight, out of a horror comic, WWBN 32, so why not a horror character, Morbius, out of a super-hero comic, Amazing Spider-Man 101?

 

[brasseye]

Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1-4

Forbiden Tales of Dark mansion #5... impossible to find in grade!

 

Sinister House of Secret love #1-4

Secrets of sinister house #5... impossible to find in grade!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Norrin_Radd]

HoS 106 and DC Super Spectacular 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DailySuperpower]

Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1-4

Forbiden Tales of Dark mansion #5... impossible to find in grade!

 

Sinister House of Secret love #1-4

Secrets of sinister house #5... impossible to find in grade!

 

 

I've got some of these on the way(Forbidden Love 2 and 3, Dark Mansion 5, and Sinister House 5, not HG though) as part of a big dc horror lot I bought to kickstart my collection. I'm not interested in HG as I mostly just want to have a library of readable comics. I'm also picking up various romance titles because they're hilarious so the gothic romance books fit perfectly between the two genres.

 

[shiverbones]

to me, THE key will always be HOM 175. This issue ushered in all of the hallmarks of the bronze horror age. Even Tower of Shadows had a host. Yes I know EC did it, then Warren did it, Even Boris Karloff got in on the act before Warren, but the 600 or so books of main stream DC horror, which really set the wheels in motion for every other major bronze horror title starts there. There is a hard to describe singularity about Cain that really set the tone from 1968 to 1983. Cain is more to HOM, than uncle Creepy is to Creepy IMHO, and the retconning from Alan Moore & Neil Gaiman has only solidified that . HOM 175 is the key, last host standing as the Marvel age of superheroes buried all else.

 

HOM 174 is Silver Age, HOM 175 is all bronze.

[bigfiver69]

Weird War Tales 1

 

Weird War #1 gets all the hype, but for my money I would suggest some other issues of that title first... the first issue is nearly all reprint

 

#10 for the amazing Shelly Mayer tale 'Who is Haunting the Haunted Chateau?' Great art by Alex Toth.

 

#9 for the brilliant Cardy cover, and the wonderul Alfredo Alcala interior art.

 

#41 for 'The Dead Draftees of Regiment Six'

 

And I also like the only Giant size issue of the run #36, for the variety of stories.

 

Pretty much any one of the first 40 or so issues is going to give you something worthwhile... after that, the quality drops off very far, very fast - with a few notable exceptions.

 

Shep

 

 

[Prince Namor]

Could ASM 101 make the list even though it's a superhero book?

I think so.

 

Previously in the thread, we've had a super-hero character, Moon Knight, out of a horror comic, WWBN 32, so why not a horror character, Morbius, out of a super-hero comic, Amazing Spider-Man 101?

 

Wikipedia: "Dr. Michael Morbius was created in response to the comic-book industry's self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority, lifting its ban on vampires and certain other supernatural characters in February 1971, and not as a challenge to the code, as many believe.[1]"

 

First modern mainstream vampire in comics?

[shiverbones]

depends if you mean Mainstream as in marvel & DC only. Gold Key had vampires in the 60's, I still think of Gold Key as main stream at that point in time.

[primeinvestibles-migration]

 

I am surprised this book has not skyrocketed with the Conan Movie coming out.

 

I had a copy of this when I was growing up. Not sure if it qualifies as a key, but it was one of my favorites when I was collecting back then.

 

 

Yes, BWS conan prototype.

[MisterX]

What the heck, I'll add Adventure 431, the first issue featuring Fleisher and Aparo's take on the Spectre.

 

More EC than DC, even if the avenging ghost wears green gloves and a cape.

 

The bad guys meet their demise in such creatively gruesome ways -- being melted, turned to sand, cut in half with giant scissors, etc. And that's just the first couple of issues!

[Slim Pickins]

Did anyone mention Ghosts #1? That's a tough one in high grade.

 

The early Horror transition issues of Unexpected are really tough. I would consider those key with their great neal adams covers.

 

Charlton's Haunted Love 1

 

Swamp Thing 1

 

Sinister house of secret love 1 with that white cover.

Pretty much all the gothic romance books and magazines are key. (Gothic Love and Gothic Romances - could anything be harder?)

 

Night Nurse 1-4. (Is that considered a horror book? I've always loved them. The covers are creepy.)

 

All the marvel books mentioned before are highly collectible and would be silly not to invest in but when it comes to horror it seems scarcity is important. The marvel books all have much larger print runs and the books are easier ("easier" nothing is easy) to find in high grade. imho...