• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

why is "1st" silver age appearance of a golden age character so valuable?

Started by rabidwolf,

23 posts in this topic

tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted
Just wondering. Why is Avengers 4 so valuable when Cap has appeared 100 times before in comics. Same with Flash 105 - Showcase 4, Showcase 22, Brave and Bold 34 etc.

There was a red-costumed Flash named Barry Allen in the Golden Age? That`s news to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
batman_fan

batman_fan

Posted
Posted

Lets take some more realistic cases, How about

 

Batman 155, 1st silver age Penguin

Batman 171, 1st silver age Riddler

Batman 189, 1st silver age Scarecrow

 

These are all 100% hype based. It is amazing the power of advertising.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Point Five

Point Five

Posted
Posted
Lets take some more realistic cases, How about

 

Batman 155, 1st silver age Penguin

Batman 171, 1st silver age Riddler

Batman 189, 1st silver age Scarecrow

 

These are all 100% hype based. It is amazing the power of advertising.

(thumbs u

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Point Five

Point Five

Posted
Posted
Just wondering. Why is Avengers 4 so valuable when Cap has appeared 100 times before in comics. Same with Flash 105 - Showcase 4, Showcase 22, Brave and Bold 34 etc.

I guess to folks that collect SA Marvels and DCs, they basically count as number one issues. I too am sometimes surprised by the prices...

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KirbyJack

KirbyJack

Posted
Posted

The GA Human Torch was popular for about 7/8 years. Johnny Storm will be back to blow out 50 candles. The silver age versions of characters are in many cases a better mouse trap than the GA versions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mystrymachine

mystrymachine

Posted
Posted
The GA Human Torch was popular for about 7/8 years. Johnny Storm will be back to blow out 50 candles. The silver age versions of characters are in many cases a better mouse trap than the GA versions.

 

 

The DC books are best for that as they are the cheesiest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Larryw7

Larryw7

Posted
Posted
Lets take some more realistic cases, How about

 

Batman 155, 1st silver age Penguin

Batman 171, 1st silver age Riddler

Batman 189, 1st silver age Scarecrow

 

These are all 100% hype based. It is amazing the power of advertising.

 

I agree with you on 155 and 189, but 171 was historically important because that was the book that resonated with producer William Dozier, who produced the television series. Suddenly Riddler was changed from a forgotten, second rate member of Bat's rogues gallery into one of the top tier characters, mentioned in the same breath as Joker and Catwoman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

Posted
Posted
Lets take some more realistic cases, How about

 

Batman 155, 1st silver age Penguin

Batman 171, 1st silver age Riddler

Batman 189, 1st silver age Scarecrow

 

These are all 100% hype based. It is amazing the power of advertising.

 

I agree with you on 155 and 189, but 171 was historically important because that was the book that resonated with producer William Dozier, who produced the television series. Suddenly Riddler was changed from a forgotten, second rate member of Bat's rogues gallery into one of the top tier characters, mentioned in the same breath as Joker and Catwoman.

We got to think most people born after 1989 don`t know about Batmania from the 1960`s. So to them they can`t fathom about 155,171 and 189.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
batman_fan

batman_fan

Posted
Posted
Lets take some more realistic cases, How about

 

Batman 155, 1st silver age Penguin

Batman 171, 1st silver age Riddler

Batman 189, 1st silver age Scarecrow

 

These are all 100% hype based. It is amazing the power of advertising.

 

I agree with you on 155 and 189, but 171 was historically important because that was the book that resonated with producer William Dozier, who produced the television series. Suddenly Riddler was changed from a forgotten, second rate member of Bat's rogues gallery into one of the top tier characters, mentioned in the same breath as Joker and Catwoman.

We got to think most people born after 1989 don`t know about Batmania from the 1960`s. So to them they can`t fathom about 155,171 and 189.

 

I think the importance of 171 for the 60s series is pretty much a don't care for 99.999% of the people. To date I am happy to say I have never seen someone us the 60s series to hype the sale of a Batman 171 although now that it has been brought up, I suspect we may see someone use it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Larryw7

Larryw7

Posted
Posted

I don't think the TV series is important to most collectors at this point, but without 171, Riddler may have remained as obscure as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, or the Cavalier. I do agree that it's over priced, and certainly not as highly sought after as it was a decade or so ago. Although it might have revived interest if the Riddler appears in another Batman movie in the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mephisto

Mephisto

Posted
Posted
Lets take some more realistic cases, How about

 

Batman 155, 1st silver age Penguin

Batman 171, 1st silver age Riddler

Batman 189, 1st silver age Scarecrow

 

These are all 100% hype based. It is amazing the power of advertising.

 

I agree with you on 155 and 189, but 171 was historically important because that was the book that resonated with producer William Dozier, who produced the television series. Suddenly Riddler was changed from a forgotten, second rate member of Bat's rogues gallery into one of the top tier characters, mentioned in the same breath as Joker and Catwoman.

 

Prior to that Riddler had appeared twice...and then disappeared for around 16 years or so. A lot of the Bat villains had long lay offs. Joker was pretty much the onyl one who didn't disappear for more than 5 years and that's probably part of the reason there is no SA designation for him. Half of the GA Two Face appearances were impostors, before he came back after many many years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
Posted
Lets take some more realistic cases, How about

 

Batman 155, 1st silver age Penguin

Batman 171, 1st silver age Riddler

Batman 189, 1st silver age Scarecrow

 

These are all 100% hype based. It is amazing the power of advertising.

 

I agree with you on 155 and 189, but 171 was historically important because that was the book that resonated with producer William Dozier, who produced the television series. Suddenly Riddler was changed from a forgotten, second rate member of Bat's rogues gallery into one of the top tier characters, mentioned in the same breath as Joker and Catwoman.

We got to think most people born after 1989 don`t know about Batmania from the 1960`s. So to them they can`t fathom about 155,171 and 189.

 

I think the importance of 171 for the 60s series is pretty much a don't care for 99.999% of the people. To date I am happy to say I have never seen someone us the 60s series to hype the sale of a Batman 171 although now that it has been brought up, I suspect we may see someone use it.

 

I think of these as faux keys as well. However, 171 is genuinely hard in high grade and unlike some the other bat-villains -- he didn't appear all that much in the GA either. His GA 1st appearance is far more valuable and scarce.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hibou

Hibou

Posted
Posted
Lets take some more realistic cases, How about

 

Batman 155, 1st silver age Penguin

Batman 171, 1st silver age Riddler

Batman 189, 1st silver age Scarecrow

 

These are all 100% hype based. It is amazing the power of advertising.

(thumbs u

 

 

+1 after .5

 

... well that's sort of confusing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PovertyRow

PovertyRow

Posted
Posted
The GA Human Torch was popular for about 7/8 years. Johnny Storm will be back to blow out 50 candles. The silver age versions of characters are in many cases a better mouse trap than the GA versions.

 

In some ways the early SHOWCASE books are certainly key and deserve the respect (both collector respect and $$$ respect).

 

Look at the comic book scene in those early SA days. The code had been implemented. Many of the crime/horror/sci-fi publishers were dead or dying. Along with them went the Western, Romance etc. books they also published.

 

EC was struggling to maintain any semblance of a former self, taking to magazine formats for MAD and for their PictoFiction books in an attempt to avoid the code.

 

Atlas - soon to be Marvel - was producing well with big monsters and a nice variety of non-hero related genres.

 

When DC started publishing Showcase, the comic industry in general was a superhero wasteland. Indeed, it seems the only company that stayed true to form from the early GA days was DC, with their main heroes Superman and Batman being run continuously, across a variety of titles, from their inception. Interestingly, DC had the fewest titles by far of any major publisher for Pre-Code horror. They were the least impacted by the code.

 

The code had defanged the most popular genres. The time was right for the hero comeback and DC saw this, understood it and reintroduced and updated their old heros.

 

What Marvel did in 1961 with the Intro of FF, and later Spidey and Hulk, etc. had already been done by DC some years earlier. The main difference was Marvel put a consistent spin of the ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances ending up a superhero. That really grabbed the youth of the day. But DC was there first and really opened the door to the acceptance and introduction of new heros in the SA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing