Most important comics - not price, not age, not scarcity

[cd4ever]

After Action1 and Tec 27, I would go with FF1 as the most important.

 

While the characters are not as popular as Spidey, that book kicked of the Marvel age of comic book dominance which completely changed the industry and the comics we read.

 

 

[oakman29]

I would agree,my top of the top would be.

1.Action 1

2.Tec 27

3.Marvel Comics 1

4.Showcase 4

5.All American 16

6.F.F.1

7.AF 15

8.Incredible Hulk 1

9.Pep 22

10.Showcase 22

11.Incredible Hulk 181

12.TMNT 1

13.Walking Dead 1

In my opinion these books are the game changers,regardless of price and scarcity.Although most of the time they go hand in hand.

[ss5rmp]

1.Action 1

2.Tec 27

3.Marvel Comics 1

4.Showcase 4

5 Batman 1

6.F.F.1

7.AF 15

8.Incredible Hulk 1

9.Xmen 1

10.Showcase 22

 

honorable mentions

flash 105, 123,

amazing spiderman 129

avengers 4

[asr0462]

Wonder Woman #219..........I don't know....I just picked a random number.

[Blind Owl]

Comics Magazine #1 (1936)

 

1st app. Dr. Mystic (aka Dr. Occult) by Siegel & Shuster (1st app. of a Superman protoype in comics).

 

and yes, it is a Centaur.

[comicparadox]

Star Reach #1 doesn't get anywhere near the respect it deserves. It was the first comic that gave royalties and allowed creators to keep control of its properties. Also the first comic distributed exclusivily thru the Direct Market.

 

I'd forgotten that one. Good call. Star*Reach was a great series - I withdraw from my earlier post the brief consideration of Dazzler 1 and replace that with a brief consideration of Star*Reach 1 as "first direct distribution" book.

[VintageComics]

Marvel Comics #1, while expensive, is also a very important comic from a historic perspective. It was the very first book released by Timely, who later became Marvel, and if I'm not mistaken hosted the first appearance of the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and possibly another character I'm forgetting.

 

Very pricey, but no doubt an important book.

 

I would be really interested to know if any comics of actual importance are affordable. I can't think of any.

 

Ignoring age and scarcity/availability, it could probably be argued that Incredible Hulk #181 is affordable, relatively speaking.

My guess is that Wolverine's popularity is way above many characters that cost 10 or 100 times the price Wolverine's first appearance.

Those books are older and much harder to find... but are they as important?

 

Depends on what you mean by important.

 

Besides introducing characters and providing a platform for creators of that day, Marvel Comics #1 also provided competition to DC and Fawcett, and it's competition that keeps the publishers on their toes and forces them to make things better and more exciting for the audience.

 

So even though the Torch, Subby, Kazar and the Vision are not as culturally relevant today as Cap, Spidey and Bats are, the book itself was instrumental in

 

a) taking a foothold in history as a prominent publisher

b) providing competition to push the envelope on story telling in a comics format (as witnessed by the killer 3 issue battle between Torch and Subby)

c) providing a different type of story telling compared to the competion (Marvel took a much more aggressive approach during WW2, etc)

 

I agree that Pep #22 is still incredibly rare after all these years, Archie is an insanely popular character to kids today and the book is very important in the scheme of things.

 

Disclaimer, I own one but I'm not trying to pump my own book. Ask anybody that knows and they'll tell you the same thing.

 

Haven't read the rest of this thread so I can't comment any further.

 

 

[maloney414]

Surprised no one mentioned this book. It may not be your favorite book, but it is one of the most important comics in history.

 

The famous book from the Seduction of the Innocence hearings. Hearings that caused the destruction of many Golden Age books and the creation of the Comic Code.

 

[valiantman]

Surprised no one mentioned this book. It may not be your favorite book, but it is one of the most important comics in history.

 

The famous book from the Seduction of the Innocence trial. A trial that caused the destruction of many Golden Age books and the creation of the Comic Code.

 

 

Good one, but someone did beat you to it:

Then I'd think about Crime SuspenStories 22 since it nearly decapitated the comics industry and ushered in the CCA.

[maloney414]

Thanks! I missed that post. (thumbs u

[DailySuperpower]

If we're talking about history shouldn't the Yellow Kid books be included?

 

Also, as far as museum displays I would think there would be a focus on the artists in addition to the characters, even if that focus wasn't present at the time the books were published. What are some of the earliest works from the big artists?

[AGGIEZ]

Marvel Comics #1, while expensive, is also a very important comic from a historic perspective. It was the very first book released by Timely, who later became Marvel, and if I'm not mistaken hosted the first appearance of the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and possibly another character I'm forgetting.

 

Very pricey, but no doubt an important book.

 

I would be really interested to know if any comics of actual importance are affordable. I can't think of any.

 

I agree that Pep #22 is still incredibly rare after all these years, Archie is an insanely popular character to kids today and the book is very important in the scheme of things.

 

 

Really? I could probably name 50 characters that todays kids would recognize before Archie. It is obviously an extremely rare book, but outside of Archie collectors and GA key chasers is it really that important?

[VintageComics]

Marvel Comics #1, while expensive, is also a very important comic from a historic perspective. It was the very first book released by Timely, who later became Marvel, and if I'm not mistaken hosted the first appearance of the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and possibly another character I'm forgetting.

 

Very pricey, but no doubt an important book.

 

I would be really interested to know if any comics of actual importance are affordable. I can't think of any.

 

I agree that Pep #22 is still incredibly rare after all these years, Archie is an insanely popular character to kids today and the book is very important in the scheme of things.

 

 

Really? I could probably name 50 characters that todays kids would recognize before Archie. It is obviously an extremely rare book, but outside of Archie collectors and GA key chasers is it really that important?

 

We gave away about 100+ comics last Halloween to kids.

 

The Archie comics were the most requested and went first. It was quite a surprise as to how quickly they went.

 

There wasn't a single GA collector among them.

 

[N/A]

X-men #101

 

1st comic I ever paid more than cover for.

Make the case... Top 10 Most Important of All Time... X-Men #101 because....

 

Guess I read the thread title wrong. Important to me as opposed to overall importance.

 

On the grand scale it is the 1st appearance of Phoenix which is a pivotal character in what is widely considered the best X-men run. X-men themselves being a top 5 superhero franchise. The character was the primary figure in X3 although they portrayed her poorly.

[PovertyRow]

After Action1 and Tec 27, I would go with FF1 as the most important.

 

While the characters are not as popular as Spidey, that book kicked of the Marvel age of comic book dominance which completely changed the industry and the comics we read.

 

 

Wherever FF1 gets plac ed I think Showcase 4 should be tied with it.

 

FF1 not only kicked off the Marvel age of comic book dominance, I feel it also represents the first SA Marvel, just as Showcase 4 represents the first DC SA. Incredible Hulk appeared three months before AF15. And it took seven more months after AF15 for ASM #1 to come out.

 

Prior to FF1, and after Showcase 4, the pre-hero titles (JIM, TTA, ST and TOS) along with other Atlas titles such as World of Fantasy and Strange worlds were of the sci-fi or Kirby Monster persuasion and all anthologies. Essentially they were pre-code horror inspired but watered down to meet the CCA.

 

AF15 is decidedly significant for introducing the most important character of the Marvel SA and certainly deserves a spot in the top tier. But for the purposes of this thread I feel FF1 trumps AF15.

[MisterX]

I'll second All-Star #8.

 

I think most people born before, say, 1973, would immediately recognize Wonder Woman. Those born after, I have no idea. (Well, she was in that Justice League cartoon from not too long ago...)

 

Also in that issue, Dr. Fate gets a new helmet.

[VintageComics]

After Action1 and Tec 27, I would go with FF1 as the most important.

 

While the characters are not as popular as Spidey, that book kicked of the Marvel age of comic book dominance which completely changed the industry and the comics we read.

 

 

Wherever FF1 gets plac ed I think Showcase 4 should be tied with it.

 

FF1 not only kicked off the Marvel age of comic book dominance, I feel it also represents the first SA Marvel, just as Showcase 4 represents the first DC SA. Incredible Hulk appeared three months before AF15. And it took seven more months after AF15 for ASM #1 to come out.

 

Prior to FF1, and after Showcase 4, the pre-hero titles (JIM, TTA, ST and TOS) along with other Atlas titles such as World of Fantasy and Strange worlds were of the sci-fi or Kirby Monster persuasion and all anthologies. Essentially they were pre-code horror inspired but watered down to meet the CCA.

 

AF15 is decidedly significant for introducing the most important character of the Marvel SA and certainly deserves a spot in the top tier. But for the purposes of this thread I feel FF1 trumps AF15.

 

Agreed on the FF #1 front. Flagship book for a decade.

 

(thumbs u

[Zombikaze]

Batman The Dark Knight Returns. What Frank Miller did with a character that was stuck in a stereotype for kids was ground shaking. I remember going to the comic shop and the man behind the counter didn't want to sell me the book...I was 13 years old. He said it was a mature comic. I did buy it that day with some convincing. Miller put a gun in the hand of batman who didn't use and was against guns. This comic as the title says was DARK. It made me look at comics in a whole new way.

[ticket_stub-migration]

How about Youngblood # 1? (not for the artistic content, of course).

[Snake Eyes]

damn

 

I can't believe I am going to say some of these (egads...McFarland!!! ), but given the criteria you gave...

 

Spawn 1 (the argument can be made for Youngblood 1 here, but ultimately I think it was Spawn that led to a multimedia thunderdome of independent books and creators taking more control of their creations. Also reopened independent publishers as a viable alternative after the B&W crash)

 

Amazing Spiderman 96 (one of the big comic publishers officially realizing we have important stories to tell, and the code is not the boss of us!!!)

 

All Star Comics 8 (Wonder Woman...not too terribly long after women actually got the right to vote (1919 I believe) we now have one on equal footing as a super-hero and what will eventually be one of the Big Three...surviving through wars, title implosions, management shakeups and all other sorts of business)

 

Conan 1 (really set off the collector movement by my thoughts...it had been brewing with the late 1960's Marvel #1s...Iron Man, Subby, Nick Fury, etc. However, with Conan you have a large number of people starting to look at comics in a different way...as not just for kids, perhaps even a commodity :shrug: Also, arguably kicked off the Bronze Age.

 

Just a few thoughts that come to mind of books that might be neglected since it is hard to take money/value/rtarity out of the situation...think I have the most overprinted book ever in there....and the fact they made that many copies should tell you how important it was (despite personal distaste)