Is it bad to collect Copper books?

[Reno McCoy]

Yes, the title to this thread is a little tongue in cheek, but it seems that of all the ages, the Copper Age gets a bum rap. Seems that supporters of the other ages are greater in number, or at least, they tend to talk about their love of that age more often (just look at the number of posts to get an idea of what I mean) and with greater verve.

 

Sometimes I get the impression that, when it comes to Copper age books, comic fans only notice the large number of books printed, or the fact that more and more collectors protected their comics and saw them as collectibles, which led to the downfall of comics in the 90s.

 

I'm a child of the Copper age, and while I understand that not everyone has the same nostalgia factor with that era that I do, I still think Copper has a lot to offer. I'm more excited about the stories and the collecting of this age then any other, and I think these books deserve more respect. I mean, seriously. Secret Wars and Crisis. Watchmen and Dark Knight. Hellblazer and Sandman, are you kidding me? "Yo Joe." Valiant comics. Alien. Predator. And the Turtles, for Christ's sake!

 

I know there are some good threads going on here, with some good discussion, but in general, where's the love, man?

 

[Jeffro.]

I'm also a child of the Copper Age. It's my own personal "golden age." There is an incredible wealth of fun stories and art to explore.

 

From a collecting value standpoint, unless you're talking about keys, it kinda lags behind the other ages. I would never collect uber HG slabbed copies unless it was SS, but that's just me. I will never quite "get" the idea of slabbing non-SS, non-keys in Copper. I figure, just stick it in a mylar and be done with it.

 

From a reading standpoint, it's a gold mine.

[jaydog]

As another child of the copper age I love collecting them. I used to travel and do construction with father and would always pick up books at gas stations to read. I do get slabs of the books i remember - Captian America (Zeck issues) Conans around issue 100, x-men 140s-160s, G.i. joe, hulk etc... My collection is really off beat because of the traveling i rarely was able to get two consecutive issues and everyone was a cliff hanger so i really enjoy getting slabs of books that to this day don't know what happens next.

 

[Whizzer]

I love many of the stories from the Copper Age and it was definitely a time of innovation.

 

One thing I don't like about the CA though, is that for me, comic book cover design from about 1978 onwards really started to deteriorate in quality. And this has only gotten worse over time.

 

I know that of course, there are many superb individual covers from this era, but generally speaking I prefer Bronze age covers, particularly the "line of DC super stars" era of the mid 70's.

 

I must admit though, with the passing of time I've grown to appreciate the CA more and more, and have recently been buying more copper than previously.

[Reno McCoy]

As another child of the copper age I love collecting them. I used to travel and do construction with father and would always pick up books at gas stations to read. I do get slabs of the books i remember - Captian America (Zeck issues) Conans around issue 100, x-men 140s-160s, G.i. joe, hulk etc... My collection is really off beat because of the traveling i rarely was able to get two consecutive issues and everyone was a cliff hanger so i really enjoy getting slabs of books that to this day don't know what happens next.

 

You know, I rarely got two consecutive issues either. We didn't travel, but I was quite a distance from any place that sold comics. When I got a little older, I could walk the 2-3 hours to the "local" 7-11, or maybe even take the bus downtown to the flea market. But those times were infrequent, and when they did occur, it was rare to actually find the next issue.

[Whizzer]

As another child of the copper age I love collecting them. I used to travel and do construction with father and would always pick up books at gas stations to read. I do get slabs of the books i remember - Captian America (Zeck issues) Conans around issue 100, x-men 140s-160s, G.i. joe, hulk etc... My collection is really off beat because of the traveling i rarely was able to get two consecutive issues and everyone was a cliff hanger so i really enjoy getting slabs of books that to this day don't know what happens next.

 

You know, I rarely got two consecutive issues either. We didn't travel, but I was quite a distance from any place that sold comics. When I got a little older, I could walk the 2-3 hours to the "local" 7-11, or maybe even take the bus downtown to the flea market. But those times were infrequent, and when they did occur, it was rare to actually find the next issue.

 

Actually, that was one thing that did improve for me in the CA. UK distribution of US issues got way better in the 80's, so it was actually possible to get consecutive issues, which in the 70's it really wasn't.

[dupont2005]

I think the CA had the best comics. BA and CA are the only periods I can even stand super hero stuff, but besides that they had an unlimited supply of awesome alternative and odd experimental stuff coming out independently, which is what really draws me to the CA. They may not be worth as much as older comics, and to someone 15 years or so older than me they might not have the right nostalgic feel that 80's comics bring me, but I love them.

[Cimm]

I love Copper, especially independent copper... First Comics, Dark Horse, Eclipse, Pacific, Eternity, Innovation... DC Copper was truly awesome, too... Batman - Year One, the Perez Wonder Woman, Sandman, Swamp Thing, John Constantine, McKean's Black Orchid, Grell's Green Arrow - The Longbow Hunters, The Question, Breyfogle's run on Detective Comics, Aparo's run on Batman, Action Comics Weekly, Chaykin's Blackhawk... even Marvel's best Mutant years were in the Copper Age... the dawn of the graphic novel explosion...

 

The ONLY reason Copper is not highly touted is because it was mass, mass produced, so there is no rarity, and very few genuinely hard-to-find books... but, for quality, both in art and story, you will find no better age or more diverse age.

[dupont2005]

As another child of the copper age I love collecting them. I used to travel and do construction with father and would always pick up books at gas stations to read. I do get slabs of the books i remember - Captian America (Zeck issues) Conans around issue 100, x-men 140s-160s, G.i. joe, hulk etc... My collection is really off beat because of the traveling i rarely was able to get two consecutive issues and everyone was a cliff hanger so i really enjoy getting slabs of books that to this day don't know what happens next.

 

You know, I rarely got two consecutive issues either. We didn't travel, but I was quite a distance from any place that sold comics. When I got a little older, I could walk the 2-3 hours to the "local" 7-11, or maybe even take the bus downtown to the flea market. But those times were infrequent, and when they did occur, it was rare to actually find the next issue.

I read a ton of different stuff back then. What wasn't dug out of bargain bins (at least half my collection) was still pretty spread out. Not only do I hardly have two consecutive issues of anything, I hardly had 20 issues of any one particular title. I must have sampled 75 Marvel/DC titles and 100 independent titles as a kid.

[Reno McCoy]

As another child of the copper age I love collecting them. I used to travel and do construction with father and would always pick up books at gas stations to read. I do get slabs of the books i remember - Captian America (Zeck issues) Conans around issue 100, x-men 140s-160s, G.i. joe, hulk etc... My collection is really off beat because of the traveling i rarely was able to get two consecutive issues and everyone was a cliff hanger so i really enjoy getting slabs of books that to this day don't know what happens next.

 

You know, I rarely got two consecutive issues either. We didn't travel, but I was quite a distance from any place that sold comics. When I got a little older, I could walk the 2-3 hours to the "local" 7-11, or maybe even take the bus downtown to the flea market. But those times were infrequent, and when they did occur, it was rare to actually find the next issue.

I read a ton of different stuff back then. What wasn't dug out of bargain bins (at least half my collection) was still pretty spread out. Not only do I hardly have two consecutive issues of anything, I hardly had 20 issues of any one particular title. I must have sampled 75 Marvel/DC titles and 100 independent titles as a kid.

 

I was a big sampler, too. Not only did I not get to the store that often, but I didn't have a lot of money. Often times, I'd have money for only one comic. Two if I were really lucky. I'd look over all the books available and rarely picked up the same title more than a few times, in large part because I was so excited to see what these different titles were like. I should take some time and map out all the release dates for the issues I owned and see how I bounced around between titles and characters. Of course, with my lack of focus as an adult collector, it makes sense that I was interested in everything as a kid, too.

 

It wasn't until McFarlane's run on ASM that I managed to have access to a store often enough to collect the same titles month to month.

 

And I found a non-DC, non-Marvel book called Ex-Mutants, and that opened up a whole new world of comics for me.

[RockMyAmadeus]

COPPER IS DREK!

 

You should all throw yours away.

 

Better yet, go buy up everybody else's copies, and trash those, too........

 

[DiceX]

I'm a child of the Bronze Age, but I love Copper books.

As a collector on the tightest of tight budgets, I can buy these cool books for pennies.

 

I've gone to shops before and dug for hours through the "floor boxes" and waltzed to the counter with my handful of booty, then have the owner tell me to just take them for a quarter each because he's been trying to get rid of those things for years.

 

 

[Comixroc]

COPPER ROCKS! Great stories & great artwork!

[Bosco685]

COPPER ROCKS! Great stories & great artwork!

 

+ ∞

[Define999]

I'm a child of the Bronze Age, but I love Copper books.

As a collector on the tightest of tight budgets, I can buy these cool books for pennies.

 

I've gone to shops before and dug for hours through the "floor boxes" and waltzed to the counter with my handful of booty, then have the owner tell me to just take them for a quarter each because he's been trying to get rid of those things for years.

 

 

Score!

 

I love copper! Like many of you I have a similar story of not having access to a comic shop or even a gas station that sold books. I had to walk about an hour and a half to a store that carried comics and even then they would have different titles at different times so trying to hoard a run was impossible! I love the hell out of many of them.... especialy indy's!!!!!!

I think the murder for fun is modern but it sneaked in there somehow?

[dupont2005]

Nice selection in that pic! The only ones I'm missing are the Murder Can Be Fun (which looks very interesting, by the way) and The Tick, which I should add to my list ASAP (thumbs u

[Prince Namor]

I love Copper, especially independent copper... First Comics, Dark Horse, Eclipse, Pacific, Eternity, Innovation... DC Copper was truly awesome, too... Batman - Year One, the Perez Wonder Woman, Sandman, Swamp Thing, John Constantine, McKean's Black Orchid, Grell's Green Arrow - The Longbow Hunters, The Question, Breyfogle's run on Detective Comics, Aparo's run on Batman, Action Comics Weekly, Chaykin's Blackhawk... even Marvel's best Mutant years were in the Copper Age... the dawn of the graphic novel explosion...

 

The ONLY reason Copper is not highly touted is because it was mass, mass produced, so there is no rarity, and very few genuinely hard-to-find books... but, for quality, both in art and story, you will find no better age or more diverse age.

 

Yep. That's sums it up for me as well!

Nexus, TMNT's, Dreadstar, Grendel, Elementals, Deadworld, Cherry... there was just so much great stuff.

 

 

[gaz2810i]

It's really odd because I was just thinking the same thing. I never really gave copper the time of day until recently. I realized that I had an affinity with a lot of the characters from the era and actually feel this may be where my true love for comics is, I just hadn't realized it. However, having ventured into this sub forum, I was astonished at how little discussions are going on compared to Gold, Silver, Bronze and Modern

[Bosco685]

It's really odd because I was just thinking the same thing. I never really gave copper the time of day until recently. I realized that I had an affinity with a lot of the characters from the era and actually feel this may be where my true love for comics is, I just hadn't realized it. However, having ventured into this sub forum, I was astonished at how little discussions are going on compared to Gold, Silver, Bronze and Modern

 

We're all too busy reading our fantastic Copper Age books.

 

But it would be nice to see more discussion about some of the great characters/titles from this period.

[gaz2810i]

I can see that