Can anyone help me? Need 30 1.0 - 3.0 Golden Age books!

[Drummy]

Hey everyone -

 

I'm looking for 30 books from a specific period of the Golden Age (1939 - 1949 or so) for use in my high school. Our AP English classes will be reading Chabon's "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay" this summer, and the teacher wanted to use some authentic Golden Age comics (perhaps depicting stories that involve heroes like "The Escapist"? Or whatever is a good sampling of that age) as primary sources.

 

I would therefore like to purchase some 1.0 to 3.0 books in bulk; any representative title will do. Does someone have a bunch of books in this condition that they could put together in a sale for me? My price range is about $150, but I'm hoping for as cheap as possible. NO keys or important issues wanted. Please educate me my price range is out of whack.

 

Please respond to this thread or PM me if you have a sampling that I could buy from you and have mailed to the address below. Thanks a lot!

 

Dan Drummond

2211 E. Kenwood Blvd.

Milwaukee, WI 53211

 

ps I teach English at a school in Wisconsin.

[rob_react]

That's wildly cool.

[dgillock]

Your price range is out of whack...

 

Even keeping yourself down in the 1.0 to 3.0 grading range, you are going to have a hard time putting your hands on 30 books from 1939 to 1949 featuring "characters like the Escapist" (i.e. super hero books) for $150. There are other genres that could be picked up for $5 to $10 a book in low grade (funny animal, teen humor, newspaper reprints, etc.), but you really aren't going to be touching superhero titles for those prices.

 

Even staying away from major publishers/characters (DC, Timely/Marvel, Fawcett) you're still going to be looking at something in the neighborhood of $15 to $20 a book in the lower end of your grading range. If you were willing to go even further down the line and focus on coverless or incomplete copies for the superhero books, you might have a better shot.

 

I don't think all hope is lost, however. One option is that most of the stuff that is most desirable has been reprinted repeatedly in different forms. This would detract a little from the show-and-tell factor of the leason, but it would put the stories and art in your hands a little more cheaply.

 

Also, I imagine that if you have a LCS that has even a small selection of Golden Age superhero comics, the owner might be interested in coming by and showing off his/her treasures to the class. From a business perspective, it might get some new young customers into the store. I know that if I was in your area, I'd be willing to do something like this... and I don't even have a shop. Anyone in the area interested in perpetuating the hobby?

 

Good luck with this. It sounds like a great idea. If anything else come to mind I'll post.

[CentaurMan]

I echo what dmgcsr said. The price range for original Golden Age superhero comics will unfortunately run (at a minimum) about 4x what you've budgeted. However, maybe it's possible that someone would consider making a donation of those comics to the school, for the tax write-off? Lower grade Golden Age books can sell for less than half of Guide, and therefore it might make economic sense for a collector to cull through his non-core books and pull some out that could be contributed to the cause. I'll do just that tonight and see if anything jumps out at me as fitting in this category.

 

Otherwise, I think reprints are CLEARLY the way to go. With your budget, the class could be very adequately stocked with reproductions of the vintage stories.

[aardvark88]

Recommend a stack of coverless or incomplete (but with partial covers) GA for your project. Try eBay. Variety of incomplete lots available. Mix of heroes & funny animals. U can cut up the comics & make posters of the good pages.

U can also create a science project with Wonder Bread.

[Zonker]

Here's the perfect solution: Load up on the DC Millenium reprints from a few years ago! The covers are not completely authentic, nor are the ads inside, but the stories are 100% as printed in the Golden Age!!

 

Unfortunately, the Timely group would not be represented, but you could get a sample of National/DC/All-American plus Fawcett plus Quality.

 

For Timely comics, you could seek out a couple of the reprints they did a couple of years prior to the Millenium books-- weren't there All-Select and Marvel Mystery Comics facsimile editions?

[buttock]

I'll dig through my boxes and see if I can find something to send. I know I've got at least one coverless I can send you.

[bobpfef]

I would suggest the reprint option, but get at least one or two beater real golden age books. You need to really see and feel and smell them to get the whole experience.

 

Reading that novel last year caused me to start really looking for and enjoying some of the cool old books. However as most have already said, getting those books in readable shape is going to cost minimum of 20 - 30 each, and mostly likely more. Low grade golden age superhero seems to sell for at least guide on ebay usually (or at least the stuff I am trying to get )

 

Neat project.

[tb]

The novel is by far the most insightful and touching I have ever read

about comics. Michael Chabon visited Pixar while I worked there and

gave a talk about his book. If I had it, I'd send you xeroxes of an early Dr.

Occult (Superman prototype). Just last week, a More Fun #7 coverless

sold for just $36 (see below - I almost bought it). Maybe you could

persuade the buyer to help you if you told him what it is going to be

used for?

 

This 40 page article talks about how 1930s comics evolved into superheroes:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=68&item=2244964745&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

 

Some coverless books sold in the past month:

 

More Fun 7 (Dr. Occult) sold at $36:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=65&item=2242818066&rd=1

 

More Fun 55 (did not sell at $99):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=68&item=2243057362&rd=1

 

Also, this is an online reprint of a famous story that you may find

interesting:

 

http://superman.ws/seventy/reign/

 

You can read the story behind it here:

 

http://www.pjfarmer.com/chronicles/supermen.htm

 

Something else to consider (I don't know these)?:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=35764&item=2244432705&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[Scrooge]

I agree with others that you would not be able to get much with the budget you mention as far as original beat copies. I am sure you are aware of the reprint from AC Comics.

 

Their main page for golden age is:

 

AC Main Page

 

I would particularly look into Golden Age Men of Mystery for the type of characters you are looking for. See here:

 

Men of Mystery

 

You can look at recent releases here to see the variety of formats they offer the reprints in:

 

April New Releases

 

Hope this helps.

[Drummy]

Thanks to EVERYONE for the information and the pricing advice. I should have known even battered copies of this material can probably be bought for $30 or so.

 

I have ordered a Golden Age reprint collection through AC Comics, including 150 pages worth of material that we will try to get approval for photocopying. If anyone has even one or two (incomplete?) GA books they could send to me for this project, I would greatly appreciate it. I will be happy to pay for them.

 

Please use my work address below if anyone can find something to send me. Again, superhero or "mystery men" books would be preferred, as would copies with covers. Restored books make no difference, of course.

 

Thanks for your help educating our students!

 

Dan Drummond

USM

2100 W. Fairy Chasm Road

Milwaukee, WI 53217

[Scrooge]

Dan,

 

I just realized I live 3.5 miles from USM! If I can help you out more let me know.