My Lady in White Journal

[miraclemet]

Oh my goodness, what an awesome thread! I just realized, that unknowingly, I had basically been working on the same books for the past few months, but with international editions. I am currently working on completing HoS 88-95 with the Mexican Novaro editions, I have acquired multiple WW199 and 200 editions (CGCd Americans copies and from other countries), and found a rare Spanish copy of Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love 2. I am not sure if this goes with this theme as well, but I also sought out (and found) international edtions to Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane 120, 122, and 135. I even got a Cover Proof for WW199 (which I hope to one day frame)...I guess this is all about cool chick covers...

 

 

Wow..its interesting to actually see them all lined up next to each other the way you did...very cool, very cool dude; nice work for sure!

 

super cool Ches. Would love to see Spainsh DMoFL #2 ! Do you have a scan?

[seanfingh]

New Arrival thanks to seanfingh!

 

Secrets of Sinister House #5

Just a 7.5 but presenting nicely (I'd say easy 8+)

Nick Cardy Cover

 

 

Lady in White Points:

Damsel in Distress +35

White Dress + 20

Blonde +5

Running/On the run +5

Single light on in house/mansion/castle +5

Unknown/Mysterious threat +5

Explicit supernatural threat -5

 

Solid 70 points

 

There should be 5-10 bonus points when the white dress is a wedding dress.

[Chespirito]

Oh my goodness, what an awesome thread! I just realized, that unknowingly, I had basically been working on the same books for the past few months, but with international editions. I am currently working on completing HoS 88-95 with the Mexican Novaro editions, I have acquired multiple WW199 and 200 editions (CGCd Americans copies and from other countries), and found a rare Spanish copy of Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love 2. I am not sure if this goes with this theme as well, but I also sought out (and found) international edtions to Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane 120, 122, and 135. I even got a Cover Proof for WW199 (which I hope to one day frame)...I guess this is all about cool chick covers...

 

 

Wow..its interesting to actually see them all lined up next to each other the way you did...very cool, very cool dude; nice work for sure!

 

super cool Ches. Would love to see Spainsh DMoFL #2 ! Do you have a scan?

 

[Chespirito]

Would gothic ramance paperback book art count within this?...if so... well...the art speaks for itself....

 

Ebay> Gothic Romance > Books > Super Awesome "Chicks running away from something covers"

[Crimebuster]

While I am not specifically working on a Lady in White collection, I do have similar collecting interests, as you probably gathered from my participation in this thread.

 

Today i was indexing my small romance and horror collections and I thought I would take a group photo. Unlike your great collection, none of these are in high grade, they are mostly just readers with a few mid-grade copies thrown in. But they do look very nice together:

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to seeing your next acquisition! (thumbs u

 

 

[miraclemet]

 

Crimebuster, some great covers in there!

 

Ahhh Night Nurse #4 you continue to elude me (was underbidder on a raw Fine copy last week).

 

That Rom (#33 I believe?) is the lone copper Lady in White on my list.

 

I almost forgot about that Forbidden Tales of the Dark Mansion book... maybe I need to start hunting for that one....

[miraclemet]

Here's my latest group shot... horrible photography, might try a better one tomorrow...

 

[miraclemet]

Oh and since it deserves a nice big presentation...

 

finally have a copy of the book that to me is THE Lady in White of Gothic Horror covers...

 

House of Secrets #88 by the great Neal Adams

 

 

 

I had Neal sign a copy of this at Dragon*con, but didnt fast track it. My copy is still with CGC for grading. This copy (which is better centered) came up for a nice price in the forum marketplace, so I figured buy this one, sell the other one when it comes in!

 

How do I know it is the apex of Ladies in White?

 

Damsel in Distress +35

White Dress + 20

Blonde +5

Running/On the run +5

House/Mansion/Castle in scene +15

Single light on in house/mansion/castle +5

Staircase +5

Mist/fog and/or Moon/moonlight +5

Painted + 5

 

Perfect 100 score

[miraclemet]

My original LiW list is becoming more complete every week...

 

My remaining DC targets in priority are:

 

1. Sinister House of Secret Love 1

2. Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion 5

3. Phantom Stranger 22

4. Phantom Stranger 38

5. Tales of the Unexpected 178

 

after that there are some near-LiW books like Batman 236, & Teen Titans 35

 

I also have a few marvel (though more magazine sized than comics) to keep an eye out for:

 

1. Night Nurse 4 (oh how you haunt me)

2. Dracula Lives 3

3. Dracula Lives 5

4. Tomb of Dracula 23

5. ROM 33

6. TOmb of Dracula 43

 

But I've also been looking at the books I have and thinking "which ones do I think need an upgrade?"

 

Here's my current list of haves, and their condition/centering:

 

 

Trying to upgrade print quality is tough. These books in this era are largely at best OW/W, but the occasional high grade high PQ book shows up for crazy money.

My lowest grade book is my CGC 5.0 of HoS 90, but thats a dual sig book, so that's not getting upgraded, but maybe I can supplement the collection with a higher grade non-signed version. The second lowest grade is also a SS HoS 88 with Adams, again lower grade but signed. It is not perfectly centered, but at least it is straight and just off-centered top to bottom (cutting right along the title line at the top).

 

The real glaring upgrade is Wonder Woman 200. Its a PLOD 9.0, thanks to some dummy trimming the bottom edge (thats it!). So I think that would be the first book to replace since it is the lone PLOD in the bunch.

 

I've noted in green the books I dont really feel the need to upgrade. They are great presenting copies of these books. Most are high grade, though one is a lowly CGC 7.5 for some reason, though in the slab it looks like a perfectly centered 9.0, must be some internal problem.

[miraclemet]

Winner, winner, chicken dinner...

 

Sinister House of Secret Love #1 has been acquired.

 

Im hopeful about the book ,but also a little leery.

It is a CGC 7.5, but I cant figure out why... Scans are all pretty clean, only thing I can detect is maybe some staining on the back cover.

 

We'll see once it's in hand. I will happily live with a book that looks like an 8.5 in a 7.5 case because of something on the back cover...

[miraclemet]

Whoo, Sunday night was a busy one!

 

Also managed to pick up a Dracula Lives #3 with Neal Adams cover. It'll be my first Dracula-centric Lady in White.

 

The ebay seller actually had a weird approach on one thing. He had two CGC 8.0 copies of the same book. Both had white pages. He did not have scans, but just photos of the book (and at an angle to avoid flash). I first emailed him to check that these were actually two different books cause I couldnt see any difference. He confirmed they were two different books. I further inspected them and determined that one was better centered than the other... the problem? It was the 2nd book of the two (with the later auction close by a few minutes).

 

I had to decide on my strategy...

 

Do I focus on the one I want (it was the only one with a bid on it so far), knowing there would be no consolation prize if I lost? Do I put bids in on both on the off chance I end up with both books? These aren't high demand, so its not like an easy flip to get rid of one.

 

I decided to just focus on the better centered one, make sure I was the high bidder with a little room to grow as the first one was closing and if I ended up getting out bidded on the 2nd book before the 1st one closed I'd flip over and take the (cheaper) slightly off center one.

 

Ended up holding the winning bid thru the end of the auction, and watched the 1st auction (off-centered) close at a lower price, but both books went cheap, so I'm happy to spend a couple extra bucks for the better centered version...

 

 

 

[miraclemet]

Well not long ago I bought a CGC 7.0 House of Secrets #88 Signature Series signed by Neal Adams, knowing that I had a HOS #88 of my own coming back from CGC with its own Neal signature...

 

Well the day has come. My book came in (as an 8.0 just as the seller said it would), and I have to choose which kid to sell.

 

Here are the two copies side by side....

 

 

The 7.0 is better centered overall. Especially left to right.

But the 8.0 has a beautifully large Neal signature...

 

Im so torn. I planned on selling the 8.0 knowing it was off centered and didnt present as well, but man do I like the large signature on it...

 

Oh what to do.... what do you guys think? (not in terms of which one to sell, more about the aesthetics of the two).

[revat]

Well not long ago I bought a CGC 7.0 House of Secrets #88 Signature Series signed by Neal Adams, knowing that I had a HOS #88 of my own coming back from CGC with its own Neal signature...

 

Well the day has come. My book came in (as an 8.0 just as the seller said it would), and I have to choose which kid to sell.

 

Here are the two copies side by side....

 

 

The 7.0 is better centered overall. Especially left to right.

But the 8.0 has a beautifully large Neal signature...

 

Im so torn. I planned on selling the 8.0 knowing it was off centered and didnt present as well, but man do I like the large signature on it...

 

Oh what to do.... what do you guys think? (not in terms of which one to sell, more about the aesthetics of the two).

Sell them both to get a well-centered 9.0

[miraclemet]

Well not long ago I bought a CGC 7.0 House of Secrets #88 Signature Series signed by Neal Adams, knowing that I had a HOS #88 of my own coming back from CGC with its own Neal signature...

 

Well the day has come. My book came in (as an 8.0 just as the seller said it would), and I have to choose which kid to sell.

 

Here are the two copies side by side....

 

 

The 7.0 is better centered overall. Especially left to right.

But the 8.0 has a beautifully large Neal signature...

 

Im so torn. I planned on selling the 8.0 knowing it was off centered and didnt present as well, but man do I like the large signature on it...

 

Oh what to do.... what do you guys think? (not in terms of which one to sell, more about the aesthetics of the two).

Sell them both to get a well-centered 9.0

 

You've just reminded me to check in with someone who upgraded his 9.something last year and decided not to sell his undercopy yet... wonder if he still has it ...it was a well centered beauty in my recollection...

[miraclemet]

And just a few days later here is the book scanned in all its glory

 

New Lady in White: Dracula Edition

Dracula Lives (Magazine) CGC 8.0 WHITE pages

 

Sweet Neal Adams cover action

So much greatness about this cover.

The gargoyles, the torch bearing mob, the lightning...

 

[Crimebuster]

Well not long ago I bought a CGC 7.0 House of Secrets #88 Signature Series signed by Neal Adams, knowing that I had a HOS #88 of my own coming back from CGC with its own Neal signature...

 

Well the day has come. My book came in (as an 8.0 just as the seller said it would), and I have to choose which kid to sell.

 

Here are the two copies side by side....

 

 

The 7.0 is better centered overall. Especially left to right.

But the 8.0 has a beautifully large Neal signature...

 

Im so torn. I planned on selling the 8.0 knowing it was off centered and didnt present as well, but man do I like the large signature on it...

 

Oh what to do.... what do you guys think? (not in terms of which one to sell, more about the aesthetics of the two).

 

 

I much prefer the 7.0 here. It just looks so much nicer to me.

 

Also, I prefer the sig on the 7.0 as well. The one on the 8.0 is larger, but it looks like it was done with a fat marker, so it's kind of smudgy and indistinct. the sig on the 7.0, though, is really crisp as it looks like it was done with a very sharp felt pen. I guess that's a matter of preference, but I think the sig on the 7.0 is just much nicer looking.

 

The colors on the 8.0 do seem a bit deeper, though that could just be the pictures. And the 7.0 isn't as well centered vertically, though it's obviously much better horizontally.

 

But the 7.0 pretty much wins for me across the board.

[miraclemet]

Well I just let go of my first LiW...

 

Sold the 7.0 after getting the 8.0 in hand. It was truly a hard decision I was 50/50 on which I liked better, but decided to go with the higher grade one at the end of the day...

 

In other LiW news. I won another upgrade in this weeks CLink auction.

Very happy to replace my current Wonder Woman #200 (a PLOD 9.0) with a Universal 9.0 that has great centering.

 

Here's a scan from the auction: It looks nicer than 9.0 to me, but with no back cover scan, and the relative low resolution of the sale scan we'll just wait and see. Either way I'm a happy camper with the upgrade.

 

[miraclemet]

New scan of a new book coming this afternoon...

[miraclemet]

and while we wait...

 

a new group shot....

 

[miraclemet]

Finally a Sinister House of Secret Love #1 !

 

Yes it is just a lowly 7.5, but better centered than higher grade versions (even if the CGC label is horribly askew) and at a fraction of the cost!.

 

Had to get into a little bidding fight for this one but in the end it was mine. Maybe overspent by $10, but it was worth it for the centeredness of this example.

 

The cover is credited to Victor Kalin, who has but this one credit to his comic book portfolio. Kalin was a designer who's work can be found on paperbacks, pulps and even some albums, but no other comics than Sinister House of Secret Love #1.

 

 

Synopsis: After Rachel's father dies, Rachel moves in with her cousin's family who are all afflicted with a mental illness that her father was trying to create an antidote for.

 

great now I want to go read it... wait I have the Showcase!

 

This book has it all, damsel in white, sinister figure in the background... .castle shrouded in fog and shadows... and yes a single lit window atop the castle...

 

*sigh* what a cover!