A Very Rare Find! ACA Comix No. 1

[SW3D]

AKA... John Byrne's First Published Comic Book!

 

AKA... Thank you Marvel Comics and Dan Slott for the Distraction!

 

I went to Midtown Comics Grand Central yesterday during my lunch break. It was busier than normal, and I just assume everyone was there buying up the sickening glut of variant covers of Amazing Spider-Man #700... the last issue and "death" of Peter Parker... well lots of them were, but some shoppers were lucky recipients of X-mas gift cards looking to redeem and take advantage of post holiday sales... myself included!

 

Quite honestly, I really couldn't care much about ASM #700! Dare I say!!! Although I'm not a huge fan of Spidey, I did love the 60's cartoon show. The very bizarre "Revolt in the 5th Dimension" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF8fasFUucQ) is my favorite episode of the series featuring the best soundtrack and score for a cartoon show (that's my opinion)... funny thing... the episode is actually directly lifted from Canada's Rocket Robin Hood episode "Dementia Five" (check it out:

), which was written by the legendary Ralph Bakshi best known for Fritz the Cat, The Lord of the Rings, and Fire and Ice animated movies.

 

Any-hoot... I have a bone to pick with Marvel over their consistent maltreatment and abuse of Peter Parker. I know he's just a fictional character, but the poor guy's been through so much misery and pain in his life... he's literally been treated like a whipping boy... enough is enough!!! Easy Spidey... easy Spidey... don't lose your cool. But that is a separate topic of conversation which I may quite possibly broach another time.

 

Meanwhile, back at Midtown Comics... there's a Holiday Sale going on: a whopping 40 percent off on all back issues until December 31st! They do this virtually every year... a great opportunity for savings. So, yesterday afternoon, I began searching through their vintage section looking for a bargain, and lo and behold I spotted this little rare gem: ACA Comix No. 1.

 

What you say? What in the heck is ACA Comix No. 1? Glad you ask. ACA Comix is an Alberta College of Art publication (May, 1971), a "brochure" featuring the very first published comic book written and illustrated by none other than the master... John Byrne.

 

John Byrne, the color-blind, English born but Canadian bred writer/artist, best known for his legendary works on Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Alpha Flight, Fantastic Four, Superman, and his creations Rog-2000, Doomsday Plus 1, Danger Unlimited, and Next Men, attended the Alberta College of Art in the early 70's ('70 -- '73).

 

For some enlightenment onto ACA Comix No. 1, I decided to take an excerpt (used without permission... please forgive me) from an interview conducted by Jon B. Cooke, which appeared in Comic Book Artist #12:

 

"Comic Book Artist: You mentioned in an interview that your first full-length comic story was Death's-Head Knight back in the early '70s. What was that?

 

John Byrne: Not sure I would actually have called it my "first full-length comic story." Death's-Head Knight was a project done for the Alberta College of Art, which I was attending at the time. The curator of the gallery had brought in a comic art show, and needed a "brochure" to be given away at the door. He asked me if I could prepare something on relatively short notice, and I did, some 20 pages, each double-width. It was a sword-&-sorcery story."

 

To my knowledge, only 500 copies were ever printed... Holy Sh*t! Only 500 copies... incredibly rare! And I Google searched ACA Comix No. 1, in an effort to determine a price-value and any known counterfeiting and reproductions... but my search came up empty.

 

I also cross-referenced the CGC census, and only one... count it... 1... graded copy exists... an 8.0!

 

If you visit John Byrne's website, Byrne Robotics, you can click and view his scanned panels of the comic book brochure: http://www.artofjohnbyrne.com/gallery/earlydays/collegedays/.

 

Amazingly, I bought ACA Comix No. 1 for the incredibly low price of $3.00... that's right!... just three bucks... that was the final price paid after a 40 percent discount from the original asking price of five bucks (see pic for the sticker price). I really can't believe it! I somehow feel it's too good to be true! To be honest, I don't know if it's the genuine article or not... but I'm willing to bet it is.

 

In a way I think it's serendipitous! For the last few months I have been eyeing a CGC 9.4 of John Byrne's classic Charlton title: Doomsday Plus One #1; a high grade copy of Uncanny X-Men #129 (1st appearance of Kitty Pride, White Queen, and Sebastian Shaw: by the way... my very first X-Men comic book back in 1979... which I still own but it is in terrible shape... it's been read to death!); and I've also been aching to buy The Art of John Byrne soft cover portfolio book published back in 1980, which I used to own and carried nearly every day with me in an art portfolio along with my HC copy of How to Draw the Marvel Way... but due to an unfortunate accident involving spilled ink... was forever ruined (along with my late 70's Balantine Book Volumes of The Art of Frank Frazetta)... and in a stupid act of blind rage... I threw it out! God I miss that book... those really slick illustrations of Wolverine... or the painted iconic image of Superman flying through the sun... to the very tech-heavy black and white comic book involving an astronaut (a dead ringer for JB himself), crash landing on an alien barren planet, only to discover a sinister dome/moon base which contains its own artificial "Garden of Eden-like" ecosystem inhabited by a mysterious woman and her giant robotic protector. JB is actually kind enough to include on his website, selected images from The Art of John Byrne... check it out: http://www.artofjohnbyrne.com/gallery/artofjohnbyrne/.

 

So, to be an absolute hypocrite... A "shout-out" and really BIG THANK YOU goes to Dan Slott and Marvel Comics for ASM #700... for helping to distract all those rabid comic book hunters at Midtown Comics yesterday... and of course to Midtown Comics for their always exceptional service and for a very nice and truly historic key!

 

SW3D

 

See more journals by screenwriter3d

[Logan510]

That is friggin' sweet. Would you be willing to sell it?

[seanfingh]

 

That copy looks so sharp.

[SW3D]

Sell it? I don't know... a part of me wants to take the money and run, and the other wants to keep it because it's so f*cking rare!

 

But I also have to be honest and say... I need to verify it's authenticity.

And how the heck do I go about finding such a thing out?

 

I found an early post by another collector, Reverend, who sold his copy back in March 2012 for $610. See links: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5512960

 

And ebay link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACA-Comix-1-The-Deaths-Head-Knight-1971-/270932482702?

 

If it turns out to be the real deal (God I hope that's the case)... I would love to have it signed by JB himself in front of a CGC witness and have it graded.

 

SW3D

 

[seanfingh]

 

That is extremely unlikely to happen. JB Sig Series only happened once and is extremely unlikely to ever happen again.

[Logan510]

What Sean said is true. If you go to John Byrne's site he might be willing to sign it ( though I honestly don't know if he does that anymore, he used to do it in the late 90's if you sent it care of DC or Marvel ). But I know for a fact that he despises CGC and will not do a signature series.

 

If you ever think about selling, let me know.

[SW3D]

Thanks Logan and Sean for your feedback!

 

It's a bummer to hear JB hates signing let alone the CGC!

 

I plan to get it graded and i will keep you in mind Logan if I decide to sell.

 

Happy Collecting!

 

SW3D

 

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

 

What a great story! I love Mr. Byrne's run on Uncanny X-Men, I also enjoy his revamp of Superman in the '80s. Thanks for sharing the great links, I learned something new today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SW3D]

Byrne's X-Men, next to the Neal Adams' run is probably the best of them all.

 

Glad you enjoyed the links! It's fun to share tidbits and fun facts.

 

I'm still on cloud 9 over the whole thing... It really blows my mind!

 

SW3D

[biggblaster]

HI,

Even if the book is counterfeit, it would be worth having Byrne sign it and then get it graded. Or if you do not think he will, then getting it graded would, hopefully, solve the authentication situation. Either way it is a nice find and interesting history. About John Byrne though, does anybody know why he does not like CGC? I do not like stating my opinion without facts, but I will anyway.. Seriously though, I have run into this (although “this” might not be John Byrnes problem at all) from a few creators at some recent shows. The idea that some, not all by any means, want to charge more money if the book will be CGC’d is absurd. I thought the reason creators were at the conventions was to meet the fans and to give back a little. I could kind of understand if it is some big time dealer with 100 books, but even then many creators do not have a problem with doing that for a fan, it only turns into one when the books are going to get CGC’d. Of course, at least most of the time, this type of thinking is because of money. Some do not want to give away something for nothing, but again I thought that was why they were there.

I will tell a short story about the other end of the spectrum. At the last convention I went to in NY I was lucky enough to meet Dave Gibbons and have him sign about 15 books, all watchmen. 2 of them were to be graded. Before Dave got there an assistant asked why some books were package different and I let him know it was for the grading process. He told me that Dave had some real issues with CGC and would want to talk to me. Uh-Oh! . When Dave got there I explained the whole thing and there was no problem. What he thought was, a retail chain like toys r us, or maybe CGC themselves, was trying to profit off of him. He went on to say that any fan making money from his stuff was perfectly all right. He even drew me a picture. . Now isn’t that a better story than, _________________, giving me heartache and misery at the same show because he thought a book was going to be graded and didn’t want to lose his ten buck that he was trying to make off of the signing. Three of four times I was asked, and even pleaded with, if the book was going to be graded and if I was ling to them, which I was not. Can you believe this guy was calling a fan a liar?

Anyway, let me know what you think.

 

[etanick]

Great score....impossibly hard to find. I have been looking for one for decades.

[SW3D]

Hey BB,

 

Many thanks for your feedback.

 

I do plan to have it CGC'd... and I would love to have JB sign it... I'll have to figure that one out.

 

In regards to signings, I'll relay my experiences and my opinions...

 

...I was also at the NYComic Con and I went there with 44 total books to submit to CGC for grading, and intended to get the following 6 signed:

 

Thor 344... 1st Malekith, to be signed by Walter Simonson

 

Spider-Man 2099 1... to be signed by Peter David

 

Sabertooth: Death Hunt 1 (Die Cut from 1993)... to be signed by Mark Texeira

 

Green Lantern 188... to be signed by Joe Stanton and Dave Gibbons

 

Captain America 286... to be signed by Rich Buckler (co-creator of Deathlok)

 

Uncanny X-Men 142... to be signed by Chris Claremont

 

Lamentably, I only hit the show for one day, and I didn't get the signatures for Walter Simonson, Peter David, or Mark Texeira. I couldn't figure out their schedules at Artist Alley, and I believe they were wrapped up in other obligations during the show.

 

However, I did get the signatures for Dave Gibbons, Joe Stanton, Chris Claremont and Rich Buckler.

 

As a rule... and this is my own personal rule and no one has to follow this rule... but I believe there is a certain ettiquette and protocol to observe. I bring only one (1) item to be signed... just 1. I think it's unfair to have the artist(s) sign every little thing... and it's also unfair to the fans... the lines move too slowly because of this. I was on queue for the Dave Gibbons signings, which was f*cking slow... and I saw some young fans with lots of stuff to sign... and I thought to myself... Why do you need so many f*cking signatures? Can't you be satisfied with just one? Chose the one you really and truly want signed, or maybe two max... but that's it! I also encountered this at Chris Claremont's signing with this guy in front of me who's got a stack of X-men comics and I just wanted to slap him into reality! I mean, I could have also easily brought my entire collection of X-men (issues 129 - 197), but that would be unethical.

 

And because of this slow, cattle drive process, the CGC witnesses got tired and impatient... there's just too many collectors and fans wanting autographs and it becomes difficult to coordinate signings and witnessing. So I was stressed during the signings... I really didn't appreciate the experience as much as I would have liked to... it was time consuming and draining! I missed so many other activities because of this... many of the cool seminars... and that was really dissapointing!

 

The artists are human beings too! I can't expect them to slave over me and have their hands fall off to sign 10, 20, 30 or 40 books... that's f*cking ridiculous. If I was in their shoes... I would tell each fan... just one book! But I would be gracious to each fan, speak with them during each signature, thank them for making it to the show and for coming to see me, and take a photo if they would like, but just one signature... that's it... and move on!

 

Neil Gaiman wrote on his recent blog, how drained he was after a 7 hour signing for one of his book tours. Can you imagine... 7 hours... signing and meeting thousands of total strangers. That's f*cking crazy! My head would spin! My fingers would wither and die!

 

I work in Sales... and I attend conventions related to the product I sell. And it's draining and tiring when you have hundreds upon hundreds of customers entering your booth and you have to quickly and politely address each potential new client. I can't imagine what that would be like if it included handing out autographs.

 

If for any reason I had the insatiable desire to ask for multiple signatures from any one particular artist (and believe me, I do and would love that), I would ask first if it is okay and also offer a fee or payment for those multiple signatures. In fact, I asked all of the artists if there were fees for just one signature and all were cordial and humble and said no to fees.

 

And because these artists are there to make money (no one works for free in my book), and because I am thankful for not only the opportunity to meet them and get a free autograph, I often buy an item or two that they might be selling. Case in point... I bought an E-man Trade Paperback from Joe Stanton, some printed art of the Silver Surfer from Rich Buckler, and I asked Chris Claremont if he had anything to sell... but he didn't.

 

On December 14th, I took my older brother out for his birthday to see Robbie Kreiger, formerly of The Doors, play with his band, Jazz Kitchen at the Iridium. And at the end of the show, he does the signings, and I was pissed at these three guys who... like vultures, bring every vinyl of The Doors to have Robbie sign. I mean Robbie just spent a few hours playing guitar... he's 66 years old... he's no spring chicken... he's tired... give him a break! I could sense these guys are just trying to make a buck and others are geniune fans but they're a little too rabid for my tastes.

 

Robbie's there to make money! So I bought his latest CD and had him sign it... and that's it. My brother and I have every Doors album on CD and Vinyl, but we weren't going to bombard him with all that sh*t because it's just not right. I shook his hand, told him how much I appreciated his music, and left it at that.

 

At NYCC, I spoke to some artists about CGC... a few of them had no clue about CGC, and a few of them didn't like the idea of slabbing comics. I won't disclose which artist said this... "Why would you want to do that? Comics are meant to be read! How are you going to read it if its slabbed?". And that's true... but I pointed out there are volumes of collections and reprints out there. But to be quite honest... it's really not the same thing. Having that original comic in your hands is the real magic!

 

I'm in the opinion the writer or artist more than likely does not appreciate that their works can't be read or viewed if slabbed. I think if I was a professional writer, and my books were encased, I would feel the same way. However, I am also a collector... so the collector side of me really loves what CGC does.

 

Anyway... If I can't get JB's signature for ACA Comix No. 1... no sweat... I can live with that. Whatever his opinions are about CGC (whether those are true or false) I can live with... he's entitled to his opinions and I respect that. I may not necessarily agree with them... but I respect that.

 

Sorry to babble so much.

 

Oh, and if you're planing to attend NYCC next year... let's do a meet-up!

 

All the best, Happy New Year and Happy Collecting!

 

SW3D

 

 

 

 

[SW3D]

Hey etanick,

 

Many thanks for your feedback.

 

Do you happen to know its current fair market value?

 

I consulted multiple price guides and came up empty.

 

I tried searching on auction houses Comiclink, ComicConnect, Heritage Auctions, and Pedigree Comics and found no one with a copy to sell.

 

I also went on Mile High and MyComicShop and found nada.

 

I also searched on multiple comic specialty stores located in Canada, and none of them carry it.

 

Also, would you happen to know how many were printed? I read anywhere from 500 to 1500... but don't know it these are correct estimates.

 

Anything you could come up with would be appreciated.

 

SW3D

[Spiderphill]

My guess would be min 2,000$. If its real and looks to be UHG

[etanick]

I have no idea what the FMV of that book is because it is so rare and hardly ever showed up for sale anywhere. Also, if you are talking about a NM condition and LEGIT if it is, it could be EXTREMELY scarce....for sure, try to figure out what kind of grade your book is. The one on Ebay is nice in the VF range so if yours are nicer....no doubt a Byrne's fantatic might be willing to pay much more. It is the holy grail of Byrne's work..at least for me.

 

If it was my copy and I was to sell it, I probably consign it to somebody like Heritage to get the max marketing exposure and let it ride. You can email Steve Borock and he might be able to give you an estimate value of your book. Steve has no problem doing that I think for anyone even if you have no intention of selling it.

 

It is hard to value something so rare....heck I am super excited for you but I think if anyone could, it would be Steve.

 

[Logan510]

HI,

Even if the book is counterfeit, it would be worth having Byrne sign it and then get it graded. Or if you do not think he will, then getting it graded would, hopefully, solve the authentication situation. Either way it is a nice find and interesting history. About John Byrne though, does anybody know why he does not like CGC? I do not like stating my opinion without facts, but I will anyway.. Seriously though, I have run into this (although “this” might not be John Byrnes problem at all) from a few creators at some recent shows. The idea that some, not all by any means, want to charge more money if the book will be CGC’d is absurd. I thought the reason creators were at the conventions was to meet the fans and to give back a little. I could kind of understand if it is some big time dealer with 100 books, but even then many creators do not have a problem with doing that for a fan, it only turns into one when the books are going to get CGC’d. Of course, at least most of the time, this type of thinking is because of money. Some do not want to give away something for nothing, but again I thought that was why they were there.

I will tell a short story about the other end of the spectrum. At the last convention I went to in NY I was lucky enough to meet Dave Gibbons and have him sign about 15 books, all watchmen. 2 of them were to be graded. Before Dave got there an assistant asked why some books were package different and I let him know it was for the grading process. He told me that Dave had some real issues with CGC and would want to talk to me. Uh-Oh! . When Dave got there I explained the whole thing and there was no problem. What he thought was, a retail chain like toys r us, or maybe CGC themselves, was trying to profit off of him. He went on to say that any fan making money from his stuff was perfectly all right. He even drew me a picture. . Now isn’t that a better story than, _________________, giving me heartache and misery at the same show because he thought a book was going to be graded and didn’t want to lose his ten buck that he was trying to make off of the signing. Three of four times I was asked, and even pleaded with, if the book was going to be graded and if I was ling to them, which I was not. Can you believe this guy was calling a fan a liar?

Anyway, let me know what you think.

 

If you want to find out why John Byrne doesn't like CGC, just go to his message board and type CGC in the search function. That will bring up a few threads where he's pretty clear about his feelings on the subject.

[SW3D]

Hey Spider,

 

That was somewhere in the neighborhood of what I was thinking! Maybe even as high as $2,500 if it got a decent grade from CGC and potentially $3,500 or more if JB signed it and was CGC graded.

 

I'm actually afraid to touch it, much less read it... but I did, albeit, very carefully, take an exam of its condition... cover (flat, no spine rolls, blunting on edges, minor foxing on back cover) and interior (all white pages, no missing pages, no missing pieces, no rusting on staples, no detectable oxidation odor) and generally no amateur repairs or restoration that I could detect. My conservative guess on its conditon is 8.0 (Very Fine), but my gut tells me it's 9.0 (Very Fine/Mint).

 

It's printed on heavy stock paper... thick cloth type... not fragile and prone to brittleness like comic pages.

 

On the front cover, in small print, all in caps, appears:

 

A MOPPETT*BYRNE PRODUCTION

 

The back cover reads in large print, all in caps, and centered:

 

THIS CATALOGUE PUBLISHED

ON THE OCCASION

OF THE

A.C.A. STUDENTS' EXHIBITION '71

A.C.A. GALLERY - MAY, 1971

 

And in small print (but also all in caps and includes a company logo) appears on the lower right corner:

 

PRINTED BY SAIT GRAPHIC SERVICES

 

It obvious it wasn't meant to be a comic book per se, but a free giveaway to those invited guests viewing the gallery. But how many would they realistically print for a gallery viewing? I'm guessing 500 to 1,500 max. I imagine the majority of the recipients were Canadian... mostly students, faculty members, art collectors and the like... but would they have kept them or tossed them away? So the big question is... How many survived? And after 41 years... how many survived in good condition?

 

I have a good mind to research this further. My first task would be to contact SAIT polytechnic and speak to someone in archives. I would like to have a full historical perspective on this... give it the best presentation it deserves!

 

SW3D

[SW3D]

Dear etanick,

 

Hmmm... I like your thinking.

 

Thanks for the lead on Steve Borock Heritage Auctions... I may call you upon that.

 

I've actually decided on two things for sure:

 

1. Contact SAIT and get some background

 

2. Get it graded by CGC

 

Then after when all is said and done... I will consider the options.

 

I have to say... I feel like a kid again!

 

SW3D

[SW3D]

Dear Logan,

 

Thanks for sharing... is it me or is JB a bit uptight?

 

SW3D

[biggblaster]

I thank you also, but I have to finish 3 history essays and then I will go see what Mr. Byrne has to say.