LITTLE LULU: What is it about this book?

[Forbush-Man]

Little Lulu is a great seller, many dealers I discuss this with agree. But WHY is this title like "Gold"? Somebody educate me on this one, please! I am certainly not slamming people who collect this title, just very curious. I look forward to your comments.

[Larryw7]

. But WHY is this title like "Gold"?

 

Like the Barks Duck stories, Little Lulu is a very intelligent and well written strip. It didn't talk down to kids, and had a great understanding of human nature. This has resonated with many collectors, and has caused the books to be very highly regarded.

[Forbush-Man]

. But WHY is this title like "Gold"?

 

Like the Barks Duck stories, Little Lulu is a very intelligent and well written strip. It didn't talk down to kids, and had a great understanding of human nature. This has resonated with many collectors, and has caused the books to be very highly regarded.

 

I would think too that these books, normally printed for very young readers, were abussed and are diffucult to find in above VG. Many of the duck books have subscription creases too. Anyone else care to comment?

[mrwoogieman]

Tubby was cool!

[Forbush-Man]

Tubby was cool!

 

Good one! I think Bazzoka Joe was cool too! Wish I would've had the courage to wear my turtle-neck over my face,...probably would've been an improvment! Actually, I'm pretty sure it WOULD have been!

[bobpfef]

John Stanley was the driving force behind the Dell Lulu comics, they are a well written books that appeal to both adults and kids. Truly up there in quality with Barks, however NOT as reprinted as the Barks books and therefore the old stuff is highly sought after, not only by comic collectors but by many people who read and enjoy Lulu but don't read any other comics. I had two professors in grad school who had collections of Lulu comics, for example. Lulu's don't really sell all that well in comic shops because many people looking for them are NOT comic collectors, but they sell EXTREMELY well on ebay with a general audience. CONDITION isn't that important, the majority of buyers want to read the books. Complete but low grade early Lulu's will go over guide on ebay all the time. I did a webpage on Lulu way back in the early days of the web, and have been trying to get the early Lulus for a long time and you can see by my signature what I need. I don't usually go over guide and am thus outbid a lot. Lulu web page

The hardcover B/W reprints that Hamilton put out in the early 90s have gone for over a 1000 on ebay the ones reprinting the Four Color books. That is for black and white REPRINTS.

[mrwoogieman]

yeah, what he said!

 

 

Seriously though, the writing is terrific and all, and I believe you when you say Lulu collectors are a diverse lot. This comes from my feedback, you tell me what kind of day job this guy's got!!

 

 

 

 

Great Little Lulu, thanks A+++++ Buyer strapjob( 367) Oct-14-03 13:31 2194329718

 

 

 

 

[Forbush-Man]

John Stanley was the driving force behind the Dell Lulu comics, they are a well written books that appeal to both adults and kids. Truly up there in quality with Barks, however NOT as reprinted as the Barks books and therefore the old stuff is highly sought after, not only by comic collectors but by many people who read and enjoy Lulu but don't read any other comics. I had two professors in grad school who had collections of Lulu comics, for example. Lulu's don't really sell all that well in comic shops because many people looking for them are NOT comic collectors, but they sell EXTREMELY well on ebay with a general audience. CONDITION isn't that important, the majority of buyers want to read the books. Complete but low grade early Lulu's will go over guide on ebay all the time. I did a webpage on Lulu way back in the early days of the web, and have been trying to get the early Lulus for a long time and you can see by my signature what I need. I don't usually go over guide and am thus outbid a lot. Lulu web page

The hardcover B/W reprints that Hamilton put out in the early 90s have gone for over a 1000 on ebay the ones reprinting the Four Color books. That is for black and white REPRINTS.

 

Good luck on compeleting your run!

[rjpb]

Lulus are great reading, as are the Tubbys. I read the Gold key reprints as a kid, and about 10 years ago picked up a couple low grade Dells on a whim - I got hooked and in a short time picked up around 100 Dell Lulus & Tubbys whenever I found them cheap, I had a blast reading them, but that pretty much satisified my Lulu jones. Even if Ebay has effected the prices somewhat, I have to imagine that lower grade later Lulus are still pretty cheap compared to most books from the 60s, and while John Stanley didn't do the finished art in most of the Tubbys, he did write the stories, and they used to be pretty cheap to pick up. My oldest daughter is nearly 8, so this thread is a great reminder that I should pull out the box and see if she's interested in reading them.

[Thegoldenage]

Little Lulu is a great seller, many dealers I discuss this with agree. But WHY is this title like "Gold"? Somebody educate me on this one, please! I am certainly not slamming people who collect this title, just very curious. I look forward to your comments.

 

On a slightly more cynical note, I think that the consistent price hikes on Golden Age, Silver Age and even some Bronze Age books has pushed some collectors towards second rate titles like Little Lulu, Richie Rich and other "third-tier" titles the hobby shunned for years. Other than Bob "everything is selling at or above guide list" Overstreet claiming for years that this stuff was going up in the market, most collectors found these titles in the quarter bins. I enjoy the stories and have several issues of Lulu lying around, but I wouldn't pay jack for them.

[bobpfef]

There is some truth to what you say. About 10 - 15 years ago I could by big runs of Lulu for less then guide pretty easily at cons. I remember one Chicago at pack up time on Sunday I was asking for Lulus and a deal pointed at a short box full of them and said take the whole thing for $100. Man, I wish I had but I didn't have that kind of money then having spent most of it earlier. But that is no longer the case.

 

What you miss however is the advent of ebay and the ability of people who would NEVER go to a comic convention or a comic shop being able to EASILY find old issues for sale. I have bought and sold antigues and collectibles and one thing I have found is that old comics are EXTREMELY cheap to crossover collectors. A Lulu glass for the 50s is about 75 bucks, dolls can go for several hundred, but the comics are about 10 for the condtion that most none comic collectors like (G - VG range). Most Lulu collectors have no clue what CGC is or GPA and could really care less. It is a completely different collector who for the most part doesn't care about Spider-man or Neal Adams or 9.6 grades.

I would argue that most Lulu buyers aren't coming from collecting HG silver Marvel titles and moving to Lulu because it is cheaper.

[rjpb]

On a slightly more cynical note, I think that the consistent price hikes on Golden Age, Silver Age and even some Bronze Age books has pushed some collectors towards second rate titles like Little Lulu, Richie Rich and other "third-tier" titles the hobby shunned for years.

 

There are a number of compromises collectors will make before they totally switch genres; buying lower grade, starting runs at #100, buying representative issues, classic covers, minor keys, and collecting second tier titles and characters with some relation to their primary interests. I doubt any collector priced out of low grade ASMs or higher grade Bronze titles, decides to collect lower grade Lulus instead. I think better examples of collectors refocusing due to price hikes would be collecting Nedor Schomburgs vs. Timely, or HG Defenders vs. Avengers.

[143ksk]

On a slightly more cynical note, I think that the consistent price hikes on Golden Age, Silver Age and even some Bronze Age books has pushed some collectors towards second rate titles like Little Lulu, Richie Rich and other "third-tier" titles the hobby shunned for years.

 

I disagree that Little Lulu has been shunned by our hobby historically. If you look at old guides, Lulu was far more valuable relatively speaking than it is now. The 1976 guide shows a NM Four Color 74 (first Lulu) valued at a whopping $120. For comparison's sake, an All Star 8 (first Wonder Woman) was $225, All American 19 (first Atom) was $150, All Select 1 was $180, and Pep 22 (first Archie) was $50 . Richie Rich 1 was $4.

 

A complete run of Little Lulu was valued higher than complete runs of titles like Mad, Comic Cavalcade, All Flash, Startling and Blue Beetle.

 

There is nothing second rate about Little Lulu IMO. Non-superhero books may be out of favor with the majority of collectors, however, that doesn't mean that there wasn't first rate work being done in other genres. I've read virtually every SA Marvel and DC, and lots of GA hero books, and the titles that stand out for me in terms of quality are exclusively non-superhero: Barks Ducks, Archie and Little Lulu.

[bobpfef]

I've read virtually every SA Marvel and DC, and lots of GA hero books, and the titles that stand out for me in terms of quality are exclusively non-superhero: Barks Ducks, Archie and Little Lulu.

 

I agree, though I must say I haven't gotten to read the earlier Archies because they haven't been reprinted as much as the Barks and the Lulu. I guess I have to pick up the back issues, but what time period were the classic Archie stuff done? What isssues should I be looking for? Are G - VG early Archies going to be just as hard to find as early Lulus?

[seank]

I've read virtually every SA Marvel and DC, and lots of GA hero books, and the titles that stand out for me in terms of quality are exclusively non-superhero: Barks Ducks, Archie and Little Lulu.

 

I agree, though I must say I haven't gotten to read the earlier Archies because they haven't been reprinted as much as the Barks and the Lulu. I guess I have to pick up the back issues, but what time period were the classic Archie stuff done? What isssues should I be looking for? Are G - VG early Archies going to be just as hard to find as early Lulus?

 

Low grade Archies are fairly easy to find if you ask around. High grade Archies are tough! If you're interested in the stories, you may want to check out the Archie Americana series of TPBs. There's one for each decade starting with the 1940s and they're very reasonably priced -- under $10 each if I remember correctly.

[143ksk]

what time period were the classic Archie stuff done? What isssues should I be looking for? Are G - VG early Archies going to be just as hard to find as early Lulus?

 

IMO the two classic periods for Archie are the early/mid '40s and the early/mid '60s. The '40s stories are available in a few reprints such as the Archie Americana series and are reasonably affordable if you don't care about condition (ie coverless for the early Peps and FA condition for early Archie). The '60s issues are not very expensive and I would concentrate on Jughead, Archie and Pep as the consistently best titles.

 

Hope this helps.

[143ksk]

Sorry, I forgot my usual plug for Shield's goldcomics.com. You can view reprints of Pep 22-65 and Jackpot 4-9 and even buy them on CD. Probably the cheapest way to read these Archie stories

[Shield]

Sorry, I forgot my usual plug for Shield's goldcomics.com. You can view reprints of Pep 22-65 and Jackpot 4-9 and even buy them on CD. Probably the cheapest way to read these Archie stories

 

[aardvark88]

Ppl enjoyed reading Lulu & Tubby's adventures in the real world. I can recall them travelling to Paris, Japan & Australia:

 

[Bronty]

all-seeing one,

 

what is that cgc book you are taunting us with? Enquiring minds want to know!