Rusty staples and sunken treasure! by Hibou

[Hibou]

Taking a moment to go back a little today...

 

This past Friday was Valentine's Day and I decided to do a drawing for my daughter's lunch box as I had talked about earlier in this journal.

 

It's been a couple of years now since I did them on a daily basis but every now and then, I'll do one and include it in her lunch for special occasions like Birthdays, Christmas, beginning of school... that type of thing.

 

So this past Friday, I woke up extra early (around 4am) and started a drawing at the kitchen table after making up some coffee. I thought that it would be cool to do an Octopus... surprisingly, I never drew one... or any other sea creature for that matter.

 

I thought it would be interesting to see how it would come out and it might give me some motivation to do something else drawing related that I've been thinking of.

 

About 45 minutes later this was the result...

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed doing this and found drawing an Octopus to be very relaxing!

 

...

 

It had been snowing all night and it was still snowing quite a bit that morning.

 

About a half hour after I finished the drawing, I received an automated phone call from the city school district.

 

School was cancelled for the day...

 

I still gave her the card anyways.

[Hibou]

So going back even further now, I've been meaning to mention a recent little find from a couple of months ago.

 

I found a small comic book store about 45 miles out of the city and was looking around at the various books and sorts when I found this little gem...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Pan / Power Records were a HUGE source of entertainment for me as a child in the 70's. I had a large assortment of these 'Book and Record' sets from the classics like this one I had found... to Star Trek, Planet of the Apes and all the Super Hero titles.

 

Batman, Superman... Spider-Man, Captain America...

 

I played them over and over again, getting lost in the theater of the recordings while reading along with the comic.

 

Sadly, the only copies I managed to keep from my childhood were these beat Marvel copies complete with scratched up vinyl...

 

 

But now, thanks to YouTube and some dedicated users, these worlds of excitement open up once again!

 

 

Here are a few of my favorites...

 

 

Man-Thing

 

 

 

 

Spider-Man

 

 

 

Captain America

 

 

 

Batman

 

 

 

It still makes me smile to hear these once again!

 

 

[Hibou]

A funny thing happened on the way to the Journals...

 

 

 

I was recently viewing some random threads on the boards here when I saw (once again) a boardies signature line of some really attractive lower grade key books... just the kind of thing that catches my attention. I felt compelled to send him a PM indicating that I really enjoyed looking at his books in his signature line.

 

I received a pleasant response and he mentioned that he liked some of my books as well and we had a brief discussion over a few PM's.

 

One of the questions that this boardie asked me sort of caught me a little off guard. I was asked which book was my favorite. I mean, it's a fairly simple and straight forward question, but I guess I never really stopped to consider that. I absolutely love the covers to Action Comics 15 and Sensation Comics 5 along with many others that I've listed here... Captain America Comics 26, Tales from the Crypt 40, along with a few others still on my list.

 

But was there one that I really liked, or was attracted to slightly more than the others?

 

I was a little surprised, but I was able to come up with an answer for him.

 

About a month passed and I was having another brief conversation with yet another boardie and I mentioned that I was looking for a nice upgrade to this particular book. Prior to this discussion, I had just missed out on a pretty good copy on eBay. Perhaps it was only an hour that had passed from the time I wrote that I was looking for this upgrade in the Very Good to Fine range (4.0 - 6.0), when I stumbled onto a sales thread here on the boards.

 

And there it was... the book which I feel really pulls me in... but it was a little higher grade than I was looking for and could afford.

 

I had to do some quick calculations...

 

I would sell my current copy.

 

I had a little extra overtime money.

 

I had some taxes coming back.

 

 

 

...

 

 

Within 15 minutes and a few PM's to the seller (goldenacase), I made the deal and I'm very happy to add this upgrade to my collection!

 

I don't have an issue with restored books but I started thinking that if I really thought that this book holds a little higher (personal) value to me, then I should try to do what I could to pay tribute to that feeling and so I upgraded my Restored 4.0 copy with this one...

 

(Originally here: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7385027&fpart=4)

 

 

 

 

 

As with my previous copy, this one also has the centerfold reattached with tape and I've seen a few raw copies out there with the centerfold missing. I've read the reprints to the Batman stories from this issue but I never opened a raw copy of this book so I have no idea what was so appealing about the centerfold with this one.

 

I would love to get a picture of it, whatever it is!

 

 

 

[Hibou]

EDIT- Book was sold in the 2014 summer sale.

 

 

When I started to piece together the concept of a true focus in terms of this themed collection, I thought to myself that in order for me to not 'lose focus' while trying to maintain a focus (if that makes any sense) I would have to set some parameters to work within that would keep me very interested but not one that might make myself get overwhelmed to a point where I could easily get discouraged.

 

And so...

 

I had decided that I would purely stick to Golden Age books.

 

You see, what I was trying to avoid was getting into the high and late Silver Age period that would include titles like Aquaman, Sea Devils and Sub-Mariner. I do like the 60's Aquaman books a lot and the covers to pretty much every Sea Devils books are simply awesome, but... if I were to allow for those then I felt like I would be overwhelmed with issues to buy.

 

So I figured that the Golden Age was pretty cut and dry... it was fairly contained and it would allow for me a wide range of genres. From Horror to Superhero to Jungle books... pretty easy.

 

Well... not so much.

 

It was around the time that I purchased this next book (which I believe was from last May) that I started to think of pushing the boundaries a little. This copy was for sale here on the boards and I picked it right up... I just loved the cover and it was another of those infamous 'tough 50's books'.

 

But right after I bought it, I started to wonder... 'was this a Golden Age book?'

 

It was from 1956 and I was always under the impression that the Silver Age was brought forward by Showcase #4... the 1st appearance of the SA Flash.

 

Well that book came out in October of '56 so what would you make of issues prior to 10/56?

 

And so I posed the question and got a variety of results. Coincidently, there was a Journal thread created recently dealing with just this topic.

 

You can read more on that, here:

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7441700#Post7441700

 

At any rate, I figured that this book that I had just purchased wasn't technically a SA book but it actually fell into that grey area.

 

So what to do?

 

I loved the book, but it wasn't clearly defined as Golden Age. It was from 1956 and I felt that I could still incorporate it somehow and still withhold from the typical and accepted period of the SA.

 

And that's where I finally and firmly set my parameters for this collection!

 

I would cut off the books at December of 1959 so any book from 1960 and above wouldn't be considered even though I knew that I would be eliminating some very cool books by doing so. Like I said before, I love most all of the Sea Devils covers and Aquaman 18 has long been a favorite cover of mine as well as Daredevil 7 and ASM 29.

 

Still, it felt like a direction I would be comfortable taking...

 

And so, in short... it was this one book that provided the catalyst to solidify my collecting focus. This Wonder Woman book doesn't have a lot to it's composition after it's 3 components... just Wonder Woman with a diver in a vintage suit and a shark.

 

Pretty simple but VERY effective in my opinion.

 

Someday, I'd like to get a slight upgrade to this book too but for now, this copy is okay with me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for a scale, this one would rank as a 70 but I think one of the things I like most about this cover is the subtle use of the airbrush to convey some convincing water flows and movement within the piece!

 

This is yet another attractive cover by Irv Novick.

 

 

[Hibou]

EDIT- Book was sold in the 2014 summer sale.

 

...

 

 

I looked at it once and thought to myself...

 

"That's a pretty cool book! I'm strapped as it is though."

 

The second time I went back to look at it, I asked myself if it was a book that I really wanted.

 

The third time?

"What can I sell... do I even have anything left?"

 

And the fourth time?

 

"Dear Mr. Straw-Man... can I pay you next week (for a hamburger today) because I really want this book!"

 

...

 

Okay, so perhaps I took a few liberties with the play-by-play but that's more or less how this transaction went.

 

I was scanning through the sales threads on the board here when I came across this book. It wasn't one that was on my radar in the least bit but the Pedigree was intriguing.

 

I never had a (D) Crippen book before and this one looked really, really nice to me! I'm not sure if it's the composition that I find so appealing with half of the story clearly being told underwater or just the whole Art Deco feel to the book from the logo to the color scheme and the combination of that beautiful yellow mixed with the rich black and red... the triangular shot emanating from the lighthouse... the whimsical vintage diving suits below...

 

I'm not quite sure what it was about this book that hooked me.

 

The Charles Biro art? Perhaps.

 

I always had a thing for linear scenes that would depict a lot of information along a horizontal plane. I think that may go back once again to my childhood and drawing these elaborate panoramic action scenes involving (of course) superheroes...

 

Maybe some other aspect of this cover that appeals to me is the clarity of the action taking place above as so below. I do have a fascination of the unknown and when that is made known, I seem to be very drawn to that... whether supposed or by fact.

 

And with this cover, pretty much all the information that you need is given to you right there.

 

I think I like that transparency.

 

Well before I jump off of the deep end here, I thought I would mention a little something about the Crippen books.

 

"Davis Crippen 'D'...

 

Of the Golden Age collections, this one is second only in size to the extraordinary Edgar Church/Mile High accumulation, numbering roughly 13,000. Even though it lacks many of the key issues and rare ‘30s books that were present in the Mile Highs, the Crippen collection still contains full, unbroken runs of titles from every company and genre between 1940 and 1955.

 

It also has a distinctive history of discovery; they first surfaced in 1991 when 2,000 Crippen books, called "D" copies at the time, were brought to market. Fifteen years later, when the family decided to sell the collection after Davis Crippen passed away, the remaining 11,000 comics went up for auction. Once the Crippen family found out about the missing books, the story was picked up by a reporter at the Wall Street Journal who was determined to find out the true story. Did Davis Crippen sell them himself? Or were they stolen?

 

Structurally, the Crippen books are as nice as many of their pedigree contemporaries. Virtually unread, each book exhibits perfect corners and spines, and rich colors. Their main detractor is foxing, caused by prolonged storage, and subsequent exposure to heat and moisture in an unprotected garage for several years. Ironically, the move to the garage took place after the theft in 1991."

 

The above information was taken from:

 

http://www.comicpedigrees.com/pedigrees.php#DAVIS_CRIPPEN_D_COPY

 

So, yes this book greatly appeals to me and is the second Boy Comics book I own, as the first I received (from Charles / Miraclemet) is about to be graded.

 

In terms of a scale it would be a 60 but it's just such a fun cover nonetheless!

 

 

 

 

(Former Copy)

 

 

 

 

 

[Crimebuster]

Ah, I was reading through your thread here and about to post that you need to get Boy Comics #22 and #78, but I see you now have both of them!

 

 

 

There are three other issues of Boy Comics with underwater scenes, though sadly, none of them have a bathysphere. Of these, #98 is by far the best in my opinion. #56 and #70, though, both have the same kind of linear aspect and underwater/above water clarity you liked in #22, so you may appreciate them as well.

 

Here are my copies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hibou]

Thank you for letting me know about those issues of Boy Comics / Illustories, Crimebuster!

 

I really like the cover to that 98 and the 56 looks like a lot of fun as well!

 

 

More to add to the list, I guess...

[Hibou]

Maybe I'm getting closer to understanding this underwater appeal of mine...

 

This weekend, my friend Rob sent me a very cool article on the history of the diving suit and there are some very cool pictures of vintage suits in this piece.

 

...

 

The first link in the article directs you to a report titled 'What Tony Stark would wear underwater' and within the article, it states...

 

"It's what Tony Stark would wear to go hang out with Namor."

 

 

Here is that article along with a picture of the $600,000 exosuit.

 

"What Tony Stark would wear underwater"

 

 

 

 

The article that really appealed to me though is this one...

 

"The Evolution of the Atmospheric Diving Suit."

 

This article gives a really nice history of the diving suit which begins in France in 1882!

 

 

 

Some other examples...

 

1911 (New York?)

 

 

 

1922 Germany (French Newspaper)

 

 

...

 

So what I think I find fascinating about the underwater world is that to me, it's very alien-like. In space, we wonder about other life forms but in sense, we have that right in our oceans! As I stated before, I find a lot of the strange sea life to be very alien... almost surreal and when looking at the diving suits shown above, there certainly is a very Sci-Fi quality to them.

 

The intrigue of (yes) going where no man has gone before...

 

For instance, with all of our modern technology and the building of an Iron Man type diving suit at a cost of more than half a million dollars... that endeavor gets a human being without a 'vehicle' to the depths of 304 meters!

 

Looking at this graph might give you an idea of the actual depths we're looking at...

 

 

We've been able to search these deep sea trenches through other means and just 4 years ago, new ocean life was discovered in an area that would resemble conditions on a distant planets moon!

 

It's in these deep sea depths that you'll find creatures like my friend Rob here...

 

 

And this thing...

 

 

Definitely aliens.

 

 

 

 

[Hibou]

I had to get this book because:

 

 

 

A. I need this one to have a complete representation of all the CGC label colors.

 

B. The green label nicely compliments the cover

 

C. I never bought a book from Sparkle City Comics and figured this was a nice way to see what it was all about.

 

D. LB Cole.

 

 

Actually, there's truth in pretty much all of those!

 

There have been a couple Cole books that I've come across and passed up but in general I really do enjoy his covers as they are so dynamic! I always thought that they would make for great black light posters based on the bold designs and colors.

 

I think the first image I remember seeing of his was right around the same time I got into understanding the collecting aspect of comics and discovering the wonders of an actual comic shop.

 

It was this cover that grabbed the attention and imagination of a 12 year year old...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course I didn't know who he was or what he did until much later but when I think of his work today, I think of fantastic creatures / monsters and women.

 

He drew some very appealing covers featuring those I just mentioned. So I guess that was the primary appeal of this book.

 

A very attractively drawn female and a menacing crocodile... bold colors. This cover grades as a 70 on my scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was very happy to find my first LB Cole cover from Sparkle City as this was also my first purchase from them and was very pleased with their service.

 

There was a thread created recently about them and some mention was made regarding their scans and the contrast used. Here's a comparison of their scan (or CGC's) with my scan. To my eyes, the book in hand looks more like my scan as it seems the yellows are tuned up more on the SCC scan.

 

 

 

 

 

Regardless, I love this cover and I don't mind the qualified grade at all...

 

I suppose if it were a Universal label it would've graded as a 1.8 or G- but I'm not positive on that one.

 

Obviously, there's a lot more to be written on LB Cole but I have to find a copy of Terrors of the Jungle 20 first!

[Number 6]

Thanks for sharing clips from the article! When I was a kid, I was always fascinated with the old-time diving suits. I still find myself attracted to comic covers that feature them.

 

I think the first suit pictured was used in the Bond movie For Your Eyes Only wasn't it?

 

The second suit, the French one, is absolutely amazing! It looks like a cross between Robby the Robot and something from a Guillermo Del Toro movie!

 

Also, I found this statement you made especially meaningful in my case:

 

So what I think I find fascinating about the underwater world is that to me, it's very alien-like. In space, we wonder about other life forms but in sense, we have that right in our oceans! As I stated before, I find a lot of the strange sea life to be very alien... almost surreal and when looking at the diving suits shown above, there certainly is a very Sci-Fi quality to them.

 

I've always loved science fiction since I was a kid, was raised on classic Star Trek, Lost in Space and Space: 1999. I've also always been fascinated with ocean life. That may be due in part to taking family vacations at the coast, but I also think it can be ascribed to what you said above. Even the prettiest fish isn't particularly cuddly.

 

I think my interest in marine life informs my collecting too. It's certainly has to be one of the reasons I chose to collect Aquaman.

 

....

 

BTW just wanted to add that I thoroughly enjoy your Journal. I think it really embodies what the Journals are supposed to be about - the journey of collecting. I always make it a point to see if there's a new entry and I'm trying to slowly get caught up on past entries.

 

Your Journal has made me consider starting one of my own. It's also made consider branching out into theme collecting as well as being more open to mid-grade copies of older books. It certainly hasn't detracted from the attractiveness of your collection!

 

Keep up the good work!

[Hibou]

Wow!

 

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and the kind words!

[Griff]

I'll agree I don't post in the Journal forum much but I read yours regularly

[Hibou]

Thank you Griff!!

 

 

[n2wdw]

Love reading your journal! I enjoyed reading how you figured out the boundaries around your collecting goals.

 

Here's something to consider -- current bid only $25!

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=121411&lotNo=10591

[vaillant]

Hi Hibou!

 

I have to read your journal – It feels inspiring…

 

May I ask you when you were born? The late 1970s drawings seem from a child of a young age (I am from 1969).

[Hibou]

Love reading your journal! I enjoyed reading how you figured out the boundaries around your collecting goals.

 

Here's something to consider -- current bid only $25!

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=121411&lotNo=10591

 

Thank you n2wdw for the sentiment and the link! I've had that book on my list and that's a really nice copy... I guess I have a day to think about it. I just purchased another book from Heritage yesterday and that was unexpected.

 

Hi Hibou!

 

I have to read your journal – It feels inspiring…

 

May I ask you when you were born? The late 1970s drawings seem from a child of a young age (I am from 1969).

 

And thank you too, Vaillant... it would appear that we're of the same age.

[vaillant]

I must admit that I am not attracted by collecting focused around a theme… but of course you choose a fascinating theme, and good stories might be revolving around it…

 

This is one of my favorites early Subby covers… not strictly underwater.

But I guess you may have it…

 

[Hibou]

That is a very cool cover indeed!

 

Earlier I explained that I chose to limit my books to those prior to January 1960... December 1959 being the cut off. I sort of did that because I saw that there would be too many titles to acquire from issues like Sub Mariner from the late 60's and Aquaman from the early 60's.

 

I do like both of those titles (I love the Cardy / Fradon Aquaman books!) but I needed to set some boundaries for myself.

 

Thank you for sharing that!

[Hibou]

And I guess that provides a nice segue...

[Hibou]

EDIT- Book was sold in the 2014 summer sale.

 

 

"For me, Superman was _______________."

 

Some might say Joe Shuster or Wayne Boring... others might say Neal Adams.

 

 

...

 

 

 

When I was forming the boundaries of this themed collection, I do have to say that I looked at some specific dates and related books. I thought about setting the limit to 1956 (following the purchase of the Wonder Woman 83 but then I quickly realized that there were a lot of other excellent Wonder Woman covers that I really liked and those would be omitted if I did that... issues such as 93, 101 and 107.

 

I just knew that I couldn't go too deep into the Silver Age.

 

Then there was Wonder Woman 111 but that was from January of 1960!

 

After some researching of certain books that I knew I wanted to include in this collection, there was one book that pretty much sealed it for me as I saw that if I extended the cut off to 12/1959, then I would be able to include this one.

 

And with that... I was thrilled!

 

 

...

 

 

To me, Superman was Curt Swan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems that while as a child, all the Superman books I had read, from the new issues of the 70's to the back issues of the 60's... well, they were all drawn by the same artist - Curt Swan.

 

I guess I just thought that's how it was supposed to be.

 

Sort of like how I thought Spiderman was John Romita... who somehow transformed into Ross Andru. Yes, I do think of the definitive Spiderman being that of John Romita, even though I love Ditko's... but I also found Ross Andru's Spiderman to be a nice extension of Romita while bringing in another dynamic characteristic and personality!

 

Batman was Neal Adams and Jim Aparao.

 

And so on...

 

But Superman was just one person.

 

Curt Swan's run with Superman amazingly lasted around 30 years. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of details here but Swan mostly did fill in work on the character here and there through the early to mid 50's.

 

Actually, I believe his first Superman story was done in 1947/1948!

 

So how does all this now fit in?

 

CGC denotes the following on the label of this next book...

 

"Curt Swan begins as Superman artist"

 

I haven't been able to find any supporting information on that but if this is indeed the book that began his run as the Superman artist, then it makes it all that more special to me. However, that notation is a little confusing to me since it's only the cover that he did while the interior work was still Wayne Boring and others. (A few different sources credit Boring but I've only found one that credits Swan himself as the interior artist.) Perhaps it's only the start of his run as the cover artist but that doesn't seem to make sense either as he had done numerous other covers prior to this one... Overstreet states that his first Action Comics cover was issue 232.

 

In fact, it's hard to NOT find an issue of this title that doesn't have Curt Swan involved. According to ComicVine, Curt Swan has relevance in 347 issues of Action Comics!

 

http://www.comicvine.com/action-comics/4050-18005/object-appearances/4040-21274/

 

It's worth noting that he was also the cover artist on the classic Batman 121 that I mentioned in an earlier posting.

 

Anyways...

 

This has been a very tough book to find for me and my search almost duplicated itself from a copy of the same series just 2 issues early featuring a major villain in the characters mythos and a very tough purple cover!

 

I kept finding low grade copies of this book but I loved the cover so much that I had to find just the right one. No major creasing... nicely centered with strong colors. Very much like the other issue I was just mentioning.

 

And just like with that one... I located this copy across the ocean.

 

Actually, it was just by luck as I was scanning through the latest VCC (Virtual ComicCon) here on the boards. I came across Fantasyland15's 'booth' and there it was... and what a copy it was, I thought to myself.

 

With all the criteria met, I quickly made the purchase and just over a week later the book arrived safely from across the pond in the UK. I want to publicly thank Don for offering this book for sale and for an extremely smooth transaction!

 

...

 

 

In what I affectionately call, 'typical DC fashion'... we find Superman seated upon a throne in his underwater kingdom and we know that he now rules this underworld by the crown he wears on his head.

 

Strangely, Aquaman is nowhere to be seen...

 

I love the colors on this book from the sea life to the water. It almost looks like the throne is crafted from clamshells and a starfish.

 

This one grades as an 80 on my underwater scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as a little side note, perhaps CGC could add another notation as this seems to be the first appearance of...

 

 

 

 

Grumpy Fish.

 

 

(Image taken from another source)