Question Re: TALES TOO TERRIBLE TO TELL #1, First Edition

[Batko-migration]

I'm not familiar with this particular comic magazine. Was Tales Too Terrible to Tell #1, First Edition, printed with a serial number on the top of the first page? Or, was there a special edition of #1 that had the serial number?

 

Are these two separate variations and, if so, which is considered rarer by collectors? Thanks!

 

- Mike

 

Tales To Terrible to Tell #1, First Edition

 

Serial Number on inside page of TTTT #1, First Edition

[kpaqu1]

The one with the serial is the first print. The other is a reprint made years later. Is there a copyright date inside? Any ads might be a tell as well.

 

I'd wager the reprint was produced in smaller numbers.

 

New England Comics has also done an infinite number of reprints for its Ben Edlund Tick comics too. They may have reached 10+ reprintings for issue #1.

[PovertyRow]

What an intriquing thing. I got my first set of TTTTT as they were published. THE OUTER LIMITS comic store in Waltham Ma stocked them.

 

Around 2003 I ordered another set as my old one was basically parrot cage liner. I don't have my original #1 but the one I got in 2003 had the 2.95 price tag and that same inset with the serial number. Mine is 53.

 

Being #53 on a book printed about 6 years after its first printing leads me to believe they re-ran that first printing/numbering scheme more than once.

[rjpb]

What an intriquing thing. I got my first set of TTTTT as they were published. THE OUTER LIMITS comic store in Waltham Ma stocked them.

 

Around 2003 I ordered another set as my old one was basically parrot cage liner. I don't have my original #1 but the one I got in 2003 had the 2.95 price tag and that same inset with the serial number. Mine is 53.

 

Being #53 on a book printed about 6 years after its first printing leads me to believe they re-ran that first printing/numbering scheme more than once.

 

Not necessarily, as there may have been no effort to ship out low numbers when originally published, and part of the run may have been put in storage for a while. Years worth of backstock from small publishers has been around at least since Warren's heyday, and plenty of 1st print underground comix from the 70s were still available from the publisher more than a decade later ( though usually with higher price stickers added).

It's interesting that there is no amount listed as to the print run, which is usually the case with numbered editions.

[PovertyRow]

What an intriquing thing. I got my first set of TTTTT as they were published. THE OUTER LIMITS comic store in Waltham Ma stocked them.

 

Around 2003 I ordered another set as my old one was basically parrot cage liner. I don't have my original #1 but the one I got in 2003 had the 2.95 price tag and that same inset with the serial number. Mine is 53.

 

Being #53 on a book printed about 6 years after its first printing leads me to believe they re-ran that first printing/numbering scheme more than once.

 

Not necessarily, as there may have been no effort to ship out low numbers when originally published, and part of the run may have been put in storage for a while. Years worth of backstock from small publishers has been around at least since Warren's heyday, and plenty of 1st print underground comix from the 70s were still available from the publisher more than a decade later ( though usually with higher price stickers added).

It's interesting that there is no amount listed as to the print run, which is usually the case with numbered editions.

 

It looks like you're right. I went to the NEC web site and they are still selling the set with both 1st print and 3rd print #1 for $27. (Still a bargain).

 

To quote: "Tales Too Terrible To Tell has had a long reprinting fascinating stories from the Pre-Code Horror comics of the 1950's. Each issue runs between 44 and 76 pages with 4-10 stories in each comic! You get the complete run including the first and second printing of #1!!(#9 Back In Stock. Includes all new 3rd Printing.)"

[Brother J]

 

It looks like you're right. I went to the NEC web site and they are still selling the set with both 1st print and 3rd print #1 for $27. (Still a bargain).

 

To quote: "Tales Too Terrible To Tell has had a long reprinting fascinating stories from the Pre-Code Horror comics of the 1950's. Each issue runs between 44 and 76 pages with 4-10 stories in each comic! You get the complete run including the first and second printing of #1!!(#9 Back In Stock. Includes all new 3rd Printing.)"

 

I ordered one of these sets, it didn't include the 2nd print of #1. Cost was $20. Unfortunately, NEC sent me an e-mail saying they were sold out of #10 and that they would have to refund me for that book or cancel the order. I chose to get the set without the #10. Their shipping methods leave a lot to be desired. The books were shipped unbagged/boarded, wrapped in paper and then stuck into a Jiffy padded envelope. Not much protection and the books didn't arrive in the best shape, with one book (a Tick promo book) having the top edge folded down leaving a big crease and the others having various dings.