Comics, Pulps, and Paperbacks: Why such a discrepancy in values?

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jimjum12 · April 5

Darwination · April 5

On 4/4/2024 at 8:13 PM, johnenock said:

Just added 16 books to my want list Especially like the Goodis, Weidman and Little Caesar

For real, trying to get some scan work done and I'm all over eBay and scribbling on my wantlist

jimjum12 · April 5

On 4/4/2024 at 9:16 PM, OtherEric said:

I would say "our work here is done", but in reality it continues day by day in this thread...

The rabbit hole truly has no end. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Darwination · April 5

Noticed this on the Burnett pb after looking at the back cover:

which led me to the older edition (not as good of a cover but first, still think I'd go for the above edition tho)

But anyways, since I've been hunting this one since we need a scan, I noticed the second re-use on Famous Gangsters #3 1951:

But the one that really sent me a-googling for a minute is the Von Vechten (I think it's the first edition hardcover they have at the IA). Langston Hughes liked it, so I may take a looksee - besides the provocative title

Fave cover of the last bunch, though, The Icepick in Ollie Birk. Wow.

Edited April 5 by Darwination

OtherEric · April 5

On 4/4/2024 at 6:26 PM, Darwination said:

But the one that really sent me a-googling for a minute is the Von Vechten (I think it's the first edition hardcover they have at the IA). Langston Hughes liked it, so I may take a looksee - besides the provocative title

Agreed, that one was mind blowing. A little searching suggests its history is more complicated that you might expect... but the title was always controversial.

@jimjum12, I sincerely appreciate you sharing that one... but unlike many covers here, I have no need to see it again.

Darwination · April 5

I'm curious about George Schuyler's intro for the Avon edition of Von Vechten (and I show my liberal squeamishness by not calling out the title ). I know Schuyler from his work in Duke (and his rep as having a conciliatory nature - not calling him a T-O-M as that's offensive imo, too). Duke might be on my top ten list of favorite magazines ever (I sh*t you not).

https://darwinscans.blogspot.com/2012/06/duke-v01n01-june-1957-black-playboy.html

https://darwinscans.blogspot.com/2023/03/duke-v01n02-july-1957.html

(you can right click and open any image in a new tab at my blog for a big scan, blogger's imaging system is truly horrible)

https://archive.org/details/duke-v-01n-03-1957-08-darwination-ia_202307

I've scanned the first three and plan to do the rest. I'm still missing the sixth and final issue, though, and I've been hunting it for years. Worthpoint shows a copy, but I'm snookered how it got by me. If anybody has a copy or finds a copy of it, point it out if you would, or if you have it I'll make a very lopsided trade for it. (I have dupes of most of the run). It's a case of don't judge a book (or magazine) by the cover - I think the horrible mannequin theme is one reason an otherwise excellent magazine didn't make it (there's other possible reasons why, too):

Duke1957-11coverDukeEllington.jpg.8360cd3e364b73e2897c241451be56ea.jpg

Edited April 5 by Darwination

Surfing Alien · April 5

On 4/4/2024 at 8:49 PM, jimjum12 said:

More Fridge Magnet RayJo

jimjum12 · April 5

On 4/4/2024 at 9:26 PM, Darwination said:

But the one that really sent me a-googling for a minute is the Von Vechten (I think it's the first edition hardcover they have at the IA). Langston Hughes liked it, so I may take a looksee - besides the provocative title

I intend to find a copy to read. While it does have some of the good old Avon promiscuity, it has the reputation of being a serious treatment of the Harlem Blues Rennaissance and is in my collection not for shock value, (which it does possess) but as a significant sub genre of Social Relevance. I have several and added a couple others in Lowell's last sale. Many of my friends are black and we are close enough to discuss just about anything race related, should we choose. Since I care what you guys think, for the record, I am not a racist. I do try to avoid clods of all colour, which, unfortunately, exist in abundance. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Darwination · April 5

Jimbo, I didn’t even start to ascribe any racist sentiment here The book sparked (and more likely was just engaging in) a whole trend in the 20s of "seeing how the other half lives" in jazz age New York. Sure, a lot of that is through a lens of superiority, but there's also a genuine reaching out to and celebration of blackness. I appreciate discovering the book.

Collecting "Black Americana" has always been dicey. I've seen all sorts of wild comic collections here on the boards, and we see all manner of items collected at eBay. Do I think some racists collect it? Sure. Do I think all collectors of Black Americana are racist? Not at all.

I had a friend of the family growing up that would buy any black jockey type of lawn art he could find. Some he would repaint in a traditional style but he also did all sorts of re-imaginings of what they might be painted like, a real deconstruction and reinterpretation of the form.

As a scanner of periodicals and books, I've scanned all sorts of objectionable or what might be deemed objectionable material. I recall scanning an incredibly rendered version of Sambo. I've scanned many Spirit Sections with "jigaboo" poses of Ebony on the cover. As well as exploitative tabloids and magazines from the 70s like It's Happening or Bronze Thrills. Or more authentic pubs like Hep!, Tan Confessions, and the like. These are the sort of publications that lend to some excellent explorations and conversations about race in America. I try to scan without filter and have even scanned more blatantly racist pubs from KKK affiliated publishers in the 20s even when I have qualms about doing so. I've also scanned Black Panther pubs that some might say go the other direction, too.

As for that particular cover, I think it's excellent. Stereotype or celebration? I see more of the latter. Just like the cover for Taffy I recently saw in a sale or one of these threads.

A lot of these paperbacks sell curiosity or scandal regarding race which sold books no doubt but also propel thought. Fears of miscegenation but also representation of real mixed relationships. Sh*t's complex, but out here on the pulp fringes is where we actually look at subjects that weren't being acknowledged in Leave It to Beaver

Edited April 5 by Darwination

alecholland · April 5

On 4/4/2024 at 5:36 PM, jimjum12 said:

Here's one of those PBs that is a true first edition that precedes the hardback. It's a classic example of Feminist S.F. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

All of the Ace Science Fiction Special's are at the top of my want list. I currently have none. :frown:

Some of them, like Left Hand of Darkness might be a bit out of my price range, but I hope to own them all at some point.

These and original 21 Ballantine (Del Rey) Single-Author BEST OF Classic Science Fiction Series are what I'm working to complete right now.

alecholland · April 5

I don't buy only sci-fi books. Here's a few recent non sci-fi purchases.

jimjum12 · April 5

On 4/5/2024 at 10:21 AM, Darwination said:

As for that particular cover, I think it's excellent. Stereotype or celebration? I see more of the latter. Just like the cover for Taffy I recently saw in a sale or one of these threads.

... a couple of folks attributed the cover to Ray Johnson, and I love it too. That copy is also very glossy and stellar condition, and a keeper pile book. I brought up the stigma as an effort to clear the air for anyone who may have been offended. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

lbcolefan · April 5

I’ve been after this one for a long time. I’ve been the underbidder at least 10 times over the past 15 years or so.

Nice copies usually sell for between $100-250 but I got lucky and this one flew under the radar. I placed the opening bid of 24.99 on the first day of the auction. It ended on Easter during the last minute of the Purdue - Tennessee regional final. I placed a snipe bid at the last second but my opening bid was all it took.