ciorac Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 IN addition to the reasons that he states, there is also the added desirability of owning the first appearance of Captain America over an issue '1' of a character that had already been out for a bit. None of the other big-time GA books have the combination Cap #1 has: *No.1 issue of a series devoted to that specific superhero. *First appearance of a classic superhero. *Origin of a classic superhero. *First appearance of that superhero's arch nemesis (Red Skull). *Classic cover. *Impressive cover artistically/visually. Action #1 -- an anthology series, one hero story, classic but artistically simple cover. Tec #27 -- an anthology series, one hero story, no origin whatsoever. Superman #1 -- no 1st app., mostly reprinted material, no notable villains. Batman #1 -- not the 1st app., of the title character. Marvel #1 -- No top-tier characters, no noteworthy villains. In those respects, no other GA book is in Cap #1's league. And the combination of factors listed above are, to me, much more than "Oh yeah, that's neat" kind of stuff. You say that in "those respects, no other GA book is in Cap #1's league", and that may be true based on the criteria that you defined, however based on the criteria I might define the same could be said about Action #1... I don't usually put this much thought into ranking the top books based on personal desirability, but here goes... Although I actually perform a calculation, I suppose that I typically implicitly look at the following criteria, in the order shown, when ranking the desirability of the best of the best Superhero books: My highest weighted criteria: (1) First Appearance of 1st Tier Superhero (2) Cover Related: 1st cover appearance of Superhero &/or Classic Cover (3) 1st time origin story told? Bonus points if the book has this stuff: (4) Arch Nemesis included? (5) Is it a #1 issue of a book that has one or more solo stories in every issue for the Superhero in question; a bit of a bonus if the entire book is devoted to the Superhero in question (6) Other noteworthy factors not covered above I suppose I then implicitly assign ratings to each of the criterion above and then multiply those rankings by the applicable criteria weighting in order to arrive at the overall ranking of a given book Based on the criteria I have identified above: Action #1 -- Meets all of my criteria above and ranks high in each category IMO (bonus points for being a #1 issue and for being the 1st major ongoing superhero book) Tec #27 -- No origin story, and while Bats appears on the cover, the cover isn't quite as classic as some of the others IMO. Very high ranking for criterion #1 / no noteworthy bonus points. Superman #1 -- Not Supes first appearance and not the 1st origin story (although it is expanded on a bit). Bonus points for being a #1 issue and for being the first book devoted entirely to a superhero. Batman #1 -- Not Bats first appearance, nor is it the first time his origin is told (although it does have a very early / very classic reprint). Borderline classic cover IMO (personally I'm not a big fan of Robin on the cover ). Big time bonus points for Joker first appearance and some more bonus points for being the #1 issue of the first book devoted to Batman. Marvel #1 -- 1st newsstand appearance / origin of Subby and 1st Human Torch, but neither are what I would call 1st tier superheros. Classic cover with the Torch but no Subby. Bonus points for being Marvel #1. Cap #1 -- 1st appearance and origin of Cap, and while his stock has certainly gone up of late, I still wouldn't put him in the same category as Batman or Superman. Classic cover. Bonus points for being a #1 issue devoted to Cap and for the 1st appearance of the Red Skull. If I were to actually work through the calcs (assigning weights to various criteria and ranking each book against each criterion, and then adding up total score for each book), based on my weightings / rankings, I believe I would probably end up with the following rankings: Action #1 Tec #27 Cap #1 I'm sure everyone else has other criteria that they look at, and assign different weightings to their criteria than I do, if they were to take the time to try to explain how they personally rank various books... P.S. Having said all that, I guess I don't always follow my own "rules" as my formulae above would probably rank All-Star #8 above Sensation #1, however I actually prefer Sensation #1 over All-Star #8 I like Sensation #1 over All Star #8 as well, I also like Wonder Woman #1 over All Star #8. But Cap is not a first tier character. So putting him at #3 I can't get on board with BLASPHEMY I say!!!! (Hi Bill ) On a global box office scale, Cap currently is a top tier character. The Winter Soldier has out- grossed both Man of Steel and Amazing Spider-Man 2 worldwide. So if Cap isn't currently a top tier character, neither are Superman or Spider-Man (which I don't agree with). In this day and age, movies approaching the $1,000,000,000 are the highest measures of success. Superman is also suffering on the newsstands. Over the decades, cumulatively, there is no doubt that Superman is a top tier character. But in today's world, Cap is absolutely a top tier character. Using that logic, I could negotiate a license to produce a comic book about Avatar and suddenly the first appearance would be as relevant as Captain America's first appearance? Or Superman's? It's not based purely on box office performance, but that may be the largest measure. I am admittedly unfamiliar with Avatar, for the most part, so it's tough for me to comment. But when Avatar came out, it was extremely relevant and a top tier film. And when the Cap comic came out, he wasn't. Timely didn't really hit their stride until the 60s, as Marvel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne-Tec Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 And when the Cap comic came out, he wasn't. Timely didn't really hit their stride until the 60s, as Marvel Cap #1 was a monumental success on the newsstands -- selling 1,000,000 copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttock Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 IN addition to the reasons that he states, there is also the added desirability of owning the first appearance of Captain America over an issue '1' of a character that had already been out for a bit. None of the other big-time GA books have the combination Cap #1 has: *No.1 issue of a series devoted to that specific superhero. *First appearance of a classic superhero. *Origin of a classic superhero. *First appearance of that superhero's arch nemesis (Red Skull). *Classic cover. *Impressive cover artistically/visually. Action #1 -- an anthology series, one hero story, classic but artistically simple cover. Tec #27 -- an anthology series, one hero story, no origin whatsoever. Superman #1 -- no 1st app., mostly reprinted material, no notable villains. Batman #1 -- not the 1st app., of the title character. Marvel #1 -- No top-tier characters, no noteworthy villains. In those respects, no other GA book is in Cap #1's league. And the combination of factors listed above are, to me, much more than "Oh yeah, that's neat" kind of stuff. You say that in "those respects, no other GA book is in Cap #1's league", and that may be true based on the criteria that you defined, however based on the criteria I might define the same could be said about Action #1... I don't usually put this much thought into ranking the top books based on personal desirability, but here goes... Although I actually perform a calculation, I suppose that I typically implicitly look at the following criteria, in the order shown, when ranking the desirability of the best of the best Superhero books: My highest weighted criteria: (1) First Appearance of 1st Tier Superhero (2) Cover Related: 1st cover appearance of Superhero &/or Classic Cover (3) 1st time origin story told? Bonus points if the book has this stuff: (4) Arch Nemesis included? (5) Is it a #1 issue of a book that has one or more solo stories in every issue for the Superhero in question; a bit of a bonus if the entire book is devoted to the Superhero in question (6) Other noteworthy factors not covered above I suppose I then implicitly assign ratings to each of the criterion above and then multiply those rankings by the applicable criteria weighting in order to arrive at the overall ranking of a given book Based on the criteria I have identified above: Action #1 -- Meets all of my criteria above and ranks high in each category IMO (bonus points for being a #1 issue and for being the 1st major ongoing superhero book) Tec #27 -- No origin story, and while Bats appears on the cover, the cover isn't quite as classic as some of the others IMO. Very high ranking for criterion #1 / no noteworthy bonus points. Superman #1 -- Not Supes first appearance and not the 1st origin story (although it is expanded on a bit). Bonus points for being a #1 issue and for being the first book devoted entirely to a superhero. Batman #1 -- Not Bats first appearance, nor is it the first time his origin is told (although it does have a very early / very classic reprint). Borderline classic cover IMO (personally I'm not a big fan of Robin on the cover ). Big time bonus points for Joker first appearance and some more bonus points for being the #1 issue of the first book devoted to Batman. Marvel #1 -- 1st newsstand appearance / origin of Subby and 1st Human Torch, but neither are what I would call 1st tier superheros. Classic cover with the Torch but no Subby. Bonus points for being Marvel #1. Cap #1 -- 1st appearance and origin of Cap, and while his stock has certainly gone up of late, I still wouldn't put him in the same category as Batman or Superman. Classic cover. Bonus points for being a #1 issue devoted to Cap and for the 1st appearance of the Red Skull. If I were to actually work through the calcs (assigning weights to various criteria and ranking each book against each criterion, and then adding up total score for each book), based on my weightings / rankings, I believe I would probably end up with the following rankings: Action #1 Tec #27 Cap #1 I'm sure everyone else has other criteria that they look at, and assign different weightings to their criteria than I do, if they were to take the time to try to explain how they personally rank various books... P.S. Having said all that, I guess I don't always follow my own "rules" as my formulae above would probably rank All-Star #8 above Sensation #1, however I actually prefer Sensation #1 over All-Star #8 I like Sensation #1 over All Star #8 as well, I also like Wonder Woman #1 over All Star #8. But Cap is not a first tier character. So putting him at #3 I can't get on board with By what criteria is Cap not a first tier character? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaydogrules Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 IN addition to the reasons that he states, there is also the added desirability of owning the first appearance of Captain America over an issue '1' of a character that had already been out for a bit. None of the other big-time GA books have the combination Cap #1 has: *No.1 issue of a series devoted to that specific superhero. *First appearance of a classic superhero. *Origin of a classic superhero. *First appearance of that superhero's arch nemesis (Red Skull). *Classic cover. *Impressive cover artistically/visually. Action #1 -- an anthology series, one hero story, classic but artistically simple cover. Tec #27 -- an anthology series, one hero story, no origin whatsoever. Superman #1 -- no 1st app., mostly reprinted material, no notable villains. Batman #1 -- not the 1st app., of the title character. Marvel #1 -- No top-tier characters, no noteworthy villains. In those respects, no other GA book is in Cap #1's league. And the combination of factors listed above are, to me, much more than "Oh yeah, that's neat" kind of stuff. You say that in "those respects, no other GA book is in Cap #1's league", and that may be true based on the criteria that you defined, however based on the criteria I might define the same could be said about Action #1... I don't usually put this much thought into ranking the top books based on personal desirability, but here goes... Although I actually perform a calculation, I suppose that I typically implicitly look at the following criteria, in the order shown, when ranking the desirability of the best of the best Superhero books: My highest weighted criteria: (1) First Appearance of 1st Tier Superhero (2) Cover Related: 1st cover appearance of Superhero &/or Classic Cover (3) 1st time origin story told? Bonus points if the book has this stuff: (4) Arch Nemesis included? (5) Is it a #1 issue of a book that has one or more solo stories in every issue for the Superhero in question; a bit of a bonus if the entire book is devoted to the Superhero in question (6) Other noteworthy factors not covered above I suppose I then implicitly assign ratings to each of the criterion above and then multiply those rankings by the applicable criteria weighting in order to arrive at the overall ranking of a given book Based on the criteria I have identified above: Action #1 -- Meets all of my criteria above and ranks high in each category IMO (bonus points for being a #1 issue and for being the 1st major ongoing superhero book) Tec #27 -- No origin story, and while Bats appears on the cover, the cover isn't quite as classic as some of the others IMO. Very high ranking for criterion #1 / no noteworthy bonus points. Superman #1 -- Not Supes first appearance and not the 1st origin story (although it is expanded on a bit). Bonus points for being a #1 issue and for being the first book devoted entirely to a superhero. Batman #1 -- Not Bats first appearance, nor is it the first time his origin is told (although it does have a very early / very classic reprint). Borderline classic cover IMO (personally I'm not a big fan of Robin on the cover ). Big time bonus points for Joker first appearance and some more bonus points for being the #1 issue of the first book devoted to Batman. Marvel #1 -- 1st newsstand appearance / origin of Subby and 1st Human Torch, but neither are what I would call 1st tier superheros. Classic cover with the Torch but no Subby. Bonus points for being Marvel #1. Cap #1 -- 1st appearance and origin of Cap, and while his stock has certainly gone up of late, I still wouldn't put him in the same category as Batman or Superman. Classic cover. Bonus points for being a #1 issue devoted to Cap and for the 1st appearance of the Red Skull. If I were to actually work through the calcs (assigning weights to various criteria and ranking each book against each criterion, and then adding up total score for each book), based on my weightings / rankings, I believe I would probably end up with the following rankings: Action #1 Tec #27 Cap #1 I'm sure everyone else has other criteria that they look at, and assign different weightings to their criteria than I do, if they were to take the time to try to explain how they personally rank various books... P.S. Having said all that, I guess I don't always follow my own "rules" as my formulae above would probably rank All-Star #8 above Sensation #1, however I actually prefer Sensation #1 over All-Star #8 I like Sensation #1 over All Star #8 as well, I also like Wonder Woman #1 over All Star #8. But Cap is not a first tier character. So putting him at #3 I can't get on board with BLASPHEMY I say!!!! (Hi Bill ) On a global box office scale, Cap currently is a top tier character. The Winter Soldier has out- grossed both Man of Steel and Amazing Spider-Man 2 worldwide. So if Cap isn't currently a top tier character, neither are Superman or Spider-Man (which I don't agree with). In this day and age, movies approaching the $1,000,000,000 are the highest measures of success. Superman is also suffering on the newsstands. Over the decades, cumulatively, there is no doubt that Superman is a top tier character. But in today's world, Cap is absolutely a top tier character. Using that logic, I could negotiate a license to produce a comic book about Avatar and suddenly the first appearance would be as relevant as Captain America's first appearance? Or Superman's? It's not based purely on box office performance, but that may be the largest measure. I am admittedly unfamiliar with Avatar, for the most part, so it's tough for me to comment. But when Avatar came out, it was extremely relevant and a top tier film. And when the Cap comic came out, he wasn't. Timely didn't really hit their stride until the 60s, as Marvel I believe I know what ciroac means, though I do not attempt to speak for him. But I do believe that he means that cap is not a "top tier character" (and I am inclined to agree with him) in that he is not transcendent in the way the actual top tier characters are....those characters being superman, batman, spiderman, and wolverine. These are top tier characters who are created, or redefined the entire craft of comic books. Captain America was originally a just a propaganda tool, which ultimately became dated and was eventually scrapped altogether until avengers 4. Batman, superman, spiderman have all been featured in continuous titles, usually multiple continuous titles, since their inception. Their enduring popularity is not related to how much box office the next movie makes. As others have pointed out, cap 1 was a slow book until the movies, and his recent popularity is because of and almost entirely based on his presence in movies. All comic book characters have benefited from the movies to varying extent, but captain America is no batman. He is comfortably in the second tier of characters along with the hulk and Thor however. Still very good company. (thumbs u -J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I think top tier characters in pop culture survive over decades of time since their inception. Not a few Hollywood movies, video games, or media hype suddenly qualify a character to be top tier. Cap certainly (as all superheroes in Hollywood) has benefited. I believe the Top tier characters in pop culture that have stood the test of time AND will continue to be top tier popular (current and future generations will still recognize and appreciate) are: 1. Mickey Mouse 2. Superman 3. Batman 4. Spider-Man 5. Wolverine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne-Tec Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) I believe I know what ciroac means, though I do not attempt to speak for him. But I do believe that he means that cap is not a "top tier character" (and I am inclined to agree with him) in that he is not transcendent in the way the actual top tier characters are....those characters being superman, batman, spiderman, and wolverine. These are top tier characters who are created, or redefined the entire craft of comic books. Captain America was originally a just a propaganda tool, which ultimately became dated and was eventually scrapped altogether until avengers 4. Batman, superman, spiderman have all been featured in continuous titles, usually multiple continuous titles, since their inception. Their enduring popularity is not related to how much box office the next movie makes. As others have pointed out, cap 1 was a slow book until the movies, and his recent popularity is because of and almost entirely based on his presence in movies. All comic book characters have benefited from the movies to varying extent, but captain America is no batman. He is comfortably in the second tier of characters along with the hulk and Thor however. Still very good company. (thumbs u -J. As always Jay, love your feedback. (thumbs u I probably felt the same way about Cap before I started delving into the original S&K Golden Age run. If you mean "transcendent" the way Merriam-Webster defines it, I do believe Cap to be, in many cases (but certainly not all), "beyond the limits of ordinary experience" and "far better and greater than what is usual." In the Golden Age, there are few books out there, IMO, much better than that original S&K run. Beyond the advances on the art side, the character delivered powerful messages and touched on themes that many people could relate to -- both back then, and today. The Winter Soldier is the most recent example of how audiences can take to Cap when he is portrayed the right way. I believe Marvel is doing a great job on that front. Like any character that's been around for about 75 years, there is good and there is bad. But there is plenty --and I mean PLENTY-- of bad Superman and Batman material out there that would detract from the transcendent label. I'm not saying that decade-for-decade, cumulatively, that Cap has reached Superman/Batman status, but I also think it's important not to knock the immense global success he is experiencing now. And it is now that I feel Cap to absolutely be a top tier character. Edited July 24, 2014 by Wayne-Tec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregreece Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Hi All, I hope it's ok to share this brand new to market Cap #1 with everyone. At 51 years old and having dealt on and off in comic books for a total of 21 years, up until now I have never handled a copy. As much as I love my job (and I truly do), there is a point where you become a little jaded handling another ASM 1, etc. In this case, it was like being transported in time to 1975 or so and poring over Overstreet photos of rare books you never dreamed you might hold in hand one day. To answer some obvious questions: 1) The book was purchased by a local dealer from the original owner . It was an 18 month process involving the sale of many other golden age books (none with the panache of this book but some cool stuff for sure). 2) As much as I'd love to keep this, yes I will be selling it. 3) It is a tweener 4.0/4.5 as it sits. 4.25 if there was such a grade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Surfer Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Boy Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Dang, another RAW copy in the wild! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Hi All, I hope it's ok to share this brand new to market Cap #1 with everyone. At 51 years old and having dealt on and off in comic books for a total of 21 years, up until now I have never handled a copy. As much as I love my job (and I truly do), there is a point where you become a little jaded handling another ASM 1, etc. In this case, it was like being transported in time to 1975 or so and poring over Overstreet photos of rare books you never dreamed you might hold in hand one day. To answer some obvious questions: 1) The book was purchased by a local dealer from the original owner . It was an 18 month process involving the sale of many other golden age books (none with the panache of this book but some cool stuff for sure). 2) As much as I'd love to keep this, yes I will be selling it. 3) It is a tweener 4.0/4.5 as it sits. 4.25 if there was such a grade. very nice Greg! -Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadzukes Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Great looking copy! Looks like a dry cleaning would do wonders for this. Congrats on the find and GLWTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne-Tec Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 Hi All, I hope it's ok to share this brand new to market Cap #1 with everyone. At 51 years old and having dealt on and off in comic books for a total of 21 years, up until now I have never handled a copy. As much as I love my job (and I truly do), there is a point where you become a little jaded handling another ASM 1, etc. In this case, it was like being transported in time to 1975 or so and poring over Overstreet photos of rare books you never dreamed you might hold in hand one day. To answer some obvious questions: 1) The book was purchased by a local dealer from the original owner . It was an 18 month process involving the sale of many other golden age books (none with the panache of this book but some cool stuff for sure). 2) As much as I'd love to keep this, yes I will be selling it. 3) It is a tweener 4.0/4.5 as it sits. 4.25 if there was such a grade. Awesome book Greg. It would look great in a CGC slab, and I'm sure when you decide to sell, it's going to make some collector very happy. (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino2paulus2 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Hi All, I hope it's ok to share this brand new to market Cap #1 with everyone. At 51 years old and having dealt on and off in comic books for a total of 21 years, up until now I have never handled a copy. As much as I love my job (and I truly do), there is a point where you become a little jaded handling another ASM 1, etc. In this case, it was like being transported in time to 1975 or so and poring over Overstreet photos of rare books you never dreamed you might hold in hand one day. To answer some obvious questions: 1) The book was purchased by a local dealer from the original owner . It was an 18 month process involving the sale of many other golden age books (none with the panache of this book but some cool stuff for sure). 2) As much as I'd love to keep this, yes I will be selling it. 3) It is a tweener 4.0/4.5 as it sits. 4.25 if there was such a grade. very nice Greg! -Ben +1 !!!!!! Congrats Mr. Reece that is one sweet funny book!!! great to hear a gentleman in the hobby who spends as much time around major books is still able to find some excitement with these classics!!! BTW I Still sit and pore over the Overstreet photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkdrawer Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Guess I will be in this club for a bit, at least until the hammer falls, it's still mine til then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Captain Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Beautiful book Where's the link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkdrawer Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Beautiful book Where's the link? http://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAuctions%2Fsearch%2Easp%3FPreviewCode%3D2014aug%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dcaptain%26ItemType%3DCB%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%23Item%5F1023793&id=1023793 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofan Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Congratulations Greg… On your new purchase of my favorite book of all time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superman2006 Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Hi All, I hope it's ok to share this brand new to market Cap #1 with everyone. At 51 years old and having dealt on and off in comic books for a total of 21 years, up until now I have never handled a copy. As much as I love my job (and I truly do), there is a point where you become a little jaded handling another ASM 1, etc. In this case, it was like being transported in time to 1975 or so and poring over Overstreet photos of rare books you never dreamed you might hold in hand one day. To answer some obvious questions: 1) The book was purchased by a local dealer from the original owner . It was an 18 month process involving the sale of many other golden age books (none with the panache of this book but some cool stuff for sure). 2) As much as I'd love to keep this, yes I will be selling it. 3) It is a tweener 4.0/4.5 as it sits. 4.25 if there was such a grade. I just saw in DR.X's thread in general that you got this back from CGC as a 5.0 with Off White to White pages. It looks very nice. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comeaux Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 IN addition to the reasons that he states, there is also the added desirability of owning the first appearance of Captain America over an issue '1' of a character that had already been out for a bit. None of the other big-time GA books have the combination Cap #1 has: *No.1 issue of a series devoted to that specific superhero. *First appearance of a classic superhero. *Origin of a classic superhero. *First appearance of that superhero's arch nemesis (Red Skull). *Classic cover. *Impressive cover artistically/visually. Action #1 -- an anthology series, one hero story, classic but artistically simple cover. Tec #27 -- an anthology series, one hero story, no origin whatsoever. Superman #1 -- no 1st app., mostly reprinted material, no notable villains. Batman #1 -- not the 1st app., of the title character. Marvel #1 -- No top-tier characters, no noteworthy villains. In those respects, no other GA book is in Cap #1's league. And the combination of factors listed above are, to me, much more than "Oh yeah, that's neat" kind of stuff. You say that in "those respects, no other GA book is in Cap #1's league", and that may be true based on the criteria that you defined, however based on the criteria I might define the same could be said about Action #1... I don't usually put this much thought into ranking the top books based on personal desirability, but here goes... Although I actually perform a calculation, I suppose that I typically implicitly look at the following criteria, in the order shown, when ranking the desirability of the best of the best Superhero books: My highest weighted criteria: (1) First Appearance of 1st Tier Superhero (2) Cover Related: 1st cover appearance of Superhero &/or Classic Cover (3) 1st time origin story told? Bonus points if the book has this stuff: (4) Arch Nemesis included? (5) Is it a #1 issue of a book that has one or more solo stories in every issue for the Superhero in question; a bit of a bonus if the entire book is devoted to the Superhero in question (6) Other noteworthy factors not covered above I suppose I then implicitly assign ratings to each of the criterion above and then multiply those rankings by the applicable criteria weighting in order to arrive at the overall ranking of a given book Based on the criteria I have identified above: Action #1 -- Meets all of my criteria above and ranks high in each category IMO (bonus points for being a #1 issue and for being the 1st major ongoing superhero book) Tec #27 -- No origin story, and while Bats appears on the cover, the cover isn't quite as classic as some of the others IMO. Very high ranking for criterion #1 / no noteworthy bonus points. Superman #1 -- Not Supes first appearance and not the 1st origin story (although it is expanded on a bit). Bonus points for being a #1 issue and for being the first book devoted entirely to a superhero. Batman #1 -- Not Bats first appearance, nor is it the first time his origin is told (although it does have a very early / very classic reprint). Borderline classic cover IMO (personally I'm not a big fan of Robin on the cover ). Big time bonus points for Joker first appearance and some more bonus points for being the #1 issue of the first book devoted to Batman. Marvel #1 -- 1st newsstand appearance / origin of Subby and 1st Human Torch, but neither are what I would call 1st tier superheros. Classic cover with the Torch but no Subby. Bonus points for being Marvel #1. Cap #1 -- 1st appearance and origin of Cap, and while his stock has certainly gone up of late, I still wouldn't put him in the same category as Batman or Superman. Classic cover. Bonus points for being a #1 issue devoted to Cap and for the 1st appearance of the Red Skull. If I were to actually work through the calcs (assigning weights to various criteria and ranking each book against each criterion, and then adding up total score for each book), based on my weightings / rankings, I believe I would probably end up with the following rankings: Action #1 Tec #27 Cap #1 I'm sure everyone else has other criteria that they look at, and assign different weightings to their criteria than I do, if they were to take the time to try to explain how they personally rank various books... P.S. Having said all that, I guess I don't always follow my own "rules" as my formulae above would probably rank All-Star #8 above Sensation #1, however I actually prefer Sensation #1 over All-Star #8 Definitely agree ... Cap 1 in the top three ! (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne-Tec Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 My copy of Cap #1 appears to have the same unique printing error as the copy another board member found in the Heritage archives. On the back cover, there are words printed in red ink that don't even appear on these two copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...