Silver age comics that are heating up 26 26

[Lazyboy]

My definition of a key is pretty simple- when you find a run that has been cherry-picked, which books are missing?

 

Those are the keys.

 

Except that a lot of them aren't.

[HouseofComics.Com]

Batman 227 was heating up by early 2006 at the latest, so it does have about a nine-year track record by now. But yeah, what you said.

[Hamlet]

My definition of a key is pretty simple- when you find a run that has been cherry-picked, which books are missing?

 

Those are the keys.

 

Except that a lot of them aren't.

 

I didn't realize that someone had declared you decider of what is "key".

 

When a book costs 2-3 times what the books around it in a run cost, the market has said it is a "key" book regardless of whatever rules you've concocted in your head about what a "key" has to be.

 

To my mind, the books that people are paying a premium for are "keys", regardless of the reason.

[Jaydogrules]

My definition of a key is pretty simple- when you find a run that has been cherry-picked, which books are missing?

 

Those are the keys.

 

Except that a lot of them aren't.

 

I didn't realize that someone had declared you decider of what is "key".

 

When a book costs 2-3 times what the books around it in a run cost, the market has said it is a "key" book regardless of whatever rules you've concocted in your head about what a "key" has to be.

 

To my mind, the books that people are paying a premium for are "keys", regardless of the reason.

 

 

I think I'm with Lazyboy on this one.

 

Just because a book "costs a lot of money" at a moment in time does not elevate it to "key" status. Nor does a book being more expensive in a run.

 

That term is bandied about far, far too often.

 

-J.

[makeminemego]

It's probably all semantics, and shouldn't be a big deal. If it's a key to some people, it's a key to them. I may not agree, but then again, I didn't pay for the books in their collection, so who am I to judge? Heck, I've probably got "keys" in my collection (books that I really love for whatever reason) that wouldn't even be in the conversation. Then again, I probably wouldn't call them "keys" in public....

 

 

We probably don't have enough terminology, or something like that.....

[nearmint]

I think there are keys and there are classic covers, and there's value in not muddying the definitions. Both are selling very well right now, but that's no reason to lump them together under one term.

[G.A.tor]

books with higher demand/higher selling prices, are not necessarily "keys" as we define them in our little microcosm...

[Lazyboy]

My definition of a key is pretty simple- when you find a run that has been cherry-picked, which books are missing?

 

Those are the keys.

 

Except that a lot of them aren't.

 

I didn't realize that someone had declared you decider of what is "key".

 

When a book costs 2-3 times what the books around it in a run cost, the market has said it is a "key" book regardless of whatever rules you've concocted in your head about what a "key" has to be.

 

To my mind, the books that people are paying a premium for are "keys", regardless of the reason.

I didn't realize that someone gave you the power to change the meaning of words.

 

See definition 34, the adjective

 

From the OPG (which, despite its many problems, cannot be completely dismissed in the hobby):

KEY, KEY BOOK or KEY ISSUE

An issue that contains a first appearance, origin, or other historically or artistically important feature considered especially desirable by collectors.

 

 

Crossover appeal (from classic covers, popular guest/villain appearances, etc.) results in increased demand/value for many books compared to surrounding issues of the title, but that doesn't make them keys.

[Hamlet]

I think there are keys and there are classic covers, and there's value in not muddying the definitions. Both are selling very well right now, but that's no reason to lump them together under one term.

 

I just think it's a little silly that people are designating themselves protectors of the term "key". What then are the allowable reasons to call a book "key"?

 

If classic covers are not keys, what about

 

first issues?

title changes?

Origin issues?

Crossover issues?

Start of an in-demand artist?

Death issues?

The non-code Spidey issues?

The Superman/Flash races?

"low distribution" issues?

 

It seems like some people want comic collecting to be about 10-20 books that they have deemed important enough to collect, with almost their entire criteria being the "first appearance" (sometimes a cameo, sometimes not ). However, that is not the way it has been historically.

 

Collectors have had many reasons for seeking out specific issues over others over the decades. I'm not sure what motivation people have for wanting it to just be first appearances.

 

There is more to collecting than just the top ten SA keys folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hamlet]

My definition of a key is pretty simple- when you find a run that has been cherry-picked, which books are missing?

 

Those are the keys.

 

Except that a lot of them aren't.

 

I didn't realize that someone had declared you decider of what is "key".

 

When a book costs 2-3 times what the books around it in a run cost, the market has said it is a "key" book regardless of whatever rules you've concocted in your head about what a "key" has to be.

 

To my mind, the books that people are paying a premium for are "keys", regardless of the reason.

I didn't realize that someone gave you the power to change the meaning of words.

 

See definition 34, the adjective

 

From the OPG (which, despite its many problems, cannot be completely dismissed in the hobby):

KEY, KEY BOOK or KEY ISSUE

An issue that contains a first appearance, origin, or other historically or artistically important feature considered especially desirable by collectors.

 

 

Crossover appeal (from classic covers, popular guest/villain appearances, etc.) results in increased demand/value for many books compared to surrounding issues of the title, but that doesn't make them keys.

 

Did you even read what you quoted?

 

Would you not consider a classic cover an artistically important feature considered especially desirable by collectors.?

 

 

[Lazyboy]

Would you consider a multimillion selling Backstreet Boys album "artistically important" somehow? No, popularity does not equal importance.

 

The OPG definition specifically mentions origins. Do you think that somehow means that an issue that retells an origin without adding or changing anything is automatically a key?

Edited May 6, 2015 by Lazyboy

[nearmint]

My definition of a key is pretty simple- when you find a run that has been cherry-picked, which books are missing?

 

Those are the keys.

 

Except that a lot of them aren't.

 

I didn't realize that someone had declared you decider of what is "key".

 

When a book costs 2-3 times what the books around it in a run cost, the market has said it is a "key" book regardless of whatever rules you've concocted in your head about what a "key" has to be.

 

To my mind, the books that people are paying a premium for are "keys", regardless of the reason.

I didn't realize that someone gave you the power to change the meaning of words.

 

See definition 34, the adjective

 

From the OPG (which, despite its many problems, cannot be completely dismissed in the hobby):

KEY, KEY BOOK or KEY ISSUE

An issue that contains a first appearance, origin, or other historically or artistically important feature considered especially desirable by collectors.

 

 

Crossover appeal (from classic covers, popular guest/villain appearances, etc.) results in increased demand/value for many books compared to surrounding issues of the title, but that doesn't make them keys.

 

Call me silly, if you like, but I was only commenting that classic covers should not fall under the umbrella of "key books". In my mind, it's what happens between the covers that determines whether a book is a key. You know, the story.

[Hamlet]

books with higher demand/higher selling prices, are not necessarily "keys" as we define them in our little microcosm...

 

That's just it. There isn't a generally accepted criteria for what constitutes a key beyond market demand. Even a first appearance needs demand to really be a key.

 

First Spiderman-- key

First Rocket Racer -- nope

 

How about the first Rocket Racoon?-- before GotG, nope, afterwards, yup.

 

Keys are simply the books that collectors feel are the most important, for any of a dozen+ reasons that change over time.

 

It's really goofy to me that there are people insisting that Batman 227 isn't a key, even though most people would trade a dozen of the issues around it to get one.

 

 

[Hamlet]

Would you consider a multimillion selling Backstreet Boys album "artistically important" somehow? No, popularity does not equal importance.

 

The OPG definition specifically mentions origins. Do you think that somehow means that an issue that retells an origin without adding or changing anything is automatically a key?

 

Nothing is automatically a key. Popularity is a huge part of what is considered a key. Not all first appearances are keys, are they? What drives which are keys and which are not? Popularity.

 

Just about any Legion appearances used to be considered a key. Now, not so much. Why? They've lost popularity.

 

You're trying to set rules to what constitutes a key for some reason, but the collecting community does that over time, and there aren't hard and fast criteria for how they do that, because they don't constitute a single mindset.

 

[Jaydogrules]

books with higher demand/higher selling prices, are not necessarily "keys" as we define them in our little microcosm...

 

That's just it. There isn't a generally accepted criteria for what constitutes a key beyond market demand. Even a first appearance needs demand to really be a key.

 

First Spiderman-- key

First Rocket Racer -- nope

 

How about the first Rocket Racoon?-- before GotG, nope, afterwards, yup.

 

Keys are simply the books that collectors feel are the most important, for any of a dozen+ reasons that change over time.

 

It's really goofy to me that there are people insisting that Batman 227 isn't a key, even though most people would trade a dozen of the issues around it to get one.

 

 

That's still not a "key".

 

-J.

[Lazyboy]

books with higher demand/higher selling prices, are not necessarily "keys" as we define them in our little microcosm...

 

That's just it. There isn't a generally accepted criteria for what constitutes a key beyond market demand. Even a first appearance needs demand to really be a key.

 

First Spiderman-- key

First Rocket Racer -- nope

 

How about the first Rocket Racoon?-- before GotG, nope, afterwards, yup.

 

Keys are simply the books that collectors feel are the most important, for any of a dozen+ reasons that change over time.

 

It's really goofy to me that there are people insisting that Batman 227 isn't a key, even though most people would trade a dozen of the issues around it to get one.

 

 

That's still not a "key".

 

-J.

Of course it is. For a first appearance to not be a key basically requires the character to either be a one-shot or a dead property.

 

There are different levels, of course. The first appearance of Rocket Raccoon isn't equal to Action Comics 1 (first Zatara ).

[Lazyboy]

Would you consider a multimillion selling Backstreet Boys album "artistically important" somehow? No, popularity does not equal importance.

 

The OPG definition specifically mentions origins. Do you think that somehow means that an issue that retells an origin without adding or changing anything is automatically a key?

 

Nothing is automatically a key. Popularity is a huge part of what is considered a key. Not all first appearances are keys, are they? What drives which are keys and which are not? Popularity.

 

Just about any Legion appearances used to be considered a key. Now, not so much. Why? They've lost popularity.

 

You're trying to set rules to what constitutes a key for some reason, but the collecting community does that over time, and there aren't hard and fast criteria for how they do that, because they don't constitute a single mindset.

Legion appearances were noted in the OPG for two reasons:

1. The Legion didn't appear in a continuous run of a single title, so the chronology info was valuable in a pre-internet era

2. Bob Overstreet was a big Legion fan!

 

They were never all keys.

[Hamlet]

Legion appearances were noted in the OPG for two reasons:

1. The Legion didn't appear in a continuous run of a single title, so the chronology info was valuable in a pre-internet era

2. Bob Overstreet was a big Legion fan!

 

They were never all keys.

 

What you are saying is that you don't consider them keys, but Bob Overstreet did.

[Hamlet]

books with higher demand/higher selling prices, are not necessarily "keys" as we define them in our little microcosm...

 

That's just it. There isn't a generally accepted criteria for what constitutes a key beyond market demand. Even a first appearance needs demand to really be a key.

 

First Spiderman-- key

First Rocket Racer -- nope

 

How about the first Rocket Racoon?-- before GotG, nope, afterwards, yup.

 

Keys are simply the books that collectors feel are the most important, for any of a dozen+ reasons that change over time.

 

It's really goofy to me that there are people insisting that Batman 227 isn't a key, even though most people would trade a dozen of the issues around it to get one.

 

 

That's still not a "key".

 

-J.

Of course it is. For a first appearance to not be a key basically requires the character to either be a one-shot or a dead property.

 

There are different levels, of course. The first appearance of Rocket Raccoon isn't equal to Action Comics 1 (first Zatara ).

 

You two are proving my point

[Jaydogrules]

Lazyboy is just yanking our chain a little now.

 

-J.