Charlton, Dell, Gold Key, and Harvey...

[comicalgems]

Does anyone actively collect these books? When I talk to comic shop owners they say there's very very few people that collect these, and the ones that do want to pay very very little for the books. Were these just over produced? Not that good? Under appreciated by the collecting world at large?

 

I'm wondering because I'm sorting some books I picked up recently and discovering that I've got quite a few of these publishers mixed in and I'm surprised that they have such little value or demand.

[Darth Corgi]

I like them and collect them. I don't care who publishes a comic, if it's a good story or interesting art, I'll give it a look. Many of those runs featured rushed or poor art or boring stories but there are definitely some gems in there. The Tom Sutton stuff from charlton is pretty killer.

 

It depends on the titles and issues. I'd like to hear what issues you have and what others will chime in about this.

[cloud cloddie]

Gold key, lately, is about all I actively collect.

[Unca Ben]

Maybe it depends on the title?

Speaking for myself, I like Blue Beetle and all the Ditko Charltons; Gold Key Magnus, Solar, Turok, and the Duck books, including WDCS. I know some people really like Richie Rich Harveys.

 

I believe it's just a more select fan base(?).

[Senormac]

Does anyone actively collect these books? When I talk to comic shop owners they say there's very very few people that collect these, and the ones that do want to pay very very little for the books. Were these just over produced? Not that good? Under appreciated by the collecting world at large?

 

I'm wondering because I'm sorting some books I picked up recently and discovering that I've got quite a few of these publishers mixed in and I'm surprised that they have such little value or demand.

 

Turok is at the top of the totem pole in that group (thumbs u

 

[Half-Gringo]

Like the hero genre, there are folks who collect certain titles and I've traded/sold many of them but sporadically over the years. Some great art (especially the painted covers) and stories to be found. High grade issues of key books like anything else have a demand by niche collectors. Dells especially for me are a trip down memory lane with their movie/TV issues.

[steveinthecity]

While I collect mostly superhero stuff, I do enjoy humor titles like Little Lulu, Little Audrey, Sad Sack, Blondie/Dagwood, etc. I also find the 60's & 70's live action TV sitcom titles as well as Duck books to be pretty cool.

[comicalgems]

Charlton My Only Love 2

Whitman Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery 59

Gold Key Land of The Giants 2

Harvey Little Audrey and Melvin 61

Whitman Turok Son of Stone 94

Gold Key Bonanza 27

Gold Key Tarzan of the apes 189

Charlton All New Beetle Bailey featuring Sarge Snorkel 11

a stack of Beetle Bailey and Blondie from Charlton

 

just to name a few...

[Lazyboy]

Does anyone actively collect these books? When I talk to comic shop owners they say there's very very few people that collect these, and the ones that do want to pay very very little for the books.

 

Were these just over produced?

Of course, since all newsstand distributed books are. But the copies that are still available were purchased at the time.

 

Compared to current demand? Absolutely.

 

They may be dead and gone now, but they were big publishers at the time.

 

Not that good?

Well, nobody's going to mistake them for Watchmen. Lots of short and generic/adapted/repeated stories.

[Jeffro.]

I'm trying to put together every comic with Richie Rich in the title, starting with RR 1 and going all the way until Harvey stopped publishing in the early 90s.

 

I've managed to grab a couple big lots from sellers here on the boards.

 

I also like Gold Key cartoon books, Uncle Scrooge, other non-RR Harveys, Magnus Robot Fighter, Space Family Robinson, Turok, bronze age Chalrton horror, and some others.

[kidcolt]

I collect a lot of the older Richie Rich title as well as Battle of the Planets, Scrooge, Turok, Magnus and my 13 year old collects Scooby Doo.

[Gatsby77]

I collect Magnus and Doctor Solar; of the two, the Magnus stories are far better.

 

Also have a soft spot for Beep Beep: The Road Runner.

[Ryan.]

There's still a strong, active market for Carl Barks Duck books.

[Scrooge]

Like every company there are always quality series amidst run of the mill production. I have many Dell books: Four Colors, Tarzan, Lone Ranger, Tonto, Fairy Tales, Looney Tunes, Our Gang, Tom and Jerry, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Indian Chief, Zorro, Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, King of the Royal Mounted, Uncle Scrooge, all their Giants, etc

 

As with many publisher, the earlier some series are the better they are.

[Number 6]

I collect some of these:

 

Charlton: Space: 1999 and Six Million Dollar Man

 

Gold Key/Whitman: Star Trek, Battle of the Planets, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Black Hole, UFO, Twilight Zone, other T.V./movie related titles. Might branch into Turok at some point.

 

In both cases I'm usually looking for high grade copies which don't seem to come up often, especially on the Charltons.

 

Dell: Outer Limits, other T.V./movie titles, usually looking for VF to NM- copies.

 

As far as Harvey, I did buy some off the rack growing up but while I can usually identify childhood purchases on site, I couldn't pick those out of a line up if my life depended on it. They all look the same to me.

[KPR Comics]

Never been a fan of painted covers and so I can say despite the old saying, I've judged them and have yet to open one up to read. I'm sure I'm missing out.

[Shrevvy]

Charlton horror is under appreciated. If you like HOM or HOS from DC, Ghostly Tales is in the same vein. They even had their version of Cain and Abel before DC did. Some decent work by Ditko, Mastroserio, Giordano, Boyette, Palais and probably others I am forgetting. The early stuff (12 cent) was as good as the DC stuff.

 

The hero stuff is good too - Ditko on Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Question.

 

Thunderbolt is cool too.

[Chip Cataldo]

John Byrne Charltons are awesome. He was a great artist right from the beginning.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

[Jeffro.]

Never been a fan of painted covers and so I can say despite the old saying, I've judged them and have yet to open one up to read. I'm sure I'm missing out.

 

That's one of the things I love about them.

[Jeffro.]

John Byrne Charltons are awesome. He was a great artist right from the beginning.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

 

I love Byrne's work from that period. It has a raw quality to it that I'm sure he looks at and hates, as most artists seem to do when looking at their early work,