Centaur Comics 19 19

[G.A.tor]

Rick, you're off to a great start with Keen Detective Funnies (an underrated GA title, IMHO)

 

Being familiar with your passionate collecting habits, I fully expect you to have the entire run completed by next week!

 

STEVE

almost a year later, and I still need a copy of 1/10!

[jbcomicbox]

 

My first Centaur i ever got, back in 1968 at that summer's Dallascon, was Star Rangers #15 with a long Eisner story i liked - and by the late 1970s had amassed about 100 of them including many of the fun ones, when Siegel & Shuster were discovered to have Superman proto in what became Centaur River, then collecting them really took off, and i had fun trading Byrne Xmens i had in depth to the tune of 8000 copies of each of many of them bought at 17 cents each half cover then trading "retail for retail" at upwards of $10 each, it was easy as shooting apples in a barrell trading

 

 

My 2nd Centaur i remember getting was i think CMO #2 which might be like their last book if i remember correctly

 

 

 

 

here are the two CMOs.....giveaways with some old centaur material......third tier centaur characters which puts us some place in the sub-basement of comicbook wannabes

[jbcomicbox]

Here is a rare one. The 1st Everett story on Mile High white pages.

 

to "toot" Metro's horn, I did pick this up from them recently....now, after re-reading all 166 pages of Centaurs, I suspect S is 'the man" to see about some of these centaurs I am missing (since Win is almost done with the run)... S, will be shooting you a list soon

 

You guys are possessed!!!!

 

However, imagine that i had finished the centaurs runs up in the early 1990s after years of searching WITHOUT the internet......just ads and conventions....you 'youngin's are spoiled. Seriously, it is amazing how the internet has revolutionized collecting.

 

do you and Win have Keen Komics 1 yet?

[G.A.tor]

Here is a rare one. The 1st Everett story on Mile High white pages.

 

to "toot" Metro's horn, I did pick this up from them recently....now, after re-reading all 166 pages of Centaurs, I suspect S is 'the man" to see about some of these centaurs I am missing (since Win is almost done with the run)... S, will be shooting you a list soon

 

You guys are possessed!!!!

 

However, imagine that i had finished the centaurs runs up in the early 1990s after years of searching WITHOUT the internet......just ads and conventions....you 'youngin's are spoiled. Seriously, it is amazing how the internet has revolutionized collecting.

 

do you and Win have Keen Komics 1 yet?

I don't...have an issue of 2, but no 1 (or 3)

[TheEyeSees]

and, if this isn't the prettiest 4.0, ow/white paged beauty you have ever seen (I guess the little 1" spine split lowered it from a 6.0??), well then, it is because you made your mortgage payment for the last few months

again, thanks to Ken D!

 

Wow... away from the boards for a few days and miss a TON of great material. Steve and Rick have really blown me away with their acquisitions of late. Especially the above book... one of my personal favs!!

 

Thanks for posting that ARROW story too Rick. Great material.

 

Fantastic copy of AMAN 22!! I guess now we know where they have all been buried for the past decade!!

[G.A.tor]

and, if this isn't the prettiest 4.0, ow/white paged beauty you have ever seen (I guess the little 1" spine split lowered it from a 6.0??), well then, it is because you made your mortgage payment for the last few months

again, thanks to Ken D!

 

Wow... away from the boards for a few days and miss a TON of great material. Steve and Rick have really blown me away with their acquisitions of late. Especially the above book... one of my personal favs!!

 

Thanks for posting that ARROW story too Rick. Great material.

 

Fantastic copy of AMAN 22!! I guess now we know where they have all been buried for the past decade!!

speaking of posting Aman 22's...i wonder if we will be seeing another copy any time soon

[sacentaur]

This thread has been just *great* of late (well, as always actually) - so very enjoyable!

 

These two books were part of the same collection that I've been posting, but I include them here to highlight that DC was also engaging in some 'funny' covers around the same time period.

 

 

DC, however, appeared more astute in gravitating sooner towards the mainstay action/adventure strips, while Centaur concentrated on the joke page fillers until it was too late.

 

I love 'em just the same...

 

 

 

 

[sacentaur]

Speaking of Funny Picture Stories, this Biro cover is one of my Favorites..

 

(I did not have a copy of this book!)

 

I so often associate Biro with his work for MLJ or Lev Gleason, it's easy to overlook his other efforts.

 

His contributions for Centaur were sparse, but always entertaining...

[RareHighGrade]

Those are beautiful More Funs Steve. They are the nicest copies I've seen that are not MH's. :applause:

[G.A.tor]

Those are beautiful More Funs Steve. They are the nicest copies I've seen that are not MH's. :applause:

I suspect they are as rare as hens teeth! nice to see them

[Socratic Wonder]

This thread has been just *great* of late (well, as always actually) - so very enjoyable!

 

These two books were part of the same collection that I've been posting, but I include them here to highlight that DC was also engaging in some 'funny' covers around the same time period.

 

 

DC, however, appeared more astute in gravitating sooner towards the mainstay action/adventure strips, while Centaur concentrated on the joke page fillers until it was too late.

 

I love 'em just the same...

 

 

 

 

[sacentaur]

An Easter Church pair (Bob Wood covers): Funny Pages 2/6 (notice the alternating colors of the lettering in the logo) and 2/7.

 

[Blind Owl]

Glad to be living in the Age of the Internet!!!

 

Imagine trying to pick up these kind of books twenty years ago!!!

 

Rick would be going insane trying to complete his runs!!!

[G.A.tor]

Glad to be living in the Age of the Internet!!!

 

Imagine trying to pick up these kind of books twenty years ago!!!

 

Rick would be going insane trying to complete his runs!!!

what do you mean "would be"...I already am!

[CentaurMan]

Some terrific books poppin' up on the Boards of late!

 

Continuing the collection parade, here are two of my new favorites - I don't think it's going too far out on a limb to call them "rare" (Larson copy on the right):

 

 

Been off the boards for 5 days, just catching up.

 

These two books are unbelievably rare. Incredibly scarce. I have to to this.

 

Very, very impressive!!

[CentaurMan]

do you and Win have Keen Komics 1 yet?

 

I do have one of those. It's the only one I've ever seen in person.

 

 

I'm down to 20 Centaurs/pre-Centaurs to complete the publisher. I've finished off Keen Detective Funnies and Funny Picture Stories, knocked out all of little runs except for two of the Little Giants, found the Liberty Scouts, Cocomalt, and C-M-O, bought the laundry giveaway, and gotten the Double Comics with the Masked Marvel cover. I'm not going to put out a big list with a countdown like Ian did (my lord, that was both annoying to us and ultimately very expensive for him), but speaking generally, here's what I'm missing:

 

2 Amazing Mystery Funnies, 1 Amazing-Man, 4 Funny Pages, the two Little Giants I quoted from Steve's post above, 5 Star Comics, 4 Star Rangers, and 2 Star Ranger Funnies.

 

That's it. And internet or no, it's been a real challenge assembling the rest of the collection from scratch over the past 8 years.

[CentaurMan]

Also, of the 20 books I have left, I'd classify 10 of them as legitimately brutal to find, very rare Centaurs that are in plenty of demand when (if) they come to market. The other 10 are just standard Centaurs that I haven't happened to find yet, but that I imagine will show up on eBay, Metro, Heritage, C-Link, etc., and when they do won't be in super high demand nor will cost an arm & a leg.

 

Most Centaurs are in that latter group. That's why they're so much fun to collect. They're very hard to find but don't cost a ton, and acquiring them requires patience more than cash.

 

The former group (including books like Keen Detective Funnies v1#10, Keen Komics #1, and Amazing Mystery Funnies v2#5, to name three I've eventually found) represents some of the toughest borderline mainstream comics you could ever hope to get your hands on. An awesome challenge, and quite enjoyable if you enjoy frustration. Prepare to spend some cash if you find one, too.

 

King Comics #1-#12 and All-American Comics #2-#15 fit in the "really tough but cheap & fun" category. New Adventure/Adventure Comics #23-#40 fit in the "brutally competitive, expensive, and super challenging" category. Both have their merits.

[jbcomicbox]

do you and Win have Keen Komics 1 yet?

 

I do have one of those. It's the only one I've ever seen in person.

 

 

I'm down to 20 Centaurs/pre-Centaurs to complete the publisher. I've finished off Keen Detective Funnies and Funny Picture Stories, knocked out all of little runs except for two of the Little Giants, found the Liberty Scouts, Cocomalt, and C-M-O, bought the laundry giveaway, and gotten the Double Comics with the Masked Marvel cover. I'm not going to put out a big list with a countdown like Ian did (my lord, that was both annoying to us and ultimately very expensive for him), but speaking generally, here's what I'm missing:

 

2 Amazing Mystery Funnies, 1 Amazing-Man, 4 Funny Pages, the two Little Giants I quoted from Steve's post above, 5 Star Comics, 4 Star Rangers, and 2 Star Ranger Funnies.

 

That's it. And internet or no, it's been a real challenge assembling the rest of the collection from scratch over the past 8 years.

 

Well, now we know there are two Keen Komics 1. Tough-Tough book.

 

I agree that price is not the problem with these books. Finding them is. Unless it has a classic hero coverage, they are not in high demand. Too many people are into instant gratification so that may depress those who seek these books.

 

I have a theory. If you made Star Comics that you are missing $1000 in Fine condition, then we would really know how rare they are.

 

I do not have the FPS laundry give-away, but have to admit I have not looked at all once finishing the series from Comic Mag 1 to Stars and Stripes 5 in the early 90s..(There also in a variant cover with Amazing Man on cover by different Centaur logo----Mark Wilson had it many moons ago).

 

Good Hunting to you. You can do it. (I bought the Hardie volume sold by SG which has the Star and Star Ranger books in it, in addition to my 'regular' books. The other volumes went out of sight on price.)

 

jon

[CentaurMan]

Thanks for the encouragement. Your Centaur collection is stunning in both breadth and quality, and while quite a few of my books are beaters, it will be fun to at least have the complete set.

 

And although it's true that the internet has made my task much easier than yours was, look on the bright side: Centaurs were ethereal myths to many of us, pre-web, and now there are a dozen or so people actively searching out these books, driving up demand (and prices). Given that your collection is totally done, watching the books finally get some of the respect they deserve amongst all of these new Centaur aficionados has got to be satisfying.

 

I bought the first tranche of my collection (around 80 books) from Tim Cottrill at Bookery-Fantasy, and he seemed pretty tired of waiting for the "Centaur renaissance" to arrive. I don't know if it's here yet, but the books are certainly more popular now than they were even 5 years ago and the internet has had a huge hand it making it so.

[adamstrange]

It was John's advice that caused me to "double" my hoard ( I went from 2 to 4) and to keep them. I'm very glad I did.