Silver Age Hierarchy: Poll 1: The Top 30

[atomised]

bummer no love for Ted Kord/BB

[Sqeggs]

Thought it would be easy to whittle it down to 30, but it wasn't. After voting for the obvious keys, there were a lot of books that seemed at about the same level. Significant books, but not keys, and hard to choose one over another.

[jimjum12]

Thought it would be easy to whittle it down to 30, but it wasn't. After voting for the obvious keys, there were a lot of books that seemed at about the same level. Significant books, but not keys, and hard to choose one over another.

 

Easily a short box full, but what a short box ...... I had to make tough choices, too..... and missed 247, dammit. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Junkdrawer]

HOS92 I would have chosen over many.

[G.A.tor]

HOS92 I would have chosen over many.

too bad it's a Bronze Age book

[bronze johnny]

Thought it would be easy to whittle it down to 30, but it wasn't. After voting for the obvious keys, there were a lot of books that seemed at about the same level. Significant books, but not keys, and hard to choose one over another.

 

Easily a short box full, but what a short box ...... I had to make tough choices, too..... and missed 247, dammit. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

I didn't miss it and if the current C-Link auction is any indication, the Adventure 247 6.0 is currently ahead of the Action 252 7.0 (granted the 252 is graded by the other company).

 

OAAW 83 will not likely break the top 30 since I dare say that some will push the book(s) they own (and OAAW 83 is probably not one of them) - especially the flippers and speculators that hang around these boards.

[drbanner]

HOS92 I would have chosen over many.

This book has blowed up recently, but is not really bronze...not sure about the HoS 81 or HoM 174 belonging on the list for that reason either, but it appears they're not long for this poll anyway.

[zosocane]

OAAW 83 will not likely break the top 30 since I dare say that some will push the book(s) they own (and OAAW 83 is probably not one of them) - especially the flippers and speculators that hang around these boards.

 

I love OAAW 83, tough book, etc., but how much of a key is it really? A character that basically has faded away as war comics and WWII have lost popularity.

[burntboy]

OAAW 83 will not likely break the top 30 since I dare say that some will push the book(s) they own (and OAAW 83 is probably not one of them) - especially the flippers and speculators that hang around these boards.

 

I love OAAW 83, tough book, etc., but how much of a key is it really? A character that basically has faded away as war comics and WWII have lost popularity.

 

[Sqeggs]

OAAW 83 will not likely break the top 30 since I dare say that some will push the book(s) they own (and OAAW 83 is probably not one of them) - especially the flippers and speculators that hang around these boards.

 

I love OAAW 83, tough book, etc., but how much of a key is it really? A character that basically has faded away as war comics and WWII have lost popularity.

 

Kind of depends on how we view these rankings. Are we thinking of them from the perspective of right now -- May 2016? Or are we thinking in terms of the history of comics or the history of comic collecting?

 

There's a thread over on the GA board about Cap 1 vs. Marvel 1. Historically, Marvel 1 was a far more important book. Today, though, most collectors would prefer to have a copy of Cap 1 than Marvel 1.

[thunsicker]

The Numbers (as of this morning). Very first appearance heavy and very Marvel heavy.

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Rank

Title

Issue

Votes

1

Amazing Fantasy

15

113

2

Fantastic Four

1

111

3

The X-Men

1

110

4

Journey into Mystery

83

107

5

The Hulk

1

104

6

Showcase

4

100

6

Tales of Suspense

39

100

8

The Avengers

1

94

8

The Avengers

4

94

10

Daredevil

1

93

11

Brave and the Bold

28

92

11

Fantastic Four

5

92

11

Strange Tales

110

92

14

Tales to Astonish

27

84

15

Fantastic Four

48

80

16

Amazing Spider-Man

1

79

17

Showcase

22

78

18

Action Comics

252

68

19

Amazing Spider-Man

14

66

20

Adventure Comics

247

49

20

Sgt. Fury

1

49

22

The Flash

105

47

23

Detective Comics

225

44

24

Fantastic Four

4

40

25

Green Lantern

1

38

25

Our Army at War

83

38

25

The X-Men

4

38

28

Fantastic Four

52

36

28

Journey into Mystery

85

36

30

Amazing Spider-Man

50

33

[MusterMark]

Interesting list. Thanks.

 

The fact that there are only two NON-superhero books in the (so far) list of 30 is, to me, a bit sad. Because there is SO much to comics besides just superheroes. But it is the reality for the majority of collectors. (I too love superheroes, no question, but there is, in general, so little Big appreciation of the other genres.)

Not that this is news, of course.

Just saying ...

 

 

EDIT: [Originally I had thought Our Army At War 83 was the only one non-superhero book on the list, but I now also spy in there Sgt. Fury 1].

 

[bronze johnny]

OAAW 83 will not likely break the top 30 since I dare say that some will push the book(s) they own (and OAAW 83 is probably not one of them) - especially the flippers and speculators that hang around these boards.

 

I love OAAW 83, tough book, etc., but how much of a key is it really? A character that basically has faded away as war comics and WWII have lost popularity.

 

WWII is the most significant event of the 20th Century and will always draw future generations to study and learn about it. As for war comics fading away? Only when wars become obsolete in terms of achieving a political objective, interest in war will continue (unfortunately). The war comic genre did not celebrate war and many of the best stories were anti-war. In a way, the war comic hasn't faded away, it evolved to some degree, into the Anti-War Comic Book. The Anti-War Comic will always continue in the form of the war genre comic where the horrors and issues related to wartime events arise (ironically). Sgt. Rock is the greatest comic book war or anti-war creation of the 20th Century. He's a Silver Age American Hero who picked up where many Golden Age superheroes left off when that great period of comics ended after the Good War concluded. The Silver Age of Comic Books introduced new concepts and reintroduced the superhero. The introduction of Sgt. Rock in OAAW 83 took a non-superhero who did heroic things in the context of the Good War- and Kanigher and Kubert (and Heath) did it better than anyone else. The Rock also illustrates the best of this legendary artistic team. A deep appreciation for their work in the war genre throughout the Silver Age of Comic Books is an essential part of understanding what made this period the second great age.

 

I stand corrected- OAAW 83 did make the top 30.

 

Best,

John

[Chillax23]

The Numbers (as of this morning). Very first appearance heavy and very Marvel heavy.

 

It is crazy that books like Adventure Comics 247 and Flash 123 don't make the cut (right now) while books like X-Men 4 and FF52 do, seems like a strong Marvel Bias and recent movie bias (and this is coming from a Marvel/X-Men fan (although I am a DC fan as well))

[thunsicker]

The Numbers (as of this morning). Very first appearance heavy and very Marvel heavy.

 

It is crazy that books like Adventure Comics 247 and Flash 123 don't make the cut (right now) while books like X-Men 4 and FF52 do, seems like a strong Marvel Bias and recent movie bias (and this is coming from a Marvel/X-Men fan (although I am a DC fan as well))

 

Adventure #247 did sneak in at 20 and Flash #123 was 32nd. But I agree. Recent "hot" books seem much higher than I would rank them (X-Men #4, Daredevil #1, Strange Tales #110, Tales to Astonish #27, Brave and the Bold #28, Action Comics #252) and DC's in general were much lower than I would put them (Showcase #4 at 6 Showcase #22 at 17, Adventure Comics #247 at 20, Detective #225 at 23) No idea if this is a permanent shift, or just the bias of those who are on the boards.

[Chillax23]

The Numbers (as of this morning). Very first appearance heavy and very Marvel heavy.

 

It is crazy that books like Adventure Comics 247 and Flash 123 don't make the cut (right now) while books like X-Men 4 and FF52 do, seems like a strong Marvel Bias and recent movie bias (and this is coming from a Marvel/X-Men fan (although I am a DC fan as well))

 

Adventure #247 did sneak in at 20 and Flash #123 was 32nd. But I agree. Recent "hot" books seem much higher than I would rank them (X-Men #4, Daredevil #1, Strange Tales #110, Tales to Astonish #27, Brave and the Bold #28, Action Comics #252) and DC's in general were much lower than I would put them (Showcase #4 at 6 Showcase #22 at 17, Adventure Comics #247 at 20, Detective #225 at 23) No idea if this is a permanent shift, or just the bias of those who are on the boards.

 

My mistake on the Adv 247 I agree with your overall comments though - except, I think BB28 is easily a top 10 silver age book, while SC4 is easily a top 3 book. I also think SC22 should be a top 10 book as well (but most may disagree on that one).

[s14roller]

Interesting results, thanks for compiling.

[drbanner]

The Numbers (as of this morning). Very first appearance heavy and very Marvel heavy.

No real surprises at the top here, if the DC books existed in numbers approaching the numbers of the Marvel Keys the disparity would be even greater. There are no 1st Appearances in the big DC books outside of Action 252? The Marvel Universe was created in the Silver Age, the DC Universe was recycled.

 

With the proliferation of the semi-keys that have become so popular (FF 45, 52, JIM 85, etc), non-hero books will never crack the top 20. And Avengers 4 top 10? ...

[bronze johnny]

The conclusion to draw from this poll is that there are more Marvel collectors than DC. Having had the experience of collecting both Marvel's and DC's SA keys, I can say that the latter present a different challenge. Many DC SA books are recreations as drbanner correctly pointed out. However, original creations like those that appear in Adventure Comics 247, Action Comics 252, Batman 121, Our Army at War 83, Showcase 6, and Showcase 17 make the DC SA key portfolio diverse. Another challenge has to do with the difficulty of finding nice presenting mid grade DC keys with ow or better pq. A nice presenting6.0 Showcase 22 with sold for approximately $8,000 in a recent Heritage Auction. Look at what the 6.0 Adventure Comics 247 sold for last night on the C-Link auction. Compare that to the sales of some Marvel SA keys in the same grade (see Avengers 1 CGC 7.0 and 6.0 results in last night's C-Link auction). The scarcity of nice presenting DC keys makes the challenge greater and requires patience. Another factor to consider is how well DC SA keys are doing without the assistance of superficial movie hype. The 4.0 OAAW is over $1700 right now on the current C-Link auction. Not bad for a non-superhero book. It's already passed the 6.5 Green Lantern 1 and 4.5 Flash 105 that sold last night. Does anyone think a 4.0 Sgt. Fury 1 or even Daredevil 1 in 4.0 will sell for that much right now?

 

The Marvel and DC SA keys are incredible and like the great summits of the Himalayas, present different challenges for any serious climber. The best climbers seek each challenge for what it presents. Most climb Everest but others will tell you about the great difficulty in climbing K2 and the lesser mountains. The great thing about collecting each of these books is how some can present a challenge- finding a book that meets your criteria. Getting an AF 15 was my Everest but finding a beautiful Showcase 22 with great pq was the K2 for me.

 

Best,

John

[1koko]

Avengers 4 top 10? ...

 

From past polls we can't draw conclusions on top 10. Poll just indicates that we think Avengers #4, for example, is a top 30 book not that it's top 10.

 

From next poll we will only have 3 votes that will be used to vote off the 3 least important books.

 

Voting off a book is a different psychology and when done in small batches makes people reflect more on the individual merits of a book.

 

Next poll coming soon