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Why no love for the first Schomburg?
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Started by TimelyFinds,

29 posts in this topic

TimelyFinds

TimelyFinds

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Posted

Startling Stories Sept 1939- first Alex Schomburg in print. Yes I know it's a pulp but being 1939 and such an amazing cover, how does this not get the respect that it deserves? If this was on a comic, would be a 100k book. Pulp pulp pulp...guess I will keep buying these for under $20. Just shocked it isn't more relevant

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rjpb

rjpb

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While their are many connections between pulps and comics, pulps just don't get the same level of collector love. You can pick up scores of pulps with insanely lurid horror covers that sell for a fraction of what tamer "classic" horror comic covers sell for. The Church copy of Shadow Comics #1, a 9.0, sold for over 14K back in 2009. I can't find prices for the first Shadow pulp, but I'm guessing you'd get a pretty decent copy for less, and it's a decade older.

 

As for Schomburg, it's a cool cover on the Startling, and his sci-fi covers on comics are popular, but what are really iconic are his war covers. Most GA collectors probably don't know what the first Schomburg comic cover is ( I don't), but they do know his classics.

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Readcomix

Readcomix

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In the same vein, I'm surprised that Invaders annual (his last comic) isn't a $50 bronze book all day in the common F/VF mid-highish grades, let alone better. But I think patience and box rummaging can still yield NM at $10 or maybe even less. It's far from his best, but it's his last, it's GA heroes in a war scene, and it's clearly signed.

 

There's a thread in General about the need or lack thereof for LCS's these days, and I think this belies the real point: the Internet lets you search for most anything, but a good, old school store owner is a comics history teacher. I learned so much over the years talking to shop owners, especially Bruce Conklin (retired, Octobercountry, New Paltz, NY) and the late Vic Bertini (Iron Vic's, Poughkeepsie, NY; no longer there).

 

OP, I think this gets at your original point. If newer collectors don't appreciate the genre's history, one's collecting passion often takes one back just as far as their personal nostalgia.

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Paul © ® ⚽️💙™

Paul © ® ⚽️💙™

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In the same vein, I'm surprised that Invaders annual (his last comic) isn't a $50 bronze book all day in the common F/VF mid-highish grades, let alone better. But I think patience and box rummaging can still yield NM at $10 or maybe even less. It's far from his best, but it's his last, it's GA heroes in a war scene, and it's clearly signed.

 

There's a thread in General about the need or lack thereof for LCS's these days, and I think this belies the real point: the Internet lets you search for most anything, but a good, old school store owner is a comics history teacher. I learned so much over the years talking to shop owners, especially Bruce Conklin (retired, Octobercountry, New Paltz, NY) and the late Vic Bertini (Iron Vic's, Poughkeepsie, NY; no longer there).

 

OP, I think this gets at your original point. If newer collectors don't appreciate the genre's history, one's collecting passion often takes one back just as far as their personal nostalgia.

 

Intelligent post, and I agree with you about Invaders Annual. It's a beautiful Schommie cover.

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Readcomix

Readcomix

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In the same vein, I'm surprised that Invaders annual (his last comic) isn't a $50 bronze book all day in the common F/VF mid-highish grades, let alone better. But I think patience and box rummaging can still yield NM at $10 or maybe even less. It's far from his best, but it's his last, it's GA heroes in a war scene, and it's clearly signed.

 

There's a thread in General about the need or lack thereof for LCS's these days, and I think this belies the real point: the Internet lets you search for most anything, but a good, old school store owner is a comics history teacher. I learned so much over the years talking to shop owners, especially Bruce Conklin (retired, Octobercountry, New Paltz, NY) and the late Vic Bertini (Iron Vic's, Poughkeepsie, NY; no longer there).

 

OP, I think this gets at your original point. If newer collectors don't appreciate the genre's history, one's collecting passion often takes one back just as far as their personal nostalgia.

 

Intelligent post, and I agree with you about Invaders Annual. It's a beautiful Schommie cover.

 

Thanks Grantley Goddard. I've been musing a LOT about the flight to keys talk that you hear in all circles these days, and I'm not sure any of the speculations commonly heard are fully explaining it. That's a different thread for sure, but not so wholly unrelated that I feel off-topic mentioning it here.

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FineCollector

FineCollector

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Posted
Startling Stories Sept 1939- first Alex Schomburg in print. Yes I know it's a pulp but being 1939 and such an amazing cover, how does this not get the respect that it deserves? If this was on a comic, would be a 100k book. Pulp pulp pulp...guess I will keep buying these for under $20. Just shocked it isn't more relevant

 

Why don't people appreciate pulps?

 

1 - dunno about anyone else, but I don't ever see them in the wild. No auctions, no garage sales, nothing.

2 - no pictures :grin:

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