A New Way (for me) of Collecting 1 1

[circumstances]

Imagine your surprise when you wanted to add GA to your collection, bought every single comic published in December, 1956, then learned that isn't the GA!

[Math Teacher]

1 hour ago, Readcomix said:

Probably the cheapest route to a Schomburg Timely hero cover would be some issue of Young Allies or (tougher to find) Kid Komics. If non-hero Timely will do, its much easier.

This is exactly the type of information that I am looking for.

[Math Teacher]

16 minutes ago, N e r V said:

There’s fewer comics when you begin in 1938 until say 1942. I’d stick with series like Famous Funnies, Tip Top, Ace, King comics, etc. to start. Then I’d move on to maybe series like Daredevil or Jungle or Disney books by 1943. That will get you by some of the early expensive books. After you get out of the war years by doing the above you can pick away at adding the well known superhero books as you see fit. You don’t need a Batman or Superman or Captain America book in 1945 when one in 1965 could be added. I’d aim for these cheaper books first and if a opportunity arises with something else then take it. What you want to do is pretty easy actually with some patience.

I have an extensive SA collection, with several Superman, Batman, and Captain America comics. As I said originally, I think I have 1960 - 2000 pretty much covered. I really want to include a Timely superhero book, be it Captain America, Marvel Mystery, Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Young Allies, Kid Comics, or some other title. I would also like it to have a Schomburg cover, if possible.

[N e r V]

18 minutes ago, Math Teacher said:

I have an extensive SA collection, with several Superman, Batman, and Captain America comics. As I said originally, I think I have 1960 - 2000 pretty much covered. I really want to include a Timely superhero book, be it Captain America, Marvel Mystery, Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Young Allies, Kid Comics, or some other title. I would also like it to have a Schomburg cover, if possible.

That’s possible as mentioned for under 1k but you’ll be getting something like these books.

 

Roughly $350.00 and $750.00 off of eBay right now but I’m sure you could do better with effort....

[Math Teacher]

7 minutes ago, N e r V said:

That’s possible as mentioned for under 1k but you’ll be getting something like these books.

 

Roughly $350.00 and $750.00 off of eBay right now but I’m sure you could do better with effort....

I saw both of this just a few minutes ago.

[PopKulture]

10 hours ago, N e r V said:

After a quick glance at your birth years release month  I was impressed that I own 34 of those 154 books released that month...

That's impressive! I play that game often enough, just to test my memory. After a perusal, it looks like I have fifteen from that month, so kudos.  

[N e r V]

6 minutes ago, PopKulture said:

That's impressive! I play that game often enough, just to test my memory. After a perusal, it looks like I have fifteen from that month, so kudos.  

I’ve been working out with increasing my Atlas books of late...

[PopKulture]

4 minutes ago, N e r V said:

I’ve been working out with increasing my Atlas books of late...

Always a good choice! 

That Yellow Claw 4 would be among the most elusive and expensive books overall, not just among Atlas. Some other solid books as well, especially the sci-fi and suspense books.  

[N e r V]

2 minutes ago, PopKulture said:

Always a good choice! 

That Yellow Claw 4 would be among the most elusive and expensive books overall, not just among Atlas. Some other solid books as well, especially the sci-fi and suspense books.  

Mystery in Space #36 is pricey now in the upper grades too. Great cover!

[Randall Dowling]

12 hours ago, Scrooge said:

If you had asked this question 15 years ago, I'd said you should buy the Gerber Photo Journals and go wild and start making a list.

Today, my recommendation would be to go to Mike's Newsstand and knock yourself out and look at all comics for each of these years you know less about. It WILL overwhelm you at first but in short order, you will start to recognize companies logos and art style / house style. The challenge will then boil down to solve problem of covering all artist / genre / company / year with just one (or two) representative issues. Thankfully, you will quickly realize that some companies are more associated with certain genres than others and that will quickly attached an artist for the book of your choice. By that I mean, it should quickly be clear that you might want an Atlas / Russ Heath / War Cover or a St. John / Matt Baker / Romance. Plus, the peak Heath would be ~ 1954 while the peak Baker might be ~ 1953. We don't know your tastes so you need to look at a lot of covers before you can hope to make sense of it. But, ... we are here to help

To the OP, I think Scrooge is on the right track.  I would go ahead and buy the Photo Journals and start making lists.  A large part of the fun of collecting (for me) is the research phase, the curiosity and discovery of books, artists, characters, writers.  After that, the hunt can go on for those books for years and along the way, it's amazing how much you discover.  My recommendation is to make the most of that.  The golden age of comics is vast and their are still some hidden treasures that the mainstream collectors haven't discovered (although that number is getting smaller all the time). 

As to your list of creators, I think you're missing (just off the top of my head):

• L.B. Cole (Horror/Sci-Fi)
• Will Eisner (The Spirit)
• Jack Kirby (Take your pick, it's all classic)
• Frazetta (the greatest fantasy artist of all time)
• Lee Elias (Harvey Horror)
• Bill Everett (Centaur/Timely)
• Mac Raboy (Fawcett Captain Marvel Jr.)
• CC Beck (Whiz Comics)

But I seriously would use the Photo-Journals.  Despite all the resources on the internet, it's still pretty awesome paging through those volumes.  Changed my collecting life when they came out.  As awesome as the internet is, it's not as fast as paging through a book for curiosity.  

[Scrooge]

23 minutes ago, PopKulture said:

11 hours ago, N e r V said:

After a quick glance at your birth years release month  I was impressed that I own 34 of those 154 books released that month...

That's impressive! I play that game often enough, just to test my memory. After a perusal, it looks like I have fifteen from that month, so kudos.  

Looks like I have ~ 27 ... but mostly Dells and Atlas.

[N e r V]

2 minutes ago, Scrooge said:

Looks like I have ~ 27 ... but mostly Dells and Atlas.

Very nice contrast in material...

[adamstrange]

23 minutes ago, Scrooge said:

47 minutes ago, PopKulture said:

11 hours ago, N e r V said:

After a quick glance at your birth years release month  I was impressed that I own 34 of those 154 books released that month...

That's impressive! I play that game often enough, just to test my memory. After a perusal, it looks like I have fifteen from that month, so kudos.  

Looks like I have ~ 27 ... but mostly Dells and Atlas.

I have only a handful, but I recognize more that I used to have. 

[Scrooge]

29 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

53 minutes ago, Scrooge said:

1 hour ago, PopKulture said:

11 hours ago, N e r V said:

After a quick glance at your birth years release month  I was impressed that I own 34 of those 154 books released that month...

That's impressive! I play that game often enough, just to test my memory. After a perusal, it looks like I have fifteen from that month, so kudos.  

Looks like I have ~ 27 ... but mostly Dells and Atlas.

Expand  

I have only a handful, but I recognize more that I used to have. 

That month does not look that bad to put together btw but it lacks a little variety. I understand why the OP backed off that ledge.

I had the same idea as the OP at one time with a slight twist. I was considering buying one issue of most (all) titles. Never did proceed but the education I got from looking at all books was invaluable in the long run.

[10centcomics]

2 hours ago, Randall Dowling said:

To the OP, I think Scrooge is on the right track.  I would go ahead and buy the Photo Journals and start making lists.  A large part of the fun of collecting (for me) is the research phase, the curiosity and discovery of books, artists, characters, writers.  After that, the hunt can go on for those books for years and along the way, it's amazing how much you discover.  My recommendation is to make the most of that.  The golden age of comics is vast and their are still some hidden treasures that the mainstream collectors haven't discovered (although that number is getting smaller all the time). 

As to your list of creators, I think you're missing (just off the top of my head):

• L.B. Cole (Horror/Sci-Fi)
• Will Eisner (The Spirit)
• Jack Kirby (Take your pick, it's all classic)
• Frazetta (the greatest fantasy artist of all time)
• Lee Elias (Harvey Horror)
• Bill Everett (Centaur/Timely)
• Mac Raboy (Fawcett Captain Marvel Jr.)
• CC Beck (Whiz Comics)

But I seriously would use the Photo-Journals.  Despite all the resources on the internet, it's still pretty awesome paging through those volumes.  Changed my collecting life when they came out.  As awesome as the internet is, it's not as fast as paging through a book for curiosity.  

Great additional list of artists here.

For LB Cole, his horror and sci-fi stuff definitely gets the most attention but you can hunt down some cool romance (True to Life Romances) or aviation covers (e.g. Contact Comics) that he did as well.

For Frazetta, he's got the classic run on Famous Funnies (209-218) that fans love and command high prices. But you can get some other cool covers in other titles such as Weird Fantasy 21 (joint work with Al Williamson) or Buster Crabbe 5. 

For Kirby, you probably have him covered if you have lots of Silver Age comics but if you want some GA Kirby I like his covers for Adventure Comics with Sandman and Manhunter. 

Good luck with the project!

[Math Teacher]

1 hour ago, Scrooge said:

That month does not look that bad to put together btw but it lacks a little variety. I understand why the OP backed off that ledge.

I had the same idea as the OP at one time with a slight twist. I was considering buying one issue of most (all) titles. Never did proceed but the education I got from looking at all books was invaluable in the long run.

I actually considered that method also. I'm not sure where you would get a definitive list of all the titles published by DC or Timely/Atlas/Marvel. I'm sure someone who is much starter than me will post a link so as to answer that question.

[Scrooge]

55 minutes ago, Math Teacher said:

DC or Timely/Atlas/Marvel.

Well, not sure if there is something equivalent for DC, but for T/A/M, use AtlasTales and start at this page -

Titles List (atlastales.com)

You will realize as you already did that one of each is pointless with so many titles being short run but what is feasible is one per genre per company so 1 western, 1 romance, 1 supes, 1 jungle, 1 teenager, 1 funny animal, etc.

For DC, you'd have to use the advanced search at the GCD and cut-off the publication date at 1960 so the search would look like:

GCD (comics.org) - Not sure the parameters will stick.

and you'd get 184 DC series (though I'd be careful to see if all the early All-American material is included) which a quick weed out of ashcan and promos / giveaways, we narrow down to 124 series, now ordered from first year of publication so you get a timeline to 1960 - Might need a little bit more clean up but here's DC for you.

Publisher	Series	Year	Issues	Published
DC	The Big Book of Fun Comics	1935	1	[November] 1935
DC	New Comics	1935	11	December 1935 - December 1936
DC	New Fun	1935	6	February 1935 - October 1935
DC	More Fun	1936	2	January 1936 - February 1936
DC	More Fun Comics	1936	119	March-April 1936 - November-December 1947
DC	New Book of Comics	1936	2	1936 - [Spring 1938]
DC	Detective Comics	1937	883	March 1937 - October 2011
DC	New Adventure Comics	1937	20	January 1937 - October 1938
DC	Action Comics	1938	866	June 1938 - October 2011
DC	Adventure Comics	1938	472	November 1938 - September 1983
DC	All-American Comics	1939	102	April 1939 - October 1948
DC	Movie Comics	1939	6	April 1939 - September-October 1939
DC	Mutt & Jeff	1939	103	[Summer 1939] - June 1958
DC	New York World's Fair Comics	1939	2	[April] 1939 - [July] 1940
DC	Superman	1939	423	[Summer 1939] - September 1986
DC	All-Star Comics	1940	57	Summer 1940 - February-March 1951
DC	Batman	1940	715	Spring 1940 - October 2011
DC	Double Action Comics	1940	1	Jan-40
DC	Flash Comics	1940	104	January 1940 - February 1949
DC	All-Flash	1941	32	Summer 1941 - December 1947-January 1948
DC	Green Lantern	1941	38	Fall 1941 - May-June 1949
DC	Leading Comics	1941	44	Winter 1941 - August-September 1950
DC	Star Spangled Comics	1941	130	October 1941 - July 1952
DC	World's Best Comics	1941	1	[Spring] 1941
DC	World's Finest Comics	1941	322	Summer 1941 - January 1986
DC	Boy Commandos	1942	36	Winter 1942-1943 - November-December 1949
DC	Comic Cavalcade	1942	63	Winter 1942 - June-July 1954
DC	Picture Stories from the Bible Old Testament	1942	6	[Fall] 1942 - Fall 1943
DC	Sensation Comics	1942	109	January 1942 - May-June 1952
DC	Wonder Woman	1942	329	Summer 1942 - February 1986
DC	All Funny Comics	1943	23	Winter 1943 - May-June 1948
DC	Picture Stories from the Bible Complete Old Testament Edition	1943	1	1943
DC	The Big All-American Comic Book	1944	1	1944
DC	Buzzy	1944	77	Winter 1944 - October 1958
DC	Ed Wheelan's Joke Book	1944	1	[December] 1944
DC	Funny Stuff	1944	79	Summer 1944 - July-August 1954
DC	Picture Stories from the Bible New Testament	1944	2	[October] 1944 - [April] 1945
DC	Real Screen Comics	1945	127	Summer 1945 - May-June 1959
DC	Real Screen Funnies	1945	1	Spring 1945
DC	Animal Antics	1946	23	March-April 1946 - November-December 1949
DC	Funny Folks	1946	26	April-May 1946 - June-July 1950
DC	Funny Folks	1946	1	Feb-46
DC	Real Fact Comics	1946	21	March-April 1946 - July-August 1949
DC	A Date with Judy	1947	79	October-November 1947 - October-November 1960
DC	Gang Busters	1947	67	December 1947-January 1948 - December 1958-January 1959
DC	All-American Western	1948	24	November 1948 - June-July 1952
DC	Dale Evans Comics	1948	24	September-October 1948 - July-August 1952
DC	Leave It to Binky	1948	71	February-March 1948 - February-March 1970
DC	Mr. District Attorney	1948	67	January-February 1948 - January-February 1959
DC	Scribbly	1948	15	August-September 1948 - December 1951-January 1952
DC	Western Comics	1948	85	January-February 1948 - January-February 1961
DC	The Adventures of Alan Ladd	1949	9	October-November 1949 - February-March 1951
DC	The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet	1949	5	October-November 1949 - June-July 1950
DC	Girls' Love Stories	1949	180	August-September 1949 - November-December 1973
DC	Jimmy Wakely	1949	18	September-October 1949 - July-August 1952
DC	Make Way for Youth	1949	1	[1949]
DC	Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood	1949	9	March-April 1949 - July-August 1950
DC	Peter Porkchops	1949	62	November-December 1949 - October-December 1960
DC	Romance Trail	1949	6	July-August 1949 - May-June 1950
DC	Secret Hearts	1949	153	September-October 1949 - July 1971
DC	Superboy	1949	230	March-April 1949 - August 1977
DC	The Adventures of Bob Hope	1950	109	February-March 1950 - February-March 1968
DC	Danger Trail	1950	5	July-August 1950 - March-April 1951
DC	Feature Films Magazine	1950	4	March-April 1950 - September-October 1950
DC	Girls' Romances	1950	160	February-March 1950 - October 1971
DC	Hollywood Funny Folks	1950	34	August-September 1950 - July-August 1954
DC	Leading Screen Comics	1950	33	October-November 1950 - August-September 1955
DC	Miss Melody Lane of Broadway	1950	3	February-March 1950 - June-July 1950
DC	Movietown's Animal Antics	1950	28	January-February 1950 - July-August 1954
DC	Mystery Trail [ashcan]	1950	1	February-March 1950
DC	Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer	1950	12	1950 [January 1951] - [November] 1961
DC	Strange Adventures	1950	244	August-September 1950 - October-November 1973
DC	Tomahawk	1950	140	September-October 1950 - May-June 1972
DC	All Star Western	1951	62	April-May 1951 - June-July 1961
DC	Big Town	1951	50	January 1951 - March-April 1958
DC	Flippity & Flop	1951	47	December 1951-January 1952 - September-November 1960
DC	The Fox and the Crow	1951	108	December 1951-January 1952 - February-March 1968
DC	House of Mystery	1951	321	December 1951-January 1952 - October 1983
DC	Mystery in Space	1951	117	April-May 1951 - March 1981
DC	The Adventures of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis	1952	40	July-August 1952 - October 1957
DC	The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog	1952	46	January-February 1952 - September-October 1959
DC	All-American Men of War	1952	2	August-September 1952 - October-November 1952
DC	All-American Men of War	1952	116	December 1952-January 1953 - September-October 1966
DC	Here's Howie Comics	1952	18	January-February 1952 - November-December 1954
DC	Our Army at War	1952	301	August 1952 - February 1977
DC	The Phantom Stranger	1952	6	August-September 1952 - June-July 1953
DC	Sensation Mystery	1952	7	July-August 1952 - July-August 1953
DC	Star Spangled War Stories	1952	3	August 1952 - October 1952
DC	Star Spangled War Stories	1952	202	November 1952 - February-March 1977
DC	3-D Batman	1953	1	[December] 1953
DC	Everything Happens to Harvey	1953	7	September-October 1953 - September-October 1954
DC	Peter Panda	1953	31	August-September 1953 - August-September 1958
DC	Congo Bill	1954	7	August-September 1954 - August-September 1955
DC	The Dodo and the Frog	1954	13	September-October 1954 - November 1957
DC	Hopalong Cassidy	1954	50	February 1954 - May-June 1959
DC	Nutsy Squirrel	1954	12	September-October 1954 - November 1957
DC	Our Fighting Forces	1954	181	October-November 1954 - September-October 1978
DC	The Raccoon Kids	1954	13	September-October 1954 - November 1957
DC	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen	1954	163	September-October 1954 - February-March 1974
DC	The Brave and the Bold	1955	200	August-September 1955 - July 1983
DC	Falling in Love	1955	143	September-October 1955 - October-November 1973
DC	Frontier Fighters	1955	8	September-October 1955 - November-December 1956
DC	It's Gametime	1955	4	September-October 1955 - March-April 1956
DC	The Legends of Daniel Boone	1955	8	October-November 1955 - September-October 1956
DC	My Greatest Adventure	1955	85	January-February 1955 - February 1964
DC	House of Secrets	1956	154	November-December 1956 - October-November 1978
DC	Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners	1956	12	June-July 1956 - April-May 1958
DC	Showcase	1956	104	March-April 1956 - September 1978
DC	Sugar & Spike	1956	98	April-May 1956 - October-November 1971
DC	Tales of the Unexpected	1956	104	February-March 1956 - December 1967-January 1968
DC	The Three Mouseketeers	1956	26	March-April 1956 - October-December 1960
DC	The Adventures of Jerry Lewis	1957	84	November 1957 - May-June 1971
DC	Blackhawk	1957	166	January 1957 - November 1984
DC	G.I. Combat	1957	245	January 1957 - March 1987
DC	Heart Throbs	1957	100	April-May 1957 - October 1972
DC	Robin Hood Tales	1957	8	January-February 1957 - March-April 1958
DC	Sergeant Bilko	1957	18	May-June 1957 - March-April 1960
DC	Challengers of the Unknown	1958	87	April-May 1958 - June-July 1978
DC	The New Adventures of Charlie Chan	1958	6	May-June 1958 - March-April 1959
DC	Sgt. Bilko's Pvt. Doberman	1958	11	June-July 1958 - February-March 1960
DC	Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane	1958	137	March-April 1958 - September-October 1974
DC	The Flash	1959	246	February-March 1959 - October 1985
DC	Pat Boone	1959	5	September-October 1959 - May-June 1960
DC	TV Screen Cartoons	1959	10	July-August 1959 - January-February 1961

 

[lou_fine]

On 4/24/2021 at 11:51 AM, Math Teacher said:

I actually considered that method also. I'm not sure where you would get a definitive list of all the titles published by DC or Timely/Atlas/Marvel. I'm sure someone who is much starter than me will post a link so as to answer that question.

The method that I've tried to do and unfortunately have proven unsuccessful to date is to acquire a copy of each major pedigree from the GA.  

Sadly, with the way prices have gone up over the years, I now know that I will never be able to achieve this collectible objective of mines.  

[Robot Man]

17 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

The method that I've tried to do and unfortunately have proven unsuccessful to date is to acquire a copy of each major pedigree from the GA.  

Sadly, with the way prices have gone up over the years, I now know that I will never be able to achieve this collectible objective of mines.  

Me too. I pretty much figured out I would never own an Allentown or Denver due to my limited budget but have come pretty close. The ones I always have liked the best were the ones with distinct markings. Seeing those penciled numbers on a Church, the name Larson or Okajima and that Riley back cover stamp always make me think of those folks who loved their books, took care of them and kept them safe for me to enjoy. 

I always love to look at my books from notable collectors and creators. Just makes them a little more special. 

[Math Teacher]

On 4/24/2021 at 1:42 AM, Albert Thurgood said:

I can't help for the '40s and earlier, but ECs have a great reputation and are relatively cheap for wonderful artists and stories. Go for the SF titles as they are a bit closer to the superhero genre than the more expensive crime and horror titles.

You mentioned funny animals. Carl Barks is the best funny animal artist IMHO and his books are also fairly inexpensive. (I shouldn't have told you that because I haven't got any yet and was planning to get some. So don't bid against me, OK? ). 

 

@Albert Thurgood, thanks for the reminder about EC. I currently have Four Color #178 (first Uncle Scrooge), and I am looking for Four Color #386 (Uncle Scrooge #1). Once I have that book, I won't be on the market for any further Carl Barks material.