Never thought I'd see this- The "big 3" EC horror titles are apparently "hot". 1 1

[twmjr1]

These books used to be available by the thousands on Ebay. No more, and the early issues are pretty expensive now. Metro hardly has any of the books in stock. They used to have multiples of every single issue. I completed these runs about 20 years ago, for almost nothing  It seems most any GA or atom age book sells like hotcakes now

[jimbo_7071]

High grade copies come up for sale almost constantly. They're definitely not hard to find in the auctions.

The only ones that are even a little bit scarce are the annuals.

[KirbyJack]

ECs are always available, but I'm glad to see them fetching bigger money. When the PCH interest started to climb, ECs seemed like an afterthought. Now they're climbing: it makes me think people are reading them!

My only “big” horror issue.

Edited November 15, 2021 by KirbyJack

[Robot Man]

I would agree on them heating up. I used to see most of them on a fairly regular basis. I never was to concerned if I was out bid on the bay because I knew another copy would turn up in a month or two. I just pecked away at them and was able to buy nice mid grade copies at a price I felt I was happy with.

I long ago picked up the expensive ones and was down to the more “average” issues. At the end of last year, I was down to 7 which I thought I could easily complete by the end of this year. Down to two and haven’t seen appropriate copies in a long time. Doesn’t look likely I will finish them off this year.

They seem to be going for around $100. A point and even more when you get above a 6.0.

Very happy to have what I have. Probably going to have to pay up for the last two when I eventually see them. 

[Robot Man]

On 11/15/2021 at 5:37 AM, KirbyJack said:

ECs are always available, but I'm glad to see them fetching bigger money. When the PCH interest started to climb, ECs seemed like an afterthought. Now they're climbing: it makes me think people are reading them!

My only “big” horror issue.

People have always read them. And with the availability of good reprints, anyone can enjoy them.

At one time I had all of them. When the reprints came out, I sold off most of them and bought books that wern’t reprinted. A smart move at the time because I was buying Schomburg Nedor war covers, LB Cole and finished off a lot of PCH titles before they really took off.

There is nothing like original ECs though. So, I was seduced back in. 

[IngelsFan]

On 11/15/2021 at 8:13 AM, Robot Man said:

There is nothing like original ECs though. So, I was seduced back in. 

Absolutely right about that! Which explains why I have both slabbed and unslabbed copies of the books I like, even though I have them on hand in multiple platforms (Cochran set, Fantagraphics EC Library, Gemstone/Gladstone singles, EC Classics, East Coast Comix). Nothing beats the smell and feel of an original EC.

[EastEnd1]

I think the Gaines file copy keys have mostly settled into permanent collections now.  When Heritage flooded the market with them about fifteen years ago, they were common in the big three auctions... and as a result, relatively cheap by PCH key standards.  Not so much anymore.  Gaines copies of CoT#17, TFTC#20, CP#15, WS#12, etc rarely show up anymore.  I've only seen one Gaines CSS#22 and 2 HOF#15 come up for auction in the last 15 years.  As a big EC fan myself, its great to see them re-establish themselves at the top of the pecking order where they belong.

[Robot Man]

On 11/15/2021 at 2:46 PM, EastEnd1 said:

I think the Gaines file copy keys have mostly settled into permanent collections now.  When Heritage flooded the market with them about fifteen years ago, they were common in the big three auctions... and as a result, relatively cheap by PCH key standards.  Not so much anymore.  Gaines copies of CoT#17, TFTC#20, CP#15, WS#12, etc rarely show up anymore.  I've only seen one Gaines CSS#22 and 2 HOF#15 come up for auction in the last 15 years.  As a big EC fan myself, its great to see them re-establish themselves at the top of the pecking order where they belong.

I sure wish they would “re-establish” themselves AFTER I finish my runs...

[Mmehdy]

On 11/15/2021 at 5:37 AM, KirbyJack said:

ECs are always available, but I'm glad to see them fetching bigger money. When the PCH interest started to climb, ECs seemed like an afterthought. Now they're climbing: it makes me think people are reading them!

My only “big” horror issue.

the art to this cover is going to be sold at ha this week in the signature auction.

[Mmehdy]

cover went for 52K...nice price, nice art

[Cat-Man_America]

As many times as these have been reprinted one would be justified in thinking the market saturated.  But (IMO) there's a good reason why the original comics, art and by extension the Gaines File Copies continue to ascend in popularity.  The simple, most obvious reason is every licensed reissuer has fiddled with the original concept in some way, usually with deleterious results.  I'm not including Russ Cochran's oversized slipcased B&W efforts.  Those books were designed for old school EC collectors, a high quality labor of love, reprinting the original art in honor of the publisher's legacy.  That said, every subsequent licensed reissue produced in color has fallen well short of fan expectations in one way or another.  In that respect, only the original comics are revered by the collecting community.  The digitally recolored hardcovers are for the most part a travesty, far from "archival" in any way.  Earlier reissues with children's refrigerator art replacing the original comic's editorial pages and other tweaks made the comics seem an anachronism.  So, the collector market for the originals, comics and art, is booming.  Unless there's a dramatic change in collector habits I don't foresee an EC bubble on the horizon.

Obviously waaaasy too much caffeine this morning. 

Edited November 21, 2021 by Cat-Man_America
Ale added, soapbox reinforced (new smaller emoji versions)

[Sarg]

On 11/20/2021 at 1:01 PM, Cat-Man_America said:

As many times as these have been reprinted one would be justified in thinking the market saturated.  But (IMO) there's a good reason why the original comics, art and by extension the Gaines File Copies continue to ascend in popularity.  The simple, most obvious reason is every licensed reissuer has fiddled with the original concept in some way, usually with deleterious results.  I'm not including Russ Cochran's oversized slipcased B&W efforts.  Those books were designed for old school EC collectors, a high quality labor of love, purely reprinting the original art in honor of the publisher's legacy.  That said, every subsequent reissue in color, whether licensed or knock-off has fallen short of fan expectations in one respect or another.  In that regard, only the original comics are the only ones revered by the collecting community.  The digitally recolored hardcovers are for the most part a travesty, far from "archival" in any way.  Earlier reissues with children's refrigerator art replacing the original comic's editorial pages and other tweaks made the comics seem an anachronism.  So, the collector market for the originals, comics and art, is booming.  Unless there's a dramatic change in collector habits I don't foresee an EC bubble on the horizon.

Obviously waaaasy too much caffeine this morning. 

The Cochran sets also fiddled with the original concept simply by printing in black and white. The artists drew with color in mind, and in many cases, the color added quite dramatically to the artwork. So, really, you don't get the EC "experience" anywhere except with the original comics. 

[fifties]

On 11/20/2021 at 11:01 AM, Cat-Man_America said:

As many times as these have been reprinted one would be justified in thinking the market saturated.  But (IMO) there's a good reason why the original comics, art and by extension the Gaines File Copies continue to ascend in popularity.  The simple, most obvious reason is every licensed reissuer has fiddled with the original concept in some way

The reason IMHO is even simpler than that;  even if the re-issued copies had followed the exact same routine as the originals to include the original letters page, advertisements, and coloring, they are still just copies.  On top of that, every copy to include East Coast Comix, Cochran, Gemstone, Gladstone, etc., have been made on current dimension standards, so the originals are bigger in size. None are therefore exact duplicates.

Personally I have complete runs of copies of all but the war comics, filling two short comic boxes, but I never read them.  I only read my originals.  There's something about reading the letters pages that take me back.

[Cat-Man_America]

On 11/21/2021 at 1:04 PM, fifties said:

The reason IMHO is even simpler than that;  even if the re-issued copies had followed the exact same routine as the originals to include the original letters page, advertisements, and coloring, they are still just copies.  On top of that, every copy to include East Coast Comix, Cochran, Gemstone, Gladstone, etc., have been made on current dimension standards, so the originals are bigger in size. None are therefore exact duplicates.

Personally I have complete runs of copies of all but the war comics, filling two short comic boxes, but I never read them.  I only read my originals.  There's something about reading the letters pages that take me back.

Good point about copies still being copies as opposed to originals and agree about the variation in dimension standards between the various reprint formats.  We come to this from slightly different angles, but share the overall impression that subsequent versions fail in several key areas.  

As a dedicated collector who appreciates EC I'm guessing you took the initiative out of support for Russ Cochran's efforts to preserve Gaine's lines, now owning short boxes of reprints of limited speculative value.  I get your point about buying runs of the copies and did much the same thing at the time they were being reissued.  In my case, feeling no connection for the dupes and an intense dislike to those egregious flaws pointed out earlier, I eventually divested myself of the entire run of copies while keeping Russ's slipcased B&W archives as they more accurately reflect the ultimate achievement of Gaines' original New Trend.

[Jayman]

Plus the originals are just so much cooler!!! 

[Robot Man]

On 11/14/2021 at 8:54 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

High grade copies come up for sale almost constantly. They're definitely not hard to find in the auctions.

The only ones that are even a little bit scarce are the annuals.

  I can tell you are not a completist. I dare you to try to put together a pre trend set these days. International, Moon Girl and the crime and especially the romance issues are VERY difficult even in low grade and VERY expensive! 

[jimbo_7071]

On 11/21/2021 at 7:58 PM, Robot Man said:

  I can tell you are not a completist. I dare you to try to put together a pre trend set these days. International, Moon Girl and the crime and especially the romance issues are VERY difficult even in low grade and VERY expensive! 

You may be right. I was thinking of the horror books specifically.

[aardvark88]

On 11/21/2021 at 11:04 AM, fifties said:

so the originals are bigger in size. None are therefore exact duplicates.

  I only read my originals.  There's something about reading the letters pages that take me back.

Bob Overstreet, Landon Chesney, Russ Cochran (RIP), director George Romero love to READ their vintage EC's. Circa 2004 DVD interviews:

 

[adamstrange]

On 11/20/2021 at 3:02 PM, Sarg said:

The Cochran sets also fiddled with the original concept simply by printing in black and white. The artists drew with color in mind, and in many cases, the color added quite dramatically to the artwork. So, really, you don't get the EC "experience" anywhere except with the original comics. 

One of the problems with ECs is that so many stories were drawn to impress the other artists that, as printed, they look rather muddled.  I've read comments from some of the artists that they would all gather around when a new story was brought in and that, on more than one occasion, they drew to "one up" that last guy.

[fifties]

On 1/28/2022 at 3:32 PM, adamstrange said:

I've read comments from some of the artists that they would all gather around when a new story was brought in and that, on more than one occasion, they drew to "one up" that last guy.

And this was a bad thing?  Seems to me that sort of competition would only improve the quality of the illustrating.  Other than possibly Atlas, I doubt if this was prevalent with any other publisher.