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Rarest Bronze Age Comic?
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66 posts in this topic

This was created and sold as a fundraiser for the Boston Pops, with a print run of only 250. The black-and-white comic was sold for $10 per copy during intermission, and after the concert, on opening night of the 1978 season. The comic was projected onto a screen in the auditorium during intermission. As part of the contractual agreement with Marvel and DC, all copies not sold were destroyed! We doubt that more than a handful of copies still exist, as comic collectors were not much in evidence at the concert that night.
The lineup of teenage creators is actually quite impressive: future star DC writer Busiek's story was drawn by Christopher Bing, who would go on to be a Caldecott Medal-winning children's book illustrator, and lettered by Richard Howell, current editor of Claypool Comics. Also, the "Scott McLeod" in the credits is Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics and artist of Zot!. In the yarn concocted by these youngsters, the governor (yes, Michael Dukakis himself), sends out a televised call to all superheroes (via PBS, no less) and the respondents include Spider-Man, Captain America, the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, Superman, Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman.

I once bought a copy of this from a book seller in MA, about 3 months after finding a copy of Amazing Spider-Man 184 All Detergent giveaway that still had the sticker attached.

I would say those were the two rarest comics with Spider-Man in them.  

Max case 250 copies of these but I saw an estimate of less than 12.

Probably not the rarest bronze age comic, but in the conversation.

 

POW!BIFF!POPS! 1987 Front Cover

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On 8/1/2022 at 6:03 AM, Qalyar said:

As I recall, they were awards from some contest, although I do not remember the details.

Honestly, the 2D printing of Miracleman in 3-D #1 is the best known of the 3D-in-2D books, and it likely demands the highest prices on the market. Because Miracleman, and all. But I don't think it's the rarest. All four issues of Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters in 3-D presumably exist in 2D form also, but there are no copies of any of the issues on the census, and to my knowledge no copies of #2 or #3 have emerged on the secondary market within the last decade at least.

 

A little bit more research turned up there were 300 copies of the later 2-D issues printed like Hampsters. Miracle man was only 100 copies, presumably because it was first.

Edited by sfcityduck
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On 8/1/2022 at 8:43 AM, Spider-Variant said:

This was created and sold as a fundraiser for the Boston Pops, with a print run of only 250. The black-and-white comic was sold for $10 per copy during intermission, and after the concert, on opening night of the 1978 season. The comic was projected onto a screen in the auditorium during intermission. As part of the contractual agreement with Marvel and DC, all copies not sold were destroyed! We doubt that more than a handful of copies still exist, as comic collectors were not much in evidence at the concert that night.
The lineup of teenage creators is actually quite impressive: future star DC writer Busiek's story was drawn by Christopher Bing, who would go on to be a Caldecott Medal-winning children's book illustrator, and lettered by Richard Howell, current editor of Claypool Comics. Also, the "Scott McLeod" in the credits is Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics and artist of Zot!. In the yarn concocted by these youngsters, the governor (yes, Michael Dukakis himself), sends out a televised call to all superheroes (via PBS, no less) and the respondents include Spider-Man, Captain America, the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, Superman, Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman.

I once bought a copy of this from a book seller in MA, about 3 months after finding a copy of Amazing Spider-Man 184 All Detergent giveaway that still had the sticker attached.

I would say those were the two rarest comics with Spider-Man in them.  

Max case 250 copies of these but I saw an estimate of less than 12.

Probably not the rarest bronze age comic, but in the conversation.

 

POW!BIFF!POPS! 1987 Front Cover

I remember seeing a copy of this on eBay for a while for four figures. Always wondered what the full story on it was. Boston Pops also did some cool Star Wars merch.

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On 8/1/2022 at 11:50 AM, sfcityduck said:

I remember seeing a copy of this on eBay for a while for four figures. Always wondered what the full story on it was. Boston Pops also did some cool Star Wars merch.

I sold my copy for around $600 if memory serves me correctly, but that was 10 years back or so.  I would say probably 20-30 copies out there.

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On 7/31/2022 at 8:21 PM, sfcityduck said:

I don't think the print runs were miniscule and they have been collectible for a while. I think the folks buying those tend to hold on to them and not submit them to CGC. So while the one's I looked at for genre books, including the Scooby-Doo 1 and a Sgt. Fury had more a than a handful of CGC copies, it's worth noting that the Star Wars 1 which trades more frequently is up to 257 copies. So I'm thinking that they are not as rare as other contenders.

 

I wouldn't put Star Wars in the same category. 

Scooby and Fury I would. 

 

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On 8/1/2022 at 12:00 PM, fastballspecial said:

I wouldn't put Star Wars in the same category. 

Scooby and Fury I would. 

 

The star wars issues were always regarded as some of the most common 35 cent variants, despite the neverending desirability.

Flintstones and the Western titles would be right up there as well, and historically, Marvel Triple Action 36

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On 8/3/2022 at 10:30 AM, PeterPark said:

The star wars issues were always regarded as some of the most common 35 cent variants, despite the neverending desirability.

Flintstones and the Western titles would be right up there as well, and historically, Marvel Triple Action 36

There's a Flintstones 1 on eBay at a price that puts it above a GSX 1 and maybe an IH 181 grade for grade. Good luck to the seller. Seller notes that 9 copies are in the census (which does not include his "midgrade" copy). 8 MTA 36s on the census. So I'm still thinking the DTMATBK 10 (1 copy on census) is rarer than even these hard to find $.35 copies.  eBay also has issues of Tarzan, John Carter, 2001, Godzilla, Dracula, Kull, Conan, Logan's Run, MoKF, and various superhero titles for the $200s and less. Star Wars prices are four figures. 

 

Edited by sfcityduck
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On 8/3/2022 at 6:14 PM, sfcityduck said:

There's a Flintstones 1 on eBay at a price that puts it above a GSX 1 and maybe an IH 181 grade for grade. Good luck to the seller. Seller notes that 9 copies are in the census (which does not include his "midgrade" copy). 8 MTA 36s on the census. So I'm still thinking the DTMATBK 10 (1 copy on census) is rarer than even these hard to find $.35 copies.  eBay also has issues of Tarzan, John Carter, 2001, Godzilla, Dracula, Kull, Conan, Logan's Run, MoKF, and various superhero titles for the $200s and less. Star Wars prices are four figures. 

 

Dennis the Menace and the Bible Kids doesn't have as wide appeal as the 35 centers. It is cool to me, but I also think it is not as well-known and difficult to know from the cover what number it is. I look for it myself.

Not all 35 cent variants are created equal and different prices are more indicative of demand than scarcity. They're all rare. Iron Fist 14 is much harder to find than the Star Wars issues. Except where the money is, like the big 9 (Flintstones 1, Kid Colt 218-220, Rawhide 140, 141, Scooby 1, Sgt Fury 141, 142), copies will show up eventually. Money has brought out many more copies. Up until fairly recently, Kid Colt 218 had 0 copies on the census. A lot of very specifically dedicated people scour the internet for copies and still there seem to be a couple handfuls of copies. It's an esoteric pursuit and those that are not bitten by the desire for the set look past them. How many people are trying to get all the issues of Marvel's Tarzan? Logan's Run 6 is a very desirable issue that you are unlikely to find for under $200.

My point was that, when considering 35 cent variants, there are 10 or so that are really, really scarce.

I'm still looking for 5 of them! :preach:

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On 8/3/2022 at 8:56 PM, PeterPark said:

Dennis the Menace and the Bible Kids doesn't have as wide appeal as the 35 centers. It is cool to me, but I also think it is not as well-known and difficult to know from the cover what number it is. I look for it myself.

Have you found one?  Took me 17 years. I was inspired by a post on this site to look for one way back in 2005.  

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On 8/1/2022 at 11:43 AM, Spider-Variant said:

This was created and sold as a fundraiser for the Boston Pops, with a print run of only 250. The black-and-white comic was sold for $10 per copy during intermission, and after the concert, on opening night of the 1978 season. The comic was projected onto a screen in the auditorium during intermission. As part of the contractual agreement with Marvel and DC, all copies not sold were destroyed! We doubt that more than a handful of copies still exist, as comic collectors were not much in evidence at the concert that night.
The lineup of teenage creators is actually quite impressive: future star DC writer Busiek's story was drawn by Christopher Bing, who would go on to be a Caldecott Medal-winning children's book illustrator, and lettered by Richard Howell, current editor of Claypool Comics. Also, the "Scott McLeod" in the credits is Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics and artist of Zot!. In the yarn concocted by these youngsters, the governor (yes, Michael Dukakis himself), sends out a televised call to all superheroes (via PBS, no less) and the respondents include Spider-Man, Captain America, the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, Superman, Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman.

I once bought a copy of this from a book seller in MA, about 3 months after finding a copy of Amazing Spider-Man 184 All Detergent giveaway that still had the sticker attached.

I would say those were the two rarest comics with Spider-Man in them.  

Max case 250 copies of these but I saw an estimate of less than 12.

Probably not the rarest bronze age comic, but in the conversation.

 

POW!BIFF!POPS! 1987 Front Cover

If this is what was projected on the screen, do I get royalties, as Biff has been my nickname for 76 years.:flipbait:

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On 8/4/2022 at 7:09 AM, John Neville said:

Picked this up last night. Black Hole #4. Took me years to finally find one at a reasonable price. 

5E03595B-5D0F-4DA2-8F6D-4ABA5D8EFADD.jpeg

Hard to find for a reasonable price! It had a reputation for being very rare and prices soared. But there are nine copies on eBay right now.

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On 8/4/2022 at 12:11 PM, Brian48 said:

Does this count?  Or does being a commissioned piece of work disqualifies it?

 

supes.jpg

this is what 1st came to my memory, I forget the write up about it, something like published for a kids birthday party. Was big talk about a sale, several years ago now :) 

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On 8/4/2022 at 10:11 AM, Brian48 said:

Does this count?  Or does being a commissioned piece of work disqualifies it?

 

supes.jpg

I think it is its own special category: Commissioned Private Comic.  It was not distributed; it was not even given away publicly. It was published to be given away to relatives and close friends. 

I think it is notable. I just wouldn't put it the same category as a giveaway or a comic that was offered for sale.

Maybe it's in the same category as Cancelled Comic Calvacade.  I dunno. But it's something other than a publicly available comic book - which is what I think these debates really should focus on. To me, real ashcans (the GA kind, not the modern manufactured collectibles) don't count either. Some don't think of them even as comics - just production materials like stats. They were never publicly distributed, so I agree with not counting them. 

Edited by sfcityduck
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Well, based on what I've seen on this thread, the top candidates for giveaways are the Warlord mini and Supergear - but Supergear was unauthorized (but still very cool) so I'm going with Warlord mini.

For comics actually distributed and sold, the top candidates are Dennis the Menace and the Bible Kids no. 10 and Biff! Pow! Pops!  Both are rarely seen and have a population of one on the Census. So it's pretty much a tie (with some variants also maybe contenders a bit behind).

Worth noting, though, that Biff! Pow! Pops! was only distributed at a one-night concert for the Boston Pops with the proceeds going to a charity. So it is an odd book that defies characterization. It uses properly licensed DC and Marvel characters (which is historic and cool) so it fully authorized, but it is really more in the nature of a fanzine in terms of its quality:

powbifpops002-page-011.jpg?w=783 

It is such a weird comic that, despite the fact you had to buy it (at a high price!) if you wanted it at the concert, that I have trouble putting it on par with a normal comics made by professional creators and published in the normal format and fashion. For me, it's really more like a fanzine that accidentally got permission to use the characters and then was basically a charitable donation to the Boston Pops (who attempted to make money off of it).  Super weird, desirable, but maybe should be in its own category?

Edited by sfcityduck
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