Grade is in: Star-Studded Comics 8 2 2

[scburdet]

I've been thinking about getting back to finding early/first creator contributions. Especially since it feels like most things I would otherwise want to add to the PC are crazy expensive. Also been learning more about fanzines from small indy publishing operations since following boards here. I can't tell for sure, but this is listed in some places as the earliest known Starlin/Milgrom work. I'm sure something must be pre-date it, but IDK. Grabbed it off of MCS for way less than comparable or lower grade copies on auction sites, so pretty sure it grades at least to their standards. Has some kind of color chip on the spine, and a small corner crease. FYI it's magazine size. What say you?

MCS says:

Spoiler

7.0

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by scburdet

[Mars76]

MCS is usually conservative with its grades but I feel they're spot on with this one. I'm leaning more to 7.5 for this book.

[grendelbo]

On 2/26/2023 at 11:28 AM, scburdet said:

Especially since it feels like most things I would otherwise want to add to the PC are crazy expensive.

Yeah. I returned to this hobby (for the 3rd time) in late 2019. By 2021 I was priced out of it. Since then I've focused on small, niched interests.

7.5

Thanks for posting.

[scburdet]

On 2/26/2023 at 5:32 PM, grendelbo said:

priced out

My definition of priced out is "probably getting murdered if I spent $10K on a FF48". If I ever disappear from here, I got caught spending a car's worth pile of cash on a comic 💀

[scburdet]

Starlin & Milgrom are coming to a semi-local con in April. Not going myself, but sent it off to a facilitator to grab a double. I think this will be really neat, grade aside. I actually emailed Milgrom on a whim to verify J Star was Starlin (not trusting the internet) & to ask if this was their "first" published work. Apparently, he and Jim have some work in high school yearbooks prior to this. I also did the math and realized Al was around 16 and Jim around 17 when they published this. Crazy.

[Bayowolf]

8.0

[scburdet]

@grendelbo & @Mars76 nailed it. One grade higher than MCS had it. Fraying along the spine probably was the tipping point. Given the material these covers are made from, it's hard for me to imagine that they all don't have some degree unless someone grabbed one in 1966 and never opened it.

[Point Five]

Wow, cool book, never seen it before! The characters have a very early-GA feel to them.  

[scburdet]

On 11/9/2023 at 4:07 PM, Point Five said:

characters

The GA feel is intentional. I read about the TT properties somewhere, and the creators were trying to capture/reuse the essence of GA characters.

Starlin eventually was enlisted to do several Dr. Weird stories for TT just before he got his professional start. Here's the title page from the collected edition. GRR Martin also cut his teeth writing for these fanzines. Starlin would have been 16ish when he drew this. It came out 6 months before his 17th birthday. Milgrom would have been 15. I got a kick out of taking one of them from him to sign in-person. I had a facilitator get this one.

[Point Five]

Awesome!