scburdet Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) Creature from the Black Lagoon has always been my favorite Universal Monster movie & then this forum informed me that this comic existed. Seems like another Gold Key that a lot of circulating copies are in rough condition. I actually pulled the trigger on this one despite the unverified signature in ink of Carl Pattison on the cover b/c it looked pretty nice otherwise, and the writing sort of blends in a little on the dark background (plus it was relatively inexpensive). The small spine split was not obvious in the photos & not disclosed in the listing. Not sure I'd invest in grading in this conditions, especially since the Creature doesn't even show up until more than halfway through the comic. (Also, that's a shadow in the back cover. I was too lazy to dig the book out again to retake the picture) Edited July 11, 2023 by scburdet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolidShredder Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 Nice book! I don't think the writing is going to affect the grade and the spine split is relatively small. I'd put it around a 4.5. However, I noticed some kinda staining on the inside of the front cover. Is that water damage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted April 22, 2023 Author Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) On 4/22/2023 at 1:22 AM, SolidShredder said: inside of the front cover I'll check it later. I'm not sure a small stain hurts in the 4s. It murders anything from getting to 6. Edited April 22, 2023 by scburdet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolidShredder Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 On 4/22/2023 at 12:33 AM, scburdet said: not sure a small stain hurts in the 4s. Nah, it probably won't matter. My real concern is that there is more water damage that is hiding somewhere. It doesn't look like there is, but was just making sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted April 22, 2023 Author Share Posted April 22, 2023 On 4/22/2023 at 1:46 AM, SolidShredder said: more water damage On my reinspection, it's a small water stain. Weird one though. It's like 1/2 moon instead of a circle. Size of a half quarter. I don't see it on the front side & I don't find more extensive evidence of contact with water elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolidShredder Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) My guess is that water dripped onto the book while it was sitting at an angle causing the water to run to one side instead of pooling in a neat circle. So many older comic books were kept unprotected in dingy, wet basements underneath exposed pipes. EDIT : Obviously I don't think this little bit of water will affect the grade. I'm still confident at 4.5 or so. Edited April 22, 2023 by SolidShredder scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyNelson Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 VG 4.0 fer sure‼️🎁 1950's war comics and scburdet 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mars76 Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 5.0 scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cchunn3 Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 4.0 scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilskip Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 3.5 to 4.0. scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grendelbo Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 4.5/5.0 Thanks for posting. scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morbius21 Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 great book. I've got my eye on one that I'll probably pick up this thursday. I would love to see yours after it's graded. scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted May 1, 2023 Author Share Posted May 1, 2023 Decided to do a drop-off for grading before the new price structure kicks in. I actually only left this in the box b/c I thought the presser would find it amusing. To my surprise, it was snagged almost immediately. We'll know soon if Carl is famous enough for a Green label. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted July 11, 2023 Author Share Posted July 11, 2023 Perhaps the cover writing skewed people's grades a little. Nice looking book. Mars76 and grendelbo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted July 12, 2023 Author Share Posted July 12, 2023 Just got around to checking the notes. No mention of the writing on cover or the small stain on the inside cover. moderate creasing to covermoderate spine stress lines to coververy light tears to cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric C M Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 I would have thought 4.5 as well, highlight is the beautiful White pages, those look immaculate! scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
