Fox Comics Appreciation Thread! 20 20

[Jayman]

On 1/4/2023 at 3:05 PM, adamstrange said:

That's the only Fox giant I ever owned.  I had a very nice copy that I eventually let go at some point because the way her eye was drawn freaked me out.

Eye don’t know what you mean!

[Jayman]

Might as well post this here too! Just finished reading it online, no spider monkeys but has a Hitler appearance.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Jayman

[Frisco Larson]

On 1/5/2023 at 5:14 PM, lpsunburst said:

It helps make up for so many of the low grade copies I have in the run

Just to have "copies in the run" is saying quite a bit these days! They're tough to find and when they become available, they usually go for more than you'd want to pay. 

[lou_fine]

On 1/5/2023 at 8:56 AM, Frisco Larson said:

Beautiful coded Church copy you've got there!!!  Those are almost completely locked up in collections now.

Yep, almost impossible to find and get these later Fox Church books after Jon sold them off in his auction through CC some 5 years ago.  

 

On 1/5/2023 at 3:14 PM, lpsunburst said:

It helps make up for so many of the low grade copies I have in the run

If it weren't for these HG Church copies from Jon's collection, it looks like the census confirms that almost all of these later issues (the few that there are) exists only in low to at best mid-grade condition only.  

 

[Frisco Larson]

On 1/6/2023 at 1:04 AM, lou_fine said:

Yep, almost impossible to find and get these later Fox Church books after Jon sold them off in his auction through CC some 5 years ago.  

 

If it weren't for these HG Church copies from Jon's collection, it looks like the census confirms that almost all of these later issues (the few that there are) exists only in low to at best mid-grade condition only.  

 

Possibly true, although I DID own the Allentown Mystery Men 16 and it was a graded 8.5, so other pedigree copies might be out there as well.

[comicnoir]

[lpsunburst]

I will probably get this one graded since there are so few of the later issues around. My lowest graded issue is #31 but the copy I have is the only one I ever found for sale and needed it to complete the run.

[lou_fine]

On 1/5/2023 at 11:56 PM, Frisco Larson said:

Possibly true, although I DID own the Allentown Mystery Men 16 and it was a graded 8.5, so other pedigree copies might be out there as well.

Congrats on your Allentown copy of Mystery Men 16 as the Allentown books are so few and far between with a meagre total of only 135 books in the entire collection.  

From looking at the Allentown listing, it would appear that your copy of MM 16 is the final issue in the Allentown Mystery Men run and the WW 17 would be the final issue in the Allentown Wonderworld run.  No other Allentown books in the Mystery Men and Wonderworld runs after those two mid-run issues.

As for any other pedigree outside the Church books, the only other major one that I can think of with any level of consistency would have been the Larson copies and even there, the Larson List indicates only a scattering of 4 issues after Mystery Men 16 and also another 4 issues after Wonderworld 17.  

So, this goes a long way to explain why there are so few HG copies of these later Fox books outside the Church copies.  

[buttock]

On 1/6/2023 at 9:50 AM, lou_fine said:

Congrats on your Allentown copy of Mystery Men 16 as the Allentown books are so few and far between with a meagre total of only 135 books in the entire collection.  

From looking at the Allentown listing, it would appear that your copy of MM 16 is the final issue in the Allentown Mystery Men run and the WW 17 would be the final issue in the Allentown Wonderworld run.  No other Allentown books in the Mystery Men and Wonderworld runs after those two mid-run issues.

As for any other pedigree outside the Church books, the only other major one that I can think of with any level of consistency would have been the Larson copies and even there, the Larson List indicates only a scattering of 4 issues after Mystery Men 16 and also another 4 issues after Wonderworld 17.  

So, this goes a long way to explain why there are so few HG copies of these later Fox books outside the Church copies.  

Where are all the Cosmic Aeroplane Fox books?  There are only 3 in the HA archives.  Similarly a very small number of Crippens, Pennsylvania, and Rockfords; all of which should have spanned the time frame for later Fox books.  

[Frisco Larson]

On 1/6/2023 at 10:50 AM, lou_fine said:

Congrats on your Allentown copy of Mystery Men 16 as the Allentown books are so few and far between with a meagre total of only 135 books in the entire collection.  

From looking at the Allentown listing, it would appear that your copy of MM 16 is the final issue in the Allentown Mystery Men run and the WW 17 would be the final issue in the Allentown Wonderworld run.  No other Allentown books in the Mystery Men and Wonderworld runs after those two mid-run issues.

As for any other pedigree outside the Church books, the only other major one that I can think of with any level of consistency would have been the Larson copies and even there, the Larson List indicates only a scattering of 4 issues after Mystery Men 16 and also another 4 issues after Wonderworld 17.  

So, this goes a long way to explain why there are so few HG copies of these later Fox books outside the Church copies.  

I did a quick search of Heritage's archives because I KNOW I've seen some later Fox books from other pedigrees and my findings are that some of them just didn't quite reach the 8.0 grade of what many feel is the beginning of HIGH grade. I recall seeing several Rockford copies of later Fox books and their archive shows some. They've previously auctioned Big 3 #7 Jan 1942 CGC Blue 7.5 (last issue), Eagle #4 Jan 1942 CGC Blue 7.0 (last issue), V-Comics #2 Mar 1942 CGC Blue 8.0 (last issue) & finally Weird Comics #20 Jan 1942 CGC Blue 4.0 (last issue). All of those are the last issues from their respective titles, only one of which is clearly mid-grade. Likewise, they show some Frisco Fox books, albeit not from the very end of the titles. A beautiful Wonderworld #23 Mar 1941 CGC Blue 9.2 could certainly be considered "later" in the run, as could the very clean Weird Comics #12 Mar 1941 CGC Blue 7.5. I recall seeing some Pennsylvania Fox books go thru Heritage as well and their archive DOES show some late run copies. They auctioned a gorgeous run of Blue Beetles from 1942-1943, but of particular note, it's the Eagle Comics #3 Nov 1941 CGC Blue 9.0 and the lesser grade but very cool Mystery Men #26 CGC Blue 5.0 that would be very desirable if available now. I remember the Billy Wright collection containing many Fox books; however, I was in error thinking they went later than they did. Heritage's archive shows the latest issue being Fantastic Comics #12 Nov 1940 CGC Blue 7.5, so I was mistaken about that pedigree. You are correct in that the Larson pedigree list shows MANY later Fox books. I'm not certain as to how many have been certified, but a quick Heritage search shows that of the 6 Larsons graded from mid-1941 forward, all are lower to mid-grade, save for one copy reaching 8.0 blue. My main point here is that I believe there are still a lot of pedigree copies in collections that haven't been certified. Hopefully time will bring them forward. 

[lou_fine]

On 1/6/2023 at 9:02 AM, buttock said:

Where are all the Cosmic Aeroplane Fox books?  There are only 3 in the HA archives.  Similarly a very small number of Crippens, Pennsylvania, and Rockfords; all of which should have spanned the time frame for later Fox books.  

The real big question when it comes to missing pedigrees is where are all of those San Francisco Nedor's?  

[Frisco Larson]

I've been enjoying this thread quite a bit lately and was wishing I had more to contribute but then I remembered that I DO have an incomplete key book that I can share. This is my coverless copy of Mystery Men #1. It's also missing a centerfold, but it's so expensive, ya take what you can get! Below are pics of splash pages.

[Spyder!]

Very cool! Would love a MM1 someday but doubt it will happen. 

[Frisco Larson]

On 1/6/2023 at 8:37 PM, Spyder! said:

Very cool! Would love a MM1 someday but doubt it will happen. 

I've learned to keep the door open, even if only slightly to the possibility of high dollar grail type books. I've been fortunate to acquire some in the most unorthodox ways. Ya never know .... 

[Professor K]

On 1/7/2023 at 12:58 AM, Frisco Larson said:

I've learned to keep the door open, even if only slightly to the possibility of high dollar grail type books. I've been fortunate to acquire some in the most unorthodox ways. Ya never know .... 

I must admit I ran that through my mind for a few minutes. 

[Frisco Larson]

On 1/7/2023 at 2:26 PM, Professor K said:

I must admit I ran that through my mind for a few minutes. 

 Nothing I couldn't talk about on here!  In one case, I found a Detective #28 at Chicago Comic Con missing the centerfold and about an hour later at the same show I bumped into a friend who HAD the centerfold!!!   I couldn't BELIEVE it!!! 

[lou_fine]

On 1/6/2023 at 9:52 AM, Frisco Larson said:

Likewise, they show some Frisco Fox books, albeit not from the very end of the titles. A beautiful Wonderworld #23 Mar 1941 CGC Blue 9.2 could certainly be considered "later" in the run,

Yes, that gorgeous high grade San Fran 9.2 graded copy of Wonderworld 23 would also be from the Jon berk Collection.    

It would appear that the toughest to find in grade for these 2 major later Fox titles would not surprisingly be the issues where there were no Church copies in the collection.  This would include the short runs from Mystery Men 21 to 23 and Wonderworld 23 to 24, with both the Mystery Men 22 and especially the Wonderworld 24 being the toughest to find in grade due to their low census count (6 Universal & 5 Universal respectively) combined with the fact that a mid-grade CGC 5.5 are still the highest graded for both of these books after all these years.  

Edited January 8, 2023 by lou_fine

[lpsunburst]

Speaking of tough late run issues...

[MrBedrock]

On 1/6/2023 at 11:02 AM, buttock said:

Where are all the Cosmic Aeroplane Fox books?

 

[Frisco Larson]

On 1/11/2023 at 2:42 PM, MrBedrock said:

 

OUTSTANDING copy Ricky!!! One of my very favorite Fox hero covers!!!