Obadiah Oldbuck vs. Superman

[BLBcomics-migration]

Barnacle Press online has a great collection of Hugo Hercules -- really funny stuff. He's def. a precursor, also has that self-deprecating air to him that gets picked up by later Superman writers.

 

Bob, if you can't clear this up, no one can. Lots of people point to similarities with Gladiator. Are there some? Definitely. But there still isn't a paper trail. There certainly doesn't have to be, but can you give your take on the discrepancy between Steranko's claim that Jerry reviewed the book in the fanzine and Forry Ackerman's claim that there is no such review in any of the Science Fiction issues? The same debate is going on over on the comix-scholars list. I've never seen all of #1 so can't say with certainty though I tend to believe Ackerman. But like I said, if you can't clear it up, not sure who could. Just curious.

 

BR

 

I am looking around for my Steranko history - i have to re-read again it for details

 

My understanding is there is supposed to be a review by Jerry of Wylie's Gladiator in Science Fiction #2. Now, i won a Science Fiction 2 on eBay maybe 4 years ago. It arrived the day i was leaving out of town to set up at some comicon on one of the coasts.

 

I put the zine up in a safe place, and of course when i got back maybe 9 days later, i could not for the life of me figure out where that safe place is - and still haven't all this time later.

 

The smoking gun key is the supposed book review

 

There is no doubt in my brain that Jerry read Wylie's Gladiator book and that became a piece of the puzzle to the invention of Superman, but the intriguing thing is Wylie, i think just as strongly, got inspiration from this Chicago Tribune Hugo Herclues, back when Wylie was a wee lad impressionable to the popular culture around him just like any one of us

 

Jerry Siegel was too much of a SF fan NOT to have read Gladiator

 

Then again, John Carter of Mars, Popeye, and other news paper comic strips along with Jack Williamson's SF story "the Girl With the Green hair" about a scientist and his wife on Mars, as mars is getting ready to blow up, send their daughter to earth, where she has extra type powers, also factors in to Superman's origin

 

There is no one popular culture link - there are dozens of them, the world around Jerry & Joe

[BLBcomics-migration]

Hey Bob. Thats cool! WOuld you take $20K for a copy?

 

copy of what?

 

You want it in B&W, or in color?

 

I just printed out my $20,000 black and white copy. ...thanks for sharing.

 

Remember now, there are black ops helicopters out there waiting to swoop in and lock up this thread if it strays from the skinny narrow path it has been placed upon

 

 

[BLBcomics-migration]

A couple months back i posted i would provide contact info for two of the most important comics history books ever done. Here is the contact info:

 

orders@montezumapublishing.com, or call Montezuma Publishing at 619-594-7552

 

The above contact info is for authorized reprints of the David Kunzle Comic Strip History volumes

 

Vol One covers 1450-1825

Vol Two covers 1825 thru the rest of the 1800s starting with Topffer's comic books

 

As old room mate Bud Plant sez: "Our Highest Possible Recommendation"

[showcase4]

here's some eye candy for you.....$120,000 Action #1 from a 2003 Heritage Auction...the highet priced Action #1 so far sold by Heritage

 

[ciorac]

here's some eye candy for you.....$120,000 Action #1 from a 2003 Heritage Auction...the highet priced Action #1 so far sold by Heritage

 

 

Beautiful book. Just stunning. Makes me want to post my run again! (Wish I was as young as I was in that picture again)

 

[RareHighGrade]

 

Now that's something we don't get to see very often. Great pic Bill.

[BR-migration]

Wow!!!! What a run!!!

 

 

Thanks for the info Bob. I think that's well said -- no one thread. But keep looking for that Science Fiction #2!!!!! You either have a very big house or a VERY big collection

 

-BR

[showcase4]

here's some eye candy for you.....$120,000 Action #1 from a 2003 Heritage Auction...the highet priced Action #1 so far sold by Heritage

 

 

Beautiful book. Just stunning. Makes me want to post my run again! (Wish I was as young as I was in that picture again)

 

 

Bill,

this run is a beautiful sight! Hope it's not a sore subject if the answer is no, but do you still own some / most / all of these babies? Virtually every collector I know who has owned a real gem has had something in their life happen that triggered the need to sell. Painful when that happens.

 

Also, have Superhero comics been super hot since they day they hit the streets in the late 1930's, or did an event or events boost their popularity in some other decade? I have been in the hobby since 1992, and they were of course already on fire then. Has it always been this way?

[showcase4]

here's some eye candy for you.....$120,000 Action #1 from a 2003 Heritage Auction...the highet priced Action #1 so far sold by Heritage

 

 

Beautiful book. Just stunning. Makes me want to post my run again! (Wish I was as young as I was in that picture again)

 

 

Bill,

this run is a beautiful sight! Hope it's not a sore subject if the answer is no, but do you still own some / most / all of these babies? Virtually every collector I know who has owned a real gem has had something in their life happen that triggered the need to sell. Painful when that happens. Before comics, I collected sportscards. Around 1991 or so, I bought what at that time was the Action 1 of the basketball card market....an unopened mint condtion 1986 Fleer wax box ( 36 unopened randomly sorted packs/ 15 cards per pack in their original strore display carboard box from the 86 Fleer complete set, which featured the rookie cards of Jordan, Karl Malone, Parick Ewing and several other future HOF'ers). That box was $5,000 back then ( no idea how much it would be worth now...interestingly, it had a small price sticker on it from the retail store that originally had the box/packs for sale from 1986..the entire box was $14.95!..no one knew). I also had my own business back then, and within 10 months of buying that holy grail Jordan box, I needed to sell to pump some much needed cash into my busines, as it had changed for the worse rapidly and without warning....I still think about that box to this day!

 

Anyway,

have Superhero comics been super hot since they day they hit the streets in the late 1930's, or did an event or events boost their popularity in some other decade? I have been in the hobby since 1992, and they were of course already on fire then. Has it always been this way?

[ciorac]

here's some eye candy for you.....$120,000 Action #1 from a 2003 Heritage Auction...the highet priced Action #1 so far sold by Heritage

 

 

Beautiful book. Just stunning. Makes me want to post my run again! (Wish I was as young as I was in that picture again)

 

 

Bill,

this run is a beautiful sight! Hope it's not a sore subject if the answer is no, but do you still own some / most / all of these babies? Virtually every collector I know who has owned a real gem has had something in their life happen that triggered the need to sell. Painful when that happens. Before comics, I collected sportscards. Around 1991 or so, I bought what at that time was the Action 1 of the basketball card market....an unopened mint condtion 1986 Fleer wax box ( 36 unopened randomly sorted packs/ 15 cards per pack in their original strore display carboard box from the 86 Fleer complete set, which featured the rookie cards of Jordan, Karl Malone, Parick Ewing and several other future HOF'ers). That box was $5,000 back then ( no idea how much it would be worth now...interestingly, it had a small price sticker on it from the retail store that originally had the box/packs for sale from 1986..the entire box was $14.95!..no one knew). I also had my own business back then, and within 10 months of buying that holy grail Jordan box, I needed to sell to pump some much needed cash into my busines, as it had changed for the worse rapidly and without warning....I still think about that box to this day!

 

Anyway,

have Superhero comics been super hot since they day they hit the streets in the late 1930's, or did an event or events boost their popularity in some other decade? I have been in the hobby since 1992, and they were of course already on fire then. Has it always been this way?

 

The Action run is a source of fond memories and regret as well. Remembering the day the woman walked into my comic store with them and how we all celebrated is a very fond memory. Two days later Dan Greenhalgh showed up in New Orleans once he had heard about the collection via the late Nick Kronfeld. Dan was beside himself to buy the books. I told him I would not sell him the #1, and didn't, but I would consider selling him the rest. But the tems were a non-negotiable 2.5X graded guide. Which was a steep multiple for non-pedigree mid and lower grade golden age. Admittedly these were the premium Actions you can find, but they weren't getting anywhere near that money in those days. Timely's and High Grade AF 15's dominated the market. The rutless bastich agreed. Now I had to honor my part of the deal and sold them to him. He paid cash. I would like to find one of them again and buy them, since they all have that odd distributor's mark in red, they are easy to identify.

 

Regarding superhero comics. I'm not sure I comletely understand your question, so I will try to answer it as best as I can. From what I know superhero comics were big business back in the late 1930's and into the 1940's. After WWII intererest in them began to wane. This remained so until the Silver Age kicked it back off and they have ruled the roost ever since.

 

From a collector's standpoint, I think they have always been the most collected genre, at least since fandom got truly organized in the 1960's. If you read Bill Schelly's book "the Golden Age of Comics Fandom", you will see that the commom thread that bound those early pioneers was superheroes. But, there have been times when a certain genre would rise to the top for a while and then slip back down. Single Series #20 (Tarzan) was once the big dog book to own!

 

Hope this helps.

[BLBcomics-migration]

In researching fanzines with comic book subject matter dating back to 1936, i have come across a few stats which people here might find interesting:

 

1947 Action #1 was $3

1950 Action #1 was $6

1964 Action #1 was $40

1966 Action #1 was $100

1969 Action #1 was $800

1970 Action #1 was $1000 (first Overstreet)

April 1973 Action #1 sold for $1000 (Bruce Hamilton bought Gene Henderson's copy)

May 1973 Action #1 sold for $1801.26 (Mitch Mehdy bought Theo Holstein's copy, who had bought it from Hamilton, a 2nd copy, for $1500)

1974 Action #1 brought $3000

later in 1974 Action #1 brought $4000 (John Snyder involved with this one as the buyer)

 

And Bill, methinks you have a Golden Age of Comics first printing - if that be the case, i urge you to acquire revised hugely expanded 2nd printing, which contains a lot more stuff in it. There is a lot of non super hero orientation in Bill Schelly's tome

 

If one pages thru 1960s RBCCs, one finds a lot of sell/want ads for Platinum era comic books as well as ads buy & sell for pre Action #1 newspaper reprint comic books. As those older collectors died out, those types of ads waned

 

Back in the day along with SS #20, the other major keys were Prince Valiant Feature Book #26, Donald Duck Four Color 9, Flash Gordon Four Color 10 along with Action 1, Marvel 1, Whiz 2 (#1) and Detective 27 - all these books had the same relative value

[Weird Paper]

Back in the day along with SS #20, the other major keys were Prince Valiant Feature Book #26, Donald Duck Four Color 9, Flash Gordon Four Color 10 along with Action 1, Marvel 1, Whiz 2 (#1) and Detective 27 - all these books had the same relative value

 

I remember at one time Thunda 1 was one of those top tier books. Not so much, anymore.

[BLBcomics-migration]

Thunda 1 was highly sought after, but i would say never in the Top Tier category like the other ones i mentioned. Cuz in 1971, a high grade Thunda #1 was only about $50 - and it remains one of my favorite comic books

[ciorac]

In researching fanzines with comic book subject matter dating back to 1936, i have come across a few stats which people here might find interesting:

 

1947 Action #1 was $3

1950 Action #1 was $6

1964 Action #1 was $40

1966 Action #1 was $100

1969 Action #1 was $800

1970 Action #1 was $1000 (first Overstreet)

April 1973 Action #1 sold for $1000 (Bruce Hamilton bought Gene Henderson's copy)

May 1973 Action #1 sold for $1801.26 (Mitch Mehdy bought Theo Holstein's copy, who had bought it from Hamilton, a 2nd copy, for $1500)

1974 Action #1 brought $3000

later in 1974 Action #1 brought $4000 (John Snyder involved with this one as the buyer)

 

And Bill, methinks you have a Golden Age of Comics first printing - if that be the case, i urge you to acquire revised hugely expanded 2nd printing, which contains a lot more stuff in it. There is a lot of non super hero orientation in Bill Schelly's tome

 

If one pages thru 1960s RBCCs, one finds a lot of sell/want ads for Platinum era comic books as well as ads buy & sell for pre Action #1 newspaper reprint comic books. As those older collectors died out, those types of ads waned

 

Back in the day along with SS #20, the other major keys were Prince Valiant Feature Book #26, Donald Duck Four Color 9, Flash Gordon Four Color 10 along with Action 1, Marvel 1, Whiz 2 (#1) and Detective 27 - all these books had the same relative value

 

No, you are absolutely right. There have always been collectors for non-superhero stuff, still are. I just feel that over the course of the entire history of comics fandom, the majority of collectors have collected super-hero books.

 

You make a good point about the older collectors. Some of the larger collections I bought were from those type of collectors and they had a strong Disney and strip reprint focus. Very cool stuff to be sure.

[showcase4]

From what I know superhero comics were big business back in the late 1930's and into the 1940's. After WWII intererest in them began to wane. This remained so until the Silver Age kicked it back off and they have ruled the roost ever since.

 

I see.....well if interest in Superheros lost some steam between roughly 1946 to 1956 - a 10 year period, was there another type of comic that was more in demand and more popular during that 10 year span, or was interest down for all genres and all books during that decade? ..... like a marketplace depression?

[BLBcomics-migration]

Of course, super hero books have always run the back issue wagon inside comics fandom, you are 100% correct on that note. And it will most like remain the same

 

All i was getting at is there is a huge contingent of collectors out there who do not collect super hero stuff in the slightest -

 

for many of them, nostlagia runs their wagon - and with regards to the 30s and 40s stuff, that nostalgia aspect has to wane cuz the collector base getting that vintage for nostalgia is dying off.

 

That is why we are seeing huge increases in 60s stuff - nostalgia

[infinite_comics-migration]

All i was getting at is there is a huge contingent of collectors out there who do not collect super hero stuff in the slightest

 

Define "huge", please.

[BLBcomics-migration]

a lot - and there will always be more super hero collectors than not

[infinite_comics-migration]

a lot - and there will always be more super hero collectors than not

 

Ah, ok. I was thinking I might get the Joe_Collector "way more" answer on this one - no statistics, no facts.

[BLBcomics-migration]

what do you want to hear?

 

you sound bored with life today