Great Golden Age Threads Collected in One Place.

[whetteon]

I've been scanning the boards for the last three days and I haven't really found any type of thread that goes into details about the Golden Age hobby of collecting. Instead I've seen lots of threads about showing your books. Even though I love looking at these old classics, I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a few good post that are noobie accessible. Like how much you're likely to spend on mid grade or circulation numbers for various titles, ect, ect..

 

Just show me where I should start reading.

[comicdonna]

Here's a thread about board members goals for the next ten years.

http://boards.collectors-society.com/sho...&PHPSESSID=

[CentaurMan]

I'm sympathetic to your cause here. I just did a search through the archives for threads that would be of interest to a true GA novice, and it's tough. I don't think there's a good FAQ style repository of info anywhere on here.

 

First things first: Buy the 2-volume golden age Gerber guides. It'll probably cost close to $100 on eBay, unless you can find some soul with extras willing to let them go cheap, but it's about the single best thing you can do for yourself right now. Lots of tremendous discussion of the hobby in the introductions, and of course just looking at the progression of scans throughout various publishers is tremendously informative.

 

Anyone else with any advice for a new GA collector, on broader topics?

[comicdonna]

Here's a thread on rarest GA books!

http://boards.collectors-society.com/sho...&PHPSESSID=

[adamstrange]

I've been scanning the boards for the last three days and I haven't really found any type of thread that goes into details about the Golden Age hobby of collecting.

 

Then our plan has succeeded!

[adamstrange]

GA is a pretty large time period, 1933 - 1945 or so, followed by Atomic Age from 1946 - 1955. That's 22 years all together with an enormous variety of books to collect. It's not as easy to summarize as say SA or BA.

 

Even the two questions you ask "how much to pay for mid grade" (varies considerably by genre and time period) and circulation numbers (we don't have them, for the most part, nor are they necessarily indicative of what survived) are tough ones.

 

Not to discourage anyone from getting started, but I think GA requires a bit more work upon entry relative to SA or BA. For many of the GA collectors that's part of the charm.

 

I would actually suggest posting more specific questions you have -- maybe the answers to them will help someone else down the road.

[whetteon]

First things first: Buy the 2-volume golden age Gerber guides. It'll probably cost close to $100 on eBay, unless you can find some soul with extras willing to let them go cheap, but it's about the single best thing you can do for yourself right now. Lots of tremendous discussion of the hobby in the introductions, and of course just looking at the progression of scans throughout various publishers is tremendously informative.

 

That's an excellent suggestion. Are these books still carried at a local Barnes & Noble? I have a week of vacation to burry myself in the topic. After the holidays my personal time will become limited for awhile.

 

I would actually suggest posting more specific questions you have -- maybe the answers to them will help someone else down the road.

 

1) What were the popular 1930 and 1940 super-hero titles? Is there a list anywhere?

 

2) What were some of the more popular 1930 and 1940 super-hero's?

 

3) Who were some of the more popular artist?

 

4) Does any one writer stand out above the rest?

 

[Theagenes]

That's an excellent suggestion. Are these books still carried at a local Barnes & Noble? I have a week of vacation to burry myself in the topic. After the holidays my personal time will become limited for awhile.

 

The Gerbers are an absolute must, but I doubt you'll still find them in your local B&N or Borders. Ebay will be your best bet as far as price - there are always sellers that have new copies of both volumes for around $100. If you want to get started on some research right away, I would highly recommend picking up Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones. It is an excellent historical survey of the GA and will give you the context that you need for understanding which books, artists, publishers, etc. are the most important and why. This book was tremendously helpful for me when I first started collecting GA a few years ago and, quite frankly, was just a great read. It's out in paberback now and you should be able to find a copy at your local bookstore for $10-15.

 

As for your questions, I'll let someone else more qualified than me give some answers, as I don't really collect superheroes (yet). I will say that some of my favorite artists are Frazetta, Wally Wood, Lou Fine, L.B. Cole, Craig Flessel, Leo O'Mealia and of course the Great Triumvirate of newpaper strip artists: Hal Foster, Alex Raymond, and Milton Caniff.

[Zonker]

Since you specifically mentioned circulation numbers, here is a thread that quotes the work of Bob Beerbohm from his yet-unpublished book. Note that in the years since this was first posted here, Bob himself has joined the forums, and is very generous with his time for questions. Golden Age circulation has not been well documented, by reading the thread you should get a taste for the types of hoops Bob had to jump through to get an approximation of the circulation numbers for individual titles.

 

Most popular heroes? Back then, or collectible now? Back then, I'd say any character who graduated to his/her own book out of the original anthology format qualified as popular at-the-time. Today, I'd say Timelys are insanely popular, DC mainstream superheroes only slightly less so. Quality Comics have a pretty dedicated following (smaller demand, but aside from later Blackhawk and Plastic Man, not offered as often either). The one area to watch out for is Fawcett-- though hugely popular in the day, often outselling Superman in the Golden Age, today there is little demand compared to the apparently huge supply. (There are exceptions of course for the WWII-themed covers).

 

Another resource to look in to are the two volumes of "All in Color for a Dime." Like the Gerbers, these are OOP and best found on eBay, but they should be very cheap when you find them. These books reprint fanzine articles from the 1960s, so it may be a bit off-target what you're looking for-- instead of a current market report, it is an anthology of what fans of 40 years ago thought was cool about the comics they enjoyed as kids 65 years ago.

 

One other factor making an overview market report difficult is the expense and scarcity factor of Golden Age material. This means that relatively very few people are Golden Age generalists in terms of following the overall market. You can find people here who know all about Silver Age Marvels, or Bronze Age DC, or pre-Code Horror. But most of the Golden Age collectors almost by necessity become niche specialists, following the market for WWII covers, or Carl Barks books, or L.B. Cole covers, or what-not.

[Norrin_Radd]

I've been scanning the boards for the last three days and I haven't really found any type of thread that goes into details about the Golden Age hobby of collecting. Instead I've seen lots of threads about showing your books. Even though I love looking at these old classics, I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a few good post that are noobie accessible. Like how much you're likely to spend on mid grade or circulation numbers for various titles, ect, ect..

 

Just show me where I should start reading.

 

I read through EVERY Gold Forum thread last year (back when there were only 63 pages, not 108). And I've read every one since.

 

So off the top of my head, here are two good ones to start with about GA collecting.

 

How do you collect?

 

Who collects GA?

 

And I'll try to dig up some more.

[adamstrange]

That's an excellent suggestion. Are these books still carried at a local Barnes & Noble? I have a week of vacation to burry myself in the topic. After the holidays my personal time will become limited for awhile.

 

The Gerbers are an absolute must, but I doubt you'll still find them in your local B&N or Borders. Ebay will be your best bet as far as price - there are always sellers that have new copies of both volumes for around $100. If you want to get started on some research right away, I would highly recommend picking up Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones. It is an excellent historical survey of the GA and will give you the context that you need for understanding which books, artists, publishers, etc. are the most important and why. This book was tremendously helpful for me when I first started collecting GA a few years ago and, quite frankly, was just a great read. It's out in paberback now and you should be able to find a copy at your local bookstore for $10-15.

 

As for your questions, I'll let someone else more qualified than me give some answers, as I don't really collect superheroes (yet). I will say that some of my favorite artists are Frazetta, Wally Wood, Lou Fine, L.B. Cole, Craig Flessel, Leo O'Mealia and of course the Great Triumvirate of newpaper strip artists: Hal Foster, Alex Raymond, and Milton Caniff.

 

I would go online to Bud Plant to get your Gerbers and more books/mags about comics. Alter Ego has great material on artists. Comic Book Marketplace is out of print but still indispensable for the type of questions that you're asking. Books by Ron Goulart (50 Greatest Comic Book Artists etc) and Mike Benton are always worth the money.

 

Bud Plant Books

[adamstrange]

First things first: Buy the 2-volume golden age Gerber guides. It'll probably cost close to $100 on eBay, unless you can find some soul with extras willing to let them go cheap, but it's about the single best thing you can do for yourself right now. Lots of tremendous discussion of the hobby in the introductions, and of course just looking at the progression of scans throughout various publishers is tremendously informative.

 

That's an excellent suggestion. Are these books still carried at a local Barnes & Noble? I have a week of vacation to burry myself in the topic. After the holidays my personal time will become limited for awhile.

 

I would actually suggest posting more specific questions you have -- maybe the answers to them will help someone else down the road.

 

1) What were the popular 1930 and 1940 super-hero titles? Is there a list anywhere?

 

2) What were some of the more popular 1930 and 1940 super-hero's?

 

3) Who were some of the more popular artist?

 

4) Does any one writer stand out above the rest?

 

 

1) "Super"heros started with Superman in 1938, though there were a few heros before that like the Clock. Action, Detective, Batman, and Superman were big titles for DC's Big 2, but there was also Flash, Sensation, Green Lantern, All Flash, All American for Wonder Woman, GL, Flash and Hawkman. Timely had Marvel Mystery for the Big 3 (Human Torch Sub-Mariner, and Cap America) but also Human Torch, Captain America, Sub-Mariner, All Select, All Winners that they appeared in (among others).

 

4) Will Eisner, Carl Barks (Uncle Scrooge and Ducks), and Harvey Kurtzman (Mad, EC War) -- they'll read well compared to anyone at any time.

 

The questions you're asking are still pretty broad and best served by referring you to general comics history books.

 

What is it that makes you think that you'd like to collect GA? Is there a dissatisfaction with what you are collecting now? Is there something that's intriqued you about GA?

[Norrin_Radd]

What is it that makes you think that you'd like to collect GA?

 

I think was adam is saying is "What makes you think your man enough to join ranks of GA collectors?!".

 

 

 

Here are some more threads...

 

What runs can you get for under $$$? [An addendum on affordable GA series]

 

*#$@&% this market!

 

Why are GA Batmans so plentiful?

[143ksk]

My recommendation if you're looking for a company or title to collect is to read a few of each and see what you like. You can get collections for most GA DC and Timely hero books, plus some Quality titles such as Plastic Man and Spirit and Fawcetts like Capt. Marvel. Shield's website www.goldcomics.com has the MLJ books covered. Some of the other companies, you may have to buy reader copies. I personally like Nedor (eg Exciting Comics) and Hillman (eg Air Fighters) books, but there's lots more (Fox, Fiction House, Centaur, etc, etc).

 

I think the Gerbers are a great idea to get an idea of what's out there and what covers appeal. There's just a ton of cool stuff out there...

[CentaurMan]

A cheap way to read some great Golden Age articles is by picking up back issues of Comics Buyers Guide on eBay. Those usually go for under $10 each, and have some really tremendous (if a bit random) stuff in them. Plus Michelle Nolan's old columns could make a collector out of anyone.