Ashcan on Hakes upcoming auction

[batman_fan]

There is a strange adventures ashcan on Hakes upcoming auction.

 

Ashcan

[Moondog]

This is interesting. I had 2 copies and sold one off about 5-6 years ago. This is not that copy. DC has a copy in their vault.

 

Where did this one come from? Where is the back cover for that matter?

 

Hmmmm....

[JJBEE2001]

Gary - There's also a copy of Intimate Confessions on there. I suspect it's being sold by our mutual friend.

[batman_fan]

 

My PM works if you don't want to post the story here

[esquirecomics]

This is interesting. I had 2 copies and sold one off about 5-6 years ago. This is not that copy. DC has a copy in their vault.

 

Where did this one come from? Where is the back cover for that matter?

 

Hmmmm....

 

The book grades FN/VF. The following defects keep the book from grading higher: the cover is detached, the interior has the publishers info cut from the bottom of the splash page, the cover is a ¼” bigger than the actual comic inside, causing some stress and wear across the top.

 

Someone want to explain to me how this description fits a book that is FN/VF!

[esquirecomics]

Gary - There's also a copy of Intimate Confessions on there. I suspect it's being sold by our mutual friend.

 

If I may be so presumptuous to believe you might be referring to me, it t'aint me!!!

 

Apparently multiple copies of certain ashcans are coming out of the woodwork, as far as sales history is concerned, which definitely raises some questions for me (and I know others) that need to be explored further.

[JJBEE2001]

You may presume that. I figured that it was the 2nd copy you had for sale a few weeks ago, but like you said, there may be more copies of certain ashcans than we previously thought & apparently they've been surfacing lately.

[innocuous]

Pardon my ignorance, but how many copies of an ashcan would a publisher have typically printed? I always thought one was sent to acquire the copyright and another one or two kept in-house.

[JJBEE2001]

That's about right. Many ashcans have only one known copy in existence; some others have anywhere from 2 to 5 copies known. I don't think many had more than 5 printed originally.

[esquirecomics]

I contacted Hakes about the grading issue and description. They modified it. It now reads:

 

Strange Adventures July August 1950 DC Comics Ashcan. In order to copy write the title, DC created a tentative version of what the new book would look like. These proto-types are called ashcans and are one-of-a-kind finds. To get the ball rolling for the Strange Adventures title, DC used the cover art from All-Star Comics #47 (June July 1949) with the October 1948 issue of Detective Comics inside. The cover is black and white. The cover is detached and the interior has the publishers info (indicia) cut from the bottom of the splash page. It is not uncommon to find the indicia removed from some ashcans. The cover is a ¼" bigger than the actual comic inside, causing some stress and wear across the top. Still, the cover is very bright and reflective. Taking all this into consideration, the book has an overall appearance of FN/VF. The pages are off-white.

[esquirecomics]

BTW, if anyone hasn't received a copy of the actual catalogue, all the raw books were graded by Dave Anderson, DDS.

[batman_fan]

Hi Mark,

 

Thanks for posting the info. Also, it looks like Hake's re-scanned the comics

[ft88]

Are there any worries about fake ashcans? Seems like an all B&W comic from cover to cover would be susceptible. If there were only one available (I though this was the case) then its not as big a deal since its easy to track, but with multiple copies it gets a little dicey, no? Also, is the paper used for ashcans not easy to duplicate?

 

Ed

[JJBEE2001]

With all of mine, it's pretty easy to tell that they're 60 years old. Even though most have black & white covers, they usually aren't truly white. It's more of an off-white (or even cream to off-white in some cases). Plus, the edges usually aren't perfectly trimmed. Some of them even have that "old paper smell". It certainly isn't HP office paper.

 

I suppose as with anything, if someone was clever enough & spent enough time, they might be able to create a decent reproduction. I know there's fake Eerie ashcans floating around, but the Golden Age ones would be much harder to fake in my opinion. Besides, I think we have a good census of how many of each exist & to a large degree, who owns them.

[Ashcan/Comics]

It would be difficult to reproduce but not impossible it is velux paper from the 1930's

so what you would have to do to reproduce it would be find old velux paper then buy actual comic that is inside the ashcan and print up the ashcan cover on the 60+ year old paper.

 

Ashcan/Comics

[Silver Surfer]

BTW, if anyone hasn't received a copy of the actual catalogue, all the raw books were graded by Dave Anderson, DDS.

 

I think there is a thread in the General section and there was some complaints of poor grading.

[esquirecomics]

Are there any worries about fake ashcans? Seems like an all B&W comic from cover to cover would be susceptible. If there were only one available (I though this was the case) then its not as big a deal since its easy to track, but with multiple copies it gets a little dicey, no? Also, is the paper used for ashcans not easy to duplicate?

 

Ed

 

There have been rumors of counterfeit ashcans, and I must say it was somewhat surprising that all of a sudden a group of the books (including the same titles) emerged for sale within a short period of time, but for the most part it is always been well-known and/or reputable sellers in possession of the book. It has been a small world of collectors who have owned/traded/sold these books over the years.

[Moondog]

Justin makes an excellent point about the census helping keep an eye on what's out there and who owns it. I ran an ad in Overstreet for over 10 years wanting to buy "Original Golden Age DC Ashcans" and got no takers. Through that ad though I was put in touch with the owner of Superman/Superhombre and Supergirl ashcans who ended up keeping them until just a few years ago.

 

Raven/Ashcan/Comics' homemade fakes are interesting, clever reproductions, but I believe that Mark or Justin or myself, upon close inspection, could determine if they were real or not.

 

I wonder if Jack Liebowitz, who died at 100 in 2000, had anything in his estate a la Sol Harrison.

 

Stephen - did you ever make an attempt to see if his family had anything?

 

--Gary

[JJBEE2001]

Sweet! I just won the Intimate Confessions ashcan from Hake's. Mark - I assume that was you who bid on the Strange Adventures copy? They both ended up going for $1000, which is way below what I thought I'd have to dish out.

[esquirecomics]

Sweet! I just won the Intimate Confessions ashcan from Hake's. Mark - I assume that was you who bid on the Strange Adventures copy? They both ended up going for $1000, which is way below what I thought I'd have to dish out.

 

to everything above.

 

Hakes is still relatively unknown within the comic book community so that if you can live with the opening bids, good chance you will be able to buy something without much competition.