Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Pep Comics #22, MLJ Magazines, December 1941 In Pep Comics #22 (December 1941), MLJ Magazines quietly published an untitled six-page story that featured a girl-crazy teen named Archibald Andrews. Pep Comics was a superhero title featuring the likes of the Shield and the Hangman…
Auction Highlights has somehow turned into a Friday thing. Check back every Friday for some hard hitting commentary on recent auction results. This week I’d like to highlight some interesting results from the just finished Comic Link September focused auction (last comic finished…
Know your investing goals! Before one starts investing in anything the person should have a clear picture of their investing goals. Are we investing long term, short term, somewhere in the middle or in all three time frames at once. Investing in…
Strange Tales Annual #2, Marvel Comics, July 1963 This comic contains an original story in which Spidey and Human Torch join forces to beat the bad guys. In what is now classic Marvel fashion our two heroes start off fighting each other. Spidey finally convinces…
The Cover: Superman is hanging outside a Mcdonald’s knock-off using his superspeed to shovel as many hamburgers inside his gullet as fast as he can, proclaiming that if he stops he will starve to death. This leaves us to wonder…does…
This week I’d like to examine some recent sales of comics graded at 8.5 (or VF+ for you old timers). A comic graded 8.5 is generally in very nice condition and is considered as high grade for Golden Age, Silver Age and…
Know your pet peeves! OK so you’ve figured out your collection focus and you’re doing a pretty good job sticking to it (see Collecting Tips #2 Stan). So why are there still comics in your collection that you don’t like?…
Tales to Astonish #91, Marvel Comics, May 1967, Battle Cover. The Abomination made his first appearance in Tales to Astonish #90 but since the even number issues of this title had Sub-Mariner covers we had to wait until issue #91…
This week I’d like to examine some Copper Age results. The Copper Age is loosely defined by me as comics from the mid/late 1970s to the early/mid 1980s. These comics are commonly found everyewhere. In some cases the trick seems…
Superman #282 “Lex Luthor-Superscalp-Hunter” The cover: We’ve got Superman as heroic as ever saving the citizen from a doomed airplane..wait he’s not saving him? He’s actually throwing a criminal from the plane and killing him instead of arresting him? Oh,…
Know your comfort zone and try not to leave it! Remember Sesame Street had that great segment about things not belonging. There was a catchy song – “one of these things just don’t belong here, one of these things just has to go…”…
Comicbookdaily.com’s first look at market trends will examine the growing influence the CGC Census is having on what graded comics are selling for. There is now a very large and very liquid trading arena for graded collectible comics. The internet has…
Star Spangled War Stories #84, DC Comics, Aug. 1959, 1st Appearance Mme. Marie. Mademoiselle Marie was a French farm girl who joined the resistance to fight the Nazis during WW2, often alongside Sgt. Rock. Her father died in her arms…
Action Comics #380: “The confessions of Superman” The cover: For all of…
Green Lantern #8 graded by CGC as 9.6 sold for a record $11,694 on Comic Link. This auction ended August 28th and really surprised everyone with it’s staggering price. The comic lists at $575. as a 9.2 in the Overstreet price guide. The…
Count the pages! Examine the comic thoroughly before you buy it. Count the pages, check for the coupons, and look for tears, creases, stains and other defects that don’t necessarily show up on the cover. The defects present in the…
Avenger #71, Marvel Comics, December 1969, 1st Appearance the Invaders Avengers #71 is one of those comic books that is always missing from the Avengers bins. It’s a book I’ll always look for whenever I’m at a comic convention or…
Look for the first market analysis post Tuesday September 8th.
Look for the first post of this weekly feature Thursday September 3rd.