We’ve had a few days in a row of sunshine here in southern Ontario and it’s joyous, we went through what seemed like 6 weeks straight of grey clouds, it was enough to drive a man to consuming way too many D3 gummy bears. A sunny disposition is a good thing to have when peddling comics, negative attitudes make one miss glaring opportunities. Are we seeing some positive signs in the mainstream back issue market, can we look forward to some much-needed stability and perhaps even slow growth? I’ll need another week of sunshine and a few extra gummies before I can find the courage to make that call.
This week’s “going to the eBay auction” pile left me with a few questions, first off, what do you do with an incomplete mini-series? I found this nice little run of the Mike Zeck Punisher Limited Series but it was missing the 5th and final issue. Do I run #1 to 4 as a lot or do I start a long box(es) dedicated to incomplete mini series’ with the hopes of coming across a #5 at a later date then remembering that I have a box of incomplete mini-series then remembering where I put the box of incomplete mini-series then remembering that it was indeed #5, I needed and not the #4 I’m holding in my hand – I’m going to run these 4 issues as is. Oh, and I have to go with issue #1 as our cover of the week, that thing sells itself and is soooo much better than Miller’s cover to Wolverine #1 Limited Series.
The second question that arose has to do with the back cover ads, have a look at the ads on the back of the 4 books above, each ad is different and the books came out a month apart. I’m wondering what the longest running back cover ad was? Was it one of those ads on the back cover of the Marvels in the 60? How long was the unbroken ad run for? These questions may not seem important to you but a few days in a row of sunny skies has me in an inquisitive mood.
I’m not sure if I’ve showcased this splash before and if I have let’s chalk it up to 6 weeks of grey skies and not the onset of anything. Steve Ditko’s Amazing Spider-Man run did not produce enough juicy splash pages within the story if you ask me, it’s a shame though, have a look at this splash from Amazing Spider-Man #33, we needed more of this Mr. Ditko. On a side note, I’ve always thought that this muscular Spidey almost looks like he wasn’t drawn by Ditko.
They never stop! Last night our latest icecollectibles eBay auction ended with some crazy last second run ups, you think a book is dead in the water then with two seconds left the sky clears and the sun bursts right through. Quality raw comics continue to do well, we had a raw copy of Amazing Spider-Man #15 that we graded a 2.5 sell for $415.53 USD putting it about where a graded copy should have sold at. I hope this raw copy gets slid in nice and snug in the winner’s Spidey box right in between his or her copies of #14 and #16.
I don’t think you should bother to complete those runs. Except in rare cases, other than #1 the issues are so low cost that it won’t be a factor.
Longest running ad has to be either selling seeds or selling greeting cards. I am a comic book reader and you are trying to lure me in (ha ha) with a fishing pole as a prize??? Show me a gun and I’m ordering those seeds.
Yeah, no way Ditko drew that awesome Spidey. That Spidey would have socked Ditko’s Spidey, except then Ditko’s Spidey might have dried up and blown away. Who is the real artist? Was Gil Kane there at that point?
That #15 that you say is a 2.5 seems to “present well” – no grease marker, big pieces out, etc. I would imagine it looks nicer than most 2.5s.
I think there were issues inside with that #15 but yeah, it does present well. I’m glad to see you’re with me on the Ditko, it does say (Credited) beside Ditko’s name in Comics.org.
I remember the greeting card ad. There was an ad for drawing, Marvel, I think early to mid 60s, I see it so often but now am drawing a blank.
What to do with 1-4 Punisher? Easy! you ship em to your mate down under who needs a #1! By the way, I’ve had duplicates on 2 and 4 and they sold quick enough at FMV of about $20cad, nothing wrong with em if you’re not in a hurry. Issue #1 has some nice monochromatic pages in there if I remember rightly, I do enjoy Zeck’s work – I liked his Cap run with J.M.Dematteis scripting, great reading, you get a lot for for your loonies!
I’ll see what I can scrounge up for you Spider, you already have me looking for a DD #81 for you – my November 71 preaching has gained a disciple.