Comico Christmas Special #1, Comico, December 1988
The Christmas edition of the Undervalued Spotlight shines its festive light on the Comico Christmas Special of 1988.
Talk about a gift that keeps on giving. Ho Ho Ho!
Let’s start with a great Dave Stevens cover.
Then we’ll go to the 12 page of Time Sale art in “Stiflemix Diaries”.
Then we can point to the 8 page Bill Willingham art in “One Winter’s Day”.
And let’s not forget the 4 pages of Steve Rude art, with Al Williamson inks in “Traditions Everlasting”.
The book actually delivers a total of 5 cool holiday stories by Swamp Thing scribe Doug Wheeler. As you see above, the young talent providing the art are future Hall of Famers for sure.
I love this little book (at 44 pages it’s actually not that little). It’s unique and it’s fun and it’s one of those hidden gems from the 1980s that makes you wonder, why it not in more demand. Well I for one have long forgotten about it and I bet I’ve thumbed past it in long boxes destined for the Bargain Bins without ever noticing.
How great a stocking stuffer with this be.
Happy Holiday’s everyone and for those celebrating on the 25th, Merry Christmas!
The 46th Overstreet price break for this book is $5 in the 9.2 grade split.
Reasons to buy this comic book as an investment.
- Unique Christmas Special from the 1980s that is super cheap
- All-star cast of artists make this an art connoisseur issue
Seems Like Christmas turkey to me Walt !!! Not so bad when I add a little cranberry…
🙂
Beauty cover!
Walt, I’m really glad you’re ranging farther afield than just the Marvel and DC staples. Comico, Eclipse, Calibre, Image, Dark Horse and others all have something different to offer than just the standard super hero fare, and many of the early issues of all of these companies were overlooked because they were the new kids on the block (at one time, anyway). It has taken awhile for the transition to take place, but I think at least Dark Horse and Image are giving the big two a run for their money. As a longtime Marvel zombie (since about 1961!) I was surprised recently to realize I had given up on both Marvel and DC and have been pretty much an Image zombie for the last year or so, largely due to the big two’s nonstop reboots and restarts. I don’t need another round of Marvel Now or DC Reborn! Thanks again for starting to focus on the other guys in the game.
cheers, mel
Thanks for the feedback fellas and thanks Mel, I do make it a mandate to try to include all eras, genres, publishers, range of values etc when picking my Spotlights. It is hard at times because the value part of our hobby is so driven and dominated by Marvel and DC hero and villain 1st appearances. Wider awareness is the key for little gems like this,
Yeah, even though Marvel and DC seem to lead the pack most of the time, I can see titles like Saga, Lazarus and Outcast gaining fast. The independents also gave us such great characters as Rocketeer, Mister X, Wordsmith, Maus, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Planetary and many more worthy of favour. We can only go up from here!