Classic "Do-able" Collections

[Red Oak Kid]

Are there any runs of comic books that you have thought about collecting that are "do-able" in terms of not being too large or costly?

I'm not asking for your fantasy collection. For example, the high prices of the first few issues of Spiderman would make it nearly impossible to collect Steve Ditko's original run on this title unless money is no object.

I'm asking for your ideas on runs that could be fairly easy to assemble from scratch at today's prices.

For example I have thought about trying to collect all the 60s DC comics with Go-Go Checks. I "think" this would be possible, money wise, unless there are some specific issues that are high priced because they contain first appearences or something. Including the 80pg Giants in this might make it too expensive.

And it has been discussed here before that putting together a complete collection of the Atlas Seaboard comics is very do-able at a relatively low cost.

What about collecting comics that have the World Trade Center Towers on them? DC did quite a few covers like this in the 70s.

Any other ideas?

[scratchie]

There are a lot that I have done over the last year-and-a-half. These may be smaller than the runs you're talking about (I'm not sure how many issues have the go-go checks, which I love). Most of my faves are from the 70s (but no less classic, I like to think), so they're pretty easy to come by (all prices include shipping).

The "Diana Prince" Wonder Woman issues (average price $6.60).

Warlock solo appearances including the three Incredible Hulk issues that wrap up his first series (average price $5.94).
(Also picked up the Warlock Special Editions for two bucks a pop).

Captain Mar-Vell's pre-Starlin appearances (average price $5.82).

Deathlok mk. 1 (average price approx. $2.77; I forgot to write down what I paid for the three Captain America issues that wrap up this run, but it wasn't much, I'm sure!).

Man-Thing v1 including Astonishing Tales and Adventure into Fear (average price $4.50 including Giant-Size issues).

Defenders comics are cheap and plentiful. I haven't completed my collection only because I'm holding out for cheap VF copies of the first 10 issues.

Kirby's Fourth World. I haven't gotten all the Jimmy Olsen issues yet, but I have the other three titles for an average price of $3.94.

2001/Machine Man (average price $1.32, not counting the Treasury Edition, which set me back a whopping $6.62).

Howard the Duck: Cheap and plentiful. I'm buying a second set of VF/NM issues right now to have them bound into a hardcover.

Complete Atlas/Seaboard comic collection: approx $1.50 per issue average.

[Reptisaurus!]

I'm actually trying for all the Team-up books myself.

Although condition is no object as long as it has a cover, and Essentials, Showcases and reprints *count.* Still, I'm looking at around 650 books.


Man-Thing v1 including Astonishing Tales and Adventure into Fear (average price $4.50 including Giant-Size issues).


4.50 near mint, right? I'm sure I paid less than that for all of mine.

I collect Steve Gerber books, too.

[scratchie]

4.50 near mint, right? I'm sure I paid less than that for all of mine. Mostly Fine to Very Fine. The expensive ones were mostly the first five issues of Man-Thing and the Giant-Size issues. At the point when I bought those, I already had everything else and just ordered them from Mile High Prices to finish off my collection. By contrast, issues 6-22 cost me less than $2 each in beautiful VF/NM condition.

I collect Steve Gerber books, too.Do you have Foolkiller? That's one of his best, IMO.

[Reptisaurus!]

Mostly Fine to Very Fine. The expensive ones were mostly the first five issues of Man-Thing and the Giant-Size issues. At the point when I bought those, I already had everything else and just ordered them from Mile High Prices to finish off my collection. By contrast, issues 6-22 cost me less than $2 each in beautiful VF/NM condition.


I'm not sure I got a # 1. Got WAY lucky on a Fear 19, though. And the rest of the early ones I snagged at a 75% off sale.

Do you have Foolkiller? That's one of his best, IMO.

Yes! And that's about my favorite single work by Gerber.

It's pretty much all I have from his eighties-mid nineties output, though.

A couple issues of Destroyer Duck, a couple team-up books, a few Malibu books.

I'm wonderin' what else is worth tracking down.

[Cei-U!]

I just started three new "do-able" collections: Master of Kung Fu, The Invaders and 2001/Machine Man. Within the last year, I finished runs of the Ditko Hawk and the Dove and Beware the Creeper and am only a couple of issues away from finishing Batman and the Outsiders. I'm currently contemplating tracking down the Ant-Man issues of Marvel Feature, the first run of Firestorm, Red Wolf, "Panther's Rage" and the Frank Thorne Red Sonjas. I decided against Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen because much as I like Sgt. Fury, I remember this series being really awful. Ditto with Black Goliath.

Cei-U!
Forgot my point, assuming I had one!

[scratchie]

Yes! And that's about my favorite single work by Gerber. I'm hoping they'll republish it in conjunction with the upcoming Foolkiller series that's been announced (as they did with Omega the Unknown, even though it looks like the "classic" TPB will be in the remainder bins before the new Omega series sees the light of day).


It's pretty much all I have from his eighties-mid nineties output, though.
A couple issues of Destroyer Duck, a couple team-up books, a few Malibu books.

I'm wonderin' what else is worth tracking down.Well, Destroyer Duck is pretty disappointing, as you probably know if you have a couple of issues. I'll probably buy the upcoming anthology anyway, though, to support Steve (and Kirby's estate), and just to be a total geek completist collector.

I'm not sure what else falls into the time span you're talking about. I really liked Nevada but I think that's a little later. I read the graphic novel of Void Indigo and was completely unimpressed.

We should probably split this into a separate thread if we want to start going through Gerber's output title-by-title (and there's no reason we shouldn't!). :D

[Reptisaurus!]

OK. One more though... I have Void Indigo 1 and 2. Regular floppies. Were they collected in the Graphic Novel or are they different.

On topic-ish: Zap! has proved really interesting. I still can't find a # 0 or a # 2 for decently cheap.

[Sir Tim Drake]

I'd eventually like to have a complete collection of Atlas/Seaboard, CrossGen, and Gladstone, but I'm not actively trying to assemble any of these... I just buy these comics when I see them at a reasonable price.

I am currently working on the following tough but "do-able" collections:

Mister Miracle: I have some of the other Fourth World stuff in TPB, so I have yet to actively start collecting it.
Kamandi: This shows up pretty frequently, and I have #1 already.
Shooter/Swan Legion: I've got a lot of the key issues, including the first Fatal Five story. I'm willing to pay $5 or more for these.
Thomas/Buscema Conan: There are a lot of issues, although none of them seem to be especially valuable. I'm also collecting Thomas's second run.
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: I already have #1, so the rest should be easier.
Tomb of Dracula, though I have the first Essentials volume, so I've mostly given up on collecting the earliest issues.
Groo: tough because there are so many issues, and the last 20 or so Marvel issues had poor distribution.
Magnus, Robot Fighter: I found #3, but I don't know if I can afford #1 or #2.
Savage Dragon: again, the difficulty is not the scarcity of any particular issues, but the number of issues.
Usagi Yojimbo: currently I'm focusing just on the Dark Horse run, since the earliest appearances might be beyond my price range.
Tales of Suspense: I have a bunch of issues in the range from #79 to #99. These show up pretty frequently for reasonable prices. But I doubt I'll be able to afford most of the issues earlier than #79.

[spoon_jenkins]

Deathlok mk. 1 (average price approx. $2.77; I forgot to write down what I paid for the three Captain America issues that wrap up this run, but it wasn't much, I'm sure!).
I have a few of the Astonishing Tales issues (and all of the Captain America issues), and I've been thinking about maybe collecting all the original Deathlok stories. Definitely seems doable.

Within the last year, I finished runs of the Ditko Hawk and the Dove and Beware the Creeper and am only a couple of issues away from finishing Batman and the Outsiders.
I got all but a handful of issues of BATO over a year or two back. I'll probably finish that off eventually. The only problem is the one where Batman leaves (#32, I think).

Also, the first volume of New Teen Titans was surprisingly cheap when I was collecting that a few years back. I think most issues except the first handful can be found for a buck or two. The only pricy one I'm missing is #2 (I found a cheap copy of #1 in okay condition). The rest that I'm missing are cheap later issues.

[Red Oak Kid]

There are a lot that I have done over the last year-and-a-half. These may be smaller than the runs you're talking about.

Actually, the smaller the better.

Today on the GCD I ran across several consecutive issues of Star-Spangled War Stories that featured M. Marie as the main cover subject. Those would be nice to have for the covers alone.

I've also thought about collecting comic book covers that have Drive-In movie theaters on the cover!

[Cei-U!]

Also, the first volume of New Teen Titans was surprisingly cheap when I was collecting that a few years back. I think most issues except the first handful can be found for a buck or two. The only pricy one I'm missing is #2 (I found a cheap copy of #1 in okay condition). The rest that I'm missing are cheap later issues.

I have everything but the first 8 issues but I have the Archive Edition for those. I confess I'm seriously thinking about getting the originals and trading/giving away the Archive.

Cei-U!
I summon the Bronze Agey goodness!

[Lone Ranger]

If I'm reading you right, ROK - it sounds like you are up for a tough, but affordable challenge. As you know, through my ongoing search for infinity covers - I like a good thematic challenge. I like the idea of getting every WTC cover - a great way to record the impact of the buildings.

There's something I like to call a King Kong Cover - it's any cover where one character is at the top of a building holding another helpless character. Buzzing airplanes are a bonus.

I can think of a few off the top of my head, but I am sure that there are more.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/Adv22.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/Eerie81.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/JLA129.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/Tarzan28.jpg

[scratchie]

OK. One more though... I have Void Indigo 1 and 2. Regular floppies. Were they collected in the Graphic Novel or are they different. I believe the GN was an introduction/prelude to the floppies.

[scratchie]

If I'm reading you right, ROK - it sounds like you are up for a tough, but affordable challenge. As you know, through my ongoing search for infinity covers - I like a good thematic challenge. I love the idea of collecting infinity covers but I'm a little intimidated by the number of them out there (compared to the very small number I already own).

There's something I like to call a King Kong Cover - it's any cover where one character is at the top of a building holding another helpless character. Buzzing airplanes are a bonus.

I can think of a few off the top of my head, but I am sure that there are more.
You're missing a classic!

http://www.agitators.com/foto/qomix/sup226.jpg

I've just recently started (very casually) to collect covers that have either (a) two Supermen or (b) Supes and Clark on the same cover.

http://www.agitators.com/foto/qomix/sup196.jpg
http://www.agitators.com/foto/qomix/sup198.jpg
http://www.agitators.com/foto/qomix/sup209.jpg

I'm not sure how far back these things go (the first one above is a reprint of a 50s issue) but if I restrict myself to around 1960-1980, it should be fairly do-able.

[Kirk G]

To my great shock, there are actually people (dentists for example) who collect only covers that show TEETH on the cover. There are a handful of Superman or Jimmy Olsen covers that show an individual tooth or something out of a museum on the cover.

How odd and rare!

[MWGallaher]

Solo Brothers of the 70's (pardon the bad pun, please): Black heroes of the 70's in their own features. Black Panther (in his own book and Jungle Action and Marvel Premiere), Black Goliath, Black Lightning, Gravedigger (in Men of War), Living Mummy (in Supernatural Thrillers), Deathlok (in Astonishing Tales and Marvel Spotlight), Gunhawk (in the last issue of the previous series Gunhawks, after the white guy was killed off)...am I forgetting any? Few if any of these are commanding big bucks, as far as I know.

[Red Oak Kid]

Solo Brothers of the 70's (pardon the bad pun, please): Black heroes of the 70's in their own features. Black Panther (in his own book and Jungle Action and Marvel Premiere), Black Goliath, Black Lightning, Gravedigger (in Men of War), Living Mummy (in Supernatural Thrillers), Deathlok (in Astonishing Tales and Marvel Spotlight), Gunhawk (in the last issue of the previous series Gunhawks, after the white guy was killed off)...am I forgetting any? Few if any of these are commanding big bucks, as far as I know.

Well there's Luke Cage.

I'm probably showing my ignorance, but why do you include Deathlok? I remember his wife was black, but it seemed that he was white in the flashback scenes. But I only read the Astonishing Tales stories.

[scratchie]

Solo Brothers of the 70's (pardon the bad pun, please): Black heroes of the 70's in their own features. Black Panther (in his own book and Jungle Action and Marvel Premiere), Black Goliath, Black Lightning, Gravedigger (in Men of War), Living Mummy (in Supernatural Thrillers), Deathlok (in Astonishing Tales and Marvel Spotlight), Gunhawk (in the last issue of the previous series Gunhawks, after the white guy was killed off)...am I forgetting any? Few if any of these are commanding big bucks, as far as I know.Luther Manning (Deathlok) was definitely portrayed as white in the original series.

[MWGallaher]

Ah, I meant to put a disclaimer on Deathlok, as I recall there being some question about his intended ethnicity. I remembered his wife was drawn and colored with classically African features, but there was some argument as to whether Marvel had intended this to be an "interracial" marriage or whether the colorists miscolored the flashbacks, not realizing he was supposed to be black. At least, I was confused. Looks like the prevailing sentiment is that he was white. So scratch him and put the obvious but overlooked Hero for Hire/Powerman on the list.

[scratchie]

Ah, I meant to put a disclaimer on Deathlok, as I recall there being some question about his intended ethnicity. I remembered his wife was drawn and colored with classically African features, but there was some argument as to whether Marvel had intended this to be an "interracial" marriage or whether the colorists miscolored the flashbacks, not realizing he was supposed to be black. At least, I was confused. Looks like the prevailing sentiment is that he was white. So scratch him and put the obvious but overlooked Hero for Hire/Powerman on the list.There's an early flashback where his features are vaguely African, and his hair is vaguely kinky, and he's drawn in the shadows a lot. But then towards the end of the Astonishing Tales run, he somehow (I forget the details) gets reanimated into his old body, which is white.

[T GUy]

Lone Ranger,

There's something I like to call a King Kong Cover - it's any cover where one character is at the top of a building holding another helpless character. Buzzing airplanes are a bonus.

I can think of a few off the top of my head, but I am sure that there are more.

The cover doesn't fit, but the story will interest you - Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth No. 7 ( (dig this cover, baby!). (http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=26397&zoom=4)

[Red Oak Kid]

Ah, I meant to put a disclaimer on Deathlok, as I recall there being some question about his intended ethnicity. I remembered his wife was drawn and colored with classically African features, but there was some argument as to whether Marvel had intended this to be an "interracial" marriage or whether the colorists miscolored the flashbacks, not realizing he was supposed to be black. At least, I was confused. Looks like the prevailing sentiment is that he was white.

I think it would be cooler if Manning was black.

But this whole topic made me think of another example of a Rich Buckler drawn story where there was racial confusion.

I have attached a scan of part of Seaboard's Tales of Evil drawn by Buckler. There are two girls interviewing Paul(Man-Monster) Sanders. One is drawn to look black, but is colored white. But her dialogue clearly indicates she is supposed to be black.

Is it a coincedence that this happens in Buckler drawn stories?:confused:

[benday-dot]

Collecting stories of those gone infinitetesimal would be an infinite chore... but I have a weakness for comic tales featuring the adventures of the shrunken ladies and the miniature men... well of course there is the obvious... Ant-Man and the Atom and Doll Man and Wasp etc. But even confining myself to all those great pre-hero ACG and Atlas stories about poor souls fallen victim to mad miniaturization would be a helluva challenge, but an exciting one all the same.

[benday-dot]

Another one I thought of more do-able: campus protest/riot covers. There's enough of them around, but not too much or too unaffordable.

[zilch]

Already have all Invaders (and MP issues of Liberty Legion), Kamandi (and all pre Crisis crossover books) (bought em off the stands), Gerber run of Defenders (had entire run, kept first 50 issues) and used to have...

Complete run of Captain Action (WHY isnt this reprinted? Screw copyrights!)
Complete run of Secret Six, Anthro (including Showcase!)
Nearly complete runs of the Marvel Anthology books from the 60s (the comic store i used to go to had em for a buck a piece, picked one or two up a week)

Short run stuff i'll get on the cheap...

Metal Men, Eerie B&W pubs (creepy schlock crap), Doomsday +1 and still filling in my Tomahawk run (less than 40 to go!!)

[Graham Vingoe]

I'm living in hope that I'll be able to afford these - barely have enough money for current comics at the moment but my single most wanted "doa-able" collection is for Deadly hands of Kung Fu, which I'm fighting the urge to bid on at the moment, and possibly the Conan issues which have not been reprinted by dark Horse for copyright reasons, particularly the 3 issues with Sonja and Belit in the mid 60's. Beyond that, I'd love a complete run of Ray Palmer Atoms , and the missing issues of Legion of Superheroes from the start of the Abnett/lanning run which don't seem to come up on E-Bay that often

[T GUy]

MWGallaher: Solo Brothers of the 70's (pardon the bad pun, please): Black heroes of the 70's in their own features. Black Panther (in his own book and Jungle Action and Marvel Premiere)...am I forgetting any?

Brother Voodoo in Strange Tales 169 - 173 and the odd issue of Tales of the Zombie, IIRR.

[Red Oak Kid]

Another one I thought of more do-able: campus protest/riot covers. There's enough of them around, but not too much or too unaffordable.

I like that one.

This made me think of collecting all comics that feature the Rutland Vermont Halloween party.

Or collect all comics that have scenes set at a comic book convention.

[Mike Kuypers]

How about celebrities appearing on superhero comics, such as Pat Boone, Allen Funt, Ralph Edwards, etc.?

[dan bailey]

I just started three new "do-able" collections: [I]Master of Kung Fu,

MOKF is very do-able. Three cheapish eBay lots netted me pretty much the full run last year for an average of maybe 50 cents an issue (including a fair number of duplicates), postage included, with a few almost-as-inexpensive fill-ins from Lone Star & Mile High. (It helped a helluva lot, as I recall noting here at the time, that in what had to have been some sort of software glitch, one morning as I was updating my Mile High order in preparation for sending it, the first MOKF appearance -- Special Marvel Edition 15 -- briefly showed up for something like a buck in probably G or VG. Now, it's not a super-expensive book by any means, but even so Mile High has it priced at $11.70 in Fair right now.)

I'm currently contemplating tracking down the Ant-Man issues of Marvel Feature,

Also very do-able. Again, eBay netted me that run for probably no more than $1 an ish, including postage.


I decided against Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen because much as I like Sgt. Fury, I remember this series being really awful.

You're a stronger man than I am, because while I don't doubt the awfulness of the series, it did involve various Howlers & Leatherneck/Battlefield Raiders, so I had to have it. Again, quite cheap.

[dan bailey]

I have everything but the first 8 issues but I have the Archive Edition for those. I confess I'm seriously thinking about getting the originals and trading/giving away the Archive.


I'm in a very similar position. I bought the Archive because I lack maybe half of those first 8, but I could find 'em at a reasonable price ...

[MDG]

I have a lot of complete runs of short-lived DC series: Capt. Action, Bat Lash, Anthro, Creeper, Hawk and Dove, Stalker, The Shadow, probably more, and a lot of these are really good comics.

The House of Mystery issues with Robbie Reed should be pretty inexpensive. That's another fun run.

The talk on the board's given me a hankerin' for the non-powered Sekowsky Wonder Womans, but I don't have the patience for "the hunt" anymore.

MDG

[dan bailey]

For example I have thought about trying to collect all the 60s DC comics with Go-Go Checks. I "think" this would be possible, money wise, unless there are some specific issues that are high priced because they contain first appearences or something. Including the 80pg Giants in this might make it too expensive.

Depends on how much of a stickler for condition you are (which I'm not at all), I guess, & what you consider "too expensive." I know when I sold my half-dozen of so duplicate 80-pagers on eBay last year, I probably got an average of maybe $5 per ish, including shipping, with a really nice copy of 80-Page Giant #6, before the Go-Go Checks era, going for not much more than that.)

Dunno if you saw it (I didn't till I did a Google search just now), but here on CBR the Comics Should be Good blog just last week ran a list of all the go-go check DCs, to wit --

Action Comics #333-352
Adventure Comics #341-358
Adventures of Bob Hope #98-106
Adventures of Jerry Lewis #93-101
All-American Men of War #114-117
Aquaman #26-34
Atom #24-32
Batman #179-193
Blackhawk #218-234
Brave and the Bold #64-72
Capt. Storm #12-18
Challengers of the Unknown #49-57
Detective Comics #348-365
Doom Patrol #102-112
Falling In Love #82-92
Flash #159-171
Fox and the Crow #96-104
G.I. Combat #117-124
Girls’ Love Stories #117-128
Girls’ Romances #115-126
Green Lantern #43-54
Hawkman #13-20
Heart Throbs #100-108
House of Mystery #157-168
House of Secrets #77-80
Inferior Five #1-3
Justice League of America #43-54
Metal Men #18-26
Metamorpho #5-13
Mystery in Space #106-110
Our Army at War #165-183
Our Fighting Forces #98-108
Plastic Man #1-5
Sea Devils #28-35
Secret Hearts #110-120
Showcase #61-69
Star Spangled War Stories #126-133
Strange Adventures #185-202
Sugar and Spike #64-71
Superboy #127-140
Superman #185-198
Superman’s Girl-Friend Lois Lane #63-75
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #91-103
Swing with Scooter #1-7
Tales of the Unexpected #94-101
Teen Titans #2-10
Tomahawk #103-111
Wonder Woman #161-171
World’s Finest Comics #156-167
Young Love #54-62
Young Romance #141-148

I'd have to do a lot more looking than I'm capable of at the moment to discern how many of those might be particularly high-priced, but as it happens the list includes fewer 80-Pagers than I would've thought -- only 16 (Action 334, 347, Batman 182, 185, 187, Flash 160, 169, Our Army at War 177, World's Finest 161, Jimmy Olsen 95, Lois Lane 68, Superman 187, 193, Superboy 129, 138, JLA 48), though of course it's entirely possible I missed a couple.

Damn you! I might have to consider this approach myself ...

[dan bailey]

The House of Mystery issues with Robbie Reed should be pretty inexpensive. That's another fun run.


Yeah, it is, & yeah, they are. Another run I put together inexpensively last year from eBay, paying probably no more per issue than new comics cost today ... & quite possibly rather less than that.

I second & third the above mentions of Capt Action. Quite good, & less expensive than you might think.

Speaking of neat, short-lived DC series, I didn't pay a whole heck of a lot to get all the Inferior Fives, either, including the 3 Showcase ishes.

As for Marvel, Capt Savage is a good, cheapish, short-lived (19 ishes) series. Ditto for Not Brand Echh (13 ishes).

[Cei-U!]

I have a lot of complete runs of short-lived DC series: Capt. Action, Bat Lash, Anthro, Creeper, Hawk and Dove, Stalker, The Shadow, probably more, and a lot of these are really good comics.

I have complete runs of all those except Bat Lash (all I have is #1 and the Showcase). I think *all* of 'em are really good comics.

The talk on the board's given me a hankerin' for the non-powered Sekowsky Wonder Womans, but I don't have the patience for "the hunt" anymore.

I've been wanting to grab these for a while now. They seem to be comparitively pricey (i.e., more than I'm willing to pay), alas. Maybe I should watch Ebay.

Cei-U!
Let's face it: I want it all!

[Red Oak Kid]

Thanks to Dan Bailey for posting that list of Go-Go Check DCs.

What about collecting all the issues of Wonder Woman where she is tied up?

No wait, that would be WAY too expensive.:D

[MDG]

What about collecting all the issues of Wonder Woman where she is tied up?

No wait, that would be WAY too expensive.:D

Yeah, it would probably be cheaper to find a woman, pay her to dress as Wonder Woman and....

I gotta go!

MDG

[InfoBroker]

I like that one.

This made me think of collecting all comics that feature the Rutland Vermont Halloween party.

Or collect all comics that have scenes set at a comic book convention.

For the former, I'll state the obvious early ones (they're the only ones I know)

Avengers #83 (Dec 1970 the first!) and Batman 237 (Dec 1971 - Shazam! nominated story) Both of these racked the month of All Hallow's Eve.

If people know of others, please feel free to append them. I know Steve Englehart or Steve Gerber did a Rutland reprise in Avengers or Defenders circa 1972 or so.

For the later, be sure to grab Astro-City volume 2, #21.

http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/5651/400/5651_4_021.jpg

Not only will you get Comical Conventions, but you also get super-heroes visiting the comic company offices that publish their comical books. That would be another in-tar-resting collecting var-ree-ant.


-jb th (or better still grab the Local Heroes trade and get a nice refrigerator magnet motif wrapper for some really cool stand alone episodes featuring some of the best super-blokes of all time) ib -.

[InfoBroker]

Speaking of Hawk and Dove, Creeper...

I'll bet it wouldn't take too much capital expenditure to collect the post Spider-man Steve Ditko comical books. The highest pricers would be the extremely low distributed Captain Actions and Blue Beetles from 1967-68. But the rest of the stuff is readily available, unless you want all the Witzends and the original fanzine appearance of Mr. A. But at least those were collected into a couple of newstand publications in the mid-to-late 70s.

hmmm... and the early Tower stuff might be a bit hard to come by, and I'm not sure if the Warren stories were current-Spidey or post-Spidey timeframe.

I guess this might stretch the boundaries of do-able for some people's budgets. Although I think the hardest thing would be to find them, even if they aren't showing in anyone's price-guide as being exorbitantly expensive.

But a quick scan of my brain here for some 70s and onward examples, Stalker, the Atlas Seaboard stuff, the ROM spaceknights, the Micronauts Annuals to name some of the obvious ones, are all nicely priced comics, very easy on the comical budget.

-jb the (not so sturdy) ib -

[scratchie]

Avengers #83 (Dec 1970 the first!) and Batman 237 (Dec 1971 - Shazam! nominated story) Both of these racked the month of All Hallow's Eve.

If people know of others, please feel free to append them. I know Steve Englehart or Steve Gerber did a Rutland reprise in Avengers or Defenders circa 1972 or so.Marvel Feature #2, if memory serves.

Overstreet lists a few(?) comics that take place at the Rutland parade, and which are all, I think, semi-crossovers (i.e. they're supposedly taking place at the same event). I think the Marvel Feature story is one of them and I want to say there are two more, but I don't think they're cross-referenced in Overstreet, just listed under the individual issues.

[spoon_jenkins]

I'm in a very similar position. I bought the Archive because I lack maybe half of those first 8, but I could find 'em at a reasonable price ...
After I posted about New Teen Titans, I looked the title up at Lone Star Comics and found that the early issues were surprisingly expensive. It came as a shock to me, because I have all of those first 8 except #2. I bought all of them in 2000s and I think the most I paid was $5 or less for #1. They're all probably VG or better except #4 has a detached staple. Maybe they're cheaper in the LCS and Ebay markets. Unfortunately, it looks like #2 is particularly pricy. :(

[Slam_Bradley]

After I posted about New Teen Titans, I looked the title up at Lone Star Comics and found that the early issues were surprisingly expensive. It came as a shock to me, because I have all of those first 8 except #2. I bought all of them in 2000s and I think the most I paid was $5 or less for #1. They're all probably VG or better except #4 has a detached staple. Maybe they're cheaper in the LCS and Ebay markets. Unfortunately, it looks like #2 is particularly pricy. :(


That surprises me a bit. I'm pretty sure I put together a couple of runs of N.T.T. 1-25 out of quarter boxes. That was a few years back, but I can't imagine why they'd be overly expensive.

[InfoBroker]

Marvel Feature #2, if memory serves.

Thanks scratchie, that would be it, and it was contemporary with the Batman classic. I remember chatting with high school art friends about it at the time.

They didn't understand why comics from two different companies were both featuring a fellow named Tom Fagan in the same town in Vermont.

I had to give them a brief explanation and dig out a Comic Crusader Fanzine that had pictures of the event. Martin Greim, the publisher and editor, went at Yellow Jacket, his wife was the Wasp, and close friend Bob Cosgrove (editor of Champion) was the Fly.

-jb the (a couple of other attendees included Roy(Spider-man) and Jean(Crystal) Thomas) ib-

[Heraclevs]

Probably Weird War Tales (heistant on the G.I. Robot/Creature Commandos era, though), and the complete run of Enemy Ace appearances.

What stops me are higher priorities and, frankly, space.


- Romans 9

[Red Oak Kid]

After I posted about New Teen Titans, I looked the title up at Lone Star Comics and found that the early issues were surprisingly expensive. (

I don't know how Lone Star arrives at their online prices.

However, for many years, I have been receiving the Mile High newsletter. On more than one occasion it has been noted that MH's price formula takes into account how many copies MH has of any given issue. Therefore, if MH only has one copy of a book, this raises the price of their copy. It doesn't matter to them if this book is selling for less on ebay. MH isn't nearly as motivated to sell a comic the way someone on ebay is.

Also, in a recent newsletter, Chuck Rozankis mentioned that he thought the prices in Overstreet are "conservative". So this belief also factors into the prices at Mile High.

I just point this out to show that the prices you see for a comic at Mile High do not accurately reflect the prices in the real world. Which is probably stating the obvious to the people who post here.

[Cei-U!]

Here are, as far as I know, all the Rutland-based comics, in the order published:

The Avengers #83 (12/70)
Batman #237 (12/71)
Marvel Feature #2 (3/72)
Justice League of America #103 (1/73)
Amazing Adventures #16 (1/73)
Thor #207 (1/73)
The Avengers #119 (1/74)
Freedom Fighters #6 (1/77)

Cei-U!
I summon the extremely doable!

[MichikoS]

I'm always surprised when I go through the cheapie boxes at cons how certain Bronze Age Marvels are always there in plentiful supply, often in very nice condition:

Astonishing Tales (featuring Ka-Zar, then Deathlok, 36 issues)
Amazing Adventures (Inhumans, Black Widow, Beast, Killraven, 39 issues)
Howard the Duck (33 issues)
Master of Kung Fu (#17-125)
Conan the Barbarian (275 issues)
John Carter, Warlord of Mars (28 issues)
Tarzan (29 issues)

All of these seven Marvel titles beat Sturgeon's Law by a wide margin, IMO. You could collect complete or near-complete runs of these titles quite affordably.

From DC, I see gobs of:

Arak, Son of Thunder (50 issues)
Arion, Lord of Atlantis (35 issues)
Warlord (133 issues)

You could get complete runs of these titles for a pittance.

Michi

[Heraclevs]

Here are, as far as I know, all the Rutland-based comics, in the order published:

The Avengers #83 (12/70)
Batman #237 (12/71)
Marvel Feature #2 (3/72)
Justice League of America #103 (1/73)
Amazing Adventures #16 (1/73)
Thor #207 (1/73)
The Avengers #119 (1/74)
Freedom Fighters #6 (1/77)

Cei-U!
I summon the extremely doable!

You should check out Justice League of America #146. Englehart lands the team in Rutland again. Fagan make shis customary appearance.

- Romans 9

[Cei-U!]

You should check out Justice League of America #146. Englehart lands the team in Rutland again. Fagan make shis customary appearance.


I suspected I left one out. Thanks for the backstop.

Cei-U!
D'oh!

[Heraclevs]

I suspected I left one out. Thanks for the backstop.

Cei-U!
D'oh!

You betcha'!


- Romans 9

[benday-dot]

Here are, as far as I know, all the Rutland-based comics, in the order published:

The Avengers #83 (12/70)
Batman #237 (12/71)
Marvel Feature #2 (3/72)
Justice League of America #103 (1/73)
Amazing Adventures #16 (1/73)
Thor #207 (1/73)
The Avengers #119 (1/74)
Freedom Fighters #6 (1/77)

Cei-U!
I summon the extremely doable!

From out of left field Cei-U I find the Occult Files of Doctor Spektor #18 with its Rutland theme. Furthermore, though I can't vouch for this one, DC Super Stars #18 (Phantom Stranger ish.) is said to contain said theme (source: Wiki)

[scratchie]

This blog is a treasure trove of ideas for "themed cover" collections:

http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/2007/05/ten-of-kind-architecture-attack.html

http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/2007/05/ten-of-kind-great-job-with-secret-id.html

http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/2007/04/ten-of-kind-thumb-goes-up-car-goes-byoh.html

http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/2007/04/ten-of-kind-this-comic-is-no-longer.html

--Art

[dan bailey]

Astonishing Tales (featuring Ka-Zar, then Deathlok, 36 issues)
Amazing Adventures (Inhumans, Black Widow, Beast, Killraven, 39 issues)


*choke* That's what I get for never going to cons ... I've got the compete runs of Ka-Zar solo, Deathlok & Killraven, but the earlier stuff has pretty much eluded me.

[dan bailey]

For example I have thought about trying to collect all the 60s DC comics with Go-Go Checks.

In a similar vein, one could go for all the "Marvel Pop Art" covers, which were pretty much confined to the summer of '65 ... maybe 50 individual comics, tops. Of course, they include some pretty high-dollar books, I'm sure -- Ditko Spideys, first Inhumans FFs, etc.

[founder81]

I've recently discovered I like old Thor's. So far I've been getting them for $4 or less, so I think getting 190-280 something (Buscema's last issue) is very doable. I decided to only go after the Buscema run. I usually don't go by artist, but it seems his art just makes a fun story so much better.


To comment on a couple of other things.

Steve Ditko did a Speedball series in the mid 80's.

I got a whole run of Marvel Conan, issues 21-200, took me less then a year and most of them came out of dollar boxes. Most I paid in that issue range was $5 for #23 and $9 for #24. This was before the Dark Horse series started, so I don't know how that has affected demand for the old Marvels.

Cover styles to collect. I'm partial to the "Big Head" covers Marvel did in the 80's. The most expensive one I am aware of is Uncanny X-Men, I believe it is the 1st Wolvie Vs. Sabertooth story.

[Red Oak Kid]

It would be easy to do a collection of Gene Colan's work at DC in the 80s.

Detective

Night Force

Silverblade

And the Nathaniel Dusk mini for Eclipse.

[Cei-U!]

It would be easy to do a collection of Gene Colan's work at DC in the 80s.

Detective

Night Force

Silverblade

And the Nathaniel Dusk mini for Eclipse.


Don't forget Phantom Zone and J'emm, Son of Saturn.

There was a third Dusk mini, done for Eclipse instead of DC? Or are you thinking mayhap of his Detectives, Inc mini?

Cei-U!
Lurfs me some Colan!

[scratchie]

Don't forget Phantom Zone and J'emm, Son of Saturn.Didn't he do Wonder Woman in the 80s, too?

[Red Oak Kid]

Don't forget Phantom Zone and J'emm, Son of Saturn.

There was a third Dusk mini, done for Eclipse instead of DC? Or are you thinking mayhap of his Detectives, Inc mini?

Cei-U!
Lurfs me some Colan!

Yes I was thinking of Detectives.

I don't know why I thought ND was from Eclipse.

What about Colan's Doctor Strange for Marvel? Are they expensive?

[DDM]

Any comic book with a relatively small number such as no more than 200 issues & not expensive are "do-able." For example, Ms. Marvel #1-23 (1st series), Nova #1-25 (1st series), Spider-Woman #1-50, The Savage She-Hulk #1-25, Excalibur #1-125, X-Factor #1-149, The New Mutants #1-100, & The Defenders #1-124 plus The New Defenders #125-152 are easily in reach. However, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman & Nova may be difficult to find for all the issues simple because they are obscure.

[MDG]

Didn't he do Wonder Woman in the 80s, too?
Yes--I have an uninked Colan WW splash, but I know he was on the book for a while.

He probably did some other DC work--I'm pretty sure he did the Crimson Avenger story in Secret Origins.

What's the consensus on the Moench run on Batman/Detective? I picked up a good run of them a couple years after they appeared, but they didn't really make much of an impression, which is surprising considering there was Colan on one book, and Newton on the other. I remember getting sick of the whole Nocturna/Thief of Night thing (or whatever those characters were called).

MDH

[T GUy]

Moench was a bit of a favourite of mine at the time, which is perhaps why it took me some time to realise that I was not enjoying his run on Batski as much as I had liked that of his predecessor, Conway, and subsequently give up the Bat-titles.

[spoon_jenkins]

What's the consensus on the Moench run on Batman/Detective? I picked up a good run of them a couple years after they appeared, but they didn't really make much of an impression, which is surprising considering there was Colan on one book, and Newton on the other. I remember getting sick of the whole Nocturna/Thief of Night thing (or whatever those characters were called).

At times the Moench scripting can be over the top. But I've bought a number of these issues and decided that Don Newton is my favorite Batman artist, so I'm looking forward to getting more of these. Also, there are a lot of classic villains in this run, so I like that. I generally like the Moench/Newton stuff. Even though I like 60s/70s Gene Colan, I'm not that big on later Colan, so I haven't gotten that many of his side of things.

I try to stay at $3 an issue or less if possible., and some of these go for $5 or more, so I haven't been buying those.

[scratchie]

What's the consensus on the Moench run on Batman/Detective? I picked up a good run of them a couple years after they appeared, but they didn't really make much of an impression, which is surprising considering there was Colan on one book, and Newton on the other. I picked up a chunk of the 'Tec issues a while back, because of the Colan art, but had the same reaction as you. It didn't make much of an impression. I almost always enjoy Gene Colan, but I've been a little underwhelmed by a lot of his 80s superhero work (Detective, Phantom Zone, Jemm, Son of Saturn). He seems to bring more of his A game to things like Nathanial Dusk.

[benday-dot]

founder81:

I've recently discovered I like old Thor's. So far I've been getting them for $4 or less, so I think getting 190-280 something (Buscema's last issue) is very doable. I decided to only go after the Buscema run. I usually don't go by artist, but it seems his art just makes a fun story so much better.

I cobbled together all the Kirby Thors (excluding the Journey into Mystery nos., on which I don't find Jack and Stan quite hitting their strides yet on the character, both in terms of art and story) over a period of a less than a year, with an average price of around 5.00 in G-VG condition. The period from about 135-165, before Colletta got shabby, and Kirby perhaps had begun to entertain thoughts of shifting some potential Thor concepts over to his nascent New Gods mythos, contain, I think, some absolute gems.

Anyway, the point is this period of Kirby oeuvre is quite doable


ROK:
What about Colan's Doctor Strange for Marvel? Are they expensive?

Not at all... 2 or 3 dollars each. I don't have them all, because I'm not at heart a completest, but I think I have about 90% of Colan's output on the title. Several eBay hauls and then filling in the blanks on LoneStar and MileHigh did it.

[MDG]

I almost always enjoy Gene Colan, but I've been a little underwhelmed by a lot of his 80s superhero work (Detective, Phantom Zone, Jemm, Son of Saturn). He seems to bring more of his A game to things like Nathanial Dusk.

Colan + DC + 80s = Infantino + Marvel + 70s

MDG

[scratchie]

Colan + DC + 80s = Infantino + Marvel + 70sOh, no, you didn't!

[Cherokee Jack]

It would be easy to do a collection of Gene Colan's work at DC in the 80s.

Detective

Night Force

Silverblade

And the Nathaniel Dusk mini for Eclipse.


Gene also did some work in ELVIRA'S HOUSE OF MYSTERY # 11. The whole run of EHOM would be do-able, and there are some pretty talented people who worked on that book---Robert Kanigher, Mike Baron, Bob Oksner, Joe Orlando, Dave Stevens, Denys Cowan, etc.

And Gene also did this: http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=43787
which I found to be pretty good. Really nice art.

[illma3]

Is byrne fantastic four do-able? How about conan? Marvel Team-up? Tomb of dracula?

[scratchie]

You could do a collection of Byrne on Team-Up pretty easily, I think. That's not a whole lot of issues and it was a popular title.

I think a complete Conan collection is something of a challenge. There are a lot of pricey early issues there. Tomb of Dracula, maybe a little easier?

Some other thoughts:

A few issues after the end of the "Diana Prince" Wonder Woman issues, there was a series where she had to do "twelve labors" (12 issues?) to re-gain admittance to the Justice League. Aside from the bizarre concept behind the whole thing (did anyone else ever have to do twelve qualifying tasks to join the JLA? And this was friggin' Wonder Woman!), this series includes a couple of 100-pagers and a nice series of covers where WW's story is introduced by whatever JLA member is stalking her that month. You think Red Tornado or Phantom Stranger did twelve labors? Sheesh.

http://www.agitators.com/foto/qomix/ww214.jpghttp://www.agitators.com/foto/qomix/ww218.jpg
http://www.agitators.com/foto/qomix/ww220.jpghttp://www.agitators.com/foto/qomix/ww222.jpg

[MDG]

So how bad does a book have to sell before they think putting Red Tornado on the cover is going to boost sales?

MDG

[founder81]

Is byrne fantastic four do-able? How about conan? Marvel Team-up? Tomb of dracula?


Byrne FF is 100% do able. No expensive key issues. Most issue are $2-$4 in back issue bins and can also be easily put together from bargain bins.

Conan is do-able if you leave the Barry Windsor Smith issues out. His are the only ones that carry high price tags.

Marvel Team up is also do-able, if you can settle for low to mid grades on the first 10 or so issues, only #1 will set you back.

Tomb of Dracula - I don't know much about this series, never tried to collect it, but the 1st appearance of Blade is in its pages. If any issues is gonna be expensive in this run, that one will.

[Slam_Bradley]

So how bad does a book have to sell before they think putting Red Tornado on the cover is going to boost sales?

MDG



Wonder Woman was a horrible seller throughout the larger part of its run. I remember reading in fanzines in the late 70s/early 80s that their were two reasons they kept her in print. One was because of an agreement that might have caused her to revert to the estate of her creator. The other was that she was a great licensing product. Apparently Wonder Woman underoos sold very well.

[divinebrown]

I've been collecting Uncanny X-Men beginning with issue 140, part one of "Days of Future Past." I have it uninterrupted until the mid-260s. The next big issue I need is the first appearance of Gambit and then it should be fairly cheap after I snag the Cajun.

Also though, I'd like to get the various X-Men miniseries as they were released. Does anyone have any information or a link on all these minis detailing the order of their publication?

I think this fits within the parameters of this thread. If not, I apologize.

[DDM]

Is byrne fantastic four do-able?

Fantastic Four #232-292 is affordable with the highest comic going for about $5.00-8.00 range; the other books are lower.


Marvel Team-up?

Marvel Team-Up is relatively inexpensive. However, various issues do cost more such as Marvel Team-Up #1, Marvel Team-Up Annual #1, & Marvel Team-Up #53 (cameo of the new X-Men with John Byrne's pencils). Most of the Marvel Team-Up can range between $2.00-10.00 range.

Tomb of dracula?

Tomb of Dracula is hard to find simply because it's an obscure title, but once found, the issues can range between Marvel Team-Up prices...

[Reptisaurus!]

Marvel Team-Up is relatively inexpensive. However, various issues do cost more such as Marvel Team-Up #1, Marvel Team-Up Annual #1, & Marvel Team-Up #53 (cameo of the new X-Men with John Byrne's pencils). Most of the Marvel Team-Up can range between $2.00-10.00 range.



I started with 53 and Annual 1, but I don't think I ever paid more than 2.50 for an issue of Marvel Team-up, and only paid that much maybe twice (Although I knocked off 1, 2, and 3 with the Essential Volume.)

Same for Two-in-one and DC Comics Presents. Strangely, Marvel Two-in-one Annual was the costy on an issue-by-issue basis.

Although there are a few issues of DCCP that are goin' for more that I don't have yet: First appearance of the New Teen Titans, a He-man team-up (P.S. WTF??) and one other random issue later in the run.

Brave and the Bold was by far my biggest investment. But it was also by far the best quality title. So that evens out.

[MDG]

Although there are a few issues of DCCP that are goin' for more that I don't have yet: First appearance of the New Teen Titans, a He-man team-up (P.S. WTF??) and one other random issue later in the run.

I thought you meant DCCP #85 the Swamp Thing Team-Up by Moore, Veitch, and Willamson, but according to Mile High, #87, a Crisis x-over with Superboy is 10 times as much as the previous issue--a Crisis x-over with Supergirl. Anyone know why it's so much more?

On the whole, DCCP was a pretty uneven title, although there are some real gems along the way. I remember liking an earlier Swamp Thing team-up by Englehart and Anderson, of all people, and the Blackhawk issue by Evanier. And Giffen did some great issues with Ambush Bug, Creeper, and the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

MDG

[spoon_jenkins]

I thought you meant DCCP #85 the Swamp Thing Team-Up by Moore, Veitch, and Willamson, but according to Mile High, #87, a Crisis x-over with Superboy is 10 times as much as the previous issue--a Crisis x-over with Supergirl. Anyone know why it's so much more?
I used to have a Crisis Crossover Index (oddly enought, published by an independent company) that described all the x-overs. I think the DCCP Superboy story involved the Earth-Prime Superboy from Crisis (rather than the younger version of Earth-1 Superman) and final fate of Earth-Prime during Crisis on Infinite Earths. So it's a crucial event. On the other hand, I think the Supergirl story was pretty much a regular story of Superman recalled some secret relationship of Supergirl (reflecting after her death)

[DarthAstuart]

I think the DCCP Superboy story involved the Earth-Prime Superboy from Crisis (rather than the younger version of Earth-1 Superman) and final fate of Earth-Prime during Crisis on Infinite Earths. So it's a crucial event.

It's been a while since I read it, but I believe DCP #87 is currently so pricey solely because it's the first appearance of Superboy-Prime, who then went on to serve as a chief villain in Infinite Crisis.

I just bought/read DCP #27-29, a goofy story by Len Wein featuring some decent Jim Starlin art. It strikes me that DCP would actually be a good fun cheapo title to collect, and I plan to do just that.

[Reptisaurus!]

I thought you meant DCCP #85 the Swamp Thing Team-Up by Moore, Veitch, and Willamson, but according to Mile High, #87, a Crisis x-over with Superboy is 10 times as much as the previous issue--a Crisis x-over with Supergirl. Anyone know why it's so much more?


I asked on Comics Should Be Good. It somehow ties into the current DC mega-crossover. I figure if I wait a year nobody will care.
[/quote]

On the whole, DCCP was a pretty uneven title,


Agreed.


although there are some real gems along the way. I remember liking an earlier Swamp Thing team-up by Englehart and Anderson, of all people, and the Blackhawk issue by Evanier. And Giffen did some great issues with Ambush Bug, Creeper, and the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

MDG

Hmm. Except for the Ambush Bug issues, I don't have any of those. I'll keep my eye out for 'em.

What else did I dig... The Starlin issues Darth mentions were good, there was a really cool Sgt. Rock team-up circa issue 10. And the last issue, by Steve Gerber and Rick Veitch was great.

[Red Oak Kid]

How about Marvel's Red Sonja color comic?

http://www.comics.org/covers.lasso?SeriesID=2404

Are these expensive?

[founder81]

How about Marvel's Red Sonja color comic?

http://www.comics.org/covers.lasso?SeriesID=2404

Are these expensive?

A quick look at ebay says:

It is a doable run to collect and not very expensive.

[InfoBroker]

*duplicate append*

The response time of the CBR server is reaching the point of severe frustration.

-jb the (might go back to postage stamps and fanzines) ib -

[InfoBroker]

re: Red Sonya (I assume the 70s run)

Features some great Frank Thorne artwork, and for completion sake, be sure to check Marvel Feature comics as well. She was in the first seven issues of one of the volumes (second IIRC) before getting her own book.

-jb the ib -