What Classic Comics Have You Purchased Lately? Pt. 3

[Jezebel Bond]

According to Wikipedia (taken with the usual grain of salt): "Federal Publishing Company a.k.a. Federal Comics and Australian Edition DC (1983 – 1986) — reprinted contemporary DC, Marvel (taking over the license from Yaffa), Charlton, and Hanna-Barbera comics, occasionally dipping into a backlist of stories acquired from K.G. Murray."

Ah...thanks, might try to get one or two just to have a couple samples in the mix.

The reason I bought that particular issue was that it was Ghost Rider, something I don't normally buy and also because I liked the cover. It was a toss-up between that or a German Batman comic book. And since my German isnt too good I went for something I could read easily without having to consult an online translator website.

I have some German variants, they are very nicely done with cardstock covers and they're far more liberal...like Elektra can show her ass over there and no one cares but in the States, it gets recalled.

[Richard Bishop]

Nice pickups, Scott, especially for $1 each. That Defenders #15 looks like it's in pretty good shape.

Also congrats on the 66-issue Bronze bonanza. If you don't mind me asking, what two issues of Dr. Strange, v2, are you still looking for? I have some places locally that sell a lot of those issues cheap ($1 or $2) and would be willing to check on them for you.

[Scott Harris]

Nice pickups, Scott, especially for $1 each. That Defenders #15 looks like it's in pretty good shape.

Also congrats on the 66-issue Bronze bonanza. If you don't mind me asking, what two issues of Dr. Strange, v2, are you still looking for? I have some places locally that sell a lot of those issues cheap ($1 or $2) and would be willing to check on them for you.

The issues I am missing are #7 and 8, though I believe MRP is checking to see if might have them for me. If he doesn't, I'll be happy to take you up on that offer.

[zryson]

[zryson]

Hi Jez; one of the reasons I like comics from other countries is that they take more liberties with the material like you wrote. Also I like how they come in a variety of sizes and with extras such as puzzles, to iron-on transfers, to posters/pin-ups, etc. The old annuals from London are fantastic too - beautiful paper stock with nice hard glossy covers with specially commissioned artwork. I remember the first time I saw those at a store and I was blown away by how fantastic they looked.

[zryson]

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Speaking of something else, I just bought a giant pile of comics from My Comics Shop, aka Lone Star Comics. Every so often I will go over there and try to cross off loose ends from my checklist -- you know, random issues here and there that just aren't worth buying individually due to shipping costs. So I try to get them all at once in order to receive free shipping.

Today's load was 65 bronze age beauties for $88 shipped, or $1.35 each. This includes 44 issues of Action/Superman/DC Comics Presents as well as 16 issues of Doctor Strange. I'm now just two issues away from completing my run of Doctor Strange volume 2 and have four more issues beyond that to have the full Dr. Strange run from Strange Tales #134 through Strange Tales vol. 2 #19, or over 20 years of continuity. Tracking down those final six issues at reasonable prices (aka dirt cheap) will be a priority this year, as I am looking forward to sitting down and reading the entire Dr. Strange epic through.

I'm also plugging away at my Action/Superman runs. Who knows, if I can complete my goals, maybe I'll do a Superman in the pre-Crisis era review thread to compliment shaxper's post-Crisis thread. But I still have a quite a ways to go on this one. My primary aim is to finish both series from the O'Neill reboot in Superman #233 up through the end of Crisis, so that's a lot of comics to get, and I am kind of cheap.

When they arrive I can't wait to see the numbers n all Scott. I'm working on getting the 1st 30 issues of Doctor Strange (1974-1987) series .

[shaxper]

Just placed the following order with Lonestar in order to fill a few gaps, pick up a few series from this year's Classic Comics Christmas, and obtain the few Epic Illustrated issues that I need to read NOW and can't find inexpensively elsewhere:

1 $6.00 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1974) 15 VG 4.0 -- This FINISHES my Master of Kung Fu collection
1 $6.80 Epic Illustrated (1980 Magazine) 1 VF+ 8.5
1 $2.80 Epic Illustrated (1980 Magazine) 10 FN 6.0
1 $7.60 Epic Illustrated (1980 Magazine) 13 VF+ 8.5
1 $3.20 Epic Illustrated (1980 Magazine) 16 FN -- All the Epic Illustrated issues I'm still questing for
1 $1.00 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 236 FN
1 $1.00 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 246 FN
1 $1.20 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 247 FN
1 $1.00 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 248 FN
1 $0.90 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 250 FN
1 $0.90 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 284 VF
1 $1.20 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 288 FN
1 $0.90 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 290 VF
1 $0.90 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 291 VF
1 $0.90 Fantastic Four (1961 1st Series) 292 VF -- FINISHES Byrne's run
1 $4.30 Howard the Duck (1976 1st Series) 12 FN+ 6.5
1 $4.80 Howard the Duck (1976 1st Series) 13 FN 6.0
1 $1.10 Howard the Duck (1979 Magazine) 1 FN
1 $1.99 Howard the Duck (1979 Magazine) 4 FN- 5.5 -- FINISHES my Howard run
1 $2.10 Jughead's Diner (1990) 1 VF -- Haven't read this since 1990 and miss it. Really hard to find now!
1 $4.80 Kull the Conqueror (1971 1st Series) 2 FN 6.0
1 $3.10 Kull the Conqueror (1971 1st Series) 6 FN- 5.5 -- FINISHES the run
1 $1.10 Marc Spector Moon Knight Special Edition (1992) 1 NM
1 $3.60 Moon Knight (1980 1st Series) 23 FN -- FINISHES the run
1 $4.80 Prez (1973) 1 FN 6.0
1 $7.49 Prez (1973) 2 FN/VF 7.0
1 $1.20 Prez (1973) 3 GD+ 2.5
1 $2.00 Prez (1973) 4 VG 4.0 -- Full run, inspired by the Classic Comics Christmas
1 $2.00 Shade the Changing Man (1977 1st Series) 7 VF- 7.5
1 $2.10 Shade the Changing Man (1977 1st Series) 8 FN/VF 7.0 -- FINISHES the run, inspired by the CCC
1 $1.10 Six from Sirius (1984 1st Series) 1 NM
1 $1.10 Six from Sirius (1984 1st Series) 3 NM
1 $1.10 Six from Sirius (1984 1st Series) 4 NM
1 $1.60 Six from Sirius II (1985 2nd Series) 1 VF
1 $2.60 Six from Sirius II (1985 2nd Series) 2 VF
1 $1.80 Six from Sirius II (1985 2nd Series) 3 VF
1 $2.60 Six from Sirius II (1985 2nd Series) 4 VF -- Been meaning to get these for a long time now, and they were mentioned in the CCC


Incidentally, what does it say about us as readers that we're already on a third thread for purchases, but still working our way through the second What Have You Read Lately? thread (which, incidentally, was started long before the purchases thread)?

Are all of our eyes bigger than...well..our eyes?

[Polar Bear]

Just received in the mail:

Annihilators #1 (FINISHES the run)
Kobra #7 (Thought I'd never bought it; ordered it; it turned up crushed at the bottom of one of my long boxes, so this replaces that one; RE-FINISHES the run)
Phoenix #2 (1970s Atlas, FINISHES the run)
Fantastic Four 160, 163, 164, 166, 173, 184, 200 (FINISHES the run from 150-200--or from 1-200, if you include reprints)

And now it gets complicated.
Superman: About four pre-Crisis issues, spread evenly from the 1960s to the 1980s, filling in a few blanks here and there, as well as the post-Crisis Clark-and-Bruce team up #710, apparently an accidental dupe. One of these pickups is the marriage of the Earth-2 Superman, and another is the famous "Flying Heroes" hundred-pager--one of Cei-U's single favorite comic books ever, IIRC.
Action: About 30 pre-Crisis issues, including a few 12-centers (plugged a "Virus X" hole, grabbed the Superwoman/Superboy storyline, etc.), a decent handful of twenty-centers (all the issues with Human Target back-ups, criminally un-reprinted even when his TV show was on the air), and a run of about ten issues contemporary with the first movie, the Slings and Arrows Guide recommending that era particularly. I also bought one post-crisis issue, #775, where he fights The Elite (an Authority homage), on the basis of superb reviews.

I'll be using these Supermans and Actions for a special family project later this year.

[MRP]

Incidentally, what does it say about us as readers that we're already on a third thread for purchases, but still working our way through the second What Have You Read Lately? thread (which, incidentally, was started long before the purchases thread)?

Are all of our eyes bigger than...well..our eyes?

I think part of it is that some of us here prefer to read continuous runs, so there is a lot of separate purchases made and posted before a run is achieved and read, so this contributes to the imbalance between threads.

There is also a certain rush when acquiring an issue that may not be matched when actually reading it. The thrill of the successful hunt has yielded the comics posted here, but they may disappoint upon reading and not inspire comment or review when read.

There are also a fair number who may not read what they purchase, for any number of reasons, some may be reacquiring past favorites that were read some time ago, and not reread upon purchase-the goal is not to acquire new reading materials but to recapture treasured memories of keepsakes. There are also a few who are more in the collector vein than reader vein, nothing wrong with that either if that is what brings them joy from the comics hobby. I was talking to a guy at our local shop just before Thanksgiving, and he has just about every issue of X-Men published, and has them all displayed in chronological order in plastic cases in his finished basement. But he has never cracked open and read an X-Men comic in his life, he just fondly remembers the characters from the Saturday morning cartoons. He is now working on doing the same with Spider-Man but has no intention of reading them either. To each his own.

So yes there may be a little of the we are buying more than we read thing going on that you mentioned, but I think there are a host of other reasons why the buy pile is bigger than the have read pile...

-M

[shaxper]

So yes there may be a little of the we are buying more than we read thing going on that you mentioned, but I think there are a host of other reasons why the buy pile is bigger than the have read pile...

Point taken. To be clear, I meant to ask the question rhetorically, as I largely agree with your explanations.

Still, I've put pressure on myself in recent years to try to read more than I buy, as I'd been one of those collectors too taken with "the thrill of the hunt" in the past. With over 70,000 comics filling up my office attic, and only 55% of them read, I really need to reign it in better. I assume most long-time buyers/collectors are in similar positions.

[Polar Bear]

--This FINISHES my Master of Kung Fu collection
-- All the Epic Illustrated issues I'm still questing for
-- FINISHES Byrne's FF run
-- FINISHES my Howard run
1 $2.10 Jughead's Diner (1990) 1 VF -- Haven't read this since 1990 and miss it. Really hard to find now!
-- FINISHES the Kull the Conqueror run
-- FINISHES the Moon Knight (1980) run
--Full run of Prez, inspired by the Classic Comics Christmas
-- FINISHES the Shade the Changing Man run, inspired by the CCC

Wow! I love the feeling of finishing a run and sitting down to read the complete set for the first time. There's very little that matches it. It's almost like having a morning to browse through Lucien's library.

Incidentally, what does it say about us as readers that we're already on a third thread for purchases, but still working our way through the second What Have You Read Lately? thread (which, incidentally, was started long before the purchases thread)?

Are all of our eyes bigger than...well..our eyes?

That's true. My pile of comics-to-read is absolutely ginormous right now, yet I bought ~45 back issues with my Christmas money.

(Apologies for repeating myself, but...)
Bob the Tomato: "How much stuff do you really need for you to be happy?"
Larry the Cucumber: "I dunno. How much is there?"

[shaxper]

There's got to be some kind of award for referencing Sandman and Veggie Tales in the same post.

Can't decide if I'm impressed or disturbed...

[zryson]

[benday-dot]

Point taken. To be clear, I meant to ask the question rhetorically, as I largely agree with your explanations.

Still, I've put pressure on myself in recent years to try to read more than I buy, as I'd been one of those collectors too taken with "the thrill of the hunt" in the past. With over 70,000 comics filling up my office attic, and only 55% of them read, I really need to reign it in better. I assume most long-time buyers/collectors are in similar positions.

I found/find myself in the same position. That's why for 2013 I decided to give up on the buying end of comics. I probably only have a collection half the size of yours, still it seems like just so much dead weight in boxes if it remains unread. It just began to feel unseemly to me to continue to consume and fail to completely enjoy the bounty I already have. I guess I didn't want to be a hoarder.

I mean this as no criticism to those who continue to enjoy buying for whatever reason, but the imbalance wasn't sitting well well me.