Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 16, where we take a look at six cool comic books I currently own, and one that I let get away. If you’ve enjoying reading about my trip down comic book lane, consider signing up for my newsletter. There are perks to being a subscriber, and you’ll have the inside track to my writing projects. I welcome any comments you might have, and hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I do writing about them. And now, Episode 16…
What? Aunt May is ready to open fire on the Wall-Crawler, not realizing that underneath the mask he’s really her beloved nephew! And there is a definitely a strange relationship going on between Aunt May and Doctor Octopus. Hammerhead is also in this issue, along with Ned Leeds, Betty Brant, Gwen Stacy, Robbie Robertson, and J. Jonah Jameson. This issue has a really colorful cover, and how about all those webs? Spider-Man has always been one of my favorite heroes, and I picked this back issue up for a measly dime at The Paradox Bookstore in Wheeling, West Virginia, back in the mid-seventies. The cover price of The Amazing Spider-Man #115 is 20 cents, while the current value is $100.
In one of my previous comic entries, I featured the Captain America issue in which Steve Rogers gave up the super-hero biz in disgust. In his absence, another man rose to the occasion to take his place. And what happened to him? Just look at the cover, as Steve, now known as Nomad, looks on with the Falcon. I skipped several issues of Captain America, then picked this one up, as I was intrigued by the cover. Now I wish I had bought those issues in-between, but I was just twelve-years-old, and there were lots of other things to spend my few dollars on. For fans of the Peggy Carter series on TV (the second season will be starting January 19), she is also in this issue. I bought this comic book from Slicks in Martins Ferry, when it originally came out. The cover price of Captain America #183 is 25 cents, while the current value is $20.
Way back in Cool Comics #3, Episode 1, I wrote about The Legion of Super-Heroes #290, the beginning of The Great Darkness Saga. And if you’ve stayed with me long enough, here’s the payout as we feature part 2. When I started buying Legion comics back in college, I didn’t really know much about them, and it was challenging just learning all the different characters. But the payoff came when the Darkness Saga started, because it was a great ride. While there are plenty of interesting heroes involved, such as Saturn Girl, Superman, Timber Wolf, Mon-El, and Dream Girl, we also get one of the greatest villains in DC: Darkseid. If you’ve never read the saga, it isn’t all that expensive to pick up at your local comic shop. There is also a trade paperback available, and even a Kindle version. The cover price of The Legion of Super-Heroes #291 is 60 cents, while the current value is $8.
As I’ve mentioned before in these posts, when I was a kid in the seventies and buying comic books, I pretty much stuck to the super-hero crowd. I did buy some monster magazines, and would stay up late on weekends watching Chiller Theater with Bill Cardille out of Pittsburgh, but my comic book money belonged to the likes of Spider-Man and Captain America, for the most part. And vampires are pretty scary to a kid, aren’t they? I watched the horror movies with an older sister, but I’d usually be alone when reading my comic books, and I didn’t want to read about Dracula taking over America, like this issue has on the cover, with no one to back me up! And in case you’re a fan, Brother Voodoo is in this issue. I bought it in the late nineties, as a back issue, at Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio. The cover price of The Tomb of Dracula #36 is 25 cents, while the current value is $20.
Remember back when I talked about The Flash #92, which had the first appearance of Impulse? Obviously I like the character enough to buy some early issues when he got his own comic book, hence I have Impulse #1 listed here. The comic didn’t soar in value, and I don’t really know how many people like Impulse, but I thought he was a fun character, and I liked the way Humberto Ramos drew him. That’s something to consider when buying comic books. You can decide if you want to collect a title because you think it will go up in value, or because the character is cool to all your friends and you don’t want to miss out, or maybe you love the art and writing, regardless of what anyone else thinks. If you are buying them fresh off the newsstand, like I did with this issue at Titan Comics in Atlanta, Georgia, you never know how the public is going to react. But if you decide to buy back issues at a later date, make sure you like what you are buying, because the pricing will be different, and you never know if the value will rise or drop. This origin issue features familiar faces from DC speedster comics, such as Max Mercury, Iris West Allen, and Wally West, along with Barbara Gordon and the Martian Manhunter. The cover price for Impulse #1 is $1.50, while the current value is $6.
The issue of Strange Adventures stands out because it features the first appearance of The League of Assassins! Well, it wasn’t actually called this, but instead The Society of Assassins, and later renamed, but it’s still the first appearance. Also we meet Sensei, Ra’s al Ghul’s second-in-command, as he makes his introduction to the world of DC comics. These old comics are a lot of fun to find and collect, especially when you can get them at a good price. And if you have been watching The Arrow TV show, then you’re pretty familiar with The League of Assassins, and realize that this is definitely a cool comic in my collection. I picked up this issue at Paradox Bookstore, in Wheeling, West Virginia, when I was a kid, in the mid-seventies. The owner had back issues for just a dime, and I’d go in the store and try to find comics that looked interesting, and I grabbed this one. The cover price for Strange Adventures #215 is 12 cents, while the current value is $75.
Deadpool is a pretty quirky, but much-loved character in the Marvel Universe. And with a movie due out this February, his popularity may soar to even greater heights. Unfortunately for me, I no longer own this comic book. Again, I needed to “Make Room! Make Room!” just like the title of Harry Harrison’s novel (you know, the one they made a movie of and called it Soylent Green? The crackers? Charlton Heston? Edward G. Robinson? Soylent Green is people?), and I gave this comic book to my son. So he gets to reap the benefits of it rises in price. You may recognize some of the other characters in this issue, such as Juggernaut, Black Tom Cassidy, and Garrison Cain. I remember that Toy Biz made action figures of them, also. The cover price of Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1 is $2.50, and the current value is $12.
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