Remember Getting 100 Pages for Just 60 cents?

Cool comics in my collection #113: Thor #190, July 1971.
In this issue, it looks as if The Mighty Thor is dead. Really. Just look at that cover. And it even says, “…And So To Die!” But why? How? Thor has surrendered his life to Hela, the death Goddess, in order that mortals might live. And you have to admit it’s a nice gesture. But things never go quite as planned, and dad (Odin) gets involved, and there you have it. I’ve always enjoyed reading the adventures of Thor, whether he’s on Asgard fighting Storm Giants or on earth, helping protect mankind. Or having one of his slugfests against The Incredible Hulk. In the mid-nineties I wanted to start collecting earlier issues of Thor, so I searched the back issues at Titan Comics in Atlanta, Georgia, where I bought this one. The cover price of Thor #190 is 15 cents, while the current value is $100.

Cool comics in my collection #114: Superman #284, February 1975.
Boy, the days of, “100 Pages for only 60₵,” are long gone. When I bought this comic, I was twelve years old and picked it up at Super-X Drugs in Martins Ferry, Ohio, where my father was a pharmacist. He received an employee discount on merchandise, which made this even cheaper for me. The drug store didn’t get regular monthly comics, but they did get specials such as the DC 100 pagers and Marvel Giant-Sized specials. So I would troll the magazine rack once a week, looking behind the Mad Magazines and Tiger Beats to find gems like this one. Often I’d read them in the evening, between supper and bedtime, at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal in front of me (typically Freakies or Cap’n Crunch). This particular issue features a Superboy Robot going against Superman. The plots of some of these stories weren’t the greatest, but the memories I have of sitting at the kitchen table and reading them overshadows what the stories were about. The cover price of Superman #284 is 60 cents, while the current value is $70.

Cool comics in my collection #115: Captain Marvel #3, July 1968.
The Kree and the Skrulls really hate each other. The Skrulls have the Super-Skrull, who has been artificially augmented to have the powers of each member of the Fantastic Four. And in the issue before this one, he defeats our hero, Mar-Vell. But don’t worry, fellow fans, because our mighty Marvel hero manages to come through in this issue! It’s kind of funny to look back at these older issues in which Captain Marvel is still wearing the green and white uniform, but the folks at Marvel comics eventually brightened him up. I didn’t buy any Captain Marvel comics when I was a kid, and started collecting back issues at Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio, in the late nineties. The cover price of Captain Marvel #3 is 12 cents, while the current value is $100.

Cool comics in my collection #116: Power Man and Iron Fist #78, February 1982.
First Luke Cage was a Hero for Hire in the seventies, then he was Power Man in the later seventies and eighties, then he teamed up with Iron Fist and the title became Power Man and Iron Fist from 1981 until 1986. Then even later, in the nineties, they were back again, as Heroes for Hire. Then again in 2006. Then again in 2011. In other words, you can’t keep a good hero down. I’m looking forward to the Luke Cage and Iron Fist shows on Netflix, although I’m afraid they will be pretty gritty and graphic. I like my superheroes accessible to kids, but that doesn’t seem to be the way we are going these days. It’s not a Fredric Wertham “Seduction of the Innocent” thing. I just have such great memories of reading comic books and watching superhero cartoons as a kid that I like it better when the shows and movies are made in a way that most ages can enjoy. I bought this comic in the back issue boxes at Titan Comics in Atlanta, Georgia, in the mid-nineties. This issue features the third appearance of Sabretooth, by the way. The cover price Power Man and Iron Fist #78 is 60 cents, while the current value is $30.

Cool comics in my collection #117: Batman #256, June 1974.
Yep, here I go again with one of those 100 page DC comics. When it came time to purge the majority of my comics, I really had to make some tough decisions. And while Batman was my first known comic book hero, I got rid of most Batman comics in my collection. But no way was I getting rid of any of my 100 page issues! There have been a number of Batman movies and cartoons over the years, but the one closest to my heart is the one starring Adam West that ran from 1966 to 1968. I was just a young lad of three when it started, and though I can’t claim to remember at what age I started watching, I have memories of sitting on our babysitter’s lap and watching the Caped Crusader take down crime, with all the sound effects! And then Batgirl came on the scene, and I was smitten. Ah, the good old days. These few issues I’ve kept are all I need to transport me back in time. I got this comic off the magazine rack at Super-X Drugs in Martins Ferry, Ohio. The cover price of Batman #256 is 60 cents, while the current value is $110.

Cool comics in my collection #118: Fightin’ Army #55, November 1963.
As a kid in the seventies, I owned a total of just four war/military comics. Three issues of Fightin’ Marines (Charlton Comics) that my mom bought me (I think she got them in a discount three pack at Super-X Drugs in Martins Ferry, Ohio, where my father worked as a pharmacist, if memory serves), and one issue of DC’s short-lived Blitzkrieg (just five issues in 1976). Last week when I mentioned this blog to a friend of mine, he asked if I had any old military comics that I write about, and I had to tell him no, that the few I had I no longer own. He knows that I’m an Army veteran, but when it comes to comics, I’ve traditionally been a spandex hero kind of reader. But I’m branching out in all sorts of directions these days, and I stopped at Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio, and bought this issue for Fightin’ Army earlier this week. It was kind of exciting for me, since that’s my branch of service. I also bought back issues of various other types of comics that I’ll cover here in future installments. I don’t buy any regular new comics (the exception being my subscription to Afterlife With Archie), but occasionally I’ll buy the graphic novel version of something that I just have to read (such as the Planet of the Apes/Star Trek crossover). This issue has two stories that take place during WWII and two that take place during the Korean War, and while comic readers today probably wouldn’t like them, I felt like I was a kid again. I paid $3 for this back issue. The cover price for Fightin’ Army #55 is 12 cents, while the current value is $28.

Cool comics in my collection #119 (One That Got Away): Fightin’ Marines #108, January 1973.
I figured since I had just mentioned my Fightin’ Marines comics, I might as well cover an issue here. I read this comic back when I first got it, in the mid-seventies, and sold it a few years back when I needed to make space. From what I recall, the issue focused on The Vietnam War. Then a few years later I read the book “Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story.” This Rocky was a football player who ended up being drafted and fighting over in Vietnam, receiving an injury, and “fighting back” to earn a roster spot on the Pittsburgh Steelers and collecting four Super Bowl rings. After reading it, I read a number of other books about the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. As previously mentioned, I primarily collected comics for the superheroes, but I definitely remember seeing War, Monster, Western, and other comics on the racks as a kid. Now that I’m older, I enjoy picking up sixties and seventies comics of various genres, inviting in a rendezvous with the past. The cover price of Fightin’ Marines #108 is 20 cents, while the current value is $12.