Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 44, where we take a nostalgic look at seven cool comic books I currently own. This week we’re taking a look at some issues from the last three years of Free Comic Book Day. I quit regularly buying comic books in 2003, and noticed lots of differences from when I was buying titles each week.
For each of the comic books below, I list the current secondary market value. This is according to the listings at the website comicbookrealm.com. They list out the near mint prices, which are on the comic book grading scale of 9.4. If you go to the website to look up any in your collection, you can click on the price and see the value at different grades. Not all of my comics are 9.4. Some are probably better, and some are worse. But to simplify it, that’s the grading price I use here. And remember, a comic book is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
Have you considered being a guest host for Cool Comics? You can do a theme or just pick any of your comics for inclusion (this blog is for all ages, so please keep that in mind), as long as there are seven comics in your episode (you can still own all seven, or do it like me and include one you no longer own). Repeat guest hosts are permitted and encouraged. Send your completed blog to edgosney62@gmail.com.
If you have any questions or comments, please scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says, “Leave a reply.” I hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I do writing about them. And now, Episode 44…
Cool comics in my collection #281: Guardians of the Galaxy #1, May 2014.
In 2014, I didn’t make it to my local comic book store for Free Comic Book Day, but my daughter did happen to pick up this issue for me. It contains a Guardians of the Galaxy story, a Thanos story, and a pretty bizarre Spider-Man Year One: Learning to Crawl story. This is definitely a nice tie-in issue since the Guardians movie came out that August. I used to own some of the original Guardians comics, the ones that came out starting in 1990, comprised of a different team. I bought them as back issues, but never read them before selling them at a garage sale when my collection threatened to take over my house. Now I see that issue #1 is worth $20, and that is one that I owned. Oh well. I do like the newer Guardians, and really enjoyed the movie. The cover price of Guardians of the Galaxy #1 is free, while the current value is $4.
Cool comics in my collection #282: Doctor Who, May 2015.
When I stepped in the door at Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio, on Free Comic Book Day 2015, my eyes spotted this Doctor Who comic and I knew I had to grab it. I’m a bit behind in my watching, and I’m still on the first season with Matt Smith, but I really enjoy the show, so the comic was a must. I remember Doctor Who from my childhood with Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor. I think it was on our local PBS on the weekends. I usually just tuned in for a few minutes, as I didn’t think much of it at the time. It seemed like a rather odd show to me at the time, especially since I was used to the original Star Trek show. At any rate, the new version is a joy to watch, and the comic was pretty good. The cover price of Doctor Who is free, while the current value is $4.
Cool comics in my collection #283: Divergence #1, May 2015.
When I see Darkseid on the cover of a free comic book, I’m taking it. The story itself, in a Justice League section of this free comic, really centers more around happenings in Wonder Woman’s stomping grounds, but still a worthy addition to my FCBD collection. This issue also contains stories featuring both Batman and Superman, and since I haven’t read comics with either since 2003, there are a number of changes. I can’t keep up with all of it, so that’s why I mostly focus on the comics of my youth. Simpler times, simpler stories, but boy, were they fun! But something that was going on in the Superman story did stir my curiosity. But with all the changes that have gone on with DC comics recently, it may no longer be pertinent to the plot. Maybe someday, when these are considered older comics, I’ll delve into them. The cover price of Divergence is free, while the current value is $3.
Cool comics in my collection #284: Secret Wars #0, May 2015.
When Marvel published Secret Wars I and II in the Eighties, I was no longer reading comics. Instead, I was doing the college thing and wooing my soon-to-be bride. But when I started collecting again in the Nineties, I picked up the back issues of both series (I snagged two copies of issue 8 of the first series…the first appearance of Spider-Man’s black costume…which later became…okay, no spoilers…awe, you all probably know what happened). So now there is a newer Secret Wars, and I don’t have it. I may never own it. But I do have the FCBD issue #0 of it. A lot of things have changed in the Marvel universe since I read my last issues in 2003. Maybe some things are better, but maybe some things not so much. But when I think of Marvel, I think of the Seventies, and going to a little corner store named Slicks in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and selecting from some of the coolest comics each week for just a quarter each. Those were the days. The cover price of Secret Wars #0 is free, while the current value is $3.75.
Cool comics in my collection #285: The All-New, All-Different Avengers #1, June 2015.
My final FCBD comic for 2015 is The All-New, All-Different Avengers, which also contains an Inhuman story. This isn’t your father’s Avengers, as it’s obvious this title is trying to attract a younger crowd, which is a good thing, as we need more kids to love reading comics. With all the video games, Pokémon GO phone activity, and hundreds of cable channels (and Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu), kids have more choices today for their entertainment than I did. As a boy, we had three network channels, PBS, and some UHF stations. Then Pong appeared in 1972, but you could only sit there and move your line up and down the TV screen for so long before you got bored out of your skull. But we also had the great outdoors, walking, running, and riding our bikes all over town, and exploring the river and hills surrounding our homes. And we could buy comic books for a quarter. Packs of sports and non-sports cards cost a dime. Today, the comics are pretty expensive for a kid’s budget. I know that if I were younger, I’d be digging through my local shop’s quarter and 50 cent boxes. The cover price of The All-New, All-Different Avengers #1 is free, while the current value is $5.50.
Cool comics in my collection #286: DC SuperHero Girls #1, May 2016.
Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to Free Comic Book Day this past May, but fortunately, I have a great librarian friend named Rhonda who picked up a couple titles for me. Looking at the cover, you might think that the only people who’d enjoy this comic would be adolescent girls, but I thought this was a fun comic to read, and Rhonda gave me two copies of it, so my 13-year-old daughter was the benefit of one also. So maybe it’s aimed more towards her, but when you’ve read these characters over decades, just because they made them younger and put them in school together doesn’t mean you can’t give them a try. And I think the art is pretty cool. The cover price of DC SuperHero Girls #1 is free, while the current value is $1.50.
Cool comics in my collection #287: Captain America #1, May 2016.
There’s no getting around it: Captain America has been a hero of mine for over four decades (and closing in on five!). So I was very happy that my friend Rhonda picked up this title for me, as I’d missed out on FCBD 2016. The feature story is pretty good, and considering it cost nothing, it was well worth it! However, the second story in this comic book is about a Spider-Man I no longer know. Peter Parker is a CEO? I think he was a college professor when I stopped reading earlier this century, but I guess now he no longer needs to snap pictures for JJJ. I know people want change and advancement, I know it was the same old story for years about Peter not knowing how to pay his rent, and Aunt May barely scraping by, but to me, that’s Spider-Man. And another reason that I truly cherish my collection of the Webslinger from the Seventies. The cover price of Captain America #1 is free, while the current value is $1.
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