Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 103, where we take a look at comic books I own (and in some cases ones that I let get away), both new and old, often with a nostalgic leaning for those feelings of yesteryear.
For each of the comic books I include in this blog (except for digital issues), I list the current secondary market value. This is according to the listings at the website www.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), with a maximum of seven issues. 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 103…
Cool Comics News!
Though I told myself I was going to get some newer comic book titles starting with the Generations comics from Marvel, and then Marvel Legacy, I cheated a little and bought four titles a little early. They all had new #1 issues (although Legacy will change this as they go back to original numbering), which typically make great jumping on points. Last month I covered the first three issues of Defenders, to coincide with the Netflix series, and the other three titles are all below, as this week’s cool comics.
Cool Comics
Cool comics in my collection #490: Cable #1, July 2017.
When I started my third phase of comic book collecting in 1993, a newer character was on the scene, and he was pretty popular. I quickly got up to speed on Cable, buying some back issues of a Cable mini-series and early X-Force comics, and some of the late issues of New Mutants that he appeared in. I loved the concept of a superhero born in our time, sent to the future to save his life, and now back in our time, only much older than his own parents. When I saw the first couple issues at Kenmore Komics, I decided to give the new series a try, and I’m really glad I did. The writer and artist (James Robinson and Carlos Pacheco) are familiar names, as I’ve read some of the comics they were involved with back in the Nineties. The story through the first four issues is pretty good, with some jumps through various timelines. Lots of the story is told through the art, so don’t expect an overload of dialog. If you like Cable, this comic is definitely for you. The cover price of Cable #1 is $3.99, while the current value is $4.
Cool comics in my collection #491: Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1, August 2017.
I made a big mistake toward the end of 1976 by not purchasing The Spectacular Spider-Man #1. The cover with the Tarantula is dynamic, and the price was only 30¢. Today it can cost up to $100 to buy it, depending on condition. Oh, I did wise up the next month and bought the second issue, but since I was already getting The Amazing Spider-Man and the occasional Marvel Team-Up with Spidey, I wanted to spend some of my newspaper delivery boy money on some other characters. But I didn’t make the same mistake this time around when I saw Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1. Okay, it’s not the same, and I will be getting The Amazing Spider-Man title, once Legacy starts in October. But it was a ton of fun seeing this fresh start and view of a character I have lots of history with, and this series has the Human Torch in it, to boot! Spider-Man has gone through a lot of ups and downs and changes over the years, and while I don’t always agree with these editorial decisions, the first three issues of this comic have been fun to read. The cover price of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 is $4.99, while the current value is $5.
Cool comics in my collection #492: Astonishing X-Men #1, September 2017.
When I started collecting comic books, once again, in 1993, I noticed that there were now a number of different X-Men-based titles. In the Seventies, I hadn’t bought a single issue, but for my brief period of comic buying in college in 1982, I did get Uncanny X-Men comics. My interest in the X-Men definitely grew when a cartoon series came out in 1992. I learned much about new and old characters, and I started buying all the different X-titles. Let’s see, there was X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Excalibur, X-Force, X-Factor, Wolverine, Cable, and a ton of one-shots and mini-series. I may have listed these here on the blog before, but it was crazy how many titles came out each month related to Professor Charles Xavier and crew. As a reader and fan, it was great understanding what was going on, and once you got sucked in, you never wanted to leave! But now that I’m back to getting some monthly comics, the only team X-book I’ll be getting in the foreseeable future is Astonishing X-Men. The cool part of the new series so far is that the villain is the Shadow King, Amahl Farouk, who plays a big part in season one of Legion (which is perhaps the best of all of the comic book superhero TV shows…but it’s a little trippy, so I can understand if some people don’t like it). This ongoing title has some of the most popular X-Men characters, and if the first 3 issues are any indication, readers have a lot to look forward to. The cover price of Astonishing X-Men #1 is $4.99, while the current value is $5.
Cool Comics Classics
Cool comics in my collection #493: Strange Tales #171, December 1973
A few weeks ago, I was in my local comic shop, flipping through some back issue boxes, and found this issue of Strange Tales, featuring Brother Voodoo. I couldn’t resist it and had to purchase this gem from the Seventies, my favorite time period of comic books. Marvel used to put out some really fun anthology style comics, and this is further proof of that. I think I own just one comic with Brother Voodoo from back in those days, a Marvel Team-Up with Spider-Man in it. And after reading this issue, there is no doubt my cool comics need more Brother Voodoo. As much as I now love the older monster comics that I didn’t purchase as a kid, I really like the monster hunters, and Brother Voodoo is one of the best! A couple weeks ago I’d planned on using this comic as my Cool Comics Classic for this episode, which turns out to be a fitting tribute to the writer, Len Wein, who recently passed away. Len created some of the greatest comic book characters, and if you don’t know much about him, check out his Wikipedia page. He was a major contributor to many of our childhood memories and will never be forgotten. The cover price of Strange Tales #171 is 20¢, while the current value is $30.
Recently Read Digital Comics
There are probably many of you out there who remember each issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths as they were released from April 1985 to March 1986. I’m not one of them. So when I started collecting in the Nineties, and reading comic book magazines such as Wizard, it didn’t take long to learn about this important, character changing series from DC Comics. With decades of stories crossing multiple Earths and various versions of heroes and villains, DC decided it was time to start fresh, and they shocked the comic book world with some of their decisions. Of course, we all know that in the world of comic books, characters are easier to resurrect than Dracula at a blood bank, but I do tend to go for dramatic flair every once in a while. So while I was living and buying comics in Atlanta, Georgia, one of my goals was to find all 12 issues. It wasn’t very hard, especially since not much time had passed. As I was flipping through the comics I own via comiXology, I decided to re-read issue 1 of this series (got it for free, so why not?), and it took me back in time to a sweet spot in my memories. And that’s always cool.
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Crisis on Infinite Earths is, and always has been, my favorite “event” series of all time. It is the gold standard to which I judge all other events. Period, bar none.
The series was a lot of fun for me, although there were a number of characters I wasn’t familiar with, being mostly a Marvel reader. The wife and I gave a trade paperback of Crisis to our daughter’s boyfriend this past Christmas. He’s a big DC reader, and hadn’t read it, and as you say, it’s the gold standard!