Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 127, 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 127…
Cool Comics News!
This week I’m taking a last look at a couple of titles that have come to the end of the line, Luke Cage and the Defenders. I’ve enjoyed both titles and I’m sorry to see them go. Also, Marvel started advertising “A Fresh Start,” so expect more cancellations and perhaps some new titles.
Cool Comics Cool Battles!
This week, take a shot at who you’d think would win in a battle between Marvel’s Defenders and DC’s Outsiders, both based on the heroes from the two issues below. You can give your version of this in the comments section, or via the forum you use to read Cool Comics.
Cool Comics in My Collection
#604 — Luke Cage #170, Marvel Comics, April 2018.
Writer David F. Walker capped the final issue of Luke Cage (well, at least the final issue for this run, because in the comic book world, you never know who or what will be resurrected) with a personal story, one that aims to touch the hearts of readers in a way that busting down walls and flattening criminals can’t accomplish. I wasn’t too sure if I liked it or not when I finished, but once I’d read Walker’s personal message to fans on the last page, the idea behind this plot clicked, and I understood. Still, that doesn’t mean I liked it, and it doesn’t mean that I didn’t. I just better understood why he wrote the story. I’ve seen a lot of change in the four-color world of comics in my five decades of reading them, and while I like some of the change, often it just makes me feel old, such as Luke having a wife and child. Again, it doesn’t mean I don’t like the idea, but it doesn’t mean I approve. It’s just different. My memories and ideals of comics from the Seventies are skewed. I romanticize the decade and tell myself there was no better period, yet I still read old comics with 25¢ price points on the cover and can’t always convince myself that the story was definitely better than any recent comics in my collection. But the twelve-year-old me could never be convinced there would ever be a better time for reading comics than the here and now when I actually lived it. Yet we continually try to recapture those “perfect” feelings in life, and in some ways, that’s what David F. Walker seemed to be trying to do with this issue. The cover price of Luke Cage #10 is $3.99, while the current value is $4.
#605 — Defenders #10, Marvel Comics, April 2018.
Why are we saying goodbye to the Defenders comic book? Seems like a lot of people enjoyed the show on Netflix, so you’d think the comic circulation would have enjoyed some of that popularity, yet issue #10 is the end (and like Luke Cage above, we may see the Defenders back again someday). Is it because Brian Michael Bendis “broke up” with Marvel and now will be writing for DC? Did the powers that be at the House of Ideas have no ideas for what to do once Bendis finished up his run? I liked this comic and looked forward to it each month. It contained some really cool characters in the Marvel Universe (Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and several others), and I enjoyed the interactions. But maybe sales weren’t so great and that’s why there won’t be a Defenders #11. There have been shorter runs in comic books over the decades, but in my opinion, this one concluded way too soon. The cover price of Defenders #10 is $3.99, while the current value is $4.
Cool Comics Done Dirt Cheap
#606 — Adventures of the Outsiders #33, DC Comics, May 1986.
Of all the decades in which I’ve been collecting comics, I feel like the Eighties is my most unexplored era. Which makes me doubly glad that my $20 longbox (you read that right, I paid $20 for a longbox stuffed with 419 comic books, not knowing a single issue contained in it…some have been great, others not so much, but regardless, they truly fit the bill of “Cool Comics Done Dirt Cheap”) contains some issues from this period of time. Adventures of the Outsiders #33 is the first issue of this title, which was previously Batman and the Outsiders, only starting with this issue, the team is without the Dark Knight. So now is the time to prove themselves as capable heroes in their own right, I guess you could say. Another reason I’m excited about this issue is that it’s written by Mike W. Barr, an outstanding comic book writer who I’ve actually gotten to know just a little bit. I started attending a monthly gathering of comic book enthusiasts, and Mike is part of the group. So whenever I look through boxes of my collection and spy his name on a cover, it means even more to me. And when it comes to this hobby, connections—in so many different ways and forms—mean an awful lot. The cover price of Adventures of the Outsiders #33 is 75¢, while the current value is $3.
Cool Comics Classics
#607 — G.I. Combat #226, DC Comics, February 1981.
I pulled this comic out of a quarter box at Kenmore Komics & Games a couple weeks ago, immediately recognizing a future Cool Comics Classic. This military anthology from DC gives us just what the cover promises, 6 stories and no ads (although when it comes to older comics, I think that many of us enjoy seeing the ads, as they guide our memories to a simpler time and place). As far as war and military comics go, I think I once owned a couple Fightin’ Marines from Charlton Comics and a Sgt. Rock comic from DC, and that’s about it. I no longer have those issues, but since I started my blog a little over two years ago, I’ve bought a few in this genre. As a matter of fact, for Cool Comics in My Collection week 32, I did a special episode, saluting all who have served. The older I get, the more this Army veteran appreciates these military comics. The cover price of G.I. Combat #226 is $1, while the current value is $20.
Recently Read Digital Comics
I read Jessica Jones: Alias Vol. 1 (it collects Alias #1-9) for free, via Amazon Prime Reading (they have a decent number of both collections and individual comics you can borrow and read for free if you’re a prime member, which is another nice perk), and for the most part enjoyed it. So when the subsequent collections in the series were on sale, I had Amazon credit and bought up the rest of the series. I’m hopeful, after reading Vol. 2 (collecting Alias #11-15; for some reason, issue #10 is in Vol. 3, just in case you were wondering), that the other volumes are more interesting to me than this one. And before I get any further, please keep in mind that the Alias comic was for mature readers. For the most part, I like my comics to be for all ages, but sometimes I’ll make some exceptions (and often, like in this case, wish I hadn’t made an exception). I’m sure there are thousands of readers out there who loved this storyline, but it wasn’t one that grabbed me. We all have different tastes, don’t we?
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