First Look at a Walmart DC Exclusive & Cool Comics Gets a Logo!

Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 145, where we take a look at various 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 145…

Cool Comics News!

At long last, Cool Comics In My Collection has its own logo! The artist, Dan Gorman, did a fantastic job in capturing the nostalgic feel I try to imbue into the blog, and I couldn’t be any happier with the results. If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you got a sneak peek at the inked version, but here it is in full color! (Hint, hint…another good reason to sign up for my newsletter.) The logo will now become a Cool Comics mainstay, probably replacing the picture of my Marvel No-Prize above, which may still pop up every now and then. If you have any thoughts on the logo, feel free to tell us in the comments section below (just be gentle if it’s not to your liking).

Cool Comics Battle of the Week!

Your Cool Comics Battle of the Week is Superman versus Sentry! What do you think would happen if they faced each other in a titanic tussle, and how do you see the winner achieving victory? Let us know in the comments section below.

Cool Comics in My Collection

 #687 — Justice League Giant #1, DC Comics, July 2018.

If you follow comic book news on the Internet, then you’re probably aware that DC made a deal with Walmart to exclusively carry 100-Page Comic Giants! Longtime readers know that I love the old 100-page DC comics that cost just 60 cents back in the Seventies, so I was excited to give these a try. Consisting mostly of reprints and 12 pages of original material, these new editions are priced at $4.99, which isn’t bad considering the page count. The reprints in this issue consisted of three number ones from The New 52, circa 2011: Justice League, the Flash, and Aquaman. I hadn’t read any of these, and I really enjoyed getting the opportunity for the price. The new story features Wonder Woman, and starting a few months down the road, Brian Michael Bendis will be writing a 12-part Batman story for these exclusive comics. I also was able to snag a Batman Giant #1 (the one that will eventually have the Bendis story) but couldn’t find Superman Giant or Teen Titans Giant at either of the two Walmart stores I visited on Sunday. And some people don’t live close to a Walmart. The idea is to get more people interested in comics, and hopefully they will want to find a local comic shop to make additional purchases, but at the same time, I find myself frustrated that I wasn’t able to get all four (every title was supposed to be available on July 1, then they will be staggered with 2 titles coming out every two weeks starting in August). How do other fans feel about this? Feel free to tell us in the comments section below, but please keep it family friendly. The cover price of Justice League Giant #1 is $4.99, while the current value is $15.

#688 — Captain America #1, Marvel Comics, September 2018.

Poor Captain America and his friends can’t seem to get over the whole Secret Empire-Hydra ordeal, but if anyone can find a way, it will be the Star-Spangled Avenger, right? Launched to fans on July 4 (that is, if your shop decided to be open on Independence Day, which mine did, and seemed to be doing a bit of brisk business, as comic collectors are creatures of habit and come Wednesday, that’s where you’ll find us), Captain America #1 (with the Legacy numbering of 705) is the latest Marvel comic to get a do-over…or as Marvel is calling it, “Fresh Start.” Not another origin story, but a point in which they are hoping that collectors jump on the train and start reading the menu in the dining car, then decide the taste is to their liking and come back for more. None of this was really that necessary, but with Bendis leaving and DC shouting from the rooftops that they now had him, Marvel must have felt they needed to do something to get fans excited. So. More number one issues, and creative teams being jostled around. As for the story, there may be some potential here, but the new team is just starting, so we get more Hydra than we probably want. My guess is most fans want to get past it and on to something new, and maybe we’ll get there…eventually. The cover price of Captain America #1 is $4.99, while the current value is $5.

#689 — Sentry #1, Marvel Comics, August 2018.

Way back in the year 2000, Marvel Comics introduced a new character in their Marvel Knights imprint named Sentry. Only he wasn’t new. Marvel history had forgotten him, or so we were told. So superhero Bob Reynolds got retconned into the universe in his own short series, along with a number of one-shots with other heroes such as Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. But Bob is far from being an ordinary hero, as there is also an aspect of him called the Void, which is very bad and powerful. Sentry is awesomely powerful also, but when part of you is good and part of you is bad, it creates issues. And now Sentry is back in his own title, chock full of adventures, and problems aplenty. If you enjoy comics with flawed heroes, you should give Sentry a try. The cover price of Sentry #1 is $3.99, while the current value is $4.

Cool Comics Done Dirt Cheap

#690 — Toyboy #1, Continuity Comics, October 1986.

Before my massive comic book purge in the form of the most amazing garage sale ever, I owned a total of three issues of Continuity Comics titles, none of which were Toyboy. Yanked straight out of my mystical longbox (I know, for the last few months it’s been legendary, but mystical has a nice ring to it too, right?), Toyboy is a bit of an odd comic about a rich kid who invents a lot of machines and robots (it made me think of the old TV show Silverspoons…you know, the one with Ricky Schroder). For those of you who fondly remember Continuity Comics, Megalith makes an appearance in this issue, and perhaps the coolest aspect of this oldie from the Eighties is that Neal Adams wrote it, penciled it, and did the cover. The cover price of Toyboy #1 is $2, while the current value is $3.

FCBD the Cool Comics Way (Week 9)

#691 — The Tick, New England Comics, June 2018.

Though I’d started reading comic books again (my third phase of collecting) the year before, I wasn’t at all familiar with The Tick until the launch of his cartoon in September 1994. I was living in Atlanta with my wife, serving in the Army, and we were a little over a month away from having our lives change from being a couple to being parents, when the Tick and all his strange friends came on our TV one Saturday morning. It was entertaining, funny, and kind of charming in a weird way, but I didn’t rush out to find any Tick comic books. As a matter of fact, until this Free Comic Book Day issue fell into my lap, the only Tick comic I’ve ever owned is The Big Tick Halloween Special from 2001 (and I don’t think it’s in my current collection, not having survived the great comic book purge). Anyway, this freebie is okay, and maybe if you’re a big Tick fan, you loved it. I’ve never watched any of the iterations of the live TV show, but whenever I think of the Tick, the cartoon is what comes to mind, and that’s always been a good memory. The cover price of The Tick is free, while the current value is $1.

Cool Comics Classics

#692 — The New Adventures of Superboy #13, DC Comics, January 1981.

I love flipping through discount boxes to see what treasures I can find, and I consider myself fortunate that my local comic shop always has several longboxes full of comics priced at just a quarter each. My experience with pre-Crisis Superboy is quite limited, so when I saw this issue (which happens to be in great shape, especially considering it cost me just 25¢), it was a no-brainer to put it in my “to buy” pile. No doubt these stories weren’t overly complex, and the cover appears a little goofy when you see Superboy trying to wrangle a couple tigers, but it was fun and had a neat little surprise at the end after young Clark and his parents visit family members in Coast City. There are many entertaining and important comics out there worthier of being dubbed as a Cool Comics Classic, but if you can get as good a deal as I did on this issue, don’t let it slip through your fingers, and journey back to a simpler time when the Eighties were just getting their start. The cover price of The New Adventures of Superboy #13 is 50¢, while the current value is $3.

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