Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 173, 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 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 scale I use here. And remember, a comic book is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
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If you have any comments, please scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says, “Leave a Reply.” And now, Episode 173…
Cool Comics News!
Chances are if you are a comic book reader, you’ve also seen many of the comic book-based movies that always seem to be at the theater these days. When I was growing up, we were lucky to get TV movies that were loosely based on superheroes. The special effects were…not good, the characters weren’t the way we saw them on printed pages, and…well…they usually weren’t very good. Then came the 1978 Superman movie, and things started to look up (up and away—I had to do it!). Still, there was a lot of work to do. But now we live in a golden age, and comic book characters populate both the big and small screens, and several of the movies are bringing in seven figures, Aquaman being one of them. That’s right, the “fish” guy stars in a movie that’s made over $1 billion worldwide. Pretty impressive. I haven’t seen it yet but hope to soon. If you are a fan of Aquaman, then you need to get yourself #108 of Back Issue magazine. This year one of my reading goals is to catch up on magazines and books, with the idea of improving my comic book knowledge. I have just a few pages left in this Aquaman issue (which is good because #109 and #110 are eagerly awaiting), and now I’m more than ready to go to the movies!
Cool Comics Battle of the Week!
Your Cool Comics Battle of the Week is Killraven versus Turok! 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
#835 — Young Justice #1, DC, March 2019.
Whether you like Brian Michael Bendis comics or not so much, the guy certainly is keeping busy at DC. Here’s what he’s currently writing: Action Comics; Superman; Batman in the 100-Page Giant (Walmart exclusive); Scarlet; Pearl; Cover; and now under the Wonder Comics imprint he started, Young Justice and Naomi. So I guess he’s doing something right…or write. Personally, I like what he’s doing with the Superman stories, and I’m hoping that someday there will be a collected edition of the Batman tales. But this is about Young Justice, right? If you are a fan of the former cartoon, which is now, once again, a current cartoon via the DC streaming channel, then you’ll probably want to give this title a try. Wonder Comics are meant to be appealing to a younger audience, and comics need kids to become interested in the medium if it is to survive. And this seems like a great way to accomplish it (Marvel is also putting out comics, via IDW Publishing, geared towards a younger audience), especially considering the popularity of the cartoon. Three more titles are scheduled from Wonder Comics, and while I’m unsure if I will read any of the others, Young Justice seems to be the flagship title, being that it’s a team book with a lot of characters that kids will most likely love. Patrick Gleason’s pencils are a good choice here, and Ale-Jandro Sanchez makes the colors pop on the page. Cool Comics recommends giving it a try. The cover price of Young Justice #1 is $4.99, while the current value is $5.
#836 — Marvel Graphic Novel #7: Killraven, Warrior of the Worlds, Marvel, April 1983.
Last March, in Episode 130, I featured, as a Cool Comics Classic, the only Amazing Adventures comic I own. I didn’t buy it when came out, but instead found it more recently in a back issue box, just waiting to come home with me. When I was a kid, Killraven intrigued me each time I saw him on a cover, but as I explained in Episode 130, I saved my comic book pocket change for contemporary superheroes, not futuristic fighters trying to save us from Martians. Anyway, as I’ve gotten older and wiser (I think…), I often long for the days when I could have reached out and grabbed these issues at such great prices. So when I was walking around the convention floor at Akron Comicon 2018 and noticed that P. Craig Russell had a copy of this at his table, I told him I just had to have it, plunked over my cash, had him sign it, and thanked him graciously. Inside, I was jumping up and down with joy, because Russell was an artist on some of the original issues of Killraven in Amazing Adventures. Yes, this is most certainly a cool comic! One quick note that whereas The Justice League #1 is fitting for all ages, this has some mature content in it. The cover price of Marvel Graphic Novel #7: Killraven, Warrior of the Worlds, is $5.95, while the current value is $9.
FCBD the Cool Comics Way (Week 36)
#837 — Riverdale, Archie, May 2018.
If you’ve been watching Riverdale on The CW, then you know it’s Archie for a more mature audience. Rival gangs, creepy characters, and tainted love affairs populate the landscape of America’s favorite teen on the small screen. And if you didn’t realize it, Archie Comics had published a companion title for the show, with antics that take place “between” episodes. This Free Comic Book Day edition is actually Riverdale #6, and they picked an interesting one to showcase to the public. “Chock ‘Lit Shoppe of Horrors” gives us a look at some of the strange goings on in Riverdale from the past, as seen through the eyes of Pop Tate, as he relates them to Betty for a class assignment. If you’re a fan of any of the Archie Horror comics, then this is an issue that should appeal to you. The cover price of Riverdale is free, while the current value is $1.
Cool Comics Kids
#838 — Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #427, Gold Key, April 1976.
Looking back over past episodes of Cool Comics, this is the fifth time we’ve featured an issue of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories (four from Gold Key and one from Dell). As readers know, most of the Cool Comics are of the superhero variety, but with the edition of Cool Comics Kids and the fact that this title is a classic, it’s no surprise that they keep popping up on here. Folks, if you’re looking for entertaining comics for the little ones in your life, you can’t go wrong with older Disney issues (probably many of the newer ones are great too, but you can usually snag these older ones at less expense in discount and back issue boxes, if you don’t mind lower condition grades). This issue contains four short comics (Donald and his nephews on a European trip; Scamp; Chip ‘N’ Dale; and an adventure with Mickey and Goofy) and a prose one-page short story featuring Daisy Duck. A couple years ago I never really cared much for Donald and his nephews, but the stories I’ve been reading lately have turned me around. Grab this issue if you can find it for a good deal. The cover price of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #427 is 25¢, while the current value is $24.
Cool Comics Classics
#839 — Turok, Son of Stone #19, Dell, March-May 1960.
Though Turok has been around since 1954, he’s not the most familiar comic book character on the market. When I discovered him via Valiant comics in the Nineties, he felt like a new character to me because I’d never read any of his adventures from Gold Key while growing up, let alone from Dell, which ended their run with him the year I was born. Other companies who have carried the license include Acclaim Comics (tied in with the reemergence of Valiant, for anyone who remembers), Dark Horse, and currently Dynamite Entertainment. As a matter of fact, while I was looking over the shelves at my local comic shop last week, I saw there was one more issue left of the new series. I picked it up, considered it for a few moments, then decided I couldn’t justify another series at this time. Besides, I work hard at finding great deals on back issues of Turok, so maybe someday I’ll scoop that one up at a discount, too. And I’m very happy with this issue from 1960. I got it for just $1 at a blowout sale last summer, and the bag it’s in has a $30 price tag on it. When you open the cover, just underneath the indicia on page one, it states, “Dell Comics Are Good Comics.” And they’re right. This is a fun adventure with Turok, cave men, and dinosaurs. What’s not to love? The cover price of Turok, Son of Stone #19 is 10¢, while the current value is $250.
ComicBooks For Kids!
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Great find on that Turok! Those kind of bargains keep the comic hunt fun!
I LOVE those Dell Turok Son of Stone comics! He’s really a great character that’s had a lot of adventures over the years, and Son of Stone was one of his better series. I can heartily recommend the new Dynamite Turok, with the warning that it gets pretty violent, so it’s not for the kids (On the other hand, It’s not gratuitous. It serves the story but isn’t what the story is about). If you love Western comics, that’s the direction the new series is pointed in, being set in the American West of the 1870’s. Great art, great story, I am fully on board!
I’m glad to hear that the Dynamite series is good. Of course that increases the pain of not getting it, but maybe I’ll find it someday or get it in a collected edition via comiXology, where it won’t hurt my wallet quite so much. As for the Dell editions, that was the first one of read of these, and I’ll be on the lookout for more of them at decent prices, because I agree about how good it was. I also have a couple Gold Key editions tucked away in my filing cabinet to be used in future Cool Comics Classics editions, and I’m hoping they are good, too.
Thanks for reading!
The Killraven series in AMAZING ADVENTURES 18-39, and the Marvel Graphic Novel KILLRAVEN from 1983 you show above, is one of my favorite series. Alongside (from that same era) Jim Starlin’s WARLOCK, and Kirby’s KAMANDI, OMAC, THE DEMON and Fourth World series (FOREVER PEOPLE, NEW GODS, MISTER MIRACLE and JIMMY OLSEN). While the Killraven series went through a number of artists and writers in its early issues, once Don McGregor started as writer (issue 21), and particularly after Craig Russell joined him as artist (with issue 27), it became one of Marvel’s best-written series of that era, with intelligence, allegory, and some great humorous interaction between the characters to break it up. And for that era, the most beautiful prose this side of Alan Moore.
Very recently (Nov 2018) it was released in a Marvel Masterworks hardcover (complete, including the graphic novel) that I’m very pleased with. But even the back issues for these remain inexpensive the last time I looked. Marvel does a much better job of reprinting their work in a way that is true to the original, and with the better printing, I can actually see some enhanced clarity in the art, despite that it retains the original colors as the comics, just offset-printed on better paper. Highly recommended.
I also highly recommend the SABRE graphic novel from Eclipse comics (1978), that I actually prefer reprinted in color as issues 1 and 2 of Eclipse’s SABRE COMICS series. 3 was also excellent, I felt the series declined after that.
McGregor’s Black Panther series is the one that gets all the acclaim, but I actually preferrred these other two series over it. While good, it didn’t set me on fire as much as the above two. BLACK PANTHER is also available as a Marvel Masterworks hardcover(now insanely priced) , and a more recent trade paperback edition.
Dave, I really appreciate your thoughts on these comics and taking the time to give us some good issues to be watchful for. I remember SABRE and have seen it occasionally as I search back issues, but I’ve never owned or read any of them.
As for the Black Panther Marvel Masterworks, I own both Volumes 1 and 2…digitally. I read Volume 1 probably a year or so ago, but haven’t tackled the second volume yet (so many comics to read…when will I get to them all? is a question I continually ask myself). Many people don’t care for digital comics, but I’ve been able to read some classics for mere pennies. I think I got both of these Masterwork editions for 99 cents each via Amazon, and read them on the comiXology app.
Again, thanks so much for your comments, as I really appreciate the knowledge and opinions of others!