Lois Lane Sizzles In Her Solo Series!

Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 198, where we 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. I hope you have as much fun reading about them as I had writing about these cool comics!

For each of the comic books I include here, I list the current secondary market pricing (with the exception of digital issues, which don’t have collectible value). This is according to the websites comicbookrealm.com (CBR) and Zap-Kapow Comics (ZKC), using the comic book grading scale of 9.4 (if both sites have the same price, you’ll find just one price for that issue). Not all my comics meet that grade. Some are probably better, and some are certainly worse. But to simplify it, that’s the scale I use here. And remember, a comic book is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Did you know that you can be a guest host for Cool Comics? It’s your chance to show off some of your favorite comics in your personal collection! 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. To submit your completed blog (or if you have any questions), write to edgosney62@gmail.com.

The Cool Comics In My Collection Facebook Group is a place where you can discuss the comics you love, your favorite titles, and the characters that keep you coming back for more. Also, creators are welcome to share news about what you are working on, including Kickstarter campaigns. And don’t forget the prizes. Yes, Cool Comics gives away cool prizes. Be sure and join today!

If you have any comments, please scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says, “Leave a Reply.” And now, Episode 198…

Cool Comics News!

I’m on my second week with Zap-Kapow Comics, and I really like it. If an entry doesn’t have pricing, or there’s a missing issue or title, you can click “Report Error” for the comic, or if the comic just isn’t there, you can select “Contact” at the bottom of the page to send them an email, and they’ll get on it faster than you’d imagine. Some updates are made in minutes, while others get updated a few hours later (which is to be expected). If a title is missing, they let you know that it will be included in the next edition of the price guide, which comes out at the beginning of the month. If you go with the least expensive plan (Bronze Age), you pay just $4.99, a one-time fee. But if you want updated pricing and new issues to show up, you must pay 99¢ per update. Silver Age is a one-time fee of $19.99, and Golden Age, which comes with all the bells and whistles, costs $24.99. With those two plans you get the updated pricing for free at the beginning of each month. The only drawback is that for the new comics you purchase in July, you’ll have to keep track to add them in August…although with the Golden Age membership, you can create pull lists, so this, I’m assuming, adds them for you automatically. Although if you ended up getting a cover variant or something a little different, you’ll probably need to go to the comic and make sure you update it the way you want it listed. Visit the FAQ at the site for the lowdown on this. By the way, it works very well on my phone just using the browser and looks great. I think I’m spending too much time on it…

Cool Comics Battle of the Week!

Your Cool Comics Battle of the Week is Aero versus The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! 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

Contemporary Cool Comics

#979 — Lois Lane #1, DC, September 2019.

Lois Lane is one of the oldest characters in the history of comic books. She appears in the first issue of Action Comics (you know, the one that introduced Superman to the world back in 1938) and has been one of the most important supporting cast members ever since. And now, at long last (it’s been 45 years since the end of Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane), we get a 12-Issue Maxi-Series of the this iconic character. Written by Greg Rucka, with art by Mike Perkins, Lois Lane will appeal to readers who appreciate intrepid news reporters (I had to say it), secrets, espionage, and anyone who is part of Superman’s world. If you don’t mind politics in your comics (and politics that bleed from today’s real headlines into the fictional world of the Daily Planet), you may want to try this out. Although I realize that politics have long been a part of comic books, I don’t care much for it. Comic books are a way to escape reality for short periods of time, giving us moments in which we don’t have to worry what’s being said or done in not only your home country, but the world at large. And that’s about as political as I’ll get with all of you. The series is just heating up (don’t believe me? just look at the cover…and things also heat up a little too much when Clark visits Lois and…I’ll leave it at that), but I’m one and done with it. It’s not on my pull list, and the main reason I grabbed this first issue is because I think that it’s a historically important comic (not in the sense that it’s going to balloon in price, but because it’s Lois Lane). The cover price of Lois Lane #1 is $3.99, while the current value is $4.

#980 — Aero #1, Marvel, September 2019.

If I hadn’t read the War of the Realms: Agents of Atlas mini-series, Aero wouldn’t be on my radar at all. First appearing via online comics for a Chinese audience, Aero now has the attention of many more readers thanks to the big company crossover. And Wave, another superhero who made her debut in War of the Realms, also appears with Aero in a second story in this same issue. In the first story, “Protector of the City,” the art style reminds me of Japanese manga, while the second adventure, “Aero & Wave: Origins & Destinies,” seems to be more in the typical superhero style I’ve seen over the years. Much like the Lois Lane comic above, this title isn’t on my pull list, and I bought it to try something a little different. And while the stories were decent, I’ll possibly never read another issue of Aero. The cover price of Aero #1 is $3.99, while the current value is $4.

Cool Comics Done Dirt Cheap

#981 — Gen¹³: Bootleg #17, Image Comics, March 1998.

One of the original Image Comics I liked back in the Nineties was Gen¹³, written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, with art by  J. Scott Campbell. I guess it reminded me of the X-Men, and I became a huge X-Men reader during that period. But I only bought a handful of Gen¹³ issues (there were lots of titles out then that I was trying, and if something didn’t resonate with me, I moved on to another), and ended up selling them all at a huge garage sale one summer weekend. But when I came into possession of my legendary longbox (I bought a longbox that was stuffed with 419 comic books for just $20 a while ago; hence, Cool Comics Done Dirt Cheap), once more I stumbled upon this group of heroes. This series has different creators and even a slightly different title, but it was fun paying this team a visit once more. The cover price of Gen¹³: Bootleg #17 is $2.50, while the current value is $3.

FCBD the Cool Comics Way (Week 10)

#982 — My Hero Academia & The Promised Neverland, Viz Media, May 2019.

For some of us who’ve been involved with comic books for decades, it’s not the easiest thing to read manga in the correct panel order. It shouldn’t be that hard, but sometimes we’re just so used to how we’ve always read comics that we need to really pay attention to what we’re doing! Okay, maybe it’s just me. Free Comic Book Day once more brings us another story from My Hero Academia, and in this story, there is a fight that takes place throughout and continues, it tells us at the end, into Volume 14. Because I don’t read this comic, I had no idea of what was going on, but I know there are fans out there who probably were on the edge of their seats. The second story in this FCBD issue is called The Promised Neverland, and it really captured my attention. The series has been around for a while, getting its start in 2016 in the anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump. The short piece I read in here was intriguing, and obviously others thought so because it was turned into an anime series. If you’ve seen it or read the series, tell us what you think of it in the comments below. The cover price of My Hero Academia & The Promised Neverland is free, while the current value is $1.

Cool Comics Kids

#983 — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #10, Archie, May 1990.

Most of the comic books I’ve put in this Cool Comics Kids category have been Disney or Warner Brothers-related, with a few Harvey titles thrown in for good measure. And if you remember, a few episodes back (Episode 190, for those who like to know these things), we had our first look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the younger crowd, via Archie. TMNT first came on the scene in 1984, and while Big Brother may have been watching (or reading, if you will), I wasn’t. These were college years for me, and although I flirted with some Marvel and DC titles in 1982, that was about it. And the next thing you know there’s a cartoon, action figures galore, and this comic series for the younger crowd that couldn’t get enough on Saturday mornings. I was too busy graduating and getting married to even notice, but soon enough the wife and I got into the TMNT action figure craze. This comic probably has a lot of sentimental value for some of you out there, so grab these issues when you can find them (I found this one for just a quarter!) and relive those simpler times. The cover price of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #10 is $1, while the current values are $5 at CBR and $3 at ZKC.

Cool Comics Classics

#984 — Tragg and the Sky Gods #9, Whitman, May 1982.

You never know what you’re going to find when you start flipping through quarter bins. Sometimes you find the same stuff you always seem to find and either don’t want it or need it, and sometimes you find something older and really different. Is it any surprise that I love to snag the “older and really different” comics? I’d never set eyes on Tragg and the Sky Gods before, but a little Internet searching helped me find out that Gold Key published issues 1-8, and then several years later, Whitman (Gold Key and Whitman both fell under Western Publishing) put out issue #9, although it seems to be a reprint of the first issue. The cover is almost an exact copy, and the tale we are given is an origin story. As some of you know, Western later stopped putting out comics under the Gold Key name and just used Whitman for their pre-packs (plastic bags of comics that typically were in three packs for a little less than the cover price), and they probably figured they’d capture a new audience with the Whitman Tragg. If any of you are Erich Von Däniken Chariots of the Gods? fans and/or conspiracy theorists, then you need to check out Tragg. Aliens come to our planet, take some females into their ship, and next thing you know, little Tragg and Lorn are born and are smarter and more powerful than the others in their tribe…who, of course, aren’t happy about this and basically try to kill our cute little alien DNA-privileged couple. This is a fun read, comic fans, and if I can find some of the Gold Key issues at decent prices, I’ll have to add them to my collection! The cover price of Tragg and the Sky Gods #9 is 60¢, while the current values are $9 at CBR and $6 at ZKC.

Recently Read Digital Comics

Continuing from our last edition of Cool Comics In My Collection, I’m still catching up on these digital editions of All-Star Superman, as recommended by my buddy J.C. who writes the awesome blog, The Review Basement!

In All-Star Superman #3, the Man of Steel plays favorites and gives Lois Lane superpowers. No, he doesn’t sacrifice his own to bestow upon her, but instead gives her this strange yellow tube filled with a glowing liquid. Superman tells her that it’s a formula that will give her superpowers for a day. She drinks it and gets to see how the other half lives.

 

 

In All-Star Superman #4, Jimmy Olsen thinks he’s pretty cool and causes some problems, but things have a way of working themselves out by the end. A sort of fun issue that includes a Turtle Boy poster in a panel.

 

 

In All-Star Superman #5, Clark Kent goes to prison to interview Lex Luthor before his execution. For some reason, Luthor isn’t overly worried about his upcoming date with death, Clark is more bumbling than ever, and the Parasite nearly ruins everything.

 

 

In All-Star Superman #6, we get our most poignant moments of the series thus far, as a young Clark meets members of The Superman Squad, from a far distant future. But there is more than meets the eye with one of the members, and by the end, you might find yourself wiping a tear from your eye.

 

 

ComicBooks For Kids!

ComicBooks For Kids! (CB4K) is a charity that Cool Comics In My Collection is honored to be working with. CB4K provides comic books to kids in hospitals and cancer centers all across the Unites States. You can check their website and see if your local hospital is included and if not, you can work with them to get them included! If you like what you see, please help them out and follow/like their Facebook page. Their link is https://www.facebook.com/comicbooksforkids/

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