Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 259, 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 (except for 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. And for those who enjoy the additional fun of knowing some of the more important issues in your collection, I recognize each Cool Comic that is listed in Key Collector Comics
If you have any comments, please scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says, “Leave a Reply.” And now, Episode 259…
Cool Comics News!
In my never-ending quest to accumulate as much comic book knowledge as possible, I was excited to purchase the 50th Anniversary Edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. I’ve owned a couple editions in my comic collecting past, but it’s been several decades since I’ve actually bought one, and because this one is special, and I may not be around for a 75th edition, I’m excited to add it to my collection. I plan on reading all the articles and many of the thousands of comic book entries in this massive tome that’s nearly 1,200 pages long. I’m sure there are going to be plenty of evenings in which I get completely immersed in this beautiful book, and while the print is small and eyestrain is part of the price I’ll pay for it, it’s probably not as bad as looking at my phone for the same length of time. And because I just love using books like this, I’m going to include Overstreet’s Near Mint (9.2 grade) pricing for my Cool Comics that are included in the volume…probably until the 51st edition is published. Obviously, newer comics are out, but for issues that are listed, I’ll be tossing in yet another secondary market price for you to consider (and although we tend to focus on the fun here at Cool Comics, knowing the value can be part of the fun, too). So, when you see “The OPG value is $…” that’s what we’re referencing.
Cool Comics Battle of the Week!
Your Cool Comics Battle of the Week is Aquaman versus Thor! 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 Creations!
This week’s creation is Power Pencil, by artist Ed Griffie. Ed is a lifelong comic book fan who started drawing Kawaii and Chibi style versions of pop culture icons and superheroes about five years ago. Through Facebook his work came to the attention of Daniel Hare, the owner of vintage toy and comic bookstore The Toys Time Forgot, who offered him a guest spot at Free Comic Book Day. Since then, Ed has been a regular at local conventions and comic bookstores, where he offers bookmarks, coloring pages, trading cards, and color prints featuring his unique artwork. You can check out his full catalog of work at toonist27.deviantart.com or contact him at edgriffiejr@gmail.com to commission an original piece of your very own.
You can have a piece of your art featured right here in Cool Comics Creations! Just send an electronic file in an email featuring one of your drawings, whether you’re a professional or amateur, (it can be just pencils, or inks too…or full color if you prefer) or a picture of a craft or sculpture that you’ve done, and as long as it’s family friendly (and not controversial…let’s try to keep this fun), you’ll be a part of an upcoming Cool Comics episode. We also want your name, an optional picture of yourself to go here, and any other background information you want to provide, such as a website or a way you can be contacted about your art (who knows, maybe someone will make you an offer for the original!). And then email it to edgosney62@gmail.com.
Cool Comics In My Collection
Contemporary Cool Comics
#1311 — Empyre #6, Marvel, November 2020.
Empyre, Marvel’s big Spring/Summer event, was upended by COVID-19…as was just about everything else. Because of this, several of the associated mini-series that were to be a part of the storyline ended up on the cutting room floor. And while I feel sorry for the creators, my wallet is all the happier for it. Still, there were a good number of Empyre stories to be had, some that were a part of regular, ongoing series, and some that were just one issue, or stretched to four. Last year I was excited for War of the Realms and ended it up liking it better than Empyre. Did the pandemic have anything to do with it? I don’t think so. Empyre had its moments, and I really liked Captain America’s mini-series, but all-in-all, I didn’t enjoy it as much as War of the Realms…or even the few stories I read from Absolute Carnage, a series that I liked better than I thought I would. Still, it’s fun to read these big storylines. This issue brings the “regular” Empyre series to a close, but there are still a few related issues coming down the road, including the intriguing The Immortal She-Hulk one-shot on September 23. The cover price of Empyre #6 is $5.99, while the current value is $6. The Key Collector Comics value is $6.
Cool Comics from the Quarter Bin
#1312 — Adventure Comics #446, DC, August 1976.
A couple years ago I learned more about Aquaman than I could ever have imagined, thanks to Back Issue magazine #108. I read Aquaman comics for a while in the Peter David era, when the King of the Sea lost his hand and ended up with a harpoon as a substitute, but that’s about it, aside from his appearances in Justice League when I’d sporadically read it in the Seventies and Nineties. But after poring over the magazine and learning so much more about Arthur Curry, I’ve developed more of an interest in the character. When there was a sale on the DC Rebirth collections in comiXology, I made sure to get some of the Aquaman collections, and when I dig around in quarter bins, I keep an eye out for his comics. Back Issue taught me about Aquaman’s history in Adventure Comics, and one day while flipping through deeply discounted treasures, I hit the jackpot and found several issues starring the man from Atlantis (no Patrick Duffy, not you!). For those who love to see mention of the creators from days past, this issue’s plot is by Paul Levitz, script by Martin Pasko, and art by Jim Aparo. But that’s not all, folks, because “Beware the Creeper, Mind Over Murder,” fills out the rest of the issue. Again, Martin Pasko handles the writing, while Ric Estrada and Joe Staton take care of the art. The cover price of Adventure Comics #446 is 30¢, while the current value is $10. The OPG value is $10.
FCBD the Cool Comics Way (Week 8)
#1313 — Batman: Overdrive/Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime #1, DC, July 2020.
This digest-sized Free Comic Book Day issue from DC contains more than meets the eye. Yes, it has two covers (both pictured here); you flip it over and read from the other end of where you started. And while it makes it seem that it’s an all Batman issue, each side contains two completely unrelated previews of other stories. If you look closer, you can see them in the little circles at the bottom of each cover (if you’re having a 
tough time, just click on the images and they will enlarge). For me, I enjoyed the Batman stories the most, but this is a good way to show off the other two stories, which are: My Video Game Ate My Homework and Primer. All four tales are introductions to longer graphic novels that are family friendly, as they’re aimed towards a younger audience, but hey, they’re fun comics, so anyone can enjoy them. The cover price of Batman: Overdrive/Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime #1 is free, while the current value is $1.
Cool Comics Kids
#1314 — Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #179, Dell, August 1955.
Whenever I find comic books that are a good fit for Cool Comics Kids while searching through quarter bins, I pull them out and stick them in a pile without really paying much attention to them until I return home. And with this Golden Age beauty, I feel like I really hit the jackpot. Yes, the condition is rough, and yes, a few pages in the middle are missing (one story ends without the final panels, and one begins partway through the story), but for just a quarter, the experience of reading and owning this issue is worth it to me. So, is this section of Cool Comics really about building a library of comics for kids, or about chasing our dreams of yesteryear? I’d say a little of both. This issue features stories with Donald Duck and his nephews, the Li’l Bad Wolf, Mickey and Pluto, Donald and Daisy, Mickey and Goofy, and a few more short Donald Duck stories. All that fun for just 25 cents. The cover price of Walt Disney Comics and Stories #179 is 10¢, while the current values are $125 on CBR and $95 on ZKC. The OPG value is $125.
Cool Comics Classics
#1315 — Thor #287, DC, September 1979.
I decided I was in the mood to read some Thor a couple weeks ago, so I pulled out the oldest one I hadn’t read yet, and as it turns out, it contains a bonus by including the Eternals (you can see Ikaris looking as if he’s down for the count at the bottom right on the cover!). If you aren’t familiar with this superteam created by Jack Kirby, click here and read all about them…then come back, please! With an Eternals movie due at theaters in February, it’s kind of cool to have stumbled upon this issue as a bit of a prelude. But the star of this title is Thor, and if you’re a fan of the famed Asgardian, you’ll certainly appreciate this action-packed issue, brought to us by writer Roy Thomas, and artists Keith Pollard and Chic Stone. When I read comics that have letter pages, I always look to see if I recognize any names, and this issue just happens to have a letter from Kurt Busiek with a Syracuse, NY, address, and since Kurt graduated from Syracuse University a few years after this letter, I’m pretty sure it’s the same Kurt Busiek who’s brought us some great comic book stories over the years. The cover price of Thor #287 is 40¢, while the current values are $8 on CBR and $5 on ZKC. The OPG value is $8.
Cool Moments in Graphic Lit with Dr. Omnibus
Swamp Thing #43 (spoiler heavy!)
I mentioned this issue back in early July, regarding some of its imagery. Here is a more in-depth look at what I was alluding to.
Issue 43 opens on a hippie who also is a drug dealer, it seems. He is out on a walk and finds some yams, which had grown from the body of Swamp Thing. He takes them home. Throughout the issue he is approached in his home by a couple who find themselves desiring some drugs, but our drug-dealing hippie doesn’t have what they are looking for. He ends up providing these folks with some Swamp Thing yams.
One of the people who comes calling is not the nicest of people. He is in a state of mind that perhaps isn’t the best place to start his experience with these yams. Ultimately, the shortcomings in his personality, combined with the effects of the yams, leads to a not-so-pleasant “trip,” which results in his untimely passing by means of a motor vehicle accident.
On the flipside, we have a caller who is seeking drugs for their medicinal reasons. His wife, Sandy, is dying of cancer and is in pain. He hopes to procure something to help with that pain. He ends up leaving with some yams and provides them to his hurting wife. Upon eating the yam, Sandy becomes one with the universe, so to speak. She finds peace like none she had ever known, and ultimately dies happy while experiencing the effects of the yam. The yam did not kill her, but she lost her battle with cancer while “tripping.”
What really stands out about this issue is the art used to depict Sandy’s experience. It is just remarkably stunning and adds just as much, if not more, to the story as her dialogue. It’s just beautiful.
I would like to state that I am in no way condoning the use of illegal or untested drugs.
Damian Starr is a long-time collector of comics who, in recent years, has converted his focus to reading—almost exclusively—trade paperbacks, hardcovers, and Omnibus editions. Additionally, he is a frequent contributor to the MCBCFA Play Network YouTube channel (check out his Dr. Omnibus playlists). To add one more layer to his geekery, he is an amateur comic author and co-founder of Illuminatus Comics.
Cool Comics Reader Reviews!
Would you like to write a review of a comic book or graphic novel for all the Internet to see? Our Cool Comics Reader Reviews section is looking for fans just like you to submit your review, along with a cover image of the comic. Additionally, you may provide a picture of yourself and any other biographical information you want published in Cool Comics. Send all this to edgosney62@gmail.com. Please keep in mind that we reserve the right to decide what will and won’t go in the blog, so keep the language clean, pick out a comic that won’t cause controversy (we try to have fun here!), and start tapping away on your keyboard!
ComicBooks For Kids!
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Views: 340
Lots of great stuff this time out!
I’m not a fan of the big crossover events and all the related tie-ins, but my LCS owner threw the first issue of the Captain America Empyre tie-in into my order for free and I liked it enough to get the other two. Not sure how the rest of the series is, but the Cap mini was some pretty good sci-fi flavored military action!
I’ve never been an Aquaman fan at all until the Covid hit and I was mining the back issue bins while new comics were on hold. I discovered to my surprise that the New 52 Aquaman is really one of the best things the New 52 had to offer! If you haven’t read this series, then I highly recommend you check it out! Great art, great story, and a really interesting take on “The guy who talks to fish” that isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself and builds Aquaman up into a hero that can stand shoulder to shoulder with his Justice League partners.
Thanks for another great entry and thanks for keeping comics fun!
I like it when a character surprises you. Aquaman stories I’ve read often end up better than my expectations. Thanks for the tip on the New 52 Aquaman series!
Empyre certainly had it’s ups and downs, and though it set historical precedence by ending the Kree-Skrull war that’s lasted forever (well, who knows, it could and probably will start up again someday), it just felt like something was missing. But maybe others loved every moment of it, because each individual reader comes to the stories with a different perspective. And that’s just one of the great thing about comics.
Thanks for being an important part of Cool Comics!