Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 274, 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), along with the 50th Edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (OPG) using their 9.2 NM scale. 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 274…
Cool Comics News!
We at Cool Comics In My Collection wish each of you a Merry Christmas!
Cool Comics Battle of the Week!
Your Cool Comics Battle of the Week is Little Lulu versus Donald Duck! 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!
It’s not Christmas until Snow Miser and Heat Miser battle it out in a dance off, and thanks to superb artist Ed Griffie, we get a great look at these two in action! Ed, thanks for submitting this image that takes so many of us back to Christmases past. 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
#1386 — The Christ, Volume 1 – Incarnation, Kingstone Comics, 2020.
Some time shortly after much of the United States was put on hold due to the global pandemic, I saw an ad about Kingstone Comics and decided to buy a couple of bundle deals. One of them consisted of a 12-volume set (for just $19.99) named The Christ, and whether you are a believer or searching for answers or just like comic books, this first issue impressed me with the art and storytelling. What’s it about? The first Christmas, of course! The reason we celebrate is revealed in this issue, and the creators of the comic do a nice job with it, keeping readers entertained whether they know this story or not (along with taking a few liberties of what might have been said by people such as Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and others, but still keeping it all in the context of what’s revealed in Scripture). As much fun as I have reading typical superhero Christmas issues, this comic IS Christmas. The cover price of The Christ, Volume 1 – Incarnation is $3.99.
Cool Comics from the Quarter Bin
#1387 — Top Ten #6, America’s Best Comics, February 2000.
I have way too many comics that I bought for just a quarter…but they were only a quarter! How great it would be to go back in time to when new issues were just 25 cents, and our wallets loaded with 2020 dollars. Now that’s a Christmas wish all comic book readers would love to have come true…but unfortunately, Santa Claus doesn’t work that way. This episode, our Cool Comic from the Quarter Bin comes to us from creators Alan Moore and Gene Ha. I’m sure many of you are quite familiar with Alan Moore’s work, from Watchman to V for Vendetta to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. When Top Ten #1 hit the comic shops in 1999, I bought a copy…but it’s no longer a part of my collection. Then a while back I saw this issue in a quarter bin, and that great nostalgia bug bit me once more, and probably twice, since it’s apparent from the cover that this comic includes some Christmas. Was this another Watchman? Not hardly, but you can’t beat the deal I got on it. The cover price of Top Ten #6 is $2.95, while the current value is $3. The OPG value is also $3.
FCBD the Cool Comics Way (Week 23)
#1388 — Little Lulu, Drawn & Quarterly, August 2020.
We don’t have a Christmas comic for our Free Comic Book Day section, and that might cause a little celebration amongst the Scrooge-type personalities (no offense if you are like Scrooge—before the three ghostly visitors—as this is all in fun) out there in comic book land. Still, this FCBD issue features Marge’s Little Lulu, and for the few I’ve read, they’ve proven to be entertaining. We get four complete Little Lulu adventures in this freebie, starting off with a space adventure (of sorts), a soap box derby race, a scary picnic with a witch, and a sandwich board tale. And what do we learn? Little Lulu and the boys have some growing up to do! But if they were mature and honest, what would be the fun in that? The cover price of Little Lulu is free, while the current value is $1.
Cool Comics Kids
#1389 — Walt Disney’s Holiday Parade #1, Disney Comics, Winter 1990-1991.
If you collect holiday comics, this is one you most certainly want in your collection, along with the fact that it’s also a perfect addition for your library for little ones. Kids (and many adults) love Disney, and when you have a comic that celebrates holidays along with Donald Duck and his nephews, Pluto, Uncle Scrooge, Goofy, Mickey Mouse and his nephews, Chip ‘N’ Dale, and more, then you’ve got a winner on your hands. This comic (along with many others) was gifted to me by a very nice lady who needed someone to look over and assess her comic collection (it featured issues that came out from 1990-1993), and as I worked through her many boxes, I put some aside that I had every intention of buying from her. But once I was finished and made her an offer, she surprised me by giving them to me as a gift for sorting through all her comics and separating the comics that had higher value. And here we are now, in the season of gifts, a time to show how much we care for others, but also a time to reflect upon the ultimate gift offered to all mankind. Pick this comic up if you can find a copy and give it to someone you love. The cover price of Walt Disney’s Holiday Parade #1 is $2.95, while the current values are $5 on CBR and $3 on ZKC. The OPG value is $5.
Cool Comics Classics
#1390 — Marvel Two-in-One #8, Marvel, March 1975.
This Marvel classic takes us back not only to the mid-Seventies, but seemingly 2000 years into the past…or at least that’s what appears to be the case when Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, runs into some apparent wise men in the Arizona desert. After a brief conversation with the camel jockeys, Ghost Rider continues his journey over the sands, confused, yet heading towards a bright star in the night sky. Back in New York, Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) and Ben Grimm (The Thing) are putting the final touches on a special telescope that Reed is hoping will reveal the secret behind the bright new star in the sky. From there, it gets even weirder, but I’m not going to reveal any more in case you’ve never read this crazy Christmas tale. After all, you’ve only had 45 years since it came out, and we at Cool Comics don’t like to be accused of spoiling your fun (if you can’t find it at a comic shop, grab a digital edition)! Probably the least surprising thing I will tell you is that it’s written by Steve Gerber (who excelled in weird, strange, and wonderful stories), with pencils by Sal Buscema. The cover price of Marvel Two-in-One #8 is 25¢, while the current value is $28. The OPG value is $32.
Cool Moments in Graphic Lit with Dr. Omnibus
Adventures of Superman #462 – “Homeless for the Holidays”
Written by Roger Stern
I first read this issue last year and it is easily in the top 3 of the most moving comics I have read. It is about a woman who works at the Daily Planet and recently found herself homeless. She has been living inside the daily planet offices ever since. There is a bit more to it than that, but the truly impactful part of the story—for me—was an editorial published in the Daily Planet written by Perry White. Despite some out-of-date references and without knowing the legitimacy of these possibly fictional charities, when I read this, I was motivated to be a better person. I hope that it has the same impact on some of you (not that you aren’t already good people).
For a few weeks every December we all seem to go a little crazy. Or perhaps it’s the rest of the year we are crazy, and this is the season we regain our sanity. Whatever the case, we act as if we’ve suddenly found something good in all of us. We want to laugh and sing and celebrate our wonderful discovery.
Then, come the first of year, celebrations end and we abruptly go back to grousing about our jobs and our taxes and what a rotten deal we’ve got.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. With a little effort, we can hang onto this feeling of good will. With a little thought, we might realize how lucky most of us are. Look around and you’ll see that some of us are not so well off. Some have no jobs to grouse about. Some do not have enough food to eat. Others sleep huddled in doorways or over gratings, using copies of this paper to stay warm. These unfortunates are our brothers and sisters. But all too often we look away as they pass.
It’s about time we stopped doing that. It’s about time that we remind ourselves that the shabbily dressed stranger shuffling by is another human being. Maybe he’s not a “worthless bum”…maybe he’s just had a run of bad luck. But we’ll never know unless we make an effort to find out.
Every day, our newspapers and television bring us news of suffering around the world, and it often seems too much to take. Perhaps that is why we try to ignore the misery closer to home. Perhaps we look away out of guilt or embarrassment or anger. And perhaps some of us look away out of fear… That little more than a single paycheck keeps us from joining the ranks of the homeless. But whatever our reasons, we cannot continue this way. Precious lives are being wasted, and it diminishes us all to allow such a thing. This is our problem, and we must not run away from it.
A frightening, growing number of our city’s homeless are families, often single-parent families. Imagine what it is like to be that child. Imagine what it is like to have no home for your child at Christmas. What hope is there for these new homeless? By now many of you are probably throwing up your hands in despair. “I’m not Superman!” you cry, “What can I do??”
The answer is simply: Whatever you can!
No one is asking you to save the world, and it’s not necessary that you be able to fly. People like yourselves are already working with a score of organizations — From the Metropolis Human Services Coalition to the Salvation Army. These organizations do as well as they can, but they could do better with your help.
The kitchens and the missions work with the most needy, providing food, shelter, and warm clothing. Your donations of clothing can give Christmas to those who would have missed it. Your donations of food can help give the homeless people the strength to go on another day.
And your donations of time will keep these organizations running, as will your donations of money. Whatever you can give, whatever you can do, will help. But please don’t think you can just write a check and forget about the homeless for another year. This is a problem that will not be solved overnight…not even with Superman’s help.
Some of our city’s homeless are tormented by mental problems…it will take an extra effort to win their trust. Others cannot turn their backs on drugs or alcohol…for them, we may be able to offer little more than our prayers.
Metropolis is a prosperous city, but with each passing year good, hard-working men and women find it more difficult to find affordable housing here. Every year there are more luxury condos and fewer row homes. This, too, is part of the problem we must not forget when January arrives. There are many ways we can attack the problem. We can petition our city council to create incentives for the construction of more low- and middle-income housing. We can donate time and labor to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity or Backerline Neighborhood Housing Service. But we must do something…
Damian Starr is a graphic literature enthusiast and comic author.
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!
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Superman #64 “Metropolis Mailbag” by Dan Jurgens that came out in 1991 is another excellent issue from that era.
Top 10 may not be Watchmen good, but it is very close. I’d say it’s a must read, but the collected edition is no longer in print.
I may have to try Top Ten if I can find a number of sequential issues. That’s the problem with reading an issue from the middle of the pack and having no frame of references. Thanks for the tip, Action Ace!
Merry Christmas, and thanks for being an important part of Cool Comics!