Looking Ahead

The weather is turning in Southern Ontario and I don’t like it, it gets dark around 4:45 PM and it gets cold around 24/7. This happens every year and I’ve yet to learn how to brace myself properly, how to welcome the change if not with joy then at least with acceptance. Luckily my rough patch only lasts until solstice on December 21st, I’m simple that way.

Speaking of simple, my weekly task of rummaging through the “going to eBay auction” pile is simple enough, find the weekly Cover, Ad and Splash pages. It wasn’t that simple this week, I had a lot of great candidates so I ended up picking the ones that left me with thoughts I deemed worth sharing. Take my Cover of the Week, Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #29, when I saw this I immediately wondered who under 40 years of age would even know who these guys are, and would they care? There are not that many real life celebrities that stand the test of time, and upon review, there are not that many comic book characters either, I’d say there are way more “come and gone” comic book characters than there are generationally relevant ones. The next thought was how do we approach collectibles like this? Do we avoid them or will they be celebrated and sought a decade or so from now.

Hello! Ric Estrada spices up his splash page in Teen-Age Temptations #5 with this exciting action shot. Personally I think Ric knew Matt Baker was also working on this book so he went for it. I have a few questions, like how’d he get up that high if he had to throw her that high, how did she get that high if he did not throw her, is she cold, I’ll bet he isn’t.

In honor of all our American friends I thought I’d share this Tootsie Rolls ad I found in Teen-Age Temptations #5 celebrating the fact that they will be on TV featured in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Happy Thanksgiving folks, enjoy the food, enjoy the games, enjoys the days off and enjoy spending time with the family.

Last night the latest icecollectibles weekly eBay auction closed, there were some great books on offer including this CGC 9.6 White Pages copy if Amazing Spider-Man 365, it closed at $560 USD. Quality Spidey’s like this are a staple of our hobby so its result can serve as a barometer to today’s market. The last sale was $660 but that was over a year ago in November of 2023. I was expecting it to lose some ground from that last sale and it did, it gave back $100. I do see this as a healthy result, I’ve seen too many books giving back a lot more over the last year, I thought our #65 performed admirably.

Walter Durajlija
Walter Durajlija

Walter Durajlija is an Overstreet Advisor and Shuster Award winner. He owns Big B Comics in Hamilton Ontario.

Articles: 1826

5 Comments

  1. While a good gag cover, I never warmed to Lewis and Martin on radio, in the movies, or in comics. But also don’t care for Abbot and Costello either, so go figure. I like the romance splash… the skater really rose to the occasion! The Tootsie roll ad must have been sponsored by the American Dental Association trying to drum up business! At first I was surprised such a lack luster Spidey did that well until I saw it was a 9.6!
    While they are simply leaned against the wall on top of my comic boxes, I put up my half a dozen Christmas issues to gaze at during the holiday season. You don’t think it’s too early do you??

  2. The best way to deal with the Canadian cold is probably have some bloom’n galoof from the other end of the planet send you a bunch of pictures of summer done Aussie style! I hope you cry into your weeties whilst reading my correspondence…

    now, my next mission will be to get the lovely girls at the cafe to wave and say ‘Wish you were here Walt’ on Saturday when the heat really begins…that’ll sure to help!!!

  3. It always amazes me how the DC artists captured their subjects look and mannerisms so closely in their funny comics. These should be desired by collectors of all ages, they just need to be showcased Walt.

  4. I have that copy of Teen-age Temptations #5. 🙂
    With respect to Who would know these covers? …
    If my Dad passed on his comics from the late 50’s to 60’s to me these books would have been mine and I would be quite aware but his parents tossed them in the garbage as trash(y) and responsible for his bad behavior as a teen-ager.
    My loss is only my gain by collecting them now because they may be rarer as a result of less of them in circulation.

  5. Never too early for Christmas Gerald, I hope you’re enjoying the warm climes.

    Rohan, please send those pics, I need something to keep me warm up here, thanks chum

    Dave, the gals on those covers are the only reason a 35 year old would buy those, unfortunately

    ActiveJim, that’s a shame but I like your spunk, your attitude, lets thank all those grandparents who were the true architects of comic book scarcity

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