Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Fantastic Four Annual #5, Marvel Comics, November 1967 Comic Annuals have been a neglected collecting strain for years now but thanks to the “pick and choose” mentality of the new collectors and investors specific issues, if they can offer up…
Arcs & Runs #52. Our month-long celebration of Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday continues in Arcs & Runs with a look at another one of Kirby’s long running characters the Mighty Thor. Thor has always been one of my favourite characters…
Last week I traveled back in time. It was a simpler time. I drank water from the outdoor water hose. I watched Saturday Morning cartoon shows and I read “The Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine”! I stepped back in time to wonderment and surprise…
This month saw the release of Guardians of the Galaxy #21, a much-anticipated story set in the home planet of the Venom symbiote. This story inspired me to think back on the first appearance of Venom’s home planet, which appears…
One of my personal favourite genres of comic books that I like to collect is the big square bound super-hero annuals. Twice the size and price of a regular comic, these books only came out once a year and were packed with pin-ups, some classic reprints, and usually a crackling good original story. The original stories quite often took place outside the current storylines taking place in the title, but had a place in the character or groups long term continuity. There were surprisingly few made – I count 18 in the sixties and some characters and groups had none at all. I did not include war, romance, westerns, or re-print annuals in this first series but may get to them at a later date.
This instalment of Arcs & Runs will look at the most important run of comics in the silver age IMO. DC Showcase (revival of super-heroes - new Flash and Green Lantern) and The Amazing Spider-Man, both receive and deserve a lot of consideration as the most important run of the silver age. Spider-Man is easily the most popular character to emerge from the 60’s; however he may not have even happened if it weren’t for a comic called the Fantastic Four.
Amazing Adventures V2 #1, Marvel Comics, August 1970 My kids and I watched the Avengers again recently and I found myself really enjoying the Black Widow character played by Scarlet Johansson. I think she’s one of the stronger characters in…
Now my Mom and Dad knew I had ordered some comics by mail order and weren't too pleased about it. They thought I spent $20, when in actuality I had spent $200 or so in US funds.
The package was about 10 inches high and had been strapped together between cardboard and wrapped again in brown wrapping paper. The corners were somewhat torn and slightly blunted but the contents were intact.
Fantastic Four #45, Marvel Comics (December 1965) The Fantastic Four is easily the most important of the original slew of Marvel titles. Most of the time we focus on the importance of FF#1 and how it changed everything. While Fantastic…
A gathering of wonderful art spotted by yours truly these last seven days: Kirby, Zaffino, Dodson, Cooke and more!
The most long-awaited battle? Not true then. Not true now.