A Glance at the Gallery
by Michael McFadden, CGC Quality Control
I have ascended to the pinnacle and that summit is called Mile High. Your tour guide, Michael McFadden here with a brief look at this month's new additions to the CGC digital gallery.
You don't have to play in the high dollar league of pedigree collections to appreciate the importance of Mile High books. The 1977 discovery of Edgar Church's Golden/Atomic Age comic book collection is the most outstanding find in the storied history of our hobby. The news dealer for Church pulled books before they reached the newsstand. Church was an obsessive completist and his solid runs of superhero and adventure books are only occasionally punctuated by omissions. They were stored in a house near Denver, Colorado under near optimal conditions for temperature and humidity. Arranged flat in tall stacks (the way we fans used to do it!), the copies benefited from this natural pressing and received minimal handling. Colors are lustrously bright and vivid. Paper quality is whiter than Tom Cruise's teeth!
Succinctly, they are the finest extant examples of the most seminal books in the history of comics. For the collector, they are the Holy Grail. For the historian and archivist, they are a priceless picture window on our yesterdays. If you see an Edgar Church copy and are not certifiably blown away, you might as well start collecting stamps, 'cause you sure ain't a comic book fan.
Even at CGC World Headquarters, where we see a lot of Mile Highs, we see a book here, three books there. Not a lot of Mile High runs tend to surface. Daredevil Battles Hitler #1 (9.4), Zip Comics #1 (9.8), and More Fun Comics #61 (9.6), for example, are some of the over 300 Edgar Churchs we display on the DigiGallery and they come in individually. Runs tend to be minor titles like Sparkler Comics, where we offer 12 of the first 14 issues. That is, until this month.
Crossing my desk in the secure confines of the Fortress of Qualitude was a stunningly amazing run of DC's Adventure Comics from the height of the Golden Age. Here's the rundown of what I saw on that super-fine morning in January: Adventure Comics #44 (9.6), #47 (9.6), #49 (9.0), #50 (9.2), #51 (9.8-Wow!), #52 (9.4), #53 (9.4), #55 (9.8-Stellar!), #58 (9.0), #59 (8.0-Eight-Oh!?! How'd that dog get in Church's collection?), #60 (9.6), #63 (9.4), #65 (9.4), #66 (9.4), #67 (9.8!), #68 (9.2), #69 (9.6), #71 (9.6), #81 (9.6), #82 (9.2), #83 (9.6), #84 (8.5), #86 (9.6), #88 (9.6), #94 (9.8), #96 (9.8), and #102 (9.4). Twenty-seven issues in all, from a sharp-dressed Sandman to Hourman to Starman to Manhunter to spandex-clad Sandman; from Creig Flessel to Jack Burnley to Jack Kirby. The superior condition and paper quality of this concentrated run exemplifies the monumental impact of the Mile High pedigree on our hobby. Stop reading this - check these books out now - and dial back!
Gosh, boys and girls, I'm stoked. Let's review our other pedigrees. Curator books include Avengers #22, #37, #51, and #55, and we added Avengers #42 from the Boston collection. Other Marvels? There's Daredevil #19, #31, #36, Journey Into Mystery #116, X-Men #22 and #23 (Northland), Daredevil #20 (Western Penn), Sgt. Fury #25 (Green River), Tales of Suspense #64, and Tales to Astonish #40 (Pacific Coast). Other Left Coast copies are DC's 80 Page Giant #10 and Action Comics #398.
Gaines File Copies are Frontline Combat #2, #4, #9, and #10, Shock Superstories #3, #4, #7, Haunt of Fear #25, Vault of Horror #38, and Two-Fisted Tales #19, #20, #21, #23, #25, and #27 through #30. Davis Crippen entries are Contact Comics #11 and the always idiotic Super Duck #27. Cool books include Wonder Woman #17 (Oakland), Sub-Mariner Comics #32 (Winnipeg), Marvel Mystery Comics #55, Strange Worlds #5 (Okajima), Fighting Yank #25, Hit Comics #11 (Cosmic Aeroplane), The Funnies #55, Fantastic Comics #8 (Larson), House of Secrets #60, Metal Men #4 (White Mountain) and Fight Comics #38 and Jungle Comics #74 (Mile High).
Harvey File copies abound. Try these titles in the browser and you'll get 'em: Baby Huey and Papa, Bunny (so un-hip that it is hip… on the Bizarro World!), Casper's Ghostland, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Dagwood, Devil Kids Starring Hot Stuff, Little Audrey, Little Dot, Little Dot Dotland, Little Lotta, Little Motivation to Image This Insipid Crap, Richie Rich, Richie Rich Dollars and Cents, Wendy the Good Little Witch, and… ahhhh!… Tomb of Terror #3!
Other notables? We've added over 30 Amazing Spider-Man, the same with Fantastic Four, almost 20 Iron Man, over 50 Dell Four Color, including numerous file copies, and 15 Superboy, mostly from the 1950s. And our own Bradley Bradley recommends Marvel Double Feature #13 (both front and back covers featured in this article), as none of the blacks printed on the cover wrap, which makes it about as chaotic and incoherent as a mid-1990s Marvel cover. By the way, congratulations to Bradley on his recent engagement! I've got some Robert Crumb and S. Clay Wilson undergrounds I'll need to be showing him quite soon.
The CGC DigiGallery has gotten some great books this month, over 600 actually. But my absolute favorite this column? It's gotta be - dramatic paws, please - Rin Tin Tin #12 (8.5). Now, if you look at the cover, a shot of Rinnie's famously ingratiating dog-grin, you'll notice that he's holding a stick of dynamite in his chops… a stick of LIT dynamite! Rin Tin Tin is either the smartest dog alive… or the dumbest dog dead! Hope he didn't pose for the camera too long. See you next month. I've got a date with my Overstreet to see if there was ever an issue #13!
Comments and questions regarding the gallery? We're fans, too. We enjoy hearing from you. You can contact me at mmcfadden@cgccomics.com. Thank you for your time and do remember - be good to yourself. Be CGC-ing you!
