A Glance at the Gallery By Michael McFadden, CGC Quality Control
Greetings, fandom. Michael McFadden here, fresh back from St. Louis’s 32nd Archon Science Fiction Convention. Yep, even CGC’s QC Doctor has gotta take a break from comic books once in a while, though the fanfest did call on me to moderate a panel on comics and I did manage to pick up a half-dozen ECs from longtime St. Louis fan Gary Johannigmeier. Well, even when I try I can never get too far away from comics. Like most of you, I guess I just love collecting comics too much!
So let’s check out the new All-Stars admitted to the exclusive CGC DigiGallery. By “All-Stars” would I mean All Star Batman #10, the red-hot recalled edition in 9.9? As much as I enjoy a smarmy Frank Miller cuss-fest, no. Would I mean All Star Comics #32, featuring the classic Justice Society of America-Solomon Grundy cover in eye-popping 9.4 shape? This story was so cool that Gardner Fox revisited it 20 years later in Showcase #55 for round two. Still, nooo! I’d really be referencing, for starters, Amazing Spider-Man #1 in bankbook-busting 9.4. Only four copies have certified higher. Not even the Pacific Coast copy we saw earlier this month outstripped this one. Zowie!
More mega-marvelous Marvels? X-Men #4, one of my favorite Silver Age covers, in near-pristine 9.8. Highest graded copy? Do you have to ask? Only three other certified copies supercede a Daredevil #1 at 9.4. A 7.0 Rawhide Kid (Atlas) bested by only other one copy. Timely’s Captain America Comics #6 (Allentown) finds only two certified higher, and #43 at 9.0, only one higher. Human Torch #2 (the first issue, actually) flames all competition with a highest graded 9.4 copy. That’s hot.
We added Detective Comics #1; while an unimposing 3.5, it is still one of only seven unrestored certified copies, those topping out at only 6.5. A #31 at 7.0, with its iconic Bat-cover, is the second-highest copy we’ve seen. A restored Superman #1 at 4.0 is offered to improve our previous exhibit; better than 70 percent of Superman #1s we see are restored. Little-seen DC Golden Age Movie Comics #1 is 8.5, Action Comics #24 is tied for best honors at 9.4. Justice League of America #11, at 9.6, is tied for the top spot. Beautiful book! The Teen Titans bow in Brave and the Bold #54 (9.6), though their name, logo and Wonder Girl would have to wait for their second appearance to debut. Only three copies surpass the Silver Age Green Lantern #1 at a crisp 9.0. I had to mention that or our resident Green Loser groupie, Paul Litch, would fire me.
From the archives of printer Don Donahue is an exceptionally rare file copy of the seminal – some would say cosmic – first issue of Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix. Having bought the press from first print publisher Charles Plymell, Donahue’s second printing was hand-folded and stapled by himself and Crumb. Now that’s truly an “indie” comic book! This particular example is tied for highest graded at 9.6. What does “Diddy-Wah-Diddy” mean? If you don’t know by now, don’t mess with it! Another underground classic is the delightful anarchy of Air Pirates Funnies #1, also at 9.6. Now we know how Mickey Mouse earned his cheese before he signed with Disney!
CGC pulled a pair of deuces with Archie’s Pal Jughead #2 (9.0) and Archie’s Rival Reggie #2 (9.2). Another MLJ, Zip Comics #2, was 9.0. Completing Man of Tomorrow’s second year is Action Comics #24, an impressive 9.4. A copy of Frank Frazetta’s incredible Ghost Rider cover on issue 4 was 9.4. A 9.2 copy of Real Fact Comics #5, the Batman issue, crossed my desk in the Fortress of Qualitude, as did a 6.5 Famous Funnies #1 and a 7.5 Magic Comics #1. Highest graded honors go to a 9.0 Carson City pedigree Mystery Men #1, the origin and first appearance of Blue Beetle. No superhero has lasted longer with no discernable reason why than the irrepressible, irresistible Indigo Insect! More Golden Age first issues: a Special Comics #1 certified 7.5, a Planet Comics #1 was 7.0 and a superb copy of Science Comics #1, with a splendid Lou Fine cover, earned a 9.0. We don’t see many exceptional Shadow Comics here, so we were pleased to add a nine-oh Volume 3 #8. And I’m sure everyone is thrilled by the DigiGallery addition of the obsessively disturbed psycho brat herself, Little Dot, issue 4 in 8.0.
We had quite a few pedigrees this month. Select Mile High entries include 4Most #1; Adventure Comics #19; All New Comics #s 4 and 5; Amazing Mystery Funnies #s 2 and 3; Blaze Carson #2; Buccaneers #19; Catman #s 4 and 21; Copper Canyon #nn (a movie comic with a photo cover of Hedy Lamarr…VaVaVoom!); Camp Comics #2 (aptly titled, another great photo cover!); Dagar Desert Hawk #15; Detective Comics #24; Doc Savage Comics V2 #7; Dollman #s 24, 28 and 36; Don Winslow of the Navy #2; Famous Funnies #102; Fight Comics #s 54, 56 and 63; Green Lantern (Golden Age) #s 7, 25, 28, 29, 33, 34 and 36; Ideal Comics #1; Jann of the Jungle #10; Journey into Fear #3; Jungle Comics #118; Lars of Mars #11; Millie the Model #s 5 and 69 (finally a reason to own a Millie the Model!); Nyoka the Jungle Girl #s 2 and 5; Prize Comics #30; Sheena Queen of the Jungle #s 7 and 8 ( Jann, Nyoka and Sheena, huh? Great month for jungle girls!); Star Comics #7; Startling Terror Tales #10; Strange Fantasy (not our graders’…I’m talkin’ the comic book!) #3; Strange Suspense Stories #1; Whiz Comics #s 90 and 92; Worlds Beyond #1; and Women Outlaws (aren’t they all?) #1. Whew… that’s quite a list!
There are other pedigrees besides Mile High! Such books include a stellar Incredible Hulk #181 (the first full appearance of Wolverine in 9.8!) and 80-page Giant #6 (Winnipeg), Air Fighters Comics #3 (Rockford), Avengers #54 (Circle 8), Big 3 #1 (Denver), Daredevil #16, Justice League of America #18 (Northland), Doomsday Plus 1 #6, justifiably obscure Marvel book Fun and Games Magazine #s 6 and 10, Giant Size Man Thing #4, Marvel Spotlight #28, Super DC Giant #s 17 and 18, Superman Family #170, Weird Western Tales #13 (Don Rosa), Hit Comics #37 (Larson), Showcase #14 (the third tryout book of the Silver age Flash–Big Apple), Space Detective #3 (White Mountain), Underdog #1 (Bethlehem) and Wonderworld Comics #8 (Allentown).
We added twelve new ultra-sharp copies of Four Color and, amazingly, only two are Dell File Copies. Look for Four Color Comics #s V1 and 16 (Mickey Mouse and the Phantom Blot, the very first Mickey comic), Four Color #29 (Donald Duck and the Mummy’s Ring — fabulous Carl Barks work), #244 (The Brownies — my DigiGallery colleague, Gemma Adel, and I love this Walt Kelly cover!) and #1042 (Recording stars Three Chipmunks first appearance… and one of the first comic books I ever bought off the stands!). Harvey File copies include that blubber-laden mallard, Baby Huey #40, High School Romance #48, Hot Stuff #19, Little Audrey and Melvin #s 2 through 5, Little Audrey #39 (in an early form of pressing, she’s sitting on a stack of comics), Little Dot #46, Spooky #s 37 and 41, Richie Rich Dollars and Cents #s 5 and 25, Richie Rich Millions #s 1 and 31, and Richie Rich Success Stories #30. Incidentally, after the last few weeks on Wall Street, those books have been renamed Richie Rich Spare Change, Richie Rich Hundreds and Richie Rich Suicide Stories, respectively.
Mega-lovely Gaines File copies include Crime Superstores #23; Shock Superstores #15; Two-Fisted Tales #27; and Vault of Horror #s 13, 18 (9.9 — Wow!), 21 and 37. And in our Unabashed Plug Department, check out my lengthy and loving feature article on EC horror comics in CGC’s own Eric Downton’s impressive horror-zine ShriekFreak Quarterly #1. It also showcases terrific writing and art from CGC’s Dave Couillou, Josh Hanin and a creeptacular cover by Wild Bill Bodin. Available by pdf or print on demand, visit their Web site: ShriekFreak Quarterly. If you’re a horror fan, you’ll be glad you did!
You know I enjoy extolling the substantial virtues of clean, crisp and glossy Pacific Coast copies. Here’s the latest reasons I gush about these books: Daredevil #6; Fantastic Four #29; Green Lantern (Silver Age) #s 41, 43, 47–49 and 53; Hawkman #s 6–8, 11 and 12; Lois Lane #77; Tales to Astonish #67; Wonder Woman #165; and World’s Finest Comics #s 157, 160, 164, 166, 168 and 169. All these books are either 9.6 or 9.8!
Bureau of Statistical Inevitability offers at 9.9: Amazing Spider-Man #s 319, 351 and 380; Angel: After the Fall #10 RRP; Batman #613; Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight # 4 variant; Captain America #263 and Falcon #2 (both Winnipeg); Daredevil #s 182 and 184; Doctor Who #6 RRP; Eerie #95; Fantastic Four #s 194, 233, 369 and 389; G.I. Joe A Real American Hero #34; an incredible Incredible Hulk #107; Kabuki ½ Wizard Edition; Millennium Edition All Star Comics #3; The Pro #1 Third Print (SigSeries); Red Sonja #26 Fantastic Realm Edition; Savage She-Hulk #1; Secret Invasion #4 Sketch; Serenity: Better Days #1; Shadow Hunter #2 Variant and Variant B; Silent Hill: Dying Inside #1; Spectacular Spider-Man #6; Star Trek: Mirror Image #1 RRP; Star Wars #3 Holofoil; Uncanny X-men #158; Wizard Ace Edition Uncanny X-Men #94; Wolverine #s 62, 64 and 68; X-Men #1 Special Collector’s Edition; X-Men #s 11 and 19; and X-Men Alpha #1. And, as usual, Locke and Key… this time it’s #6.
At the coveted ten-oh plateau, we find Aurora Comics Scenes #192140, Grimm Fairy Tales #25 Sketch (Miseries), New Mutants #1, Punisher #2, Totem #2 and Wolverine #67. Our compliments to your printers.
SigSeries books, powered by comic cons, are still keeping us super-busy. Channeling his best Alex Toth, Matt Wagner signs his dynamite cover on Dynamite’s Zorro #2. Gabriel Macht, the upcoming screen Spirit, autographs a DC Spirit #1. Among obligatory Fallen Son #3 entries this month are the fabulous Flaming Carrot, sketched by Bob Burden; a terrific Avengers by an unusual art team amalgam, Agnes Garbowski and Francis Manipul; Wolverine by Neal Adams; and a sci-fi pencil sketch from Al Feldstein. The opportunity to see longtime Playboy cartoonist Doug Sheyd personalize and sketch a comic book cover shows what a vigorous format this has become. If only DC could figure this no-brainer out...
My favorite this month is a book considered by many DC fans — including myself — as DC’s Silver Age apex. Mystery in Space #75 starred Adam Strange, dubbed the thinking fan’s superhero. That he was a “superhero” was debatable. Armed with only a ray gun, a jet pack and his wits, Adam Strange was DC’s space age update on Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. And yet in this issue, the powerful Justice League of America, in its first crossover ever, is saved by Strange because he was the smartest superhero on the playing field. Take that, Man of Steel. Well, don’t just take my word for it. In the 1962 Alley Awards (the initial precursor to today’s Eisner Awards), Mystery in Space editor Julie Schwartz won Best Editor, writer Gardner Fox won Best Writer, penciller Carmine Infantino won Best Artist, inker Murphy Anderson won Best Inker and #75’s “Planet That Came to a Standstill” won Best Story.
And this copy at 9.6 won Best Copy!
Comments and questions regarding the gallery? We’re fans, too. We enjoy hearing from you, unless we don’t. You can contact me at mmcfadden@cgccomics.com. Thank you for your time and do remember — be good to yourself. Be CGC-ing you!
