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About this journal

One man's journey to turn his lifelong collection hoard of comics into a streamlined, Superman-centric collection.

Entries in this journal

Superman #149 upgrade

So I'm back from vacation with a new post!  Actually, I got back from vacation a while ago, but work has been busy and it's been creeping into my off time.  It'll probably be that way for the remainder of the year, so no weekday posting with any sort of regularity until the new year. The busier work schedule did come with one silver lining, as it took me to a side of the state that I don't normally get to, and that means new and exciting comic book stores to check out!  And find one I did..
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Off on vacation

This will be the only post this week, as I am officially on vacation.  Woo hoo! My family and I will be joining up with my brother and his girlfriend to drive into the path of the solar eclipse this week.  We've been planning the trip for over a year, so fingers crossed that the weather holds.   Even scheduling this trip so far out, we still didn't manage to snag a camp site that lies in the path of the totality of the eclipse, but we'll be pretty darn close in Kentucky on the ban
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The Superbooks in November 1959

So I was ruminating on the state of my Superman collection the other day, as I am getting close to checking off all of the 12¢ books from Superman and Action Comics.  That made me curious as to how far back I could get in my collection, and have the entire month of Superman books represented.  I figured it would be early in the 12¢ run somewhere, but to my surprise it was late in the 10¢ era instead. Step out of the time machine, and welcome to the world of November 1959! No key i
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Low Content Mode Week, Anagram Style with Action Comics!

I picked up a couple of early 12¢ Action Comics off of eBay recently to help fill out the run. Action Comics #290 from July 1962 and Action Comics #306 from November 1963. I realized long ago that trying to fill out a run of both Action Comics and Superman was going to be a herculean task at best.  With that in mind, I settled on a minimum grade for the 12¢ books to be at least a nice presenting F/VF.  I'll obviously make exceptions, however, if I come across some beaters at a pri
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Low Content Mode Week, Anagram Style with The Legion!

It's looking like a low content week for the journal, as I have a busy work week ahead of me, so I'll probably be spending it posting some pics of my newest acquisitions. First up, I got this beauty off of eBay for a great price... Adventure Comics #267 from December 1959, featuring the second appearance of The Legion of Super-Heroes.  This particular issue only cost me $42 bucks, and it's a killer looking copy, although I'm sure some would balk at the ½" tear that goes through th
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Behold...Maxima and a bunch of other folks

Almost everything I've highlighted in my journal to date has been silver and bronze age books.  Granted, that's where my collecting focus is these days, but I do have my fair share of copper and modern books...especially when it comes to Superman.  My collection of the main Superman titles is 100% complete from this week, all the way back to 1966.  With that said, let's round out this week's theme with a book from 1997! Action Comics #730 from February 1997 features an appearance from
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Behold..Nemesis Kid!

While I was thumbing through the collection, looking for more odd cover appearances by D-List characters, it turns out there was another one in the wall display that I highlighted a few days ago that started me down this path. In Adventure Comics #346 from July 1966, we are introduced to four new recruits for Legion membership.  But alas, one of them is a traitor! Who could it be? Karate Kid?  Princess Projectra?  Ferro Lad?  Or err...ummm...Nemesis Kid?! Spoilers f
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Non-Superman Diversion...Jonah Hex!

Continuing our look at the non-Superman titles that I still actively collect, we have the newest title that I've decided to fill out a run on...and that is Jonah Hex! As far back as I can remember I've always been a fan of westerns, much to the chagrin of my wife and son who sigh and roll their eyes when I come across one while flipping through the t.v. listings.  Although I do the same to my wife when Grease is on, so I suppose it's all good. Anyways, with as much as I like a good wes
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The one missing book.

Yesterday, I had mentioned that when I bought my almost complete run of DC Comics Presents from eBay, there was one issue missing that the seller had kept.  So what was the missing issue? The obvious answer is #26 with the first appearance of the New Teen Titans.  Well, you'd be wrong. Then, you might guess issue #47 with the first comic book appearance of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.  Well, you'd be wrong again. I'll give you a hint.  I bought this collection in 2006,
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My favorite part of the epic-ness!

Now it's time for my favorite part of the haul from my epic estate sale find. As I had mentioned earlier, when I was in the basement level rummaging around I had managed to snag a longbox to start storing all of my finds in.  I was working my way up the stairs to the third level, it was tricky to say the least as the stairs were very narrow, and a nice gentlemen noticed me struggling and backed up so I could keep going.  I thanked him, and as he noticed what I was carrying said, "I don't th
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My epic estate sale hoard!

Time for a war story from the trenches! Over the years, I've had some mild successes with estate sales.  My best find up to this point was a complete run of 7.0 to 8.0 copies of Secret Wars and Crisis on Infinite Earths for a buck a book.  A nice enough score to keep you out there looking for opportunities, that's for sure. During my routine check of local listings, I came across an announcement for a camera/comic book store that was going out of business in Milford, Michigan.  That's
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New Gods...new mythologies

While not necessarily Superman titles, I do consider the Fourth World books Superman-adjacent, since they did kick off in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen.  So today, let's take a look at the series that laid down a lot of the mythology to come. New Gods #1 from March 1971. I think out of all the Fourth World titles, this cover is not only a classic, but probably one of my personal favorites as well.  I love the oversized logo, the black and white background, and the oversaturated color
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Finishing up with interactive covers

Let's round out this week with one last interactive cover of sorts. Action Comics #388 from May 1970 So what is wrong with this cover?  Let's count 'em up... Krytpo as Streaky One Way road sign pointing up Cosmic Boy's gloves Cosmic Boy's legs are white Saturn Girl's logo Superman wearing glasses Superman has long hair (damn hippy!) Superman has short cape Superman's chest emblem backwards Flash marking on Superm
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Being hassled by the man!

I actually worked this journal entry up over the weekend, as right now i'm in court trying to fight a traffic ticket.  In all honesty it's more of a "can you take my good driving record into consideration, put me on probation for six months, and take the points off of my ticket please?" than a 12 Angry Men type situation.  We'll see how that turns out tomorrow.  In the meantime, enjoy these covers of Superman getting hassled by the man! Action Comics #359 I'm questioning the the c
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Impeding traffic

So after about 2 ½ hours at the local courthouse yesterday, I got my 3 point traffic citation reduced to a zero point infraction for impeding traffic.  The actual fine went up $30, but I'd gladly pay that to avoid the higher insurance rates associated with a 3 point ticket.  Especially considering the fact that my wife and I just bought a new car last week! Here's Superman impeding traffic, from Superman #85 from 1953. This is another book from one of my LCS' monthly auctions.  I
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Hands down, the best Superman gorilla cover ever!

And finally, we have what has to be the greatest of all Superman gorilla covers...or at least the zaniest! Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #98 I mean, c'mon...what's not to love about this one... Jimmy as Tarzan, getting married to a female King Kong in a bridal veil, with the ceremony being performed by Superman, who just happens to be the local witch doctor.  Since he's a witch doctor, he has brought with him his boiling cauldron.  It's good to know they went for at least one as
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The origin story

One of my favorite things about the CGC Boards, is when people take that time to go through parts of their collections.  In the process, they are revealing tales about their acquisitions and motivations that I always find fascinating.  I figure if I get a kick out of others stories, maybe someone will get a kick out of mine. For me, it all started back in the spring/summer of 1985 when my best friend at the time came back from a trip to somewhere in Pennsylvania.  He was gone for a couple o
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Behold...The Thing From 40,000 A.D.

Yesterday we looked at a rather curious cover appearance by a super-villain wannabe.  Let's keep the theme going and take a look at another, this time from Superman Annual #2 from 1960/1961. This collection of reprints celebrates some the greatest super-villains ever featured!  Naturally, we see Brainiac, Bizarro, and Titano.  All three of these villains had been in about a half-dozen stories each, up until this book came out.  They've also gone on to more than stake their claim as ico
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Behold...Electro!?

When it comes to comic book storage, I don't really have a man-cave full of items on display.  I did build custom shelves fit to hold long-boxes that currently take up one wall in my office. I work out of my home, so my office is shared between my work and my hobby.  It's not the greatest of solutions, but I'll do the whole comic book room when I retire and move out to the country! In the meantime, however, I did pick up a couple of picture frame shelves from Ikea that I use to di
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Disregard...Bizarro!

Continuing along with our week-long theme of odd character inclusions, we come to 80 Pg. Giant #6 from January 1965. At first glance, it looks like I might have overthought this, as this whole cover is filled with nobodies.  But then if you look over up in the upper right, you'll see the decidely a-list villain, Bizarro!  In the end it makes sense, as of course Bizarro would be featured in a collection of nobodies.  As Bizarro would so horribly state it... "Me am nobody." Whi
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Non-Superman Diversion...Justice Society of America!

Finally, for this week, we're delving into the Justice Society of America! I've always had a fondness for time travel and alternative universe storylines, so naturally the JLA/JSA stories from the 60's and 70's caught my attention when I started to collect DC back-issues.  I started out big, right out of the gate, with this one... ...Justice League of America #21 from August 1963. Aside from having one of the best covers from the Silver Age, this issue is the proper introduct
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Non-Superman Diversion...The Doom Patrol!

For the first two days of this week, we've had a look at the two Marvel titles that I still maintain a collection on, so let's take a look at a DC one now. I've mentioned previously how I was a big fan of The Sandman back in the early-to-mid 90's as it was coming out.  Naturally, I sampled some of the other titles and quickly fell in love with the Grant Morrison and Richard Case run of Doom Patrol.  It's a helluva 40+ issue run, and definitely rewards repeat reading.  When I started reading
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Low Content Mode Week, Anagram Style with Supergirl and Wonder Woman!

Low content mode week continues, as we delve deeper into the latest purchases for my collection, through the skewed lens of anagrams. This next book I picked up off of eBay after a fellow boardie tipped me off that this is, in fact, the first use of the Supergirl masthead. From what I could turn up, it does appear that The Brave And The Bold #63 from January 1965 is in fact the first usage.  It predates Action Comics #334 from March 1966 by over a year, which I would have guessed
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The DCCP big dog

Continuing our look at the DCCP title, without a doubt DC Comics Presents #26 is the big dog of this run, featuring the first appearance of The Teen Titans. As it turns out, I don't think I've ever read it.  Call me a blasphemer, but I don't think I've read any of the Wolfman/Perez run.  It's not that I have anything against it, as I'm a big fan of George Perez in general (by way of The Avengers).  It's one of those runs that will one day fall into my lap, or not.  It's just that up un
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Low Content Mode Week, Anagram Style with Superman and Superboy!

Yesterday I mentioned that I'll pick up lower grade 12¢ books to help fill out the run if the price is right, well on these the price was right! The focus of my collection is completing Action Comics and Superman, but I've slowly been filling out the secondary and tertiary titles as the opportunities present themselves.  After enjoying the heck out of @Silver's Superboy Complete thread over in the Silver Age Forum, I decided to bump the Superboy collecting up a notch as there are
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