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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 April 1969

Continuing on for the theme of the week, let's set the time machine forward a few years to April of 1969 to see both the end of one era, and the dawn of another. The end of the Silver Age is a hard one to pin down, and there's a ton of debate to be had.  I, myself, like to keep things simple and generally assume that the end of the 12¢ books also ends the Silver Age, and this is the month that it happened. I sorted the books by release date, so you'll see that it starts with 10¢ b
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The Superbooks in December 1978

So why December of 1978? Well, there was a movie released that month called Superman The Movie, that's why! A favorite complaint these days is that neither Marvel or DC has appropriate books on the shelves to take advantage of the heat that is generated by comic book movies.  So how did DC do back in 1978 at the golden age of superhero movies? Not too shabby! All-New Collectors' Edition: Superman The Movie #C-62 was right there to take advantage of the hype, with an issu
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The Superbooks in November 1970

Yesterday we took a look at the dawn of the Bronze Age with the Superbooks.  It would be about another year, however, for the Superbooks to start hitting their stride with some classic Bronze Age goodness.  For me, the quintessential Superman Bronze Age book is Superman #233, so let's see what else was on the newsstands that month as well. Aside from having the most iconic of Neal Adams' Superman covers, this issue starts a year-long story of a de-powered Superman by Denny O'Neil.  Whi
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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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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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The Superbooks in June 1967

Yesterday I was a little surprised that I was able to go all the way back to November of 1959, with having a complete set of all the Superbooks on sale for a particular month.  I thought for sure that my oldest set would've been in the early 12¢ era.  I ended up being wrong twice, as not only could I go farther back than I thought, but the next instance of this happening is way into the second half of the Silver Age.  It takes another 7 ½ years for my collection to once again have all of the Sup
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The other Darkseid 1st appearance

I seem to have stumbled upon a theme week routine here, so let's keep it up looking at some more Kirby Fourth World in detail.  Before the holiday, we had the 1st cameo appearance of Darkseid in SPJO#134, so let's see what else he was up to leading up to his first full appearance. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #135 from January 1971 I can definitely appreciate what Kirby was going for, with the slow reveal of Darkseid to build up tension, but it sure makes for some lackluster first a
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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..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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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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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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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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Low Content Mode Week, Anagram Style with Jonah Hex!

Lastly for this week of low content anagram fun, let's see what we can do with this latest round of purchases from the wilds of eBay. A nice little run of high-grade Weird Western Tales featuring Jonah Hex!  Such good stuff.  I especially like this cover Weird Western Tales #25 from December 1974. Jonah Hex riding out on horseback from a pit of quicksand!  How badass is that?! Anyways, anagrams...      Jonah Hex = ? I got nothing here.  Hex is an enigma even in
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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More fun and games with comic book covers!

Yesterday we had a lot of fun with the board game cover of AC#360, so let's see what other "interactive" covers we have. Here's Action Comics #344 from December 1966. This cover boasts a mystery to solve, with all of the "Bat-Clues" right there on the cover.  Superman is having nightmares, and it's up to us to figure out the cause! Let's give it a good look...there's a crystal man on the cover, doing his best Santa Claus impersonation while a multitude of Supermen are frozen
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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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