1 1
  • entries
    32
  • comments
    25
  • views
    2,524

About this journal

I buy cheap reader comics. I read them. I discuss them.

Entries in this journal

CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 - It's all about the Art!

CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 - It's all about the Art!   I bought this beat up copy for $7.50   I may have my issues with Steranko the 'person', but he certainly created some of the most memorable handful of issues ever made in comics. Probably no artist in history has less work that is more popular than Jim Steranko.   Captain America #113 was the third of 3 issues he did in 1969 - the first two #110 and #111 interrupted by the origin re
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

8

ARCHIE COMICS #95 - Classic Artists of the Era

ARCHIE COMICS #95 - Classic Artists of the Era Whenever I find these early Archie Comics issues, especially pre-1960 in the $1 books, I HAVE to pick them up. Honestly, it's where they belong as there is only a handful of people who love and appreciate them. The Riverdale crowd isn't interested in this stuff and none of the artists are really 'hot' with the majority of collectors. Archie Comics is just kind of its own niche and I'm glad. I mean... I look at this Harry Lucey cover
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

6

METAL MEN #9 - The FIRST Quirky Team?

METAL MEN #9 - The FIRST Quirky Team? I'll be quite honest. I wan't really all that familiar with the Metal Men. But the research has been fun and I've learned a lot. And the issue I've read here (#9) was entertaining. These days, for $1 you can't beat it.   (METAL MEN #9 - Cover Dated Aug/Sept 1964 - on Newsstands June 25, 1964 - cover art by Ross Andru)   Many might think the Metal Men were some kind of rip off of the X-Men or the Marvel ‘team’ c
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

3

Superman's Girl Friend LOIS LANE #98 - Romance Comics in Plain Sight

Superman's Girl Friend LOIS LANE #98 - Romance Comics in Plain Sight I'm going to warn you ahead of time - I may sound overly critical of Curt Swan's work here in this piece. I get that he was the definitive Superman artist for 2 1/2 decades. No question about that. But personally, I just never understood the huge fan love for his work, other than "I was 13 and these were my favorite comics." That I get. Going back and discovering his work after reading Neal Adams Superman stories? Hmmm...
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

2

DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU #16 - What'd you call me?

DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU #16 - What'd you call me?   (DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - cover art by Luiz Dominguez) Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #16 starts off with a painted cover by Luiz Dominguez. Not my favorite DHoKF cover, and certainly not my favorite Luiz Dominguez painted cover (that would be Dracula Lives #5), but... it conveys a scene from an interior story pretty well so... it's all good. I love this beat up co
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

1

Superman's Girlfriend LOIS LANE #35 - Scheming Up and Teaming Up!

Superman's Girlfriend LOIS LANE #35 - Scheming Up and Teaming Up! Man, it’s amazing to me what comics I can find, beat up, in $1 bins! Another classic Superman/DC artist that I prefer to Curt Swan, the oft-forgotten Kurt Schaffenberger, here with an early 60’s ‘modern-ish’ theme. I really like the way he uses shadows and shading to show depth and perception. (Superman's Girl-Friend LOIS LANE #35 - Cover Dated August 1962 - on Newsstands June 26th, 1962 - cover art by Kurt Sc
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

1

MARVEL TALES #53/AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #70 - Wanted...Dead or Alive!

MARVEL TALES #53/AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #70 - Wanted...Dead or Alive!   The Amazing Spider-man was the comic I liked the most growing up. Occasionally something would strike me as interesting, but it seemed whenever I read an issue of ASM it would just entertain me in a way that the others just couldn't compare. Before I became a regular reader around 1975 or so, I remember having #43, #75, #80 and Spectacular Spider-man (Magazine) #2. Over time I would pick up an issue her
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

1

STRANGE TALES #174 - There Walks the GOLEM!

STRANGE TALES #174 - There Walks the GOLEM! One of the earlier comics I ever had was this Strange Tales #174 from the Spring of 1974.  (STRANGE TALES #174 - Cover Dated June 1974 - on Newsstands March 26, 1974 - cover art by Ernie Chan? John Buscema? Tony DeZuniga?) What a great cover and what a controversy surrounding who drew it!  I've read Gil Kane, Tony DeZuniga, John Romita, and Ernie Chan for pencils and then Ernie Chan, Tony DeZuniga, and John Romita
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

1

BATMAN ANNUAL #2 - Batman started out as Robin?

BATMAN ANNUAL #2 - Batman started out as Robin? I found this beauty in $1 box. Like... when was I ever going to read a Batman Annual #2? I’m not a big Batman fan in the first place, but this is one that turned out to have a few surprises. It WAS, however, coverless, so... here's a reproduction...   (BATMAN ANNUAL #2 - Cover Dated Winter 1961 - on Newsstands November 16th, 1961 - cover art by Curt Swan, Sheldon Moldoff and Sprang)     Ok... what's good about i
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

1

BEWARE! The CLAWS of The CAT #1-4 - Social Justice with Good Art!

BEWARE! The CLAWS of The CAT #1-4 - Social Justice with Good Art! Beware the Claws of... The Cat! was a 1972 Comic Series that lasted 4 issues. It was a part of Stan Lee’s idea to expand readership to a female audience. Of course, today this would be seen as radical and liberal and social justice warrior activity and denounced as some declaration of war vs the male species.    In reality, then like now, Marvel was just looking for more suckers to buy the
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

1

ARCHIE ANNUAL #24 - Length and Suggestiveness!

ARCHIE ANNUAL #24 - Length and Suggestiveness!   I bought this ok looking copy for $4   This 48 page Annual came out in 1972 and features a couple of 'Still going strong Harry Lucey' stories, though it sports a humorous Dan DeCarlo cover. (See what I did there?) Lucey was in the last couple of years of working for Archie Comics, retiring in 1976 with Archie Comics #254 (July 1976) after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Inker Chic Stone completed the ar
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

The STEVE DITKO ARCHIVES: The THING #13 - Dr. Strange had a Brother! (Or Did He?)

The STEVE DITKO ARCHIVES: The THING #13 - Dr. Strange had a Brother! (Or Did He?)   Everything I'm about to tell you is untrue, except this: This story was done by Steve Ditko two years before he ever worked at Marvel (as a freelancer for 16 stories), and five years before he worked there regular AND two years before he ever did a story with Stan Lee (it was a Western) and five years before he ever did a story with Stan Lee that was horror/scifi themed.  
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

The INCREDIBLE HULK #144 - Too many cooks!

The INCREDIBLE HULK #144 - Too many cooks!   I bought this beat up copy for $4   Herb Trimpe did the cover for this (I really like Herb's run of covers on this book) but this is actually Part 2 of a two part story that Ayers and John Severin did the art on. John Severin is one of the few thin line inkers that I really like.   For some reason it took two people to write this, Roy Thomas and Mike Friedrich are credited, this just a
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #197 - Dress for Success!

SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #197 - Dress for Success!   I bought this beat up copy for $4.00   Nothing against Cary Bates, who... wrote some decent stuff for DC Comics in his long career there (sold a few stories at the age of 13, wrote regular beginning in 1970 at age 17, and stayed until 1986). But this is all about the creativity of Dave Cockrum.   Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes was monthly, except for Ma
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

FANTASTIC FOUR #61 - Pencil! Ink! Action!

FANTASTIC FOUR #61 - Pencil! Ink! Action!   I bought this beat up copy for $7.50   It's fun to read these old issues, in no order other than when I buy them, the same way I used to read them when I was a kid and teenager). Storylines are somewhat overrated if you ask me... sometimes I just want 15-20 minutes of entertainment. And one title that always seemed to deliver was the Fantastic Four.   (FANTASTIC
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

TALES TO ASTONISH #93 - Can't create? Imitate!

TALES TO ASTONISH #93 - Can't create? Imitate!   I bought this beat up copy for $8   This is one of those issues that are sort of well-loved... I mean, the idea of it and that cover are certainly well-loved. It IS a great Marie Severin cover (inks by Frank Giacoia), the kind of thing where someone (probably Stan) said, "What if the Hulk ran into the Silver Surfer?"   (TALES TO ASTONISH #93 - cover dated July 1967, on
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #95 - Odd Jobs!

Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #95 - Odd Jobs!   I bought this beat up copy for $1   One month after I was born (25 days actually), this hit the newsstands and buying it for $1 in this condition is perfect to me. Not the greatest Bob White cover ever done, but it brings a smile to my face when I read the corny joke.    (Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #95 - cover dated November 1963, on newsstands September 1st, 1
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Book and Record Set

The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Book and Record Set   I bought this beat up copy for $10   It's something I had never owned before, or even held in my hands, so I was excited to see it at the local comic book shop - and with that John Romita cover and $10 price, I had to have it.   Of course, I wondered how I'd listen to it, but... it's 2020 and You Tube has everything:   The Invasion of the Dragon Men Recording
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - The Future NOW!

SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - The Future NOW!   I bought this pretty nice copy for $8   As a young teenager, the Legion of Super-Heroes was one DC group I actually liked, thanks at first to Dave Cockrum and then a little bit to Mike Grell. This is Grell in the early stages of his career, and he did some pretty cool stuff, but looking back now, you can certainly see he was a new talent immediately thrust into the spotlight.  
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

FANTASTIC FOUR #51 - This Man, This Monster!

FANTASTIC FOUR #51 - This Man, This Monster!   I bought this slightly beat up reader copy for $8!   One of the greatest FF saga's of all time it comes immediately following the Galactus Trilogy and just before the 1st appearance of the Black Panther! Man, Kirby was on a tear! I'll be honest... I'm NOT the biggest fan of Jack's covers. As great as he is at sequential story telling, action sequences, and even grand splash pages... I always thought his co
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

MARVEL TEAM-UP #34 - The Return of the Meteor Man!

MARVEL TEAM-UP #34 - The Return of the Meteor Man!   The original intention of Marvel Team-up was to put Spider-man with a guest star every month, either a big name or someone Marvel wanted to feature and help make more popular. The main problem I always had with it, is that they featured... a lot of talent, that as a kid I thought wasn't up to par with John Romita, or Jim Starlin, and so I gradually drifted away from this book.   Marvel Team-up #34 th
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW #85 (2019 Reprint) - Grim and Gritty long before Alan Moore!

GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW #85 - Grim and Gritty long before Alan Moore!   See! I buy Modern Comics too! :-) In February 1971 Marvel Comics released Amazing Spider-man #96 WITHOUT the seal of approval from the Comics Code Authority. The reason was, supposedly (who knows what’s true when it comes to the history of Marvel) the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare came to them asking that they do a story depicting the dangers of drugs.  In my r
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

LAUGH COMICS #222 - Talk Dirty to Me!

LAUGH COMICS #222 - Talk Dirty to Me! As Archie got into the ’60s and 70’s, the amount of sexual innuendo obviously cooled - partly because of the Comics Code and partly because Archie Comics as a company brand, saw the wholesome family brand as a viable path to success.  They were RIGHT... it worked out great for them for decades - by the mid to late 60’s they were no longer leading in sales, but as an overall publisher, they were very strong.  But ever
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

LIFE WITH ARCHIE #109 (and #23) - Remembering Amnesia!

LIFE WITH ARCHIE #109 (and #23) - Remembering Amnesia! No, that isn't the cover to Life with Archie #109, it's the cover to Life with Archie #23. I'm starting this post off with it because it's another cool old comic I picked up for $1 at a recent show.   Featuring a fairly ho-hum cover (as far as Archie Comics and Life with Archie in particular goes) from the nevertheless under appreciated Bob White, the story inside (Sy Reit) isn't much to talk about either. However, it
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0

The ATOM #27 - Funny Little Guy

The ATOM #27 - Funny Little Guy Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman survived the disappearance of Superheroes through most of the 50's, but DC's power was so strong during this period, that in July 1956 a re-vamped Flash hit the scene, followed by the Green Lantern 3 years later.  TWO YEARS after that (man things moved slowly back then), The Atom appeared in Showcase #34, an Atomic Age type of hero, firmly landing in the Silver Age of Comics. Culled from the concept of the Golden Age Ch
Prince Namor

Prince Namor

0
1 1