vic6string

Remember that the 40 dollar book that drops to a buck is every bit as huge as the 1000 to 40 drop you all talk about because speculators might have bought 30 or 40 copies at $25 to $30 bucks apiece and held on to them. Another thing to look at when talking about this scenario is that there is the "guide" price and the "real" price. Take sportscards. Alot of these modern issues, especially the ridiculous super limited 1 of 1 autographed in the players own blood plutonium cards might show up in Beckett at 500 bucks but you can get them for much much less in real life. I don't know a dealer that doesn't use half of Becket or less as his standard pricing for all but the hottest cards. There are tons of cards that Beckett says are 10 bucks that he sells in 5 for a dollar lots regularly. I don't ever look at the flat price when thinking about a topic like this, I look at percentages. A ten dollar card selling for 40 cents is every bit as bad as a 1000 dollar comic selling for 40 bucks because the same ratio is hit. Sure I only lost nine dollar instead of 9000, but if I was a big time player, I might have taken 100 of those 9 dollar losses.

You do realize that the Flash started in the 1950s, was simply a revamp of an earlier Golden Age hero with the same name, didn't go monthly for years after, and never ever became the best-selling title, don't you? Why do sales keep coming into this equation. We are talking about books that changed the way the comic world works. I think that is always the main issue when people talk about GSX1 being the first bronze age book. They look at xmen sales later and say that since the book is so popular it's first issue had to be a trend setter. We are talking not about popularity (what sales measure) but significance (what history measures). Take music for instance. The song "Rapper's Delight" was the first rap song to make it on the radio. It is significant in that it showed that rap could be a viable form of entertainment, and after it, other rap songs followed. The song itself was only a minor hit, and album sales never came close to anything like the Beastie Boys or RUN DMC later on. But without that song making it on the radio, there likely would not have been a Beastie Boys or RUN DMC album (or 2 pac, or Snoop, or Eminem or anyone else). Was "Rapper's delight" the best rap song ever? Probably not. Most Popular? Nope. Biggest Seller? Not by a long shot. But it started a trend. GSX1 didn't start a trend, it revived a book that was near death. What that book eventually turned into became a popular template for other books, but that books itself merely revived a title, it didn't change an industry. P.S. Don't take this post as a sign of my love for rap music... I am more of a Led Zep man myself, but I know my music history.

Well put Kev.... one thing I will add, the whole superhero vs "just weird stuff" theme does not fit. To say :"Remaining consistent with the Greek mythology ages of metal, the Bronze Age (as well as a subsequent Iron Age) ought to start with superheroes, not Conan and Swamp Thing." " is off the mark. The books were experimental, and yes, even weird, but the whole point was they WERE superheroes. Conan, Swamp Thing, Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider...in a way, these were indeed heroes. That is what makes Conan #1 the starting point of the age. He showed that heroes don't have to be super-powered do-gooders in colored tights. They could be flawed (even very flawed, nearly criminal,or cursed) people who just kind of fall into a hero-ish role, whether they like it or not. That "flawed, reluctant hero"concept fell into the regular hero books in the form of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and anti-heroes.

Comparing books introduced between 70-75 to 75-80 makes no sense because the general thought behind the bronze age starting at 70 (or at Conan 1) does not say it ended at 1975. We can argue this point all week, but that is not a good way to argue it because I can say that those 75-80 books are as much (or more) a result of Conan 1 as they are of GSX 1. Other than Teen Titans, most of the books you mentioned are more like Conan 1 than GSX 1. The bronze age was about trying new, different things (most of which didn't work very well, or did for just a while). And to use only superhero books as a basis ignores the fact that much of what the bronze age is about is non-traditional books like Werewolf by night or Ghost Rider, or the Nurse books. Also there were the experimental books with tryouts like Spotlight and Premiere. GSX 1 is the best book in the bronze age, the most important, probably the most sought after, but it is closer to being the first modern book than the first bronze book. It's effect is still felt to this day, but it's effect was not felt until years after its release. You yourself said that it didn't really pick up steam until the end of the Byrne run...which basically means that those books had more of an impact than GSX1. At that time is when people started emulating the formula. That is when X-factor, and later Excalibur and Xforce et al took over.

"The late 1970s resurgence in interest in comic books that led to the proliferation of comic book shops carrying new comics and the whole direct market was largely due to the overwhelming popularity of the X-MEN, which drew fans to the shops like flies to butter every month " I love the X-men too, but at that time, they weren't even the hottest comic around. Spidey was still the king at the time, and X-men weren't nearly as hot as Star Wars or ROM. Take a look at any price guide or back issue catalog from around 1980 or so and compare back issue prices if you don't believe me.

The caveman game rocked!! I still go to the site and play all the other games they have like the little grand prix thing. But all of the high scores were appearantly achieved by supercomputers or something. They are impossible!

My first was a Marvel Premiere 15 (first Iron Fist) . I picked it up for $12 just a year ago on Ebay (postage incl) and when I got it I knew I had to send it in. It came back a 9.4!! Not too shabby for the investment. Only problem is I got it back labled as Iron Fist #15, not Marvel Premiere. I posted something when I got it back, and SBorok told me to just send it back and they would reslab it, but the dealer I use hasn't gotten around to sending it back in yet.

I'm with all those that say Conan #1. At the time, it was HUGE! Like a few people have said, this is the first time a hero didn't necessarily look or act like one. No real powers, no goodie-goodie attitude..sometimes he looked as bad as the villains. All of a sudden you didn't need a cape and tights, which led to alot of experimentation with non-hero characters and heroes without real superpowers. I think the experiment books like Spotlight and Premiere epitomized the Bronze age, but Conan kicked it off. My history goes like this: Golden Age - Action #1 Silver Age - Showcase 4 Bronze Age - Conan 1 Modern age - Frank Miller's Dark Knight --- reality really kicks in and writing becomes the feature in comics. From here on out, adults can read them and not feel guilty. Dark age - Wilcats #1 (or maybe Spawn, whichever came first) Marvel and DC were no longer the only game in town, gimmicks like special covers were all the rage, and books were mass produced and hoarded to the point were the hobby almost killed itself. New Modern age - Ultimate Spidey #1 ... revamp entire Marvel Line starting with the premiere character and bring everything up to modern times... collectablility restored with low print runs... movies and things like "free comic day" and 20 cent covers bringing in new collectors.

1) If something is hot, it is probably already too late to buy it (investment-wise). 2) If you like a book, learn the writer's name and look for more stuff by that writer. If you like the art, learn the artist's name and find out what else he does. You can tell a collector from a casual reader by how many creative people they can name. 3) Find out as much as you can about what hasn't happened yet. Read Previews and pre-order books you really want. If you wait until the books hit the store, you may not get it. 4) Look around, don't tie yourself down to only one seller...but, if you find a seller you feel comfortable with, stick to him. Repeat customers get better treatment. 5) Frank Miller....find him...read his stuff...right now... sign off the discussion board and do it.