Randall Dowling

10 minute warning. I'll be post a group of Berkley/Berkley Medallion books next.

Apologies, sorting out a few things. Need to push to 5:00 p.m. CST.

Great book, Tupenny!

I'll take a break for now and resume later around 3:00 p.m. CST with a warning before. Thanks to all for looking! Feel free to pm with any questions or reasonable offers.

Great grabs, Dave!

Monarch Books 433, Karl Kramer, Kiss Me Quick, 1964. G/VG. Lots of wear but it's all there, still a nice bright cover. Cover art by Robert Maguire. Free to the first person to purchase 3 or more books in Round 2! Sold to davet75

Monarch Books 364, Gil Brewer, Wild to Possess, 1960. Near Fine (unread). Nice and bright with the stamp over the price (very common on this title). This was an early favorite of mine and the first book I saw with Robert Maguire's art. I was instantly hooked- the composition, the colors, the refinement of line. Only later would I find out what a sought after author Gil Brewer! Doesn't get a lot better than this. This book is soooo undervalued. $35 Sold to Tupenny Conan

Monarch Books 296, F. J. Kelly, The Gates of Brass, 1963. VG-. Colors are great on this copy, crease on cover and a reading crease on the spine. Another great cover by Robert Maguire. $10 Withdrawn

Monarch Books 237, Don James, The Key Game, 1962. Fine (unread). Just a beautiful, fresh looking copy with bright colors and clean interior. Harry Schaare cover art. $22 Sold to Tupenny Conan

Monarch Books 174, John Conway, Love in Suburbia, 1960. VG. General wear on the covers on a nice bright book. All kinds of wild stuff happening in the suburbs apparently. One of my favorite covers by Ray Johnson. $15 Sold to davet75

Monarch Books 155, Peter W. Denzer, The Practice of Passion, 1960. VG-. Nice looking copy with general wear and a slight spine lean. Cover art by Robert Maguire. $10 Sold to davet75

Monarch Books 138, Joseph Foster, Stephana, 1959. VG/F. This is a beautiful looking copy with a couple of non-color breaking creases, otherwise, this copy looks unread. Another great cover by Robert Maguire with one of my favorite compositions styles he used frequently. $18 Sold to Surfing Alien @60% off

Monarch Books 137, Hal Ellson, Jailbait Street, 1959. VG+. A very pretty copy of this sought after title with a slight spine lean- otherwise nice and bright. Hal Ellson (who I for years assumed was a pseudonym for Harlan Ellison- it is not) was famous for his novels about rebellious youth at the time and the growing concern over juvenile delinquency. Cover art by the prolific and talented Ray Johnson (there was an excellent article on Johnson last fall in Illustration magazine). $20 Sold to Surfing Alien

Monarch Books 125, Stuart Friedman, Nikki, 1959. VG. General wear on the cover and slight soiling on the back cover- otherwise a nice looking book. I think this might be about women liking other women. Another great cover by Robert Maguire. $15 Sold to Jonathan78

This round is going to be mostly crime and adult themed paperbacks from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. The most remarkable thing about most of these books is the incredible talent of various illustrators- my favorite of which, Robert Maguire, shows up frequently.Monarch Books 110, Brian Harwin, Touch Me Not, 1959. VG+. Nice bright copy with excellent colors. A non-color breaking crease on the upper left of the cover holds it from higher grades. Robert Maguire is the artist for this title. If you haven't looked at his art before, I highly recommend checking it out. Jim Silke, Dave Stevens and many others were highly influenced by Maguire. In my mind, he's far superior to Matt Baker and second only to Frank Frazetta in his illustration art. $20 Sold to Jonathan78

Round 2 is about to start- 11:00 a.m. CST.

I don't think most people on the boards know Ken's inclination for glossy, fresh, beautiful books. I'm also shocked that most of these are still here. Particularly that copy of Perfect Love which is a steal.

It's an incredibly common defect on comics of virtually any age. Staple placement and fold/centering are something that doesn't show up in grades (accept for maybe the highest grades), but is an important consideration to many collectors. While it's possible it's been exaggerated by pressing, typically, this is a production issue as mentioned.

Wow!! That's a useful resource. Very cool to see them in order like that!

And he's exceedingly good looking.

This is all solid advice. The last item is particularly good.

Agreed. I've seen nice looking books in slabs that have the all too common fold on the back cover of Mad mags graded 6.0 and even 6.5. For me, it depends on how strong the crease is. If it's completely flattened and color broken the entire length of the book, it'll get hammered more than if it's present but not that noticeable. If it's a hard crease, probably 5.5. @The Lions Den would have a better sense of an otherwise VF or better book with a crease on the back cover.

100% this. There are titles that I've read about but can't find a single image of on the internet. Perhaps as more demand builds for paperbacks, more material will shake out. But for the last couple of years, the real problem has just been finding quality material. Which, frankly, makes collecting them more fun for me. I like the challenge and I'm not in a rush to be finished.

Of all the shows currently on my watch list, this is the best and the one I look forward to the most. Which is saying something competing against the final season of Picard and the new season of The Mandalorian, both of which are pretty good so far. Still, The Last of Us is the best written, by far. And that makes all the difference.

Pretty sure @Hamlet has one or two of the original White Mountain certificates. Those were the first pedigree COAs that I ever saw in the early 90s.