The Top 100 Books of the Silver Age !!! This is gonna be fun!

[bronze johnny]

I'll nominate the one and only DC Horror book that I haven't seen on any of the lists:

 

House of Secrets 1 (1956) Census: 1 - 9.2

1 - 8.0

2 - 7.5

 

Perhaps the most difficult DC SA key to find above 7.0. They just don't come up for sale very often.

 

Great thread Joey!

 

John

 

[James Howlett]

We already had a top 33 or so silver age thread that was determined by several voting polls. If I recall correctly, there were several books that got voted off. Couldn't we determine a top 100 from that? Or at least just decide on 34-100 or wherever that list stopped?

[bronze johnny]

I remember that- that was an awesome project.

[roulette44]

can someone find link?!

[Ant-Man]

There were many rounds, but this was the final.

 

Silver Age Hierarchy

[miraclemet]

There were many rounds, but this was the final.

 

Silver Age Hierarchy

 

thanks for finding it!

 

Interesting comparison vs the original list, and my list...

 

Comparing the top 20....

Action 242 (14 on my list) was not on last years list (1st Brainiac).

Fantastic Four 2 (19 on my list) was also not on the list (1st Skrulls).

 

The small size of the top 30 list led to some exclusions (Sgt Rock prototype & 1st Easy Co), and was pretty 1st hero specific (and didnt leave much room for 1st villains out side of the very tip top ones).

 

FF#48 was the big jump from being down in the 40s-50s on most lists, it was all the way up at 15 on last years list.

[frozentundraguy]

I have compiled a list incorporating the top 31 from before. My ranking after number 31 on the list has not yet been applied. I also added back in some comics that I mentioned would not be on my list, in case someone else wants to borrow this list, see #101 to #109. A few other books were also added; TOTU #40, Showcase #15, Star Spangled War Stories #90, Detective #226, Fantastic Four #12, and perhaps a few others.

 

Wonder Woman #105 should also be on the list, the 9.2 value is $2250.

 

Note that OOAW #83 sells for quite a bit higher than $5500, as pointed out by Mr Bedrock. The book would rise to be in the top ten based on that valuation.

 

The columns in order from left to right are Rank Number, Title, Issue #, OPG #42 NM- value, and Brief Description.

 

 

 

[miraclemet]

I have compiled a list incorporating the top 31 from before. My ranking after number 31 on the list has not yet been applied. I also added back in some comics that I mentioned would not be on my list, in case someone else wants to borrow this list, see #101 to #109. A few other books were also added; TOTU #40, Showcase #15, Star Spangled War Stories #90, Detective #226, Fantastic Four #12, and perhaps a few others.

 

Wonder Woman #105 should also be on the list, the 9.2 value is $2250.

 

Note that OOAW #83 sells for quite a bit higher than $5500, as pointed out by Mr Bedrock. The book would rise to be in the top ten based on that valuation.

 

The columns in order from left to right are Rank Number, Title, Issue #, OPG #42 NM- value, and Brief Description.

 

So would you say your list factored more heavily based on the comic books market value and less on content significance?

[frozentundraguy]

I have compiled a list incorporating the top 31 from before. My ranking after number 31 on the list has not yet been applied. I also added back in some comics that I mentioned would not be on my list, in case someone else wants to borrow this list, see #101 to #109. A few other books were also added; TOTU #40, Showcase #15, Star Spangled War Stories #90, Detective #226, Fantastic Four #12, and perhaps a few others.

 

Wonder Woman #105 should also be on the list, the 9.2 value is $2250.

 

Note that OOAW #83 sells for quite a bit higher than $5500, as pointed out by Mr Bedrock. The book would rise to be in the top ten based on that valuation.

 

The columns in order from left to right are Rank Number, Title, Issue #, OPG #42 NM- value, and Brief Description.

 

So would you say your list factored more heavily based on the comic books market value and less on content significance?

 

My list is still a work in progress, currently somewhat biased by market value. I have a couple of Superman issues to add, neither of which rank high based on value. Then I will go through the list and rank them from my own point of view. The books I mentioned above; TOTU #40, Showcase #15, Star Spangled War Stories #90, Detective #226, and Fantastic Four #12, fit as to both value and significance IMHO.

[Joe Kim]

I have compiled a list incorporating the top 31 from before. My ranking after number 31 on the list has not yet been applied. I also added back in some comics that I mentioned would not be on my list, in case someone else wants to borrow this list, see #101 to #109. A few other books were also added; TOTU #40, Showcase #15, Star Spangled War Stories #90, Detective #226, Fantastic Four #12, and perhaps a few others.

 

Wonder Woman #105 should also be on the list, the 9.2 value is $2250.

 

Note that OOAW #83 sells for quite a bit higher than $5500, as pointed out by Mr Bedrock. The book would rise to be in the top ten based on that valuation.

 

The columns in order from left to right are Rank Number, Title, Issue #, OPG #42 NM- value, and Brief Description.

 

 

How is ASM 2 not on the list? Also they list ASM 3 as the first Vulture, which isn't right.

[miraclemet]

the following are all just my opinions/thoughts, you get to think you are right with your list just like I get to think Im right (but we both know Im really right... _

 

Would think 1st appearance of Space Ranger (Showcase 15) would rank higher than his later 1st appearance in Tales of the Unexpected... though I dont think he's "key" enough to include both issues...

 

plus following that rule you should include Adam Strange's 1st appearance in Mystery in Space (#53)

 

Would go with Brave and the Bold #54 (1st Teen Titans grouping) or B&B #60 (addition of Donna and explicitly named Teen Titans) over Teen Titans #1

 

Im not a fan of Avengers #2 (less than historic villain, and the only other thing to happen was Hulk left team...)

 

Intro of Batgirl (Det 359) is far more important to comic book history than Batwoman (Batman 105)(overrated book in my opinion) Batgirl has had a 40+ year presence, Batwoman had about 30 silver age/bronze age issues with her in them, never headlined a book, and has had only a niche following since.

 

I think the war titles and sci-fi stuff is over-represented, but that's cause I see "key" as weighted based on the books significance thru time. The Silver Age did have a strong niche following of Sci-Fi and War titles, far moreso than now (or even in the last 20 years). If those characters/titles were still part of the core publishing of the big two, my opinion would be different.

 

I appreciate you mentioning FF#12. It was the first cross-over instance in the SA Marvel universe, making real the idea of a shared universe where these heroes could cross-pollinate thru the titles. We had Worlds Finest from DC, but that largely existed in a non-continuity vacuum. I think in terms of "event" based keys FF#12 is right up there with Green Lantern #40 and Flash #123

[frozentundraguy]

 

How is ASM 2 not on the list? Also they list ASM 3 as the first Vulture, which isn't right.

 

I made a cut and paste mistake, as ASM 2 should be on the list, and of course ASM #3 is Doc Oc.

[frozentundraguy]

the following are all just my opinions/thoughts, you get to think you are right with your list just like I get to think Im right (but we both know Im really right... _

 

Would think 1st appearance of Space Ranger (Showcase 15) would rank higher than his later 1st appearance in Tales of the Unexpected... though I dont think he's "key" enough to include both issues...

 

plus following that rule you should include Adam Strange's 1st appearance in Mystery in Space (#53)

 

Would go with Brave and the Bold #54 (1st Teen Titans grouping) or B&B #60 (addition of Donna and explicitly named Teen Titans) over Teen Titans #1

 

Im not a fan of Avengers #2 (less than historic villain, and the only other thing to happen was Hulk left team...)

 

Intro of Batgirl (Det 359) is far more important to comic book history than Batwoman (Batman 105)(overrated book in my opinion) Batgirl has had a 40+ year presence, Batwoman had about 30 silver age/bronze age issues with her in them, never headlined a book, and has had only a niche following since.

 

I think the war titles and sci-fi stuff is over-represented, but that's cause I see "key" as weighted based on the books significance thru time. The Silver Age did have a strong niche following of Sci-Fi and War titles, far moreso than now (or even in the last 20 years). If those characters/titles were still part of the core publishing of the big two, my opinion would be different.

 

I appreciate you mentioning FF#12. It was the first cross-over instance in the SA Marvel universe, making real the idea of a shared universe where these heroes could cross-pollinate thru the titles. We had Worlds Finest from DC, but that largely existed in a non-continuity vacuum. I think in terms of "event" based keys FF#12 is right up there with Green Lantern #40 and Flash #123

 

I did mention that "My ranking after number 31 on the list has not yet been applied", so I have not had time to order them from 32 on down to 100. I also feel that Teen Titans #1 will not make the final cut of the top 100 on my list.

 

I do not follow modern books, so I may be over representing DC war and Sci-fi, but that is just my opinion. As I went over the existing lists it seemed that FF #12 should be on the list given both the value and the important crossover with the Hulk.

 

Now that I have a list, the work remains to order them. That reminds me of this joke.

 

 

Four men are on a small plane going across the country. There is the pilot, a lawyer, a computer programmer, and an engineer.

 

Suddenly the plane runs out of fuel, and the pilot announces "We are in dire danger here, and will have to bail out", and there are only three parachutes on the plane.

 

The pilot says, "I have an idea, I will ask you each a question, if you get your question right you receive a parachute".

 

The pilot asks the engineer, "what was the name of the famous ship that sunk in 1912?".

The engineer answers "The Titantic".

The pilot answers, "Correct here's your chute".

 

The pilot asks the computer programmer, "How many people were on board"?

The computer programmer answers "1500".

The pilot answers, "Correct here's your chute".

 

The pilot asks the lawyer, "Ok name em"?

[jimjum12]

I still think FF 13 should be there....I mean, FIRST Watcher sales of 9.6 @ 35K, multiple 9.4's and a 9.2 @ near 15K......GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

P.S. Either way, I'm glad I have one

[frozentundraguy]

I still think FF 13 should be there....I mean, FIRST Watcher sales of 9.6 @ 35K, multiple 9.4's and a 9.2 @ near 15K......GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

P.S. Either way, I'm glad I have one

 

That's the beauty of this thread, we can each supply our own list. Based on value there could potentially be a whole stash of FF's on the list.

[KirbyJack]

Based on awesomeness there could potentially be a whole stash of FF's on the list.

 

Fixed that for you.

[frozentundraguy]

Here's my list, now ranked in order. Thanks to Miraclemet (thumbs u for the advice on MIS 53, the 1st appearance of Adam Strange. That book ranks 50th on my list.

 

 

 

Or if you prefer, the list is also in text format, but suffers from "nulls on" & is somewhat jammed together as a result.

 

 

1 Amazing Fantasy 15 100000 1st Spiderman

2 Showcase 4 54000 1st SA Flash

3 Fantastic Four 1 70000

4 Incredible Hulk 1 65000

5 X-men 1 26000

6 Journey into Mystery 83 24000 1st Thor

7 Tales of Suspense 39 20000 1st Iron Man

8 Brave and Bold 28 16000 JLA intro

9 Showcase 22 12500 1st Green Lantern

10 Amazing Spider Man 1 50000

11 Avengers 1 12500

12 Avengers 4 4200 1st Cap America in SA

13 Daredevil 1 7500

14 Fantastic Four 5 13000 1st Dr Doom

15 Fantastic Four 48 1400 1st Galactus & Silvr S.

16 Adventure 247 13500 1st Legion

17 Strange Tales 110 3500 1st Dr. Strange

18 Amazing Spider Man 14 4800 1st Green Goblin

19 Fantastic Four 4 9500 1st SA Submariner

20 Flash 105 16000 SA Flash origin

21 Sgt. Fury 1 5500

22 Tales to Astonish 27 13000 1st Ant Man

23 Action 252 5200 Supergirl 2nd app

24 Detective Comics 225 10500 origin Batgirl

25 Our Army At War 83 5500 1st true Sgt Rock

26 Brave and Bold 34 4600 1st Hawkman

27 Green Lantern 1 11000

28 Justice League of America 1 14000

29 Amazing Spider-man 3 9300 1st Doc Octopus

30 Flash 123 3700 RE intro GA Flash

31 Amazing Spider-man 2 11500 1st Vulture

32 Our Army At War 81 6500 Sgt Rock prototype

33 Showcase 9 14000 1st Lois Lane

34 Showcase 13 8400 Flash 3rd app

35 Fantastic Four 12 9000 1st vs Hulk

36 Showcase 14 9100 Flash 4th app

37 Incredible Hulk 2 7500 1st green skin Hulk

38 Amazing Spider-man 6 4450 1st Lizard

39 Action 242 4800 1st Brainiac

40 Journey Into Mystery 84 5000 Thor 2nd app

41 Brave and Bold 29 5200 JLA 2nd app

42 Showcase 6 8200 1st Challengers

43 Amazing Spider-man 4 6800 1st Sandman

44 Showcase 17 5000 1st Adam Strange

45 Amazing Adventures 1 2700 origin Dr Droom

46 Tales of Suspense 40 4500 Iron Man 2nd app

47 Tales to Astonish 35 4500 Ant Man 2nd app

48 Green Lantern 7 4000 1st Sinestro

49 Journey Into Mystery 85 3100 1st Loki

50 Mystery in Space 53 4300 1st Adam Strange

51 Showcase 23 3700 GL 2nd app

52 Challengers of the Unknown 1 5400

53 Showcase 15 4300 1st Space Ranger

54 G. I. combat 68 2300 Rock prototype

55 Brave and Bold 30 4200 JLA 3rd app

56 Strange Tales 101 2800 Human Torch - Kirby

57 Strange Worlds 1 2150 Kirby & Ditko saucer

58 Avengers 2 2400 Hulk leaves

59 Tales to Astonish 36 1900 Ant Man 3rd app

60 X-men 3 2300 1st Blob

61 Showcase 24 3700 GL 3rd app

62 Wonder Woman 105 2250 secret origin

63 Rip Hunter, Time Master 1 1250

64 Amazing Spider-man 9 2950 1st Electro

65 Aquaman 1 2200

66 Showcase 20 2100 1st Rip Hunter

67 Dectective 226 2250 manhunter

68 Amazing Spider-man 20 1600 1st Scorpion

69 Atom 1 2200

70 Tales of Suspense 48 1400 New Armor I.M

71 Strange Tales 115 1100 origin Dr Strange

72 X-men 12 1100 origin Dr Strange

73 Our Fighting Forces 91 2700 Rock gets stripes

74 Hawkman 1 1350

75 Batman 121 1050 1st Mr. Zero

76 Amazing Spider-man 28 2000 1st Molten Man

77 G. I. Combat 87 2500 1st Haunted Tank

78 My Greatest Adventure 80 1150 Doom Patrol

79 Showcase 27 1900 1st Sea Devils

80 Amazing Spider-man 50 1450 1st Kingpin

81 Showcase 37 1450 1st Metal Men

82 Green Lantern 40 1050 Infinite Earths

83 Showcase 30 1950 1st SA Aquaman

84 Batman 105 1330 1st Batwoman

85 Superboy 68 1100 1st Bizarro

86 Tales to Astonish 44 1150 1st Wasp

87 Adventure 267 1800 Legion 2nd app

88 Strange Tales 89 1050 1st Fing Fang Foom

89 Strange Tales 114 900 Acrobat

90 Showcase 34 925 1st SA Atom

91 Adventure 300 1000 Legion

92 Superman 127 650 1st Titano

93 Metal Men 1 1350

94 Sgt. Fury 13 850 Cap America & Bucky

95 Superman 146 500 retells origin

96 Tales of Suspense 57 1400 Hawkeye

97 Strange Adventures 117 1150 Atomic Knights

98 Star Spangled War Stories 90 1400 1st War time forgot

99 Sea Devils 1 1400

100 Our Fighting Forces 45 1350 Gunner & Sarge

[roulette44]

Tremendous input, thank you!! We need more gentlemen, please submit your lists (or your modifications someone else's list!)

[frozentundraguy]

Thanks roulette44,

 

I found the going slow, until I started working on the book's in groups of ten. Since 1-33 was already done I then worked on 34 to 40, then 41 to 50 and so forth. That helped speed things up a bit. I also spent some time reviewing the list and had to drop a few favorites and shuffle some books around.

 

I was sorely tempted to add Superman 132 for instance, but for some odd reason it does not have it's own separate line in the OPG.

[Ant-Man]

I know ASM 28 is difficult in higher grades, but I wouldn't put it ahead of the 1st Haunted Tank (or even the 1st Kingpin for that matter). Similar feelings about the 1st Fing Fang Foom listing higher than the 1st Hawkeye.

 

I understand that finding a book in higher grades is a component of these types of lists, but given the choice between content of the issue & ability to find in grade, I weight content higher.

 

Thanks for taking the time to assemble & offering a chance to discuss. (thumbs u