Comics, Pulps, and Paperbacks: Why such a discrepancy in values? 25 25

[Surfing Alien]

13 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

My least favorite (aside from this kind of damage) is when they use so much tape that just trying to get the book out is a risky endeavor.  Worse still, when some of that tape is on the book...

I get this all the time but i'll take it over the alternative except for the "on the book" part

Edited September 19, 2020 by Surfing Alien

[OtherEric]

45 minutes ago, Surfing Alien said:

Alas this one did not fare so well. I know we all have USPS horror stories, this one stung because it's my favorite Berkley cover along with Black Opium, and difficult to find as nice as it was with the white cover 

I mean, you really have to be trying, to fold a book so hard that the pressurized corner explodes into dust 

That just hurts to look at.  I had something similar a year or two ago, on an imported hardcover no less.  I haven't been able to bring myself to throw it away; so you get new photos.  I did get a good copy of the book eventually, though.

Edited September 20, 2020 by OtherEric
added photos

[damonwad]

2 hours ago, Surfing Alien said:

Alas this one did not fare so well. I know we all have USPS horror stories, this one stung because it's my favorite Berkley cover along with Black Opium, and difficult to find as nice as it was with the white cover 

I mean, you really have to be trying, to fold a book so hard that the pressurized corner explodes into dust 

That stinks. Looked like a really nice copy.

[damonwad]

Some Merritt's.

 

[Surfing Alien]

These fared a bit better than "Torture Garden"

I think it's the only Diversey #1 i've never had a copy of.  Classic Driben cover of a dangerous blonde with a "stogie" 

And a real nice copy of one of my favorite Harry Barton Monarch covers. Just a great pose & composition 

[Hap Hazard]

Another Monarch, recent pick up:

The Brides of Dracula by Dean Owen

[Westy Steve]

These two came in recently. I haven’t been following books as closely as I usually do but my search parameters still occasionally send up a flare.  Not the highest grades but I just really wanted these books.
 

 

[Hap Hazard]

Two more Monarch Movie books.

Edited September 23, 2020 by Hap Hazard

[PopKulture]

I was just going through a plastic bin full of old Pocket Books that I haven’t seen for at least twenty years. Most of them were doubles or beaters at the time and just got stashed away. The cool thing is how many first printings are among these castaways. Pockets don’t get the love Avon’s or Popular’s do, but there are some historic issues among them.

Edited September 23, 2020 by PopKulture

[PopKulture]

Pocket really hit a stride with mysteries in the 200’s:

 

[Robot Man]

I remember going to my grandpa’s house as a kid and looking through his PB stash. He was a big fan of Perry Mason and Earl Stanley Gardner. He had hundreds of mystery PBS. All I was interested in were the sexy babe covers. Guess I was a “cover guy” at a real young age...

[PopKulture]

5 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I remember going to my grandpa’s house as a kid and looking through his PB stash. He was a big fan of Perry Mason and Earl Stanley Gardner. He had hundreds of mystery PBS. All I was interested in were the sexy babe covers. Guess I was a “cover guy” at a real young age...

I went for the fair maidens as well, but the earlier Pocket books don’t have the Belarski and Bergey babes like Popular Library does. They take a more mature, symbolic turn at times, with some of the covers reminding me more of WWII posters and other graphics of the era. And then there was Dell, a whole other deal altogether...

[Robot Man]

I usually only buy PBs at flea markets and paper shows. I’m scared to look at the bay because, like pulps, I just don’t need as much stuff any more. I can usually find stuff like this at flea markets for usually a few bucks each. Can’t wait until they all open up again...

[William-James88]

I've seen this thread since I got here but thought I could never contribute since I don't have any pulps nor interest for them but that's not true, I actually have pulps right next to me, on my night table, I just didn't think about them. Because they aren't from American publishers. These 2 are French pulps from the the 40s and 50s (la croix de sang is from 41) by Jean de la Hire, the most prolific pulp writer from France. Mostly forgotten today BUT the reason I have them is because they feature one of the first superheroes in fiction, the Nyctalope. He was featured in Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And buying these original releases is actually one of the easier ways to read these stories.

 

[frozentundraguy]

My wife and I were in Wisconsin last weekend. We decided to check out a few bookstores. The third one we visited had that old time feel, with narrow wooden shelves packed with PB's, but with many hard cover books as well. I headed straight for the science fiction shelves, and was disappointed to not find any vintage PB's at all. I then took a look at what was available in westerns. There was one book from the mid 60's but the cover was nothing special and I had not heard of the author. I then checked out the hard cover books and found a fantasy/sci-fi section almost immediately. Needless to say I was almost shocked to find three first edition hard cover books by L. Sprague De Camp.

The lineup of books on the back cover of Wall of Serpents (Published 1960) is pretty impressive.

Lest Darkness Fall (Published 1949)

The Carnelian Cube (Published 1948)

Edited September 24, 2020 by frozentundraguy

[Randall Dowling]

Another Phantom.  This one is probably the nicest condition copy of any of them that I've seen.  Just gorgeous.  Of the first 14 US Phantoms, I now have 10.  

 

[Surfing Alien]

1 hour ago, Randall Dowling said:

Another Phantom.  This one is probably the nicest condition copy of any of them that I've seen.  Just gorgeous.  Of the first 14 US Phantoms, I now have 10.  

 

You, sir, are on the right track 

Su-wheat!!!

[Randall Dowling]

On 9/19/2020 at 4:13 PM, damonwad said:

Does anyone know the artist on The Short Night? 

 

 

I've been thinking about this one.  I think it looks like Walter Popp's work.  He had many different styles and this looks very much like his mark-making for the grittier stuff.  Here's another one of his covers (a little more refined).

 

[Surfing Alien]

Funny that @PopKulture posted those sweet stacks of Pockets and I had a little bunch on the way. They came in even nicer in hand today.

The Connecticut Yankee is 1st print, fresh & pristine. It's one of those Pocket  "classics" we talked about a while ago that is really sci-fi/fantasy

The Finney is real sharp as well and a nice cover. I didn't know a mystery was his 1st novel.

probably every one here has posted this one... it's got a little writing on it but not too bad

Finally, I have this one but it has a lot of edgewear. This one is very sharp and fresh like the Connecticut Yankee but has that one bad crease. Kind of a qualified grade book. I'm gonna have to think about which one to keep 

[damonwad]

On 9/24/2020 at 8:15 PM, Randall Dowling said:

I've been thinking about this one.  I think it looks like Walter Popp's work.  He had many different styles and this looks very much like his mark-making for the grittier stuff.  Here's another one of his covers (a little more refined).

 

Thanks and good eye. I'm not Joe Art Expert, but after looking at this and some of his other covers, I could definitely see Popp as the Short Night artist. 

Also, I really like that Dressed to Kill.