• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

What are the rarest romance comics?
32 32

6,415 posts in this topic

10 minutes ago, Dr. Love said:

Youthful Romances 14 sold on HA last year

Yeah, I saw that. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you have a nice higher grade collection) the market is so hot that for Pre-code Romance, Horror and Crime even prices from a year ago are no indication of current value. That one is a nice copy at 9.2! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Qua-Brot said:

I tried to do some research on these one - figuring ones an LB Cole cover and the others are nice Bathing suit covers, there has to be lots of activity around them . . . and nothing. ONE of the Popular Teenagers 10 on the census, nothing has been sold in forever, and I my searches on the Boards were futile. Anyone here can help me? Is it really that rare? The others also come up blank . . . 

Good question, I was about to ask the same thing.

Recently picked up this book here on the boards, has an egregious defect (see bottom right hand corner) but it was pretty nice otherwise and it seemed scarce to me (2 on the census, only a single poor copy on eBay, etc.) so I pulled the trigger. But I really don’t know how tough it really is (or not).

ADA4470E-8DD6-4AAA-85E4-306189862BA5.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/9/2019 at 4:24 PM, Robot Man said:

How about this classic?

comconfessionslovelorn53.JPG

Speaking of grown men crying, someone listed a copy of this online awhile back for under $100 and I missed it by mere minutes. My confession of the heartbroken.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, october said:

Speaking of grown men crying, someone listed a copy of this online awhile back for under $100 and I missed it by mere minutes. My confession of the heartbroken.

Look at the bright side Andy, if that copy literally sold in minutes the buyer is obviously some total loser who checks ebay over and over because he has no life. LOL. 

Thanks for reminding me, will try to scan & post it soon.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Point Five said:

Look at the bright side Andy, if that copy literally sold in minutes the buyer is obviously some total loser who checks ebay over and over because he has no life. LOL. 

Thanks for reminding me, will try to scan & post it soon.

 

Did you really get it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/20/2014 at 2:30 PM, Dr. Love said:

Morning, Duke. You had me at fluck!

 

I've told this in bits and pieces, so I'll take this as an opportunity to lay it out. As to the where and when, you all know the drill, eh - bit by bit over a quarter century. A dealer here, a dealer there. Mailing want lists, chasing down print ads in the trade publications. Old school style. Harley had the biggest holding in the early 90's, and I pretty much bought him out of mid grade and above. I scoured boxes at cons, side by side with Michelle Nolan; we were often the only two. Fought it out a book at a time on Ebay with much of the same crew who contribute to the boards today. Except that scoundrel, tommyfoxwood. Back then we could communicate with other bidders, and I formed friendships which continue. There just weren't that many romance collectors - still aren't. Somewhat at the bottom of the comic collecting hierarchy, now boosted by the popularity of Baker and Cole, we are slowly seeing values appreciate at a respectable rate and are finally getting some respect.

 

No private collections to help, and pedigrees were are sparce. Crippen was a windfall, though it was a torturous HA rollout. Other pedigrees (Oakland, Circle 8, Bethlehem, New Hampshire, etc) had a small romance component. I was one of the first to get a Geppi Harvey warehouse run, and I thought I would be the last. Boy was that off! Ace file copies were non-existant, and now they're like rain falling from the sky. When the Savannah DC collection hit HA, though, I just couldn't compete. $200-$300 or so per book blew me away. I didn't have the 50K necessary to corner them, and I was pretty dispirited as I watched these amazing books just slip away.

 

My biggest purchasing decision came when the Crowley collection surfaced at San Diego. I had the opportunity to take all the Crowley Fawcett romance off the table, and I went for it. For some the $ involved would be considered, while not pocket change, not a tremendous amount either. For me it was a game changer, a life changer. I sweated bullets then, and I still do over that choice. I paid an extreme premium for the right to secure the whole Fawcett romance line, in its slabbed entirety. In my mind, I was either going to be the Hero, or the Goat.

 

And so every time a collector, with good sense and good taste like our friend Scrooge, wonders aloud is there anything of value in the Fawcett line?, I get to revisit my decision. And don't get me wrong - it aint just Scrooge, for he is not alone by any means. Universally, in the world of comics as it stands today in terms of desirability, you'd have to rank romance at the bottom, photocovers at the bottom in the romance world (well, there's Bronze Charlton, but that's a different conversation), and Fawcetts at the bottom in the photocover variety.

 

But I saved them from being split into an atomized mess of individual slabs, and at the end of the day, that has meaning to me. At least now they exist, intact, as a particular body of work. And will remain that way. Fawcett was all photocover, all the time, and only at the very end with Marilyn and Elizabeth did they go for the industry staple, the movie star cover. Their viewpoint was unique and identifiable, although for many it is uniquely boring and identifiably meh. Not for me, though. I sing their praises, along with a few other taste-challenged souls!

 

So to round up this Romance Retrospective - it is an exciting time, no better time to be a romance collector. Wonderful file copies are available to all. With prices picking up, love books are being submitted at an ever increasing rate. We're seeing great mid grade and in some cases high grade copies come to market at affordable prices (compared to silver superhero, PCH, sci fi, etc). New pedigrees are few, but they're showing up. DTA is still sitting on a bunch of Southern State, and the Sixth Street collection is beginning to show up again. Metropolis cornered the genre and has a wide and deep inventory, while My Comic Shop and yes Richie Muchin bring a lot to the table as well. And then there's the 800 pound gorilla who may or may not make an appearance over the next decade - the Mile High romance books. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Do they deserve the grades Chuck gave them? Hopefully we'll find out.

 

And of course, there will be postings along the way for you romance collectors and romance lurkers - "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers"! :headbang:

 

Dr. Love

 

 

 

 

bumping an excellent post (worship)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, 1950's war comics said:

you'd have to rank romance at the bottom, photocovers at the bottom in the romance world (well, there's Bronze Charlton, but that's a different conversation), and Fawcetts at the bottom in the photocover variety.

Well since someone brought up bottom of the bottom Fawcett romance photocover comics its time to show off this one … that was sent to me by mistake by the kindly Cheetah.  I bought a lot of Hi-School romance file copies from him recently.  He sent this one by mistake in the giant box and said to keep it...or maybe he was using this to beef up the packaging because he ran out of bubble wrap that he considered more valuable?  On the other hand it does have a citation in the OPG for "Evans-art"...

 

RomanticSecrets24cgc96.jpg

Edited by szav
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, path4play said:

After 228 pages of "what's the rarest" I'm pretty confident I'm safe to post two recent Fox purchases, thanks to a boardy.

Hey, those aren’t rare. I used to have a pair just like ‘em!  :D

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/13/2019 at 3:29 PM, sacentaur said:

Good question, I was about to ask the same thing.

Recently picked up this book here on the boards, has an egregious defect (see bottom right hand corner) but it was pretty nice otherwise and it seemed scarce to me (2 on the census, only a single poor copy on eBay, etc.) so I pulled the trigger. But I really don’t know how tough it really is (or not).

ADA4470E-8DD6-4AAA-85E4-306189862BA5.jpeg

Tough book, really like the colors - there is actually a copy in the upcoming clink auction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/19/2019 at 12:56 AM, Joshua33 said:

My Love Memoirs 12. Fox Publication. 3 on census. I think the Canadian version from Superior sold last month. Wally Wood art.

20190413_202723.jpg

I have a copy of that rebound in a fox giant which I scanned for the digital comic museum.  The book is sufficiently rare that it actually took me several years before I could find an image of the cover to add to the scan of the book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
32 32