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What are the rarest romance comics?
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6,421 posts in this topic

Dr.Love, that's the kind of post that makes this forum so great. :applause:

 

I'm a romance "lurker" but am starting to pick up a few here and there. The enthusiasm and shared knowledge of the regular posters in the romance threads is much appreciated.

 

Thank you Chris! Lurk no more, you've outed yourself! How's that Buffalo Bill Picture Stories #1 holding up? I still remember the vivid colors on that book with great fondness.

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You know, I just can't hold back this question any longer: Where the fluck did you get all these amazingly high grade rare romance comics???

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

 

 

 

 

 

Doctor Love, you are a true romance comic aficionado, collector extraordinaire, and a fine gentleman.  I thank you for that great post.

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As much as I would love to agree with you, and simultaneously discover a third comic with my favorite girl on the cover, I'm quite convinced it's not her.

Wait -- what are the other two? I know about Teen-Age Diary... What's the other one?

 

If your question hasn't been answered yet, the other Marilyn cover is on Fawcett's SWEETHEARTS 119. There's a picture of it a few pages back in this thread (pg.34).

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Dr.Love, that's the kind of post that makes this forum so great. :applause:

 

I'm a romance "lurker" but am starting to pick up a few here and there. The enthusiasm and shared knowledge of the regular posters in the romance threads is much appreciated.

 

Thank you Chris! Lurk no more, you've outed yourself! How's that Buffalo Picture Stories #1 holding up? I still remember the vivid colors on that book with great fondness.

 

 

lol I'll be a semi-lurker and the Buffalo Bill's a keeper.

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You know, I just can't hold back this question any longer: Where the fluck did you get all these amazingly high grade rare romance comics???

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

 

 

 

 

The Origin of Dr. Love! Complete in this issue! :D

 

Great story. Thanks for telling it.

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Here's Marilyn on TADS 6. Nearly all of the romance photo covers I have are the early St John issues. But I think I need to change that. hm

 

866c824f-0cac-4634-9789-ce6640b07150_zps74d3f5b2.jpg

 

Every copy of this book I've ever found, I bought them dirt cheap, and the temptation to flip them for obscene profits was just too overwhelming. To this day, I still don't have a copy of my own.

 

Anyone wanna sell me one dirt cheap...?

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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.

 

:o Little did I know what I sowed. Never regret that decision. Decisiveness typically pays off and we all see how you're reaping the reward in stewardship and education. And, anyway, :gossip: Ace's interiors are inferior to Fawcett's.

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Here's Marilyn on TADS 6. Nearly all of the romance photo covers I have are the early St John issues. But I think I need to change that. hm

 

866c824f-0cac-4634-9789-ce6640b07150_zps74d3f5b2.jpg

 

Every copy of this book I've ever found, I bought them dirt cheap, and the temptation to flip them for obscene profits was just too overwhelming. To this day, I still don't have a copy of my own.

 

Anyone wanna sell me one dirt cheap...?

 

The other St Johns with photo covers and Baker stories are still pretty cheap. Surprisingly so, I think, given that finding some of them in even mid-grade can be challenging.

 

Presumably it's the Marilyn fans who are driving up prices on this one. SC had a raft of Marilyn covers -- all magazines, I think -- in a recent auction, but the collection didn't include a copy of this one. Wasn't it only fairly recently that it became known the model was Norma Jean?

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Here's Marilyn on TADS 6. Nearly all of the romance photo covers I have are the early St John issues. But I think I need to change that. hm

 

866c824f-0cac-4634-9789-ce6640b07150_zps74d3f5b2.jpg

 

Every copy of this book I've ever found, I bought them dirt cheap, and the temptation to flip them for obscene profits was just too overwhelming. To this day, I still don't have a copy of my own.

 

Anyone wanna sell me one dirt cheap...?

 

The other St Johns with photo covers and Baker stories are still pretty cheap. Surprisingly so, I think, given that finding some of them in even mid-grade can be challenging.

 

Presumably it's the Marilyn fans who are driving up prices on this one. SC had a raft of Marilyn covers -- all magazines, I think -- in a recent auction, but the collection didn't include a copy of this one. Wasn't it only fairly recently that it became known the model was Norma Jean?

 

To tell you the truth, it's been one of the best kept secrets in the comic collecting community for years. The photo doesn't instantly resemble Marilyn, so most collectors (and dealers) don't even realize it's her. You're correct, it's the Marilyn collecting community that is widely informed about the significance of this issue, and every copy I've sold on eBay was bought by a Marilyn collector.

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Dr.Love, that's the kind of post that makes this forum so great. :applause:

 

I'm a romance "lurker" but am starting to pick up a few here and there. The enthusiasm and shared knowledge of the regular posters in the romance threads is much appreciated.

 

+1 Wonderful story.

 

Back in April the good Dr was kind enough to allow me to visit the romance collector in his natural habitat. I spent far longer than I had expected but still barely scratched the surface of the romance genre in general and his collection in particular.

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Dr.Love, that's the kind of post that makes this forum so great. :applause:

 

I'm a romance "lurker" but am starting to pick up a few here and there. The enthusiasm and shared knowledge of the regular posters in the romance threads is much appreciated.

 

+1 Wonderful story.

 

Back in April the good Dr was kind enough to allow me to visit the romance collector in his natural habitat. I spent far longer than I had expected but still barely scratched the surface of the romance genre in general and his collection in particular.

 

Must have been like spending a day in the most fascinating museum on Earth.

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[

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:

 

hm

 

Bromancers?

 

Uh... I'm not sure I'd want to go quite that far...

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Dr.Love, that's the kind of post that makes this forum so great. :applause:

 

I'm a romance "lurker" but am starting to pick up a few here and there. The enthusiasm and shared knowledge of the regular posters in the romance threads is much appreciated.

 

+1 Wonderful story.

 

Back in April the good Dr was kind enough to allow me to visit the romance collector in his natural habitat. I spent far longer than I had expected but still barely scratched the surface of the romance genre in general and his collection in particular.

I wish I had been able to join you there. Someday.... :cloud9:

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Dr. Love, you have been owning this thread. Thank you for sharing all your great comics!

 

Are they really those who don't like photo covers? Here are a few of my faves...

147453.jpg.7137420cd9a0c253b77ece2ea8d15c37.jpg

147454.jpg.1358e78b713dddf759bda600bbd76da7.jpg

147455.jpg.78da70e9c5771be9e6ba3a208e6fdd57.jpg

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I really like the first one with Holden.

 

Here's another for that epitome of the distinguished collector of the fine sub-sub-genre of the Photo-cover Western Romance (This is the second GA books I've ever bought. You could say that the bug bit me early one. The first one was a patriotic cover of Looney Tunes Merry Melodies with Bugs on the cover hawking war bonds) -

 

WesternHearts10_zps24d65fd7.jpg

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