Which silver age books have the best crossover appeal for the golden age crowd? 1 1

[retrocomics]

Which silver age books have the best crossover appeal for the golden age crowd?

Which silver age books have the best crossover appeal for the golden age crowd?

I usually dabble very little in silver age books but I really enjoy a few that I always like to buy when they pop up. For example Journey into Mystery 25 and Strange Tales 49. Which books do you think have the best crossover appeal?

[piper]

I know there are a number of us who collect mainstream superhero titles (e.g Spider-Man) in addition to Golden Age. I know someone's favourite superhero is the Silver Surfer and he collects Centaurs.

[Readcomix]

7 hours ago, piper said:

I know there are a number of us who collect mainstream superhero titles (e.g Spider-Man) in addition to Golden Age. I know someone's favourite superhero is the Silver Surfer and he collects Centaurs.

I heard o' that guy! Seriously, I suspect many of us have the same story, or similar ones: Started out collecting whatever was new when we were kids (for me, bronze books were on the racks in my grade school years) and migrated to older back issues over time, eventually to golden age. Today, I still collect from all eras, but GA is my priority when faced with choices, though it's more of a continuum than a hard and fast cut-off. So to answer your question, speaking for me, particularly tough early SA books are a priority too. I once told a story in the "If you could only keep 5 books" thread about a handful of GA books that a record dealer came into; I bought nothing else for six months until I got them all, with one exception, which was a bargain-priced TTA27. Short of that sort of thing, quality GA trumps everything else hands down for me these days.

That said, I always keep in mind Roy Thomas' great quote: "The Golden Age of comic books is seven." I love the bronze I grew up with, and the copper I read in high school. And I realize for other younger collectors their hearts may be in different eras than mine. (I cannot truly say for example mine is solely in GA.) So I look for cool books from any era, knowing anything that can eventually be passed along at a bargain or at least fair price to another collector is often a win-win.

I made a deal a week or so ago with a friend whose childhood was in the copper age; he came into some GA books. Was excited to keep a Cap but didn't particularly want a handful of other rarities. I was happy to buy them in a cash/trade deal in which I included an MP15 (one of the greatest bronze origin stories, which Thomas admittedly swiped from Everett's Amazing Man as a martial arts version homage) and an ASM31. Everyone was happy.

What a great hobby we have. I understand the importance of collecting focus if you're trying to complete something but I also enjoy diverse items in my collection. I personally like building a collection that's a representative microcosm of the history of this great art genre. GA being both tough and foundational to the history, I now generally prioritize them first.

 

[ThothAmon]

No doubt GGA collectors.  Plenty of shapely books post-code.  Here's one I just posted elsewhere.

[rjpb]

The 1955-57 Atlas post-code books have long held appeal for GA collectors who collect pre-code Atlas, especially the Everett covers. I don't really consider them "Silver Age", though, one reason for arguing  the "Atomic Age" should extend through the end of the dime era IMHO. 

As indicated above, I don't think Archie collectors care that much about GA/SA distinctions when it comes to 1950s books. The same could be said for Barks fans.

In general artists who were in their prime at the end of the GA through the start of the SA find collectors less concerned with era, guys like Heath and Toth come to mind. 

From the Superhero perspective, I imagine the conscious revivals of GA characters have appeal. By that I mean revivals that explicitly acknowledge the character is returning from the GA - like the JSA roster.

Many EC fans are also fans of the Warren magazines, as they contain work by many of the same artists. 

[Pat Calhoun]

[ComicConnoisseur]

On 6/21/2017 at 9:18 PM, retrocomics said:

Which silver age books have the best crossover appeal for the golden age crowd?

Which silver age books have the best crossover appeal for the golden age crowd?

I usually dabble very little in silver age books but I really enjoy a few that I always like to buy when they pop up. For example Journey into Mystery 25 and Strange Tales 49. Which books do you think have the best crossover appeal?

[ComicConnoisseur]

16 hours ago, Readcomix said:

That said, I always keep in mind Roy Thomas' great quote: "The Golden Age of comic books is seven." I love the bronze I grew up with, and the copper I read in high school. And I realize for other younger collectors their hearts may be in different eras than mine. (I cannot truly say for example mine is solely in GA.) So I look for cool books from any era, knowing anything that can eventually be passed along at a bargain or at least fair price to another collector is often a win-win

I think that pertains to music as well. If you grew up in the 40s you like Swing, if you grew up in the 50s to 80s you likely like rock while if you have grown up in the 90s to now you  most likely like Hip-Hop. 

[Foxtrot70]

On 6/22/2017 at 11:35 PM, ComicConnoisseur said:

I love these two classic issues.   I have the rare Spanish editions published by Novaro 

[jimjum12]

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 0:45 AM, ComicConnoisseur said:

On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 8:11 AM, Readcomix said:

That said, I always keep in mind Roy Thomas' great quote: "The Golden Age of comic books is seven." I love the bronze I grew up with, and the copper I read in high school. And I realize for other younger collectors their hearts may be in different eras than mine. (I cannot truly say for example mine is solely in GA.) So I look for cool books from any era, knowing anything that can eventually be passed along at a bargain or at least fair price to another collector is often a win-win

I think that pertains to music as well. If you grew up in the 40s you like Swing, if you grew up in the 50s to 80s you likely like rock while if you have grown up in the 90s to now you  most

As a youth in the 60's and 70's, we had unique opportunities to expand our horizons to other ages through the oodles of reprints that were provided and blended in to the current books.... windows to the 30's, 40's and 50's ..... the 72 and 80 pagers of the 60's and (especially) the 100 pagers of the 70's were crucial to my growing interest in the books that were published before I was even born. This brings me to something I keep forgetting to mention when I see the doom and gloom threads where folks ponder what will happen to the hobby once all the older collectors pass on.... who will want these old things ? What I'd like to point out is that most collectors of vintage books gravitate (eventually) to material that came out before they were born( most collectors today of GA weren't born yet).... and this is for one simple reason, the stuff is COOL...... and it always will be. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(A friend of jesus)

[Sqeggs]

26 minutes ago, jimjum12 said:

As a youth in the 60's and 70's, we had unique opportunities to expand our horizons to other ages through the oodles of reprints that were provided and blended in to the current books.... windows to the 30's, 40's and 50's ..... the 72 and 80 pagers of the 60's and (especially) the 100 pagers of the 70's were crucial to my growing interest in the books that were published before I was even born. This brings me to something I keep forgetting to mention when I see the doom and gloom threads where folks ponder what will happen to the hobby once all the older collectors pass on.... who will want these old things ? What I'd like to point out is that most collectors of vintage books gravitate (eventually) to material that came out before they were born( most collectors today of GA weren't born yet).... and this is for one simple reason, the stuff is COOL...... and it always will be. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(A friend of jesus)

Excellent point.  The bulk of my collection these days is made up of books published before I was born and I'm (barely) old enough to have bought a copy of AF 15 off the stands. 

Once you catch the comic collecting bug, one thing that may attract you to GA is how darn scarce many of them are.  It makes "collecting" rather than "assembling" a challenge.  A good part of the commotion over the Berk auction was the fact that so many very tough books were available at once.  If you have the dough, you could probably buy a complete collection of SA and BA before dinner time tonight, particularly if you start the SA clock running with FF 1.  You might have to settle for lower-grade copies of the keys, but my guess is that every SA and BA book is currently for sale on eBay or one or another of the dealer sites.

Not that I don't love Marvel SA books, but if the first comic had been published in 1961, I don't think I would still be collecting.

[jimjum12]

3 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

Excellent point.  The bulk of my collection these days is made up of books published before I was born and I'm (barely) old enough to have bought a copy of AF 15 off the stands. 

Once you catch the comic collecting bug, one thing that may attract you to GA is how darn scarce many of them are.  It makes "collecting" rather than "assembling" a challenge.  A good part of the commotion over the Berk auction was the fact that so many very tough books were available at once.  If you have the dough, you could probably buy a complete collection of SA and BA before dinner time tonight, particularly if you start the SA clock running with FF 1.  You might have to settle for lower-grade copies of the keys, but my guess is that every SA and BA book is currently for sale on eBay or one or another of the dealer sites.

Not that I don't love Marvel SA books, but if the first comic had been published in 1961, I don't think I would still be collecting.

.....folks have been digging cool art since we were living in caves..... something about it draws us in..... well, some of us anyway. I even have a couple of books that came out before my parents were born. Don't get me wrong..... I have a small stack of SA through MA that I absolutely adore, but there's just something primordial about a National 18 or a Victory Comics 2...... or a pristine E.C.......  something about Antiquity that just stirs the soul..... GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[rjpb]

19 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

Excellent point.  The bulk of my collection these days is made up of books published before I was born and I'm (barely) old enough to have bought a copy of AF 15 off the stands. 

Once you catch the comic collecting bug, one thing that may attract you to GA is how darn scarce many of them are.  It makes "collecting" rather than "assembling" a challenge.  A good part of the commotion over the Berk auction was the fact that so many very tough books were available at once.  If you have the dough, you could probably buy a complete collection of SA and BA before dinner time tonight, particularly if you start the SA clock running with FF 1.  You might have to settle for lower-grade copies of the keys, but my guess is that every SA and BA book is currently for sale on eBay or one or another of the dealer sites.

Not that I don't love Marvel SA books, but if the first comic had been published in 1961, I don't think I would still be collecting.

I agree that comparative scarcity is a big factor in why GA seems so special, though it should be noted that GA Batman is perennially popular, and it has to be one of the easiest GA titles to find. 

[jimjum12]

...especially in the pre internet days, it was something of a treat when a batch of GA books would surface locally, for that very reason. I still remember the first time I actually made an inquiry to buy a GA book..... I was probably 14 or so and had become enamored with S&K books due to the exposure in the 52 page BA books in Kirby's Fourth World. Robert Crestohl responded that he had a copy of Adventure Comics 83 in about Fine condition for $ 35 ...... almost a month's pay from the 'ole paper route.... I wanted it but an FF 1 was about the same price and certainly took priority.... so I politely declined. I picked up a few at Conventions but it was when I was in my early 30's that I really started drifting that way...... a MM 17 and a National 13 put the hook in me for good. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Ricksneatstuff]

As someone who loves Barks and appreciates Walt Kelly (that's right- I like more than bondage and headlights) I think Bone is the most appealing.  I know that is not silver age but it is a great book for character development.  

As far as silver age books that appeal to a GA collector I agree with the comments above. A lot of the Cap/ Iron Man Tales of Suspense work for me.  

[telerites]

When I saw Dave Steven's Rocketeer, I thought he was the modern-day Frazetta.  Obviously the story/plot was appealing to me since I love the old serials but good lord, the art seemed to hark back to the good art of the GA and not the un-fluid, overly exaggerated art of the 80s+.  

And yes I know not SA but it did have Nazi spies, after all.

[rjpb]

3 hours ago, telerites said:

When I saw Dave Steven's Rocketeer, I thought he was the modern-day Frazetta.  Obviously the story/plot was appealing to me since I love the old serials but good lord, the art seemed to hark back to the good art of the GA and not the un-fluid, overly exaggerated art of the 80s+.  

And yes I know not SA but it did have Nazi spies, after all.

Good pick, even though not a SA book. Stevens had a retro style, even when he wasn't drawing period pieces, but his wrapping in old serials and a Betty Page lookalike into his 1930s period strip was tailored to appeal to the GA fan.  

[Readcomix]

6 hours ago, jimjum12 said:

As a youth in the 60's and 70's, we had unique opportunities to expand our horizons to other ages through the oodles of reprints that were provided and blended in to the current books.... windows to the 30's, 40's and 50's ..... the 72 and 80 pagers of the 60's and (especially) the 100 pagers of the 70's were crucial to my growing interest in the books that were published before I was even born. This brings me to something I keep forgetting to mention when I see the doom and gloom threads where folks ponder what will happen to the hobby once all the older collectors pass on.... who will want these old things ? What I'd like to point out is that most collectors of vintage books gravitate (eventually) to material that came out before they were born( most collectors today of GA weren't born yet).... and this is for one simple reason, the stuff is COOL...... and it always will be. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(A friend of jesus)

Oh, I completely agree, Jimbo! I just like Thomas' quote because I think many of us have two Golden Ages....the actual one that as you said so many of us discover later because it is so awesome, and our personal golden age from our formative collecting years (where sentimentality can play as much a factor as the truly awesome material, regardless of what era we're talking about).