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Bigger BA Key: GL 76 or HOS 92?
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Bigger Bronze Age key: Green Lantern 76 or House of Secrets 92?  

80 members have voted

  1. 1. Bigger BA key?

    • Green Lantern 76
    • House of Secrets 92
    • Not sure


68 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, bronze johnny said:

What's the bigger Bronze Age key in terms of value and historical significance? 

Green Lantern 76

or

House of Secrets 92

Don't know about historical significance, but I love me some Wrightson, especially HOS 92.

Edited by icefires
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The books have approximately the same Census #s, but prices on HoS 92 have just gone bonkers the last year or so. Of course it has the classic cover and story, and what separates it from GL 76 is that it has a 1st appearance. If you look at Golden Age or Silver Age keys, there aren't many with the same attributes as GL 76 that trump comparable books with 1st appearances, #1's, origin issues, etc.,.

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13 minutes ago, drbanner said:

The books have approximately the same Census #s, but prices on HoS 92 have just gone bonkers the last year or so. Of course it has the classic cover and story, and what separates it from GL 76 is that it has a 1st appearance. If you look at Golden Age or Silver Age keys, there aren't many with the same attributes as GL 76 that trump comparable books with 1st appearances, #1's, origin issues, etc.,.

There's been a definite shift in these 2 books over the last 5 years or so.  GL/GA 76 has held a legendary spot to us old time collectors for decades, but when you break down what makes a hot book these days it just doesn't hold up as well as HOS 92. Back in the day, Adams was "THE" artist, with the Studio Guys, Starlin, Steranko, etc. all falling behind him in different degrees. To me, Wrightson and Steranko's work has aged better.

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2 hours ago, drbanner said:

The books have approximately the same Census #s, but prices on HoS 92 have just gone bonkers the last year or so. Of course it has the classic cover and story, and what separates it from GL 76 is that it has a 1st appearance. If you look at Golden Age or Silver Age keys, there aren't many with the same attributes as GL 76 that trump comparable books with 1st appearances, #1's, origin issues, etc.,.

But it really doesn't. The character is HoS 92 is not the same as the character in Swamp Thing 1 (or subsequent Swamp Thing comics).

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8 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

But it really doesn't. The character is HoS 92 is not the same as the character in Swamp Thing 1 (or subsequent Swamp Thing comics).

This is interesting.  I did not know this.  Wouldn't it be more proper to designate House of Secrets #92 as a prototype and Swamp Thing #1 as the 1st appearance?

Or is it too late because the money has been spent and allocated and it would upset the apple cart.

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I love and own both books. I'm not sure why GL #76 is designated a "key" as it's only real claim to fame is the beginning of the bronze age (a designation bestowed by collectors) and a departure from the dumber stories DC was offering. It hasn't held up well as the stories are dated and is trite in comparison to the social problems we face now. Although we seem to be facing a heroin epidemic right now, so maybe #'s 85 & 86 should be considered "keys" now.

HOS #92 has stood the test of time and fits in well with the horror genre of today. The character was spun off into its own magazine and experienced a resurgence when Alan Moore started writing "American Gothic". ST has managed to maintain "his" popularity. I have no idea where Green Lantern is as far as popularity. The movie was a crime and didn't help push the essence of what Green Lantern was when Hal Jordan was the popular GL.

The drastic increase in value of HOS #92 seems to be driven by eBay and Wrightson's passing while GL#76 seems to be static. Once Adams passes, there will be a sharp uptick in value as the Adams keys will be highly sought after. After a time, I think the prices of Adams keys will soften while HOS #92 will maintain its value rampage. It was always expensive comparatively and hard to get in higher grade and especially decent page quality.

I'm glad to have both books so I don't have to agonize much. If the poll had been Bigger BA Key: Batman 232 or HOS 92, that would have bugged me all day.

 

Edited by Randall Ries
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I really wish I had both books, that's for darn sure. I'm going with HOS 92 on personal preference. Historically, I've always considered Conan #1 to be the book that ushered in the Bronze Age. That's not to take away from GL 76, perhaps if I read GL 76, my opinion might change, I've read HOS 92.

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2 hours ago, Randall Ries said:

I love and own both books. I'm not sure why GL #76 is designated a "key" as it's only real claim to fame is the beginning of the bronze age (a designation bestowed by collectors) and a departure from the dumber stories DC was offering.

Yeah, I've never gotten the appeal of GL76 either. It's a cool book with a great cover and I'm as big a Neal fan as there is, but like I said above the attributes of "new story direction", "social relevancy", "1st Neal Adams are on this title" etc.,. are not attributes on the overwhelming majority of Golden and Silver Age Keys (and just about every other Bronze Age Key for that matter) that make them desirable.

HoS 92 is most certainly the 1st appearance of Swamp Thing, subsequent retcons and various incarnations of the character and established canon notwithstanding.

HOS92_splash.jpg.b24a58dbf890562bd40539b430972679.jpg

 

 

Edited by drbanner
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HOS 92 is the first appearance of Swamp Thing. Clearly. Major, major key. GL 76 changed comics forever. HOS 92 might be hotter at the moment and even outpacing GL 76 in price, but in terms of significance and importance and key-ness, only revisionist history would deny the title to GL 76. It was THE single touchstone for a generation of DC comic readers and creators across the industry.

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HOS92 is the clear winner to me and it isn't even debatable. You have the first appearance of a major character for the last 40+ years versus a book with a cool cover that got cancelled less than a year later. 

The catch is that MAYBE you can argue that GL76 changed comics forever, thus being more historically significant, but I don't think it will ever pass Swamp Thing value wise.

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