The Planet Run is complete! Zolnerowich would be pleased! 2 2

[Zolnerowich]

PLANET #44

Girls in bubbles. Nuff said.

[Zolnerowich]

PLANET #47

It's been noted by some of our illustrious boardies that her attire is not quite perfectly suited for the situation at hand. Making the cover even way better!

[jhutton2]

Congratulations on completion of the run, an amazing accomplishment!!

[Zolnerowich]

44 minutes ago, jhutton2 said:

Congratulations on completion of the run, an amazing accomplishment!!

Thanks Jason! Your own tremendous accomplishment really inspired me to get the job done!

[jimjum12]

4 minutes ago, Zolnerowich said:

Thanks Jason! Your own tremendous accomplishment really inspired me to get the job done!

Do you have some particular favorites ? ....like you, the interiors are a big draw for me as well..... with the exception of a few Frazettas, there aren't many books I'll buy for the cover alone. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Zolnerowich]

So things slowly started to pick back up in October 2013, with #46 and #55.

PLANET #46

Not one of the more winning covers. But heck, if you wanna complete the run, you're gonna need this one too!

Edited November 25, 2018 by Zolnerowich

[Zolnerowich]

PLANET #55

A little rough around the edges, but a perfect reader copy. This great issue falls right in the middle of the Baker run, and also features great art by luminaries George Evans, Maurice Whitman, and Murphy Anderson, as well as unsung greats like Enrico Bagnoli. 

I never did understand why her knees are purple. Most every copy of #55 I've seen has purple knees.

 

[Zolnerowich]

By the end of 2013, I had managed to collect thirteen Planets. All of these were raw books. None of these were Rivets. 2014 was the year of my first Rivet. 

PLANET #53

A nice companion piece to the #55. My first copy of this book, from 2014, was fairly low-grade. The copy shown here is an upgrade, obtained from Harley Yee about 2 years ago. 

[Zolnerowich]

PLANET #54

Also purchased in 2014. Like the #53 above, this one is part of a great string of covers by Joe Doolin. He really hit his prime with these mid-50s covers.

[Zolnerowich]

PLANET #48

Robot! And Other Thrilling Stories of the World of Tomorrow!

[Zolnerowich]

My last book from 2014.

PLANET #19

Finally my first Rivet! And with spiders no less!

Actually, at the time, I didn't know these were referred to as "Rivet" covers. But I did know that this was one of those true classic vintage issues of Planet Comics, and the closest I'd gotten yet to the core run of books that defined the title. Though a lower grade book, it was still the most I'd spent on a Planet Comics comic. It came 4.0 slabbed (old holder ), and I promptly deslabbed it for a great read. Zolnerowich firing on all cylinders.

[telerites]

9 hours ago, Zolnerowich said:

 

PLANET #46

Not one of the more winning covers. But heck, if you wanna complete the run, you're gonna need this one too!

 

I would be hard-pressed to find a stinker cover in the whole run.

An awesome accomplishment - congrats! 

 

[sagii]

11 hours ago, Zolnerowich said:

So things slowly started to pick back up in October 2013, with #46 and #55.

PLANET #46

Not one of the more winning covers. But heck, if you wanna complete the run, you're gonna need this one too!

A role reversal cover in the 40's is anything but mundane to me, but I've noticed on a lot of the covers posted by various Boardies over the years that Planet had many a cover with a woman in the heroic role. Outside of Sheena, Wonder Woman and Mary Marvel where they were the headlining character so you'd expect it, I think it's a very notable aspect of the run.

Congrats! 

 

[Sqeggs]

Wonderful thread!  This thread is the board at its best.  

[Zolnerowich]

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Wonderful thread!  This thread is the board at its best.  

Aw shucks! A Sqeggs seal of approval is like a... um... like, a seal of approval!

[Zolnerowich]

13 hours ago, jimjum12 said:

Do you have some particular favorites ? ....like you, the interiors are a big draw for me as well..... with the exception of a few Frazettas, there aren't many books I'll buy for the cover alone. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

You've hit upon what I call the Curse of the Completist. Once the Completist makes up his/her mind to complete a run, this leads to several levels of irrational decision making, including shelling out for books with just so-so covers. And which is even more confounded these days by the alchemy of slabbing, since in many/most instances, the interiors are never going to be viewed in their native state. 

[Zolnerowich]

2 hours ago, sagii said:

A role reversal cover in the 40's is anything but mundane to me, but I've noticed on a lot of the covers posted by various Boardies over the years that Planet had many a cover with a woman in the heroic role. Outside of Sheena, Wonder Woman and Mary Marvel where they were the headlining character so you'd expect it, I think it's a very notable aspect of the run.

Congrats! 

 

+1. 

That's a great observation. Many of the Planet covers featured women in a heroic role rather than a helpless role. Maybe it was a strategy at Fiction House to lure in more women readers... 

[Zolnerowich]

Okay, Ladies and Germs, let's move on to 2015. 

This year marked a sea change in my collection. As I noted earlier, one major reason for this shift was that I finally woke up to the fact that eBay and Heritage weren't the only games in town. I know, slow learner, right! I'd always seen, for example, that Metropolis would set up at the Chicago shows, but never really recognized that they also held regular ComicConnect auctions. And ComicLink was completely off my radar. It was actually on these here boards, as a lurker in mid-2015, that I first fathomed that CC and CL had frequent auctions, and importantly, where a lot of the boardies were buying their books. 

This year was notable in a few ways. First and foremost, of my 8 purchases, ALL were Rivet books, including two from dealers at shows and three from the "other" auction houses. I do wonder whether 2015 marked a year when Planet Comics started landing on everyone's radar, with sellers and dealers suddenly bringing more of these books to market.

Second, it's when I began to realize that if I ever hoped to make a play for these early issues, I'd have to adopt that time-honored strategy of "go big or go home."

Third, my year started off with a biggie:

PLANET #1

I purchased this from Bob Storms of High Grade Comics in April 2015 at C2E2. The book was just sitting there on the wall, minding its business. Bob was just sitting there, minding his booth. I couldn't believe this book was even on display; recall, I hadn't ever seen ANY of the early issues up close and personal. It was a raw book, so I was able to leaf through the pages, trying to play it cool. When I asked the price, Bob actually asked me to name a price, and he met it. It has a tear along the top edge and various other defects, but nothing major, all in all about a VG, with very nice cover colors. Over the years I've thought about upgrading, but it marks such a key inflection point in my Planet run, it would be hard for me to give it up.

 

[Zolnerowich]

(2015/ 2nd book of eight)

PLANET #3

Just one month later, another Rivet popped up! I think this was the first book I ever bid on using my iPhone. A clear sign of my growing obsession.

I love the mini-soap opera going on within the confines below the secret trap door.

Note, the depiction of spaceship hulls beginning to melt under the blast of super-powerful lasers was an oft repeated theme on Planet covers.

[Zolnerowich]

(2015/ 3rd book of eight)

PLANET #2

Planet #1 was a biggie for me, being the first issue of Planet Comics. But Planet #2 was a BIGGIE! "Scarce" according to Overstreet, and such a spectacular cover by the hand of Lou Fine. Every time I'd view the Planet cover gallery on comics.org (which I also printed out for quick access), it was this issue that always stood out for me the most. Something about the color palette, the deranged furry 6-limbed monster, and the bewildered lady. It was my favorite cover then and my favorite cover now. Especially in appreciation of its scarcity, this was my first "need-to-go-all-in-if-I-want-to-bring-home-this-book" book.