WINDBLADE #1 By BARRY BLAIR SIGNED 0

[Toombs]

Hello all,

I have a comic book titled WINDBLADE #1.  It is signed by the artist Barry Blair.  However, I cannot find anything online about it.  Is this book a one of a kind?  I have included pictures and the signature.  Thanks.

 

[nickwire]

post this in the copper section and expect a lot of replys. desirable and insanely rare

[RockMyAmadeus]

Worthless junk.

I'll buy it for cover price.

 

[lou_fine]

21 hours ago, nickwire said:

post this in the copper section and expect a lot of replys. desirable and insanely rare

+1

Yes indeed, as I have seen a few threads on this book in the CA Forum since this book was published around the early 80's.

I have an unsigned copy in my collection somewhere.  I believe it's worth in the neighborhood of $100 or more, dependent upon the condition of the book of course.  

[CDNComix]

It's Canadian comic/artist that was published in my home town Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1982 by Arkum Books, Nightwynd Productions. Blair produced similar work around the same time, including:

Dragonring, Elflord and Samurai. The first Elflords can fetch upwards of $400 for an early issue, but from there it's all downhill. Oh yes, it is definitely not one-of-a-kind, just obsure Canadian bronze-age fantasy.   Please PM if you are interested in selling. I will give you fair market for it. Check out my thread (one of my last posts) to how much I am interested in the genre.

Edited December 28, 2018 by CDNComix

[Toombs]

On 12/26/2018 at 9:58 PM, nickwire said:

post this in the copper section and expect a lot of replys. desirable and insanely rare

LOL!  I just did!  :) Really?  This is a rare book?  No wonder I cannot find anything on it.

[Warped]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:27 PM, Toombs said:

LOL!  I just did!  :) Really?  This is a rare book?  No wonder I cannot find anything on it.

I have that Windblade comic, too, but mine isn't signed.  When I saw that, at first I thought it was Barry Blair's first comic, but after pulling it out of my collection and looking at it, I realize I was mistaken.

Elflord was actually his first comic, if I recall correctly.  I obtained Elflord through eBay quite a number of years ago when I was on a quest to locate and purchase every Elflord I could find, as well as all its spin-offs, as well as anything else I could find from Barry Blair.  I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that only 500 copies of Elflord were printed.  If that's true, then that one is quite rare.  There's no telling how many of those 500 copies were accidentally discarded; lost in fires, floods, or tornadoes; eaten by dogs; "artistically enhanced" by well-meaning toddlers; etc....  I got into an eBay bidding war with someone from France.  I kept outbidding her and eventually ended up paying $165 for Elflord.  I also remember reading that this was the first comic book Barry Blair ever got printed, and that he was sixteen years old when he made it.  This is all coming from memory, of course, which may be faulty.  Someone who knows more about this may be able to add more information or offer clarifications.

The two scans in one image included here are scans of my own copies, post-processed.  These haven't been graded, but as I look at them, they're both in fantastic shape.  Windblade is, of course, a bit discolored with age, which isn't apparent because I removed that discoloration with image processing.

Heh... I once had the idea that I would simply scan all my favorite comics and enjoy them digitally.  That was a massive project I never finish.  I have several gigabytes of raw scans that have been sitting around for over ten years. :)

[RockMyAmadeus]

Those are fantastic, wonderful rarities from the early days of B&W indies.

 

[CDNComix]

A decent copy (definitely not as nice as one in this thread) sold at auction:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Windblade-No-1-by-Barry-Blair-Nightwynd-Arkum-Books-Very-Rare-/392765616119?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=glurtJwsTNSLGke4H3vJ4cOYrr0%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

eBay, April 27th 2020, maybe 7.0 grade, $152

[CDNComix]

A year later, since I posted the last example and with the context of the BW Elflord issues selling for $150 to $550 recently on eBay.

[CDNComix]

My hometown and the current appearance of Blair's long gone old shop

Edited June 17, 2021 by CDNComix

[seanfingh]

On 6/16/2021 at 7:02 AM, CDNComix said:

A year later, since I posted the last example and with the context of the BW Elflord issues selling for $150 to $550 recently on eBay.

This is a perfect example of what happens when the right people do not see an auction. This is why values are so hard to pin down on these crazy rare books.  Two or three appropriately interested parties and this could easily have been $500+.

[CDNComix]

17 hours ago, seanfingh said:

This is a perfect example of what happens when the right people do not see an auction. This is why values are so hard to pin down on these crazy rare books.  Two or three appropriately interested parties and this could easily have been $500+.

Agreed.

The other thing is that Blair's early material recently slipped off the edge of being ignored and is now rapidly rising. I recall laughing (more eye rolling) when Doug Sulipa had posted some early coloured cover issues of Elflord about three years ago for $150 (9.2). Now I wish I had purchased them! Doug always gets the last laugh.