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CAPTAIN AMERICA 78?
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Started by Unstoppablejayd,

26 posts in this topic

Unstoppablejayd

Unstoppablejayd

Posted
Posted

Hello- 

My golden age collecting is just starting out but I came across a copy of Cap 78 (I probably over payed lol) but I thought it was a great looking romita cover so I grabbed it. apparently the last issue and a tough one? It is complete minus a back cover and rough. So I guess besides sharing.  2 things...

1) I would like to marry a back cover- any cheapish books I can look for that shares the same back cover? 

2) just any general info about the book- since I can not find much info 

thanks! 

 

569CFC36-80D7-4A38-8F42-81845C1EFE2E.jpeg

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waaaghboss

waaaghboss

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8 hours ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

Hello- 

My golden age collecting is just starting out but I came across a copy of Cap 78 (I probably over payed lol) but I thought it was a great looking romita cover so I grabbed it. apparently the last issue and a tough one? It is complete minus a back cover and rough. So I guess besides sharing.  2 things...

1) I would like to marry a back cover- any cheapish books I can look for that shares the same back cover? 

2) just any general info about the book- since I can not find much info 

thanks! 

 

569CFC36-80D7-4A38-8F42-81845C1EFE2E.jpeg

Your best bet to find a similar back cover would be to look at the year and month, sept it looks like, and look at other Atlas books published at that time.  Probably not worth the expense.  Are you doing this to complete the book for your own enjoyment, or to try and increase it's value?  Another option is some people (who I find a bit annoying) sell reproduction covers for older books.  Might be cheaper and easier to get one of those, and cut the back off.  

I don't know much about GA cap comics, but my 2cents.  It's just a cool as hell cover/book.  It's a bit scarce, cap seemed to be winding down in popularity at this point, getting a non consistent publishing schedule, and it seems like after the war, his appeal faded.  They seemed to try to throw him in a couple of directions, but nothing really worked, which led to the eventual cancellation of the book.  Some fun directions they took cap in was horror, and commie smasher.  This book just screams 1950s america, and even has "communist hordes" on the cover.  It's the last issue in a historic run, and looks like it Romita worked on it.  

I'm waiting for the right war era cap book to come along to be my first (post war books just seem dull) but if I came across this book at a reasonable price, I'd jump on it.  Gotta love that award green commie monster nonchalantly throwing lighting bolts at cap!

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Frisco Larson

Frisco Larson

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14 hours ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

Hello- 

My golden age collecting is just starting out but I came across a copy of Cap 78 (I probably over payed lol) but I thought it was a great looking romita cover so I grabbed it. apparently the last issue and a tough one? It is complete minus a back cover and rough. So I guess besides sharing.  2 things...

1) I would like to marry a back cover- any cheapish books I can look for that shares the same back cover? 

2) just any general info about the book- since I can not find much info 

thanks! 

 

569CFC36-80D7-4A38-8F42-81845C1EFE2E.jpeg

First off, welcome to Golden Age Comics!!! You picked a great title to start collecting! This IS the last issue of the run and it's loaded with John Romita artwork! To your question of finding a proper back cover for the book, you must first determine what the inside & outside of this issues back cover actually looks like and then you can set about trying to match one up. As stated above, a good place to start is an Atlas comic of the same month and year. There are likely to be some that are the exact same, but likewise some will probably be different. Once you can determine which books having a matching back cover, you can start hunting around for inexpensive, perhaps low grade or even books missing the FRONT cover to get your donor back cover. Good luck in your quest!!

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Unstoppablejayd

Unstoppablejayd

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13 hours ago, waaaghboss said:

Your best bet to find a similar back cover would be to look at the year and month, sept it looks like, and look at other Atlas books published at that time.  Probably not worth the expense.  Are you doing this to complete the book for your own enjoyment, or to try and increase it's value?  Another option is some people (who I find a bit annoying) sell reproduction covers for older books.  Might be cheaper and easier to get one of those, and cut the back off.  

I don't know much about GA cap comics, but my 2cents.  It's just a cool as hell cover/book.  It's a bit scarce, cap seemed to be winding down in popularity at this point, getting a non consistent publishing schedule, and it seems like after the war, his appeal faded.  They seemed to try to throw him in a couple of directions, but nothing really worked, which led to the eventual cancellation of the book.  Some fun directions they took cap in was horror, and commie smasher.  This book just screams 1950s america, and even has "communist hordes" on the cover.  It's the last issue in a historic run, and looks like it Romita worked on it.  

I'm waiting for the right war era cap book to come along to be my first (post war books just seem dull) but if I came across this book at a reasonable price, I'd jump on it.  Gotta love that award green commie monster nonchalantly throwing lighting bolts at cap!

Thanks for the info! 

I am just a bit of a completest and may eventually slab it and if I do would think it would be cooler with the back cover. I have no intentions of selling but if i can improve it for minimal cost I do not see why I shouldn't. I will look into the atlas books. 

I love the timely stuff especially the Schomburg war stuff!

7 hours ago, Frisco Larson said:

First off, welcome to Golden Age Comics!!! You picked a great title to start collecting! This IS the last issue of the run and it's loaded with John Romita artwork! To your question of finding a proper back cover for the book, you must first determine what the inside & outside of this issues back cover actually looks like and then you can set about trying to match one up. As stated above, a good place to start is an Atlas comic of the same month and year. There are likely to be some that are the exact same, but likewise some will probably be different. Once you can determine which books having a matching back cover, you can start hunting around for inexpensive, perhaps low grade or even books missing the FRONT cover to get your donor back cover. Good luck in your quest!!

Thank you!! It seems to be a slippery slope lol... Awesome info- I am googling away as we speak on what that cover looks like so I know in my travels. 

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Unstoppablejayd

Unstoppablejayd

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Just now, Illustrious said:

I absolutely love this cover as well, so I think you made a good pick-up regardless if it's currently missing the back cover. I'll also use this thread as an excuse to post my copy :bigsmile::

42663961482_2bb8f3c3d2_c.jpg

Awesome!! Can you send a pic of the back and help me on my quest??

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Frisco Larson

Frisco Larson

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2 hours ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

Thanks for the info! 

I am just a bit of a completest and may eventually slab it and if I do would think it would be cooler with the back cover. I have no intentions of selling but if i can improve it for minimal cost I do not see why I shouldn't. I will look into the atlas books. 

I love the timely stuff especially the Schomburg war stuff!

Thank you!! It seems to be a slippery slope lol... Awesome info- I am googling away as we speak on what that cover looks like so I know in my travels. 

Happy to help. I have a slabbed copy as well (Blue label 2.5) so I can't help with what the inside back cover looks like either, but SOMEONE on here must have a raw copy.

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pemart1966

pemart1966

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On 3/16/2019 at 1:16 PM, Unstoppablejayd said:

Hello- 

My golden age collecting is just starting out but I came across a copy of Cap 78 (I probably over payed lol) but I thought it was a great looking romita cover so I grabbed it. apparently the last issue and a tough one? It is complete minus a back cover and rough. So I guess besides sharing.  2 things...

1) I would like to marry a back cover- any cheapish books I can look for that shares the same back cover? 

2) just any general info about the book- since I can not find much info 

thanks! 

 

569CFC36-80D7-4A38-8F42-81845C1EFE2E.jpeg

Even though this cover is signed by John Romita, it doesn't look anything like the Romita art that I'm used to on the mid 60s run.  It looks more like Frank Robbins to me.

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Unstoppablejayd

Unstoppablejayd

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1 minute ago, pemart1966 said:

Even though this cover is signed by John Romita, it doesn't look anything like the Romita art that I'm used to on the mid 60s run.  It looks more like Frank Robbins to me.

Interesting... CGC even notes it as romita cover. I wonder how that may have happened...

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adamstrange

adamstrange

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2 minutes ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

Interesting... CGC even notes it as romita cover. I wonder how that may have happened...

This was relatively early on in his career.  He got better.  His style evolved.

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Readcomix

Readcomix

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On March 17, 2019 at 1:25 PM, Frisco Larson said:

Happy to help. I have a slabbed copy as well (Blue label 2.5) so I can't help with what the inside back cover looks like either, but SOMEONE on here must have a raw copy.

Here's my copy, and a look at the inside back cover, as Jay requested. Good luck in the search, Jay!

Also, @zzutak is great with parts and pieces -- any help here with a back cover for a Cap #78 for a great boardie?

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

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Primetime

Primetime

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I've been collecting Timelys since 1995, and I've seen a decent amount of Cap 78s in that time. I'd say it has moderate scarcity but not ultra tough. Here is the scope of Atlas books that were cover dated Sept 1954 (May 1954 real time). I'm sure there is a matching inside BC/outside BC on one of these books. Good thing these are all relatively cheap. The Torch 38 was out one month before Cap 78, so it could very well have a matching inside BC.

http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/newsstand.php?publisher=marvel&type=cover&month=9&year=1954&sort=alpha

At least you aren't dealing with a late 30s/early 1940 Johnson Smith & Co (Detroit, MI) back cover ad. Those ads have different dept. #'s so although the ad looks the same, the dept # could be different and you will have the wrong BC married. 

Best to your hunt for the right BC. (thumbsu

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Primetime

Primetime

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7 minutes ago, Readcomix said:

PS -- fun fact for those who have only seen it in the slab -- the green commie shooting lightning bolts is actually named Electro. They recycled him in What If #9, the 1950's Avengers story that inspired the more recent Agents of Atlas series. 

a recycled name by Goodman as prior to that the early Marvel Mysterys had Electro, the red robot. And fast forward, we get yet another named Electro character, Spidey's villain. :smile:

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