Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 96, where we take a nostalgic look at comic books I currently own, and in some sad cases, ones that I let get away.

For each of the comic books I include in this blog, I list the current secondary market value. This is according to the listings at the website www.comicbookrealm.com. They list out the near mint prices, which are on the comic book grading scale of 9.4. If you go to the website to look up any in your collection, you can click on the price and see the value at different grades. Not all of my comics are 9.4. Some are probably better, and some are worse. But to simplify it, that’s the grading price I use here. And remember, a comic book is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Have you considered being a guest host for Cool Comics? You can do a theme or just pick any of your comics for inclusion (this blog is for all ages, so please keep that in mind), with a maximum of seven issues. Repeat guest hosts are permitted and encouraged. Send your completed blog to edgosney62@gmail.com.

If you have any questions or comments, please scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says, “Leave a reply.” I hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I do writing about them. And now, Episode 96…

Cool Comics News!

My love of comic books goes beyond my personal collection that’s stored away in white boxes. Both my father and mother-in-law would tell stories of buying and reading comics in the late Thirties and into the Forties, and hearing about these early issues of Superman, Wonder Woman, and even Bulletman would leave my mouth watering. I wanted to know more about comics through the ages, and found this book on a clearance table several years ago, and decided to finally read it. Filled with wonderful art, Great American Comic Books paints a picture of comic book history that is rich in the telling. Ron Goulart gives us a wonderful look at the fascinating history of the earliest comics, the coming of the age of heroes, the horror comics that Fredric Wertham pointed out were ruining the youth of America, and much more, up to the beginning of the 21st Century. If you’re looking to dive a little deeper into the history of this industry, it’s a worthy place to start.

Cool Comics

Cool comics in my collection #461: Green Arrow #1, July 2017.

At long last I got to read a Green Arrow Rebirth title. This number one issue is part of a Walmart 3-Pack, and as longtime readers of this blog know, I’ve been reporting on these for a while now. What’s so special about these Walmart 3-Packs? First off, the price is just $5, and for a fella who dates back to 20 cent comics, I appreciate that the average price per issue is $1.666666 (well, you get the idea). Second, the top comic in the packs are variants. Now some people love variants, and others hate them. I can take them or leave them, but it’s been kind of fun buying these three packs just to get a chance to explore Rebirth and the other comics inserted with them (most of which come from the New 52 line, which I hadn’t read when they were originally published). If you watch the Arrow TV show on The CW, expect some differences if you aren’t familiar with the comic book. I’ve yet to read a Rebirth comic I didn’t like, and I’m happy that DC is putting out such a great product. The cover price of Green Arrow #1 is $2.99, while the current value of this variant is $5.

Cool comics in my collection #462: Batman Eternal #11, August 2014.

This is the fourth issue of Batman Eternal I’ve read since I started buying the Walmart 3-Packs, and, unfortunately, I haven’t been able to read them in chronological order (for example, this is number 11, and I’ve already read issues 22 and 30). But that’s the price you have to pay when your purchases aren’t regular monthly buys. It’s rare to read a comic book that has a beginning, middle, and end, and even when they do, new characters get introduced, things happen in past issues that influence the current story, and companies want to give you a reason to keep coming back each month. I see people complaining online about this at least once a week, that they want one or two issue story arcs. Which in some ways is a great idea, but even most mini-series go three issues or more, and big events take even longer to unfold. And that brings up another problem: the big events that cross into just about every title makes it nearly impossible for the average comic buyer to get the complete story. Some readers are fine with this, but some don’t want to miss out, and then they blow their budget. Personally, I like the idea of a big event that stands on its own, not running into regular monthly titles. So Spider-Man gets a new black costume that’s really an alien that has a symbiotic relationship with him. The good old asterisk that tells me I can read all about it in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 works for me. I know, not as effective financially for the company. We can’t always get what we want, just like me reading these Batman Eternal comics out of order. By the way, Batman is hard to find in this issue, even though his name is in the title. The cover price of Batman Eternal #11 is $2.99, while the current value is $3.

Cool comics in my collection #463: DC Universe vs. Masters of the Universe #1, March 2014.

He-Man, Skeletor, and Evil-Lyn are once more invading the DC Universe, and even though it was issue #4 in this 6 issue limited series and I hadn’t read the proceeding three, it was a fun trip down memory lane. Back when I was in college in 1982 and started my second phase of comic collecting, I decided I needed to explore the DC Universe a little more than I’d done in the Seventies. And what more perfect way than to get a monthly anthology? I bought three successive issues of DC Comics Presents (45, 46, and 47), but I’m pretty sure I sold them at a garage sale several years ago when I started running out of space. I gave my kids some of my comics, and obviously kept some that I really loved, but DC Comics Presents wasn’t that close to my heart. Stupid me. When I got this Masters of the Universe issue in my Walmart 3-Pack, I discovered that #47 of DC Comics Presents, from July of 1982, was none other than the first appearance of He-Man in comics. It cost me 60 cents plus tax. Today the value is listed at $90. It’s not like I threw away $90, but it is disappointing that I sold if for less than what I originally paid and it’s so valuable today. Oh well, someone somewhere is very happy about my garage sale. The cover price of DC Universe vs. Masters of the Universe #1 is $2.99, while the current value is $3.

Cool Comics Classics

Cool comics in my collection #464: Action Comics #443, January 1975.

Regular readers of Cool Comics in My Collection know that the “DC 100 Pages for 60¢” comics that came out in the mid-Seventies are near and dear to my heart. I have great memories of buying these at the drugstore chain where my father worked, and reading them in the evenings at the kitchen table, sometimes while eating my Freakies cereal. Back in those days, most of my comic book purchases were Marvel, but I just loved these thick comics DC produced, and it allowed me to read about different characters and fun team-up stories. This issue is not one I had as a kid, but I bought it in a back-issue box several months ago for just $4. And reading it did the trick of transporting me back in time. Granted, I didn’t love all the stories in this comic, but the art, dialog, and general thought of what I was reading was all I needed to be twelve years old again. The cover price of Action Comics #443 is 60¢, while the current value is $60.

Recently Read Digital Comics

Last week I mentioned that I was reading a digital collection that is several hundred pages long, and unfortunately, I didn’t get it finished. But since this week is all DC, I decided to read a shorter digital comic via my comiXology app that ties in with the Walmart variant above. Arrow #1: Special Edition, came out in July 2012 as a promotional comic for the upcoming Arrow TV show, which premiered in October of that year. It’s short, just 16 pages, and very different from the regular comic book version of Oliver Queen. And it was free. I’ve mentioned this here before, but if you aren’t sure whether or not you’d like digital comics, you can get a number of issues for free to see for yourself (comiXology, Marvel, DC, and Archie all offer freebies on their digital apps, and I’m pretty sure there are a few others out there doing the same). When you can read them a panel at a time and get nice close-ups, it gives you a different perspective and reading experience. Give it a try sometime and let me know what you think.