Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 124, where we take a look at comic books I own (and in some cases ones that I let get away), both new and old, often with a nostalgic leaning for those feelings of yesteryear.

For each of the comic books I include in this blog (except for digital issues), 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 124…

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Cool Comics News!

This week we’re taking a look at the last Walmart DC Special 3-Pack I have in my collection. I bought all eight packs (just $5 each for three sealed comics) quite a few months ago, and though I keep looking whenever I go to my local Walmart, I haven’t seen a new series come out.

Cool Comics Cool Battles!

Last week, in my inaugural Cool Comics Cool Battles, the consensus was that with the backing of Skynet, the Terminator wins over Brother Voodoo. I post my blog in various forums around the web, so I tend to get a variety of feedback, and perhaps the best was someone commenting that when he gets Terminator comics for 25 cents, he wins!

This week we’re having Batman go head-to-head with Iron Man, a battle in which the contestants have several parallels (whenever I do this, it will always be characters or teams that are featured in the current episode). And now it’s your turn! Tell us who wins in the comments below, and feel free to expound on that and give us some reasons why you picked one over the other.

Cool Comics in My Collection

#589 — Injustice: Harley Quinn #1, DC Comics, July 2017.

I believe this was my third series of these Walmart DC Special 3-Packs, giving me a total of 24 of the variant covers. The focus in each set of eight has been on DC’s Rebirth, with 6 of the 8 comics that you can see through the plastic wrap being Rebirth titles. They’ve also included one Injustice comic in each of the last three series of these packs, and this one, Injustice: Harley Quinn #1, is the first that was actually published during the Rebirth era. But notice that it doesn’t have “Rebirth” written on the cover. Of course, this is the Walmart variant, but even the original didn’t have it, because the Injustice comics fall outside the regular DC continuity. Injustice comics are based on a video game, but don’t think that means the quality isn’t as good. These comics are exciting, with a plot very different from your typical Superman or Batman comic. I enjoyed the first one I read from one of these Walmart 3-Packs so much that I picked up the digital collection covering the beginnings, and I have every intention of eventually catching up. And just for those who are keeping score, this comic was originally published a few months earlier, in February 2017, and is called Injustice: Ground Zero #1. The cover price of Injustice: Ground Zero #1 is $2.99, while this Walmart variant is currently valued at $5.

#590 — The New 52: Futures End #20, DC Comics, November 2014.

Will it someday be possible for a human to travel through time? Going backwards would provide fantastic opportunities for any number of professions, such as historians, archaeologists, and ancient astronaut theorists. And the ability to travel into the future could possibly help avert war, starvation, or even the formation of Skynet (for some reason, I just had to squeeze it in one more time). In fiction, including movies, stories, and comic books, some fans love time travel, while others hate it. The second issue I found in the sealed Walmart DC Special 3-Pack is The New 52: Futures End. It’s not a time travel story, but we do get a look into a possible future of the DC Universe. Of the few issues I’ve read of this title, I find the series fascinating and wouldn’t mind reading more. The cover price of The New 52: Futures End #20 is $2.99, while the current value is $3.

#591 — Batman Eternal #15, DC Comics, September 2014.

This series, from what I’ve been able to gather, takes place in the near future, so while Batman and his friends don’t need to beware of Morlocks (have you ever read the H.G. Wells short novel The Time Machine? Or seen the movie version?), there are plenty of other rogues in Gotham City. Batman Eternal is a title that’s popped up in a number of the Walmart DC Special 3-Packs, albeit never in any particular order. Batman is a familiar and popular name, so I guess that’s reason enough to include this series. These Walmart specials are an attempt to sell to people who don’t normally go to their local comic shop once a week, and they are priced at a nice discount, but you aren’t necessarily going to get return customers when the additional comics could be anything, and you don’t get complete story arcs out of any of these. There’s a chance that this will be the last Walmart 3-Pack we see in quite some time. The cover price of Batman Eternal #15 is $2.99, while the current value is $3.

Cool Comics Done Dirt Cheap

#592 — Captain Confederacy #2, Epic Comics, December 1991.

I can’t recall ever hearing of Captain Confederacy before finding this issue in my cheaply purchased longbox. Given the choice, I wouldn’t buy this comic on its own, but did happen to find the concept interesting and decently done. Fans of alternate history, on the other hand, may like it more than I did. And to be fair, this is issue #2, so I missed out on the foundation of what’s going on here. Captain Confederacy is written by author Will Shetterly for Epic Comics, a creator-owned imprint that Marvel Comics published a few decades ago. The comic has a map inside the front cover, showing us how the United States is now divided into 8 different countries, along with twelve various heroes. If you decide to look for this series, make sure you get the first issue. And it probably makes even more sense if you’ve read the first volume of 12 issues, which was published by SteelDragon Press. The cover price of Captain Confederacy is $1.95, while the current value is $2.25.

Cool Comics Classics

#593 — Iron Man #19, Marvel Comics, November 1969.

Iron Man is caught in the very grip of death! As the cover asks us, “What Price Life?” This old issue from the late Sixties is a lot of fun, with Tony Stark just as involved in what’s going on as Iron Man himself. The cover is awesome, and when you can get your hands on old Marvel comics in decent condition, I recommend giving them a try. From the interior ads to the Bullpen Bulletins to the letters page to the checklist of new comics on the newsstands, they are time capsules, slinging you to a past you may have lived through or only dreamed of. But don’t pick one of these to read if you are in a hurry. They aren’t like today’s comic books that you can read in ten or fifteen minutes. These take a little longer, and believe me, you’ll want to soak in all the nostalgia you can to enhance the experience. The cover price of Iron Man #19 is 15¢, while the current value is $75.

Recently Read Digital Comics

Not only were comic books in the Golden Age much cheaper, they also contained more pages per issue than today’s average comic, often filled with stories featuring other characters, such as the Angel (not Warren Worthington III) in this Sub-Mariner: Golden Age Masterworks Vol. 1 title. The Marvel Masterworks series gives you the opportunity to read these old issues without breaking the bank. But they don’t come cheap, either, often starting at $50 or more for hardcover editions. So what’s a comic fan to do if he wants to see what Namor was like back in 1941? Go digital. There’s a lot of resistance among some collectors, but the reality is, you can read these comics at great prices, and if you don’t care for them, you aren’t out much money. For instance, this digital issue retails for $6.99. At the time of my writing this, it’s on sale via comiXology for $4.99. And on Amazon, you’d spend $3.50. I bought it for just $1.40 when Amazon was having a big sale on Marvel digital comics. At that price, it was worth every penny. Imagine that, 285 pages for $1.40. He’s not the Namor you know from the Marvel Age that started in 1961, but if you appreciate the history of the medium and want to dip into some of these Golden Age stories, give Namor a try via digital comics.