Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 38, where we take a nostalgic look at six cool comic books I currently own, and one that I let get away.

For each of the comic books below, 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), as long as there are seven comics in your episode (you can still own all seven, or do it like me and include one you no longer own). 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 38…



Cool comics in my collection #246: The Amazing Spider-Man #133, June 1974.

“THE BATTLE TO THE FINISH WITH THE MOLTEN MAN!” Although I’d bought issue #132 off the newsstand when I was a boy and really enjoyed it, for some reason I didn’t buy this issue at that time. My purchases were still somewhat sporadic, often depending on how much loose change I could scrounge up. Yet I was fortunate enough to find a used copy of this issue for just 10 cents at The Paradox Bookstore in Wheeling, West Virginia. From what I recall, this may have been my last comic book purchase at that great little store. On subsequent trips I started buying books there. I wish I’d bought more of the comics, and I wish the store was a little closer to where I now live. One last memory: as a kid, I really thought the Molten Man was cool looking, and I can remember acting like I was him while chasing some of my friends around in my buddy’s front yard. I’d take slow, ponderous steps, pretending I was melting the grass as they tried to stay out of my super-heated grip. The cover price of The Amazing Spider-Man #133 is 25 cents, while the current value is $80.



Cool comics in my collection #247: Omega the Unknown #4, September 1976.

“NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CLAWS!” Omega the Unknown had a short run, but there was something about this character, and the boy who was strangely connected to him, that kept me reading this comic month-after-month, until I decided I was too old for comics, and I missed the last issue (a friend later got it for me as a gift, when I was in college). If you have a fear of cats, this issue might just give you the shivers as you gaze upon the cover, seeing cat after cat after cat. It makes me feel as if I may start sneezing. Even the great Omega himself looks terrified! Anyway, I really loved this character and comic, and maybe you did, too. I bought it at Slicks, in Martins Ferry, Ohio, when it first came out back in 1976. The cover price of Omega the Unknown #4 is 30 cents, while the current value is $8.



Cool comics in my collection #248: Power Man #19, June 1974.

“DEADLIER THAN DIAMONDBACK! THAT’S THE COSTUMED KILLER CALLED – COTTONMOUTH!” Another fabulous Seventies comic series that slipped past me as a kid. It’s understandable that I didn’t have a full-time job to support my comic book purchases, but sometimes when I think back to the other items I bought back then, I wish I’d instead have picked up some extra comic book titles. We had a lot of things competing for our money back then, didn’t we? It seemed like every neighborhood had a nearby candy store that had just the right items to empty our pockets of coin, along with the grocery stores that carried baseball and football cards. And just down the street in my neighborhood was a Dairy Queen. Who could say no to a cold Mr. Misty on a hot summer day? Then we’d ride our bikes a few blocks north to Slicks, and we wouldn’t have much left for comic books. I really appreciate buying back issues like this one featuring Luck Cage. I picked it up for 50 cents in Atlanta, Georgia, which is a good price. Sometimes we miss out on these gems as kids, but then when we do eventually get our hands on them later in life, we relive those moments when we were just eleven years old, peddling our bikes off on adventures with our childhood friends. The cover price of Power Man #19 is 25 cents, while the current value is $20.



Cool comics in my collection #249: The Fury of Firestorm #2, July 1982.

My second phase of comic book buying and collecting started during my freshman year at Ohio State. Up to this point, I didn’t have many DC comics, and most were those 100 page giants that typically featured Superman and Batman. I just wasn’t a regular reader in that universe, but one of my new college friends introduced me to comics like The New Teen Titans and the Legion of Super-Heroes, and I realized that DC was putting out some cool comics. Firestorm had a short-lived introduction in the late Seventies, but come 1982, DC decided to try again, and I jumped on that bandwagon. The series doesn’t have much value, but I fell for the complex hero made up of two very different people, and when it came time to get rid of some comic books, I knew there was no way my Firestorm collection was leaving my house! The cover price of The Fury of Firestorm #2 is 60 cents, while the current value is $3.



Cool comics in my collection #250: Damage #1, April 1994.

To me, a cool comic doesn’t have to be one that has a popular hero, or a fantastic guest star, or a low print run that makes the resale value skyrocket. A cool comic in my collection may not be cool in your collection, and vice versa. People buy and collect for a variety of reasons. Some people collect comics based on artist or writer or even villain. Some collect because they like a certain comic book company. And sometimes your reasoning changes as you come to realize that you have more years behind you than in front of you. When I entered into my third phase of comics, while I was in the Army, serving near Atlanta, Georgia, I was willing to try new and different characters. Damage entered the DC universe, and I enjoyed reading it for a while. And when I got rid of a few thousand comics, Damage made the cut over many more popular comics. I can’t explain it, but I didn’t want to part with this series. The cover price of Damage #1 is $1.75, while the current value is $3.



Cool comics in my collection #251: Impulse #2, May 1995.

“BLOWIN’ UP!” Impulse is fun to read, and this cool comic came out around the time my family was involved in a bad car accident. We were living in Riverdale, Georgia, while I served in the U.S. Army, and my wife, baby daughter Renee (who was just under six months old), and I were driving south on Tara Blvd. on a rainy Saturday when suddenly there was a loud noise and our car turned sideways, sliding out of control towards a gas station. We hit a curb, flipped up in the air, and landed on our roof. Without seatbelts things would have been much worse. So what do you need when your car is totaled, your body is sore, and you end up going through physical therapy? You need something fun to read, and this issue of Impulse fit the bill. The cover price of Impulse #2 is $1.50, while the current value is $3.



Cool comics in my collection #252 (one that got away): Howard the Duck #1, January 1976.

Howard the Duck flew onto the scene during our country’s bicentennial year, and has been a rather strange addition to the Marvel universe ever since. Because he was based in Cleveland and Spider-Man makes an appearance in the first issue, I had to buy this comic when it came out. Even George Lucas decided to enter the dynasty of this duck, but the movie turned out to be fowl…. Yet Howard still found himself in the spotlight (albeit after the credits had rolled) in 2014 in The Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Who knows where he’ll show up next? You may ask yourself, “Why Howard the Duck?” The only logical answer? It was the Seventies. Alas, I no longer own this comic, and I didn’t even have it in my collection in 1986 when Lucas put him on the big screen. I sold him to a comic shop in 1982 (if you’ve been reading CCIMC for a while, you know that I sold a pile of comics for a date, and it ended up NOT being worth it…I’d rather have Howard back). The cover price of Howard the Duck #1 is 25 cents, while the current value is $40.

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