Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 41, where we take a nostalgic look at six cool comic books I currently own, and one that got 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 41…

Cool comics in my collection #267: Thor King-Size Special #4, December 1971.

Sometimes we miss our opportunities, and life goes soaring past us. We long for a “do-over,” but it doesn’t exist in the rulebook of life. Yet in some cases, mulligans are there for the taking, and thank goodness this applies to back issues of comic books. Whether we looked at something on the comic book stand as a kid and decided to pass on it, or came to the hobby later in life and want to fill in some of those really cool back issues, your local comic book store quite often can make your dreams come true (and if your store is out of what you’re looking for, eBay and other online sites and another option in today’s world). When I decided in the Nineties that I wanted some older Thor comics that came out when I was a kid, a comic shop in Atlanta, Georgia, had lots of awesome back issues just waiting for me to grab. Who says time travel is impossible? The cover price of Thor King-Size Special #4 is $40.

Cool comics in my collection #268: Ms. Marvel #2, February 1977.

When Ms. Marvel hit the newsstands in 1977, my comic book purchases were pretty intermittent, so needless to say, this new series didn’t make my collection. I never even bought an issue of Captain Marvel himself. But in the Nineties, during phase 3 of comic collecting in my life, I started reading Captain Marvel and decided I’d add Ms. Marvel to my boxes also, especially since she had an X-Men connection (Rogue absorbed her powers). The cover of this issue is really busy, with lots of words and action, as Carol Danvers goes up against the Scorpion. This issue also has appearances by J. Jonah Jameson, Mary Jane, and Captain Marvel. I picked it up in a back issue box in Atlanta, Georgia, for 50 cents. The cover price of Ms. Marvel #2 is 30 cents, while the current value is $25.

Cool comics in my collection #269: Marvel Team-Up #25, September 1974.

Back in the Seventies, when I was collecting my first comic books, I didn’t really understand what was going on with Spider-Man. I mean, I understood that he was Amazing, and I bought that title often, but he also showed up in Marvel Tales (I didn’t realize they were reprints when I was younger, and who reads the fine print at age 11?), and he usually was involved in Marvel Team-Up, which I thought was super cool since he got to, well, team-up with some interesting guests. Even more odd, though, is why I sometimes skipped certain issues. Take this one with Daredevil, for instance. I’d bought issues 20-22, then took a few months off and missed this one. Again, thank goodness for back issue boxes! So why did I miss out on this cool issue the first time around? I think money had a lot to do with it. When I walked into my usual comic book haunt (Slicks, a little store in Martins Ferry, Ohio), I was faced with lots of options. Comic books, monster magazines, candy of all sorts, drinks, and bubblegum cards. We think of our childhoods as being simpler times, but we had lots of choices in the Seventies, and not as much money when we didn’t have full-time jobs. At least I was able to find this one in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Nineties. The cover price of Marvel Team-Up #25 is 25 cents, while the current value is $13.



Cool comics in my collection #270: The Champions #4, March 1976.

To be honest, I’m not sure if I gave more than a glance at covers of The Champions when this series came out. I didn’t have any interest in the heroes featured in the comic, so why would I bother? It wasn’t until the early Eighties that I started liking Hercules, when he had a limited series, and Ghost Rider was never on my radar. Times change, though, and I’ve bought a number of back issues at Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio. Just two more issues and I’ll have the entire short-lived run. And now that I’ve been reading the adventures of this strangely mixed team of heroes, I wish the series had lasted longer. The cover price of The Champions #4 is 25 cents, while the current value is $20.





Cool comics in my collection #271: Iron Fist #8, October 1976.

Again, Iron Fist is a character who hid in the shadows from my childhood. I really don’t know why, because he’s really cool, and I wish I’d bought up each issue of the martial arts superhero. And even in the early Eighties when I had my brief foray into comic books once more, I paid no attention to Danny Rand. But come the Nineties, I discovered the charms of older Seventies comics, and bought some Iron Fist comics while living in Atlanta, Georgia. I didn’t get many, but it was a start, and over time I’ll be adding more issues to my collection. The cover price of Iron Fist #8 is 30 cents, while the current value is $50.







Cool comics in my collection #272: The Amazing Spider-Man #134, July 1974.

If you’ve been reading Cool Comics in My Collection for a while now, you may have noticed that I have lots of Spider-Man comics. He’s one of those iconic characters you gravitate towards as a kid, and even as an adult. When this issue came out back in 1974, I fell in love with the cover, and it’s still one of my all-time favorites. Don’t ask me why, or have me try to explain it, because I probably couldn’t. It’s spider versus spider, and something about the Tarantula with his deadly spikes on his boots and his confident attitude still draws me to it. And sends me back in time, remembering how some of us kids in the neighborhood would play superhero games, and we’d run and kick into the air with both feet in front of us, pretending to be this enemy of our hero. We’ll never get to relive those times, but we have the memories, and that’s half the fun of looking back at these comics. The cover price of The Amazing Spider-Man #134 is 25 cents, while the current value is $80.



Cool comics in my collection #273 (one that got away): Fantastic Four #158, May 1975.

This is the first issue I ever bought of what was billed as The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine! Mister Fantastic, The Thing, The Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch had some tough competition for my quarters back in those days, thanks to Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Avengers. And even after I bought this issue, ten months went by until I purchased another. It’s sad that no one seems to care much about this super family team these days, but then again, I haven’t really paid much attention to the current comic book landscape, as my focus has been on the past, collecting the comics I missed out on during my childhood. I sold all of my Fantastic Four comics at a couple different garage sales over the last few years, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some issues find their way back into my collection someday. The cover price of Fantastic Four #158 is 25 cents, while the current value is $20.

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