Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 50, where we take a nostalgic look at seven cool comic books I currently own. I was asked by a reader if I had anything big planned for Episode 50, and I responded that since this comes out weekly, Episode 52 is the big one in my mind, since it will mark my one-year anniversary. But still, 50 is an achievement, a big deal when it comes to consistency. So I’m going to make a “little” big deal out of this episode by covering one of my favorite types of comics growing up, the Digest!

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). 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 50…

Cool comics in my collection #323: Mystery Comics Digest #25, September 1975.

Gold Key put out some interesting comics, and this Mystery Comics Digest, which put out stories based on Ripley’s Believe It or Not! was a fun magazine for monster kids of the Seventies. When we couldn’t get enough scares Friday and Saturday nights, or from the latest issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland, this little digest, packed with 128 pages, was the perfect companion for some late night reading in bed. This issue features stories on Spring-Heeled Jack, the Mothmen, Vampires, the Devil, the Banshee, a witch, and many other creepy, frightening stories that my parents probably didn’t want me to read. The cover price of Mystery Comics Digest #25 is 69 cents, while the current value is $30.

Cool comics in my collection #324: Dennis the Menace Pocket Full of Fun! #35, July 1977.

I remember seeing, buying, and reading lots of Dennis the Menace in the Seventies, and I especially enjoyed reading the digest-sized comics. They were thicker, so it meant much more story, plus back in those days I could actually read all that fine print! This issue is a reprint of Sunday comics, so the stories were short, which made it easy to read when you’re tired but just want a little more comic book entertainment before sleep comes down. I’ve got a box full of Dennis the Menace digests, and I just can’t seem to part from them. The cover price of Dennis the Menace Pocket Full of Fun! #35 is 60 cents, while the current value is $10.

Cool comics in my collection #325: Archie Comics Digest #6, June 1974.

While most of the comic books I bought and read in the Seventies were superheroes, I did branch out with other genres, and Archie and his pals Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and Reggie were almost as familiar to me as Peter, Mary Jane, Harry, Aunt May, and Flash. Again, the digest-sized Archie comics were easy to read in bed, had several short stories in each issue, and were just plain fun. These days, Archie Comics are getting a little edgy, and a Riverdale TV series is set to debut on The CW either later this fall or early 2017. It certainly isn’t going to be the Archie I grew up reading and watching on Saturday mornings, but it still might be fun. The cover price of Archie Comics Digest #6 is 60 cents, while the current value is $30.

Cool comics in my collection #326: Richie Rich Digest Winners #1, December 1977.

What kid didn’t want to be Richie Rich? His family is loaded with cash, and he could buy any comic book he wanted to! So you’d think a kid with that much money wouldn’t have problems, but Richie is only human, so problems come with the territory. If he didn’t have problems, his adventures would be pretty boring. The family even had enough money to buy a robot maid in this issue. Who knew that a Richie Rich comic blended so well with science fiction? Asimov would have been proud! And this issue, along with the Archie and Dennis the Menace digests just go to show that I was willing to read other comics besides the superhero variety. They were fun and different, and they were definitely a part of my past. The cover price of Richie Rich Digest Winners #1 is 75 cents, while the current value is $12.

Cool comics in my collection #327: The Best of DC #18, November 1981.

I wonder why I don’t own more of these cool little digest reprints that DC put out from 1979 to 1986? I guess I hadn’t really thought that much of this one at the time, and didn’t bother looking for any others. I had just started reading The New Teen Titans around this time, so I guess when I saw this issue, I figured I’d catch up a bit on their history. But now, I wish I’d bought more of these little beauties. In glancing at some of the other titles online, there are a number with Batman and Superman, but they also have titles for The Legion of Super-Heroes, which I’d love to find sometime. I’ll have to see if my local comic shop has any! The cover price of The Best of DC is 95 cents, while the current value is $9.

Cool comics in my collection #328: The X-Files Comics Digest #1, December 1995.

Trust no one. The truth is out there. The X-Files TV show aired when I was in the Army, serving at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia. It was love at first sight. I read an article in an old comic magazine called Hero about the show, and put it on my radar to watch, and I was completely intrigued for the first four seasons. When my time in service ran out and I moved back to Ohio with my wife and two new kids, finding employment and changing diapers came before TV, so I fell away from Mulder and Scully. But I have plans to catch up at some point. Oh yeah, comic books…Topps comics got the license and put out a regular size title, along with four digest-sized issues. I have the first three, so I’ll have to find issue four to complete this little collection. The cover price of The X-Files Comics Digest is $3.50, while the current value is $4.

Cool comics in my collection #329: The Sundial, Volume 1, No. 2, March 1986.

Okay, so The Sundial isn’t exactly a comic book, but it is close to digest size, and it does have a number of comic strips in it. These comics were features of the Ohio State student newspaper, The Lantern. For Bone fans out there, the little guy started off in a strip at Ohio State called Thorn. Yes, it was named after her. Jeff Smith was at OSU when I was going there, but as far as I know I never set eyes on him. Big school. Really big school. And besides, he was in Journalism and I was in English Education, we were possibly never crossed paths. Has anyone ever seen this issue of The Sundial before? I can’t find any information out about it, so I have no idea what the value might be. The Thorn (Bone) comic is just one page, but still, it’s early Bone, and I have it! The cover price of The Sundial Vol. 1, No. 2 is free, while the current value is $?