Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 24, where we take a nostalgic look at six comic books I currently own, and one that I let get away. If you enjoying reading about my trip down comic book lane, consider signing up for my newsletter. There are perks to being a subscriber, and you’ll have the inside track to my writing projects.

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.

I welcome any comments you might have, and hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I do writing about them. And now, Episode 24…

Special message to my readers before you start! I want to mention here that I’d love for you to join me at Cleveland ConCoction 2016 at the Cleveland Sheraton Airport Hotel March 12, as I’ll be hosting a panel on comic book nostalgia.



Cool comics in my collection #162: Captain America #186, June 1975.

“MY ALLY…MY ENEMY!” Though the title for this issue is actually “Mind Cage,” I absolutely love these exuberant phrases used on the cover. This issue of Captain America was a bit of a shocker when it came out in 1975. The origin of the Falcon is revealed in these pages, and it turns out that he was a criminal! That dreaded enemy of Captain America, the Red Skull, used the Cosmic Cube to turn Sam Wilson into the Falcon, giving him a link with his bird Redwing. So he appeared to be a hero, and fought alongside Captain America. Until now, when the Red Skull uses mind control in an attempt to have the Falcon kill our hero! Back in the seventies I was a huge Captain America and Falcon fan, looking forward each month to their adventures, and this issue was disturbing! If you keep up with Marvel’s movies and TV shows, you’d also recognize both Peggy and Sharon Carter who appear with Cap. I bought this comic off the rack at Slicks in Martins Ferry, Ohio. The cover price of Captain America #186 is 25 cents, while the current value is $16.

Cool comics in my collection #163: Ms. Marvel #16, April 1978.

“WAR BENEATH THE WAVES!” Again, the exciting verbiage from the cover of the comic is different from the actual title, this one being “The Deep, Deadly Silence!” I have no idea why they did them this way, but the words on the cover are typically more exciting. This issue of Ms. Marvel features Tiger Shark, Beast, Scarlet Witch, and Namorita. It also contains the first appearance of Raven Darkholme, who later becomes Mystique. The blue skinned shape shifter was played in the first three X-Men movies by Rebecca Romijn, and in the most recent two (with the third scheduled for a late May release) by Jennifer Lawrence. The character of Mystique has a bit of a hand, along with Rogue, in a tragic occurrence that happens to Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers is her non-superhero name), so it’s rather fitting that her first appearance in Marvel comics is in this series. By the time this comic came out on the stands, I rarely bought anymore during my first phase of comic book collecting, so later, during my third phase, I bought this out of a back issue bin in Atlanta, Georgia, at Titan Comics, in the mid 1990’s. The cover price of Ms. Marvel #16 is 35 cents, while the current value is $50.



Cool comics in my collection #164: Legion of Super-Heroes #293, November 1982.

“WITHIN THE DARKNESS…” This issue doesn’t have anything exciting written on the cover (except that there is a 16-page preview of Masters of the Universe inside!), and it doesn’t really need it. There is plenty of action surrounding the title, and for anyone who’s been reading it for the previous three months, they know that therein lies Chapter Four of The Great Darkness Saga! If the cover makes you think the heroes are having a rough time of it, they are. Darkseid, using mental control, has the Daxamites (beings who can wield powers like Superman under a yellow sun) basically attack the rest of the universe. Yikes! I bought this comic off the rack at a store in Columbus, Ohio, near The Ohio State University. This was during my second phase of comic collecting, which really didn’t last long, but I was fortunate enough to pick up issues like this one, which I definitely kept. As I’ve said before on this blog when discussing each issue of The Great Darkness Saga, it’s a fun series to read, and you can buy it in trade paperback, or collect the individual issues, if that’s your preference. Just keep in mind that the Legion has seemingly dozens of characters on the team, so it can get a little overwhelming if you’ve never read them before. The cover price of Legion of Super-Heroes #293 is 60 cents, while the current value is $8.

Cool comics in my collection #165: Valor #2, December 1992.

“BOY MEETS SUPERGIRL” sees Mon-El, aka Lar Gand, aka Valor, go up against Supergirl at the command of Lex Luthor II. So we have a battle between a Daxamite and a Kryptonian, right? Wrong! This Supergirl is not the one you see flying around on television these days. Instead, she’s a protoplasmic lifeform who was created by a nicer Lex Luthor in a different universe. You basically need a flowchart to keep all these straight. But still, this Supergirl is strong, and she does wear the suit and cape. Valor’s series didn’t last all that long, and when I entered my third phase of comic book collecting while in the Army, I picked up the earlier issues at Titan Comics in Atlanta, Georgia, to complete my collection. Valor also appears in Legion comics, and the character under the name of Mon-El first arrived in 1961 in Superboy #89. I really enjoyed this short 23 issue run, and while it hasn’t caught on with collectors, and maybe never will, I’m glad to have it. And that’s the thing about comic book collecting. Get what YOU like and what YOU want to read. Because regardless of trends, collectability, covers, and price, you’re the one reading it. Make your collection fun. There’s nothing wrong with comics that are worth lots of money (every collector wants some of those), but I get more enjoyment out of comics I love to actually read. The cover price of Valor #2 is $1.25, while the current value is $2.25.



Cool comics in my collection #166: Marvels #2, February 1994.

“MONSTERS” is the title for the second in this wonderful mini-series from 1994. If you appreciate the history of comic book heroes, then this comic is one you don’t want to miss. The age of Marvel really started in the early sixties, with the advent of The Fantastic Four, with the other popular heroes following close behind. Alex Ross, the artist, and Kurt Busiek, the writer, definitely create a feel for the past, especially when they populate the pages with the Beatles (yes, John, Paul, George, and Ringo are all here!) and Walter Cronkite. Some of the other Marvel characters who show up include Nick Fury and several Howling Commandos, Foggy Nelson, Willy Lumpkin (the mailman of the Fantastic Four), and Millie the Model. Not to mention supporting cast members of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, along with members of the Avengers and X-Men. It’s an all-star cast and a blast from the past. I bought this comic at Titan Comics in Atlanta, Georgia, when it was released. Once I’d entered this third phase of collecting, I wanted to know more about the history of the Marvel characters, and this one does a great job as seen through the lens of reporter/photograph Phil Sheldon. If the early tales of Marvel characters make you feel nostalgic and you’ve never read this, then you need to get it. Beside the individual issues, it’s available in both a hardcover and paperback collected edition. The cover price of Marvels #2 is $5.95, while the current value is $8.



Cool comics in my collection #167: Kingdom Come #1, May 1996.

“STRANGE VISITOR” is the opening story of Kingdom Come in what is considered by many to be the greatest of all Elseworlds comics. Just in case you aren’t familiar with this concept, Elseworlds are stories that take place outside of the DC Universe Canon, which makes for a lot of fun (Marvel also has had several iterations of a similar series called What If?). If you’re a fan of artist Alex Ross, then this series is a must for you. The story takes place in the future, and Superman is now retired. But the current superheroes are more violent than usual. I bought this comic during my third phase of collecting at Titan Comics in Atlanta, Georgia, off the rack. It’s visually appealing, and the writing is entertaining, although somewhat overloaded with heroes, like so many of these mini-series (The Legion of Super-Heroes are in Kingdom Come, and they always have a large roster). Though it’s been 20 years since I read it, I remember how much I enjoyed seeing these heroes in a different light, and I may just have to read it again. Great comics tend to have us come back for seconds, don’t they? The cover price of Kingdom Come #1 is $4.95, while the current value is $8.



Cool comics in my collection #168 (One That Got Away): Fantastic Four #66 (Vol. 3), April 2003.

“…BIG STUFF PART 2 OF 2” is the last Fantastic Four comic I bought when my third phase of comic collecting was coming to an end. And to my understanding, there is not a current monthly FF comic out there. It used to be billed as “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.” I remember buying a few issues in the mid-seventies, and it was a confusing time for the team because Ben Grimm had lost his powers and they brought on Luke Cage, Power Man, for their muscle. And I can’t remember if it was before or after Cage, but Reed Richards had constructed a powerful suit that looked like the Thing, so that Ben could still battle evil with the rest of them. Of course some of us remember the Fantastic Four cartoon from the late sixties, then the strange version from 1978 that didn’t have Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, but instead a little robot (H.E.R.B.I.E.) that Reed had created. I’d always heard that it was because parents feared that their kids would try to imitate the Torch and light themselves on fire, but it just isn’t true. If you go down to the subsection “Trivia” at this link, you can read the real story behind the absence of the Human Torch (in a nutshell, the TV rights weren’t available). Like so many of my comics that got away, this one was sold at a garage sale because I had too many thousands of comic books (it was an awesome garage sale…I had three 8-foot long tables, and two were completely covered with long boxes of comics, while the third table was halfway covered…thousands, and I mean thousands, sold that weekend, at rock bottom prices). I don’t so much mind having sold this comic, but if I could go back and save the issues from the seventies, I would, because that’s where my comic book collecting heart lives. I bought this issue at Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio, off the rack. The cover price of Fantastic Four #66 (Vol. 3) is $2.25, while the current value is $2.25.

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