Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 68, where we take a nostalgic look at comic books I currently own, and in some sad cases, ones that I let get away.

For each of the comic books I include in this blog, 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 68…

Cool comics in my collection #385: Power Man #37, November 1976.

If you’ve watched the Luke Cage series on Netflix, I envy you. Obviously, I’m a bit behind on some shows. Matter of fact, I still have two episodes left of the first season of Daredevil! Yet it’s kind of fun knowing that I have some great shows yet to watch. And in the meantime, until I get to them, the comics are what truly matters, because without them, the shows wouldn’t exist. Of course, this is a Seventies comic, my favorite era, the period I grew up, and comic books were right there by my side, helping guide my way to geekdom. I didn’t buy Power Man when it originally came out (I know, MISTAKE!), but I grabbed some back issues, such as this one, during my third collecting phase when I was living in Atlanta, Georgia, serving in the Army. I did have a few Fantastic Four issues that guest-starred Cage in the Seventies, but now I wish I’d bought all the issues of his series. The cover price of Power Man #37 is 30 cents, while the current value is $10.

Cool comics in my collection #386: Iron Fist #1, September 1996.

The initial run of Iron Fist, from 1975 to 1977, consists of just 15 issues. I have three of them, and hope to someday have more, but they don’t come cheap (I may have to get digital issues to read, which is a very nice alternative). My idea this week was to pair up Power Man and Iron Fist without an actual Power Man and Iron Fist comic (look for more of these issues in future episodes), so I dipped into the first issue of this even shorter (2 issue) series that came out in 1996. And you know why, don’t you? That’s right, Iron Fist releases on Netflix in March! Now I really have to catch up so I can see another of my favorites in action. Danny Rand and Luke Cage have some cool adventures as solo heroes, but we love them best when they are together, and in September, The Defenders is scheduled to air, bringing all the Marvel Netflix heroes together. They may not be as powerful as The Avengers, but I’m sure this will be a great show to watch. The cover price of Iron Fist #1 is $1.50, while the current value is $4.

Recently Read

I purchased the Kindle version of Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Captain America #1, for the measly price of $5.38. Plus tax. The hardcover version of this would have cost $50, and $30 for the trade paperback. If I had been alive back in the Forties and bought all four issues when they came out, I would have paid just 40 cents. And the value of those 4 issues today? $487,500! And if I owned those issues, I’d probably never dare to touch them! And that’s why it was great to buy this digital comic for such a low price and read it on my tablet. For 10 cents, they packed the issues with several Cap and Bucky stories, and then had a couple other ongoing series of other heroes in each issue. I started reading Captain America in the early Seventies, then for a short time in the Eighties, and then off and on from 1993 to 2003. These early stories are a lot different, and if you enjoy getting the historical perspective of where your heroes came from, then I highly suggest getting this digital version.