Monthly Archives: August 2014

New comics added Aug 30, 2014

Here is what’s new at the online comic store today:

Added the the following vintage comic books which are now up for grabs!

Check’em out

New comics added Aug 29, 2014

Here is what’s new at the online comic store today:

Added the the following vintage comic books which are now up for grabs!

Check’em out

New comics added Aug 28, 2014

Here is what’s new at the online comic store today:

Added the the following vintage comic books which are now up for grabs!

Check’em out

Variant Comics from then ’till now – Part 7!

by Hal Hickey

In this multi-part series on the history of variant comics, we are exploring series of variants that collectors are likely to find, albeit some being much more difficult than others, depending on the rarity of those series. I have stayed away from the “one-off” variants of which there are many but most are rare. Part 1 and part 2 explored the first series, the “price variant comics”. In part 3, part 4 and part 5, we dug into the second series, the “printing variant comics”, covering second printings, third printings and so on. In part 6 we discovered the “alternate publisher” variants, namely the “Whitman” and “Modern Comics” variants.

In this, part 7, we will begin to cover the last series of variant comics, which is the most prolific in sheer volume today and continues to play a major role in how comic books are marketed. The introduction of these variants was part of a series of events that nearly destroyed the comic book industry. This final series are the “variant covers”. In their early years they were referred to, somewhat non-affectionately as “gimmicky covers” or “chase covers”. These were introduced specifically targeting the many completist comic collectors, especially Marvel Comics collectors, who existed at the time. But I wouldn’t be doing this final series of variants justice without spending some time with the story behind what spurned variant comic book covers.

It all started with Baseball cards, yes that’s right, baseball cards. Continue reading

New comics added Aug 26, 2014

Here is what’s new at the online comic store today:

These new comic books for sale have been added to online comic shop. Get them before they are gone!

Check’em out

Action Comics #1 sells for record $3.2 million!

On August 24th, Action Comics #1 sold for $3.2 million on Ebay (item #311050328393). This particular issue is the finest graded copy (CGC 9.0) known to exist of the June 1938 issue starring  the debut of Superman. There were 48 bids of which there were 13 unique bidders, for this key comic book. This auction sale broke the previous record of $2.16 million paid in 2011 for the same comic graded in the same condition but with minor differences in grader notes. This is quite a jump since it sold on the newsstand for 10cents in 1938! This is the highest price paid for a comic book to date.

There are estimated to be around 30 unrestored copies of Action Comics #1 in existance today.

Punisher P.O.V. #2 by Bernie Wrightson

In this edition of all time favorite comic book covers is a painted cover by the master of the horror genre, Bernie Wrightson. He was noticed early in his comic career by horror fans when he contributed the last two covers for Marvel Comics series Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows in 1970. A year later he co-created Swamp Thing, a character that has been a continuing second tier force in the DC Universe. It was here that his flowing style really caught my attention. I always saw a  lot of Frank Frazetta influence in those early Swamp Thing days.

Here we have Bernie Wrightson’s painted work from 1991 Marvel Comics Punisher P.O.V. #2. You can see the influence of his horror work in the flowing garments of the mystery character about to strike a nasty blow in the general direction of our favorite comic book hunter. Continue reading

New comics added Aug 24, 2014

Here is what’s new at the online comic store today:

We’ve uncovered some rare comic books which have been added to the comics for sale today:

Check’em out

New comics added Aug 23, 2014

Here is what’s new at the online comic store today:

These new comic books for sale have been added to online comic shop. Get them before they are gone!

Check’em out