Comic Book Resources

Great topic, Scott - and really nice choices!

I love the Marvel Presents series. Really good series. Ironically, the only issue I am missing is #8. It really fleshed out the Guardians, introduced Nikki,

I think the most I spent on an issue is a $1.

This is a great topic, and I would love to see more.

Frogmen sounds awesome. Whenever I have money to spend on comics again, I should track it down.

E-Man was awesome. I'm sad though: this article just made me realize that I have no ROOM for most of the old comics I had, so I dropped them off at the swap shed at the dump, and kept on a small pile of older comics, which will need to find a home in my house soon, or at least before my wife dumps them somewhere. Like a lot of people, I've become a very trade/bookshelf oriented kind of reader.

Keith - sure, I'll do up another one like this for a future episode. I love a good bargain, and i know others do too.

Anthony - I just searched eBay's recent completed listing. A Frogmen #4 in VG sold for $2.69, so that gives you a sense of what you're looking to spend.

Stealth - where is this magical swap shed? I must find it! Have you considered binding some of your favourite back issue runs?

A more recent series that can be put together for not too much money is Chase.

Scott, is there a relationship between Bloodstone and Nextwave's Elsa Bloodstone?

She's his daughter, Tim.

So many decent comics are available in bulk in quarter bins at shows. I is relatively simple to put together decent runs of quality comics at affordable prices. I will definitely put these title on my search list!

Thanks Brian - my Bloodstone knowledge ends somewhere during his Rampaging Hulk appearances.

Thanks Brian! and Scott!

only one of these i've got is E-Man... and it's one of my favorite runs, too (E-Man #1 (Modern reprint) was the second comic i ever bought, i believe)

i've got a 1980s digest reprint of some of those Flash Gordon books - even in black and white, the art is really cool. i'll have to track down the floppies now...

A few years ago, I managed to track down all the Moench & Sienkiewicz Moon Knights and Gerber Howard the Ducks and Defenders for $1 to $3 an issue. Of course, they were reprinted in Essential format recently, but the originals should still be cheap.

I reallylike this topic. You should do this type of thing more often. I am probably going to go get marvel Comics Presents tomorrow. Thnx for the tips.

I've got to say, that Guardians of the Galaxy stuff has got to be my favourite of Milgrom's work that he ever did. Something happened to the look of his stuff in the 80s that I really didn't care for.

Bat Lash was an entertaining read as was Marvel Presents / Guardians of the Galaxy. Flash Gordon has had some awesome talent on it as has been pointed out. Never understood the appeal of E-Man.

If anyone has enjoyed a good sci-fi and / or group book, I paid full price but think it's one of the best reads ever and I've seen it lots in quarter bins : L.E.G.I.O.N. and even the later R.E.B.E.L.S. wasn't too bad. Woefully underrated !

I love putting together cheap runs. I just recently dug issues 1-29 of Strikeforce Morituri out of a 3 for a dollar bin, along with the first 18 issues of The 'Nam. Between those, and full sets on eBay for a pittance, I've slashed my pull list of new comics. It just seems like a waste of money to spend $4 on a new comic when I could get a full run of Steve Gerber's Foolkiller for a buck more.

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep in mind, if I've missed one of your favorite runs, it may be because my mandate here is to discuss pre-DKR funnybooks.

I'll definitely put another one of these together for a future installment.

Don't forget the First Comics run of E-Man (especially the ones after Marty Pasko left as scripter.)

I frequently find myself trapped on the Planet of the Absurd

It's a much larger run than all of those you've mentioned combined (probably still true even if you throw in the various titles mentioned in the responses), but Marvel's great MASTER OF KUNG FU can be had for pretty darned cheap as well. The first SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION appearance is the only one likely to cost much of anything (& even then, I came across a $2 copy in the cheap bin at my LCS a year or so ago ... I'd paid even less than that from Mile High a year or so earlier). Via 2 or 3 eBay lots & maybe 15 or 20 single-issue purchases from Mile High & Lone Star to fill in gaps, I probably paid around 50 cents a copy to amass a complete run a couple of years ago.

Considering that the title (a) features the likes of Paul Gulacy, Mike Zeck & Gene Day at the tops of their considerable games, not to mention excellent Doug Moench scripts, & (b) isn't likely to be reprinted anytime soon (if ever) because of copyright issues with the Sax Rohmer estate, it's surprising just how easily & cheaply this one can be found.

I have a few suggestions in mind, because I felt that early 1980s stuff were not represented here:

Americomics: I read that you liked AC Comics, & there are some hidden gems from their earliest days that are definitely worth checking out: When Bill Black first started AC Comics in late 1982/early 1983, he slated this particular title to be AC's flagship book. It was basically a try-out book (like "Showcase"), but it would feature two-to-four different heroes in each issue (which was mostly seen as team-ups & superteams in other try-out books, but 'Americomics' would have at least two stories per issue, so you got more solo stories, but there are some multi-hero stories as well: The Black Terror made his first AC Comics appearance as a guest-star in issue #2's 'The Shade' story. Issue #3 had three Blue Beetles [This was produced prior to DC acquiring the Charlton heroes]. The final issue had a back-up involving both the Shade & Tara On Jungle Island!). Two future FemForcers (Dragonfly & the aforementioned Tara) made their AC Comics debuts in the pages of 'Americomics'. In fact, Dragonfly was the successful non-FemForce book of AC's early years, as her solo book lasted 8 issues! Of course, the book needs it's equivalent to 'Monark Starstalker' or 'Wood-God': The answer was John Beatty's 'The Slayer', who appeared in the first issue & never appeared again (It was a 'relatively crude & oddly unfocused mishmash of incompatible comncepts', to quote the only guy who commented about him in the book's letter column, T.M. Maple!). The first two issues had four-page preview installments of new featues: Captain Freedom in #1 (who got the cover & lead feature in #5) & Tara in #2 (Who would mostly be relegated to guest show until becoming a FemForcer). Issue #3 debuted a letter column. Issue #4 would change the cover format so that the logo of the main feature would take most of the top portion of the cover. The final two issues would give the cover-featured stars longer stories! The book lasted only six issues, but they are a great run to accumilate!

I will give you more runs later!

J.A.P.

Totally agree that MOKF is a great pretty inexpensive run. Won't part with mine. One of the best things Marvel put out in the 70's along with Tomb of Dracula.

BTW, Wood God was one of my first comics. I'd like to see someone take another crack at the character.

Here is another great run that I am suggesting to you:

Captain Paragon: This is another great example of the greatness of early AC. This run lasted only four issues, but it was a great four-issue run, as we got a great four-part storyarc for the main feature, plus we got some interesting back-ups: The first two appearances of 'Space Ark' in issues #1 & #2, the first AC Comics appearace of Ms. Victory in issue #1, a Commando D back-up in issue #4 (You might have seen him in the back-up of 'Americomics' #5!), & even a Ken Mitchroney gag strip in issue #4 that makes fun of that issue's mostly black-&-white-with-16-color-pages format! This is another great gem from AC's early days!

There are more great runs soon!

J.A.P.