I thought that I was fairly close to completing a First Publishing collection, but after checking find that i still need 99 regular issues, 21 Classics Illustrateds and 4 OGNs (done in mostly by latter issues of Whisper, Lone Wolf & Cub and Mars and some of their latter stuff that no longer satisfied my tastes).

John

J.A.P.

Or Victory Productions: There are only four titles (Shuriken, Phaze One, Komodo & The Defiants, and Shrike), & only 15 overall issues published, so that is a cheap run to fill (and it started in 1985)!

J.A.P.

Complete runs show up quite regularly on eBay.

However, there are subsets which can be quite rewarding... Disney Showcase (their movie tie-in title) has wonderful photo covers and comicbook renditions of great celebrities (I've got a dogeared copy of "The Boatniks" with Phil Silvers, and a copy of "The Love Bug"). Huey, Dewey, and Louie Junior Woodchucks contains Barks stories (but not art), many of which were redrawn in the 1990s by Daan Jippes. (Look for the issue with HDL on the cover, and a bird has made a nest in the bugle. Flip to the back story, where Uncle Scrooge has an hallucigenic vision!) And then there are the Alex Toth Zorro comics, many of which have been collected in trade paperbacks. The Disney Comics of the 1990s, edited by Marv Wolfman do feature many writers not normally associated with Disney comics. The production values of those issues was pretty high.

Another short pre-Crisis run, which SCREAMS for a hardcover slipcased edition, is Witzend. However, the copyrights are a mess (Steve Ditko was a contributor). Apple Comics is another interesting publisher, as is Starblaze, and Pacific Comics. But I guess you could lump them in with the Black-and-White publishers pre-implosion, since they fall into the Pre-Crisis, Post-Direct Market time period, and this article deals more with titles which might appear on newsstands.

http://comics.org/covers.lasso?SeriesID=13685

(I've become a minor connoisseur of third-tier teen humor titles starring blondes due to using them as fodder for my own "It's Cookie!" recaptioned stuff....)

The artwork is fine, but the first 3 cover gags are all weak, even for this sort of thing, with #1 being downright confusing in its layout. I can't see any reason why someone looking for this sort of comic would choose it instead of an Archie. Ditto when I look at most of their other covers and ponder the decision of a typical DC or Marvel buyer of the time.

I didn't mention some of the publishers noted above because my mandate is pretty much pre-Crisis here.

As for Vicki - I don't have any first hand experience re. the title's scarcity - just from old market reports etc... There are a few copies of #4 on ebay right now, with BINs at $20+. I understand that Gothic Romances mag, and one of the Movies Monsters mag is tough to find. I had the one with the Harryhausen Cyclops on the cover as a kid, but it's been lost to the sands fo time.

I took some time off from piecing together an Atlas-Seaboard collection - but I'm thinking that I might jump back onboard. For those interested in A-B - check out the old Comic Book Marketplace and Comic Book Artist issues dedicated to the company - and check out the 'Atlas Archives' website.

In terms of Tower - I have most of the superhero stuff (it's still quite affordable), but I can't see myself buying all of those Tippy Teen books. I never even mention those weird Tower paperbacks.

Another I thought of mentioning was Simon and Kirby's Mainline comics - but those are soooo pricey.

I'll bet Vicki is hard to find because of guys like me who thought, "Say, with just a couple of Vickies, I could have a complete set!"

Collecting entire runs sure is fun, though!

Then there are a few where, if you've already got a collection of a particular book, it shouldn't be too tough to round out the company. (Cerebus to Aardvark-Vanaheim, or Elfquest to Warp, for example)...

TeknoPhage and Mr. Hero were quite good! (at least the early issues...)