The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide!

I have to confess I was sorely tempted to pick up this latest The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide with its outstanding homage to Avengers #3, the comic I argue is the single best Marvel ever produced. But I held myself in check as I have done now for many years. That doesn't mean I haven't picked up a lot of these though over the years. 

One of the most important events in the history of comics was the publication in 1970 of Robert Overstreet's first Price Guide. It was a work which he did with the crucial assistance of legendary fan Jerry Bails, and this incomplete but significant work transformed a ragged two-bit pastime into a full-blown hobby and a shiny new industry. All yours for five bucks. (Forty smackers today.)

Robert M. Overstreet (Pick Your Poison.)
Whatever came from that, good and ill, can be traced very much back to the impact of "THE Price Guide".

My first Guide I bought was the fifth volume (found it on a newsstand), but it would be many years before I saw or bought another. Once I found comic shops, it became a regular thing. I personally have lost some interest in it as an item itself. It has become like so many of the comic books it tracks so self-conscious of itself as a collectible that it undermines the charm of the activity it lionizes.

But, I do rather love old Price Guides, the ones from the early days, when the format was still relatively simple, and the text could be read easily by people of all ages and didn't require me to break out the magnifying glass which came with my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. The early guides speak to the fan in subtle but specific and effective ways.

Here are the first twenty-five of those early lovely covers, by some of the industry's true talents. The earliest three covers aren't much, but the ones that followed for many years are masterpieces in my estimation and it was a huge thrill waiting to see just what who would be featured and how the cover design, logos and all, would reflect the specific subject. Sadly, the later covers become more and more bland as the material and logos become standardized.

The price slips up to six bucks on the next two Price Guides, but we get color covers. 

In 1974 we get this beautiful cover by Don Newton of the Justice Society of America. I don't know when I fell in love with the JSA, but they were the first and remain strong contenders. It costs fifty cents more. 

In 1975 we are treated to a portrait of Tarzan of the Apes by Joe Kubert. This is the first one I found, but it was not the last. I still remember buying it at a classic newsstand in Ashland Kentucky. It's only a nickel away from seven bucks now. A big outlay for me at the time. 

Will Eisner offers up a real treat for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration cover. I have to admit I'm surprised to see such a late appearance of Ebony without some modifications. The price jumps to seven dollars and fifty cents. 

Carl Barks stepped in to give us a bizarre scene featuring Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig for 1977. Another forty-five cents is added to the price. It's to be remembered that these were years wracked by very high inflation. 

Bill Ward knocked it out of the park with this splendid Good-Girl contribution for 1978. The price holds steady. That's not all I'd like to hold. 

Wally Wood is the main man on this retro sci-fi classic for the 1979 edition. The price jumps a full buck. So many of the classic Woody tropes are here -- the bubble helmets, the girl in the might-as-well-be-naked outfit, and bug-eyed aliens. 

Alex Schomburg revives Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner battling those skanky old Nazis in 1980. The price for the guide leaps up yet another dollar. 

L.B. Cole provides a bizarre and spooky piece of art for the 1981 volume. The good news is the price held steady. 

In 1982 we get a nod to MAD Magazine with Norman Mingo showing us what it's like for Alfred E. Newman to get some special clothes. Price stays the same for three years in row. 

Don Newton returns in 1983 with DC's Big Three in a wonderful infinity cover. It's a fourth year for the price. 

Bill Woggon provided this tasty image of Katy Keene for the 1984 offering. My daughter still holds a grudge against the Archie outfit because when she tried to join the Archie fan club, they sent her Katy Keene stuff instead. The price holds for a half a decade. 

For the fifteenth guide in 1985 we get a cover by C.C. Beck featuring the Big Red Cheese and the other members of the Marvel Family, just before the explosion. The price has exploded and rises one dollar. 

The Price Guide joins in with Marvel's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration 1986. Johnny Romita and his gang provide the cover. At ten dollars and ninety-five cents the Guide would cost you a little over thirty bucks today. Things are improving on that front. I can't calculate anymore prices because in wily move keeping the price obscured would be wise, so as to cut down on sticker shock, I suppose. 

Ron Dias offers up a nifty painting celebrating Disney's Snow White with Mickey and Donald along for the ride on the 1987 guide. 

In 1988 L.B. Cole returns, this time promoting the Man of Steel on his Golden Anniversary. Comic books have become very aware of their legacies in these years. 

1988 gives us a Jerry Robinson rendering of Batman and Robin battling Robinson's creation the Joker. I notice that the Joker is packing heat in this one. I'm a little confused by the perspective on this cover, but Robin seems to enjoy it. 

Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson join forces once again in 1989 to offer up a fantastic cover featuring the Justice League of America. Even though I can't see him I'm sure the Atom is in there somewhere. 

Alex Schomburg returns in 1990 with a fabulous painting with Timely's Big Three rounding up torpedoes. The cover celebrates fifty years of Cap. 

Mark Bagley and John Romita join forces in 1991 to gives us the first Guide cover to feature Spider-Man (I know he's on the 1986 but he's not featured necessarily.) It's Spidey battling the Green Goblin. 

The twenty-third edition from 1992 has the Flash and Green Lantern up front with their Golden Age counterparts bringing up the rear. Carmine Infantino returns to do the honors. 

In 1993 it's the X-Men on the twenty-fourth edition of the Price Guide. The artist is Mike Parobeck, who left the world much too soon. 

It's the X-Men again in 1994 by John Romita Jr., this time they are held at bay by the legendary Yellow Kid created for newspapers in 1895. The Overstreet Comic Price Guide celebrates its own anniversary. 

And that's a wrap. The Guide has gone on to become a very complicated affair, available in all kinds of formats for all kinds of needs. Though I collected these Guides for a time, I rarely if ever checked the prices. My comic are pearls without price, though I know that one day, sooner than later I will have to sell them off. 

Heavy sigh. 

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The Toon Treasury Of Classic Children's Comics!

While The Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics is divided into five categories ranging from "Funny Animals" to "Fantasyland", the real categories in this book according to editors Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly really fall between four artists -- Sheldon Mayer, Walt Kelly, John Stanley and Carl Barks. The editors admit as much and work from these giants of comic art dominate this collection regardless of the category a story might fall into. 

Chapter One is titled "Hey, Kids!" and celebrates such titles as Sheldon Mayer's Sugar and Spike (three stories) and Scribbly (one lengthy sequence of one-pagers), as well as two stories featuring Little Lulu by John Stanley. Dennis the Menace makes two appearances in this section and talents such as Jules Feiffer and Harvey Kurtzman are represented by Clifford and Egghead Doodle respectively. We are also treated to a story of Intellectual Amos by Andre LeBlanc from the pages of The Spirit sections. 

Chapter Two is dubbed "Funny Animals" and leading the way is Walt Kelly with a few "Uncle Wiggly" pages, a skewed fairy tale titled "Hickory and Dickory  Help the Easter Bunny", as well as an early Pogo story from Animal Comics. Mayer returns with a funny Three Mousketeers story and we get three Fox and Crow stories by Jim Davis. Donald Duck by Carl Barks is on hand alongside John Stanley's "Jigger". Throw in a Nutsy Squirrel and you have quite a bevy of beasts. 

Chapter Three titled "Fantasyland" delivers the goods as might be suspected. Lots more Walt Kelly with stories (four to be exact) from Fairy Tale Parade and a new name George Carlson shows up with some offbeat fairytale variations. John Stanley returns as does Little Lulu with two offerings. We get a story by Popeye animator Dan Gordon featuring a prototype of Droopy and MAD man Dave Berg is represented with two stories adapted out of Alice in Wonderland. Add in a little Supermouse by Milt Stein and it's a festive section indeed. 

Chapter Four is called "Storytime" and seems to be a section in which some oddball stuff finds inclusion such as more Pogo, more Intellectual Amos, and even a C.C. Beck story starring "The Big Red Cheese" himself  titled "In the Land of Surrealism". The latter is a delight. But the highlights of this section are by Carl Barks who has two Duck stories, one featuring Donald battling bees and the other with Uncle Scrooge and the boys venturing to the distant paradise of Tralla La -- one of comic's great classics tales. 

Chapter Five wraps it all up with under the heading "Weird and Wacky" giving the editors free reign. Such things as three Burp the Twerp one-pagers by Jack Cole, four Hey Look! one-pagers by Harvey Kurtzman, alongside  a J. Rufus Lion story by Mayer and a Patsy Pancake yarn by Milt Gross. Dr. Seuss offers up the peculiar classic "Gerald McBoing Boing" and Dick Briefer's Frankenstein plays music. John Stanley's Melvin the Monster tries to catch a mouse and it doesn't go well. The highlight though of this section are several pages of "Foolish Faces" as well a complete Powerhouse Pepper story by Basil Wolverton. 

The main significant  difference between this 2009 collection and the exceedingly similar Yoe Book collection from 2011 I examined last weekend, is that the latter was more interested in a diverse range of examples from the public domain to showcase what had existed in kids comics. This collection was more about the pure quality of the stories and sacrificing some variety. There's not much to criticize about either collection though if you have any fancy at all for light-hearted comic book tales. 

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Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics!

This Yoe Book The Golden Collection of Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics is a feast of light-hearted fun and funny comics designed for kids. And there must be a little bit of kid in me because I enjoyed most all of them. The immediate drawing card for me was the staggering list of talent represented in this hefty tome. Names often associated with kids comics are evident such as Carl Barks, John Stanley, Walt Kelly and George Carlson. Less likely folks are Jack Kirby,  Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta and Wally Wood. Add in typically sardonic cartoonists such as Syd Hoff, Harvey Kurtzman and Jules Feiffer and you have a heady brew here. There's even a complete (or attempt) vintage tale by the great Dr. Seuss. 

After a short introduction, Craig Yoe, the editor of this opus divides the stories up into some pretty entertaining categories beginning with "Old Skool" which is comprised of just one entry from the 1850's entitled The Adventures of Tom Plump. 

Following that is 'Fairy Tales & Fantasy" which offers up stories by the likes of Walt Kelly, Dave Berg (twice) and George Carlson. These are breezy samplings with fanciful critters, talking buildings and two takes on Alice in Wonderland. There's a retelling of the King Midas story featuring art from Wonder Woman great H.G. Peter. 

Next is a section called "Kid's Stuff" and we get a John Stanley piece about a kid named Peterkin Pottle alongside a lengthy story by Syd Hoff with a character named Tuffy. Jules Feiffer is represented with a few Clifford pages and even the Yellow Kid by R.F. Outcault shows up. 

"Funny Animals" is one of my favorite sections and kicks off with Harvey Kurtzamn story Pigtales about two enterprising porkers trying to sell door to door. Then there's a longish Felx the Cat story followed by a charming story about The Calico Pup. There are stories about dogs, cats, birds, and even bears. The last is Barney the Bear by Carl Barks. One of the doggie stories by by John Stanley again. Surprisingly Jack "King" Kirby checks  in not once but twice with a story about a rich rabbit and a big-mouthed crocodile named Lockjaw. In the Kirby's stories the animal is among people and in some of these the animals are ubiquitous in human roles. Frank Frazetta shows up with a Hucky Duck story as well. 

That lengthy section is followed by "People Are Funny" and that kicks off with two Jack Cole one-pagers about a blowhard named Windy Breeze. There's a bit by Mort Walker about a madcap reporter and Intellectual Amos by Andre Le Blanc is lovely to look at. There are some nifty stories by Jack Bradbury and Al Stahle as well. The highlight for me was the most recent story in the collection by decades, a story from 1997 drawn by Steve Ditko for Yoe when he was in charge of the freebie Big Boy comics.

"Super Duper Heroes" is next and we get Super Rabbit, Supermouse, and SuperKatt. These were drawn by Milt Stien, Al Hubbard, and Al Gordon respectively. There's another human one-pager by Gordon as well called Mussle-Man. One thing about superhero funny animals is that it's sometimes difficult to detect their powers since funny animals are not subject to normal physical laws anyway. 

The section titled "Nonsense" features all fourteen pages of Heji by Dr. Seuss. This abruptly stopped comic entry is even given a potential ending just for this collection by writer Clizia Gussoni and artist Luke McDonnell. A second highlight of this section is a Basil Wolverton story titled "Flap Flipflop and the Flying Fish". There are a few vintage fanciful tales but it's left to Wally Wood to close this section with his "Goody Bumpkin" story from Wham-O Giant Comics. ( It is of course reformatted.)

Following that is a section called "Total Nonsense" which defies description a bit and a wind up with the final part titled "Now It's Your Turn" with a two-page how-to-draw-comics bit. 

This is totally a book intended for kids to get kids excited by comics both old and older. It should work well in the capacity, but for this geezer it was a delight to read. 

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Interesting Times!

We live in interesting times, something we are often advised to avoid. The economics of the United States are falling into disrepair as a caste system begins to increasingly assert itself. The verities of what once was touted as the "American Dream" are being plowed under so that those with it can keep it. That's a dim assessment, but alas it is what I see looming. The "I've-Got-Mine-Fuck-You" Society scratches up one lame-brained slogan after another to attempt to justify Dickensian notions which will ultimately reap the whirlwind.

Living in a part of the country where you can still find folks who remember living in "company towns", it's truly sad to see that mindset reasserting itself. To see that people, citizens, are being fragmented and pitted against one another is disgraceful. Once, a few years ago the very folks who tout these techniques would've screamed it was un-American, but now they sing a different tune, one adjusted to soothe their masters. Whether it's cancelling unemployment compensation without any credible jobs program in place, attempting to crush the public postal service with peculiar and onerous healthcare payments, or restricting the core value of any democracy, the ability to cast a ballot for representation, there are too many examples by the modern crowd that the "people" matter less than their paymasters.

The public good is held in disdain as the marketplace is lauded as the solution to all problems. That's obvious poppycock, and why it's given the time of day is intellectually abominable. The marketplace can solve some problems, but it is not and never will be a replacement for the creation of a fully-developed citizen. We are not customers, we are not employees, we are citizens, something other and over those other lesser  and sadly increasingly limiting definitions. 

Right now, me and mine are fine. But it will not last, not for any of us. Hold on to your hats, these are most interesting times!

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All In Color For A Damn Sight More Than A Dime!

One of the most important events in the history of comics was the publication in 1970 of Robert Overstreet's first Price Guide. It was a work which he did with the crucial assistance of legendary fan Jerry Bails, and this incomplete but significant work transformed a ragged two-bit pastime into a full-blown hobby and and shiny new industry.


Robert M. Overstreet (Pick Your Poison.)
Whatever came from that, good and ill, can be traced very much back to the impact of "THE Price Guide".

The first Guide I bought was the fifth volume (found it on a newsstand), but it would be many years before I saw or bought another. Once I found comic shops, it became a regular thing. Since Gemstone took over publication of the Guide, I personally have lost some interest in it as an item itself. It has become like so many of the comic books it tracks so self-conscious of itself as a collectible that it undermines the charm of the activity it lionizes.

But I do rather love old Price Guides, the ones from the early days, when the format was still relatively simple and the text could be read easily by people of all ages and didn't require me to break out the magnifying glass I once upon a time reserved for the Oxford English Dictionary. The early guides speak to the fan in subtle but specific and effective ways.

Here are the first twenty-five of those early lovely covers, by some of the industry's true talents. The earliest three covers aren't much, but the ones that followed for many years are masterpieces in my estimation and it was a huge thrill waiting to see just what who would be featured and how the cover design, logos and all, would reflect the specific subject. Sadly the later covers become more and more bland as the material and logos become standardized.




Don Newton

Joe Kubert

Will Eisner

Carl Barks

Bill Ward

Wally Wood

Alex Schomburg

L.B.Cole

Norman Mingo

Don Newton & Jeff Rubinstein

Bill Woggin

C.C.Beck

John Romita

Ron Dias

L.B.Cole

Jerry Robinson

Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson

Alex Schomburg

Mark Bagley & John Romita

Carmine Infantino

Mike Parobeck

John Romita Jr.
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