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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Mar 27, 2020 19:21:44 GMT -5
I've never read the bronze-age 'Eternals' but have access to a full set (I think 19 issues + 1 Annual) that a fellow collector has decided to part with. Is it any good? It's VERY good. A lot depends on how much you like Jack Kirby's work from the 70s. These comics were published by Marvel, but are mostly unrelated to the mainstream MU. Think of them as Kirby Comics. If you like the Fourth World, Kamandi, Captain Victory, etc., and/or you want to see the introduction of the Celestials (including at least one image that was homaged in one of the MCU movies), you'll love the Eternals. It's Kirby goodness. I recommend if you don't have and have stuff you are fine to part with, it is worthwhile for the read at the very least.
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Mar 27, 2020 19:27:05 GMT -5
Thanks! Follow up question. I have a copy of ASM 106 that has an insert. It is not Mark Jewelers, it says National Diamond Sales (I’ll post pics). From what I have learned these are more scarce and generally only appear on books from the early 70s. On mycomicshop site, they also list ASM 106 as having a Mark Jewelers insert. Could it be that they just grouped together MJ inserts and National diamond inserts? If so I am interested to see which issues exist with the National Diamond insert and if anyone has compiled and actual list. Right now my count is at 6 confirmed issues with National Diamond sales inserts. All Marvel, no DC. You inspired me to do some more research, and I came across a spirited discussion about the two inserts, over at the cgccomics forum. Here's the link to their discussion: www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/215201-mark-jewelers-inserts/There's a lot of interesting info in that discussion, but I've copied/pasted a portion that seems pertinent to your question: a list made by a poster there named awe4one. "awe4one" seems very knowledgeable about the inserts and posted a chronological list of the inserts that appeared in Marvel Comics: awe4one's Marvel TimelineApril 1971 - October 1972 - National Diamond Sales (Farrar note: this is where ASM #106 comes in) November - December 1972 - Mark Jewelers Inserts January - April 1973 - National Diamond Sales May - June 1973 - Haven't seen a copy w/inserts July 1973 - MJ Inserts with the Mennen Wrap August - September 1973 - MJ Inserts October 1973 - MJ Insert with the Alka Seltzer Wrap November 1973 - February 1985 - MJ Insert March 1985 - MJ Insert with the Bose Wrap April 1985 - July 1991 - MJ Insert The earliest DCs with MJ inserts I've (awe4one) also seen is Aug 1972 and ended in 1986. The NDS/MJ inserts also ran in Archies and Gold Keys from late-1971 to 1973.So his list supports the idea that there's a NDS-insert ASM #106 (that you have) and that there is no MJ-insert ASM #106 comic--despite the MJ listing on mycomicshop. pinkfloydsound17 , I think you are correct that mycomicshop was confusing the two or just lumping the two insert types together. Also: mycomicshop has separate sections for the Mark Jewelers variants and also for the National Diamond Sales inserts. I did a quick check of the two sections and there is some overlap with the comics in the 2 lists, such as the aforementioned ASM #106: two variants are listed, one for MJ and one for NDS. However, they don't have an MJ one in stock . But what's even funnier is that they list 1972's Daredevil #92 in both sections, (supposedly) having both an MJ copy and an NDS copy. Both DDs are VG, and they're different prices ! Thanks Farrar! I did some digging also and started up a thread over there two. Got some great info from some others! It is neat that there are people who collected them. I find them neat to find when and if I am lucky to stumble across one. I dunno if I would hunt them down since they seem plentiful enough...not quite llike the price variants from the mid to late 70s that people seem to enjoy hunting now.
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Post by berkley on Mar 27, 2020 19:31:30 GMT -5
I think Kirby's Eternals series is a misunderstood masterpiece, one of the best and most original things ever done in comics. But be warned, many people don't see much in it - including, unfortunately, all the writers who have worked on it for Marvel since the original book was cancelled.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 27, 2020 20:01:33 GMT -5
A friend of mine is helping liquidate the estate of someone he knew who was a comic reader back in the 70's. The guy dabbled a little in speculation even back then... which is why the estate has 90 unread copies of Eternals #1. Though I know that awareness of comic fandom goes back at least to the 1960's, I'm always surprised to hear about mint copies of some comic dating back to the 40's or even earlier. Were there people picking up, say, Action Comics #1 back in 1938 who told themselves, "I better take care of this - it might be worth something some day?" I know collecting goes back much further than the 20th century, of course and people have always kept an eye open for any odd ball item which might someday be worth something, but were there a significant number of people taking care of their comics during the golden age with an eye towards resale down the road (as opposed to keeping them in nice condition because, "Hey, it's mine and I want it to be in nice shape".) I know one significant collection came from an artist (not a comic artist) who had long runs of things and stored them flat, in a hall closet, where temperature was fairly stable. GA books were bigger in size, with 64 pages, on average; so, less rolling spines and things like that. However, with paper drives and the 50s witchhunts, scarcity is a big deal and condition is kind of relative to other copies out there. What passes for a top condition GA book wouldn't usually qualify for a SA book. Still, anybody who hung on to them beyond childhood, paper drives, witchhunts, usual disasters would have treasured them, much as the people who held onto Life, Colliers and the Saturday Evening Post (National Geographic was kept for "other" reasons).
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 27, 2020 20:07:08 GMT -5
Eternals is, by far, Kirby's best post-4th World work, apart from Streetwise.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Mar 27, 2020 21:17:47 GMT -5
I don't think there were a significant number, but there were some. Over on the CGC forums, there's a member who has been researching fandom and he found a bunch of stuff about a guy who was a hardcore comic collector - in the modern sense of the word, not the "some kid who had a lot of comics" sense - as early as the late 40's, like '47.
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Post by Cei-U! on Mar 27, 2020 21:54:57 GMT -5
Eternals is, by far, Kirby's best post-4th World work, apart from Streetwise. Agreed, on both counts.
Cei-U! I summon the Fourth Host!
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Post by Farrar on Mar 28, 2020 10:39:43 GMT -5
Thanks Farrar! I did some digging also and started up a thread over there too. Got some great info from some others! It is neat that there are people who collected them. I find them neat to find when and if I am lucky to stumble across one. I dunno if I would hunt them down since they seem plentiful enough...not quite llike the price variants from the mid to late 70s that people seem to enjoy hunting now. LOL, that's wild! Okay, so I guess there's no need for me to post more links to their discussions about the topic ANyway, yes, there's a lot of great info in those discussions, including these handy NDS-ASM and MJ-ASM charts Images from posts in the CGC Comics forum--thanks CGC!
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Post by Farrar on Mar 28, 2020 10:41:17 GMT -5
I don't think there were a significant number, but there were some. Over on the CGC forums, there's a member who has been researching fandom and he found a bunch of stuff about a guy who was a hardcore comic collector ... as early as the late 40's, like '47. Crimebuster, are you referring to Ed Lahmann?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 28, 2020 11:21:19 GMT -5
I always hated getting issues with the Mark Jeweler inserts. They made reading the comic weird.
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 28, 2020 11:59:38 GMT -5
I always hated getting issues with the Mark Jeweler inserts. They made reading the comic weird. And I don't understand why they're such collector's items.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Mar 28, 2020 13:23:41 GMT -5
I don't think there were a significant number, but there were some. Over on the CGC forums, there's a member who has been researching fandom and he found a bunch of stuff about a guy who was a hardcore comic collector ... as early as the late 40's, like '47. Crimebuster , are you referring to Ed Lahmann? No, though I also found a thread on the CGC forums about him once you mentioned the name, and I see he was also a very early serious collector. The person I was talking about was named Dave Wigransky. There's a very long and interesting thread about him you can read here, which includes a photo of him from 1948 that was published in the Saturday Review of Books along with a written rebuttal of Dr. Wertham that he had sent in to the magazine. It shows him already in 1948 with a dedicated comic book room and a huge collection of comics dating back to at least 1935. It's a very interesting read! (although, again, quite long as well).
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Post by beccabear67 on Mar 28, 2020 13:51:38 GMT -5
And I don't understand why they're such collector's items. I have a theory that possibly the issues with the inserts heading to the military PXs were early in the print runs and known for having the best printing quality. I could be wrong, this is based entirely on a Champions #14. I had some others before without knowing they were thought of as superior in any way, at least I didn't pull the inserts out which was a bit tempting as they were heavy paper and kind of in the way of reading the comic. I did use or otherwise get rid of the 'tattooz' in a few Marvel comics later... I couldn't imagine who would care if they were in there or not.
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Post by Farrar on Mar 28, 2020 13:58:30 GMT -5
No, though I also found a thread on the CGC forums about him once you mentioned the name, and I see he was also a very early serious collector. The person I was talking about was named Dave Wigransky. There's a very long and interesting thread about him you can read here, which includes a photo of him from 1948 that was published in the Saturday Review of Books along with a written rebuttal of Dr. Wertham that he had sent in to the magazine. It shows him already in 1948 with a dedicated comic book room and a huge collection of comics dating back to at least 1935. It's a very interesting read! (although, again, quite long as well). Wow! Thank you so much for the info and the links (that was going to be my next question , could you provide links to the discussion...). I should have remembered Wigransky, as I have Alter Ego #90 (mentioned in the thread discussion), which contains excerpts from young Wigransky's rebuttal to Wertham. Thanks again Scott
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2020 19:03:50 GMT -5
I don't have any of those Mark Jeweler insert editions. Not by choice, I just never came across any.
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