Normally I post what comics I bought on Wednesdays at the Community board. As fate would have it, though, I didn't buy any new comics this time. But I did pick up some old stuff for cheap today that's worth mentioning!

My local comics shop moved last week. Due to Easter and other things, I was unable to go to the shop's new location to pick up last week's new stuff. I was finally able to go there today, where I figured two weeks worth of stuff would be jammed into my slot. Unfortunately, as I went in the store, I overheard the owner say that today's new releases did not arrive at the shop today, perhaps because of Easter. I was a little bummed to hear that, since I knew the stuff I was getting from last week only amounted to a few comics, less than ten bucks -- hardly worth the trip way up there really.

But then I decided to look around the shop and get hit by another notice of what appeared to be bad news. A sign next to the copies of Previews said that starting in May, customers would have to pay $2.95 to receive a copy of Previews, but that the $2.95 would be given back to them if they subsequently turned in an order for that month. (So, as long as the person still ordered something each month, they'd still technically get it free.) Since I order around 25 things every month, in addition to what I have on pull, this is no problem.

Anyway, then I notice a box of comics and as well as some pulp-type mags in a half-size box near the 50-cent comics section. I very briefly thumbed at some of the comics in the box and noticed at least one 1950s Marvel horror comic. After getting my comics from my pull slot, I asked the owner of the shop what the story was with the box -- did they have a price, or was it stuff he hadn't gotten around to pricing yet? (I figured it smart to go ahead and ask about it because one time I was able to buy several old comics, including a few 1960s DC issues, for ten cents each at that store. That was one of the best comics bargains I'd ever gotten.)

The box had a 1970s Star Wars Treasury Edition sticking out of the side and he wondered if I meant how much that comic was or how much the whole box was. He took out the Treasury Edition and a pack of card holder sheets that were in the box and replied that he hadn't gotten around to pricing those comics and that they weren't really supposed to be out there. He said, he really didn't know what was in the box, but it looked like there were some old things in there, but he said he'd sell me the whole box of stuff for 15 bucks. I thought "Wow, sure" but decided I'd flip thru there a little bit more, and I did, but then just as quickly decided that I'd better take him up on the offer immediately before he changed his mind, and bought it. If my new comics had come in this week, I probably wouldn't have had the extra cash to get the box!

So, anyway, here's what I bought:

Last week's releases:

PREVIEWS catalog: free

ALL-STAR COMICS #2 ($2.99)

AVENGERS Vol. 3 #16 ($1.99)

THE FLASH #148 ($1.99)

THE WORLD BELOW #1 ($2.50)

[Actually, the above came to around $7.58, counting the 20% discount. Also get bags & boards for the above comics free.]

Then, here was what was in the box I paid $15.00 for:

UNCANNY TALES #38 (Atlas, from December 1955. Big Comics Code seal on cover. Date stamp on cover reads "Nov 4 1955." Includes a short tale drawn by Joe Sinnott. Also includes a tale later reprinted in the 1970s in one of Marvel's horror-reprint mags like Crypt of Shadows.)

TALES WELL CALCULATED TO DRIVE YOU MAD #4 (1998 mag reprinting MAD #10-12 from 1950s. I already have this issue.)

MARVEL PREVIEW #1, 5 (1970s B&W mags, already have)

WHAT IF? Vol. Two #49 (1993)

WALT DISNEY'S SPIN AND MARTY #9 (Dell, 1959)

two copies of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TPB by Frank Miller

FOUR COLOR (Dell) #590 (Hansel and Gretel, 1954); #653 (Smokey the Bear, 1955); #926 (Walt Disney's Peter Pan); #937 (Ruff and Reddy, 1958; funny animals); #957 (Buffalo Bee, 1958); #1092 (Walt Disney's Toby Tyler; 1960 movie adaptation); #1114 (Huckleberry Finn movie, 1960); #1244 (Walter Lantz's Space Mouse, 1961); #1246 (Mickey Mouse, 1962)

RUFF AND REDDY #10 (Dell, 1961; cartoon)

BOY ILLUSTORIES #56 (Lev Gleason, 1950)

HOWDY DOODY (Dell) #32 (1955)

MARGE'S LITTLE LULU (Dell) #37 (1951); #120 (1958)

MY DATE Vol. 1, no. 1 (Hillman, 1947): In rough shape, but probably the best comics find in the box! Features a lead story by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, plus a middle tale that looks like it was drawn by Mort Meskin. It was here that Simon & Kirby first started romance comics.

SIX-GUN WESTERN Vol. 1, no. 1 (Atlas, 1957): All of the stories in this issue are signed by Stan Lee, but only the lead story also contains a credit for an artist: Joe Maneely. Cover by John Severin (the word "SEV" written on a sign in the background).

TWEETY AND SYLVESTER (Dell) #23 (1959)

RIP HUNTER, TIME MASTER #16 (DC, 1963; rough shape)

YOUNG EAGLE #4 (Charlton, 1957; western)

MYSTERY TALES #38 (Atlas, 1956. Cover stamp says Dec 9, 1955." Includes art by such nearly-forgotten artists as Tony DiPreta, who currently draws the "Rex Morgan MD" newspaper strip, and Al Hartley.)

BUGS BUNNY (Dell) #32 (1953); #41 (1955); #61 (1958); #100 (1965)

HARVEY HITS #48 (Harvey, 1961; an all-Phantom issue, presumably reprinting the Lee Falk newspaper strip)

WALT DISNEY'S MICKEY MOUSE #45 (Dell, 1956); #77 (1961)

TOM & JERRY #162 (Dell, 1958)

LOONEY TUNES (Dell) #99 (Jan. 1950), #131 (1952)

WALT DISNEY'S UNCLE SCROOGE #200 (Whitman, 1982; poor condition)

THE FLINTSTONES #6 (Dell, 1962)

SUGAR AND SPIKE #22 (DC, 1959) [wow!]

BUFFALO BILL Jr. #8 (Dell, 1958)

STONEY BURKE #1 (Dell, 1963; Jack Lord photo cover)

BLONDIE #59 (Harvey, 1953)

COSMO CAT #1 (Funny animal superhero; no date; publisher listed as IW; Overstreet mentions an IW Reprint #1, which must be this. I guess the date as being 1963, see below.)

TIPPY TERRY #1 (Appears to be a Dennis the Menace-type series. This is another one of those IW comics like above, with the same ads. Overstreet puts this as being 1963.)

SPEEDY RABBIT #1 (another IW reprint, circa 1963)

REDDY GOOSE in "Castaways of Cocunut Island" (shoe store giveaway comic, presumably from late 1950s or early 1960s)

NANCY AND SLUGGO #132 (St. John, 1956; appears to reprint Nancy newspaper strips)

TIP TOP COMICS #206 (St. John, 1957; reprints of Nancy, Captain & The Kids, & Peanuts!)

TASTEE-FREEZ COMICS #2 (Harvey, 1957)

BATTLE ACTION #18 (really banged up condition; Atlas Comics, 1955; includes a tale drawn by Russ Heath and another drawn by Dick Ayers)

MARGE'S TUBBY #6 (Dell, 1953)

BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA #1 (Topps, 1990s, by roy Thomas & Mike Mignola, still sealed)

And...the following pulp magazines, all kinda beat up: AMAZING STORIES from Jan. 1948, Feb. 1948, and June 1951; FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES from Feb. 1953; ADVENTURE from April 1, 1929; DIME MYSTERY MAGAZINE from Sept. 1939; and (most beat up of all) ARGOSY ALL-STORY WEEKLY from April 9, 1921 !!!

And....a bunch of coverless comics including: SPACE FAMILY ROBINSON #8 (1964); SUPERMAN FAMILY #168 (already have, big tear on first pg); unknown 1960s Mystery In Space issue (missing first few pgs); Doctor solar, Man of the Atom #29 (1981); unknown 1960s Batman issue (missing first few pgs); unknown Charlton space comic, 1960s; SUPERBOY ANNUAL #1 (DC, 1964); and unknown John Carter of Mars comic (not Marvel).

Whew! Whaddya make of that haul?? I daresay that I'll be putting a bunch of the kiddie comics, and maybe even the pulps, up on eBay eventually....!

*****************

The story's not over yet!

The shop's new location, oddly enough, is right down the street from another comics shop. And that shop has also been a place for bargains lately.

They used to have a bunch of boxes right up front with comics for 50 cents or a buck each. Then, a few months ago, I'd noticed that the price was 4 for $1.00. I subsequently spent a few hours digging thru those boxes and managed to get a long-box full of those comics for a total cost of $65.

The last time I was in the shop, a few weeks back, I decided to ignore the 4 for $1.00 section up front (which I imagined that I'd pretty much picked clean) and decided to check out their magazines and underground back issue section. Perhaps you recall a recent post I made about my finds. At the back of the store I'd discovered they had a half-dozen boxes of many comics-related magazines at the price of 6 for $5. I could have gotten the 1990s Tor (by joe Kubert) #1-4, but decided just to get #1. But I knew that the next time I went in the place, I'd get #2-4.

Well, believe it or not, I never got around to the magazine section again when I stopped in there today, due to its close proximity to my favorite shop's new location. I saw that they still had several 4 for $1.00 boxes up front, so I decided to thumb thru a few, to see if they were any different from the ones I'd gone thru before. To my surprise, there were comics they didn't have in there a few months ago! Cash was getting tight, unfortunately, but I managed to pick up the following little haul for a grand total of 10 bucks (or, 25 cents each):

BLACK CAT: THE WAR YEARS #1 (ReCollections/Alfred Harvey, 1994): I have two issues of this company's Black Cat reprints, but never heard of this "War Years" series. It reprints earlier tales of the Black Cat, plus other strips. And wow, the ad in the back shows that the Black Cat series that I only thought ran for around two or three issues actually ran at least 10 issues! There's more treasures to be found one day...

BIZARRE HEROES #1 (1990, Kitchen Sink; this copy is autographed by Don Simpson)

DON SIMPSON'S BIZARRE HEROES #1-4 (Fiasco Comics, 1994; #1 is autographed by Don Simpson)

[The shop actually had doubles on one of those autographed copies; I put one of the autographed doubles back into the box!]

IRON MAN #93 (1976; noticed this at the last minute, someone had laid it back down on top of the boxes; small corner of back cover torn off; Kirby cover)

MISTER X #7 (Vortex, 1986; drawn by Seth)

STAY TUNED Vol. 1, #3 (not a comic, but a British fanzine about the Avengers TV series; I have another issue of this zine, being a fan of the TV series, and was pleased to find another copy for so cheap)

THOR #228 (Marvel, 1974)

3-D SUBSTANCE by Jack C. Harris & Steve Ditko (3-D Zone, 1990): I'd seen the cover of this 3-D Ditko comic before but never ran across it until now. A pleasant surprise!

TOMB OF DRACULA #39 (Marvel, 1975)

WAR #33 (Charlton, 1982; reprints)

WEIRD WONDER TALES #21 (Marvel, 1977; I already have this issue, but this one is in such nice shape, compared to my well-read copy, I had to get it.)

WHAT IF? Vol. One #8 (Marvel, 1978; Daredevil)

WHAT IF? Vol. Two #38 (Marvel, 1992; Thor)

WONDER WOMAN Vol. One #289 (dog-eared corner, 1982), 316, 319-321, 323-326

WONDER WOMAN Vol. Two #117 (by Byrne), 120 (by Byrne; Perez drew the cover)

WULF THE BARBARIAN #1 (Atlas, 1975)

X-MEN CLASSIC #46-48, 55, 57, 71, 72, 74, 76, 77, 90

[Notes: #46 reprints Uncanny #140 by Claremont/Byrne; #47 reprints the final Claremont/Byrne story, Uncanny #143; #48 reprints Uncanny #144 with pencils by Brent Anderson; #55 reprints Uncanny #151; #57 reprints Kitty's Fairy Tale from Uncanny #153; #71, 72, 74, 76, & 77 reprint the Paul Smith era of Uncanny; #90 reprints Uncanny #186 drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith. Now I can sell off my originals!]

ZERO ZERO #1 (1995 Fantagraphics anthology, original cover price was $3.95)

Some of the comics I ended up putting back in the box due to lack of funds included a few EC reprints that I may already have had, Wonder Woman Vol. Two #50, a bent-up Tomb of Dracula, a few westerns. I didn't bring my comics list with me, so I didn't want to get carried away. In fact, the Thor issue and some of those WW Vol. One issues may be duplicates of ones I already have. (Ah well, they were cheap anyway.)