eBuying Comics: Week 71

A belated welcome to 2022 to everyone! I wanted to start by talking about some sales success I had just before Christmas. I sold a few of the X-Men comics, got a questionnaire back from one buy and even managed to sell some trading cards at last! I won’t let it go to my head and think I’m a big deal when it comes to selling trading cards online but I did actually sell two sets! The same buyer brought both the ‘Original X-Men 6 card set’ and the ‘Outback Era 8 card set.’ He actually emailed me about combined postage, then someone else bid on one of the sets. Luckily I was fortunate enough he wanted it more and bid a little extra. So between the two bidders it settled the debate that the ‘Outback Era’ is more popular than the ‘Second Genesis Era.’ As for the comics I sold Uncanny X-Men #207 for its starting bid price of £5. I also sold the 2 comic set of Uncanny X-Men #212 and #213 for its starting bid price of £15. The buyer of the latter was kind enough to take time to answer my questionnaire. Just as a reminder ti give context to his answers I graded the two comics as follows; #212 7.5 VF-. #213 8.5 VF+.

1. What attracted you to my listing over others?

I was attracted to your listing because it was a good opportunity to pick up two books I wanted at a very fair price.

2. Were you happy with the grade I gave the comic?

I was very happy with the grade I received, I thought it was very fair

3. Did the grade reflect the price?

Yes, I thought the price I paid for the books is a very fair reflection of the book and their condition

4. Did the packaging reflect the price?

Yes, very happy with the way they were packaged. The books were well protected

So recently I made my first impulse buy of 2022. It was #3 of the UK magazine sized X-Men, which came out during the peek of the animated series. In it there were serialising the animated series spin-off comic X-Men Adventures as well as Jim Lee’s current X-Men comic. It is very strange seeing Lee’s work at this size and it has a less than flattering colour reprint job on it. Everything is dialled up way more than a 90’s comic should be. Psylocke is practically orange! Originally this magazine was 75p, with a cover date of November 1994. While it may of seemed a cheap way of consuming comics at the time from what I worked out this was reprinting #2 of Claremont and Lee’s X-Men in segments so you are already 3 years behind the curve! Obviously, kids at the time coming to this magazine from the animated series weren’t thinking about things like that. On doing research on this magazine I found the cover to #1 and I can say I actually had it at the time it came out! Although it says it came with a free sticker album I don’t remember that! What I do remember is the back cover had a cool Wolverine and Gambit piece which many years later I would learn was the cover to Wolverine #87. This edition has a cool Wolverine and Colossus pinup by Mark Bagley, but what really drew me to parting with £2.50 was it still had the free notebook with it! Wolverine on the cover of course. So the seller has had this magazine still with the free notebook attached for 28 years and I immediately pull it off as I have decided to use it as my new checklist notebook for conventions! Best £2.50 I spent this year!

For Christmas I received the excellent book ‘All of The Marvels’ by Douglas Wolk. For those of you unfamiliar with the non-fiction book it is about Wolk’s quest shall we shay to read every Marvel comic published between Fantastic Four #1 in 1963 and Marvel Legacy #1 in 2017. It is a fantastic read. I really enjoyed how it put a spotlight on areas I have not previously had much interest in. One example being how during the original Thor, the Asgardian life stuff was just small back up stories before Thor spending more time in his own realm became the main status quo of the book. Wolk explains in the opening chapters that he can’t give time to every series. It would be fun to learn what chapters were left out. If you are a Wolverine, Daredevil, Power Man and Iron Fist fan like me they don’t get much play. But I still enjoyed the book as a whole. To be honest I could have taken the whole book being like the last chapter in which he talks about the shared comic experience with his son. Another thing he explains in the introduction is that readers shouldn’t see this book as a checklist for all the cool Marvel comics to read… Well just for the purposes of eBuying Comics that is exactly what I am going to do. I tried to pick issues with cool, interesting story elements rather than just the most expensive. of course I will wrap things up by ranking them via value…

Fantastic Four #19 (1963 – Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers)

When this issue first hit the stands it was probably seen as nothing more than another minor hit in the series of work by Kirby and Lee. No doubt it was playing to the popularity of pop culture of the time by featuring Ancient Egypt. In more recent times it has gained attention for being the first appearance of Kang in his Rama-Tut guise. the story is a very basic idea of the FF travelling back in time for X reason and then being held captive. But I doubt newer fans jumping on this issue after Kang’s appearance in Loki know of its true secret. I often talk about how we are currently in the fan fiction age. Well this issue may have actually created that age years before now. Two writers who were probably Marvel fans when FF #19 was first published would go on to revisit this exact moment in time in two different series. First there was…

Doctor Strange #53 (1982- Roger Stern, Marshall Rogers, Terry Austin)

This issue is the final instalment of a time-travelling story arc for our good Doctor. In the process of completing his own mission for X plot point low and behold Doctor Strange ends up in Rama-Tut’s Sphinx at the exact same moment the FF were 19 years earlier. Stern even managed to close some plot loops from the previous story. Fast forward another 5 years…

West Coast Avengers #22 (1987- Steve Englehart, Al Milgrom, Christie Scheele)

Again taking place during a larger time travel story arc for the secondary Avengers team, events take the reader to inside the Sphinx. The beauty of why this issue work as fan service and as part of a wider story is because it leaves the importance of it all with the reader. There is certainly no guarantee everyone who read Doctor Strange #53 had read Fantastic Four #19 and the same for the West Coast Avengers issue and its predecessor. The reader can decide how much they invest in the moment. They can track down back issues and find out why all these characters were here at the same moment or they can take it with a pinch of salt and just accept the events and go enjoying whichever issue they are reading at face value.

Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #14 (2002- Brian Azzarello, Scott Levy, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Steve Buccellato)

Spider-Man’s origin in Amazing Fantasy #15 is regarded as a classic. The most succinct of comic book origin stories, it is rarely tampered with whenever adapted for other media. But 40 years after it first saw print Azzarello saw a gap in the panels in which to spin a tale (pun intended). It is the story of a guy, down on his luck much like Peter Parker at times. He decides to take the plunge on an event with a cash prize. The issue ends with him facing off against a boy seemingly in his pyjamas. The rest as it turns out for both of them is history.

Master of Kung-Fu #59 (1977- Doug Moench, Mike Zeck, John Tartaglione)

This issue marks one of the rare occasions where Shang Chi interacted with the larger Marvel Universe within the pages of his series. For this reason it would be a good back issue for fans of the Shang Chi movie coming to the comics. Aiding the new reader along in that regard is the fact it also features Razor Fist, as well as characters who didn’t make the big screen like Clive Reston and Pavane. Most comic booky ok it all though is the appearance of Doctor Doom. The plot twist revolves around  Strange Tales #167 by Jim Steranko.

Black Panther #1 (1998- Christopher Priest, Mark Texiera, Brian Haberlin)

This is one of the most important comics in terms of both comics history, Black Panther history and the ground work for the MCU. It is the series described in Wolk’s book that drew my attention the most and I will definitely be looking for at least the first trade at the next convention I attend. This issue is the beginning of Priest’s five year run on the title. A writer of colour writing a character who would go on to a global superstar. A lot of the elements that made their way into the Black Panther movie started here, of course that has driven the price up. But this is a must-have for Black Panther fans and I would even go as far as to say if a Black Panther fan needs any issue above all others, even his first appearance it is this one!

6. Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #14 – £2.30
5. Doctor Strange #53/West Coast Avengers #22 – £3
4. Master of Kung Fu – £4.60
3. Black Panther #1 – £38
2. Strange Tales #167 – £116
1. Fantastic Four #19 – £1,195

All values provided by Zap-Kapow Comics for 9.4 NM grades.