. . . → Read More: Captain America Casting Call Ad, 1985]]> Well, late 1985 / early 1986, for the musical that never came to fruition…

Okay, so, in the case of Marvel books that were distributed to both mainstream newsstands AND direct market comic shops during the . . . → Read More: A question of eye appeal: What’s in the box?]]> Some collectors don’t notice. Some collectors notice but don’t care. Some collectors notice and DO care: the UPC box, in the lower left hand corner of Copper Age Marvel titles. More specifically, what’s in it.

Okay, so, in the case of Marvel books that were distributed to both mainstream newsstands AND direct market comic shops during the time, the UPC box was filled with a bar code for one, and an image for the other…

…that direct market image was commonly a Spidey head, but sometimes another character, or whatever else piece of custom Marvel art / promotional text. Let’s take for example New Mutants 98, which we’ve ranted about previously:

Now, as far as we know, neither price guides nor back issue dealers make any distinction in value between the two; the covers are really fundamentally the same, and it’d be a great stretch to construe them as “variants.”

However, on a personal preference level, you really can make a case about what’s known as “eye appeal.” Is it nice to look at? If you had a choice between the two copies above at the same price (and all other things being equal), wouldn’t you go for the copy with art in the lower left corner, instead of a bar code? For us, it definitely makes a difference, especially when you’re considering slabbed Copper Age Comics.

Though, again: some don’t notice, some notice but don’t care, some notice and DO care…

With about a day left in the auction as we post this, the current high bid is about $57,000. UPDATE: Winning bid ended up being $71,200.

Per the seller’s auction description, “I was in the comic art, and toy collectable business for 35 years, and it is my opinion, based on . . . → Read More: McFarlane Spidey 313 Original Cover Art on eBay!]]>

With about a day left in the auction as we post this, the current high bid is about $57,000. UPDATE: Winning bid ended up being $71,200.

Per the seller’s auction description, “I was in the comic art, and toy collectable business for 35 years, and it is my opinion, based on empirical evidence of the number of people showing up to conventions, that Todd Mcfarlane is the single most popular comic artist ever (with all due respect to Jack Kirby, God bless him).”

And Todd actually posted about this auction on his Facebook, “HOW 2 MAKE MONEY: Sold a Spidey cover I did years ago for about $700. It’s now on EBAY for over $55,000! Guess I should have asked $800.”

More info / resources:

David Wenzel’s official site is here, and we highly recommend it…

…and if you’re looking for back issues of the original series, definitely inquire at your local . . . → Read More: The Hobbit]]> Yep, years before anyone knew who Peter Jackson was, Eclipse Comics published a beautiful three issue (squarebound “prestige format”) adaptation in 1989, by Chuck Dixon and David Wenzel…

More info / resources:

David Wenzel’s official site is here, and we highly recommend it…

…and if you’re looking for back issues of the original series, definitely inquire at your local comic shop. And yeah, there’s also a collected edition!

Comics Scene was published by Starlog, and focused on comic book TV and movie adaptations. Scan courtesy of milehighcomics.com

Okay, here we’ve compiled a list of Comic News Magazines and Price Guides that were in existence at any point during the Copper Age of Comics (1984 – 1991) Did we miss anything? Please let . . . → Read More: List of Comic News Magazine and Price Guides]]>

Comics Scene was published by Starlog, and focused on comic book TV and movie adaptations. Scan courtesy of milehighcomics.com

Okay, here we’ve compiled a list of Comic News Magazines and Price Guides that were in existence at any point during the Copper Age of Comics (1984 – 1991) Did we miss anything? Please let us know!

Amazing Heroes

Comics Buyer’s Guide

Comics Collector

Comics Feature

Comics Interview

Comics Journal

Comics Scene

Comic Shop News

Comics Value Monthly

DC Direct Currents

Four Color Magazine

Marvel Age

Overstreet’s Price Guide

Overstreet’s Price Update

Overstreet’s Price Bulletin

Wizard