So I’ve been otherwise occupied, both at work and at home, and with doing some behind-the-scenes tinkering with this here website, so today I’ll show you a picture of stacks of 1960s/1970s DC war comics I picked up over the weekend:
What a glorious, terrible-conditioned mess of books these are. Stored poorly, some water damaged, many put in comic bags that had no flaps, so what good were they…these may be in lousy condition, but at least they’ll be cheap!
I’m hoping to get started on pricing them this Tuesday, when I have some free time on my hands and presumably the rest of my body…when the customer visits will likely be low, and I won’t mind smelling more like decaying newsprint than I usually do.
Anyway, war comics! Heavy on the Sgt. Rock/Our Army at Wars, and with inexplicably a modern Spider-Man comic that’s a retailer exclusive variant. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever received so many of the DC war books in one shot like this before. It was a nice surprise, even with the wear and tear on them. It’s one of the joys of owning a comic book store, getting to play with old comics like these.
COOL!
Criminy what a trove!
Nice! A lot of primo Kubert art and hopefully an early 70’s Toth classic like ” Dirty Job” is in there!
I’m sure like many comic fans there’s something intoxicating about the smell of a box of old comics. It always takes me back to first getting into comics and slightly seedy backrooms of used bookstores. The feeling of unlimited possibilities and unexplored worlds waiting to be discovered.
I love the coloring on those old war comic covers. Scenes that in real life would be bland brown-on-brown or camo-on-green end up including deep saturated purple and orange and red. Probably a result of being produced by a superhero comic company, but they’re really eye-catching and dramatic, especially over some gorgeous Kubert linework.
All I have to say about this is “Then, Korea!”
I Love The Smell Of Old War Comics In The Morning
I can’t be the only one who turned up his nose at War Comics back in his primo Bronze Age buying days & now eagerly grabs any issue of Sgt. Rock or the Unknown Soldier he comes across.
@Benjamin Diehl: If a certain Mike Sterling doesn’t use that panel again, and I have saved it if he needs the panel, I’m going to start walking around like Al Pacino in DOG DAY AFTERNOON. Attica! Attica! And then…Korea!
Mike: in the name of Absolute Ultra the Multi-Alien…please!
My jones these days has been for cheap Sgt. Rock and Jonah Hex. I’d love to see these corners of the DCU explored more. I know there’s a new Hex series coming, but I wish it wasn’t dealing with the supernatural.
I love that photo you took! There’s something about seeing back issues outside of a long box — just spread over a table, largely unbagged — that feels like seeing them in their natural habitat, like an end table at a barber shop or something.
I know space is at a premium at conventions, but there have been a couple times I’ve seen comics of this era spread out over a card table, and man, that setup is IRRESTITABLE. I can’t help picking through them and buying a few. It’s no good for the high-grade stuff, but for a reading-copy, random-horror-book buyer like me, it’s like a venus flytrap.
I’m another Bronze Age kid who ignored war comics. Fast forward a few decades, my return to collecting floppies again started with Enemy Ace, the Unknown Soldier, and the Losers! Thanks for sharing that glorious photo, Mike!
@ Mike Sterling
Just market them as “Battle Damaged” copies of classic DC War Comics. Hopefully there is some great Russ Heath art in some of those issues.