Silver Age Comic Books Part 1

When I was a kid comic books were a main interest for me. My guilty confession is that I learned most of my reading skills from comic books. I have a specific memory of looking through a Detective Comics and not knowing the words, yet following the story through the pictures. Understanding the words came later. At one time I had a chest that was filled with comic books.

Comic books seemed like a magic world for me as a child. I looked forward to going to the pharmacy where comic books were sold and the anticipation of seeing the new arrivals was incredible. I learned when the new deliveries were made so that I could be sure and not miss anything. In between I would reread the comics I had.

Sadly, the allure of comics dimmed as I got older. Still, I think it’s interesting to look at the covers of some of those old comic books. I’m interested in the artwork and the covers bring back thoughts of the time and place of some old memories.

My fantasy now is to go back in some kind of time machine and tell myself to save all of those comics in plastic covers and don’t let them get away. The comics that I had were from the Silver Age and some of those issues fetch a good sum of money now if they’re in fine or mint condition. If I had known then what I know now…

Many of my comics did disappear. Not knowing the value, I told my mother it was okay to sell some to her music students. I have sold a few at better prices. I had a number one issue of Green Lantern that was in fine condition. I sold it to someone from Charleston, SC who drove to Atlanta to buy it and a few other books I showed him.

I still have a fairly large collection of comic books of varying grades and value. I have trouble getting a handle on what I have and figuring their worth. It’s a work in progress, I suppose.

The reason I’m writing about this now is that DragonCon is coming to Atlanta on Labor Day Weekend and I have some books I’d like to show to collectors. Last year, I went to the trouble and expense of sending off four of my books to have them officially graded. It was a test to understand how this collectors’ grading system works. The CGC number is very official and the comics are sealed in plastic with their CGC number grade and a verbal description of their condition. It’s a system that’s a standard for collectors.

In addtion to these I have a large number of books that have no official grade but I’ll try to put a value on them myself based upon what I’ve learned.

In the next couple of days Im going to scan my CGC graded books and a few others I have. Those scans and the books’ appraisal will be part 2 of this blog post. At the top of this post is a copy of one of the books I've had graded.