Cosmic Comic Capsule:
’worthwhile’ comics rated
That old "Fantastic Four comic
you bought when you were ten
years old, long since thrown away
in disgust by Mom, may well be
worth between $5 and $10 today,
and quite possibly more. In fact,
practically any Marvel or D C
comic you purchased over a de
cade ago can probably be meas
ured in dollars today, according to
the latest official bonafide Comic
Book Collector s Price Guide
By WALT HAIGHT
For the true collector (of whom
there are many), the value of a
comic book is measured by the
quality of both the artwork and the
story, and over the past few years
there has developed a rather high
standard by which they are
judged. This means simply that
y our hopes for sudden wealth will
be in vain if all you have in the attic
are copies of "Baby Huey” or
Deputy Dawg." If you have some
old Marvels or C.C s tucked
away, your chances are better,
and this brings me around to the
gist of this article
Once you are able to discern
the trash from the collectibles, you
may see that, currently, there are
a handful of comics appearing
monthly which possess that touch
of artistic or literary class that will
make them worth a pretty penny a
few years hence. You will also
see, not surprisingly, that there
are hundreds of other" comics,
those suited for wrapping fish and
insulating the ceiling, and these I
will strive to omit from the list
below
Making up this list are the major
titles appearing on the stands this
month which give emphasis to art
and story, and beside each is a
rating of from (1) to (10). A ten
means that they don t come any
finer in either department, and you
should get at least several copies
of it, while a one indicates that
you ve got either a lemon or this
month s issue of Shazam! And,
of course, your own judgment
may vary from the suggested rat
ing
WARLOCK #12 (9) — Writer
artist Jim Starlm s madness car
ries over beautifully onto the
printed page Not quite the epic
that the last few issues have been,
but still far superior to most of the
other titles this year. Excellent.
SWAMP THING #22 (8)—One
of D C.'s most consistent mags,
this one is a little heavy on the
social comment theme, but
there's still the usual great art
work.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #196
(8)—Jack Kirby is back, the
creator of Cap back in the early
40 s. There s a bicentennial
theme which will culminate in,
quite appropriately, Issue #200
TOMB OF DRACULA #43
(7)—They keep killing him, reviv
ing him, killing, reviving. The ques
tion is, how do they maintain the
originality? A Berni Wrightson
cover is an added plus mark tor a
plus issue.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN
#61 (7)—Standard Conan tale,
loosely following a short story writ
ten by the creator of Conan,
Robert E. Howard. John Buscema
is a good artist, but he does so
much work in other mags that he
can't devote the amount of time
this book deserves.
KA-ZAR #15 (7>—Val Mayerik
has improved a lot since he drew
the Man-Thing book. This issue is
a good indication.
r> J - ~ —
cH —■**
BLITZGRIEG #2 (6)—If the art
was as good as the story, this
would be the finest D C. comic on
the market. As such, the story
alone should surprise you with its
boldness.
DR STRANGE #13 (6)—The
world gets blown up, but as usual,
it was just a dream
SUB-MARINER (MARVEL
SPOTLIGHT #27) (5)—Jim
Mooney proved himself to be an
excellent artist in the Man-Thing
book. The story gets waterlogged
after the first few pages, though.
INHUMANS #4 (5)—I was ap
prehensive after seeing the cliche
cover, but the story was surpris
ingly good. Fair art.
THOR #246 (4)—Lacks the
usual cosmic touch.
AVENGERS #146 (4)—An as
sassin is out to get our heroes. He
shouldn t bother The artist would
be a more fitting target.
AMAZING SPIDERMAN #155
(3)—Marvel's answer to soap
operas. For fans only.
IL'
K r
DAREDEVIL #132 (3)—Some
original settings, not a bad plot,
but DD needs a new artist.
X-MEN #98 (3)—The new
stories don't match up to the epics
from the 60 s.
GHOST RIDER #17 (2) Don't
let anyone tell you differently:
Frank Robbins artwork is terrible.
DEFENDERS #34 (2) The best
thing about this magazine is the
Valkyrie's breastplate.
BLACK GOLIATH #2 (2)
Change Luke Cage's costume,
give him a mask, make him taller,
and you have Black Goliath. Give
it another 3 issues.
FANTASTIC FOUR #169 (2)
Whatever it is, it's definitely not the
worlds greatest comic
magazine."
The celler-dwellers rating a (1)
are: ACTION #457, BATMAN
#274, CHAMPIONS #4, HER
CULES #4, IRON MAN #85,
JUSTICE LEAGUE, KOBRA #2.
HULK #198, OUR ARMY AT
WAR #291, STARMAN #12,
STAR-SPANGLED WAR,
SUPERMAN #298, TARZAN
#247 *
and of course at 2645 Willamette
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Poor Georgie, the Rock Star. ^
One day Georgie Soloway jumped off a penthouse,
fell in love in an empty theater, raced down a ski slope,
circled Manhattan in his private jet, and tried to find
some creep who put him down to every girl he liked.
Dustin Hofffnan
"Who b Harry KcHcvntan
and why is he saying those terrible things about meT
Friday Feb. 6
7 and 9 p.m. 150 Sci.
$1.00
y