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KC Carlson by Keith Wilson

by KC Carlson

Bunny #4

I’m right here to tell you some secrets. Roger Ash collects quick draw McGraw comic books. Wayne Markley collects a bizarre teen series published by Harvey Comics called Bunny (“The Queen of the In-Crowd!”) that reads like the creators were smoking the staples. (So do I. gather the book, I mean. Not smoke the staples. But… hmm…) I’d tell you what trick book beloved Smith collects, however he hasn’t shot me in the deal with for a couple of weeks now, as well as I’d truly like my nose to completely grow back. It’d be a risk-free bet that it would have women in it. Or guns. Or women with guns. Okay, it’s bit Lotta in Foodland. Didn’t you ever question exactly how she might pay for to eat so much? Answer: She couldn’t. She held up grocery stores at gunpoint. true story. [Roger, is it still April?]

Quick draw McGraw #10

I believe everybody has at least one quirky comic book that they like sufficient to collect. Or if they don’t, they should. It’s type of important for those of us who have been collecting for decades as well as already have quite much all of the truly essential (emphasis facetious) stuff we want. I believe Roger collects quick draw McGraw just so he has something to look for at shows while he’s waiting on artists to surface the sketches that he’s commissioned. Plus, he truly likes horses. as well as guns. as well as horses with guns. What much more reason do you truly need?

Little Lotta in Foodland #29

Part of this is trying to recapture a few of the sheer fun that we had as bit youngsters reading comics for the very first time. as well as not having our very first experience be with a superhero comic book. just like youngsters today are much more likely to begin reading with a few of the numerous fantastic non-superhero comics like Bone or Smile or Owly or Amelia Rules!

OH CRAP, HE’S getting NOSTALGIC AGAIN…

It was a totally different world back then. (First of all, it was spelled super-hero back then.) Super-heroes shared the spinner racks with genres which barely exist today, including Westerns, Romance, funny Animal, science Fiction, as well as Action-Adventure. many of these comics shared two general traits: youngsters weren’t excluded from reading them (mostly) as well as numerous of them were really funny. What a concept!

Archie’s MadHouse #12

I liked The Flash as well as Justice league of America and, eventually, remarkable Spider-Man as well as The Avengers, however I likewise purchased as well as checked out Walt Disney’s Comics as well as Stories; Fox as well as Crow; different Archie titles, particularly Archie’s MadHouse; different Harvey titles, mainly Casper as well as hot Stuff; Melvin Monster; Sugar as well as Spike; as well as a ton of Hanna-Barbera (Yogi Bear, The Jetsons) as well as Warner Bros. (Bugs, Daffy) characters. I likewise purchased a great deal of Dell as well as Gold essential adaptations of then-current films as well as TV series as well as every problem of mad Magazine. I miss having those type of options in print today.

The Fox as well as the Crow #87

As I grew older, a great deal of these titles either drifted away or I stopped purchasing them in favor of much more as well as much more super-hero titles. Plus, I had to begin paying for my own films and, eventually, college, food, as well as shelter… part of the reason we stop reading bit youngster comics is that we stop being bit kids. as well as we particularly don’t want to be caught reading bit youngster comics by our peers.

Huckleberry Hound #14

Today, we’re getting to the point where practically every considerable super-hero comic book from that age has been lovingly collected in some type or another. Not so, numerous of my other youth favorites. If I (and my buddies above) want to catch up with Jughead or the road Runner (who talked in rhyme in the comic books) or Stumbo the huge — those characters who have mostly been forgotten (or at least not compiled) — we have to dive into the long boxes at comic shows as well as conventions.

Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple to discover them.

WHY NOT?

One issue in collecting much more esoteric comics is that dealerships don’t always bring this material to comic conventions as well as shows. They’re dealt with with ever-increasing charges to purchase tables — which may imply cutting back on the number of tables that they can afford. regardless of exactly how much area they buy, they requirement to get the greatest return possible per square foot, which implies identifying books to bring by genre as well as profitability. That’s why you discover mainly superhero comics (arguably the most collected genre) as well as high-ticket “key” books from back-issue dealers.

That Wilkin young boy #25

If you’re collecting non-superhero books, it’s simpler to discover very first problems or much more “collectible” problems of a run than run-of-the-mill problems of the series, which aren’t as widely known as well as therefore less desirable or likely to sell. If you’re searching for Archie Comics, for instance, you’ll see a great deal of very first problems or very first character appearances, or the Giant-Size Annuals of the 1950s, or the Archie as well as Betty & Veronica titles (both extremely collectible), however if you’re searching for a random problem of That Wilkin young boy or Pep from the 1970s or 80s, you may be searching for a while. The upside of this is that you will many likely discover it in a dollar box ultimately — however you’ll have to paw with a lot of lame superhero stuff that was over-ordered or nobody cares about anymore to get to the Archies.

SMASH YOUR COMICS against THE WALL!

Walt Disney’s Comics as well as stories #48

Another thing you’ll encounter collecting kids’ comics is a higher percent of comics in truly terrible shape. numerous of them were folded in half as well as put in a back pocket or otherwise abused (or just checked out as well as re-read to the point where they fell apart). A typical issue with kids’ comics (especially Disney comics like Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories) is that a great deal of them were bought by membership — as well as the comics were typically sent folded in half as well as wrapped in thick brown paper. Overstreet really has a designation, “subscription fold”, for this type of defect.

Missing pages or clipped discount coupons are likewise defects that crop up often in comics aimed at youngsters. A great deal of youngsters really did tear out the Archie Pin-Ups from those comics. Also, I often see discount coupons for subscriptions or Sea Monkeys or X-Ray Spex or guns missing from comics — often implying the story on the back of the page is missing its last panel! These type of defects are in some cases not caught by sellers — because they’re inside the book, as well as many grading is based on the condition of the outsides. So you requirement to thoroughly examine every comic you look at by counting the interior pages.

A great deal of old kids’ books are harder to discover just since nobody believed to save them. All the media stories about making money on old comics function the action as well as Detective as well as Captain America as well as Superman as well as Batman comics that are worth huge bucks — so many people just saved those titles! early Archie as well as Harvey as well as Dell comics are collectible as well, however not as “sexy” as the superhero books are to the media, as well as they eventually don’t always fetch mega-prices (first appearances of traditional Disney characters excepted).

A NONNY MOUSE

Another method that collecting kids’ comics differs from collecting superhero books lies in exactly how we view them. The collectability of superhero comics is frequently identified based on the creators who dealt with them. Superhero creators are revered in this field, as well as even a few of the most obscure superhero artists of the 40s as well as 50s are widely known sufficient now to be collectible.

Beep Beep the road Runner #4

Most kids’ comics were created anonymously, long before comic credit ratings were a standard. even today, many kids’ comics from back then aren’t correctly indexed with developer names, unless you can discover an professional in the field who can determine art styles. Writers are even tougher. In some cases, we understand who the main writers were, however not necessarily the precise stories/features they wrote. Although a few can be guessed by their composing style or by routine assignments. Superhero comics have been well indexed as well as documented over the years. many kids’ comics have not – or at least not commonly published or circulated.

Yogi Bear #9

Comics connected with Walt Disney or Hanna-Barbera or other big home entertainment business were likewise huge on keeping the work anonymous. A great deal of us youngsters believed that Walt Disney drew whatever — at least up until we were old sufficient to understand better. Archie Comics didn’t enable developer credit ratings up until 1980. many of the other kids’ comics publishers didn’t last that long.

Plus, publishers understood that keeping their creators anonymous was great for business. understood creators like Joe Simon as well as Jack Kirby might command larger page rates than men that nobody knew. keeping skill anonymous made it harder for them to insurance claim ownership of what may be a important residential or commercial property decades later (as numerous present comic book court situations attest.)

TALK TALK

If you’re trying to gather much more esoteric type of comics, one of the very best methods is to begin going to regional comic shows as well as letting a few of the recognized sellers who always go to understand that you are searching for this “off the beaten path” material. numerous of them may have such material at their shops however don’t bring it to shows for reasons discussed above. however if they understand they may have a prospective sale, they’re typically pleased to bring what they have to the next routine show.

Archie’s women Betty as well as Veronica #119

I was out on the road working conventions a few years ago, as well as I was lucky sufficient to be working for somebody who put the word out to all his “road warrior” friends that I was collecting Archie comics. before long, these men were bringing me several boxes of stuff to look at, at practically every show. I actually purchased thousands as well as countless Archie comics — many for a buck or less — over just a couple of years. The books you want ARE out there! in some cases you just have to request them!

Collecting comics from my youth is immense fun. There’s a fantastic sense of “Hey, I keep in mind that story!” or the nostalgic feeling of whatever being so simple. I miss those days. That’s why I’m having such a blast collecting old Archie comics — only a couple hundred to opt for a full run back to (around) 1958. I like that old stuff!

Not sufficient guns, tho–

KC CARLSON SEZ: YEOW! BY NODES! HE shot BY NODES!!

Disclaimer: KC’s lawyers would like us to mention that there were no guns in bit Lotta or Archie comic books. quick draw McGraw was one more story, however. That man was crazy! beloved has guns, however he would never shoot anybody… except perhaps himself while trying to show off.

Remember, animation characters don’t kill people. Superheroes do.

Classic comic covers from the Grand Comics Database.