Date: July 1983 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $1 – $8 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads and Archie Club News Writer: Frank Doyle Artists: Stan G, Rudy Lapick, Bill Yoshida, Barry Grossman Notable Notes: Archie and friends stay at a haunted cabin!
After reading about this series in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1696 , and learning that this was the adventurous and mysterious Archie series, I dug through my back issues to see if I had any copies. Lo and behold I did – so I figured I’d give it a go and see how it rated now that I understood a little bit more about the series. Here’s what I thought about it…
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Date: November 1982 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $3 – $25 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Other Artists: Don Perlin, Jon D’Agostino & Mike Esposito, Jim Novak, Stan Goldberg Notable Notes: Cobra tries to steal a tank!
Have you ever seen a parade with a tank in it? I don’t think I have. All the parades I’ve been to have the boring military vehicles – like the troop carriers, the ambulances, the fire trucks and such. I would totally love to see a state-of-the-art tank roll down the road in front of me! Oh well, here is a story where that exact scenario happens. I didn’t see them throwing any candy though!
Date: October 1979 Publisher: Harvey Publications, Inc. Cover Price: 40¢ 2013 Price Range: $1.00 – $9.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads Writers: ? Artists: ? Notable Notes: Casper visits Cardland!
I’ve mentioned before that I grew up reading Harvey comics , and that they are a big reason I love comic books so much. Anyway, I thought Casper was cool but he wasn’t my favorite Harvey character – that honor belonged to Hot Stuff. Casper was definitely the most famous of Harvey’s characters though, and even now, years after the comics stopped being published, you can still find proof of the popularity of this friendly ghost!
Date: December 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Hammer Strikes” letters page Story & Art: Walter Simonson Other Artists: John Workman, Jr., George Roussos Notable Notes: Two worthy warriors duel for Mjolnir!
Don’t you love a really good game? A great fight? An evenly matched competition? I do! This issue gives us one of the best fights to take place in the Marvel Universe – and probably one of the few times that Thor gets really worried!
Date: November 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 24 color pages plus ads and Bullpen Bulletins Story & Art: Walter Simonson Other Artists: John Workman Jr., George Roussos Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Beta Ray Bill!
There is something compelling about a story featuring an unbeatable (or nearly unbeatable anyway) enemy. Whether a movie, a novel or a comic book a story that has an enemy do something amazing and nearly unimaginable keeps us on the edge of our seats! Here is a great story – and a great beginning to an even longer story arc – about an alien who gives Thor a true run for his money!
Date: October 1982 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $3 – $25 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Other Artists: Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel & Jon D’Agostino, Diana Albers, George Roussos Notable Notes: The Joes foil a nuclear bomb plot!
After reading a review of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero #1 over at Comics Bronze Age I was in the mood to read me some G.I. Joe comic books! I had forgotten (or, more likely, didn’t realize) that these books reflected the right-leaning political sentiments of the day. I had to smile at the contents, but it was a great walk down nostalgia’s lane as I recalled not only one of my favorite comic books of my childhood but also my some of my favorite toys!
Date: January 1981 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 50¢ 2013 Price Range: $11 – $200 Stats: 30 color pages plus ads and “Let’s Level with Daredevil” letters page Writer and Artist: Frank Miller Other Artists: Klaus Janson, Dr. Martin, Joe Rosen Notable Notes: Origin and 1st appearance of Elektra, 1st Miller scripts
I enjoy collecting comics – you know, the actual tracking down, haggling and finally obtaining an issue that I have long sought after. And creating this web site gives me the perfect excuse to get some issues I have wanted for a long time – like this one! To be honest ebay is the route I mostly take for used comics, and I put in many bids on many different DD #168 auctions before I finally won this one. It cost me $50 (that is 100 times its original price!) but I think it is in much better condition than advertised, and I was very pleased with the purchase. Hopefully one day I can sell it for at least a little bit of a profit – but if not then no big deal, because it was totally worth buying just to read the classic story inside!
Date: September 1982 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $3.00 – $25.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Herb Trimpe, J. Abel & J. D’Agostino, Diana Albers, George Roussos Notable Notes: A giant robot attacks the Joes’ compound!
As a kid I loved playing with the G.I. Joe toys. In fact, the first one I had was the 12″ variety, with the “look-through” eye and stubbly beard. I remember when the 4″ action figures came out, and I was blown away by how cool they were! Of course it didn’t take long for the G.I. Joe marketing machine to kick in and a comic book of the popular brand to appear in Marvel’s line-up. I have fond memories of reading these comics, and it was those tugging heart strings that made me want to re-read them. Here’s how it stood the test of time.
Date: July 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $5.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Hammer Strikes” letters page Writer: Alan Zelenetz Artists: Mark Bright, Vince Colletta, George Roussos, Janice Chiang Notable Notes: Sif falls for Dracula!
Ha-ha – see what I did there? But really, I have never been a fan of the vampire. Bram Stoker’s original book was ok, but that is about the only vampire / Dracula story I have ever liked – the rest have been disappointing. I was hoping that his appearance in this comic would be more to my liking (I don’t know why) but, alas, it was not. So suck it Dracula!
Date: May 1979 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 40¢ 2012 Price Range: $9 – $145 Stats: 17 color pages plus ads and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Roger McKenzie Artists: Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Joe Rosen, George Roussos Notable Notes: 1st Frank Miller Daredevil art, also the origin (and death) of Deathstalker!
The first page of this issue literally introduces us to “Lanky Frank Miller.” It is obvious that Marvel thinks this upstart artist is something special, because he is mentioned again in the Bullpen Bulletins. According to Wikipedia Miller had drawn a couple issues of Spider-man, and asked to work on Daredevil because he saw a way “to do crime comics with a superhero in them.” Yeah, looks like things worked out pretty well for Lanky Franky and his crime comics!
Date: June 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2012 NM Price: $5.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Hammer Strikes” letters page. Writer: Alan Zelenetz Artists: Don Perlin, Vince Colletta, George Roussos, Janice Chiang. Notable Notes: Don Blake is accused and Dracula is on the prowl!
The seductive blood sucker makes a timely appearance in this issue of Thor, and is immediately drawn to the beautiful Sif. Can’t say I blame him though, but will she be worth the price of her angry boyfriend? Hmm, my money’s on Thor.
Date: August 1979 Publisher: Harvey Publications, Inc. Cover Price: 35¢ 2012 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads Writer: ? Artists: ? Notable Notes: Hot Stuff loses his cool and zaps all kinds of things!
Hot Stuff comics were my earliest comic reading experience. My mom used to buy them for my brother and me when we went on long car trips, and I would blast through them. It must have been here that I picked up my fascination with devils and demons. I’m not a devil worshiper by any means, but I’ve always thought they were cool characters in stories, movies and most of all Dungeons & Dragons! Reading this comic reminded my why I started thinking they were cool!
Date: February, 1986 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 75¢ 2012 NM Price: $4 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Hyborian Page” letters page. Writer: Jim Owsley Artists: John Buscema, Bob Camp, Janice Chiang, George Roussos Notable Notes: Conan – the redeemer of a city?!
I’ll admit to not being very schooled in the history and stories of the famous Conan. My first association with the character was the 1982 movie starring none other than the Governator: Arnold Schwarzenegger. So maybe I’m not the best person to judge the accuracy of this comic, but I can tell you what I thought about comic – and here’s a hint: I wasn’t too impressed.
Date: September 1983 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2012 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads. Writer: Frank Doyle Artists: Dan DeCarlo Jr., Jimmy DeCarlo, Bill Yoshida, Barry Grossman Notable Notes: The return of Jinx Malloy!
Good old Archie comics – they were another staple of my childhood. This series is aimed at teens, which probably explains why it holds up better on a re-read than my childhood favorite: Richie Rich . Is there any comic book fan who hasn’t read an Archie comic? Maybe people who starting reading comics when adults – if so they are missing out on a great, classic story!
Date: January 1976 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 25¢ 2012 Price Range: $38 – $3 Stats: 18 color pages plus ads and “Swamp Things” letters page. Writer: Gerry Conway Artist: Nestor Redondo Notable Notes: Swamp Thing battles its doppelganger!
Ok, I’ll be honest: when I bought this issue I thought I was getting the one that was Alan Moore’s first issue… but I was sadly mistaken. Alan Moore’s first Swamp Thing script was in Saga of the Swamp Thing #20, not this one, which is just plain old Swamp Thing #20. Sheesh! Such a rookie mistake – I am totally embarrassed! Oh well, I bought and read this one so let’s see how it stacks up shall we?
