Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,220 
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Post by Confessor on Nov 24, 2015 3:34:44 GMT -5
I wonder why condition became such a 'thing'. I think I'd prefer a world where condition wasn't even a thought, outside of complete or incomplete. What was the first hobby where condition was important? Coins? Well, I personally like my books to be high-grade, or at least higher or better grade the older the books get. Meaning I'm quite happy with FINEs if the books are going back to the 1950s. The majority of everything I own from 1970-1980 is at least VF, and NM after that. This is just my own preference. My brothers and uncle over in the UK, who got me interested in comics when I was like...5....aren't as finicky. They read their new comics in bed, then fall asleep and roll over them. So they're the guys with the boxes of VGs and FINEs. And they made me a part owner of them as well, which is why I have loads of books from the 60s, 70s and 80s as well as my own higher-grade stash which I've been building since the late 90s. I know there are lots of collectors who are quite happy to own 'lesser grade' books...but wish the premium collectors would not be treated like vermin. I don't think people who want higher grade books are looked down upon in this community. CGC'ing books is a touchy subject admittedly, but personally if people want to slab books, then they should go for it. It's just not something I understand the need for. I'd bet that most of us here, given the choice, would prefer to have every comic in their collection in NM condition, but cost and/or availability doesn't always allow that. Personally, I like to get books in the highest grade that I can for a price that I'm happy with (and I'll admit I'm a bit of a cheapskate collector), but I'm also happy to have VG grade books too, if that's all I can afford, based on what I'm prepared to pay for a comic. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,220
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Post by Confessor on Nov 24, 2015 3:39:07 GMT -5
A year or so ago I cracked opened a couple original EC books that slumbered uneasily in their sarcophagal slabs. The resale value of them drained through my fingers as the plastic cracked. Not a revolutionary action, not a blow struck against capitalism, not a modicum of guilt. It was however a bit of an enjoyable perversity. Or as Dostoyevsky once said: “To care only for well-being seems to me positively ill-bred. Whether it’s good or bad, it is sometimes very pleasant, too, to smash things.” Or maybe it was the Hulk said that. I want to "like" this post twice!  |
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Post by berkley on Nov 24, 2015 3:59:19 GMT -5
A year or so ago I cracked opened a couple original EC books that slumbered uneasily in their sarcophagal slabs. The resale value of them drained through my fingers as the plastic cracked. Not a revolutionary action, not a blow struck against capitalism, not a modicum of guilt. It was however a bit of an enjoyable perversity. Or as Dostoyevsky once said: “To care only for well-being seems to me positively ill-bred. Whether it’s good or bad, it is sometimes very pleasant, too, to smash things.” Or maybe it was the Hulk said that. I want to "like" this post twice! If Dostoyevksy had ever written the Hulk that quote could have served as its first line. It's a fascinatingly ambiguous statement because "well-being" could conceivably refer either to the smasher or the smashed ... |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2015 10:04:54 GMT -5
A year or so ago I cracked opened a couple original EC books that slumbered uneasily in their sarcophagal slabs. The resale value of them drained through my fingers as the plastic cracked. Not a revolutionary action, not a blow struck against capitalism, not a modicum of guilt. It was however a bit of an enjoyable perversity. See...this proves that slabbed comics can be read  |
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 24, 2015 11:46:44 GMT -5
A year or so ago I cracked opened a couple original EC books that slumbered uneasily in their sarcophagal slabs. The resale value of them drained through my fingers as the plastic cracked. Not a revolutionary action, not a blow struck against capitalism, not a modicum of guilt. It was however a bit of an enjoyable perversity. Or as Dostoyevsky once said: “To care only for well-being seems to me positively ill-bred. Whether it’s good or bad, it is sometimes very pleasant, too, to smash things.” Or maybe it was the Hulk said that. If that had been an EC comic story, guess whose blood would have drained through whose now off-white pages as he was slabbed in the last panel... |
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Post by benday-dot on Nov 24, 2015 21:06:18 GMT -5
A year or so ago I cracked opened a couple original EC books that slumbered uneasily in their sarcophagal slabs. The resale value of them drained through my fingers as the plastic cracked. Not a revolutionary action, not a blow struck against capitalism, not a modicum of guilt. It was however a bit of an enjoyable perversity. Or as Dostoyevsky once said: “To care only for well-being seems to me positively ill-bred. Whether it’s good or bad, it is sometimes very pleasant, too, to smash things.” Or maybe it was the Hulk said that. If that had been an EC comic story, guess whose blood would have drained through whose now off-white pages as he was slabbed in the last panel... Well noted PH. And it would definitely be drawn by Johnny Craig or Jack Davis. Hmm... "Slabus Horibilus" |
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Post by benday-dot on Nov 24, 2015 21:25:04 GMT -5
A year or so ago I cracked opened a couple original EC books that slumbered uneasily in their sarcophagal slabs. The resale value of them drained through my fingers as the plastic cracked. Not a revolutionary action, not a blow struck against capitalism, not a modicum of guilt. It was however a bit of an enjoyable perversity. See...this proves that slabbed comics can be read No, actually it proves that unslabbed comics can be read. |
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Post by Phil Maurice on Nov 24, 2015 22:36:30 GMT -5
See...this proves that slabbed comics can be read No, actually it proves that unslabbed comics can be read. Exquisite retort, but "unslabbed" suggests never slabbed, what we might call "virgin" books. A better designation for graded books that have had their casings opened might be, in the superhero vernacular, "rescued" or "saved." |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2015 11:10:13 GMT -5
Exquisite retort, but "unslabbed" suggests never slabbed, what we might call "virgin" books. A better designation for graded books that have had their casings opened might be, in the superhero vernacular, "rescued" or "saved." But if a book's original integrity is preserved, does it need to be 'saved' that way? There are some collectors who don't slab their books but at the same time, keep them secreted away in mylars away from prying eyes and fingers, cuz they want that pristine look to remain that way, or want that cover that's barely hanging on by a thread to remain intact. I think 30, 40, 50 years from now, collectors who want a high (or better) grade copy might appreciate that some previous owners took steps to keep their books like that. If slabs existed in the bronze age there'd be more higher grade classics around then there are now. |
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Post by Phil Maurice on Nov 25, 2015 16:44:19 GMT -5
But if a book's original integrity is preserved, does it need to be 'saved' that way? . . .If slabs existed in the bronze age there'd be more higher grade classics around then there are now. Agree. I was just attempting a little play on words there. It's my understanding that Edgar Church kept his books in something like a meat locker, which preserved them to such an insane degree that the whole grading system had to be adjusted when they were revealed (though typing that out now, it reads like an urban legend. Maybe it is.). I am personally not inclined to care what some far-future collector thinks of my preservation practices long after I am dead. He/she will likely consider them laughably primitive in any case (these are comic book people we're talking about, after all ). |
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Post by benday-dot on Nov 25, 2015 20:38:28 GMT -5
But if a book's original integrity is preserved, does it need to be 'saved' that way? . . .If slabs existed in the bronze age there'd be more higher grade classics around then there are now. Agree. I was just attempting a little play on words there. It's my understanding that Edgar Church kept his books in something like a meat locker, which preserved them to such an insane degree that the whole grading system had to be adjusted when they were revealed (though typing that out now, it reads like an urban legend. Maybe it is.). I am personally not inclined to care what some far-future collector thinks of my preservation practices long after I am dead. He/she will likely consider them laughably primitive in any case (these are comic book people we're talking about, after all ). Bring on cryogenics for the funny book! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2015 10:41:03 GMT -5
Is there a compilation which collects Dave Stevens stories in glorious full colour? I've seen the Covers and Stories HC but the black & white renderings, while exquisite, still don't deliver the full impact as colour would. Here's a Jez edited sample of the his artwork which I consider to be among the best I've seen in comics...I believe this was recoloured but looks great on paper.  |
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Post by coke & comics on Nov 26, 2015 23:43:02 GMT -5
The Incal?
Do people recommend starting with The Incal or with Before the Incal?
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Post by coke & comics on Nov 26, 2015 23:47:12 GMT -5
Can somebody recommend graphic novels which feature dragons?
Such as Bone.
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Post by Cei-U! on Nov 26, 2015 23:51:26 GMT -5
Does Savage Dragon count?*
Cei-U!
I'd summon the wiseass but I'm already here!
* Not that I'm recommending it cuz I've never read it. I like Larson's art, though.
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