What is your "holy grail" of prized and historic DC comics?

[Lightning Rider]

There are quite a few. One that I can not remember an issue number, but there is the first Robin 2. I believe he was an alternate earth robin or something. But he dies to save the day . His costume is identical to classic dick robin except it has a roman #2 stitched to it. This would be a sweet issue to own. The death of Iris West would be cool. I own some of the following issues but this would be great to have, and the issue when Barry snaps Professor Zooms neck for attempting to kill his second wife. Wow. Many more, too many to put down really.

Definitely want those Flash issues.

[Ascended]

Green Lantern #51. I came to comics because of Superman (well, Superboy actually) but a big part of why I stayed was Kyle Rayner; I identified with him in the way I think a lot of people must identify with Peter Parker and for many years after Marz's run ended Kyle remained a beloved character.

I have no idea what issue number it is, but I'd love to get my hands on Wally West's first appearance.

I want a signed copy of a first print Invincible #1, and I want to bookend it with a signed copy of the final issue (I've forced myself to forget what issue number it is, the dread is bad enough as is).

You know, I wasnt thinking about merchandise when I posted this (back on page 1) but my all time favorite comic book related thing ever, is a signed photo of Chris Reeve in the Superman costume from the first movie.

[ed2962]

I'm not sure if counts as holy grail territory, but if I had more money I'd try to invest in some of the silver age Lois Lanes. I also want to get the first run of Angel and the Ape. And real curious about some of the 70's teen comics DC put out...Scooter, Binky, I have one issue of something called Debbie.

I've got decent handful of Scooter comics. It's interesting how it started out as kind of a Beatles in "Help"/Monkees comic then turned into an Archie clone pretty quickly.

[Jim Kelly]

The "first issue" of Angel and the Ape is actually SHOWCASE No. 77 (September '68). I got this and a few issues of ANGEL AND THE APE a couple years ago and I don't think they cost that much money (shipping cost not being considered). Likewise with some issues of BINKY, SWING WITH SCOOTER and DATE WITH DEBBI that I got around the same time, when I was doing my blog post on "The Many Loves of Bob Oksner".

Editorial director Carmine Infantino must have looked at the sales figures for Archie comics in 1968 and realized that this was a promising field. They change the title logo design for LEAVE IT TO BINKY, SWING WITH SCOOTER, STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER to resemble the title logos for the Archie publications. And they hire talent like Henry Scarpelli from Archie to give the art that kind of look. This accounts for the change in SCOOTER, while ANGEL AND THE APE became simply MEET ANGEL.

I understand that Archie threatened DC with legal action, so the title designs change to a different style some months later.

At the same time, DC was re-using pages from earlier work. So BINKY and the others used art from earlier books--with some heads and word balloons updated. WINDY AND WILLY re-used work from THE MANY LOVES OF DOBY GILLIS.

DEBBI'S DATES, which became DATE WITH DEBBI, seems to be an update of A DATE WITH JUDY, although as far as I know it didn't re-use pages from that book--but it did include pages from other work. Both A DATE WITH JUDY and THE MANY LOVES OF DOBY GILLIS were licensed to DC, so once that license ran out they couldn't use those characters. A DATE WITH JUDY had started as a radio show (in 1941)--also a movie in 1948--and then moved to TV in the early '50s and it had a long run as a DC comic from 1947 to 1960, outlasting the radio and TV show by some years. While DOBY GILLIS was a TV show in the early '60s (featuring Bob Denver as Doby's beatnik pal, Maynard G. Krebs).

Given my interest in Bob Oksner, I've been wanting to get COMPLETE BOOK OF COMICS AND FUNNIES No. 1 (1944) from Ned Pines, which features "The Origin of Wonder Man"--Brad Spencer, Wonder Man, has art by Bob Oksner (and may have been written by him, too), when Oksner was the art director at Ned Pines. I was happy to win a copy on eBay and got it in the mail a few days ago. It's not in the best of shape but good enough to read--however the smell is quite funky. I may have to wear a mask when I read it.

[Fearless Heart]

Vengeance of Bane 1. I wanted the comic so bad. It's not even old, but I missed out on it. I saw it for $25, and thought it was a rip off, and then I couldn't find it for less than $50. I don't know how much it is now.

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[ed2962]

The "first issue" of Angel and the Ape is actually SHOWCASE No. 77 (September '68). I got this and a few issues of ANGEL AND THE APE a couple years ago and I don't think they cost that much money (shipping cost not being considered). Likewise with some issues of BINKY, SWING WITH SCOOTER and DATE WITH DEBBI that I got around the same time, when I was doing my blog post on "The Many Loves of Bob Oksner".

Editorial director Carmine Infantino must have looked at the sales figures for Archie comics in 1968 and realized that this was a promising field. They change the title logo design for LEAVE IT TO BINKY, SWING WITH SCOOTER, STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER to resemble the title logos for the Archie publications. And they hire talent like Henry Scarpelli from Archie to give the art that kind of look. This accounts for the change in SCOOTER, while ANGEL AND THE APE became simply MEET ANGEL.

I understand that Archie threatened DC with legal action, so the title designs change to a different style some months later.

At the same time, DC was re-using pages from earlier work. So BINKY and the others used art from earlier books--with some heads and word balloons updated. WINDY AND WILLY re-used work from THE MANY LOVES OF DOBY GILLIS.

DEBBI'S DATES, which became DATE WITH DEBBI, seems to be an update of A DATE WITH JUDY, although as far as I know it didn't re-use pages from that book--but it did include pages from other work. Both A DATE WITH JUDY and THE MANY LOVES OF DOBY GILLIS were licensed to DC, so once that license ran out they couldn't use those characters. A DATE WITH JUDY had started as a radio show (in 1941)--also a movie in 1948--and then moved to TV in the early '50s and it had a long run as a DC comic from 1947 to 1960, outlasting the radio and TV show by some years. While DOBY GILLIS was a TV show in the early '60s (featuring Bob Denver as Doby's beatnik pal, Maynard G. Krebs).

Given my interest in Bob Oksner, I've been wanting to get COMPLETE BOOK OF COMICS AND FUNNIES No. 1 (1944) from Ned Pines, which features "The Origin of Wonder Man"--Brad Spencer, Wonder Man, has art by Bob Oksner (and may have been written by him, too), when Oksner was the art director at Ned Pines. I was happy to win a copy on eBay and got it in the mail a few days ago. It's not in the best of shape but good enough to read--however the smell is quite funky. I may have to wear a mask when I read it.

Wow! Thanks for the info, your blog is extremely educational!

I know over at Marvel Millie the Model underwent a similar transformation to Scooter, Binky, etc. It was originally at romance, adventure, fashion comic, but it morfed into wacky hijinks in the Archie style. Dan DeCarlo actually worked on the title before he went to work at Archie proper (I think).

[manduck37]

Side note, I definitely looking forward to indoctrinating-I mean, sharing the wonder of superhero comic book magic, with my kids once I have some. I think it's part of the reason I keep every comic I buy.

My first child is on the way and I have boxes of comics for this very purpose! I hope they enjoy those comics as much as I did growing up.

For me, one of my holy grails is Superman 18, the first part of The Death of Superman. That's where I became a regular Superman reader and broke into DC comics as a whole. Before that I read X-Men and Spider-Man but always wanted to read Superman and Batman. Superman 18 was a good jump in point and I've been reading DC comics ever since. I have a good amount of Superman and Batman comics, particularly the 80 page giants, from the early 50's on. I also have Batman #155, the first Silver Age appearance of Penguin. That one's a lot of fun as it has Penguin battling Batman and Robin with a fire breathing dragon on the cover.

[Jim Kelly]

Wow! Thanks for the info, your blog is extremely educational!

I know over at Marvel Millie the Model underwent a similar transformation to Scooter, Binky, etc. It was originally at romance, adventure, fashion comic, but it morfed into wacky hijinks in the Archie style. Dan DeCarlo actually worked on the title before he went to work at Archie proper (I think).

At Tower Comics, which more people here know for publishing the THUNDER Agents, a bunch of talent from Archie came over to Tower to wok on TIPPY TEEN. Given the popularity of teen humour books in the late '60s, I'd think Tippy would have made more money for Tower than their super-heroes.

You might also want to check out the blog "I Was a Teen-Age Giant"--mostly about the Archie Giants, but also some stuff about Tippy and about the DC teen humour comics.

[Lightning Rider]

My first child is on the way and I have boxes of comics for this very purpose! I hope they enjoy those comics as much as I did growing up.

For me, one of my holy grails is Superman 18, the first part of The Death of Superman. That's where I became a regular Superman reader and broke into DC comics as a whole. Before that I read X-Men and Spider-Man but always wanted to read Superman and Batman. Superman 18 was a good jump in point and I've been reading DC comics ever since. I have a good amount of Superman and Batman comics, particularly the 80 page giants, from the early 50's on. I also have Batman #155, the first Silver Age appearance of Penguin. That one's a lot of fun as it has Penguin battling Batman and Robin with a fire breathing dragon on the cover.

Congratulations!! What a beautiful thing.

I'm reading more and more that "Death of Superman" is what brought so many people into comics.

[jules]

Vengeance of Bane 1. I wanted the comic so bad. It's not even old, but I missed out on it. I saw it for $25, and thought it was a rip off, and then I couldn't find it for less than $50. I don't know how much it is now.

This week, it's $0.99 in a ComiXology sale. No idea what the paper copy would be going for though.

As for older books I'd like to get my hands on, probably More Fun Comics #73. It's the first appearance of Aquaman and Roy Harper, and until I found Cass and Slobo, THEY were my favorite heroes.

I sort of have that one. DC published a handful of "Silver Age Classics" reprint issues, and I got it from that. My copy of Adventure #247 comes from the same source.

The copy of More Fun I always really wanted was issue #91, which has a Green Arrow and Speedy cover where they're swinging down to the deck of a pirate ship. It was on display by the counter of a comic shop I used to frequent for several years, and I hankered after it every time I went to the till to pay. It wasn't even about the content - I've read quite a few of those early pre-and-WW2 anthology titles and they're generally simplistic and the lettering is atrocious. But I really wanted to own a comic with that cover on it. I didn't though. Silly money price on it even then, and I dread to think what it would cost now.

[Ascended]

My first child is on the way and I have boxes of comics for this very purpose! I hope they enjoy those comics as much as I did growing up.

For me, one of my holy grails is Superman 18, the first part of The Death of Superman. That's where I became a regular Superman reader and broke into DC comics as a whole. Before that I read X-Men and Spider-Man but always wanted to read Superman and Batman. Superman 18 was a good jump in point and I've been reading DC comics ever since. I have a good amount of Superman and Batman comics, particularly the 80 page giants, from the early 50's on. I also have Batman #155, the first Silver Age appearance of Penguin. That one's a lot of fun as it has Penguin battling Batman and Robin with a fire breathing dragon on the cover.

Congrats on the kid, man! I've got a couple of clones, they're a blast.

And the Death of Superman is what got me into comics too. I didnt read an issue until the four pretenders appeared, and my cousin let me borrow his. He had the fancy black covers with the shield cut out, and each pretender striking a pose on the inside cover so the emblem showed. The first issue I bought was towards the end of Reign, some Action issue, no idea what the number was. Eradicator was on the cover, flying into the foreground with his hands spread apart firing energy blasts at soldiers or something. Art by.....Butch Guice? Was that his name? I dunno. But I didnt miss an issue after that for almost ten years.

[Fearless Heart]

This week, it's $0.99 in a ComiXology sale. No idea what the paper copy would be going for though.

Thanks man! I was hoping to get a physical copy, but it's not worth the money. I already hate spending more than 50 cents an issue. lol

That's an awesome sale though. Part of me wants to just buy everything so I can have everything Bane related on my phone! I always prefer physical copies, but maybe it's time to finally get on the digital train.

[manduck37]

Congrats on the kid, man! I've got a couple of clones, they're a blast.

And the Death of Superman is what got me into comics too. I didnt read an issue until the four pretenders appeared, and my cousin let me borrow his. He had the fancy black covers with the shield cut out, and each pretender striking a pose on the inside cover so the emblem showed. The first issue I bought was towards the end of Reign, some Action issue, no idea what the number was. Eradicator was on the cover, flying into the foreground with his hands spread apart firing energy blasts at soldiers or something. Art by.....Butch Guice? Was that his name? I dunno. But I didnt miss an issue after that for almost ten years.

Congratulations!! What a beautiful thing.

I'm reading more and more that "Death of Superman" is what brought so many people into comics.

Thanks guys! I'm pretty excited. Also a bit curious to see what superheroes grab his or her interest. It's pretty interesting how many of us came to Superman and DC through The Death of Superman too. That was the comic event at the time. No one could miss it.

[KOSLOX]

I recently was gifted a box of near-mint comics by my wife's grandmother. There were tons of amazing books but the best DC book is Adventure Comics #247.

[Lightning Rider]

New treasures I just got today. Got these copies signed by Peter David, Romita Jr., and Scott Snyder. Very nice guys.