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Unpopular Golden Age Opinions Thread!
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634 posts in this topic

Maybe this will fly, maybe not. Let's give it a whirl:

 

-- I love classic precode horror covers, but for whatever reason I don't share the extreme love for Fight Against Crime #20 as reflected in its selling prices. To me the cover is more zany or goofy than horrific.

 

-- I don't enjoy looking at Jack Kirby's GA artwork. I respect that he's a founding father of the industry, but I just don't dig it at all.

 

-- For that matter, aside from the great Schomburg covers, I'm not a fan of GA Captain America either. If I'm going after GA patriotic heroes I prefer the MLJ Peps and Zips.

 

-- I'd rather have a bright, vividly-colored 1.5 GA book with a detached cover wrap than an 8.0 book with dulled colors but amazing structural soundness. (Not talking about *faded* books, which is an easier call... just books with naturally weak colors, like a good many Fiction House, Fox etc.)

 

 

OK, that's what I've got so far. Who's next? :taptaptap:

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I'll throw in Batman Joker covers. They're fun but not worth their current insane prices, imo.

 

I'm with you on the Caps being overrated -- again especially if you take into account current prices. But I'm also not crazy about most of the MLJ covers, although some are terrific. I'd substitute Raboy Fawcett covers as being among the best WW II covers.

 

And if we extend the GA into the 1950s, I'd say I've always thought ECs were overrated. Some knockout stories and art for sure, but a lot if second-rate stuff as well. I'm sure this opinion will be popular! :fear:

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I'll throw in Batman Joker covers. They're fun but not worth their current insane prices, imo.

 

I'm with you on the Caps being overrated -- again especially if you take into account current prices. But I'm also not crazy about most of the MLJ covers, although some are terrific. I'd substitute Raboy Fawcett covers as being among the best WW II covers.

 

And if we extend the GA into the 1950s, I'd say I've always thought ECs were overrated. Some knockout stories and art for sure, but a lot if second-rate stuff as well. I'm sure this opinion will be popular! :fear:

Great thoughts. I can't travel with you on ECs, but definitely on the Raboy covers. I'm not a Fawcett fan, so being honest I kind of wish they were Superman covers. If they were they'd be the highlights of every DC collection.

 

 

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OK. I'll say it,Schomburg. Great covers. I have quite a few in my collection Marvel Mystery # 40,#44, Exciting Comics with the Black Terror,etc. but I'll take a Lou Fine ,Bill Everett, cover anytime over his. It's just to busy all the time. That's what makes this hobby so great.So many opinions.

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I couldn't say it better. (thumbs u Don't get me wrong I think he is great though. That is why in some ways I like his stuff with Nedor better .Less clutter.

Edited by PUNYHUMAN
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I like the colors Schomburg used, and he was very versatile, his Xela covers are totally different than the busy war covers.

 

Do some of the Marvel Mysteries look alike...yes...but I look for color for the most part, my favorites are the Wonder Comics..

 

The Lady Luck covers have always bothered me, the characters are very elongated. ..and Doiby Dickles, lol. I love Green Lantern, but Doiby, not so much. (Sorry, Larry;)

Edited by skypinkblu
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I am not a fan of the decapitation covers (Fight Against Crime 20, CSS 22) and do not see the crazy values they have attained. I remember having multiples of CSS 22 and it was not that much higher than any of the other CSS books in its range. Back in my early 20's I love nothing more than pre-code horror, but today I don't have the taste for it. I think the world now has too much of this kind of thing going on for me to take any pleasure in it. :facepalm:

 

No offense to all you PCH folks out there. You all are great! :hi:

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I am not a fan of the decapitation covers (Fight Against Crime 20, CSS 22) and do not see the crazy values they have attained. I remember having multiples of CSS 22 and it was not that much higher than any of the other CSS books in its range. Back in my early 20's I love nothing more than pre-code horror, but today I don't have the taste for it. I think the world now has too much of this kind of thing going on for me to take any pleasure in it. :facepalm:

 

No offense to all you PCH folks out there. You all are great! :hi:

 

I kind of feel the same way I do about modern horror/slasher films: Yeah, that was gruesome ... but shouldn't there be more to it? With some ECs there was, but with a lot there really wasn't. And the "trick" endings were often telegraphed way in advance.

 

And while I'm bashing EC-related stuff :D I know people love Wally Wood. I, too, like some of his stuff and most of his drawings of anything but people were interesting. But many of his people are drawn so stiffly that they aren't lifelike and they sometimes look as if they've been pasted into the backgrounds -- as perhaps they were sometimes.

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Maybe this will fly, maybe not. Let's give it a whirl:

 

-- I don't enjoy looking at Jack Kirby's GA artwork. I respect that he's a founding father of the industry, but I just don't dig it at all.

 

 

S&K work for the most part is hard to enjoy as far as I'm concerned, not a big fan at all.

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short of early bat 'tecs, spectre and sandman covers, and a very few random multi-title covers, d.c. gold does not a thing for me.

 

i think the famous red-bucket joker 'tec cover is stoopid.

 

Me too. Once DC gets beyond 1944 I stop being interested.

 

I'm also not a fan of the non-sci-fi and non-superhero Centaurs. I get that they are scarce and may have some good interiors, but I can't get past the awful "humor" covers. Kids tripping over stuff and spilling paint is not really my thing.

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How about an opinion on the collectors themselves? I don't care how rare a book is. You guys are crazy to pay good money for a copy of a book that's ripped, split, stained, brittle, and otherwise untouchable, lest it fall apart in your hands, just to say you own one.

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And if we extend the GA into the 1950s, I'd say I've always thought ECs were overrated. Some knockout stories and art for sure, but a lot if second-rate stuff as well. I'm sure this opinion will be popular! :fear:

 

:sumo:

:tonofbricks:

 

 

 

 

:D

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How about an opinion on the collectors themselves? I don't care how rare a book is. You guys are crazy to pay good money for a copy of a book that's ripped, split, stained, brittle, and otherwise untouchable, lest it fall apart in your hands, just to say you own one.

Why would it be "just to say we own one"? Personally, I love owning some of the earliest appearances of DC heroes that are still around today... they're awesome. If low grade is the path to that happening, so be it.

 

That said,

 

Once DC gets beyond 1944 I stop being interested.

(thumbs u

 

 

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Addressing Point Five specifically:

 

I'm still a big fan of FaC #20, especially as the stories are more graphic than most pre-code crime. Yes, it's not really "horrific", and the clean cut of the decapitated head is odd, but I'm a big pre-code crime fan, and the genre as a whole has pretty tame covers as compared to pre-code horror, so when one stands out, it gets extra love from me.

 

Kirby's dynamic compositions are timeless, but much of the early S&K stuff is sloppy and rushed. I prefer their post-war output, particularly the crime stuff they did for Crestwood.

 

Most Timely stories, and GA superhero books in general are pretty boring, only worth reading if they have great art, colorful villains or absurd situations. While I love the WW2 covers from most publishers of the era, the more readable stories tend to come from the late 40s, particularly with DC.

 

I too prefer eye appeal over actual grade. Don't know if I'd generally go as far as taking a bright 1.5 over a dull 8.0, but for sure a solid 5.0 with vivid colors over a high grade with a dull color strike.

 

 

 

My heresies:

 

With the exception of a few cool covers, generally near the end of runs, Centaurs are boring looking books to me, and considering them as proto-Timelys is a real stretch.

 

Reform School Girl is grossly overvalued. Cool title for a book, but photo-covers are lame.

 

First issues without first appearances are consistently overvalued, especially superhero books with shorter runs. They are generally not really "keys" in any sense beyond being a first issue. Give me a cool cover over a generic looking #1, any day.

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Maybe this will fly, maybe not. Let's give it a whirl:

 

-- I don't enjoy looking at Jack Kirby's GA artwork. I respect that he's a founding father of the industry, but I just don't dig it at all.

 

 

S&K work for the most part is hard to enjoy as far as I'm concerned, not a big fan at all.

 

Now you've gone too far! :sumo:

 

Actually, the hobby is clearly with you given the failure of S&K books to command any kind of premium so far as I can tell. I sometimes think that the popularity of early Caps comes despite S&K's work on them.

 

I have to say, though, that I still love S&K. Granted, some of it might be nostalgia because those were some of the first GA books I collected, and when I first started collecting they were by far the most popular GA artists.

 

But I recently reread the Newsboy Legion stories and I think they hold up pretty well. As, I think, do the S&K Caps. To me, S&K's books capture the GA, not just in the approach to art and stories, but also in how they reflect early 1940s America. Granted, there is a heavy dose of Kirby's Lower East Side outlook in many of the stories, so their America is only a slice of the country.

 

But I would still say that the GA doesn't get any more GA than S&K.

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EC's Shock SuspenStories 6 with the hooded men and the damsel on her knees.

 

Sorry, but it looks like a Mad Magazine parody of a PCH book what with the main baddie's pupils showing and his hand on his hip. It looks like it's waiting for a funny caption.

 

Sorry to all the fans of this cover, not a fan.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_SuspenStories#/media/File:Shock06.jpg

 

 

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I have to say, though, that I still love S&K. Granted, some of it might be nostalgia because those were some of the first GA books I collected, and when I first started collecting they were by far the most popular GA artists.

But I would still say that the GA doesn't get any more GA than S&K.

 

(thumbs u:applause:

 

mm

 

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