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The edowens71 Comic Journal
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227 posts in this topic

Another one knocked off the list today...the 8th printing of Picture Stories from the Bible Complete Old Testament :banana:

 

It's not particularly unusual to see an 8th printing pop up on eBay (where I snagged this one)...but it is unusual to find one that looks this nice:

 

picstoriesbiblecot8_f.jpg

picstoriesbiblecot8_r.jpg

 

I believe that! Looks great for an almost-60 year-old black cover. Its owners weren't as pious as they should have been, else the book would be more worn lol

 

Congrats!

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What an excellent journal you've put together, Ed. I haven't been on the boards for a while and finding this upon my return has been a real treat! I'm always in awe of people that have the drive and determination to be so focused. I bow to your collecting skills. (worship)

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Another one knocked off the list today...the 8th printing of Picture Stories from the Bible Complete Old Testament :banana:

 

It's not particularly unusual to see an 8th printing pop up on eBay (where I snagged this one)...but it is unusual to find one that looks this nice:

 

picstoriesbiblecot8_f.jpg

picstoriesbiblecot8_r.jpg

 

I believe that! Looks great for an almost-60 year-old black cover. Its owners weren't as pious as they should have been, else the book would be more worn lol

 

Congrats!

 

 

lol

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What an excellent journal you've put together, Ed. I haven't been on the boards for a while and finding this upon my return has been a real treat! I'm always in awe of people that have the drive and determination to be so focused. I bow to your collecting skills. (worship)

 

Hey Colin! :headbang:

 

Thanks for stopping by the journal...glad you're enjoying it...hope all is well otherwise...

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So, I've been like a sponge, soaking up Picture Stories from the Bible issues off of eBay...nobody else seems to want them :D

 

No missing issues to mark off the list, but a couple recent upgrades...

 

Remember this "third printing" wreck from a month or so ago?:

 

Snagged this off ebay for $25'ish...it's tanned and taped, but fills the hole until I can find a nice copy..the 50-cent 3rd printing:

 

picstoriesbiblecompnt_3b_f.jpg

 

Just pulled in the upgrade...much, much better (no tape, and not much tanning, either) :cloud9: :

 

picstoriesbiblecnt3_f.jpg

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And, in the same transaction (same seller), I snagged an upgrade to my "Complete Old Testament" 9th printing (you know it's the 9th printing because it's a 65-cent cover price with no printing stats/number listed on the back cover ;) )

 

picstoriesbiblecot9_f.jpg

picstoriesbiblecot9_r.jpg

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Knock another one off the list of missings, courtesy of last month's Comiclink auction...Mad #28 with the "late and utterly useless Income Tax Guide" variant:

 

mad28v1_f.jpg

 

(note: I also upgraded my "very useful" version in the same auction...moved from a raw 5.0'ish to a slabbed 8.0)

 

As I've mentioned before, there were three cover variations here...the only difference across the variations is the wording down in the yellow banner on the lower right front cover:

 

1) "with a late and utterly useless INCOME TAX GUIDE DEDUCTIONS , CHEATING, ETC. you could have tried!"

2) "with very useful INCOME TAX GUIDE DEDUCTIONS, CHEATING, ETC."

3) "with enjoyable article on GUIDED MISSILES AND HOW THEY CAN BLOW UP EARTH"

 

This was the last issue edited by Kurtzman, and the first issue of Mad to have cover variations. I've tried to find info on WHY Kurtzman and/or Gaines decided to introduce the cover variations, but I'm coming up dry...

 

Here they all are...my "Guided Missiles" version had just enough color touch to keep it out of a blue label, but I still love it. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only person in my neighborhood that has all three lol

 

mad28_group.jpg

 

 

Down to 13 12 missing EC publications (pre-1957):...getting down to brass tacks now

 

Across the Seas in a War Torn World

Church that was Built with Bread

Dandy Comics #2

Dandy Comics #6

Haunt of Fear #8

KO Punch

Mad #28 "with very useful Income Tax Guide" variant

Mad #28 "with a late and utterly useless Income Tax Guide" variant :news:

Out of the Past a Clue to the Future

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete New Testament 1st printing (40-cent cover price)

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete New Testament 3rd printing (50-cent cover price)

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 6th printing

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 7th printing

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 8th printing

Reddy Kilowatt 1B (Reddy Made Magic, 1956)

Reddy Kilowatt 2B (Light's Diamond Jubilee, 1954)

Reddy Kilowatt 3B (Space Kite, S. Calif. edition, 1956)

Tales of Terror Annual #2

Two-Fisted Annual #1

Two-Fisted Annual #2

War Against Crime #4

Wonders of Wire Rope

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Here they all are...my "Guided Missiles" version had just enough color touch to keep it out of a blue label, but I still love it. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only person in my neighborhood that has all three lol

 

hm You're probably safe in that assumption! lol

 

Who knew that variants were all the rage in 1956?

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:hi:

 

Well, it's been a few months since my last journal update. :sorry:

 

I'm sad to say that in these past several months, I have not made any progress in terms of acquiring missing issues...my list of missing ECs still stands at 12. I knew these would be brutally tough, and I wasn't kidding :D .

 

The good news is that, if I'm playing the life expectancy odds, I have at least another 30 good years to locate these babies :sumo: :

 

Still sitting at 12 missing EC publications (pre-1957):

Across the Seas in a War Torn World

Church that was Built with Bread

KO Punch

Out of the Past a Clue to the Future

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete New Testament 1st printing (40-cent cover price)

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 6th printing

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 7th printing

Reddy Kilowatt 1B (Reddy Made Magic, 1956)

Reddy Kilowatt 2B (Light's Diamond Jubilee, 1954)

Reddy Kilowatt 3B (Space Kite, S. Calif. edition, 1956)

Two-Fisted Annual #1

Wonders of Wire Rope

 

But, it hasn't been all bad...I don't want you to get the impression that I haven't made EC collecting progress. In these last three months since my last journal entry, looks like I've acqured a dozen EC upgrades and other things of interest, including a number of pedigree copies:

 

July16ECGroup.jpg

 

Among other things, included in there we have:

  • my first Windy City copy (Extra #1);
  • a sweet copy of Crime SuspenStories #27 signed on the splash page by George Evans;
  • a Pop Hollinger rebuilt copy of International Comics #1 (my third copy of that issue :blush: );
  • two Gaines File Copies (Incredible Sci-Fi #31 and Weird Fantasy #19);
  • two New Hampshire westerns (Saddle Justice #7 and Gunfighter #14);
  • a River City copy (Haunt of Fear #19)

So, I'm making progress. I'd love to find another one of those missing 12 sometime soon, though... :wishluck:

 

At some point in the near future, I'll pick another title and lay out my run, with statistics, etc...I know you've missed that feature of the journal. lol

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Progress has been made :sumo:

 

Well, it's not in my favorite grade range, but I'm tired of waiting around for an upper-mid grade copy of this one to reveal itself...so, I pulled the trigger on a low grade copy of Two Fisted Annual #1 off eBay, so check that one off the missing list: :acclaim:

 

Down to 12 11 missing EC publications (pre-1957):

Across the Seas in a War Torn World

Church that was Built with Bread

KO Punch

Out of the Past a Clue to the Future

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete New Testament 1st printing (40-cent cover price)

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 6th printing

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 7th printing

Reddy Kilowatt 1B (Reddy Made Magic, 1956)

Reddy Kilowatt 2B (Light's Diamond Jubilee, 1954)

Reddy Kilowatt 3B (Space Kite, S. Calif. edition, 1956)

Two-Fisted Annual #1 :news:

Wonders of Wire Rope

 

Here's the book....

 

twofistedannual1b_f.jpg

 

See how on the bottom right front cover it says "16 of EC's War Yarns from 1951"...well, that's a falsehood. :D These annuals repackage 4 unsold EC issues (which contain 4 stories each...thus leading to the 16 yarns). However, in my copy, three out of the four issues are from 1952... :mad::D :

 

The first book in there is Two Fisted Tales #27, which was sold in June 1952. The second included issue is Two Fisted Tales 21 (May 1951 - check). The third is Frontline Combat #4 (January 1952), and the fourth is Frontline Combat #6 (May 1952). Maybe they mean that the stories were written in 1951...OK, I can live with it. :grin:

 

Looks good in a mylar next to its sibling:

 

twofistedannuals.jpg

 

Now, I'll work on finding the upgrades....

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Another one checked off the list, courtesy of an eBay auction win...wasn't exactly high stakes :D

 

I just picked up a first printing of Picture Stories from the Bible Complete New Testament... :banana:

 

Remember back here: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=9062950#Post9062950 where I was describing the three different printings? :baiting:

 

As a refresher, the first printing has a 40-cent cover price, with "Picture Stories from the Bible" on the first coupon address line on the back cover (instead of "Educational Comics, Inc.", as on the second printing). Here it is:

 

picstoriesbiblecompnt_1_f.jpg

picstoriesbiblecompnt_1_R.jpg

 

A few other things of interest....take a look at the interior cover/splash page:

 

picstoriesbiblecompnt_1_i1.jpg

 

First, note that the bottom left interior front cover clearly notes that "Educational Comics, Inc." is the publisher, even though there's no indication on the outside covers that EC is involved.

 

Second, note that the owners of this copy were very proud of it...at the top of the interior cover , in ink, it reads "This book belongs to the following people." On the top margin of the splash page, it reads "This book belongs to Wally and Nancy Lisch"...anybody know them? :D

 

They also started getting possessive on the full leading edge, but only made it as far as "THE BO" lol

 

picstoriesbiblecompnt_edge.jpg

 

So, here are all three printings of this book....again, I challenge anyone else in my neighborhood to produce all three of these together at the same time. :sumo:

 

picstoriesbiblecompnt_group.jpg

 

(again, the front cover of printings #1 and #2 look the same...the difference is revealed on the back cover...you can tell printing #3 because it's a 50-cent cover price, instead of 40)

 

So, I can now count the number of missings on two hands...toes are no longer necessary :D :

 

Down to 11 10 missing EC publications (pre-1957):

Across the Seas in a War Torn World

Church that was Built with Bread

KO Punch

Out of the Past a Clue to the Future

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete New Testament 1st printing (40-cent cover price) :news:

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 6th printing

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 7th printing

Reddy Kilowatt 1B (Reddy Made Magic, 1956)

Reddy Kilowatt 2B (Light's Diamond Jubilee, 1954)

Reddy Kilowatt 3B (Space Kite, S. Calif. edition, 1956)

Wonders of Wire Rope

 

Of course, the problem now is that I've never seen any one of these 10 books for sale...ever. Further, I'm not sure that the 6th and 7th printings of Picture Stories from the Bible Complete Old Testament even exist...I've never even seen photo documentation of their existence!

 

Gird your loins, Owens! :D

 

 

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:hi:

 

Well, no progress on the missing 10 ECs...the hunt continues :sumo:

 

On the debit side, over the last couple months I brought in a nice group of ECs from Stephen Ritter...including an upgrade for that Two Fisted Annual #1 a couple posts above here (this upgrade moved me from a 2.5'ish to a 4.5'ish copy).

 

The others (a Mad and a handful of Panics) are all Don & Maggie copies...slight upgrades on the technical grades, but man...these Don & Maggie copies have outstanding page quality...and as mentioned before, I love pedigree copies. :cloud9:

 

RitterGroupOct16.jpg

 

Here was a nice touch...each one of those Don & Maggie copies came with a cute little cert:

 

WorldwideDonMaggieCert.jpg

 

 

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Just in from Ritter...a Gaines File Copy Bible book :cloud9: (upgrades a raw midgrade copy)

 

I always love picking up GFCs of the Bible books, given the special place they held in Max Gaines' heart. After all, Picture Stories from the Bible was the single title that Max kept (to launch EC) after he split from the DC folks back in '45. I love having file copies of his pride and joy title...

 

A 9.4 from 1946 (worship)

 

picstoriesbibleot2a_f.jpg

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Still no progress on "The Missing 10", but I've brought in a batch of upgrades in recent weeks, all from boardies :cloud9::headbang:

 

ECGroupNov16.jpg

 

The Weird Fantasy #12 is the Northford copy (love those pedigrees).

The Weird Fantasy #10 upgrades what was the lowest grade copy in my Weird Fantasy run (a raw VG'ish).

The 3D EC Classics takes me from a 6.0 to a 7.5...not an easy book to find above mid-grade.

The Frontline Combat #1 upgrades me from a raw low grade to a raw mid grade...with much better cover colors.

 

I'll comment on the other 2 books in separate posts.....

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Ah, yes...the Haunt of Fear #8...my nemesis. If you recall a few pages back, Haunt of Fear #8 was the last "normal" new trend issue I needed for completion. It's a book that shouldn't be tough to find, but for me it is/was...I've been the loser in a couple auction battles for high grade copies, and finally decided (back in April) to just plug the hole in the run with a beater off eBay...here's that one:

 

hof8_f.jpg

 

Now, that rag is my undercopy, thanks to this VG'ish upgrade. Still not in my desired grade range, but a drastic improvement:

 

hof8a_f.jpg

 

Notice something else, which I also mentioned a few pages back...seems like this issue shows up about half the time with a brown cover, and about half the time with a green cover. Seems like all of the Gaines File Copies I see have the green cover, so I'm betting that's the color it's "supposed" to be. Not sure if the brown copies were in a run that used unstable ink that is now fading in the green tones, or what the deal is... (shrug) But, I must say that I prefer the green ones...also, there are certain art "signposts" that I like to have on certain issues... on this issue, I like to see both upper fangs of that stuffed cat on the leading edge (kind of like how we look for the double quote on the leading edge of Tales of Suspense #39)...my upgrade has both fangs. :applause::screwy:

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This next promo book was never technically on my list, because it's an EC publication post-1956 (1958, to be exact). Back on page 1 or 2 of this journal I laid out my rationale for why "my list" only included pre-1957 EC publications.

 

But, Mr. Bedrock had this one, and I look for any excuse to buy books from Bedrock (worship)

 

...it's the 1958 reprint of Reddy Kilowatt #2c:

 

reddykilowatt2c58_f.jpg

 

Here's my copy of the original 1956 printing:

 

reddykilowatt2c_f.jpg

 

The only difference is the indicia is in a different font, and says 1958 instead of 1956.

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