Ed's Comic Book Collection

Last Updated: December 24. 2016:

adding issues to current ongoing Astro City series

Many of you who know me well, knows that my main passion within the Marvel Comics Universe comes from the fact that I grew-up in the Silver Age era (SA-era) of Comics. Back then, and maybe still the case today, many parents considered reading comics a "waste of time". However, since I never spoke a word of English until I went to school at 5-yrs old, comics were very important to me. Reading them taught me to read and learn the English language. My Dad recognized this because as I got older, he would buy me some of my favorite comics, and bring them home after work . Later on, my brother and I would collect the 10 monthly Marvel comics ... yes there was only 10 titles back then !!

The Fantastic Four (FF) was my favorite comics as a kid. I was given an issue of FF #19 (Rama-Tut issue) and I was hooked !! I think I liked the sci-fi aspect of it, and Kirby's drawing style. I collected FF until Kirby left Marvel, which also coincided with me starting to lose interest in comics, as "more interesting things" like playing in a rock band, and girls, became a higher priority

I wouldn't get into comics again until my nephews hit their early teen years in the early 1990's. I then learned about new X-Men like Wolverine, and new publishers like Image (with Spawn), etc. In fact, for a while I even subscribed to 'Wizard' magazine to learn and keep-up with the new developments in comics. It was at this time that I started to collect some comics again, such as Star Wars, but only stories having to do with the (to me) Original characters, Luke, Han, and Leia; Angela (from Spawn); Animal Mystic; etc.

But after a few years, once my nephews outgrew them, again I lost interest in comics. But based on the recommendation of the local comics shop owner, I started to read Astro City (AC). I had collected Busiek's 'Marvels' mini-series so I was familiar with his "view from the common man's" approach, so I liked AC. I have been collecting that comic ever since. However, Busiek and Anderson releases issues of AC very sporadically. That may be a bad thing ... hard to maintain the flow of the stories; or a good thing ... not as much spent on comics and not having to find storage space for them

In the three sections below, I will attempt "to document" the three segments of my comic book collection.
Note: the cover pictures below are NOT actual scans of comics in my collection, but are reference pictures from the comics.org web site.

Silver-Age Collection

I am not sure what to put into the table below ... whether to try to show every comic in my extensive collection, or just highlight the key titles/issues that I have. I did want to note, that aside from Marvel and DC, I also had comics from then publishers such as Charlton, Dell, Gold Key, Tower, etc.

Back when I was a kid, there was no emphasis on "bagging and boarding" each comic book. So basically they were read .. sometimes often ... and then thrown into a pile . So most of my collection is just "reading grade" (Poor to Very Fine, at best). It wasn't until 1985 that I started bagging and boarding each one of them and putting them into the "long boxes".

Table 1: Silver-Age Marvel

	The first ten titles are the ones that my brother and I were able to collect on a monthly basis , until Marvel started to replace the four "anthology" comics with two comics for the featured characters . These four anthology titles were 'Journey Into Mystery', Strange Tales', 'Tales of Suspense', and 'Tales to Astonish'. As you can glean from the titles, they started-out in the 1950's as comics with short stories of horror or sci-fi, etc. In the early 1960's with the return to popularity of super-heroes, the short horror/sci-fi stories were replaced with ones of our heroes.
ASM #4 was my first Spidey. ASM #14 ASM #39 ASM #122	Amazing Spider-Man My brother appreciated the Ditko artwork, and stories of the troubled teenager more than I did, so initially he was the one collecting ASM. I have these issues: #'s 4, 14, 16 - 67, 69, 70, 71, 73, 80, 82, 96, 97, 98, 100, 121, 122 Annual #'s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 4, first Sandman 14, first Green Goblin 16, first meeting with Daredevil 20, first Scorpion 25, first Spider-Slayer 28, first Molten Man 38, last Ditko issue 39, first Romita Sr. issue; Goblin revealed as Norman Osborn 41, first Rhino 42, first "full appearance" of Mary Jane 50, first Kingpin 96-98, controversial drug stories which causes first loss of Comics Approval seal 121-122, death of Gwen Stacy Annual 1, first Sinister Six Annual 5, death of Peter's parents
Avengers #7 was one of my first Marvel comics. Great Kirby cover !! Avengers #16	Avengers I liked the early issues because of the Kirby artwork, but I was disappointed when Don Heck took over in issue #10. I also believe that Marvel disbanded the original team in #16 because they were "too powerful" and it was difficult to find "equally powerful" foes for them. I have these issues: #'s 4, 7 - 40, 45 - 52, 54 - 58, 62 - 65, 68 Annual #'s 1, 2 Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 8, first Kang 16, new team, led by Cap 57, first Vision
DD #4 was my first Daredevil. DD #7	Daredevil Initially to me, Daredevil seemed to be somewhat of a knock-off of Batman, but I soon appreciated that since he was blind, and NOT wealthy, that he had his own set of problems. Also the artwork was different than the usual Kirby style, since the early artists were Bill Everett and Wally Wood. This series had a long line of Marvel artists for the first 19 issues, until Gene Colan settled in for his long run starting in issue #20. I have these issues: #'s 3 - 40, 42 - 47 Annual #1 Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 7, new red costume 8, first Stilt-Man 18, first Gladiator Note: I actually had issue #1, but I recently passed it on to a die-hard Daredevil collector, since it meant more to him than it did to me .
FF #19 was my first Marvel comic. FF #25 FF #48 Silver Surfer #1	Fantastic Four This was definitely my favorite comic. Though the FF team wasn't "as glamorous" as other heroes like Spider-Man and Thor, I liked the dysfunctional family aspect, as well as it's more sci-fi based stories. Of course the Kirby artwork was unique, esp. when he drew cosmic scenes. I collected FF until Kirby left Marvel. I have these issues: #'s 16, 19, 25, 28, 30 - 110 Annual #'s 1 - 8 Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 19, first Rama-Tut (my first comic book) 25, Hulk vs Thing (The Battle of the Century) 28, vs. X-Men 36, first Frightful Four 39/40, Daredevil (classic 'And a Blind Man Shall Lead Them') 45/46, first Inhumans 48/49, first Silver Surfer & Galactus 51, considered by some, the greatest Thing-based story ever 66, first HIM (later Adam Warlock) 101, final Kirby issue Annual 1, second meeting with Namor / first appearance of Atlanteans Annual 2, origin of Dr. Doom Annual 3, Wedding of Sue & Reed (entire Marvel Universe appears) I also have this "related" series: Silver Surfer #1.
JIM #93 was my first Thor. JIM #118 Thor #126 Tales of Asgard #1 (1968)	Journey Into Mystery / Thor I liked Thor mainly because of the Kirby artwork, esp. when he drew cosmic scenes such as those of Asgard. But what also appealed to me was the mythical aspects, which is why in many issues I actually enjoyed the secondary 'Tales of Asgard' stories more than the main Thor vs some-villain stories !! 'Journey Into Mystery' was initially a horror and sci-fi anthology book until in 1962, the Thor stories were added at issue #83. 'Journey Into Mystery' ended at issue #125, at which time it was renamed 'Thor', continuing the numbering at #126. I have these issues: #'s 93, 98, 105 - 112, 114 - 158, 165 Annual #'s 1, 2 Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 93, first Radio-Active Man 98, first Cobra 107, first Grey Gargoyle 112, vs. Hulk 114, first Absorbing man 118, first Destroyer 124, first Hercules 125, final issue (of Vol. 1) 134, first High Evolutionary I also have this "one-shot" issue: Tales of Asgard #1.
Sgt. Fury #9. Great cover. Sgt. Fury #13	Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos Surprising to some, I actually enjoyed the SF&HHC comics; partially because it was a change of pace from the usual super-heroes, and also because I enjoyed the historical references as SF&HHC traveled throughout both theaters of WWII. Their stories and adventures were pretty "fantastical" since none of them ever got killed !! And how they traveled to so many places in the course of a 4 year war is beyond me !! As with all of Marvel comics, it seems as though Kirby did the artwork, but I actually started collecting these with #9 when Dick Ayers took over. Ayers would pencil the remaining run, and became as associated with SF&HHC as Ditko was with Spidey, Colan with Daredevil, etc. I have these issues: #'s 9 - 15, 18, 19, 21 - 41, 43 - 52, 54 - 58 Annual #'s 1 - 4 I also have this "related" series: Captain Savage & His Leatherneck Raiders #1 -4, 6. Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 13, with Captain America and Bucky 14, first Baron Strucker & His Blitzkrieg Squad 27, origin of the eye patch
ST #122 was my first Dr. Strange. Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #1	Strange Tales / Dr. Strange / S.H.I.E.L.D. / Torch & Thing 'Strange Tales' was initially a horror and sci-fi anthology book until in 1962, the Human Torch stories were added at issue #101. Dr. Strange was introduced in #110 as the second half of Strange Tales. How fitting to have a character named Dr. Strange for a comic named 'Strange Tales' !?!? In #124 the Thing was partnered with the Torch. In #135 Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. was introduced, and replaced the Torch and Thing stories. Finally after issue #168, the series ended with Dr. Strange and S.H.I.E.L.D. each getting their own self-titled books. The new Dr. Strange book continued the numbering from Strange Tales at #169. I have these issues: #'s 122 - 134, 136 - 168 Note: I guess I should try to find a copy of #135 ? I also have these continuing issues: Dr. Strange #'s 171, 172. Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D #'s 1, 3 - 7, 9, 10, 12, 15. Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 126, first Dormammu & Clea 168, final issue (of Vol. 1) SHIELD#1, first issue
ToS #43 was my first Iron Man. ToS #59 Iron Man #1 Captain America #100	Tales of Suspense / Iron Man / Captain America 'Tales of Suspense' was initially a horror and sci-fi anthology book until in 1963, the Iron Man stories were added at issue #39. Tales of the Watcher was added in #48 as the second half of Tales of Suspense. In #59 Captain America replaced the Watcher stories. Finally after issue #99, the series ended with Iron Man and Captain America each getting their own self-titled books. The new Captain America book continued the numbering from Tales of Suspense at #100. My brother liked Iron Man more than I did, so initially he was the one collecting ToS. I continued collecting TOS and Captain America since the Cap stories were still being penciled by Kirby !! I have these issues: #'s 42, 43, 44, 48, 49, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 59 - 99 I also have these continuing issues: Iron Man #'s 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 24. Captain America #'s 100 - 107, 110 - 113, 118, 141, 142. Iron Man & Sub-Mariner (one-shot) #1. Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 48, first red-gold armor 52, first Black Widow 57, first Hawkeye 59, Cap stories start 69, first Titanium Man 97, first Whiplash 99, final issue (of Vol. 1) IM #1, first issue CA #100, first issue
TtA #52, early Giant-Man & Wasp. TtA #60 Sub-Mariner #1	Tales to Astonish / Giant-Man & Wasp / Hulk / Sub-Mariner 'Tales to Astonish' was initially a horror and sci-fi anthology book until in 1962, the Ant-Man stories were added at issue #35. The Wasp was introduced in #44, and Ant-Man was changed to Giant-Man in #49. The Hulk as added as the second half of the stories in #60. In #70 The Sub-Mariner replaced the Giant-Man stories. Finally after issue #101, the series ended with The Sub-Mariner and The Hulk each getting their own self-titled books. The new Hulk book continued the numbering from Tales to Astonish at #102. To be honest, I think I started collecting TtA because of the Kirby covers. The first issue I got (#51) had cover and interiors penciled by Kirby, but none after that, yet I continued to get them. Kirby continued to do the covers until Gene Colan did some of the full-page ones for the Sub-Mariner stories. Giant-Man was one of my favorite characters, probably because he was a scientist so he had a sci-fi aspect to him. And with the Wasp, he basically had the same relationship as another Kirby-Lee couple, Sue and Reed. Like Sue Storm, Janet Van Dyne seemed to have money for fashionable clothes, etc. so it was only for "love of her man" that she became a costumed adventurer . I have these issues: #'s 51 - 101 I also have these continuing issues: Sub-Mariner #'s 1 - 6. The Incredible Hulk #'s 104, 108. Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 60, Hulk has his first series since 1962 62, first Leader 70, first Sub-Mariner series 90, first Abomination 101, final issue (of Vol. 1) Sub-Mariner #1, first issue
X-Men #2 was my first X-Men. X-Men #12 X-Men #39	X-Men To be honest when X-Men first came-out, I wasn't really that interested in the premise of "mutants". Little did I know then that in the future, X-Men would become one of the two main franchises of the Marvel Universe. If I had known that then I wouldn't have passed-up my chance to get a copy of #1 at the store !! I mainly got X-Men because Kirby did the artwork for the early issues, totally leaving after issue #17. At that time, the stories and villains weren't that interesting; Lee didn't seem to know what to do with the characters. This was evidenced by the fact that by #67, they were reprinting old stories starting with the Juggernaut origin from issue #12. I have these issues: #'s 2, 6 - 41 Some of what I consider as "highlight" issues in my collection are: 2, first Vanisher 10, first Ka-Zar & Sabu 11, first Stranger 12, first Juggernaut 14, first Sentinels 19, first Mimic 20, How Xavier loss use of legs 39, first costume change
Captain Marvel #1 Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #1 Marvel Tales #1 Not Brand Echh #1	Miscellaneous One of the things I loved that Marvel did was that they had what they called 25¢ "giants", relative to the typical 12¢ comics of the time. A lot of these were 64 - 72 pages, and were reprints of older comics that I had missed. They were a great way for me to catch-up on stories like the Origin of Spider-Man, Origin of Ant-Man, first Hulk series, etc. which were presented in Marvel Tales (Annual) #1. You have to realize that back then, there were NO 'Marvel Masterworks', or 'Essential (character name)' type compendiums like we have today !! There were also three "regular" series that I have some issues of, that are not listed above. One is 'Captain Marvel' which finally established this character's name as part of the Marvel Universe. Another is 'Not Brand Echh' which was a humor/parody comic, anchored by the Marvel-bullpen legend Marie Severin . I have these issues: Captain Marvel, #'s 1, 2, 5, 13, 16 Conan the Barbarian, #'s 2, 9 Fantasy Masterpieces (1st series), #'s 1 - 11 Marvel Collector Item's Classics, #'s 1 - 11, 14, 15, 16, 18 Marvel Super Heroes (Special) #1 Marvel Super Heroes (Giant-size), #'s 12 - 18, 23 Marvel Tales (Giant-size), #'s 1 - 9, 13 Not Brand Echh (humor), #'s 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8

Table 2: Silver-Age DC

Currently under construction !

	I was never that BIG a DC fan but did like JLA, Flash, GL and Adam Strange , so I don't have nearly as much SA-era DC as I do Marvel.
Batman #147 was one of my first DC comics.	Batman text to go here
The Flash #145.	The Flash text to go here
GL #40; Golden Age GL meets SA-era GL.	Green Lantern text to go here
JLA #21 is one of my all-time favorite comics; Golden Age JSA meets SA-era JLA.	Justice League of America text to go here
Mystery in Space #75	Mystery in Space / Adam Strange text to go here
Showcase #43; Dr No movie, rather than usual super-hero fare !!	Showcase text to go here

Table 3: Silver-Age Others

Currently under construction !

Ditko left Marvel for 3rd version of Blue Beetle.

Charlton

text to go here

Astro City Collection

Since I started collecting Astro City in late 1995, I believe I have the "complete run" ? It's not easy to tell since they came out so sporadically over the years, and Busiek changed publishers at least twice ? So per the checklist below, if you think I missed an issue, please contact me and let me know !!

Table 4: Astro City

First issue of Astro City franchise.

Astro City

Listed in chronological order:

Kurt Busiek's Astro City #'s 1 - 6 (Image)
Kurt Busiek's Astro City #'s 1/2 - 22 (Homage)
Astro City: Local Heroes #'s 1 - 5 (Homage)
Astro City: The Flip Book, with Arrowsmith (Wildstorm)
Astro City Special: Supersonic
Astro City: A Vistor's Guide
Astro City: The Dark Age Book One #'s 1 - 4
Astro City Special: Samaritan
Astro City: The Dark Age Book Two #'s 1 - 4
Astro City Special: Beautie
Astro City: The Dark Age Book Three #'s 1 - 4
Astro City Special: Astra #'s 1 - 2
Astro City: The Dark Age Book Four #'s 1 - 4
Astro City Special: Silver Agent #'s 1 - 2
Astro City: #'s 1 - 42, current ongoing series, published by Vertigo

Mainly 1990's Stuff

Below I have listed various 1990's (and a few 2000's) comics I picked-up. With a few exceptions, most of this stuff is of little interest to me anymore, so is available for sale or trade

Table 5: Mainly 1990's Stuff

	Miscellaneous DC Babylon5: In Valen's Name #'s 1 - 3 (of 3) The Butcher #'s 1 - 5 (of 5) (1990) Christmas with the Super-Heroes # 1 (1998) DC vs. Marvel #'s 1 - 4 (of 4) The Flash #'s 127, 128, 129 (Vol. 2) Green Arrow #136 Green Arrow & Black Canary Wedding Special # 1 (2007) Green Lantern #'s 46 - 50, 0, 55, 56, 63, 64, 81 (Collector's Edition), 101 - 106, 1963 Annual (Vol. 3) The Final Night #4 Parallax: Emerald Night #1 (of 1) Kingdom Come #'s 1 - 4 (of 4) Supernam/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #'s 1 - 3 (of 3) Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #'s 0, 1 - 4 (of 4) These are the Paul Dini / Alex Ross "tabloids" (10" x 13.5") : Superman: Peace on Earth (1998) Batman: War on Crime (1999) Shazam!: Power of Hope (2000) Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth (2001) JLA: Secret Origins (2002) JLA: Liberty and Justice (2003)
	Miscellaneous Marvel The Avengers #'s 1, 2, 5, 6 (Vol. 3, Busiek & Perez) Avengers Classic #'s 2, 3, 4 (2007, Silver-Age reprints) Avengers Kree-Skrull War TPB Avengers West Coast #102 (Final Issue) Captain America #425, Wizard-authenticated-signed by Mark Gruewald (writer) & Dave Hoover (artist) The Eternals #1 Howard The Duck #15 Journey Into Mystery #-1 (1997) Kull The Conqueror #'s 1, 2 Marvel Team-Up #74 (Spidey & The-Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players Marvels #'s 0, 1 - 4 (of 4) (Busiek & Ross) The Origin of Galactus Special Archival Issue (1996) Spider-Woman #1 (Czop artwork)
SotE #1	Star Wars (Dark Horse) As I mentioned above, I enjoyed reading stories that added to the Star Wars mythos, but only stories having to do with the (to me) the "Original" characters, Luke, Han, and Leia. I have listed my collection by what I believe is each comics chronological order in the SW Universe: Star Wars #0 (American Entertainment Exclusive) Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire #'s 1 - 4 (of 4) Vader's Quest #'s 1 - 4 (of 4) Splinter of the Mind's Eye #'s 1 - 4 (of 4) Shadows of the Empire #'s 1 - 6 (of 6) Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi #'s 1 - 2 (of 2) X-Wing Rogue Squadron Special Heir to the Empire #'s 1 - 6 (of 6) Dark Force Rising #'s 1 - 6 (of 6) The Last Command #'s 1 - 6 (of 6) Dark Empire #'s 1 - 6 (of 6) Dark Empire II #'s 1 - 6 (of 6) Empire's End #'s 1 - 2 (of 2) Crimson Empire TPB Crimson Empire II TPB Boba Fett: Agent of Doom Boba Fett #'s 1 - 3 (of 3) Boba Fett Wizard # 1/2 Union: The Wedding of Luke and Mara #'s 1 - 4 (of 4)
Angela #1	Angela Since one of my nephews was into Spawn, I decided to do the "bad girl" thing, and collect all-things Angela . So for a short period of time, I was trying to collect every comic that had Angela in it. Spawn #9 (1st appearance of Angela) Angela #'s 1 - 3 Angela no # (June 1995) Angela no # (June 1995 - variant cover) Curse of the Spawn #'s 9 - 11 Spawn #62 (ties-in to Curse of the Spawn 9-11 ) Though no Angela, I also got these Spawn comics: Medieval Spawn / Witchblade #'s 1 - 3 (of 3) Spawn: The Dark Ages #1
Animal Mystic #2	Animal Mystic Apparently I was still in my "bad girl" phase, and discovered this Sirius published title, and liked it. For the third title, Klor, if I recall correctly, he is a character from Animal Mystic that got his own mini-series. Animal Mystic #'s 1 - 4 (of 4) Animal Mystic: Water Wars #'s 1 - 6 (of 6) Klor #'s 1 - 3 (of 3)
	Miscellaneous Independents 1963 #2, signed by Steve Bissette and sealed (Image) Johnny Quest Special #1, 2, 3 (of 3) (Dark Horse) Leave It To Chance #'s 1, 2, 3 (Homage) Rune #1 (Malibu) The Shadowhawk Saga Hero Premier Edition #9 (still sealed) Supreme #25 (Titled 'Images of Tomorrow') (Image) Ultraverse Premiere #0 (Malibu) Witchblade #'s 7, 8, 9 (Image) Worlds Collide #1 (of 1) (DC & Milestone cross-over, 1994) Xena Warrior Princess #'s 1 - 2 (of 2) (Topps)

Comments, questions, etc ... contact Ed Wong via the link Contact Me.