Lookin4Newsstands's Bio
This collection was taking up too much room at home, so now the whole collection is being kept in a storage facility!
Here's a little background on my comic collecting:
My first comic: Marvel Treasury Edition #1, with a 'Jazzy' Johnny Romita Spidey cover, 1975. Collected most of the Marvel and DC Treasury editions then, but these aren't in great shape now.
My first regular-sized comic set that I collected was Wolverine Limited Series 1 - 4. (bought 4 sets at cover price upon release).
My first Conventions were in 1982, in Chicago and on vacation in New York. In Chicago, got 3 major finds at $30 each: 2 copies of Giant Size X-Men 1 (1st new X-Men) and a copy of Hulk 181 (1st Wolverine). I also started collecting X-Men 121 - 175 (anything earlier was too expensive) and Daredevil (Frank Miller issues).
In the 80's, my entire collection was stored in one long comic box.
I kept everything in as close to mint shape as I could. In 1991, I was out of the country, and my family had to move out of state. All of our belongings were put in storage. I was not able to get to the storage facility until 2013 (22 years)! Finally got the box out, and everything was in the same shape I left it in, thanks to my family protecting it in a bookcase!
The best of the bunch was one of the copies of Giant Size X-Men 1, which recieved a CGC 9.8, when the top comics were graded. I had that since I was a teenager, and kept everything in great shape. The key issues of this collection were auctioned off in online auctions, from Nov 2013 - March 2014.
My collecting was sparse in the 90's. Picked up again in the early 00's, and have been grading my books since about 2010. In the past few years, have met some of the greats: Jerry Robinson, Stan Lee, and John Romita. Also Chris Claremont, Jim Steranko, Neal Adams, Walt Simonson, Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Geoff Johns, John Romita Jr., Rob Liefeld, Kevin Maguire, Bill Sienkiewicz, Klaus Janson, Bob McLeod, Bob Layton, Joe Rubinstein, Michael Golden.
A few notes on the comics currently listed in sets:
-Most of the books in the collection focus on popular DC and Marvel Super-Hero titles. Included are some of my favorite issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Batman (plus related titles), Daredevil (mostly Miller's run), Fantastic Four (mostly Byrne's run), and X-Men (plus related titles).
-The majority of books are from 1980-present, which is when I really got into collecting.
- Many key issues are featured, including 1st appearances of some classic DC and Marvel characters:
Acolytes, Algrim the Strong (later becomes Kurse), Alpha Flight, Amanda Waller (Suicide Squad leader), Apocalypse, Archangel, Aunt May (reprint), Aunt Petunia, Avalanche, Bane, Batgirl, Batman (reprint), Beta Ray Bill, Beverly Switzler, Beyonder, Bishop, Blackfire, Black Queen, Black Widow's Black costume, Blink, Blitzkrieg, Brood, (the new) Bullseye, Cable, Caliban, Callisto, Carmine Falcone, Carnage, Carrie Kelly, Catwoman (reprint), Claw, Collective Man, Copper Age Catwoman, Corsair, The Cosmic Cube, Crimson Commando, Cyborg, Dark Phoenix, Dazzler, Deadpool, Defensor, Destiny, Domino, Doomsday, Eddie Brock, Electro, Elektra, Emma Frost/ White Queen, Feral, Frankie Raye as Nova, The Frightful Four, Green Goblin (reprint), Guardian/ Vindicator/ Weapon Alpha, Guardians of the Galaxy (1990 and 2008 lineups), Gwen Stacy, Harley Quinn, Harper Row, Harry Osborn, Hellfire Club, Hellions, Hobgoblin, Hush, Hydro Man, Jason Todd/ Robin II, Julia Carpenter/ Spider-Woman II, Jericho, Joker (reprint), Juggernaut, Killer Croc (face hidden and face revealed), Kitty Pryde, Lady Deathstrike, Lockheed, Madame Web, Magik, Madelyne Pryor/Goblin Queen, Malcolm, Malekith, Marauders, Marrina, Medusa, Mephisto, Mister Sinister, Mr. Freeze (reprint), New Suicide Squad, The New Teen Titans, Nightwing, Peregrine, Phoenix, Poison Ivy, Polaris, Proteus/ Mutant X, Puck, Pyro, Rachel Summers/ Phoenix II, Randall, Raven, Red Sonja, Rogue, Scorpion, Sebastian Shaw, Selene (Black Queen), Senator Robert Kelly, Shaft, Shamrock, Silver Age Catwoman, Silver Age Flash (reprint), Shi'ar Imperial Guard, Spider-Man (reprint), Spider-Man's Black costume, The Spidermobile, Starfire, Starjammers, Stone, Stonewall, Super Sabre, Talisman, Talon, Tarantula, Terra, The Hand, Tim Drake/ Robin III, Tommy Elliot, Uncle Ben (reprint), Valerie Cooper, Venom, Vulturions, Warpath (in costume), Wolverine (as Patch), X-Force, Yukio, and Yuriko Oyama. There are also some 1st cover appearances, such as The Penguin, Gwen Stacy, Howard the Duck, Kingpin, and Rocket Raccoon.
-Some key storylines are featured:
Stan Lee/Jack Kirby's Cosmic Cube saga, Stan Lee/John Romita's origin of The Green Goblin, Gerry Conway/Gil Kane/John Romita's 'Death' of Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man; most of Batgirl's (Barbara Gordon's) first dozen appearances; most of Bullseye's first dozen appearances; most of Chris Claremont/Dave Cockrum/John Byrne/Terry Austin's run on X-Men/Uncanny X-Men (including The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past); Denny O'Neil/Neal Adam's Joker story in Batman; most of Frank Miller's run on Daredevil (including Elektra/Kingpin/Bullseye storyline), his Batman work on The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, and All Star, also his team-up with Chris Claremont on Wolverine: The Limited Series; Jim Starlin's Thanos Quest/Infinity Gauntlet series, the Superman: Doomsday storyline; Jim Lee/Scott Williams/Alex Sinclair's Batman: Hush storyline, and their run on Superman and Justice League.
-There are only a few Golden Age books (all Batman related); they are graded CGC 7.0 and up, with Off-White to White Pages.
-There are a handful of Silver Age books; they are graded CGC 9.0 and up, all have White Pages.
- All Bronze Age, Copper Age, and Moderns are graded CGC 9.6 and up, all have White Pages.
- I try to collect Newsstand Editions with UPC barcode when available, for Marvel and DC Comics published between 1979-1991.
-Have some Canadian Editions Price Variants and UPC barcodes, for some Marvel Comics published between 1982-1986.
- There are a handful of CGC 9.9's and CGC 10's in the collection, from 1984-present. These include the Origin of Spidey's black costume, some classic McFarlane covers of Venom and Spider-Man (1990 series), Batman: The Killing Joke, Batman: The Man Who Laughs, 1st appearance of Bane, Thanos Quest, Wolverine: The Origin, Spiderman: Blue, Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Daredevil: Yellow, JLA/Avengers, an Adam Hughes Before Watchmen cover, Batman Movie Adaptation, Batman and Robin (2009), plus some of Jim Lee's Batman: Hush, Superman, and Justice League issues.
- There are a number of Signature Series books in the collection, only including signatures of the creators of the book itself. I always try to request great signature placement, and appropriate ink color, so the cover artwork is well displayed! These books include: Jerry Robinson (reprint of the 1st appearance of Robin, and the highest graded Signature Series of the 1st Penguin cover); Carmine Infantino (reprint of the 1st appearance of the Silver Age Flash, and the highest graded Signature Series of the 1st appearances of Batgirl/ Barbara Gordon and Poison Ivy); Stan Lee (classic Spideys including a 50th anniversary reprint of his first appearance, the 1st appearances of Electro, Scorpion, Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn, Norman Osborn revealed as Green Goblin, Origin of Green Goblin, Spectacular Spider-Man magazine, also 1st appearances of Juggernaut, and the Cosmic Cube); John Romita (some classic Spideys including his first issue on the title, Origin of Green Goblin, 1st Kingpin cover, the first Harry Osborn as Green Goblin, and my favorite of his covers, from The Spectacular Spider-Man magazine); Jim Steranko (1st Polaris cover); Neal Adams (1st appearance of Havok); Chris Claremont (1st appearance of Alpha Flight and the 'Death' of Phoenix); Todd McFarlane (1st appearance of Venom and a classic Hulk cover); George Perez (New Teen Titans and Infinity Gauntlet); Jim Lee (Batman: Hush issues with variants, X-Men #1 variants - 1991 series); and his run of Justice League #1-6 with variants); Marc Silvestri (1st appearances of Mr. Sinister); Jim Shooter (Secret Wars #1); Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke); Bruce Timm (Batgirl Adventures); Adam Hughes (Batgirl, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen covers); Jeph Loeb (Batman: Hush Double Feature and Spiderman: Blue); Tim Sale (Spiderman: Blue); Kevin Maguire (Batman Confidential); David Finch (Batman: The Dark Knight), Jim Cheung (sketch of Emma Frost on Avengers vs. X-Men cover); Eric Basaldua, Greg Capullo, Ivan Reis (Justice League variant covers).
Unfortunately, since these are in a storage facility, I can't get scans for some :(