COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Conan the Barbarian 14 Universal
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Grade:
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9.8
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Pedigree:
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Suscha News
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Certification #:
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1003497004
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Owner:
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Rune
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
This book has pure white pages and is part of a pedigree collection, thus far very few Conan the Barbarian #14 CGC 9.8 books had pure white pages making this book quite special.
Furthermore this is really the first time I felt that the ink was dripping from the cover, the blood red color simply seems incredibly well-preserved and hopefully the photo caught just a glimpse of this magic.
Like my #18 9.8, this book is dedicated to Doctor Joe, without his kind help and understanding (of my treatment-resistant Conan addiction, *cough!*), this book would not be part of my collection.
This book is a key issue, since this book contains the first comic appearance of Elric of Melniboné. According to Wikipedia:
"Elric of Melniboné[1] is a fictional character created by Michael Moorcock, and the antihero of a series of sword and sorcery stories centering in an alternate Earth. The proper name and title of the character is Elric VIII, 428th Emperor of Melniboné. Later novels by Moorcock mark Elric as a facet of the Eternal Champion [...] Elric first appeared in comics in 1972, in Conan the Barbarian issues 14–15, an adventure in two parts entitled "A Sword Called Stormbringer!" and “The Green Empress of Melniboné”. The comic was written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith, based on a story plotted by Michael Moorcock and James Cawthorn".
I am probably the third owner of this book, previous owners being the collector behind the Suscha News pedigree collection and Doctor Joe.
Here is an excerpt from the story behind the Suscha News pedigree collection:
"I didn’t start out as a “comic collector.” Born in 1949 and growing up in Sheboygan, Wis., in the 1950s and ’60s, I was the kind of fastidious child who always used the kickstand on his bike and dusted off his model cars and planes every Thursday afternoon without fail. Because I treated my few possessions well – and had no brothers or sisters to help destroy them – I tended to accumulate things, including comic books.
[…]
In 1978, I moved to Tucson, Arizona, and two years later was in a new home with a special feature – a large, fireproof, walk-in vault big enough to accommodate the comic book collection, which by now took up a 6-foot-wide by 5-foot-long by 6-foot-high stack. Property crimes, particularly home burglaries, are a major problem in southern Arizona, and the vault seemed a necessity to protect my comics, guns, cameras and other valuables. The arid conditions of Arizona were a godsend for storing comics.
It was now the early ‘80s. My wife at the time often tried to pressure me to sell the collection. In those days before blockbuster movie franchises based on comic books and the Internet, the books were worth a tiny fraction of what they bring today. Had I caved in and sold then, I literally would have realized just enough money to buy a used pickup truck, which would have gone to the scrap yard years ago.
[...]
Two years later, we moved to the woods of North Idaho, far from the desert of southern Arizona. The climate here is relatively dry and crime is very low, but I missed my big secure vault. The comics were kept on industrial shelving in a large room in the lower level of the house, where I kept humidity in the mid-40 percent range with a dehumidifier. The collection was “hidden in plain sight” by turning the contents labels of each box toward the wall, and placing fake “Professor Owl Remedial Reading Workbook – Grade 5” labels on the visible side. I figured no burglar would be interested in stealing a half-ton of identical teaching aids.
When I reached 60 years old, I seriously began to consider selling the collection. I didn’t want to end up the guy with the most comic books in the graveyard".
Read the full story here: http://www.cgccomics.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?IDArticle=1809&Suscha-News-Collection?
Currently (July 2017) there are 7 CGC 9.8 books of Conan the Barbarian #14. I know of these 6 books:
1003497004, WP, Suscha News pedigree
1027531001, WP, Suscha News pedigree
1027530015, OW-W, Suscha News pedigree
1041965012, WP
1210447014, WP
0181420008, OW-W
(WP = White Pages and OW-W = Off-White to White Pages.)
I have photos/scans of all 6 books, of these 1041965012 is clearly the best regarding near-perfect cover centering and orientation, although it's orientation is far from perfect. 0181420008 has great centering too, but it's orientation is even worse. You can see the 6 books here:
http://s1270.photobucket.com/user/runesr2/library/Issue14
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