The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, Volume 40

Congratulations! We at Gemstone welcome you to the hobby of comic books. This book is the most comprehensive reference work available on comics. It is also respected and used by dealers and collectors everywhere. The Overstreet price is the accepted price around the world, and we have not earned this privilege easily. Through hard work, diligence and constant contact with the market for decades, Overstreet has become the most trusted name in comics.\ How To Use This Book\ \ This volume is an accurate, detailed alphabetical fist of comic books and their retail values. Comic books are listed by title, regardless of company. Prices listed are shown in Good, Fine and Near Mint condition with many key books priced in an additional Very Fine grade. Comic books that fall in between the grades listed can be priced simply the following procedure: Very Good is half way between Good and Fine; Very Fine is half Kay between Fine and Near Mint (unless a VF price is already shown). The older true Mint books usually bring a premium over the Near Mint price. Books in Fair bring 50 to 70% of the Good price. Some books only show a Very Fine price as the highest grade. The author has not been able to determine if these particular books exist in better than Very Fine condition, thus the omission of a Near Mint price. Most comic books are listed in groups, i.e., 11-20, 21-30, 31-50, etc.\ The prices listed opposite these groupings represent the value of each issue in that group. More detailed information is given for individual comic books. If you are looking for a particular character, consult the first appearance indexes which will help you locate the correct title andissue. This book also contains hundreds of ads covering all aspects of this hobby. Whether you are buying or selling, the advertising sections can be of tremendous benefit to you.\ New Comic Books\ \ This book lists all new comic books at cover price, regardless of their performance in the secondary market. In many cases, new comics are not worth their cover price in the secondary market, and collectors may pay pennies on the dollar for copies of these issues. Nevertheless, since these comics have yet to establish themselves as collectors' items, they are listed at full cover price. It should also be noted that regarding polybagged comics, it is the official policy of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to grade comics regardless of whether they are still sealed in their polybag or not. If opened, the polybag and its contents should be preserved separately so that all components of the original package remain together.\ Comic Book Values\ \ All values listed in this book are in U.S. Currency and are retail prices based on (but not limited to) reports from our extensive network of experienced advisors which include convention sales, mail order, auctions, unpublished personal sales and stores. Overstreet, with several decades of market experience, has developed a unique and comprehensive system for gathering, documenting, averaging and pricing data on comic books. The end result is a true fair market value for your use. We have earned the reputation for our cautious conservative approach to pricing comic books. You, the collector, can be assured that the prices listed in this volume are the most accurate and useful in print.\ Important Note: This book is not a dealer's price list, although some dealers may base their prices on the values listed. The true value of any comic book is what you are willing to pay. Prices listed herein are an indication of what collectors (not dealers) would probably pay. For one reason or another, these collectors might want certain books badly, or else need specific issues to complete their runs and so are willing to pay more.\ Dealers' Position: Dealers are not in a position to pay the full prices listed, but work on a percentage depending largely on the amount of investment required and the quality of material offered. Usually they will pay from 20 to 70% of the list price depending on how long it will take them to sell the collection after making the investment; the higher the demand and better the condition, the more the percentage. Most dealers are faced with expenses such as advertising, travel, telephone and mailing, rent, employee salaries, plus convention costs. These costs must all be factored in before the books are sold. The high demand books usually sell right away but there are many other titles that are difficult to sell due to low demand. Sometimes a dealer will have costs tied up in this types of books for several years before finally moving them. Remember, his position is that of handling, demand, and overhead. Most dealers are victims of these economics.\ How Comics Are listed\ \ Comic books are listed alphabetically by title. The true title of a comic book can usually be found listed with the publisher's information, or indicia, often found at the bottom of the first page. Titles that appear on the front cover can vary from the official title listed inside.\ Comic book titles, sequence of issues, dates of first and last issues, publishing companies, origin and special issues are listed when known. Prominent and collectible artists are also pointed out (usually in footnotes). Page counts will always include covers. Most comic books began with a #1, but occasionally many titles began with an odd number. There is a reason for this. Publishers had to register new titles with the post office for 2nd class permits. The registration fee was expensive. To avoid this expense, many publishers would continue the numbering of new titles from old defunct titles. For instance, Weird Science #12 (1st issue) was continued from the defunct Saddle Romances #11 (the last issue). In doing this, the publishers hoped to avoid having to register new titles. However, the post office would soon discover the new title and force the publisher to pay the registration fee as well as to list the correct number. For instance, the previous title mentioned began with #12 (1st issue). Then #13 through #15 were published. The next issue became #5 after the Post Office correction. Now the sequence of published issues (see the listings) is #12-15, 5-on. This created a problem in early fandom for the collector because the numbers 12-15 in this title were duplicated.

\ \ \ Acknowledgements\ 14\ \ \ \ Feature Articles\ \ \ \ \ History With a Twist\ 18\ \ \ \ Ec, Mad and Beyond: Al Feldstein\ 24\ \ \ \ Flights to Ec & Beyond With al Williamson\ 36\ \ \ \ Bob's Bizarre Tales\ 42\ \ \ \ Market Report 2000\ 64\ \ \ \ Key Sales 1999\ 77\ \ \ \ Top 100 Golden Age\ 79\ \ \ \ Top 10 Platinum Age\ 81\ \ \ \ Top 10 Silver Age\ 81\ \ \ \ Top 10 Bronze Age\ 81\ \ \ \ Top 10 Crime\ 81\ \ \ \ Top 10 Horror\ 82\ \ \ \ Top 10 Romance\ 82\ \ \ \ Top 10 Sci-Fi\ 82\ \ \ \ Top 10 Western\ 82\ \ \ \ First ad Section\ 83\ \ \ \ About This Book\ 179\ \ \ \ How To Use This Book\ 179\ \ \ \ New Comic Books\ 179\ \ \ \ Comic Book Values\ 179\ \ \ \ How Comics Are Listed\ 180\ \ \ \ What Comics Are Listed\ 180\ \ \ \ New Comic Listings\ 180\ \ \ \ Grading\ 180\ \ \ \ How To Grade\ 181\ \ \ \ Grading Definitions\ 181\ \ \ \ Dust Jackets\ 183\ \ \ \ Restored Comics\ 183\ \ \ \ Scarcity Of Comics\ 184\ \ \ \ Collecting Comics\ 185\ \ \ \ Back Issues\ 186\ \ \ \ Preservation & Storage\ 186\ \ \ \ Buying & Selling\ 187\ \ \ \ Selling Your Comics\ 187\ \ \ \ Where To Buy And Sell\ 189\ \ \ \ Comic Conventions\ 189\ \ \ \ Comic Book Fandom\ 190\ \ \ \ Related Collectibles\ 191\ \ \ \ Foreign Edition Comics\ 191\ \ \ \ Newspaper Strips\ 191\ \ \ \ Original Art\ 191\ \ \ \ Toys and More\ 191\ \ \ \ Cover Bar Codes\ 192\ \ \ \ Marvel Reprints\ 192\ \ \ \ Publishers' Codes\ 192\ \ \ \ Timely/Marvel/Atlas\ 193\ \ \ \ Comic Book Artists\ 193\ \ \ \ Artists' First Work\ 194\ \ \ \ Price Guide Listings\ \ \ \ \ The American Comic Book: 1842-2000\ \ \ \ \ The Marketing of a Medium\ 195\ \ \ \ Promotional Comics Price Guide\ 199\ \ \ \ The American Comic Book: 1842-1932\ \ \ \ \ In the Beginning: New Discoveries Beyond the Platinum Age\ 226\ \ \ \ Platinum Age Price Guide\ 235\ \ \ \ The American Comic Book: 1933-Present\ \ \ \ \ The Golden Age & Beyond: Origins of the Modern Comic Book\ 242\ \ \ \ Price Guide\ 250\ \ \ \ Classic Comics/Classics Illustrated\ \ \ \ \ Understanding Classics Illustrated\ 344\ \ \ \ Second Ad Section\ 805\ \ \ \ Business Card Ads\ 860\ \ \ \ Classified Ads\ 863\ \ \ \ Shop Directory\ 866\ \ \ \ Website Directory\ 873\ \ \ \ A Chronology of the Development of the American Comic Book\ 879\ \ \ \ Historic Firsts\ 885\ \ \ \ First Appearances\ 886\ \ \ \ Glossary\ 897\ \ \ \ Cover Gallery\ 900\ \ \ \ The Overstreet Comic Book Hall of Fame\ 938\ \ \ \ Price Guide Back Issues\ 942\ \ \ \ Price Guide Back Issue Article Index\ 944\ \ \ \ Overstreet Advisors\ 946\ \ \ \ Advertisers' Index\ 950\ \

\ From Barnes & NobleOver four solid decades, Overstreet's annual comic book price guides have won fans' allegiance with their encyclopedic gathering of current and accurate information. The 40th installment of this classic not only mammoth (1100 pages); it's also a collectible: Famed artist Mark Chiarello's Batman cover makes this an attractive addition to the library of any serious collector. Crossover appeal.\ \