Here’s hoping that all of our Captain Blue Hen Comics “family” and their family and friends are safe, healthy, and following the guidelines set forth so we can come through this Covid 19 mess as quickly as possible. Yes, it’s inconvenient, costly, full of anxiety, and can be boring.
Of course, you do have that stack of comics sitting there that you’ve meant to read and organize. Get to it! With Diamond Comics Distributor’s decision to not send out any new releases for the time being, now is a great time to catch up with your reading. Let Joe know about it so he can update our “1000 Comic Challenge”.
If you think this has brought the back issue market to a close, think again. I grabbed many of the showcase books and started putting them up on eBay. Listing them as “Buy It Now” items at prices that our members would get with their discount, I’ve sold a good number already. Plenty more to post.
Naturally, “live” auctions are been either postponed or changed to online bidding only. Not being able to inspect and/or lots being listed as “a long box of…” makes it tough to place a serious bid unless it’s going REAL cheap.Now for a lot that ain’t gonna go cheap – how about a 40,000 comic lot described as the Holy Grail of the comic world, the Ian Levine Collection of the complete DC Library!!! That’s COMPLETE, as in from DC’s first ever comic, New Fun #1 from 1934 up to all issues up to 2016! One of our members sent me a link to nerdist.com that describes this collection, being sold by Sotheby’s starting March 30th, as:
“It’s impossible to say just how much this collection will be worth. With individual early issues of Superman and Batman alone going for millions, what could the entire DC library go for? I imagine this will be bought by a well-known billionaire nerd. But it’s also possible that Warner Bros. themselves buy it. Why have one DC Comics library, when you can have a back-up as well?
Hopefully the winning bidder won’t be kept a secret. It would be fascinating to know who the world’s biggest (and richest) DC Universe fan is.”
I decided to try and find out more about this collection, maybe a list of the issues, something, and googled the “Ian Levine collection” and found the Sotheby’s site that shows the catalog
https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/dc-complete-the-ian-levine-collection. I recommend reading the catalog as it’s loaded with the great history of this collection and comic collecting in general. Ian Levine was not just a collector of comics, he was a reader of comics, and because of that, these books are “raw”. He cracked open issues he bought to finish his collection if they were slabbed.
Just one tidbit from the catalog – it mentions that in Superman # 135, in the letters column, a reader sent in the following: “Insomuch as your office can not supply back-numbers of your various Superman magazines, would it be possible for you to print my address so that readers who have old issues can swap or sell them to me?” The reply: “(sorry, but old issues of used magazines are known disease-carriers, so we can’t encourage such swapping. – ed.)” Gotta find a copy of that one! Who was the idiot, eh, editor back then?
In case you didn’t catch it earlier, this is being sold as ONE LOT – all 40,000 issues as one lot – every Superman comic (yes, Action #1), every Batman comic (yes, Detective 27), and all of the other great comics! If interested in bidding, you need to contact Sotheby’s directly. I was going to call, but since most of my financial statement is in red ink, I decided to avoid the snickering on the other end of the phone.
Back to dealing with the Covid crisis. One of my sons and his wife are both scientists in the medical field and considered “essential”. That leaves Mom-Mom and Grandpa watching the one and three year-old most Mondays through Fridays. I don’t know if the wife and I will ever catch up on “our shows” for when the kids are there, and the TV is on, it’s either, the Disney Channel and the Mickey Mouse Club, Sesame Street, or the three year-old’s newest fave, Bluey. I’m 6 episodes behind on Walking Dead.
My recommendations for those newly stuck at home with the kids, and TV time is permitted, would include Sesame Street and Bluey. Listening to Mickey’s voice is irritating. Clarabell’s is even worse! Yes, it’s wholesome, but the I found the “Hot Dog dance” at the end to be the best part. Sesame Street is clever, educational, skits are written for the adults in the room, the puppeteers are incredible, and loads of guests with good music. My personal favorite is episode 24 from season 49 – Four Furry Superheroes! Bluey is an Australian cartoon using a dog family, also written with the adults in mind, and I enjoy the accents, native terms, and stories. For those who can take it, Baby Bum is a British show that plays kiddie songs with very juvenile cartoons to keep the little ones mesmerized. However, as an adult, you’ll lose your mind after a while. I’m not sure, but I believe that all nursery rhymes boil down to versions of only three melodies.
Back to reading comics. In this time of financial concern, comics are probably not at the top of you list of priorities, but they are to Joe. Although the store is closed and new product is being delayed until movement is allowed, he still has bills that need to be paid. Should you have the resources, and have comics waiting for you in your bin, contact the shop and catch up on your comics. He is willing to do curb-side service, or mailings, or just leave as “paid” in your bin. We thank you.
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