Comic Books are Doomed.

Ever since I was a child comic books have been a part of my life. Even during the periods when I wasn't so much as looking at a comic book they were still with me, the tens of thousands of them that I had read floating around in my mind.

Back in those days there were all kinds of comic books and they were inexpensive and readily available to children and their parents in all manner of places where people could buy them. They were in newsstands, grocery stores, convenience stores, at the druggists, bookshops, and so on. These days, not so much. Sometimes you can find a very limited selection of comic books in chain bookstores, but mainly you have to go into a comic book shop to locate them. Yeah, ever since around the 1980s or so, shops catering specifically to comic book fans have been the go-to spot to buy comic books.

At any rate, I'm not writing this to talk about why the comics industry is dying or how it happened. I'm just here to say that it is doomed and to explain, succinctly, how that's a foregone conclusion.

The two biggest comic book companies are Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Even the most non-nerdy of people generally know this fact. Both companies are owned by media conglomerates who make a huge amount of money producing feature films and TV shows. The reason they wanted to own Marvel and DC is because what they desired about the two publishing concerns was to get their corporate mitts on the intellectual property represented in Marvel and DC.

That is, Warner and Disney don't possess DC and Marvel to see the regular release of four-color periodicals. To the men who run those outfits, what they want are the grist that they use to make movies that produce billions of dollars in profits. In Disney's case they wanted the sweat of Jack Kirby's brow. Again, I'm not here to belabor the obvious fact that a corporate shill (Stan Lee) never created anything but was just the trigger that allowed Marvel to steal Jack Kirby's creations. That's an important part of the process of course, but it's not how the comics industry doomed itself.

The sad fact is that Disney and Warner no longer care one damned bit about comic books. What they want is the intellectual property that fuels the movies and cartoons that they make that, in turn, spawn toy sales and video game sales and infuse their coffers with the rentals of DVDs and streaming video. Fuck actual comic books. These guys don't give shit-one about the comic book and its place as one of the few uniquely American art forms.

Comic book publishing barely makes a profit mark on the logs of Warner and Disney. And that fine line of black on the yearly books keeps getting thinner and thinner. As far back as 1960 that profit margin was so small for a man named Martin Goodman who owned what later became known as Marvel Comics that he was going to abolish the company. Only the arrival of Jack Kirby and his talent put off that decision and created the basis for a billions-of-dollars company. But there aren't any more Jack Kirbys out there; and no champion with a gleaming mind and talent to illustrate is going to put off the demise of comic books.

Some years back I heard that the owners of comic book shops, and their customers, had begun referring to monthly comic books as "floppies". It's not a nice term and shows the contempt for comic books that both the sellers and buyers of them felt for the medium. Even at that point I realized that there was no way the industry could be resurrected. When the very people who sold them, and the "fans" themselves were using an epithet to label the books...well...that's just about the end of the line. To the big guys at Disney and Warner Communications floppies ain't something they want to deal with.

And here, then, is the bottom line:

DC and Marvel really aren't making a profit for Warner and Disney. At first, it was just a bothersome gnat for them. "These ants don't make us any money. But we gotta live with it 'cause we want the characters that we use for the movies and video games. What ya gonna do? Eh."

But it's only a small step from there to realizing that you can just as easily hire some hack writers to sit at a desk in an office somewhere and come up with more stupid superhero characters. You don't have to tend to a failing company like DC and Marvel rupturing cash and causing you momentary angst. Just close them down and have those low-paid hacks create for you and fuck the goddamned comic books.

It's coming. Hell...Warner came to the same conclusion long ago concerning real books when they shut down Warner Books and sold it off to a French corporation. If they can do it to a company that was making hardbacks and paperback books then they can (and will) certainly do the same with Marvel. These suits at the top of the heap will roll Marvel and DC up into the bigger corporation and shut down that annoying office full of incompetent editors and mouthpieces in New York. They can (and will) pay some clueless schmucks in Hollywood to make up silly superheroes for them without all of the cost and hassle of running offices on the other side of the continent.

Comic books are doomed. Soon, the only place you'll be able to find your "floppies" will be at the fan gatherings where nerds go to dress up as superheroes and fairies. For a while there will be some guys there selling moldy bits of limp pulp paper called "comic books". There will be some aging rubes there buying them for a decade or so, and then those rubes will die with their collections of acid-infused pulp decaying into flaking dust. There's a term for that kind of thing: Dead People's Toys.

And that will be the end of comic books.

"Gimme $100,000! Such a deal!"

Tom Mix!

Once again I find myself buying a back issue I don't normally collect. The reason I grabbed it? The price. Perhaps I'll use it as part of a trade deal at some later date to get a book that really is high on my want list.

Back when I was a collectibles dealer I would run into roughly one Golden Age collection each year. Some years were dry, but then I'd land two or three big Golden Age deals in one twelve-month span. One of the biggest Golden Age comic collections I ever found was back in the 80s and it consisted of thousands of issues, mainly old westerns and Fawcett Captain Marvel books. In that one I purchased so many westerns that I had never seen. I can't say for sure, but I think TOM MIX #2 must have been in there. They didn't stay in my possession for long. Golden Age comics never did hang around for more than a few weeks after I purchased them because there were just so many fans willing to shell out the dough for these genuinely rare items.

Oh, yeah. Tom Mix wasn't just a comic book character. He was a real guy. One of the first hugely popular western stars. People today have forgotten just how huge some of these guys' careers were. Although the Mix's popularity went back far before I was born, I knew about him as a kid because my dad liked him. Not sure why my dad liked him, but he did. I always lumped Tom Mix in with various actors and performers that my father liked for reasons that were never quite clear to me; among them being Edward G Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Oscar Levant, Jerry Lewis...the list was really weird and disparate.

My copy of TOM MIX #2.

Kirby Scores!

I picked up these three great Jack Kirby comics while I was away. I already had a very low-grade copy of The Double Life of Private Strong #2, but I bought this copy when the deal for the three books was so good I couldn't pass it up. So I'll have to get rid of the lesser condition copy.

Issue #1. I've often wondered why this didn't have a full Kirby cover. Perhaps the folk at Archie Comics weren't happy with the cover he handed in, or maybe he didn't have time to do one. I'm not even sure who did this cover art. The border art on the right hand side is Kirby, but the central image is not. This is a pretty nice condition copy and I was happy to pick it up.

Issue #2 (also the last issue). Not a high condition book by any means, but it's much better than the really beat-up copy that was already in my collection.

One of the action comics that Simon and Kirby produced for Harvey Comics. I had been looking for an affordable copy of this book for a long time.

OUT OF THE NIGHT

Once again I ended up with a comic book that was not on my want list. This one is OUT OF THE NIGHT #1 from ACG (American Comics Group). ACG was one of those companies that outlasted most of the other second-tier publishers and was creating comics long after so many others had packed it in and ceased publication. They went toe to toe with Marvel and DC and finally bit the dust in 1967 during the superhero boom.

This book was one of their horror titles. ACG was one of the first comics publishers to capitalize on the horror genre with their title ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN. This book, OUT OF THE NIGHT, was obviously created to cash in on the popularity of horror comics.

I was attracted to it for several reasons. Among those is that it's a first issue, and it has a really cool, garish cover. But the main thing that made me grab this copy (other than the low price I got on it) was the Al Williamson, Harold LeDoux artwork inside. The two illustrate a werewolf story that's pretty weird and the illustrations sparkle. 

Publishing information inside indicate that this book was published in 1951.

Williamson's style was striking. Frazetta could ape it, but few others could match the flowing lines of his pencil.

The werewolf in this tale is largely human, initially lacking fur.

Yes, this was a horror comic.

The strange plotting of a werewolf against his victims! "Good Heavens!"

A Harmless Question

Jack met Winfield years ago at a mutual friend's house in Atlanta. He was there to visit his old pal Earl who wanted to buy some of Jack's old comics. Some years before Jack had stopped investing in collectible comics, but he still had a few choice items to get rid of and Earl was interested in them. After brief introductions, Jack asked what Winfield did for a living.

"I work for the *** Intelligence Agency," he said. "I've been a Federal employee for most of my working life."

 Winfield was a nice enough fellow but didn't have a lot to say and seemed the type who was just as happy listening to conversations as taking part in them. Later, after he'd had time to think back on it, Jack figured that it was probably a great quality to have considering Winfield's line of work. Being a good listener seems to be at the heart of what he would do.

Jack had made time to spend most of an afternoon at his friend's place to discuss comics and to show the old books that he had for sale. The intelligence guy had an interest in comics but didn't actively collect old books the way it was with Jack and Earl. But he knew enough to be able to talk about comic book creators and publishers.

After a while, Jack realized that there was a question he wanted to ask the other guest, but didn't know how he'd react to it. This was in the days before the Internet was widely available (at least to Jack) and his only sources of news information were TV, radio, and whatever domestic and foreign newspapers he could search through at the local library. But it was something that he was really curious about, so he just decided, hell with it. I'll ask him.

"Tell me something--and if I'm out of line, just let me know. I was wondering about a foreign policy event."

"Sure," he said. "If it's out of line I'll tell you." Winfield wasn't being a smart ass; it was just a fact.

"Okay, then. What I've been curious about was whether or not the US or the US and some European countries whacked Alexander Lebed."

"Alexander Lebed? The name sounds Slavic."

"Yeah. A retired Russian military officer who was into politics. I was wondering if he was assassinated or if his death really was an accident."

He shrugged. "Sorry.  I don't know anything about Russia. That's not my area of expertise. I am an analyst, but I don't  deal with eastern Europe."

"Oh. Okay, then." And Jack let it rest with that and Winfield genuinely didn't seem upset that he'd asked the question.

After that Jack went back to talking to their host about comic books and sports and the weather and whatnot. They all thumbed through old comics and sat and drank beer and conversed.

But one thing about Winfield was that the wheels had not stopped turning since that question. He'd apparently got it stuck in his noggin and the gears were engaged.

"Was he alone?"

"What? Was who alone?"

About two hours had passed since Jack asked him what he feared might be a sensitive question.

"This guy. Alexander Lebed. Did he die alone, or were one or more of his closest associates killed with him?"

"Oh," Jack said, surprised that he'd decided to bring it up again out of the blue. "No. He was killed in a helicopter with his advisers. I've forgotten how many were killed. Several."

"Well, then it was an assassination. Maybe we did it. Or someone did."

And that was that. He didn't say anything else about it, and Jack didn't, either. He ended up selling the old comic books--the last of his once large collection--to Earl and soon Jack left. He never saw the other guest again.

Grave of Alexander Lebed.

Charlotte Comic Con

I went to the twice-a-year Charlotte Comic Con today. I always have a good time there, but I rarely sell any of my books there these days. But I keep going because I have a good time and like meeting up with my comic book artist pals.

Getting my stuff set up with Cavewoman creator Budd Root.

At the artist alley with Buddy Prince and Andy Smith (no relation).

The place was packed.

There is now a separate room for toy dealers.

Don't ask, because I have absolutely no idea.

It Sold for HOW MUCH?!

Some years back, when I got out of the comic book retailing business, I swore off the industry. I didn't even want to write for the comic book industry anymore, abandoning my nascent career in selling comic scripts to various publishers. I was completely burned out on the literary/art form.

Years passed. For a long time I didn't so much as crack the covers of a comic book or enter the doors of a comic book shop. If I passed by a rack of comics in any kind of retail establishment I tended to ignore them.

But, somewhere along the way, nostalgia began gnawing at the old bones. So I picked up a few low-grade copies of The Amazing Spider-Man created/written/penciled/inked by Steve Ditko. I got a kick out of the books (I think they were issues #16 and #19), so I figured, 'What the heck? I could probably buy all of the Ditko issues in low to mid-grade without too much trouble'. So, I set about doing that.

Then I decided that I wouldn't mind owning a lot of the pre-hero Marvel comics that Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko created together, and I started collecting those, too. And then, I decided to take a crack at buying a complete set of Fantastic Four, but only the issues created/written/penciled by Jack Kirby.

I was, of course, hooked again on comics. And I've been at it for some time, carefully assembling a collection of the titles that I want the most and having no desire whatsoever to again enter the business of retailing at any level. But one of the things that amazes me is that I got back into it buying lower grade copies of the books I grew up loving. That way I could actually handle and read the books without having to worry about risking my "investment". And I do read my old comics, unlike so many who just pursue it as a kind of pure investment strategy, seeking to keep them in as high a grade as is possible

But something really weird has happened in the past couple of years. And it's that lower grade copies of the Silver Age books that I have been buying have exploded in value. Books that I thought would never be in high demand are just that. People are paying crazy prices for the kinds of books that I would once never have considered selling for anything more than pennies.

It's a crazy world.

My copy of Strange Tales 89, the first appearance of Jack Kirby creation, Fin Fang Foom. Kirby really liked alliteration.

My copy of Kirby creation Fantastic Four #8.

My copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #1, created by Steve Ditko.

My copy of Strange Tales #114. Captain America returns! (Or does he?!)

More Old Comics!

Recent additions to my comic book collection. It's been nice to add a few books after not being very active in the hobby for several months.

Fantastic Four #29. I now only need #20 to complete my run of the 20s numbering. This is a nice issue featuring the appearance of The Watcher, one of Jack Kirby's most fascinating creations. The ink work during this stretch was by Chic Stone. Some folk love his work, while others are not impressed. I was always generally happy with his inks, but I have always felt that he never really understood what Ben Grimm was all about, nor how to handle inking the character.

Tower Comics was a relatively short-lived company. But they had some of the best talent around, with Wally Wood leading not only their artist stable, but standing in as the man who was putting the company together. Wood had left Marvel after disputes with blowhard Stan Lee and took this opportunity to create some truly amazing superhero comics. I've often wondered what kinds of superhero comic EC might have produced if they'd not been driven out of business by the Comics Code Authority. I reckon Tower Comics is largely the answer to that question.

Wood's covers were absolutely stunning.

Oversight Comic.

I kept missing this issue on my want list. Why would I keep forgetting to buy this issue? There's nothing special about it (other than that it was written and illustrated by Jack Kirby). But every time I filled in gaps in my Fantastic Four collection I would miss this issue.

And then I remembered.

Back when I was a comic book retailer I ended up with two unopened cases of three comics. One was The Amazing Spider-Man #35. One was Flash Gordon #12. And the other was Fantastic Four #83. I had so many of them that what I would do is give one away (your choice) for any purchase over $20. The Spider-Man issues ran out first. Then the FF. Finally the Flash Gordon.

I think I was subconsciously forgetting the issue because I used to have so damned many of them in near mint to mint condition. Wish I'd kept those cases of Amazing Spider-Man #35. All of them near mint to mint! Alas...

My recently acquired copy of FANTASTIC FOUR #83, written and illustrated by Jack Kirby.

Out With the Old...

I don't normally collect high-grade books for my collection. Sometimes I will upgrade from a poor condition copy to one in good to very good condition. One reason I don't generally buy them in high grade is that I like to read my old comics. I enjoy taking them out and handling them. Unlike the anal retentive types who box them permanently in plastic slabs where they can never be touched. Nevernevernever.

Last week I happened to trade up for a high grade copy of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #27. I'll keep it, I reckon, and sell off my lower grade copy.

What the heck. Might as well.

Out with the old...

In with the new.

Lousy Inks!

I only had one issue remaining to complete all of the last fifteen issues of FANTASTIC FOUR that Kirby wrote and illustrated. That issue was #97. Like most of the stories Kirby was writing for the book toward the end, this one was very simple in theme and plot. It involved the FF being met with a nebulous menace that turned out to be a monster somewhat like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. In the end, the fellow turns out to be a lost alien with its mate in tow and they both escape from the Four and into outer space on their ship. It's the kind of thing Kirby was writing and illustrating in his very earliest days at the embryonic Marvel Comics.

I had not seen this issue since I first read it as a kid. And I have to say that while the story is simple it was not a bad effort on Kirby's part. However...the inking job performed by Frank Giacoia is one of the worst I've ever seen. It's possible that he was rushed and was pulled in on the job because Joe Sinnott was not available for some reason. I have no idea what the deadline was like, but the result is easily one of the worst inking jobs I have ever seen over Kirby's pencils. Some of the panels are excruciatingly awful because of Giacoia's slap-dash work.

But, anyway, I've got that last issue in that particular bit of the collection, so that was a relief to finish that section. In addition, the condition of the book was quite nice, so I won't ever have to worry about getting an upgrade.

My copy of FANTASTIC FOUR #97.

Rare? Nope.

Certain old comics--even some from the Golden Age--are rather common. I've never quite figured out why this is so. I know the main reason for it--some specific issues just solder better than others. But why this is so, I can't say. What made one issue sell particularly well and thus made the odds for its survival as a collectible more even?

When I was a comic book dealer, there were just weird issues of books that I would always run into. Why were they more common than the issues that came out that particular year? Who can say?

For instance, I used to run into copies of Superman #63 and Superman #98 a lot! By "a lot", what I mean to say is that I rarely didn't have those issues in stock. And if you try to find a Superman #62, or a Superman #99...lots o' luck! Those are much more difficult to find!

One of the books in my collection is WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES #140. It's considered a "key" issue. That is, it's important to collectors because it has the first appearance of a Carl Barks creation who was used quite a lot over the years: Donald Duck's super-lucky cousin, Gladstone Gander. I always got a kick out of the stories that had Gladstone in them. They were a lot of fun.

However, this issue of the book is just very damned common. Many, many of them obviously survived over the years because I rarely go into a comic book convention when I don't find several dealers with at least one copy of that book in their stock. They're just very, very easy to find.

But what made it so attractive to kids that so many were purchased (and survived)? Was it the cover art? It's clever, but no funnier or more imaginative than many another Carl Barks cover. It couldn't have been the appearance of Gladstone, because it was the first story in which Barks ever used him. No one knew who he was, so the kids could not have approached the book with any amount of affection for him.

One thing I've always wondered about was if the color stock had anything to do with it. The cover is dominated by a bright yellow the surrounds Donald. Maybe all of that glaring yellow cover stock grabbed the eyes and attentions of a hundred thousand extra kids that month. Was this issue part of a promotional giveaway? I've never heard that. It's a mystery.

But I do have a very nice copy in my collection. They supposedly are priced at a slight premium because of Gladstone Gander's first appearance. But I always see them end up going for a lot less than the Guide price. Supply and demand rules.

My copy of Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #140.

Collecting Comics is Fun!

Now it's time to start zeroing in on the later issues of the Jack Kirby run of FANTASTIC FOUR. I've got most of the middle of the run (issues between #16 and #70), now I'm plugging the holes between #71 and #99. Today, I finished off the Kirby annuals, so I don't have to search for those anymore.

Toward the end, I think Kirby was trying not to create anything new for Marvel to steal from him. To that end, he was using characters he'd already established in the FF pantheon. This annual also contained a particularly good story that featured the Silver Surfer in a solo tale. It's an effective story that illustrates what a superb writer Kirby was.

Do You Really Need to Take This Trip?

Almost every comic collector I know carries a want-list around with him. This is, of course, the smart thing to do. Because my collection is relatively small and centered on a limited axis, I've never written up a comprehensive want list. However, a couple of recent things have made me decide to create a decent list.

I do collect EC Comics in a small way. I only pick them up occasionally, and only when I can get a really good deal on the book. Thus, my collection of EC comics is rather small. No need, really, for a want list. But a little over a month ago I managed to do something that I would have thought most improbable:

I bought an EC comic book that I already have! It's a great book and I won't have any trouble selling it or trading it away, but just the fact that I bought a book that I already had when I don't own that many of the title (or even that publisher)...well, it made me realize I need that list. And soon.

Because this week I came very close to buying another comic I already have in my collection: TUROK #6. This book has a most memorable cover and an even more memorable scene. It has a giant gorilla on the cover and in the story! How could I NOT recall that I already have that issue? Well, I had forgotten that I own it, and came with a lizard's whisker of buying another copy. That I don't need.

And that was it. I've already started work on a comprehensive want list.

Whoa! I almost bought this book when I already had this perfectly good copy!

Comic Book Show Today

I went to the Charlotte Comicon today. It's a local one-day show that's always a lot of fun. The costume contest was especially good this time. I also completed my Amazing Spider-Man collection by nabbing the last two issues I needed.

Amazing Spider-Man #1

Amazing Spider-Man #2

The Joker needs no introduction.

This gentleman was dressed as Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin.

Gandalf the Gray and Bilbo Baggins were in attendance, also.

Latest Addition:

Latest addition to my collection is a John Stanley classic, LITTLE LULU & TUBBY ANNUAL #1. I also bought a #2 of that book but it hasn't arrived yet.

Stanley was a brilliant writer and artist. He knew what kids liked to read and how to tell them a good story and a funny one. He is missed. We have no one like him working in comics today.

Front cover. The condition is about very good. It's a nice, solid copy with a square spine that is intact and unbroken. It's hard to find the square-bound comics in good condition.

The back cover.

Rarity of Early Marvels, in My Personal Experience

I grew up around old comic books. My dad owned jillions of them, blah-blah-blah. You guys have heard the story and know the drill.

I followed that childhood by being a dealer in rare comic books for most of my adult life, stopping only when I was 38 years old.

So I saw a shitload of great old comic books in my day. Always my favorites were the creations of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko at Marvel Comics. Kirby and Ditko did it all, and all by themselves (no matter what bullshit lies you may hear).

People talk about how rare and difficult various books are to locate. When it comes to early Marvels, almost all of them are hard to find in near mint or mint because of the low-grade cover stock they used which resulted in what was to be called "Marvel chipping" in later years. That is, the covers became brittle and chipped away at the edges as time passed. You do sometimes find them in perfect shape, but this is extremely rare.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. What I want to talk about is the general rarity and availability of the various key issues in any grade at all. I always noticed that some books were very hard to find in any grade whatsoever, while others were relatively easy to locate. This was due, of course, to the number of issues that sold on the stands and which were subsequently available to be purchased as collectibles.

So, I'm going to list the key early Marvel books in order of how rare the key books were for me to find and purchase. Keep in mind---that this is subjective. The results were how hard the books were for ME to find and purchase. Other folk in other parts of the nation may have gotten different results.

The single rarest early Marvel superhero book was the first one:

Fantastic Four #1. In all of my years of experience of dealing old comics, I don't think I ever had but six of these in my stock. That's even counting my dad's days of dealing old books when that particular issue was only a few years off the stands. In our neck of the woods (the South), it was, and remains, an almost impossible find.

Next on the list would be Tales to Astonish #27, the first appearance of Ant Man. Now, when this story was first published it was just part of the general stock of monster/sf stories written and illustrated by Jack Kirby. But when Kirby was ordered to create more superheroes to capitalize on the DC superhero revival going on there, he reached back a year or so and turned Henry Pym, scientist who could shrink himself into something new: Superhero Ant Man, alias Henry Pym. This book was always very hard for me to locate. I owned maybe eight copies in all my days as a comic dealer.

Third has to be The Incredible Hulk #1. Now, this book was a Kirby brainchild all the way. And it had some really dynamic covers. Especially that first issue. But let me tell you--it was always among the very toughest of issues for me! Only a few times did that book ever cross the threshold of my shops. I found about the same number of these as I did of the first appearance of Ant Man, but generally in lesser condition for some reason.

Fourth toughest would be Tales of Suspense #39, the first appearance of Iron Man. Another Jack Kirby creation, Kirby brainstormed the character, did the layouts and rough dialogue for the book, then handed the project over to Don Heck who tightened up the pencils and turned in the final project. Because this book was one of the issues where Marvel introduced a new superhero within the confines of their old monster title, it was always one of the tougher ones for me to find. I've owned more than a dozen of them over the years.

Next would be Journey Into Mystery #83, the first appearance of The Mighty Thor, another concoction of Jack Kirby's. At this point Kirby and Ditko were being given the chance to produce new superhero books within the numbering of the science fiction and horror comics they were already writing and drawing for Marvel. Sales of Journey Into Mystery must have been good, because this was a book that was never particularly hard for me to find. I've owned somewhere between two dozen and three dozen copies over my career as a dealer.

The following superhero books were always relatively easy for me to find. That is, I owned dozens of copies of each issue of the rest of these books over the years. Which is hard to believe, considering how much some of these books sell for.

Amazing Fantasy #15 introduced The Amazing Spider-Man. I've owned a LOT of these in my day. So many that I've lost count. It was rare that I didn't have at least one copy in stock. The same goes for The Amazing Spider-Man #1. There were times when I owned as many as five copies at a time. They were not--in the grand scheme of things--rare. They were always in high demand, of course, but not what I would term "rare".

The Avengers #1 was another one that was not particularly difficult to find. Copies would stroll through the door fairly often. Ditto Strange Tales #101 which did not introduce the Human Torch, but gave him a comic book where he could have solo stories without the rest of the Fantastic Four. The Torch was created by Carl Burgos who later tried to sue to collect possession of his creation, to no good effect. He died without having reclaimed his property from Marvel. Also fairly easy to nab was Daredevil #1 which was considered the dog of early Marvels. Sometimes DD #1 was a really hard book for me to just get rid of. They were never in high demand.

And X-Men#1 was another book that was easy to find, but also very damned easy to sell. This was because the later X-Men incarnation was so damned popular--it made those early issues must-have for collectors with deep pockets.  Tales to Astonish #35 was another one that was hard for me to sell when I landed them, because no one considered it the first appearance of Ant Man--it was just his first appearance "in costume" and therefore was a hard sell in the early days of collecting. These are all books that I probably bought and sold a hundred times each (or more) over my days as a comic book dealer.