The Amazing Spider-Man – Top 10 Issues

March 30, 2020 By admin Leave a Comment

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s creation, Spider-Man, remains one of Marvel’s top tier characters. Several Spider-Man comic book titles, spin-off series, cartoons and live-action films have cemented Spider-Man is our pop-culture social conscience. The first 50 issues of Amazing Spider-Man (Spidey’s first solo series) are chalk full of first appearances of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery; Dr. Octopus, the Chameleon, the Green Goblin, Sandman, Kraven and Electro are just a few that appear in these issues. We will exclude these. Below, I will list and discuss the top 10 issues after issue 50 of Amazing Spider-Man that comic book fans are always happy to add to their collection. Take note of the comics with a Canadian price variant cover!

Amazing Spider-Man in The 1970’s -1990’s!

ASM#101

This is the first appearance of Morbius, the living vampire. This issue has gained in popularity in recent years as many felt a Morbius movie was imminent. They were not wrong!

ASM #121 & #122

These issues have been popular since I started collecting back in the 80s, and always fetched top dollar, if you could find copies! Issue 121 features the tragic death of Peter Parker’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, at the hands of the Green Goblin. In issue 122, Spider-Man exacts his revenge and kills the Goblin.

ASM #129

Introducing the Punisher! High grade copies sell in the thousands.

ASM #194

Batman has Catwoman and Spider-Man has the Black Cat. Issue 194 is her first appearance.

ASM#238

This is the Hobgoblin’s first appearance. This “revised” Green Goblin was just plain cool. This issue came with a set of tattoos affixed to the top staple and is available with a Canadian price variant cover as well.

ASM #252

Secret Wars #8 featured the first appearance of Spidey’s black symbiote costume. This issue of Amazing Spider-Man featured the new black suit in the main series and is available with a Canadian price variant cover as well.

ASM #298

Ditko, Romita Sr., and McFarlane have been the most influential artists to work on the Amazing Spider-Man series. This issue features McFarlane’s first work on the title.

ASM #300

McFarlane introduces fans to Venom, Spider-Man’s most popular villain in years. Venom’s popularity surpasses most all other characters introduced in the series. Today, Venom has numerous titles of his own.

ASM#361

The first appearance of Carnage. The release of the Venom motion picture had fans clamouring for a Carnage appearance. The post credit scene in the Venom film indicated strongly that Carnage will be the antagonist in the next film. This comic book has become a staple at the Comic Doctor’s office.

In Conclusion

Well there you have it. The top 10 Amazing Spider-Man comic books (excluding 1-50) most sought out by collectors. While the above focuses on three decades of the titles, many other issues should be considered when looking for Spidey comics. These will be examined in a future post. In the mean time, if you happen to find any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact the Comic Doctor for all you comic cleaning, pressing and grading needs!

A Bit About Colour Touch & What To Do

March 20, 2020 By admin Leave a Comment

The Headache of Colour Touch

You finally decide to take the plunge and purchase that key comic book you have been eyeing for months. You buy it and quickly contact your go-to comic book presser (The Comic Doctor, right?) to have the comic cleaned and pressed prior to having it graded. A while later, you receive a call from said presser with the bad news: Your comic book has color touch on it. A severe headache ensues.

Look, finding out one of your prized comic books has color touch on it isn’t the end of the world. In many cases, the color touch can be removed, and sometimes, without affecting the comic book’s current grade – at least not by too much!

Colour Touch Is Sneaky

Color touch is a sneaky little bugger that can sometimes evade even the best of eyes, in fact, I have cracked CGC universal blue label comics, worked on them and re-submitted them only to receive a color touched classification. This happened recently with a client’s Hulk 141. The comic was a 9.0 universal blue label. After cleaning and pressing the comic book, I re-submitted it and it came back with a 9.6 purple label indicating “small amount of colour touch on cover”. I didn’t detect it and nor did the original CGC graders.

It’s Been Around a Long Time

Color touch has been a part of comic collecting for decades. If a perfectly fine book had a little bit of color break along the spine or elsewhere, a marker went a long way in making the comic look that much better. Due to the ease of such a fix, it was common practice by amateur and pro restorers both. Since the advent of third-party grading companies, however, a spot light has now been shone on color touched books, with many a collectors and dealers reeling in disbelief when one or more of their comic books end up with a restored label due to color touch.

What to Do

What can be done? As mentioned above, color touched books can sometimes be “fixed”. Most pressers, comic book restorers and even the collector him/herself can remove the color touch. The job can be daunting if the color touch is extensive. If the color touch in minimal, it can usually be scraped, wiped or washed off quite easily. In these cases, I am happy to do it for clients as I work on the books (for a nominal fee). If the comic book has extensive color touch I usually refer clients to CCS (CGC’s in-house restoration shop) or other resto removal experts to do the job. CCS does have the right to refuse working on certain books which happens quite often. If the color touch is extensive, the comic book could be ripped apart in an attempt to “clean it up”. In such cases, CCS will also pass on the job.

The Best Mode of Defense Against Color Touch

Buy graded comic books. While the odd color touched comic will sneak by a grader (as outlined above), I am confident that doesn’t happen very often.
If you are buying raw books, look for spine ticks that should break color but don’t. Where white creases should appear, they instead are either darker or slightly lighter than the actual ink surrounding it.
Open the cover and inspect the spine beside the splash page and the last page. If markers are used to correct color breaking spine ticks, the marker’s ink will often “bleed through” to the inside. This is very obvious.
Color Touch “Bleed Through”
Lift the book and tilt it with light hitting it. On an angle, you should be able to detect missing gloss. Examine these areas a little closer for color touch.
Use a black light. Black lights are not perfect but can sometimes help to detect color touch. Black lights are great at highlighting foreign substances on covers, like glue, paint, organic matter, etc. Best in a pitch dark room.
Portable Black Light
Use a USB ready microscope and zoom in on suspected areas. These new microscopes are inexpensive and hook up quick to desktops and even cell phones.
Digital Microscope
Buyer beware. I can tell you from experience that most dealers and even collectors do not spend much time examining their books for color touch, or any restoration…there is only so much time in the day, after all. If a comic has been worked on, it is pretty obvious. But those books with minor color touch are the ones that need more attention from potential buyers.

Moving Forward

Keep collecting, and if you are unsure if one or more of your comics has been restored, feel free to pop by my shop and I would be happy to give you my opinion. And, if you need to have your comics cleaned, pressed and/ or graded, be sure to contact the Comic Doctor.

Restoration Woes

December 14, 2017 By admin Leave a Comment

My first Restored Comic Book

I remember the first time I submitted some comic books to CGC for grading. Although the experience was sort of fun, I was absolutely terrified my comics would be lost in transit. You see, I decided to save a few bucks and not send my package (which included an Amazing Spider-Man 1, 6, 129 and Avengers 1) with overnight delivery. Instead, I ended up using a three day delivery option that UPS had at the time. Those were the longest three days of my life! Fortunately, my comics did arrive safe and sound and were returned to me a short time later.
Opening the package, I was thrilled to see my precious comic books slabbed safe and sound. I did, however, notice that two comics were slabbed with blue labels, while the others had purple ones. I soon came to realize that my Amazing Spider-Man #6 and Avengers #1 were restored grade – also known as the “dreaded purple label”. Please know that I bought these comic books way before the days of CGC – way back in the 1980s- when only the hard core collectors gave a darn about restoration. Today, however, comics have become big business, and getting stuck with an undisclosed restored book can really put a damper on things. I am discussing restoration today because many customers ask me to inspect their comics before I clean and press them. Please understand that while some some signs of restoration are obvious, others can be much harder to detect. The best advice I can give to collectors is to simply pass on any comic book they might suspect has been restored…that is, if a restored comic book is something you hope to avoid (believe it or not, some collectors don’t care!). These days, key books can cost collectors not hundreds, but thousands of dollars, and a restored specimen is just not worth as much – so buyer beware!

A Non-Disclosed Restored Comic Book

A customer recently purchased a gorgeous copy of Daredevil #1 from one of his local dealers. He sent the comic book to me for a quick press and clean before sending to CGC. I quickly realized that the comic had been restored. I wanted to show this comic book to you because the store owner did not disclose any restoration, yet charged the gentleman full guide value for the comic. I suppose it is possible that the store owner had no idea the comic had been restored, but I find that hard to believe – anyone who owns a store should be able to recognize some obvious signs of restoration. Glancing upon the first pic, it is virtually impossible to detect any restoration… most simply see a beautiful copy of Daredevil #1. But take my word for it…upon closer examination, slight discoloration around the main image, title and text on the front and back cover is obvious. Upon further investigation, I also notice extra piercings where the original staples/ or extra staples used to be. And finally, the texture of the comic was all wrong. It was almost rough to the touch; like over-spray from a bad paint job. This was a good indication that some sort of spray fixodent or gloss was applied to the book’s cover. The staples were also black in colour and glossy (also a result of the spray).

Notice the two extra "vacant" staple holes by Daredevil's feet? Zoom in for a closer look! — Notice the two extra “vacant” staple holes by Daredevil’s feet? Zoom in for a closer look!

For your viewing pleasure, I also provided some shots I took of the comic using a UV flash light. Notice how the restored areas now glows purple. UV lights are a great tool for detecting certain types of restoration work. So again, when buying a high valued raw book, take your time and inspect the comic very closely. Take pictures, send them to either myself or a restorer or other individuals who press and clean and have examined a lot of comics over time. The last thing you want is to pay top dollar for a comic book only to find out later that it is actually worth far less – because the comic is not original. And one more thing – most collectors I know do not leave their high valued comic books raw. If a comic is worth over $500, most usually have the book slabbed by CGC or another third part grading service – doing so ensures a higher return on their investment. So, if a dealer is selling a high valued book that is not slabbed and graded, that in itself should be a red flag. Not to say that all raw books are restored…just be extra cautious.

Daredevil 1 - Restored — The purple discoloration mentioned above clearly visible using UV light

Top 10 Pressed Comics of 2015

January 25, 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

As 2015 wrapped up, I thought it would be fun to list the top 10 comic books submitted for pressing and cleaning over the course of the year. I base the list below on how often a specific comic book issue has been submitted over the course of the last year. Since January of 2015, I have worked on the following comic books the most. Many thanks to all of the customers who have submitted comics to the doctor, since it was your submissions that make up the list. So, without further ado, here we go

#10 – Avengers 196

Avengers 196

1^st full appearance of Taskmaster. Lots of anticipation surrounds this character’s arrival in one of the upcoming Captain America/ Marvel films. He is certainly a fan favourite.

#9 – Marvel Premiere 47

Marvel Premiere 47

The popularity of this particular comic was fueled by Marvel’s hit Movie Ant-Man, which was released in the summer of 2015. As anticipation for the film grew and grew, customers submitted this comic to me on a very regular basis. It features the 1st appearance of Scott Laing as Ant-Man.

#8 – New Teen Titans 2

New Teen Titans 2

The 1^st appearance of Deathstroke. This DC baddie has been featured on the CWs Arrow, but no appearances of the character DCs Cinematic Universe has been confirmed/ announced, although there has been lots of rumours about a Teen Titans film.

#7 – Amazing Spider-Man 300

Amazing Spider-Man 300 – Venom’s 1^st appearance continues to be a very common patient in my office. Being penciled by Todd McFarlane makes the comic even more desirable.

#6 – Giant Size X-Men 1

Giant Size X-Men 1 The 1^st appearance of the new X-Men team continues to be a very popular submission. I guess that is to be expected considering the team overhaul really catapulted the X-Men title to the forefront. The addition of fan favourites like Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and of course, Wolverine reinvented the team for a new generation.

#5 – Preacher 1

Preacher 1

It’s a done deal. The AMC series hits TV screens in a few months. This fact has obviously fueled interest in this book. The value for high grade copies have spiked significantly.

#4 – The Walking Dead 1

Walking Dead 1 The AMC series is still a smash hit and zombies are hot – hot – hot! This comic has been on fire for years and high grade copies continue to demand strong dollars. I am happy to say I have helped quite a few reach the coveted 9.8 grade!

#3 – New Mutants 98

New Mutants 98 Deadpool’s 1^st appearance has been gaining momentum for years. Anticipation for the upcoming film has fans dishing out top dollar for high grade copies.

#2 – Amazing Spider-Man 129

Amazing Spider-Man 129 The Punisher’s 1st appearance remains a must have for die-hard Marvel fans. The recent announcement of the Punisher joining the Netflix hit, Daredevil, has increased interest even more! I pressed and cleaned four or five of my own copies this year!

#1 – Incredible Hulk 181

Hulk 181

This bronze age grail features the 1st appearance of Wolverine, arguably one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Universe. Even lower grade copies of this book fetch good money. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Logan in Fox’s popular X-Men film series has really increased the characters notoriety.

Well there you have it. The top 10 books to come through my “office” over the last year. I am curious to see if the same books will appear on this list in 12 months or so. I have a feeling a few will remain on the list. Once again, many thanks to all of my customers for submitting your comic books to me this past year. I certainly hope to work with you again in 2016! Happy new year!

How To Handle Your Comic Books

February 20, 2015 By admin Leave a Comment

For those of us who have collected comics for a long time, the following guidelines may seem obvious. For collectors new to the hobby, however, these points may just save a precious comic book from being damaged.

1. Avoid rolling the comic, as you would a newspaper.

2. When handling a comic, do so gently. Avoid holding it tightly.

3. Always handle the comic flat in the palm of your hand, and turn the pages carefully, allowing each page fall down gently on its own. In doing so, you avoid placing any pressure on the comic book or its spine.

4. Comic stores tend to organize their comics standing up in comic boxes or bins. When perusing these comics, avoid bending the top of the comics down over the previous books. If you bend the spines while searching for a particular comic book, you will damage the spines for the next customer who comes along. That being said, a previous customer could very well damage the spines of comics you want to purchase. Always handle comics with care and respect.

5. When enjoying trade paperbacks or graphic novels, simply cradle the spine of the comic book and open it just enough to read. Avoid opening the book completely and “cracking” the spine, and never grasp the comic by its covers and read in the air, doing so will surely cause dents on the covers and the pages.

6. If paperbacks or graphic novels have been stored in extremely cold weather, let the books acclimatize to room temperature before opening it to read. Opening a “frozen book” could cause the spine to crack. If the glue on the spine becomes very brittle due to t e cold, the cover may even pop off.

7. Avoid “dog ears”, that is, don’t bend the corners of the pages to place mark where you last read. Invest in a book mark.

8. Eating while reading is a bad habit, especially around valuable comic books. If crumbs fall into your book, this could stain your comics or cause impressions when/if your comics are stored. If you handle food while reading, you may also actually transfer oils from the food you eating directly to your comic books.

9. Always keep your hands clean. We naturally excrete oils and these are easily transferred to your comic books, especially if they are being held tightly.

10. As outlined in an earlier post, be sure to store your comics in a cool dark area. Using comic bags and boards is also strongly recommended. Storing your comics upright is also suggested;

Comic Book Storage Box, long box — The trusted comic book long box (made from card board). Will keep harmful UV rays away from your comic books.

there are a variety of comic boxes to choose from. Mylars and Mylites are the preferred choice of comic sleeve. These are museum grade and while they may cost a little more, the will last a lifetime. WARNING: Be careful when using the stiff Mylar bags, comics can be damaged when inserting them, take your time.

11. Avoid storing your cardboard comic boxes directly on the basement floor, especially if it is concrete. Use a palette of some kind or shelves to keep the boxes off the floor. Over time, boxes may absorb moisture from the concrete and even the carpet. Moisture + comics is a no no.

12. Again, this was mentioned in an earlier post, but avoid exposing your comic books to direct sunlight, and even bright artificial light.

13. Don’t write on your comic books or colour in black and white areas! It is not a colouring book. Also, be careful not to write on paper with a comic book beneath your work – this will cause impressions on the comic book cover and although this sort of damage can be minimized with a good press, often times the impression is still faintly visible.

14. Do not cut coupons out of your comic books…especially back issues…most of those offers have expired. 🙂

The Amazing Spider-Man – Top 10 Issues

Amazing Spider-Man in The 1970’s -1990’s!

ASM#101

ASM #121 & #122

ASM #129

ASM #194

ASM#238

ASM #252

ASM #298

ASM #300

ASM#361

In Conclusion

A Bit About Colour Touch & What To Do

The Headache of Colour Touch

Colour Touch Is Sneaky

It’s Been Around a Long Time

What to Do

The Best Mode of Defense Against Color Touch

Moving Forward

Restoration Woes

My first Restored Comic Book

A Non-Disclosed Restored Comic Book

Top 10 Pressed Comics of 2015

#10 – Avengers 196

#9 – Marvel Premiere 47

#8 – New Teen Titans 2

#7 – Amazing Spider-Man 300

#6 – Giant Size X-Men 1

#5 – Preacher 1

#4 – The Walking Dead 1

#3 – New Mutants 98

#2 – Amazing Spider-Man 129

#1 – Incredible Hulk 181

How To Handle Your Comic Books

Latest From My Blog

The Amazing Spider-Man – Top 10 Issues

CGC Submissions

Submitting to CGC

Amazing Spider-Man in The 1970’s -1990’s!

ASM#101

ASM #121 & #122

ASM #129

ASM #194

ASM#238

ASM #252

ASM #298

ASM #300

ASM#361

In Conclusion

The Headache of Colour Touch

Colour Touch Is Sneaky

It’s Been Around a Long Time

What to Do

The Best Mode of Defense Against Color Touch

Moving Forward

My first Restored Comic Book

A Non-Disclosed Restored Comic Book

#10 – Avengers 196

#9 – Marvel Premiere 47

#8 – New Teen Titans 2

#7 – Amazing Spider-Man 300

#6 – Giant Size X-Men 1

#5 – Preacher 1

#4 – The Walking Dead 1

#3 – New Mutants 98

#2 – Amazing Spider-Man 129

#1 – Incredible Hulk 181

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Latest From My Blog

CGC Submissions