TEX's BACK-ISSUE QUEST 2.0 EPISODE 5

Tis' the Season to be forgiving,

Fa-la-la-la-laaaa, la-la-la-la!

    And that's what TEX needs to do.

    You see, the summer before last, TEX had taken a semi-break from comics. I wasn't really visiting the ComicsPriceGuide.com Forums, nor keeping up to date with comics news. In fact, I wasn't buying many comics, nor reading them either. I was even thinking about selling my prized collection to help my son out with his college expenses. It was the perfect set up for what happened next...


   As a comics enthusiast, I really haven't had the pleasure of meeting any one important in the comics industry face-to-face. Sure, I've spoken with a few awesome comics creators on the phone, and via e-mail or websites, but never in the flesh. The aforementioned summer, a big-time comics seller contacted me by phone to set up a meet to buy my collection. I was very pleased to find out that he was not only an important buyer/seller, but he personally knew, or had known many of the legendary comics creators that I hold near and dear to my heart. So, he visited, and we talked of Gil Kane, Bill Sienkiewicz, and others. He was welcomed into my home, and given free access to my collection. He expressed interest in nearly everything I had, but he wanted an ice-breaker deal. He pulled out my Strange Tales #110, the first appearance of Doctor Strange, and tells me that we'll start there. He shows me the most recent Overstreet, that says that my comic is worth about $400, so we settle at about $350. I thought it was a good deal with more to come. He left for the night to return in the morning to seal "a few thousand dollars worth of deals." There was, however, an itch in the back of my brain that I just had to scratch. I checked eBay that night, and ST #110 in conditions lower than mine were selling for over $1000! The reason? A new Doctor Strange movie was in the works with Benedict Cumberbatch attached to play Stephen Strange. As you can imagine, I was fuming - not really at the buyer, but at myself for not having been correctly prepared to sell. Even still, I've never misrepresented anything to anyone to make a buy - I've even shown people the prices that their comics were garnering on eBay just so they would know for themselves (of course, buying on eBay is different - bidding is controlled not by any particular value save how much the bidders want the book).  I have never been dishonest in a deal - it is my belief that those those will come back around to you.

  So, the downside is that I lost one of my prize comics. The upside? It sparked a new vigor in me that led to more buying, and a newly cultivated habit of keeping up to date on comics news, and the value of my collection. And boy-oh-boy, did the value of my collection skyrocket! Through some great, available and strategic buys, I more than quadrupled my loss on Doctor Strange.  I got back to reading my moderns and having a good time with my brothers on the now-defunct CPG Forums.

  So, I'm letting the hate flow through (and out) of me. LOL. And to celebrate, let's get STRANGE!!

It's my two copies of Doctor Strange vol 1, #169 - this issue begins the first solo title for Doctor Strange. Marvel had just launched a new printing deal in 1968 that allowed them to print more titles, so Doctor Strange got his own, continuing the numbering from Strange Tales. This book gives the most in-depth treatment of origin Doctor Strange up to that date, extending the origin story first given in ST #115.

FUN FACT: Strange Tales would be revived in the early 70s, starting with #169, featuring the 1st app of Brother Voodoo / Doctor Voodoo, Jericho Drumm.

Here is my copy of Doctor Strange vol 2, #1, with a stunner of a cover by Frank Brunner, published in June of 1974. This book features the 1st appearances of Agamotto's Dimension, and Silver Dagger, Strange's enemy.

Finally, here are my two Doctor Strange action figures. The second figure comes from the Marvel Legends line from Toy Biz. It's from series 9 (Galactus Series), done in about 2005. The first figure comes from the Marvel Select line, from Diamond Select Toys. This figure was released this year...And it is THE COOLEST Marvel Select figure ever. With my discount on my monthly pull list from my lcs, this action figure ended up being absolutely free!! Can you dig it, baby?

Here's a video review of the new figure, if you're interested:

   So, what's the moral of the story? Forgive and live. More than likely, there'll be something better waiting around the corner for you. Don't worry. Don't fret. Life's not over yet.

   HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!


Thanks for reading!