More Bronze-Age back-issues

I'm clearly on a little bit of a back-issue kick at the moment because I've just bought these three back issues off ebay. Nothing expensive but they just caught my eye,

Iron Man #90 is actually an upgrade copy as it was one of the first US Marvel comics I ever bought. This slightly better condition copy will go into the box and I'll frame my original copy. I love the cover!

My Iron Man comic collection is now complete

With the recent purchase of this comic, Iron Man #172 cover dated July 1983 I have now completed my Iron Man collection. Hooray for me!

There are plenty of recent Iron Man comics I haven't got but I now own a complete run from issue 50 to #281. Those together with the Masterworks reprints means that all the issues up to June 1992.

Plenty to read then.

Added to My Collection - Even More Bronze Age Iron Man

I keep spotting bargains on ebay which mean I'm quickly moving towards my goal of completing the Iron Man run from 50 - 281. Only a month again I won a auction lot and again this week I won 171-180 (but not 172) for £5. These are circa 1983 and were published just before I got back into comics with the discovery of speciality comics shops.

So just 172 to go now!

Added to My Collection - More Bronze Age Iron Man

It's only been a month since I purchased some other Iron Man back issues but I've already added some more leaving me just a handful to get to complete a run from 50 - 281.

This was a lot of various issues from 168-199 of which 11 were back-issues I needed. One or two replaced older copies I had so it is all good.

Added to my collection - Bronze Age Iron Man

I've not purchased many back issues this year as I've concentrated on trades and, truth be told, there's not many I want in this golden age of reprints.

Iron Man is one title where I'd prefer to get the original issues between 150 - 200 that I've not got. With this ebay purchase of 7 issues I've now completed the run to issue 168.

More Marvel Masterworks and a Classic Graphic Novel

 Incredible Hulk Masterworks vol 3softcover

 Iron Man Masterworks Vol 8

Dr Strange & Dr Doom Triumph and Torment Graphic Novel

All 3 arrived on the same day courtesy of the Book Depository who are often significantly cheaper than Amazon.

This means I've completed my Iron Man run.

More Masterworks

 Two Masterworks vols have arrived in the post recently.

Avengers Volume 5 completes my Avengers run! Yay! This was one of the criteria I gave myself before I start (re) reading my Marvel collection in order from the very start. In fact it was the main one. But with all the stuff I've got lined-up to read I and the chance to still acquire the odd Daredevil, Cap or X-Men Masterworks I think I am going to start at the beginning of 2015.

Now there's advance planning!

I also got this regular version of Iron Man vol 6. Forbidden Planet managed to send it in the end. This is the version that I really wanted not the limited edition I got in a panic 2 months ago.

Anyway, that limited edition will now go on ebay.

Iron Man Masterworks Vol 7

Another Iron Man Masterworks volume has arrived to add to my collection. This reprints issues 26-38 some of which I do have the originals for.

I am still undecided on whether or not to purchase Volume 8. I have more than half of the originals of that volume but the ones I don't have are rare and expensive so the sensible option would be to purchase it.

Sensible..moi?

Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol 6

A few weeks ago I was undecided about continuing with purchasing any more Iron Man  Masterworks.

This particular volume was hard-to-find and I was also reaching a period in the comics where I had some of the original issues which were included. Should I just purchase original issues? I would be more expensive in the long run and space requirements were an issue. Despite regular clear-outs I don't have much room in my comic boxes.

Well I've made my decision and will continue with Masterworks to volume 8 and sell my higher grade issues.

This particular volume which covers issues 14-25 is the limited edition. I just can't seem to find the regular edition anywhere. I've an order with Forbidden Planet International which maybe fulfilled if they can get stock in 5-6 weeks time but I didn't want to take the risk and so purchased this copy from Silver Acre off ebay for £50. BUT, just in case I do receive the regular edition, I've not taken the cling film type wrapping off this volume yet as it will make it more sellable.

There are lots of new Masterworks due to be published soon and my collection will look pretty impressive by the end of the year.

Avengers vol 5 (paperback) in July will complete my Avengers collection
Hulk vol 3 (paperback) in September will virtually mean I have a complete Hulk run
Thor vol 12 (hardcover) is due in Oct
Marvel Two-In-One vol 1(hardcover) due in Nov will cover those more expensive 2 in 1 issues I need.

Plus I will get Iron Man vols 7 & 8 very soon as they are already published!

Added to My Collection: A long Iron Man run

I picked up 10 issues of Iron Man from 1984 via ebay. £7.50 +P&P for the lot with an average grade of FN+ so pretty good.

Getting this lot has encouraged me to complete my Iron Man run in single format rather than any collections. There's still a fair number of issues to collection between 170 and 198 but there's pently out there and I have time to collect them.

Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol 5

My current obsession is to complete the Iron Man Masterworks. Volume 5 reprints issues 2-13

With the addition of Volume 5 yesterday I'm starting to get to the era when I've a few, but only a few, of the original issues. In this particular case just number 13.

However, I'm struggling to find Volume 6 for a reasonable price. The best I can see so far is £50 which is quite a lot.

Iron Man Masterworks currently run to volume 8 and issue 53. Volumes 7 and 8 are widely available but for some reason Volume 6 which was only published in 2009 seems very scarce.

I am considering selling original issues to fund further purchases or should I just get the originals to complete my collection. I really haven't decided yet.

Iron Man 3

Saw this last Wednesday at the Odeon.

Very nice. Good plot. Plenty of light hearted moments and quips and excitement galore.

Marvel continue to deliver the goods!

New Purchases Galore

 I am having to blog more regularly to keep up with my new purchases recently. My goal of buying less than I am reading is well beyond reach at the present time. There are a few factors to blame for this. My trips to London for one and alos CBRs's greatest stories of all time series.

I really value the sites where I find out about cool comics from the past I missed and these features listing stories are a real treat. Of course, as soon as I read about stuff I investigate the net to see if I can get it! This trade of "Generations" from 1999 was the only copy I could find. It was listed as in "good nick" on ebay and I can't disagree. Definitely well read but complete. This particular story was highly placed in both the best Elseworlds stories and the best Superman stories. And it's by John Byrne who was a favourite of mine for a long time.

I did say I was going to look out for more Iron Man Masterworks. Just like the Superman/Batman book above, this hardback edition is quite rare and getting expensive. That's why I plonked down £30 for this copy from Amazon Market place. I will still try and get Vol 5 very soon too.

I haven't forgotten by actual comic collection either despite the number of trades and hardcovers I have bought recently. But there are not that many on my wants list and those that are are hard to get at a good price. These two issues of Team-Up were an exception priced at 99p and £1.04 respectively.

This isn't the end of the spending spree..more stuff on the way. Oh my giddy aunt!

A varity of Graphic Novels & trades

Lots of new stuff has arrived in the post over the last few days. A cheap (£2.49) hardback collection of Iron Man Extremis was a bit of an impulse buy on ebay. This is from the "Ultimate Graphic Novel Collection" but I don't mind as the story with a few pages of extras looks well presented. I have the majority of the UGNC in the original comics so it was not something I was particularly interested in - but this was one story I was missing.

 The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke is supposed to be excellent so when Amazon got some new stock in I jumped at the chance to buy both volumes.

I read an article about Ravine on CBR and was impressed by the painted artwork as well as being interested in the fantasy based story. This is a 128 page original graphic novel published by Image. I don't know how many volumes they are planning but it sure looks pretty leafing through it!

Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Vol 3

Always pleased to add to my Masterworks collection as new ones often move forward the date from which I have all the Marvel titles from FF#1 that I want to read.



This hardback (as it was good value on ebay) takes my Iron Man to August 1966 and Tales of Suspense #83. So this now means that the Hulk is languishing behind as I am only up to May 1966 with him. That equates to FF#50 and ASM#36.



I'm keen on getting more Iron Man masterworks. Vols 4 & 5 would take me up almost to the point from which I have the original comics so I'm going to look out for them soon.

Matt Fraction's Iron Man conclusion

I finished the final two premier hardcover collections of The Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction this week. There was a big showdown with the Mandarin and an epilogue with Tony going out on his own. Some nice work although I found it difficult to believe that the Mandarin could have got away with some of his secret controlling schemes for so long without being undetected. And that wasn't explained to my satisfaction but I still enjoyed these comics all the same.

This week's New Purchases

Looking back over the last few posts there seems to be a theme of posting at the weekend to list a couple of purchases but nothing actually seems to have been read!

It's the same again this week.

The Sequential Art of Amada Conner is a 300 page hardcover collection of various DC titles showcasing Conner's work. I haven't got any of the originals and I thought it would be a nice purchase as I do like her stuff.

Iron Man Vol 11 is the last Matt Fraction/ Salvador Larroca volume and completes the run of 70+ issues half of which I've now bought in hardcover after buying the floppies. That seems to indicate that it's now been a few years since I gave up buying new comics.

So what am I doing if I buying all this stuff to read? Well I am reading a novel at the moment but, to be honest, that's going slow as I'm also busy painting WWII soldiers and vehicles, I'm now in the middle of painting some white metal D&D figures and just yesterday I bought Manga Studio Debut 4 to have a go at creating comics digitally. So there's a lot taking up my spare time.

All good fun.

More Trades this week

It almost feels like a quiet week with me slowly progressing though my book but I did receive 2 more trade collections.

Fatale Vol 2 - although I haven't read vol 1 yet I know it will be good as Brubaker and Phillips are consistantly good.

Iron Man Vol 10 is the penultimate hardcover in Matt Fractions run. So just the last one to get. After that run ends I'm stopping collecting Iron Man and will switch to Fraction's new title "Hawkeye".

Added to my collection: Hulk 257 and Iron Man 46

I've been busy on ebay the last few weeks and picked up some bargains which have filled some gaps in my collection.

Hulk 257 by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema completes a run from 191 to 290. Exactly 100 issues! I suppose I should get 291 -312 which will complete a run upto 444.

Iron Man 46 in VFN condition was a One-Day only sale and I was the only bidder at the starting price of 4.99. Very nice too. For Iron Man I now just need the next issue and I have a run from 44 to 161 which covers the era I'm most interested in for the bronze age. Other earlier issues will be collected via masterworks unless I'm lucky enough to pick them up cheap.

Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction

I've just finished reading four hardcover collections of Matt Fractions and Salvadore Larrocca's current Iron Man series. I think this is the only current Marvel title I am reading and the end is in sight for this one too when the creative team leave as part of the Marvel NOW strategy.

The hardcovers were vols 7,8 and 9 with Fear Itself slotting inbetween 8 and 9. Vol 8 featuring Doc Ock was poor but Fear Itself was an improvement. However, I really enjoyed Vol 9 "Demon" with Tony being manipulated by the Mandarin, Stane and Hammer. The story continues in Vol 10 but that hardcover hasn't been published yet.