I.M.J.'s Cosmic Books

[IMJ]

I love Marvel cosmic stuff, as well as some of the DC Silver Age stuff as well. Here are some of my neater Marvel Cosmic books that I thought would be fun to look at compiled!

Quasar Books
Captain America #217 | CGC 9.6
First appearance of Wendell Vaughn as Marvel Man. 18 blue labels total on the CGC Census, 6 in 9.6, 3 in 9.8. This has been a surprisingly expensive slab for some time now, but it's a cosmic key and a must-have for Quasar fans.



Incredible Hulk #234 | CGC 9.8
First appearance of Wendell Vaughn as Quasar. There are 57 copies on the census, 28 of which are 9.8s. This is an obscure book though because it's going to appeal to Hulk collectors as well as niche cosmic collectors, and most copies are going to be tied up in collections because of that niche group. Even with that said, I couldn't believe how this book was doing on the market as a 9.8 CGC. Expect to pay 200+ at this point in time - I've seen this manifest several times now too.



Quasar #1 | CGC 9.8
First issue of Quasar's solo book in mint condition. Shows the origin of Quasar. This is the only 9.8 on the census, none higher.



Quasar #2 | CGC 9.8
Quasar meets Eon and is appointed the Protector of the Universe. Of course I'd buy this! Who wouldn't?!?



Quasar #14 | CGC SS 6.5
So it is wildly out of the ordinary for me to buy slabs in this kind of middle-low grade from this era. But it's an authenticated Stan Lee and Todd McFarlane signature on one of the coolest cosmic covers ever. It was a no-brainer for me to pick this one up. There is an unsigned 9.6 on eBay as I write this, but as a regular slab this is a 9.8 or nothing for me.



Quasar #32 | CGC 9.8
1st Korath, recently seen in Guardians of the Galaxy and to reappear in the upcoming Captain Marvel movie. This issue has some terrific Capullo art, and there is a #1 Newsstand variant floating around as well.



Quasar #40 | CGC 9.8
Another CGC label fail. This book is not only a great Infinity War tie-in, but also features the first appearance of Her as Kismet (the golden girl from GOTG 2).



Quasar Misc | CGC 9.8s



Starmasters #1 | CGC 9.8
1st Starmasters, continuation of Quasar vol 1 & precursor to "Annihilators"



Annihilators: Earthfall #2 | CGC 9.8
I'd love to finish this mini-series in 9.8, but they aren't submitted very often and I haven't seen any candidates to submit on my own as of yet. I was glad to find this one though.



Marvel Boy Books [Quasar Prototype]
Marvel Boy #'s 1& 2 continued with Astonishing #'s 3 - 6
These books need more recognition as the first Quantum Bands. There has been some retconning and weird explanations over the years that have declared Marvel Boy's bracers as "The Uranian Bands", but there's been a lot of bad retconning with Marvel Boy. Either way, Golden Age Marvel Boy books are sought after Marvel keys and basically always trade hands immediately when they show up on the market. Marvel Boy lasted 2 issues and then become "Astonishing" which featured Marvel Boy through issue 6. Marvel Boy becomes the Crusader and is taken out by the Quantum Bands after a rampage through the city in the now classic Fantastic Four issues, #'s 164 & 165.



Nova Books
Nova #1 | CGC 9.0
First appearance of Richard Ryder and Ginger Jaye. There are a metric ton of these on the census. Anything in the 9-point family are selling at a premium at the moment, and the 9.6's and 9.8's are currently out of control online. I don't think this is a spec book - this has become a legit Marvel Key, and clearly it has become one of my favorite keys.



Fantastic Four Books
Fantastic Four vol. 1 #50, #65, #67, #120, #205, and Annual #6
3rd Silver Surfer, but still a part of the character's first arc in comics.
1st appearance of Ronan the Accuser.
1st appearance of Adam Warlock - the character is a cocoon throughout most of the issue but on the last pages makes his first appearance before moving on to the Thor title.
1st appearance of Air-Walker
1st appearance of the Nova Corps. I love obscure books like this one...
1st appearance of Annihilus. Arguably a character that almost no one took seriously until Marvel's Annihilation stuff
1st Watcher (& Red Ghost) CGC 8.0







Iron Man Firsts
Iron Man #54 & 55
First appearance of Moondragon in #54, called Madame MacEvil in this arc (OOOOoookay then). #55 is the first Drax the Destroyer and Thanos.



Iron Man #55 | CGC 9.4
I love this slab. Easily one of the real gems of my Iron Man collection.



Marvel Cosmic Entities
Strange Tales #138 | CGC 9.0
First appearance of Eternity! Graded Universal 186 times, 40 9.0's.



Strange Tales #158
First full appearance of the Living Tribunal after a brief cameo in issue #157. This is the better book - the Tribunal's three head's are seen and used, and the character is key to the story in which he is judging Earth against Dr. Strange's defense.



Warlock Books
Warlock & The Infinity Watch #1 | CGC 9.8
First appearance of the Infinity Watch as well as the aftermath of the Infinity Gauntlet. There are 41 Universal copies of this book on the census, only 20 of which are 9.8's Weird. I thought there'd be more.



Thor #165 | CGC 8.0
1st Warlock (full) in this classic Thor issue.


Strange Tales #178, 179 & 180
First Magus, first Pip and first Gamora. I'd like to think that if Guardians is awesome, the Gamora book would take off the way Incredible Hulk #271 has (which is actually a commonly mistaken first app, but that's another story)



Silver Surfer Books
Silver Surfer #3 | CGC 8.0
1st Mephisto. I love this grade for this era of keys.



DC COSMIC

New Gods #1 | CGC 9.6
1st appearances of Orion, Highfather, Lightray, Metron, Kalibak, Parademons, New Genesis, Apokolips. I added this high grade copy while copies like this are still within reach of the regular buyer. This is a nice Jack Kirby book that I think hardcore convention guys have always considered key, but now a wider audience is starting to turn their attention to.



Green Lantern #87 | CGC 8.5
1st John Stewart, I think GL deserves another shot on screen, and although I love Hal Jordan, I wouldn't object to John Stewart as the lead protagonist. He's recognizable by the public from his exposure in animation, and he's an all around great and noble character. A cool addition to cosmic fiction.



Green Lantern # | CGC 4.0
1st Sinestro. Everyone probably knows who this guy is. I don't normally go in to the VG family of books, but this is simply a sought after book, a tough find, and pretty hard to turn up in higher grade.

[IMJ]

Added several CGC's and shrunk some of the images here to make scrolling through this thread more enjoyable.

[StarBrand]

Great stuff!

[nycjadie]

Dude, thanks for sharing. This was such an education, even if I had already read many o these books. I love the passion amyouve put into this. Super cool. Look forward to seeing where you take it, man.

[nycjadie]

I picked up an 8.5 raw Strange Tales 138 for about $30 yesterday (maybe 9.0 with a press - would be a stretch), and it aspired me to revisit this thread. Any additional books you’d add to this one, IMJ?

Funny, the dealer I bought it from was charging $100 for another copy that was in lesser condition!

[IMJ]

I picked up an 8.5 raw Strange Tales 138 for about $30 yesterday (maybe 9.0 with a press - would be a stretch), and it aspired me to revisit this thread. Any additional books you’d add to this one, IMJ?

Funny, the dealer I bought it from was charging $100 for another copy that was in lesser condition!

That is a great book! I'd have bought it too for that - did you find it at a store or a con?
Yeah I've made some additions too, and had a few books that I can toss up here. I just got on Instagram, so I've been putting a lot of collection stuff up there too...

[IMJ]

Made some additions above.... more to come later....

[nycjadie]

I love this. Great updates. I have always been a fan of the cosmic, but have never been one to read it with an encyclopedic focus.

I bought me recent books from a dealer. He gets high grade stuff in from time to time, and I’ve benefitted from some of it. He lets me sift through, open them up, at my own pace, unfettered.

[IMJ]

I love this. Great updates. I have always been a fan of the cosmic, but have never been one to read it with an encyclopedic focus.

I bought me recent books from a dealer. He gets high grade stuff in from time to time, and I’ve benefitted from some of it. He lets me sift through, open them up, at my own pace, unfettered.

I love fellow fans of cosmic stuff, so I'm glad that you are digging into that area of collecting! Wish there were more cosmic guys here, but everything has become so niche that you find people on weird Facebook groups and Instagram and so on....

[StarBrand]

Is that all of your Quasar slabs?

[IMJ]

Is that all of your Quasar slabs?

IIIII might've addded another one or two since the last update.... I've been instagramming a lot of this stuff as I promote a new grass roots store effort.