Dollar Bin Comic Finds!

Today was technically day one of vacation.  Homemade pizza for lunch, a round of indoor golf (my Valentine's Day present) and dinner at Moe's.

In between, we hit the mall and I raided the Dollar Bins.

Once again I grabbed some books for the kids.

Haley got a Batgirl story....

I picked up two Superman milestones for Logan, the John Byrne relaunch and "The Death of Superman"...

I continued my current John Byrne kick with these two...

...and my nostalgia kick with these two....

But tonight's mother lode included these two:

 

Batman #427, part of the infamous Death of Robin storyline, where his fate was decided by fans calling a 1-900 number to determine if he lived or died (SPOILER: He died.).  I know the story fairly well, but have never read it as it originally was printed.  I guess I'll be adding the other three parts to my Want List!

But tonight's jackpot comic....

One of my five favorite comics of ALL time!  I already own a copy, but I could not pass up a reading copy for $1!  And this way Nan can read it.  She has seen the EXCELLENT adaptation DC did in a Justice League Unlimited episode in 2004.

If you do not already know, this issue is entitled "For The Man Who Has Everything".  Essentially, the story has Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman visiting the Fortress of Solitude with gifts on Superman's birthday.  They arrive to find him him in a vegetative state with a large alien plant stuck to his chest. Shortly, the alien warlord Mongul is revealed and tells the heroes that the "Black Mercy" has put Superman into a coma, feeding him an extremely realistic dream based on his "heart's desire".  Interspersed with the scenes in the Fortress are pages of Superman's dream of living a normal life on his long-destroyed home planet of Krypton, happily married with two children.

What happens throughout the rest of the issue is one of the best examples of what comic books CAN be....

Dollar Bin Comic Finds!

Several blogs I follow have recently bemoaned the loss of the once ubiquitous quarter bins at comic book stores and conventions.  While my local shop DOES have a 25 cent bin, there is NEVER anything worth picking up.

However, our local mall recently acquired a new tenant....one of those "collectible" stores, that does have some dollar boxes.  EVERY time I go, I find something worth picking up and tonight was no exception.

  

First, I grabbed this copy of Superman 123 for Logan.  He recently bought himself an action figure of this version of Superman.  BONUS: The cover glows in the dark!!!

I found "The Authority" 2-5 in one box, toyed with the idea of getting them, but put them back.  I moved to the back of the store and found issue #1, so I ran back and got all five.  This is one of those "dark" and "gritty" "realistic" series I missed when it first came out, but for $5, I had to grab them just for the read.

I have recently developed a weakness for 1980's era Superman comics and have started to dabble into some Legion of Super-Heroes issues.  I actually told Nan recently I might drop two or three titles from my pull list and buy $1.00 from Comic Collector Live or eBay.  I got these three issues to keep me happy for now.

But my greatest find tonight was a copy of Brave and Bold #38!

I would say it is in probably Good to Very Good condition, BUT it is now the oldest comic in my collection, cover dated November 1961.  (My previous oldest comic was Avengers #5 from May 1964.)  It is also the only 10 cent in my collection (not counting recent "gimmicks") and the LAST 10 cent issue of The Brave and The Bold!  Kind of a cool cover and a great find and addition to my collection!