Blind Adam’s Hidden Gems Vol. 121

Greetings my Comics Heating Up family. I want to just say to my friend and a mentor Dennis O’Neil rest in peace. Thank you for your body of work from Batman to Daredevil, from Spiderman and beyond. Thank you for all of our convention chats as I met Denny at a Big Apple Comiccon many years ago and we have been friends ever since. Always remember to tell the people you care about that you love and care about them, you never know when the last time will be. Now lets make the money on some comics cause you can’t teach that

Batman #224 – Denny O’Neil is the Batman. If you read a Batman comic in
the last thirty years or more, then you have seen Denny’s name on it. If you watched Batman Begins or the Animated Series, that was based on Denny’s work. This is his first work on the title. Some of his other classics are #232 first Ra’s al Ghul , #234 first bronze/silver age Two Face and of course #251 the infamous Joker’s five way revenge. His last written work for DC came out this week in the Joker 80th anniversary special so go enjoy his work

Batman Green Arrow The Poison Tomorrow #1 Denny O’Neil’s final work on Oliver Queen The Green Arrow. Denny’s greatest works were on the Dark Knight and the Emerald Archer. This is a cheap book and goes for $5-10 and is a neat read

Amazing Spiderman Annual #14 and 15 Denny O’Neil and Frank Miller on Spiderman. Without Denny, the famous classic written and drawn Frank Miller’s run of Daredevil  #168-191 would not have happened. These two annuals are fun reads, Spiderman teaming up with Dr Strange and the best Punisher appearance before the Punisher got his mini series. There is also  a classic pin up with Spiderman and Doc Ock. Just great stuff. The annuals go for $15-30

Silver Age Classics Green Lantern #76 Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, the bronze age of comics dream team. Batman and of course Green Lantern and Green Arrow the traveling heroes. This is a part of comic book and American history as comics grew up. Yes, Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns gets credit for turning comics dark and all, but I feel Denny and Deal don’t get enough credit for their work and bringing social issues to life. This is a cheaper reprint as the original goes for $200 plus. This silver age classic goes for $2.50 – $10. Denny will be missed

Zombie of the Month #1 – did you know that May was zombie awareness month? Just learned that today. This book was published by Kitchen Sink, features a cover by a personal friend of mine, the manager of the coolest store in America, Mr. Comic Book Men himself, Walter Flanagan. He did the cover. Walter needs more artist gigs and hopefully one day Kevin Smith and Walter Flanagan can do a third Batman mini series.  Tough book in the wild under a thousand printed $100

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic Book #12 f – What did everyone think of the trailer for the new Bill and Ted movie? I really loved it and can’t wait for August. Hopefully by August we can go see it in the theater. Bill and Ted #1 is Bill and Ted’s first appearance in comics, #12 is the final issue and if your a long time reader of hidden gems, you know that I love final issues as they are lower printed and can be tough in the wild and online. Has anyone seen the cartoon and if so is it worth the time $10

Man Thing #1 (2004) – This one has it all, art by Kyle Hotz who has been putting out great work lately and  written by Hans Rodionoff, the screen writer of the Man-Thing movie. This was actually the prequel to the Lion’s Gate Film.  Oh wait, you are a Marvel movie fan and have never heard of the Man Thing Movie? Probably because it didn’t go over so well. In the ranks of the worst Marvel movies, it doesn’t even make the list. But Marvel horror is doing well and this is one to check out. $10 for all three issues.

Tomb of Terror One Shot (2010) – keeping with the horror theme is this 2010 one shot that doesn’t get the love that Legion of Monsters mini series gets, but still a great book. It has Man Thing, Son of Satan, Werewolf by Night and is in classic black and white. A great read for Marvel horror fans.

Random Acts of Violence – This one shot is by Justin Gray, who I interviewed for the Awesomesauce podcast not long ago, and Jimmy Palmiotti and was released by Image. Key Collector noted (thanks to Gary the Comic Despective) that a movie was made of this and was doing well on the film fest circuit. It is supposed to get larger distribution now. Still cheap and a good brutal read. All the cheap copies (under $20) are gone off eBay, scope out those back issue bins.

Bonus: Blind Adam’s Hidden Gem Germ
Boof #3 – One of the worst books Image ever put out. Ever. Image tried doing an “extreme” funny book that was just about every 1990’s cliche that ever came out. It somehow managed to last 6 issues, and somehow spawned a companion book. To top off the really bad story and art, is a page of fan art at the back of the book which features Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool’s first published art work. This book still somehow sells copies on eBay, one sold for .10 cents plus shipping. I hope who ever bought realizes they over paid. Anyway, interesting piece of comic history, in the first published art, and that it is the worst thing Image has ever published. Buy it and burn it, by the dozen.