FLASHBACK: HERO EDITION of OVERSTREET #40

John Romita, Jr., Klaus Janson and Dean White labored on this killer recreation of Conan The Barbarian #1, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2010 just as did The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. This version was limited to 500 hardcover copies with all the proceeds going to The Hero Initiative.

Here's what I had to say at the time about the effort to make this one a reality:

“This was truly a collaborative effort. Mark Huesman, the Guide's Creative Director, suggested the idea of a recreation of Conan The Barbarian #1 for the cover, since that landmark issue is also celebrating its 40th anniversary. Jim McLauchlin and the Hero Initiative secured the services of John Romita, Jr., Klaus Janson, and Dean White to provide the fantastic art.

Since John is exclusive with Marvel, Jim also got Marvel’s permission for him to do the project.

Dark Horse’s Mike Richardson arranged the permission to do the cover with the folks at Conan Properties International, LLC. Angelo Messina at WorldColor [now Quad Graphics] arranged for his company to donate the plate change and the limited edition portion of our print run. If any one of these things hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have been able to do this project in this way.”

And of course none of it would have happened without Steve Geppi giving it the go-ahead or Bob Overstreet starting the Guide 40 years earlier!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2011 (May 7, 2011)

On Saturday, May 7, 2011, participating retailers across North America (and some around the world) will host Free Comic Book Day 2011. On that day, those retailers will hand our comic books from Archie, BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse, DC, Marvel, IDW and may others free of charge.

Among the free comics will be The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comics - Free Comic Book Day 2011, our latest effort.

Revised and expanded in reaction to retailer and reader requests! How do you collect comics? How do you take care of the comics you buy? How do you grade comics? How do you sell your comics? How do you evaluate their worth? From the team that brings you The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide come answers to these questions and more facing new collectors and experienced enthusiasts alike!

32 Pages, Full Color, Free

It's written by me (with help from Bailey Ball and some of our Overstreet Advisors), illustrated by Gene Gonzales, with photographs by Michael Solof, and designed and edited by Mark Huesman.

PHOTOS FROM COMIC-CON 2010

Comic-Con International: San Diego (July 21-25, 2010) was a ton of work since it was the launch of the 40th anniversary edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, but it was also fun because it offered the chance to catch up with good friends.

Photo #1
Scoop photographer Michael Solof (right) and I had the chance to visit with our friend Ming-Na, star of Stargate Universe on SyFy (what was wrong with Sci Fi Channel I'll never know), who I've known since junior high and Mike's known since high school. It was a blast seeing her at the show, and it was funny getting stopped every 30 or 40 feet so folks could take pictures with her. It's cool when good things happen to your friends.

Photo #2
I did two signings (one on Preview Night and one on Saturday) with Insight Studios Group supremo Mark Wheatley (right) at his booth for Vampire, PA #1. We had about 100 advance copies on hand (it actually goes on sale in comic shops this week).

Photo #3
And though we work together just about every day, it was was the first time in a couple of years that I'd seen Bob Overstreet (center) because he lives in Mississippi. Mark Huesman (left) works in Timonium, Maryland (though I see him more frequently than I do Bob) and I work in New York. The online world makes so much possible!

There will be a LOT more photos in this week's edition of Scoop.