Standard Guide to Golden Age Comics

Even though this book is three years out of date it's worth owning just to open and to see the many golden age comic book covers in it. The only problem I have is that unlike the overstreet guide they don't tell you what features were running in the title at the time. For instance when did "green arrow" start and end in "more fun" comics? This guide being older is now so cheap that it's just a cool memento now to check out the many colored cover pictures. Overstreet remains the only guide that gives you detailed info on what strip was featured in each golden age comic and that's why that one is a good one to have to see what was in each issue as well.

The first question that one may ask about The Standard Guide to Golden Age Comics is why would you need it if you have an Overstreet price guide. Good question, one which I will answer soon enough. The Standard Guide to Golden Age Comics is the 2006 edition from Krause Publications, who have been publishing outstanding books about collectibles for many years. This guide to strictly the Golden Age of comics covers titles from 1938 to 1956 with some 30,000 prices and is edited by Alex Malloy and Stuart Wells III, the same men who edit the Comics Values Annual. The book is laid out cleanly and neatly with a comprehensive index of artist name abbreviations. The listings are exhaustive with their notations of first appearances, notable appearances, origins, etc. Only a near mint price is listed but a condition and grading guide is included to calculate prices that are not in the top condition. Also important to note that the price is based on strict grading guidelines such as CGC which is why the prices will probably seem higher to collectors familiar with the Golden Age market. This is perhaps the only issue I can find fault with. While CGC is becoming more and more prevalent every day, I still think the average collector would prefer just traditional grading, although dealers may differ with me on that. So what makes this book worth purchasing if you already have an Overstreet? First, being dedicated to just Golden Age comics, as opposed to everything, this book doesn't have to use a minute font that you need a magnifying glass to read. Sorry, these eyes aren't as young as they used to be and a large typeface is appreciated. Second, it address a growing segment of collectors who ONLY collect Golden Age books and don't need a price guide with a bazillion different X-Men titles and variants to navigate through to find the book they want. Personally, I'd love to see Krause do a Silver and Bronze age price guide as well. The next great selling point is the over 900 cover reproductions in full color. You just can't beat color! I also love the fact that the editors didn't just reproduce covers of the usual superhero titles but also included many more obscure funny animal, war, and romance titles. The kind of books you just don't see every day. Finally, the book isn't padded at the back and front with dozens of pages of ads that I frankly don't care about. It's a trimmed down, streamlined guide that gets right to business and doesn't annoy the reader with a lot of fluff they'll never use. An indispensable guide for the Golden Age comic book collector or fan! Reviewed by Tim Janson