Does anyone own DR. NEMESIS' Ace Magazines appearances?

[jephyork]

Hi all.  My name's Jeph York and I'm a freelance editor/researcher/writer for Marvel Comics' trade paperback department.

A few years back, Marvel "adopted" Dr. Nemesis, a golden age character from Ace Magazines who had fallen into the public domain.  They had him join the X-Men's Science Team, and he's proven surprisingly popular.  I pitched an idea to Marvel for a TPB collection reprinting all of Dr. Nemesis' Golden Age appearances.  They're tentatively interested, but they'd like more info.

They want me to create a "research map" for my proposed TPB -- which basically answers the questions, "what issues, how many pages, and are there any 2-page spreads?"  (That becomes an important factor when laying out the actual book ... gotta make sure any spreads are published on facing pages!)

Dr. Nemesis appeared in:

Lighting Comics #6
Lightning Comics vol. 2 #1-6
Lightning Comics vol. 3 #1
Super-Mystery Comics vol. 3 #3-4 & 6
Super-Mystery Comics vol. 4 #1

Scans of eight of those twelve issues are hosted here.  (Awesome!)  However, I need a bit more info on the last four issues ... does anyone own Lightning Comics vol.1 #6, vol.2 #4 & 6, and Super-Mystery Comics vol.3 #4?  If so, could you tell me how many pages each Dr. Nemesis story is ... whether there are any 2-page spreads ... and if so, what pages do they occur on?

Going a hypothetical step further for a second ... assuming that Marvel agrees to my proposal, they'll need source material to print from.  Which means hi-res scans of the original comics.  If anyone owns them -- ANY of the twelve listed above -- would you be willing to help us out with scans?

Lightning Comics v2 #1 and v3 #1, and Super-Mystery v3 #3, 6 & v4 #1 were scanned by someone called "bhcomics".  Lightning v2 #2-3 & 5 were scanned by "dsdaboss".  Are either of them posters here?  I'm hoping they still own the issues, and might be willing to help.

If anyone *else* owns them and wants to volunteer their services, please feel free to speak up!  I'd need 600 dpi .tif scans, which will end up being pretty big files -- but I'd only need the cover and Dr. Nemesis story from each issue; only around 7-11 pages total.

If anyone would like to help out, please get in touch with me!  If I come at Marvel with a completed research map *and* a list of issues that I can readily provide scans for, they'll be much more likely to make the book a reality.  And I'd love to see that happen.  :-)  (I'm trying to convince them to print the pages unrestored, like the two Fletcher Hanks volumes that Fantagraphics published ... all yellow and off-register.  Mmm, pulpy goodness.)

Thanks, guys!  Can't wait to hear back from you!  Feel free to either post here, or drop me an e-mail at jephyork@yahoo.com.

-Jeph York

[John C]

Hi, Jeph--

The short version on the comics is that there's generally a very narrow window between what's scanned and what the people around here own, for obvious reasons.  So, your best bet for story lengths is the GCD (Grand Comics Database) at:

http://comics.org

You can search by character, but you may need to sift through extra results.

And those results can/should be compared against what might be the easier-to-read (but potentially mistaken, with fewer eyes involved) Howard Keltner's index, which you can find at the TwoMorrows website here:

http://www.twomorrows.com/alterego/media/Golden%20Age%20Index.pdf

The Ace books start on page 313 of the PDF file (numbered 289 after the introductory material).  And you can see that Lightning Comics, v1 n6, for example, has a ten page Dr. Nemesis story.

As for two-page spreads?  I'd...call it extremely unlikely, unless the stories you've already seen have them.  Given the printing of the day, as I'm sure you're aware, printing to a page edge was dicey at best, and getting it over to the next page would have been extremely difficult, and probably not worth the trouble.

That should get you started, at least.  I don't know those scanners personally, though, so hopefully someone out there who does can help get the word out.

[jephyork]

Hi, John.  Thanks for the response!

So you're saying that you folks generally buy up public-domain comics, scan them, then sell them off again?  That ... might make it tougher for me to find originals.

I had already pulled my initial data from comics.org, but I've always been taught to double-check my sources, which is one reason I'm putting out the call for original owners.  Thanks for that PDF!  It confirmed most of the data that I got from the GCD ... however, there's one discrepancy.  The GCD says that Lighting Comics #6 has a 6-page Dr. N story; Keltner's index says that it has a 10-page story.  And that's one of the four issues not scanned.  :-(

I found a fan who owns three of these twelve; he's happy to scan them for me.  So the book's 25% done, I guess.  ;-)  Notably, he owns Super-Mystery v3 #4, which is *not* available on this site!  I'll see if I can get him to do a scan of the entire book for you guys, in addition to the hi-res Dr. N scans that I'm asking of him.

As for 2-page spreads -- yes, they're unlikely in this era, but not unheard of.  The Dr. N story in Lightning Comics v3 #1 opens with a two-page splash, and my source tells me that the Sword story in Super-Mystery v3 #4 has one as well.  So I can't just *assume* that there probably aren't any...

I'm still hoping to contact bhcomics or dsdaboss, although as I read more of the threads on this board, I'm getting the impression that the folks who upload the books aren't always the same folks that scan them...

So once again, if anyone owns the originals of any of these books -- please speak up!

And thanks again, John.  The help is appreciated.  :-)

-Jeph

[narfstar]

I sent an email to boss hope to hear back from him. I believe his scans are of his books. bhcomics however usually scans the books then puts them up for sale.

[John C]

So you're saying that you folks generally buy up public-domain comics, scan them, then sell them off again?  That ... might make it tougher for me to find originals.

I don't know about the individual scanners.  What I meant (and I'm very sorry about the confusion) was that I don't think we have many regulars here who have relevant comics that haven't been scanned, in the sense that, if they had them, they'd probably be on the scanner bed.

New people show up and purchases are made, so it's good to make the announcement that you're on the prowl, but...I wouldn't expect too much to come of it.

I had already pulled my initial data from comics.org, but I've always been taught to double-check my sources, which is one reason I'm putting out the call for original owners.  Thanks for that PDF!  It confirmed most of the data that I got from the GCD ... however, there's one discrepancy.  The GCD says that Lighting Comics #6 has a 6-page Dr. N story; Keltner's index says that it has a 10-page story.  And that's one of the four issues not scanned.  :-(

Heh.  Naturally!

Actually, wait.  That would make sense, since fewer people have seen the book.

I found a fan who owns three of these twelve; he's happy to scan them for me.  So the book's 25% done, I guess.  ;-)  Notably, he owns Super-Mystery v3 #4, which is *not* available on this site!  I'll see if I can get him to do a scan of the entire book for you guys, in addition to the hi-res Dr. N scans that I'm asking of him.

Very nice.

As for 2-page spreads -- yes, they're unlikely in this era, but not unheard of.  The Dr. N story in Lightning Comics v3 #1 opens with a two-page splash, and my source tells me that the Sword story in Super-Mystery v3 #4 has one as well.  So I can't just *assume* that there probably aren't any...

That complicates matters, yeah.

I'm still hoping to contact bhcomics or dsdaboss, although as I read more of the threads on this board, I'm getting the impression that the folks who upload the books aren't always the same folks that scan them...

Right.  There's a whole "shadowy world" of scanning and scan distribution including peer-to-peer networks out there that, given your ultimate bosses in Anaheim, you...may not want to get tangled up in.  But the people who find the scans can probably find the scanners, too, so give it some time.

Incidentally, since there's not a complete overlap between the two groups, you might want to check in over at the "neighbors' house," goldenagecomics.co.uk - I'd be surprised if Narfstar isn't inquiring for you there, but it might not hurt to have a presence on both forums to get the feelers a little bit further out.

[narfstar]

He has been to GAC and elsewhere. I have emailed boss

[jephyork]

Hi, narfstar.  Thanks for reaching out to dsdaboss for me!  I appreciate it.  :-)

Yup, I've already posted a similar thread on goldenagecomics' forum -- and I've also reached out to the "chat" mailing list of the GCD, and put the word out among a few groups of Marvel freelancers.  Can you folks think of anywhere else I should check?  Any Golden Age collectors' societies or something similar?

John, I'm working on the assumption that since I'm *only* looking for public-domain comics, and I'm asking on a site that specifically prohibits non-PD material, that I should be fairly in the clear.  But your warning is duly noted...

And yeah, I guess it makes sense that if people owned the comics, they'd have scanned the comics already.  I'm used to working with folks that have great big collections, but no scanners.  I had hoped to find people like that here, to help me fill in the page count and spread count info at the very least.  I still have my fingers crossed that some folks will come out of the woodwork.

Thanks again to both of you!  I'm hoping to hear good news back from Boss...

-Jeph

[JVJ (RIP)]

Hi, Jeph,
I own copies of Lightning V2:4 and V3:1 and all the Super Mystery issues. You're more than welcome to borrow them for scanning.

Write me direct at jim (at) bpib.com

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[narfstar]

And we have good news from Boss

 If needed I could scan the pages I have (stories in Lightning v2 #'2,3 and
> 5).
> I have a coverless copy of Lightning v2 #4 but it's missing the centerfold
> and with that I'm assuming the last 3 pages of a 10 page Dr. Nemesis story.

and since Jim has v2#4 that puts Jeph almost there. I sent Boss Jeph's email so they can contact each other directly.

[jephyork]

Jim, that's insanely generous of you!  Thanks!  I'll send you a private e-mail and we can work out the details.

Narfstar, that's great news from Boss.  Thanks for being the go-between!  Looking forward to hearing from him.

My other source (a member of the GCD mailing list) has volunteered to scan Lightning v2 #1.  Which only leaves two issues ... Lightning v1 #6 and v2 #6!

Wow, ten of the twelve issues covered in a matter of days.  This community is fantastic.  Assuming that this book gets greenlit, you'll all absolutely be getting great big shout-outs in the credits.  :-)

-Jeph