I’m sure you remember Tatia, that you asked these questions a couple of years ago.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/172251/thread/1123827280/I+SPY+COMIC+BOOKS+...+Aging+Like+Fine+Wine
There were no satisfactory answers then, and humankind has made no great strides since. At least I haven’t had an epiphany. What’s slightly interesting to me is that this may be the same copy of I Spy #1 as one of those from two years ago. Both are slabbed high grade (9.4 out of a perfect 10) file copies. (Recall that a file copy is a copy that was kept on file by the publisher for reference—you can see the words “file copy” in fine print on the label at the top.) Unfortunately I can no longer access those old auctions.
Anyone who would spend $650 for this comic is probably looking at it as an investment. They’re certainly not buying it to read it. I don’t have a very high opinion of the I Spy comics. The best thing about them are the photo covers. The stories were drawn by Alden McWilliams who did some really nice work, but this isn’t his best stuff. However nostalgia can drive people to acts which defy logic and I’ve been as guilty as anyone. Maybe this particular book resonates with someone out there. It was their first comic book, or it’s associated with some powerful memories. Still you could get a really nice copy for a tenth of what this one may go for. And without the slab, you could read it. And if really all you want to do is read it and not just hold it up to the light and admire it, you can get complete and not too raggedy copies for around 5 bucks as you have noted.
Kind of along the same lines, I picked up all but one of the I Spy novelizations by John Tiger in a single lot on eBay a while back for around $6. So far I’ve only read the first one. I didn’t like it all that much, but it certainly moved along quickly. I suspect that first one was written before any of the episodes, except possibly the original pilot, were made. He does make a reference to the missing train in Affair in T’Sien Cha, but he may have only read the script. So it’s unfair to expect it to evoke the series, when the series as we know it didn’t even exist yet. Scotty, in particular, seems wrong. He’s way too bookish (almost nerdy) and seems to prefer staying in his room studying languages while Kelly is out being the man of action and the lady killer. However, Scotty does share a brandy with Kelly! I was annoyed by the author’s habit of referring to Kelly as the “Californian” or the “lean Californian” or the “handsome Californian”. Scotty is often referred to as the “Negro” or the “colored man”. I think I’ll try one of the late books next to see if the writing was informed by the series.
Another I Spy related eBay acquisition was the novel The Courts of the Lion by Robert Krepps which, according to our own John Tiger, shared more with the I Spy episode of the same name than the title.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/172251/thread/1172166074/
I should be reading this novel soon.
If you search under the cushions for loose change, you can almost come up with enough to pick up these I Spy artifacts. (Or just buy one less Dulce de Leche Frappuccino per week at Starbucks!)
Jimmy
