Moon Girl - who she?

I've been thinking about starting a Golden Age series and adding it to the Permanent Stacks.
My collection is moderately respectable in terms of its Silver and Bronze age books. Its represented with several key books.

What I am lacking in my pile of junk is ANY type of a Golden Age presence. I think I should try to balance that out a bit. But what to choose? GA books have always intimidated me. They have a reputation for being quite pricey. And not readily available. It would be a grand hunt to complete the series. The older series, it seems they were more inclined to be true serials and follow the movie format of continuing and building on a theme. Nothing would frustrate me more than not being able to complete the run.

So it struck me I needed to define some parameters for exactly what to bite off. I want to enjoy this bit and not get frustrated and have to walk away it. Still I'm left with what to do...

I used my run of Dr. Strange (1st series) #169 -#183 as the blueprint for the GA decision. Its a reasonably short run. Its reasonably available and not super expensive. All fine points to consider.

The conclusion I came to for my 1st foray into the Golden age is EC's Moon Girl.
In addition to it being a relatively short run, and not as mainstream as SOME hero titles, I just like the history of it.

An early EC hero comic? Quick name another EC hero..... I bet you cant. And from 1947 to boot.

This HAS to be one among the 1st group of Heroines in comics - period. In fact it may be the second, behind some ol' broad from All Star Comics #8. Somewhat interestingly, Max Gaines was the publisher for that book at DC. When he broke off and started his own line of "Educational Comics" he knew a good thing when he saw it and wanted his own super-chick.

1st appearance?

The story on something this old is a bit shaky. Overstreet and several on-line resources give conflicting information. Different sources cite a different 1st appearance. Happy Houlihans #1 is the other contender. If  you have more information PLEASE share. It seems to be a genuine question no one can definitively answer.

Moon Girl is a bit of a Wonder Woman knock off. She even has an invisible plane. But thats OK. I'll never be able to afford a 1st appearance of Wonder Woman - but her lesser know little sister?
Sign me up!

Moon Girl and the Prince lasted a single issue, and ran as Moon Girl for issues #2-6. It became Moon Girl Fights Crime! for two issues, before concluding its run as A Moon, a Girl...Romance with issues #9-12. Moon Girl appears only in the story "I Was a Heart Pirate" in issue #9 and in no subsequent issue. The series continued as Weird Fantasy beginning with issue #13.

A hero book, an adventure book, a crime book and a romance book. Whats not to love?
I wonder if she rode a horse to make it a Western series too?

Clearly EC was schizophrenic about what to do with a hero book. This appears to be a sleeping gem.

My 1st comic show purchase...

My recent trip to the 2013 edition of the HeroesCon in Charlotte got me thinking abut the 1st comic show I ever attended. It was held in Raleigh, NC at the Fairgrounds. I must have been in about the 9th grade. That dates this purchase to about 1982 or 1983.

This book was my 1st major comic purchase. To a kid that didn't couldn't drive and didn't have a job - it represented A LOT of saving!

I remember paying SIXTY BUCKS for this book. It was a full TEN Dollars over guide. It was the 1st and only time I ever paid above guide for a book.

Oh but this thing is GORGEOUS. Nice tight spine, no breaks. Solid, bright colors, no discoloration. In the older books as you may recall they had tiny little perforated holes at the bottom of the page in the margin. I think this is a result of the printing process used at the time. These perforations were stuck together. They still are. This book had NEVER been read.

1st New X-Men in the series

The ONLY 2 flaws this book has is in the top corners. The spine corner has a tiny tiny little split with a hint of discoloration to give it away. Again this had to happen in the printing. There has been NO mishandling of this book. The other corner has started to fold, NOT a hard crease mind you, but rather from being compressed in the bag against other books. Very minimal flaws.

Nothing is ever completely perfect. Only varying degrees of less perfect. There are probably better copies of this book out there - but you will look a looong time to find its equal, much less its better.

I purchased this book from Shelton Drum. He owns "Heroes Arent' Hard to Find and puts on the Annual HeroesCon.

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n addition to his store and his major convention in the Southeast - he also sets up and supports by participating in a number of shows in the state. 

I happened to catch him at one and mentioned the X-men book from youth. He was like "Oh yeah, You're the one that bought that? I remember that book... wanna sell it? I'll give you a full refund"

It was a pleasant conversation and with the many thousands of  comics that surely must pass thru his hands, it was nice that he said it.

I may not always buy from him, but I will always visit his table.