From Library Journal
The publisher of the weekly Comics Buyers Guide, Krause releases an annual CBG Checklist and Price Guide as a competitor to the long-running standard, The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. Now, Krause has combined the annual guide with information in the CD-ROM "ComicBase" (from Human Computing) and much new research to compile this massive volume. With over 145,000 entries, it attempts to list all English-language comics sold in America, all English-language graphic novels and comic-book reprint collections published in North America, many giveaway comics, and magazines such as MAD and Heavy Metal that feature extensive comics content. For each listing, it gives the title, publisher, original cover price (in all but a few cases), and value in near-mint condition, with a multiplier given to determine prices in higher and lower grades. In most cases it also provides a cover date, and for some comics it gives story titles, writer and artist names, character appearances, and circulation information collected from publishers and distributors. There are also over 2200 short reviews of selected series, each illustrated with a sample picture. The catalog also supplies data on comics that have been graded by Comics Guaranty LLC, a third-party service that has been evaluating comics since 2000, and also gives a general multiplier showing how much this grading increases the average sale price. Spot-checking reveals some missing books (such as the "Elfquest Readers Collection" series) and some minor errors (the first Blackhawk series is attributed to DC when it was initially published by Quality), but some mistakes are inevitable in an undertaking of this scope. A comparison with the latest edition of The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (2002. 32d ed.) shows that both contain much exclusive information. Overstreet does not include reviews or circulation data, but it has an exclusive section on pre-1933 comics-related publications. Also, it generally provides better cross references from one series to another and contains much exclusive descriptive information, including notes on character appearances and the scarcity of certain comics. But the Standard CatalogR includes many black-and-white comics, including manga, that are not included in Overstreet. The prices listed in Overstreet are generally the higher of the two: as an extreme example, if anyone finds copies of Limited Collector's Edition #C-20 (the first Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer treasury edition) for sale at the $3 price quoted by Krause, this reviewer will take 30-Overstreet lists it at $310. Highly recommended for all libraries as a supplement to, but not a replacement for, the Overstreet guide. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Now in its 3rd edition, The Standard Catalog of? Comics is the largest resource on comic books in the history of collecting?listing the issue and after-market price for more than 160,000 comic books published in North America since 1900. And in a major enhancement, it?s the first guide ever in FULL COLOR!This SOFTCOVER edition of the catalog provides collectors with photographs, after-market prices, writers, artists, original print runs, character appearances, story titles, and more ? plus, information not available anywhere else, including grids reporting auction results for the past year! And, this book is great reading, with page after page of reviews of some of the most famous (and infamous) comics in history. In checklist format, this is a handy tool for organizing a collection. More than 2,000 photos and reviews of individual titles! Includes facts about more than 160,000 comic books published since 1900. Covers after-market prices, writers, artists, original print runs, character appearances, story titles, and more

About the Author
Maggie Thompson, editor of Comics Buyer?s Guide, is one of the founders of comics fandom. She is a long-time, widely quoted expert. Brent Frankenhoff, managing editor of Comics Buyer?s Guide, has collected comics for more than 30 years to build a collection that spans more than 60 years of comics. Peter Bickford, creator of the most comprehensive and critically acclaimed software for comics collectors, ComicBase, along with the co-authors, has released a companion edition to this volume, Comic Book Checklist and Price Guide. John Jackson Miller, editor of Comics & Games Retailer, has reported on the market since 1993. He is also editorial director of Comics Buyer?s Guide, the hobby?s leading consumer weekly.

FROM THE PUBLISHER