CGC Collectorverse: Collector Origin Stories – Pmpknface

Posted on 5/28/2024

In this series, we get to know more about the collectors in our CGC Comics Registry.

For this issue of Collectorverse “Origin Stories,” we chatted with pmpknface, one of the CGC Comics Registry’s biggest L.B. Cole fans! Pmpknface hit the ground running and made short work of putting together an impressive collection of Cole’s cover art… and he’s only just getting started!

Q&A with Pmpknface

We'll kick this off at the very beginning: How did you get into comic collecting?

I’m about to show my age here. I became interested in comics though watching Spider-Man on “The Electric Company” when I was a kid. Then my mom would give me a dollar to go to the convenience store to get a comic when I got my hair cut. I’d read it while she got hers done. I was a kid, and I think I went by myself. Those were the days! I’ve gone back, and as far as I can tell my first comic was Amazing Spider-Man #232 with the killer John Romita Jr. and Al Milgrom Hyde cover.

I bought comics with some regularity until I was about 14, then stopped. Before I went away to college, I found a friend who was heavy into collecting and picked it back up. At first it was just Spider-Man and Dr. Doom books. Once the door was opened to X-Men, the floodgates were open, and I haven’t looked back.

I collected nearly every Marvel book for a few decades and have a ton of back issues, too. After completing my Amazing Spider-Man and Daredevil runs (and a few other Marvel titles) I looked around and found Golden Age books. The first place I went to was anything done by L.B. Cole, and I’ve been collecting his work ever since. I now have over 27,000 comics, plus a hefty collection of statues, comic and animation art.


Click images to enlarge.

You're a newcomer to the CGC Registry and you've put up a lot of great L.B. Cole sets since joining. Tell us about some of your favorite covers.

It’s hard to pick favorites but I’ll try! It’s too easy to pick the classics, so I’ll stay away from Mask Comics, his space-themed covers or the spider covers. Here’s a few:

Bingo Comics #1. One of the coolest one-shots of the Golden Age! First, there's something about those yellow covers that just stand out. I love Cole’s early inks and especially how he inked the ocean. He did this often, especially on his covers from the ’40s, and is even better seen on “The Living Bible” covers, for example. Besides that, we've got a biplane chasing down some OPIUM smugglers! How cool is that! The more obscure the book, the more I have to have it, so this one was high on my want list. Side note, the back cover is completely blank, which is odd.

Suspense Comics #4. This one is such an overlooked cover, maybe because there are so many other great ones in this run. There aren’t many copies of this one out there, fewer on the Census than the absolute classic that is #3, if you can believe it, so I’m just happy to have a copy. I love the inks on Cole’s early work and the bright yellow cover really stands out.

Four Favorites #13. This one stands out for me for one simple reason: As far as I can tell, it’s Cole’s very first comic cover. He had done work in other mediums, but this is his first credited comic book cover. He had not yet nailed down his classic signature, but that is his name at the bottom. Finding any books early in this title can be challenging, and there are currently only 13 graded copies of this one in the Census. My Cole collection wouldn’t be complete without it!

You’re just getting started on a great L.B. Cole Custom Set. What are your plans for it?

I own over 400 Cole covers and I’d like to get as many of them graded as I can. It started mainly to protect my investment. I began collecting his work over 20 years ago because of my appreciation for Cole’s work and not because they were valuable. However, over the past few years, the interest in his covers has really gone through the roof, and I just want to make sure what I have is safe should I ever decide to sell any.

As far as the custom set itself goes, I plan on adding more to it and getting it as complete as possible. It may not be a collection of the highest-graded books, but it may be up there with the most complete sets out there. I really need to get more of my romance books graded and I’m definitely sending in some funny animal books in with my next submission. If there was a genre, Cole covered it!

One of our favorite questions to ask collectors is this: If money were no object, which comic would you love to own?

Marvel Comics have always been my first love, so owning a Marvel Comics #1 would be awesome! I have a complete collection of Amazing Spider-Man going back to #1 through to today, so I’d really love to have an Amazing Fantasy #15. If it were one L.B. Cole cover, it would be Blue Bolt #105, as that is one that slipped through my collecting cracks and has since skyrocketed in value.


Click images to enlarge.

As a newcomer, what’s your impression of the CGC Comics Registry collecting community and how has it helped with your collecting goals so far?

I think it’s fantastic! I’ve gone down a few rabbit holes just looking at some of the amazing collections others have and it’s just jaw-dropping. I’ve been a member of the forums for a long time, and I’ve always enjoyed the friendly community that exists there.

For my goals, it’s given me a few more! It is one thing to want to complete a series and fill in holes of runs you have, but now it’s giving me new runs to start collecting! With the custom sets, not only have I started my L.B. Cole set but I got the bright idea to start a Hobgoblin / Jack O’Lantern set in CGC 9.8. It has given me a whole new way to collect, and I’m loving it.

I like to look at what I have graded so far and pick ones to send in that might move me up in points so I can climb up the ranks in my sets. Other sets have given me thoughts as to which books of mine to grade, such as the Amazing Spider-Man First Appearance set.

On the modern side, I’ve found some cool variants that I’ve added to my want list, too.

About CGC

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