By Rob Lamberti
Ozzy Osbourne is dead. Whether one appreciates the Prince of Darkness, at least for the genre, he certainly had a profound impact on the birth, development, and growth of heavy metal.
And of course, comic books telling his story are once again catching the interest of collectors.
Osbourne, who fronted the Birmingham, England, band Black Sabbath, exploded onto the rock scene with the debut album with the same name in 1970.
Tales of his wild behaviour followed, and they reached a crescendo in 1979, when the band fired him for his struggles with substance abuse. That launched his equally successful solo career.
Ozzy’s presence in comicsincludedRock N’ Roll Comics, an 89-issue run including reprints, launched in 1989.He appears in issue 28 with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist in issue 29.
Malibu Comics published a single edition in 1993, and its gold edition variant gained traction in the weeks following his death,which was announced on July 22.
Image Comics published Todd McFarlane Presents: Ozzy Osbourne in 1999, a single-issue, magazine-sized project with hand-painted artwork depicting the singer’s path from Black Sabbath to his solo career.
TidalWave Productions published a hardcover comic, Ozzy Osbourne – The Metal Madman, in 2017, two years after publishing Fame: Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne.
But Ozzy isn’t the only rock persona with a comic book presence. Other big names such as Metallica, Guns ‘N’ Roses, The Who, and The Rolling Stones appeared in comics, some unauthorized and others sanctioned by the bands.
But it’s KISS that has the largest presence in sequential art. They began their relationship with comics in 1977 when Marvel Comics jumped onto the Kiss bandwagon in a two-issue story in Howard the Duck. It was a significant marketing move by the band when they first appeared in issue 12. The move to comics would eventually add millions to their coffers.
For all the crazy antics Osbourne may have been linked to, KISS did something for Marvel in 1977 that created quite the stir.Each band member had blood drawn by a nurse, which was authenticated by a notary public, and the blood was then added to the red ink used by the press in the printing of Marvel Super Special 1 magazine.
The story depicts the four battling Doctor Doom, and the cover caption promised the magazine was “printed in real KISS blood.” The artwork was by Al Milgrom and the story was by Steve Gerber, the creator of Howard the Duck.
About a million copies were printed — so the amount of blood per issue istiny — and was Marvel’s top-selling comic until Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man 1 was published in 1990.
Marvel Super Special 1 is currently valued at about US$475 in Near Mint condition in the guides,but a 2024 Heritage Auctions sale saw an encapsulated 9.9 Mint sell for US$13,800.
The band also appears in issue 5 without their blood mingling in the printing ink, with an NM value of about US$290. A Beatles story, which appeared in issue 4, lingers in the dust of the KISS editions.
Since those 1977 appearances, KISS appeared in a slew of comic book projects published by Marvel, IDW, Image, Archie, Dark Horse and Platinum Comics. Revolutionary Comics printed what was an unauthorized story about the band, but Gene Simmons was apparently okay with it.
The Beatles’ Gold Key/Dell issues remain in high demand among collectors. The 1964 Dell edition of the Beatles is valued at US$1,325 in top condition, while the 1967 Gold Key issue of Yellow Submarine is US$340 in NM with the poster attached.
Crooners and rock and roll stars appeared here and there throughout comics history. DC Comics published a five-issue series of Pat Boone in 1959-’60, while The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ran for 40 issues between 1952 and ‘57. Martin’s name would be dropped in issue 41 and the comic continued as the Adventures of Jerry Lewis until 1971.
The Rolling Stones made a guest appearance in Charlton Comics’ Hollywood Romances V2 Number 46 in 1966, while the Beatles made a cameo appearance in Strange Tales 130.
Romance comics hosted many appearances of musical stars like Mel Tormé, the Velvet Fog, whilethe Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra, appeared in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen issues 64 and 108. Almost all the singing cowboys,including Gene Audrey, Tex Ritter, Rex Allen and Roy Rogers with Dale Evans,were given comic titles in the 1940s and ‘50s.
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More information about the last edition’s column on tariffs:scanning the community boards, collectors have been hit with tariff fees when shipping books to the U.S. for third-party appraisals.
One of the largest graders, CGC (www.cgccomics.com), advisesits customers living outside the U.S. not to send books to its Florida offices for an appraisal.
Rather, it recommends collectors outside the U.S. to send books to one of its international offices, including London and Munich. Its Shanghai office is recommended for those living in China. Another office in Dubai, U.A.E., is expected to open soon.Consider all the options before shipping a comic for third-party appraisal, as shipping costs can be expensive.