What year did Gold Key cease publishing?

Just passed a Buck Rogers with a 40 cent cover, so I guess I'm around 1979 now.

According to Wikipedia, they continued to release comics until 1981. They mentioned Buck Rogers as one of the last licensed titles they had, saying Charlton got a lot of their licenses during the late 60s and early 70s and Marvel got their Star Trek line during the late 70s.

They started using Whitmans in places where comics werent typically sold like airports and department stores, often in 3 packs. This started during the mid 70s and became their only comic output after 1981. They stopped comics altogether in 1984.

I would think Gold Key comics after about 1979 or so to be kinda rare. And Whitmans from about 1983 afterwards to also be rare.

I have a list of the rarest Whitmans in another thread. From time to time I used to carry the list with me to shows and look for them when I happened upon late Whitmans by accident. The titles were so overlooked by most collectors that some of the rarest ones could often be found in undesirable bargain bins because they were typically titles no one wanted.

It's certainly never been a collecting focus for me at ANY point in my comic collecting career either, but over the years I have picked up a small smattering of Gold Key books here and there.

While overall, I don't really care for them for the most part, I have appreciated some of their better crafted than most comics, painted covers. Unfortunately, most of those weren't enough to lure me into buying because the characters typically didn't look that interesting and the combo of the two made great covers for bland characters.

My other applause to Gold Key is I've always liked their Logo. I don't know why. Just have. Til this day, I still think it is simple and sweet.

I got into Whitmans more out of picking up higher grade Cartoon Character Comics to expand my horizons. Overall, I never have been one to want to read funny books or care about them, but the more I have the more I appreciated them.

The rare ones interest me because the majority of the comic collecting public wouldn't know a rare one if they seen it (including me). Since funny books are typically shunned by collectors, lots of times rare issues sit in boxes overlooked and seen as undesirable but in a lot of cases some of these issues only have 50 - 250 issues in existence and certainly people will see one and flip right over it.

I mean who's going to know the rare Little Lulu when they see it? That might be the most famous one, but even still most people would never know what it was even if it was in front of them. The other rare ones, even moreso.

It's never a focus to buy any of this stuff, but rarely I would take the rare list with me and if I happened upon the stuff, I would look for the rare numbers. Often the surrounding issues are quite scarce themselves. If I find them in nice shape from 25 cents to 1 dollar, I'm gonna pick them up.

But otherwise, I don't really care about the genre. It's more of an odd side quest that hits ONLY when you happen upon them and NEVER by going in search of the Quest.

Often enough if a book is doing good and creates rarities, it becomes something uglier than a dying brand who puts out rarities because it is struggling to stay alive. My universally recognized "Good" comic that is rare will be hitting $1,000 by the end of next month on the going market. It's done priced me out of the picture. And in a way, it's kind of pissed me off slightly in the process because it made me feel "left out".

The more common method of a dying company producing less because there is little demand actually almost creates a legacy out of a dying brand. Often said title struggles through the last 10 or so issues with each issue having a lower print run from the previous one. The proceeds aren't paying for the same amount next month and even less is made. Eventually, while no one is looking, that comic dies. No one cares. No one hardly even notices. Years pass. In some cases 2 or 3 decades. Suddenly nostalgia kicks in or a rebirth in the character brings interest back to the originals. Suddenly originals recognized as extremely hard to find. Print runs get researched and revealed. The print is extremely low. Suddenly prices go up because now people want that dead ass comic when they didn't 30 years ago. Suddenly people with same interests emerge and start scavenger hunting for these same lost relics that no one can seem to find. The joy of collecting is alive and the search for hidden treasure in the form of "most people have no idea what the hell they have in this stuff because they don't like it" and I can maybe luck out on people's indifference to it and they happen to own a few. Person with knowledge happens into comic boxes with other "considered junk" comics totally surrounding and dominating boxes. No one reads or collects these things. Except you know better. You know you probably won't find, but stranger things have happen to a fool and his collection. Collection owner has a $1 price tag on a comic with only 100 known copies. The resale market for enthusiasts of the beaten down companies makes competition for the rare ones high.

I know I'm not telling you anything, but sometimes good stuff comes from junk. I didn't need books I loved to be rare. I only needed to be able to read them. I get more of a thrill of the hunt finding books from dealers and collectors who have no clue what they have. When I bought Valiants 4-6 months before they exploded, it was because I had privileged knowledge no one else had. I bought tons of Valiants at cover price and wiped up for the next 1-2 years as I had already stockpiled what others had no clue about. In this day and age, that is really hard to do. The Valiant scenario supports your wanting it to be quality before pursuing the chase. For me the chase was making money and a side benefit resulted from discovering these were good and worth the hype. Your side wins here and I'm all in if that should ever happen again. I had a blast.

But the real thrill is beating dealers at their own game. No one knows everything. Azbatx used to hand me legit books that would go for $20 - $100 sitting in $1 boxes because he knew something I and the dealer didn't. When I got his 1 leftover copy, I felt lucky to have it and would later sell for high multiples of the $1 I paid for it.

When I have this mentality, I don't really care what the book is. Greed rules here I guess. That and a satisfaction of knowing I knew something about books most people didn't. That for me is the thrill of the hunt and I guess I'm not a real enthusiast because it doesn't bother me if someone reads them or not. If I can make a buck off them, count me in!

At times it has been more fun for me to flip a comic for excellent profit, than to read comics I have 19 times out of 20, already way outgrown.

I'd collect Cherry Tart Comics if I thought it would make me a few bucks in profit.