Free copy of Adventure Comics 247!

No, not a dream, a hoax, or an imaginary story. I have an extra copy of the original Adventure Comics 247 from 1958 that I want to get rid of but can't figure out how.

Lemme explain.

At the San Diego con in 1995, I stumbled across a reasonably-priced copy of this issue. As a Legion fan, it was my "holy grail" of comics. Here's how I recounted it a couple years later:

I got mine at the 1995 San Diego con, just beating out Jim Drew for the right to buy it. A dealer (Mike Carbonaro) had bought a large collection to sell at SDCC and pulled out the top books to display. They didn't really get a chance to look at everything closely, the guy said. Jim and I passed by the booth and I noticed it in a display case, the first time I had ever seen a copy. It was way more than I wanted to spend for the convention, but I rationalized it as a Congressional "off-the-budget" purchase. I was still wavering, and Jim told me that if I didn't buy it, he would. So I had to buy it. :) Of course, I didn't look at it closely enough until I got home, only to find out that (a) it had been restored (rice paper strengthening the cover, new staples, minor color touchups) and (b) the centerfold was missing. I wound up contacting him and getting a rebate the next year (which I wound up spending on Adventure 267 and Action 267 from him anyway).

(If anyone here was reading Usenet or the LSH-L mailing list in 1995, this is the infamous "milkshake copy".)

So for 11 years I had my copy of Adventure Comics 247, missing a centerfold. Someone sent me scans of what I was missing (a Little Pete gag page, a two-page ad, and the first page of the Green Arrow story), but I was always on the lookout for a spare centerfold from the issue. Of course, those never show up, so I eventually started looking for crappy beat-up copies with the centerfold intact, thinking I'd cannibalize the issue. And whaddaya know, this summer I finally found the right candidate. For the grand sum of $35, I bought a copy that was missing the cover and the first wraparound (which is the first two pages of the Legion story, and two ads) and had a detached centerfold. Score! (The seller threw in a copy of the Silver Age Classics issue too.)

But what do I do with rest of the issue? The pages (that are left) are in decent condition, considering it's nearly 50 years old. If I were to put it up on eBay, the selling price would barely cover my listing fees - per Overstreet rules, it's probably worth about ten bucks.

I figured that since November 8th is my one-year blogiversary here at the Omnicom, I'll just give it away as a celebration gimmick. But how and who? That's where you guys come in - I'll let my readers (about 150-200 per day) figure it out. It's not a beg-a-thon and I'm not asking for anything in return. How should I get rid of this issue and who should I give it to? If you want it, tell me why you should get it. Bribery is an option but not a guarantee.

For the winner, I'll also throw in that Silver Age Classics reprint and a CD with scans of the missing pages. Absolutely free, I'll even pay for postage.

To Freedom, Friendship, and Frunt!