J Ballmann

The Confounding Case of the Comic Collector Killer J Ballmann

Publisher Marketing: "The Comic Collector Killer? Wait. Does that mean the killer collects comics - or that he kills comic collectors -- or both?!" So asks exasperated FBI Director Lee Hirschel when a serial killer begins murdering big-name comic book collectors. After the world's top Spider-man fan dies a little too coincidentally from a spider bite, and Comicdom's best-known Sub-Mariner expert just happens to drown mysteriously - not to mention a Human Torch collector burning to death - the FBI is forced to admit it is out of its league and must enlist the aid of a certain Peter Plippton, a.k.a., Dr. Marvel - the greatest Marvel comics expert on the planet. For it is only Dr. Marvel who knows the deepest secrets of the Marvel Universe. It is only he, Dr. Marvel, who knows such facts as the real true first full appearance of Mary Jane Watson, the cryptic origins of the 1963 Ben Cooper Spider-man costume, and the cult-like mysteries surrounding the early formation of the Merry Marvel Marching Society. But can even he, the awe-inspiring Dr. Marvel, unravel all the confounding comic-related conundrums to this case and stop the killer before another comic collector dies? Read on, True Believer, to find out the answer - and more - in the pulse-pounding pages of what is the greatest portrayal of hardcore comic book fandom ever put to page. This one has it all: Spider-man collectors battling it out on eBay for a 1963 Ben Cooper Spider-man costume; comic fans hanging out at the New York Comic Con, the San Diego Comic Con, the Baltimore Comic Con; a collector's frantic quest for an Incredible Hulk #181 that is not missing a Marvel Value Stamp; the never-ending search for the fan who was the first member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society fan club; the world's greatest Marvel expert's analysis of the real true first appearance of Mary Jane Watson; a man known as The Ancient Collector who attended the 1964 Comic Con; a fan who is the pickiest collector of all time and who can drive a dealer insane. All this - and more! This thriller is, no doubt, the Great AmeriFan Novel.