The debate is finally open. We all know that the S-Tier, God-tier crown belongs definitively to the Mile High / Edgar Church pedigree—but what is the absolute second-best collection in comic book history?
Welcome to the milestone 20th episode of Edgar Church’s Basement. I have been teasing this deep dive for nearly two years, and today we are laying down the analytical groundwork for a massive, upcoming 61-pedigree definitive tier list.
Rather than just pulling opinions out of thin air, we are looking at this through a strict, weighted data framework built on four critical criteria: Breadth & Depth, Quality/Average Grade, Density of Major Keys, and Historical Importance to the Hobby.
In this extemporaneous sandbox episode, we audit 12 elite heavyweight contenders to see whose paper trails hold the ultimate crown outside of the Mile High vault.
0:00 Introduction: Ranking the S-Tier Collections
2:16 My 4 Rules for Grading a Pedigree
5:12 Contender 1: White Mountain (The Silver Age Titan)
11:46 Contender 2: Allentown (Small but Mighty)
14:15 Contender 3: San Francisco / Tom Riley (The S-Tier Ghosts)
15:47 Contenders 4 & 5: Pacific Coast & Curator (Pure Royalty)
20:08 Contender 6: Kansas City (Hyper-Concentrated Keys)
21:22 Contender 7: Lamont Larson (The Historic 1930s Benchmark)
23:03 Contender 8: Bethlehem (Massive 20,000-Book Archive)
25:31 Contender 9: Davis Crippen (The Stolen Stash Mystery)
26:21 Contender 10: Denver (153 Pure Number Ones)
27:24 Contender 11: Promise Collection (Flawless Golden Age Quality)
29:23 Contender 12: Gaines File & Windy City (EC Copies & Heavyweights)
31:33 Final Challenge: What Did I Miss?
Welcome to our community watch-along for the massive Heritage Signature Original Art Auction. Grab a coffee, pull up a chair in the basement, and lock into the live chat as we track the final, dramatic hammer falls on some of the most staggering line-art masterpieces ever brought to public auction. This stream will NOT be archived or saved to the channel—it’s a one-time live hangout to call the action together in real-time! The Main Event: Iron Man vs. The World Record 🚨
The headline story of the night centers completely on the definitive Don Heck introductory splash page from Tales of Suspense #39—the first appearance of Iron Man. It's already blasted past $1 million, and we are tracking whether it has the historical weight and structural execution to completely dethrone the $3.2 million Secret Wars #8 half-splash as the most expensive piece of American line art in history. Even wilder? Our recent deep-dives into old 1997 Overstreet Price Guides and archival print records uncovered the incredible secret history of this masterpiece: this exact page was once part of a complete 13-page origin lot owned by rock legend Graham Nash that traded hands at a 1996 Sotheby’s auction for just $46,000. Now, a single page is setting the modern alternative asset market completely on fire.
Welcome to our live community watch-along for the massive Heritage Signature Comics Auction. Grab a coffee, settle into the basement, and lock into the live chat as we track the final, dramatic hammer falls on some of the rarest, most expensive Golden and Silver Age comic books on earth. This stream will NOT be archived or saved to the channel—it’s a one-time community hangout to call the action together in real-time!