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I felt like procrastinating a little, so I went searching for reprints of Good ol' Alfie. Whew...
It looks like he started off writing the humour strip Genius Jones and a few random Captain Marvel stories in 1942. He then graduated to Green Lantern. I've been able to determine that he wrote the first appearance of Solomon Grundy in All-American Comics #66, the series in which Green Lantern first appeared. He also wrote stories in Green Lantern's own title, from issue #8 to #26. At the time, Green Lantern was seasonal, then bi-monthly, so Bester's run took place from the Fall of 1943 to the Summer of 1947. I'm assuming this is when he quit comics to centre on his career in science fiction. Keep in mind that these are only numbers and dates I was able to confirm. He could very well have written many issues both before and after the ones mentioned here, issues which may have been reprinted somewhere.
The Solomon Grundy comic mentioned above was reprinted in "Wanted: The World's Most Dangerous Super-Villians #4" a reprint comic from the 70s. The Golden Age Green Lantern Archives are at their second volume, but it seems unlikely that they have caught up to the Bester stories yet. They just reprinted Green lantern #1 in the second archive, so maybe in another volume or two. There are no new Golden Age Green Lantern archives planned for this year, and there's even talk that due to poor sales on the second volume, there will be no more in the future. The Starman archives is supposed to have a Bester story or three in it. I'm not sure if approximately $50 American is something you're willing to pay, though.
The only other thing I can think of is The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told, a collection DC put out in 1990. It's long out of print, but some stores might still have it in stock. Not sure if Bester's in there or not, but it's worth a flip through if you find it. Also, DC has put out Millennium reprints of first appearances, though, again, it's unlikely any of them have Bester's stuff. You might also want to check out any of the 80-page reprint packages they've been publishing.
Good luck. Looks like you'll need it. |
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