• March 2026
    S M T W T F S
    1234567
    891011121314
    15161718192021
    22232425262728
    293031  

  • On Facebook

    On Facebook

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Comic Blog Elite

    Comic Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

The Weekly Haul – Week of April 20, 2016 (Bargain Bins)

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Walt

Along with my ‘regular’ purchases, stopped off at the other local comic shop, looking primarily for the Superman/Wonder Woman issue I was now missing in the current storyline…or so I thought. (Turns out the missing chapter is an issue of Batman/Superman, which would have been a really useful bit of information to have consciously had!

Not finding what I was there for, I hit the bargain bins and found a bunch of 25-cent comics of interest.

I also found another Ultraforce figure that I don’t believe I’d found before: Topaz.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420c

Best thing is the figure was only $2…a real “no brainer” for me for sure!

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420d

I came across a bunch of Showcase issues. Here are the handful of Showcase ’93 and the couple Showcase ’96 I found. The Two-Face one–a chapter of Batman: Knightfall–is a duplicate, but one worth having, if only for filing purposes.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420e

And the gem of the bunch, the back half of Showcase ’94…making it relatively easy to mentally track…I just need to find issues 1-5!

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420f

Most of Strangers 1-16. A bunch of those early issues are apparently ‘variants’ in that they have the UPC/barcode on the covers instead of “nothing” or a non-barcode that many “direct market” books had from this time period. Normally I’m not one for variants, but finding a near-complete run of a bunch of issues make it well worthwhile, especially for the price of one single contemporary Marvel issue.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420g

Turok, Sovereign Seven, and The Man of Steel were lone #1 issues…but what the hey? I’m half interested in how many copies of Turok I can amass; and the others never hurt to have extras. The “ashcans” were cool finds–I have ’em all somewhere, but they’re rather rare (in my experience) due to their size…either not being filed with comics that are then sold, or “hiding” because they’re smaller and thus passed over…at least in bargain bins.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420h

I know I have at least a couple of these Justice League America issues, but while pulling them I’d hoped there would be more, and then figured until I get my collection actually sorted again, not gonna hurt too much to have a larger isolated ‘run’ for now.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420i

I found myself working toward an ‘even number’ for my mental math of my stack, so grabbed a couple random-ish issues. One of the store workers was sorting through a small box of comics and tossed some more “recent” releases on the quarter bins…functionally giving me first crack at ’em, so I snagged the bottom row above.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420j

Whether I get around to them sooner than later or not, I always enjoy finding Superman comics from before the Death of Superman, and then several of the others are just ones I like, particularly for the iconic covers from an age when such things could stand uniquely and not be lost in an overwhelming sea of variants.

The older issue of Action Comics where Clark tells Lois he’s Superman is a first print…I recall there being at least two printings, so it’s cool to snag an extra copy of a first print like this.

Not that I’m unaware of it or anything, but I’m such a sucker for the ’90s, and continue to enjoy these finds much more than most new comics.

And while I recognize that I’m rather “spoiled” right now with relatively easy access to a number of shops with 25 and 50 cent bins and various bargain-bins…it’s still apalling to consider that I can buy 64 such comics like this…for the same price a mere FOUR new Marvel comics of 20 pages each. 80 pages of story, or 64 entire issues? Not hard to see the better value when one enjoys the bargain-bin finds.

I just wish I had so much more time to actually dig in and read and re-read stuff more frequently.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of April 20, 2016 (new stuff)

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Walt

This week ended up being a huge week for new comics stuff…far bigger than I’d had any intention or inkling before mid-day.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420a

DC‘s obviously getting back into my good graces (or at least attention) based on this week’s stuff. A JLA book for my $1-or-under/promo-priced pulls; Legends of Tomorrow since I enjoyed the first issue enough; Superman: Lois and Clark (seems to be prelude to stuff on a much larger scale than I’d imagined when the title started). Action Comics because I’m OCD and am interested in seeing what DOES actually happen with the New 52 Superman as well as sincerely wanting to ‘support’ an outwardly-indicated (aka “triangle numbering”) system of continuity in Super-books. And then Power Man and Iron Fist cuz ok, I’m a sucker.

Of course, I need to figure out and then track down whatever would be “triangle number” #2, as I have 1 and this is 3…where the heck is 2?!?

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420b

Scored the two Essentials volumes from a $3 box…figuered hey, 25% cheaper than a single issue of a new Marvel comic…you betcha! I believe the X-Men one is all-new to me. The Classic X-Men is a replacement copy so I’ll have 2 of 3 volumes in the same trade dress instead of 3 volumes and 3 different trade dress styles.

And for the price of any of the recent DC #50s (or the Barnes & Noble/BaM! standard price of most issues) got a second print of Dark Knight Returns #2 (Dark Knight Triumphant)!

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420_aoa_omnibus

And finally (of new stuff), the book I’ve been waiting for since last August finally came out (in a new/second printing), but now being ‘current’ and NOT “out of print” it was discounted significantly through instocktrades and thus “affordable” in a way that cover price–for me–is not.

I’d ordered this last week and it arrived today, neatly coinciding with New Comic Day.

Second print? Looks fine to me! Looks like it’ll match the Companion volume? That’s what I wanted. Saved nearly $60 off cover price? I’m great with that!

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

New Books and New Munchkin!

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Walt

Finally pulled the trigger on a couple books, ordered another while doing so, and picked up a new game set over the weekend!

earth_one_presidents_shadow

I’ve been somewhat looking for Meltzer‘s newer book The President’s Shadow since last year sometime…and a much increased interest since finishing the previous book–The Fifth Assassin–earlier this year. I’ve been holding off on the second volume of Batman Earth One due to its price and being such a relatively skinny volume for its price compared to other books. And I’d already been considering the Wonder Woman Earth One book, and was totally “sold” on it the other day reading Jess’ coverage at her blog, Holy Comics, Batman!. Now the challenge is on for when I’ll get the comics read, as I’m presently tearing through a new Tim Lebbon Predator novel.

marvel_munchkin

An old college buddy alerted me to the existence of Marvel Munchkin the other day as well, and after stewing on it for a bit, I decided I very definitely wanted to pick this up. (All the more as it is due to have two expansions itself this year, so I didn’t want to get “behind” on it, and it’s a game I anticipate being able to play with friends more frequently than most games I’d seek out).

I’m not thrilled at–yet again–the lack of X-Men stuff, but rather than be nitpicky with this particular product on that front, I choose to look at this as supporting the Munchkin brand more than a mutant-less Marvel.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of April 13, 2016 (main haul)

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Walt

A day late, went through the LCS on lunch Thursday, and wound up with a pretty good haul.

Firstly, I found the Superman/Wonder Woman issue I’d hoped to find on Wednesday; and then my usual stuff.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160413b

Everything else is either pull-list (Spawn added the other day–I’ve decided to stick with the title for awhile in support of the $2.99 price point, lack of promiscuous variant covers, and maintaining its numbering for 24ish years.

A couple $1 books, TMNT stuff, Letter 44…and the $6 Image Firsts Compendium vol. 2 (like the 1st volume, this has 9 issues, making each $1.50…only slightly more than a digital “sale” price and it’s a physical print-product, a thick volume.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160413c

As is fairly usual (despite really running out of storage space) I raided the quarter-bins; found a dozen issues of Dragonlance. At least several are duplicate issues, but finding this many, I snagged ’em all to avoid any of them becoming “grail issues” in the future.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160413d

Snagged several other “random” issues for the sake of getting them for 25 cents. Due to a comment from a fellow comics blogger (Chris is on Infinite Earths) I bought a convenience-copy of Uncanny X-Men #308…20-something years old, and still “only” the price of a cheaper contemporary issue and no worse than “just” buying any other issue of something new.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160413e

I’m pretty sure I already have the Chaos Effect issues, but for 25 cents each, no sense passing them up. The Spawn issue caught my attention, and then I noticed several other issues of these Fan Editions…looks like they came with a magazine back in the ’90s (much like Wizard or Hero Illustrated…I passed on some others that weren’t sequential nor included a #1.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160413f

And finally, the prestige-format Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown mini. I’m not sure if there were only 3 issues, or if there’s a fourth one…but again, for the price, wasn’t going to pass it up.

Next week may be a small week single-issue wise…though I’m finding myself unfortunately more than a little interested in some of DC‘s #50s…as well as feeling a pull back to the Superman family of titles that I’ve been away from maybe the longest time ever now.

And an extremely expensive purchase looming that I’ve had in mind for about eight months.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of April 13, 2016 (side haul)

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Walt

Due to some real life stuff going on this week, I didn’t make it to the usual shop today…but did stop off to check on last month’s Superman/Wonder Woman issue (as I belatedly acquired and read out-of-order Superman #50 and Action Comics #50).

Unfortunately, they did not have that issue…but they did have the “free” edition of the Captain America 75th Anniversary magazine, the DC Previews for Rebirth, and I decided to pick up a couple other issues.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160413a

If I’m going to wind up getting caught up on Superman, might as well “keep up” for a couple months here before Rebirth. And figured I’d try the first issue of Xena…never actually watched the show, but figured this is a #1, I’ll give it a shot.

And then the Cyborg issue caught my attention with Captain Marvel on the cover (The Big Red Cheese will always be CM in my book, whatever they choose to “officially” call him, particularly in the/post New 52!). For “only” $3, I can handle a random one-off issue. I’d considered catching up on The Coming of the Supermen, but I just so entirely do NOT enjoy the Fourth World/New Gods stuff that I’m not even interested in reading it anytime soon.

I’d also forgotten about Justice League vs. Teen Titans being out this week, so snagged that…including the no-longer-Best-Buy-exclusive figurine pack. More expensive than I remembered these being in the past, but kinda paying for the figurine that comes with it.

The “regular”/”main” haul should come tomorrow…or Friday. Time’ll tell!

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The Weekly Haul – Week of March 16, 2016

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Walt

Not much to show off this week–though I did raid some quarter-bins and found some Firestorm and DuckTales stuff. Just the new stuff for tonight!

weekly_haul_week_of_20160316

The IDW Greatest Hits and the DC Comics Essentials issues are $1 comics, pulled for my standing “$1 or less promo-priced stuff.” I enjoyed the first issue of Power Man and Iron Fist enough to get this second issue. While it’s enjoyable enough, I’m not sure if I’ll last even the entire first arc…but as long as the issues continue to come out on otherwise relatively light weeks and Marvel hasn’t done anything to overly tick me off on some “principle” or another, I’ll take it issue by issue when I see it on the rack.

And seeing/holding the issue (literally weighing it as I considered), I decided the $7.99 for Legends of Tomorrow #1 was worthwhile as a first issue. Once I read it I’ll decide if I’ll continue with subsequent issues, probably taking it on a month to month basis. But so far, the Firestorm story was 20 pages, and I’m pretty sure the Metamorpho one is close…not sure about the other two; but as a squarebound thing with the title/number on the spine, it’s a shelf-ready thing, and if it packs two full-length features plus a couple more, it’ll at least “match” 20-page $3.99 comics and prove the better value.

I’m not sure if they’re late or just not stocked where I’ve looked, but I’m also rather interested in IDW‘s Deviations issues…I forgot to check if the TMNT one was ordered under my TMNT pull request, but absolutely want that if no others.

It’s nice to hit two comic shops and walk away with a handful of new issues and a stack of 1980s’ stuff for about–or less–than the price of only several more current comics. And looking here…ignore the $1 “promo-priced” issues, and the only new stuff is a thick anthology book from DC that I’m trying, and only the second issue of a new Marvel book that however “fun” it is I probably wouldn’t miss if I did skip it…while I’m moving more and more to buying back issues–random catch-my-attention and specific issues–and cheap/clearance/etc. collected volumes, most of which reprint material from the 1990s.

But that’ll probably be a topic for another post…

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The Weekly Haul: Week of March 09, 2016

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Walt

This has been a HUGE week for me with money spent, well beyond any usual “preference,” purchasing the DC: The New 52 Zero Omnibus for over $100 cheaper than cover price, as well as the hardcover Graphic Novel + BluRay + Digital editions of The Death of Superman and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

And of course, some “regular” stuff in the mix.

weekly_haul_week_of_20160309

After last week’s huge bargain-bin haul of Green Lantern stuff, I also tracked down a newsstand edition copy of GL #81–the “funeral” issue for Hal Jordan, that had (at least via quarter bins and price I was willing to pay) eluded me since its release some 19ish years ago.

This week, curious if the usual LCS had a non-barcoded newsstand edition or better condition copy, I found that they did not…however, they had the “Collector’s Edition” for “only” $6. For only $2 more than a contemporary comic, coming with the bag and board, cardstock cover with enhancement and being a nearly two-decade-old comic that I have NOT seen all over the place…I barely hesitated.

My actual pull-list books for the week consisted of the three TMNT books here–the series based on the animated cartoon series; the final issue of City at War done in color, and the latest issue of the Batman/TMNT 6-issue mini (clearly a DC-driven product, as IDW doesn’t seem capable or willing to do anything longer than 4 issues at a time for anything “current”/”new”).

And seeing my obvious interest in the ashcan, I was given the Aliens: Defiance ashcan, previewing the upcoming Aliens series with art by Tristan Jones (whose work I’ve enjoyed on a number of other projects, chiefly Mirage TMNT stuff before the sale to Viacom).

If you’ve read many of my reviews, you know I’ve groused in the past about multi-page “previews” of upcoming books “padding” whatever the current issue is that I’m reading. I’ve also suggested I’d rather companies do some separate “preview issue” each week or month rather than stuff a quarter of an issue into other books so that if I buy a new book it feels extra thick and is disappointingly short, and when I buy something that was previewed, I’m only getting 3/4 the value sine 1/4 was already given away.

Ashcans are a great way to get around that, and I’d fairly willingly pay for some, if only for the novelty. If they can be just given away, all the better! This one I actually read cover to cover, and enjoyed the art–one of very few times the art is more of a draw for me than the story. (Though being an Aliens project, I’d’ve already been interested; Jones‘ art ensures my monthly purchase of the thing).

We’ll see what next week holds, I guess…though hopefully it’ll be a far cheaper week…

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of March 02, 2016

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Walt

Last week proved to be a tiny week for NEW comics, but a large week for quarter-bin stuff. The only NEW comic I purchased was the first issue of a new Predator series…that apparently starts off a new "cycle" of minis to be an overall larger story in the style of 2014’s Fire and Stone books. Whether I’ll stick with singles or wait for the "inevitable" collected volume remains to be seen. I’m guessing this will be separate from the new Aliens series kicking off soon with art by Tristan Jones.

weeklyhaul_0302016a

There were also a couple of free "ashcan" comics from IDW…I won’t tend to pass up "free," though I was a bit disappointed to realize I’d already missed the first issue of the one at least…sorta defeats the purpose (to me).

weeklyhaul_0302016b

Hitting the quarter bins, I found a lot of great stuff. Several Green Arrow issues, including the first, and #100–which is an issue I’ve long been curious about, but never found in a quarter been, but never’ve been curious ENOUGH to seek it out otherwise. (Or if I have found it, I sure don’t remember it).

weeklyhaul_0302016c

The New Titans arc Who is Wonder GIrl? and its epilogue…much cheaper this way than some out-of-print, jacked-up-because-it’s-"OOP"-paperback…and less than half the cost of a single new comic.

weeklyhaul_0302016d

Several of these have some water damage/wrinkling, but again…to get Kingdom Come as well as The Kingdom for half the price of a single issue of something new is not bad at all.

weeklyhaul_0302016g

For the convenience-of-a-reread factor and nostalgia with it being present, I snagged another copy of Batman: Year 3.

weeklyhaul_0302016f

Ditto for A Lonely Place of Dying, since the three Batman issues as well as both of the The New Titans issues were present. No fuss, no hunting.

weeklyhaul_0302016e

Just for kicks and all three chapters being present, snagged The Penguin Affair. I’m fairly certain I’ve read this before, but I don’t consciously remember it.

weeklyhaul_0302016h

For the randomness of ’em, snagged Legends of the Dark Knight #1 and the Batman movie adaptation (this is the prestige format edition). I thought it was cool seeing the original Marvel Knights issue of Daredevil #1…the issue was a big thing for me when it came out, getting to jump in at the start of a Daredevil series at #1, and loved the art! Finally the Total Justice issue grabbed my attention as being based on the toys…though I neglected to realize it was a mini-series, so I’ll have other issues to (eventually/maybe) track down.

weeklyhaul_0302016i

Some "late" Solar, Man of the Atom issues from old Valiant. While my feelings toward current Valiant have soured big-time, I’m still half-heartedly looking to finish my "reading copy" collection of the original runs.

weeklyhaul_0302016j

And then along with those Green Arrow issues, got a bunch of Green Lantern. I added another 10 or so issues to this bunch the next day from quarter bins at another shop; and after all these years, finally located #81 in a back-issues bin at a third shop (I paid $3.99 for it–again, not a huge deal given its age, scarecity and NOT exceeding what I’d pay for a questionable "new" comic).

weeklyhaul_0302016

Given the size of the stack–80 issues–rather than hassle with multiple bags and such, I bought a shortbox for the transport (and I can always use more boxes, so the only "harm" is in the timing and being an extra $5 I wasn’t planning on going in).

I’m really getting the "back issue bug" lately, and with finding Green Arrow #100, tracking down Green Lantern #81, buying a couple pre-Crisis issues (Superman and a DC Comics Presents annual); buying the Adventure Comics issue last week, I’m thinking that all the more, I may shift toward hunting back issues. Of course, while I can justify quarter-bin copies as duplicates for convenience, I cannot justify paying several dollars for an issue that is or likely is a duplicate, so I’ll need to really get the body of my collection sorted and modify some checklists to make sure that as I pursue older books, I’m not chasing issues that are merely hiding in one of my existing boxes.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

The Weekly Haul – Week of February 17, 2016

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Walt

Raided the 80%-off bin…and snagged these four volumes. $25 for the four.

Four decently-thick (especially Inferno) volumes…for the price of 6 current single issues. And given Marvel‘s propensity lately for the $4.99 to $5.99 #1s…hey…these make for that much more of a value-purchase.

tpbs_acqu_02172016

The drawback is now going to be tracking down the 2nd volume of the Complete Collection by Matt Fraction run, having scored vols 1 & 3 here. But considering what it would’ve been for all 3 at full price, even if I’d pay full price for it, I’m still well ahead on things.

Deals like this continue to totally blow away even convention deals, as most dealers seem to primarily stock $10 bins of scattered Marvel hardcovers ($19.99 cover price)…while “complete” collections or thicker volumes like these are scarce, at least for reasonable prices.

As to regular comics this week…a $1 reprint under my “all $1-or-less issues” and an off-the-shelf Power Man and Luke Cage issue…because of a couple friends, figured I’d TRY the first issue if only to be able to talk about it with them…though I can’t see following it on a regular basis unless it surprises me and totally sucks me in.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of July 29th, 2015

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Walt

This proved to be a pretty big week for me…two Marvels and an IDW.

weekly_haul_20150729a

I completely forgot about the Deadpool book, and figured I’d stay on it–not sure if it’s 4 or 5 issues, but I’m enjoying it and opted not to wait for it to hit Marvel Unlimited next year. And X-Men ’92 is just nothing but awesome on all sorts of levels. TMNT is TMNT, and a “given” for me.

weekly_haul_20150729b

Though I usually stick to ’90s stuff through present, I delved a little further back with some back issues this week. Between quarter bins and some $1 bins, I snagged a handful of older comics that happened to appeal to me tonight.

weekly_haul_20150729c

These Captain America volumes were already heavily discounted…but because they’re also rather beat-up–certainly not “brand-new” condition–the shop owner cut the price on both in half. So both volumes combined wound up costing me as much as three Marvel single issues.

So, definitely quite a haul for the week. Next week looks like it’ll be the first post-Valiant week where I’m not expecting anything one-off that’s been pre-ordered, where I’d been expecting these volumes as well as several I showed off last week.

For the difference, I’ll probably raid the back-issue bins…see if I can find one of the un-reprinted Silver Surfer issues from the run-up to 1991’s Infinity Gauntlet, or maybe a random Silver Age Superman or such…or browse the racks for an Image #1 or check the shelves for an Image vol. 1 paperback. Time will certainly tell!

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »