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30 Years: My First-Ever Collected Volume/Graphic Novel

Posted on December 25, 2019 by Walt

I don’t think it was Christmas day exactly, but it was for Christmas that a childhood friend gave me The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told; as much from him as his parents, I believe.

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That was Christmas 1989, as I recall–I do not believe it was the FIRST Christmas I was interested in comics, but the second–after Mom had bought me some comics throughout 1989, with my having "gotten by" on comics Grandpa had brought for me in 1988.

30 years later, I still have this book. Even though somewhere I have a newer copy in better condition, I’ve opted to keep my original copy on the shelf in my main collection.

Some of the key Superman stories were in this book and this was how I first read them. From the original Action Comics #1 story, to For the Man Who Has Everything and loads in-between…even up to Superman #2 in the Byrne "reboot era." That one stuck out as an odd piece to me at the time, not really fitting with the other stories, and in retrospect I would have thought perhaps something else like the Man of Steel #3 (One Night in Gotham City) might have fit better, to have "representation" from the then-young reboot. (With a 1987 copyright date, I believe this volume predates the Return to Krypton in Superman #18, as well as the Supergirl Saga and so on…likely even Action Comics #600).

This was ALSO my first-ever collected volume, first-ever "graphic novel," first-ever comic BOOK. Despite the hundreds of volumes in my library now this one holds a special place as THE first in my collection, going back to my earliest days being into comics (and pre-dating my first "lapse" from comics).

As it was a Christmas gift…I felt it an appropriate thing to share today, Christmas Day 2019…as my earliest days into comics are in a cascading 30-year-anniversary going forward.

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of December 18, 2019

Posted on December 24, 2019 by Walt

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Just about the end of the year…and this might be the FIRST year I’ve actually "successfully" documented every week’s "main" haul (of NEW comics). December 18th may well be the "last week" of new comics for ME as I don’t think there’s REALLY much of anything coming out December 26th (25th being Christmas) and the publishers (especially DC) seemed to really load the week here.

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THREE big endings this week (just with stuff I bought…I’m pretty sure there were a number of others as well!).

Tom King‘s run on Batman (and City of Bane within) ends with the 85th issue here. Supposedly King‘s story will continue into/wrap up in a Batman/Catwoman series, but apparently there’s going to be at least a 4-month wait with nothing showing through March 2020 solicitations, making April 2020 the earliest for that to pick up.

Doomsday Clock finally has its final issue, #12, some 25 or so months after #1 and 13 or so after originally intended. I skipped a middle chunk of issues but opted to get #12, as I’d gotten #1 and wanted to read it for myself to see how it ended.

And I should have just waited for the collected volume for Batman: Last Knight on Earth…I have yet to read #1, and here’s the 3rd and final issue…so why not have just waited?

Hellblazer #2 marks the 3rd issue in this new iteration. The one-shot and #1 were good overall and I’m digging the new Vertigo-esque take on the character after years of stuff being watered down. I’m pretty sure the writer had a run on the original Hellblazer series as well, so that’d fit!

While I’d been curious about Millar/Netflix and their Project X-Mas thing, speculation I’d read indicated a host of things that it could be. My initial thought awhile back was American Jesus/Chosen but I dismissed that, figuring it to be another title like Fell that was SO good and promising and I enjoyed and…figured it’d never be heard from again. So when Bleeding Cool spoiled what the book was, I emailed the comic shop to have a copy held. I remember getting the original Chosen issues, and then buying the American Jesus tpb…so definitely looking forward to reading this new mini!

And continuing with the facsimile/replica editions, Eternals #1.

Finally, though I got it the weekend before, the Crisis on Infinite Earths 100-page giant issue, from Walmart. Because somehow I’d come to believe IT was to be another "exclusive," so grabbed it when I saw it…but apparently it’s not. Of course, if I waited for the non-Walmart edition, I believe I’d STILL be waiting, so there’s that.

All in all, not that huge a week; albeit some more expensive-than-usual issues.

I’m mostly hoping that 2020 is a more focused year; with (hopefully) consistently-smaller weeks in the way of NEW new stuff. If I get to it by year’s end, I’ll hopefully detail some thoughts for this blog heading into the new year, as well as some current "grail" comics/specific-issues goals for the 2020 hunt, and so on.

For now…instead of scheduling this post to go live tomorrow morning (Christmas!) I’m just going to send it live tonight. Because why not? These are more for me than anything else, and I’m my own "boss" as the sole proprietor of this blog…

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul Catch-Up: Weeks of November 20, 2019 to December 11, 2019

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Walt

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Once again, it’s been a few weeks since a "Weekly Haul" post. Though I did get a random post up the other day with some bare-bones random brief thoughts on Marvel‘s 2099 stuff…and a path-to-500 for DC to give us a Robin #500 (semi-tongue-in-cheek, using "Marvel Math.").

So let’s play catch-up on the last few weeks’ hauls. Or rather, the "main" hauls…as I have partial plans for a couple other things from recent weeks as well!

Week of November 20, 2019

Having dropped some titles, I’ve been finding my regular weeks a bit more manageable, and even been willing to "try" a bit of randomness with other titles for whatever reason(s).

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Batman has long been a pull; I believe this may be the single longest run of the title I’ve had, at least for issue quantity. I have the entirety of King‘s run thus far, and though I’ve planned to "finish out" the run, since I think they’re shifting to monthly from biweekly AND there’s no sign yet of the promised Batman/Catwoman series, I may go ahead and continue along. With rumours of yet another relaunch next year anyway, It probably can’t hurt too much to get a few more issues and simply have a complete run.

He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse is just an interesting premise to me, mixed with a bit of would-be-nostalgia, that I decided to get the first issue in a slight bit of "support," slight bit of gambling. I had/have no intention of subsequent single issues, though I may watch for reviews to pick up a collected edition.

I’ve settled pretty firmly into enjoying/appreciating the various "Facsimile" edition reprints, so the Green Lantern/Green Arrow drug issue was a no-brainer.

I need to catch up on reading TMNT Urban Legends, especially as we’re getting close to the couple of issues I’d had in college that showed me how much the characters had been changed and solidly impacted a paper I wrote about the Turtles.

Doom caught my eye along with the classic "font" for the title 2099 so I gave in and bought the first issue for the sheer nostalgia of the thing. I opted NOT to pick up subsequent issues…though my interest in the ORIGINAL 2099 stuff has been rekindled.

I snagged the Death of Superman: The Wake tpb because…well, Death of Superman. This collected a digital-only (or digital-first?) mini-series and I was interested for its title and concept, thinking it’d give some insight to the "current version" of the infamous now-27-year-old story. (Unfortunately, I was highly disappointed and found the thing to be something better-suited for distribution in cereal boxes!)

Local Comic Shop Day (November 23, 2019)

I’m not very keen on "Local Comic Shop Day" in general. I’m fairly accepting of "Halloween Comic Fest" but LCSD isn’t much of a "thing" to me.

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That being said…there were a couple issues I wound up picking up. The Walking Dead: The Alien one-shot, and a Super DInosaur reprint or whatever it is. I am pretty sure I have the original Super Dinosaur issue(s) from back in the day…somewhere. And given the nature of the Walking Dead issue–new story, not by Kirkman himself, and not previously available in print, and with the final volume of the TPBs out MONTHS ago, seemed like a decent companion piece to the series.

Week of November 27, 2019

Having decided in 2015 that it was officially my "next Grail," I was ‘officially’ on the lookout for an in-my-price-range copy of Uncanny X-Men #266 up until finally scoring a copy earlier this year.

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So hardly six months after finally getting my genuine, actual real Uncanny X-Men #266…Marvel puts out a facsimile edition of the issue. Not that I wasn’t going to buy the thing, but it kinda figures, on the timing. I can’t be sure if the facsimile edition would have satisfied me in terms of my personal collection, though. C’est la vie.

We also got the final (for now) issue of Hope, which I look forward to binge-reading/catching up on.

I’d picked up the Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer issue a few weeks earlier, and decided to also get the first issue of what I BELIEVE is an ongoing new Hellblazer series. I enjoyed both issues well enough and they definitely have the general feel of the original 300-issue series, while being a different version of the Constantine character. I may well grab the 2nd issue if I notice it when it’s out, and go from there.

Continuing their pattern, along with the Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis, we also got a DC Dollar Comics reprint of the first issue of the original Infinite Crisis #1.

I’m pretty sure I have all the earlier issues of Second Coming so grabbed the latest issue. It’s one that I really need to get around to READING to decide whether I genuinely want to be getting it…though at this point I’d likely have been much better-served just waiting for a collected edition.

And finally, I decided to grab a recent-back-issue in Dark Horse‘s The Little Mermaid. It’s a mini-series, but being from Dark Horse I was curious how it’d stack up to the IDW stuff as well as how it’ll wind up in collected format, as well as being curious if it was actually a reprint as I’m fairly sure we already had a comics adaptation of the film.

Week of December 4, 2019

And getting into December…

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New Batman issue.

And the fifth/final issue of the 5-issue TMNT: Shredder in Hell mini-series. A mini-series that saw its first issue come out in January 2019. And I’d believe the series to be monthly, that it was due to wrap up by May or June…yet it only JUST made it ahead of TMNT #100…and I believe MAY have caused the apparent delay in that issue.

The latest Spawn issue. At #303, it’s my 47th issue in a row for the series…coming up on MY 50th as such!

The newest Usagi Yojimbo gets us to #7 of the latest series. And having just picked up the first issue, I decided to get the second of The Little Mermaid.

I swore off all Boom! Studios books nearly four years ago.However, my primary "exception" in comics is the TMNT. So a Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers/TMNT book was an interesting quandary for me. In the end, I opted to allow my "TMNT Exception" to OVERRIDE my refusal to get single issues from Boom! Studios…though I ALMOST reconsidered when I saw the variant cover (or one of them, anyway) was a turtle’s hands holding a Power Ranger helmet…like it was just being insulting at that point.

Finally for the week, a facsimile edition of the "death of Flash" issue of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths; as well as a facsimile edition of Marvel‘s original Star Wars #1. And for good measure, a DC Dollar Comics issue of Birds of Prey.

Week of December 11, 2019

…and now we’re up to the most recent week and (perhaps) back on schedule! I’m also a bit unsure of what the remainder of the year holds, with this week’s December 18 being the last non-holiday Wednesday of the year, with the following Wednesday being December 25th–Christmas Day; and the very next Wednesday will be New Year’s Day (also, January 1st, the first day of a new year!)

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IDW‘s ongoing TMNT title finally hits its 100th issue! This also marks 100 issues that I’ve kept up with the series, buying every single issue, from #1 to #100, as it came out. Which is also a record for me, I’m sure, for ANY single run of ANY comic series in all my 30-some years of being into comics.

Then, despite dropping the Superman books, I ended up grabbing a copy of #17 off the rack while waiting in line at a Black Friday sale, so went ahead and–against better judgement–picked up #18 as well. I suppose it says ENOUGH that I didn’t immediately read either issue. And I guess we’ll see if I pick up any of the specials further dealing with "the reveal." As of this typing, though, I’m ready to wash my hands of the thing, though!

I would not have bothered with the Defenders issue except for it being a facsimile edition, so I went ahead and got it for the sake of having it. I’m highly confident that it’s GOTTA be better and a much superior time-value than any MODERN Marvel $4.99 issues!

Finally, the Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Teen Titans – The Judas Contract as well as the DC Dollar Comics reprint of the ending of the original Judas Contract story (as I believe it’ll be the ending of the story that diverges things for the Dark Multiverse).

I think there was an "off" week for Comic Shop News, and I’d’ve sworn we just had one of these previews, but maybe not? Either way…a cheery sorta Hembeck image of the characters ready for 2020!

Neca, Target, and Turtle Two-Packs

Along with the Wednesday comic shop visit on the 11th, I also ducked into a Target across the street, in a vain attempt to find a certain two-pack of figures.

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I was rather shocked to actually find them…as I’d been in Target stores well over two-dozen times across the four weeks ending with December 11th (and at least 7 or 8 different Target locations amidst those!)

But I finally scored the only 2-pack I wanted from the new wave of classic-TMNT figures, and for retail price, rather than the 2X-3X pricing of scalpers.

‘Nuff said.

While I’m interested in Leatherhead coming up for the line, I have no particular interest in Slash, nor a pixelated Shredder. So if these waves continue to be the turtles themselves, re-issues of Foot Soldiers, and a pack of new characters, I would just hope that Leatherhead could be his own thing, or come paired with a Foot Ninja and that the 3rd wave is something that would NOT require such frustration and effort to track down.

I found this Bebop/Rocksteady pack the very day after I’d more or less officially decided to "give up" on the line, at least until after the new year, but since I was across the street from the Target figured what was ONE MORE try after so ridiculously many for the previous several weeks?

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Robin #500: Marvel Math-ing 80 Years of The Boy Wonder

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Walt

So, apparently in 2020, DC is going to publish a $9.99 one-shot celebrating 80 years of Robin. Whereas in 2018, they did so for Superman with Action Comics #1000. And in 2019, they did so for Batman with Detective Comics #1000. And coming up in January and February 2020, they’re doing so with Wonder Woman #750 and Flash #750…all characters with present ongoing titles.

I’ve long cut DC some slack with the numbering on Action and Detective compared to Marvel‘s titles, as both have ONE "lapse" in numbering, which makes it relatively easy to slot the issues into their proper spots.

But now their doing the same for Wonder Woman and Flash requires a bit more work due to gaps and shorter runs and (at least with Wonder Woman) prior "legacy renumbering."

And with DC pulling other stuff that’s caused me to almost entirely back away while eyeing moving further away–and seeming to be following Marvel‘s lead in a negative (to me) manner…fine.

So WHAT IF..DC did "Marvel Math" for Robin, heading toward this 80th anniversary thing?

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The way I have it figured…they should be able to give us a giant-sized Robin #500, celebrating 500 issues featuring Robin (Dick, Tim, Stephanie, and Damian, at least) as well as the 80th anniversary of the character.

Even nearly 17 years later, I still don’t care for what they’ve done with Jason/Red Hood…and I wouldn’t count the Red Hood stuff as that’s been more of a team title (to my knowledge) and I don’t know enough about the title(s) and the character, nor has Jason operated AS Robin in the time that Tim or Dick have had titles of their own.

Now, granted, MY math here gets a bit screwy and isn’t entirely in the best order, and there’s certainly overlap, particularly in the original Robin and Nightwing ongoing titles. But frankly…if Marvel can screw around with grabbing random stuff to get to certain numbers, then I’m going to do the same here.

Perhaps my math is off slightly somewhere, but regardless…at this point, I feel like the Robin 80 Years 100-Page Super Spectacular or whatever it’s going to be called–with "decades variants" and the works–really ought to just simply be Robin #500.

What do you think? Would you be "for" a Robin #500?

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Marvel 2099 Universe

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Walt

It’s been way too long since I’ve gotten around to any posts. And as I have several partial-posts queued up but computer issues have hindered my getting to stuff as planned…here’s a quick thought on Marvel‘s 2099 stuff.

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A few weeks ago, I snagged the 2099 Alpha one-shot for sheer nostalgia. I then–despite more of said nostalgia–passed on any further single issues from the "event," LARGELY because of the $4.99 price point for each issue, but also having seen something about a collected volume coming soon. I’d much rather pay a cheaper price for a collected volume, over the much higher price for single issues. Especially as even now–weeks later–I still haven’t even read the initial Alpha issue!

BUT…the whole matter has rekindled my interest in the ORIGINAL 2099 stuff. Couple that with snagging new "convenience copies" of Doom, Ravage, Punisher, and X-Men and then happening across a stack of bargain-bin issues I’d forgotten about that included Ghost Rider and Along with my ongoing #SpawnQuest I’m thinking I may focus in on the 2099 line as a "dead universe" to collect in 2020.

Which may eventually lead to snagging the 2019 single issues, but we’ll see where I wind up.

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of November 13, 2019

Posted on November 19, 2019 by Walt

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This past week felt like the sort of balance I REALLY prefer to have with new comics. Though I may be "missing out" on other stuff…it’s still a bit more than I may have "time" for…especially with other distractions that I’ll get into down below!

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Though it’s another $6 book, Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night (the 3rd in a series of these specials) is sorta worth it…I’m willing to let it slide by for being a squarebound thing AND coming out alongside a $1 reprint of the original Blackest Night #1. Plus, having enjoyed plenty of Elseworlds stuff back in the day…if DC isn’t going to bring that imprint back, I can handle stuff like this. I’m still a bit wary and suspicious that this is leadup to some major event for the sake of a major event–and I’ve little intention of "buying back in" on such a thing with the way the new status quo is shaping up (and with Superman revealing his identity for the 2nd time in half a decade).

The Catwoman issue I bought because of having read that it offers her side to "the Wedding stuff," and I’m interested enough in that. And the "fancy cover" for the SAME PRICE AS USUAL is a very positive factor!

GI Joe: A Real American Hero is a title I’m still woefully behind on reading, but am still very supportive of, if only for its high numbering! I have a large amount of the original run and have the notion of filling in earlier issues in this run to eventually have the whole series. But time will tell.

I believe this 6th issue of the IDW run of Usagi Yojimbo is the 30th anniversary issue. I’m pretty sure I saw something on Facebook from Stan Sakai about that.

And then the The Tomb of Dracula facsimile edition is another I got on simple principle OF being a facsimile edition. I’ve lost track of the number of these…I’m not sure if they’re quite "weekly," but I’m certainly appreciating their frequency. I’d probably be quite happy if Marvel (and DC!) simply did a "series" that itself was simply these reprint editions–where one could "subscribe" TO the "line" without hassle to the comic shops.

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Having already had the first 5 of the 6 issues of Event Leviathan, I decided to finish that out. I’m continuing to be discouraged by the issue apparently "ending" with the "launch" of another event/series already. But at the same time, that also backs up my notion of it being time to back away from a lotta this stuff.

I’m not entirely sure what this Marvels X thing is that headlines the previews thing…but it seems like they missed the 25th anniversary of the original series. As a contained thing I might be interested, but time will tell.

And finally, Comic Shop News, spotlighting Superman revealing his identity to other heroes…and the reason I finally pulled the trigger on dropping Superman and Action Comics.

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On a more positive side…a Kickstarter project I backed recently came in! The second issue of Cat & Mouse by Roland Mann & Co. with the revived Silverline. As a Kickstarter thing, I’m more forgiving of variants and such, especially the Kickstarter Exclusive Edition covers–because the CONTENT is still available to anyone, even if the special cover isn’t. As a sucker for nostalgia, I’m cool with the Retro edition. There’s even some difference to the coloring, it looked like–which I appreciate! Finally, the "graphite edition" is not JUST a "sketch cover" (which I dislike as variants). This is a whole different edition of the issue, where the interior is also like this–so the cover is NOT some "inferior" thing, it’s actually a perfect match to its interior! And it gives a different look at the contents of the issue that I find rather cool as a novelty like this.

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The new Pokemon game came out last Friday. I broke with "tradition" of getting the "red" versions to get Sword…largely because of knowing a friend had pre-ordered Shield and I wanted to know I had a trading buddy. Then I realized that when I’d bought in on the Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon re-issue of the previous game, I’d also gone "blue" so…c’est la vie.

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I also snagged this nifty felt banner (the flip-side is a map of this new games new "region" in the Pokemon world) as well as the plush starter critter, Scorbunny. I’d gotten the plush of Litten 3 years ago with Pokemon Sun, so it just seemed fitting to make that a tradition of getting the plushie of the critter I’d start the game with!

I also then promptly blew away the weekend with first being up Friday night into the wee hours of Saturday, then spending the majority of the day Saturday and again into wee hours, and a decent chunk of time Sunday playing. As of this typing Monday evening, I’ve left off having acquired 5 of the 8 "gym badges" in the game. I also "bred" a couple Farfetch’d and Scorbunnies for trade, but pulled myself away from that side of the game for the time being. Mindless stuff with that almost 3 years ago is what led to my binging the entirety of How I Met Your Mother into 2017!

Heading fast toward "the holidays," I don’t know how long it’ll take me to "finish" the play-through of the "main game," but I’ve already sunk more time into this game than any other game since the original Pokemon Sun, in such a short span of time. I’ve probably got a way to go yet to match Breath of the Wild, but that was spaced across weeks before I lost interest. I certainly feel like I’ve already more than gotten my money’s worth out of this game compared to every other game I’ve bought other than Breath of the Wild.

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Ringquest Update and the Weekend Haul (Weekend of 11/9/2019)

Posted on November 12, 2019 by Walt

Hard to believe it’s been 10 years now since Blackest Night was going strong, and DC gave away a bunch of plastic rings as promotional items with tie-i issues of the event. And then a few months later they did a couple additional rings. If you search "Ring Quest" in this blog, you’ll find some entries from back then; and here’s one that shows most of the rings 9 1/2 years ago.

Well, after all this time, we have ANOTHER ring!

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With the launch of the 2019 umpteenth-iteration of Legion of Super-Heroes, we get a new, updated ring; with a slightly more angular design on the logo, making it look a BIT more sleek and "newer" than the one we had before.

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Here’s the old one. It really DOES look a bit clunkier than the new one.

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And here they are side-by-side. I like the gold coloring of the older one a bit better…it has a bit more "sparkle" in my eyes; while the new one is a bit "shinier" but also very cool. These put me in mind of a lot of logo redesigns I’ve seen where the bulk of the logo is kept, but stuff is angled slightly to be more angular than blocky.

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And here are all the "recent" (2009 to present) plastic promo rings that I’m aware of existing; at the least, they’re the ones that I myself own, as laid out here for this very photo!

These are by far my favorite promotional items. As fun as some of the various pins and buttons can be as collectible objects…these things are just a whole other level of awesome!

Long after I’ve forgotten which specific comic most of them came with, I remember the general time and obviously still have the physical rings, even a decade later!

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A weekend visit with actually having TIME to BROWSE at Comic Heaven, I wound up buying a set of these Comico issues. It’s a set of 8, and only s3…somewhere between 25 cents and 50 cents an issue. And the first two volumes of Edge. These are from Crossgen when they had two "anthology titles" that collected 4 of their ongoing/monthly books into these monthly tpb collections. I really do wish other/current publishers would do something like this. I’d probably pretty happily pay $10 or so (mayyyyyyyybe even $15ish) for something like this with at least 4 issues’ contents.

And the Previews Gift Guide Holiday 2019.

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On Sunday I went to Carol and John’s where I snagged the Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (with the plastic ring!). I also got the Black Hammer 3 for $1 issue. 3 issues’ content for only $1…hard to beat that these days!

Then at Half-Price Books I snagged the Heavy Metal-published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: A Quarter Century Celebration paperback from 2009. And using a 50%-off coupon, got Gambit: The Complete Collection vol. 1.

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They also had two of the Walking Dead hardcovers on sale for $3 apiece–these are the Jay Bonansinga novels from a few years back.

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Backtracking a bit–on Friday, lured in by a coupon for 40% off a single item, I visited a Half-Price Book in Mayfield Heights, Ohio…where I was pleasantly-ish surprised to find a significant collection of Mechwarrior: Dark Age novels.

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A couple months ago, I visited 7 Half-Price Books stores in 2 days, and one of my "goals in that was looking for Mechwarrior/Battletech books. Unfortunately, I’d only found a mere 2 that were worth getting.

But this shelf of books yielded 9 times that. 18 books in the series. Of course, my coupon–the reason I was there–was only good toward ONE item. So I saved a whopping $1.20.

BUT I added 18 books to my library, which takes me from missing more than two dozen to missing maybe a half-dozen in having the entire series. MUCH more manageable!

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Also finally snagged the X-Men promo trading cards from the "free stuff" counter at Carol and John’s. Missed these when I’d picked up X-Men #1 a few weeks back, and then where I’d seen them elsewhere, they’d still been "you have to buy X-Men #1 to get them." Having been a few weeks, now I have a set. Unfortunately, it’s after I’ve elected NOT to dive into the revamped X-line.

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Seven cards in the packet–one card each showing the cover of each first issue in the first "wave" of titles. On the back it lists the primary characters in the title; and the Krakoan language "key" is double-sided. This sure would have been VERY handy during HoX/PoX, but whatever.

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

It’s been 23 months

Posted on November 7, 2019 by Walt

It’s been 23 months since I had to say goodbye to my Ziggy.

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of November 6, 2019

Posted on November 7, 2019 by Walt

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I’m pretty sure this was the cheapest Wednesday I’ve had in MONTHS…and that INCLUDES buying an Image Compendium volume!

Let’s get to the week’s books..!

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I’d totally forgotten about the "acetate covers" or whatever they’re called. DC has really lost me overall, so the only thing redeeming about it is…even WITH this "fancy cover" on Batman #82 (or is that City of Bane #82???) it still carries a $3.99 price point. Small "wins," right?

New issue of TMNT: Urban Legends…we’re well past the halfway-point for this series, and just a couple issues shy of where I’d gotten in on the original Image run of TMNT for a couple issues. Looking forward to catching up on the reading and getting to that point…as well as the series finally getting a proper ending of sorts. The primary drawback to me is that I still want to get the original Image issues…but ALL anyone ever seems to have at conventions and such IS the IDW stuff, be it the current ongoing, color classics, or whatever.

Spawn #302 puts us 2 issues past the big one, and we’re back to the regular price point of $2.99 that got me onto the title a few years ago. I’m getting REALLY sick of the variants even on this title…but at least with it "only" being $2.99, even if I get a variant, I can still get multiple copies for the price of a single Marvel.

We have yet another DC Dollar Comics release in Flashpoint #1. This one seems rather RECENT to me to be reprinting, even though–scarily enough to think about–it’s been 8 1/2 years since it first saw print! I suppose it’s fitting for this week with the City of Bane issue, given the Flashpoint Batman’s involvement in the ongoing stuff.

And the CORRECT-PAGE-ORDER edition of the DC Dollar Comics Batman #497 is out. I didn’t bother to try to exchange the original. I still had bought a $1 comic, and for "only" $1 I’m willing to buy it again, still for the nostalgia and all that. Of course, it’s gonna be a crappy time for back-issue buyers with no indicator on the cover that anything’s different or amiss about the issue.

The biggest surprise of the week for me was this Image Firsts Compendium vol. 3. I saw it and picked it up to look at–a curiosity. It’s been several years since I’d seen one of these as a new publication. I recalled having the first volume, so for "only" $5.99 I figured I’d add it to my collection. It reprints 8 or so #1 issues from Image, in a handy single volume and cheaper than even the Image Firsts $1 editions if you want "everything." AND when I got home and checked my existing collection…I DO already have both earlier volumes, so I’m adding vol. 3 to my collection without any gaps!

Finally, we have this week’s Comic Shop News, this time spotlighting Captain America: The End, which I believe is one of a bunch of pending one-shots giving more characters the The End treatment–a limited story to provide an "ending" to the character(s) in question. This is capitalizing on series from YEARS back like Hulk: The End, Wolverine: The End, and the 18-issue trilogy of 6-issue arcs making up X-Men: The End. Of course, these are sure to be $4.99+ an issue with too many splash pages and such…over-hype and under-delivery that turns me off to so much of Marvel‘s fare.

I’m not their target audience, so I just won’t buy what I don’t care for…more power to those who want the stuff and get what they pay for.

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekend Haul: Weekend of November 2, 2019

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Walt

This past weekend yielded an interesting haul. It started with the Akron Comicon.

I believe the first time I’d attended the Akron Comicon was in 2012. I got to meet Norm Breyfogle, Mike W. Barr, and a couple other creators. Along with meeting them, I got copies of Prime #s 1, 11 and the Prime Time TPB along with Detective Comics #604 (my first-ever issue of the title) signed by Breyfogle. I got Mantra #1 and my Batman: Year Two collected volume signed by Barr.

In 2013, I went again, and got to meet Jon Bogdanove and got Superman: The Man of Steel #1 signed.

I don’t think I made it back again until 2018.

And now 2019.

Which proved to be quite a disappointment for me. Two creators in particular I’d looked forward to seeing at the show had to back out. Additionally, the "guest of honor" (I think that’s MY phrasing, not the official show-phrasing) was an old Cleveland, OH-area tv host from the 1980s–predating MY experiences in 1988-onward–so I had zero interest in his presence at the show as I obviously had no nostalgia/connection whatsoever.

The show was at yet another "new location," this time in Cuyahoga Falls–just outside of Akron proper. Certainly some quibbles on the name of the show tying to location and such, but whatever. Prior to arrival, I was picturing this rather small (for a convention) location from a friend’s wedding I attended years ago. My primary concern was parking. I cannot speak to the parking situation after Noon or so, as I actually got to the show around 11 or a little before. (I was leaving the parking lot shortly after Noon and there were a few open spots). But it seemed to me a rather small amount of parking for a show expecting a lot of people. I was burned a couple years ago by a different local show on the parking, which has made "parking" a #1 concern for me with plans to attend any convention.

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I had no trouble getting into the show. I essentially followed a couple in, following signage. I was rather surprised to find no line (having had a pretty good wait to get into the Hall of Fame City Comic Con a few weeks ago). Someone with a scanning rod or whatever those things are called–hand-held metal-detector scanners–was checking everyone on the way in. No problem there–just a few seconds, non-invasive, though I was momentarily worried that stuff on one of my carabiners would set it off. No issues, though. I was directed to a table where there seemed to be several stations–picking up pre-ordered tickets, buying tickets with cash, and using a card. I was using cash, so once I realized the stations, had no further wait.

I was then directed to another table for a "swag bag" (I got the term from the bag itself, I don’t recall exactly what was said to me–I was by then already getting some low-level anxiety from being in an enclosed, densely-populated space). A table had several posters I was going to look at, but I saw (volunteers?) putting them into bags and was handed a bag of my own, so I thanked the worker and went on in to get out of the entranceway foot-traffic. After the show when I inspected this "swag bag" I discovered two Netflix She-Ra posters…and a double-sided 5.5" x 8.5" flyer for some sort of bowling and/or restaurant. Nothing comic-related. Nothing listing comic shops in the area, nothing offering a show-floor layout or vendor list, no random trinkets or promo cards for geek/gaming/comic/hobby/etc stuff. If it was merely a "courtesy bag" (cuz hey, how many people necessarily think to bring bags in with them to hold stuff they buy?) that’d be one thing. As a "swag bag" it was almost insulting. BUT as I wasn’t there for any Akron Comicon items, no big deal.

I was primarily on the hunt for:

  • Uncanny X-Men #141 for $30 or less
  • Uncanny X-Men #350 "regular" cover (non-shiny) for under $10
  • X-Men #45 for ideally $4 or less
  • Wolverine #145 "shiny" cover for under $10
  • Spectacular Spider-Man #200 (for under $5)
  • Spawn issues for under $5 each

I did see a Marvel Legends reprint-edition of Uncanny X-Men #141 for $2.50 that I passed on (I have it already, somewhere, and we just had a $1 True Believers reprint in the last couple weeks, if I wanted anything other than the original). I did see a couple of "wall books" instances but as I’m just looking for low-grade $30 or less, I’m not interested in the $100+ wall-book copies.

I did find the Uncanny X-Men #350 regular edition, and it was only $5…so there was some definite satisfaction in that! The same dealer also had X-Men #45, also for $5; I figured for the convenience of taking it off my mental list and not having to hunt, it was worth the "premium." Plus I was able to simply hand over the $10 I got back from my admission $20.

Another dealer actually had Wolverine #145…albeit the NON-shiny version that I got 20 years ago. I’m interested in getting the "shiny" version since I was not able to get it back then. But for the nostalgia and such, and already having a sinking feeling on the convention, I was shifting into the mindset of wanting to at least buy enough to "justify" my $10 admission…so, $6 for that. Not exactly a waste as it’s a convenience copy now of a key (to me) issue AND it’s no worse than some modern $5.99 comic that I would not appreciate the way I do this one.

Finally, Another dealer had Spectacular Spider-Man #200 for $4.50; but he gave it to me for $4 since he didn’t have change (a pleasant surprise, and I thanked him for the discount!).

I browsed the dealers that had comics; I think I saw two with Spawn issues; but as "usual" they were early (pre-26) and/or 290+ with nothing I was missing between 62-256. I did find a couple with some TMNT comics, but of course they were IDW series or the IDW reprints for the most part; several Mirage issues but no prices and I figured I’d go back to them after I’d had a look around the rest of the show floor.

But I quickly had my fill of the place, and with other stuff planned, decided to cut my "losses" and just leave, rather than get to where I myself felt like I was wasting money on buying stuff and just accept the "loss" of "admission."

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I then went to Kenmore Komics and picked up some stuff; chief being Hope #5 (of 6).

I’d completely forgotten I was intending to look for Uncanny X-Men #325 along with 350 and the X-Men #45, but located it here, and for the same $5 I’d paid for the latter, so well worthwhile.

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I also found 5 Spawn issues for $4 apiece (so no worse than buying 5 random modern comics) to continue to close up the holes in my first-100 issues of the series; I’m now 12 issues away from having 1-100!

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Continuing my journey for the day, I headed to Hazel’s Heroes, which I knew thanks to Facebook was having a "Not at Comicon" sale. Unfortunately, by this point nature was calling, so I ducked into a Marc’s in the same plaza to use the restroom. While in the store I found this Justice League Chibis Complete Set for a whopping $3.99. Considering I’d paid half that a few years ago for a single packet with 3 of these, on that pricing it was well worth buying this set to get the rest. I’m quite certain I got Green Arrow and Superman from that packet and can’t remember the 3rd (Cyborg, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, or Batman, probably). I’m a sucker for Robin stuff, and while throwing money away for the day…why not?

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Once into Hazel’s Heroes, I found a treasure-trove of old Wizard issues for $1 apiece as well as some fairly beaten-up copies of tpbs for $1. Thankfully, I’d recently gotten rough photos of my Wizard shelves and was able to zoom in to the spines to see what issues were not presently…present. Though several are issues I know darned well I SHOULD have…they weren’t on the shelf when I took the photos, and for "only" $1 and rarely if ever coming across Wizard in bargain and/or back-issue bins…I snagged these.

Also for "only" $1, grabbed the Dawn of the Age of Apocalypse and the Twilight of the Age of Apocalypse books. These are the original editions from back in 1995 or so, and rather inferior books at this point. But I’m mildly interested in getting a complete set eventually, and as these fall out of apparent favor with newer, fatter editions, I’m not at all opposed to grabbing them for $1 each!

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Then for general back-issues, the sale was something like comics up to $8.99 were $1, $9-something was $3, and so on.

I found the TMNT Adventures: Year of the Turtle #2 which leaves me only missing the first issue of the mini from having the complete mini-series; and 5 or so of the quarterly "special" issues from the series.

I snagged a couple of the Uncanny X-Men issues from just before #350, thinking a re-read of those might go well with a re-read of #350 itself. I didn’t factor in having several more issues handy or not, so it leaves me still "missing" several for these "convenience copy duplicates." Perhaps I’ll just leave those for Marvel Unlimited.

Since they were functionally $1-books, grabbed a few more X-issues for the heckuvit/with meaning to me.

And as one of "those" issues I like getting just to get, a couple more of the deluxe edition of 1991’s X-Men #1 with the gatefold 4-part single cover. I still intend to eventually frame a couple copies of the covers–the exterior as the large 4-part image; and the interior cover is its own vertical 4-panel poster.

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I also got another copy of the Image Firsts edition of Spawn #1–I’m suck a sucker for that cover image!–as well as the DC Dollar Comics Superman #75 (for what the issue is, I’m happy to buy multiples. Plus, then I have copies to give to (a) friend(s)!) Also got another copy of The Adventures of Cthulhu Jr. and Dastardly Dirk #1 for a friend.

I spent slightly more at Hazel’s Heroes than I did the convention, and I got a LOT MORE value out of it.

And I spent as much solely on Spawn at Kenmore as I did at the convention, where no one at the convention had issues of the title I needed.

I’m happy enough, really, with what I got at the convention…but that $10 admission brought the average price of the issues up to $7.50 apiece, essentially…and with a bit of shuffling on how much for which issue I probably would have been better (or just as well) served ordering the issues online and sticking to the comic shops.

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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