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The Weekly Haul: Week of October 16, 2019

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Walt

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This week’s an interesting week in terms of the weekly haul. Along with comics, it includes the single most expensive "leisure item" I think I have EVER bought!

Let’s get into ’em…

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When the Tales From the Dark Multiverse things were announced, they were very appealing to me. Re-imaginings of key stories such as Knightfall and The Death of Superman particularly, as key stories that really largely "defined" comics for me as a kid. Stuff to be sort of Elseworlds without the name, slotted into modern stuff. I was keen to get this Knightfall issue…though on reading it, did not enjoy it the way I’d thought I would. I’ll save that for further thought and a possible review.

DC really screwed up the DC Dollar Comics Batman #497–printing pages out of order, so you have pages 19, 21, 20, then 22. It’s particularly egregious as it’s a reprint, and not even "just" some new comic having an issue. It’s been published correctly in the past, repeatedly! How it gets screwed up now in 2019 is beyond me.

And perhaps appropriate in a Batman-heavy week is the latest chapter of City of Bane as we near the end of King‘s run on this main title. Particularly appropriate as this arc–if not the entire series–is a sort of "modern riff" on the original Knightfall arc.

It’s equally an X-Men heavy week, with the first issue of Hickman‘s ongoing X-Men title. I’m not keen on it being "legacy numbered" 645 or whatever–taking up the Uncanny numbering withOUT the Uncanny part of the title. Seems just MORE of Marvel‘s wanting to have its cake and eat it, playing fast and loose and ARBITRARILY with numbering. Additionally, while a small part of the issue, an exchange with "Kid-Cable" and Jean realllly put me off, as well as continued use of insert/whitespace pages. I’m also not keen on the apparent villain, and the apparent characterizations of several characters including Storm. As if HoX/PoX hadn’t already given me plenty of clues, I wonder what I am–or will be–subjecting myself to if I try to go all-in on the X-books or any of the titles at all. Especially as the next few weeks are just a "first wave" with MORE titles to follow, and the feeling I myself (reasonably or NOT) get of unpredictability/lack of clarity of publishing frequency coupled with Marvel‘s propensity to do random-seeming $5+ issues and/or the multiple-$4-issues-per-month for a single title.

The True Believers issues give us the first appearances of Rictor and Jubilee. Again, issues I’m glad to support for the $1 price point and NOT being "new" issues, but appreciating the quality and personal preference for the past.

We also have the finale (3rd issue of 3) of Superman: Year One from DC‘s massively over-pushed Black Label. I still need to read the second issue and then this; I recall not being AS put off by the first issue as a lot of folks did…we’ll see how I feel once I’d read a couple more issues and have the story in its entirety. I also feel like DC is really shoving Black Label as a "THING" and it’s a complete turn-off to me; all the MORE after their stuff with Batman: Damned that seemed like they neutered the entire purpose of this thing.

Finally, for the heckuvit and it being available for the price, I picked up a back-issue copy of Spider-Man Unlimited #1. This is the original series–and the issue that kicked off Maximum Carnage, which I remember getting each chapter as it came out across the several months; all 14 or so chapters! (Back when 14 chapters was a LOT for any given crossover, rather than just the number of variant covers on the first issue of an event mini that includes umpteen tie-in minis at inflated prices). I’d much rather pay $5 for a back issue with the nostalgia factor that I’ll enjoy seeing/owning/re-reading/etc over some blasé generic one-of-umpteen-covers reads-in-5-minutes-and-not-even-designed-to-stand-alone chapters of a current "event" comic.

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And then there’s the Arcade1Up edition of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / TMNT: Turtles in Time arcade cabinet.

This cost me only slightly less than my Nintendo Switch (with two games); but it’s a fixed unit capable of playing only two games. (without "modding"). BUT this is TMNT, which has long been my "exception" to normal stuff–be it variant covers, price I’ll pay per issue, etc. And the nostalgia factor for me of the original arcade game AT arcades/the mall…to own this 3/4-scale edition with its various features (no coins needed, all 4 controllers for up to 4 players at once [previous home console versions only allowed 2 players at a time, to best of my knowledge offhand–and specifically thinking of the Nintendo TMNT II: The Arcade Game] is very appealing.

"Online research" and YouTube folks have made it clear the opening song is changed–something to do with copyright issues–but I don’t know if I would’ve truly noticed had "everyone" not been "talking about it." I may have noticed something "off" but likely would have chalked it up to memory, and assuming that the game always HAD been slightly different from the cartoon.

A lot of people dislike the lack of a light-up marquee; but that really doesn’t bother me. I love the idea of these "mini" arcade cabinets; having such a thing in my home for playing at my own leisure and all that. The artwork is at least largely what I remember from the original machine, and enough of the "experience" of the unit itself is there to satisfy my arcade-nostalgia and such; I don’t need a 3/4-scale unit to be 100% accurate to the full-size original.

I don’t know how much "play" the unit will get long-term, but it’s definitely a major "piece" in my "collection," and one I’m glad to have. 9-year-old me is ecstatic at owning such a thing; while pushing-40-me finds it a very cool item.

Partly the purchase of the arcade machine; partly recent general expenses entertainment/leisure-wise…I’ve found even my "interest" in certain other expenses tamped down a bit. At least comic-wise.

I’ve also splurged a bit on some gaming stuff (partly on principle because I could) as well as a couple things I’d pre-ordered months ago on Amazon came up; and a couple Kickstarter things wrapped up.

I’m leaning more and more toward trying to cut back on comics, as I find less and less of interest, get turned off to stuff I feel like I "should" be liking; prices keep going up, variants piss me off, and rumors of gestating upcoming "initiatives" and so on percolate.

One more week down, and we’ll see what the coming one brings.

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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: Week of July 4, 2018

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Walt

Last week was an odd week for comics, with a US holiday being on Wednesday itself…and with both Marvel AND DC putting out key books on the day, many comic shops opened for limited hours so as to accommodate making sure people could buy the Wedding issue of Batman as well as the premieres of the new Catwoman and Captain America series, among other things. I had a mix of stuff, making it to two shops, amidst a couple of other things going on.

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I was doing my darnedest to avoid SPOILERS for Batman, and while I technically succeeded…I saw ENOUGH to have a PRETTY STRONG GUESS as to what happened, though I still hoped I was wrong. I ended up buying the issue digitally so I could read it before 1am, and thus be "safe" with spoilers I knew were out there. Suffice it to say that I opted NOT to buy Catwoman. The new Man of Steel mini had its final issue–and I really feel like this SHOULD HAVE BEEN simply the first three issues of the new Superman and 1001-1003 of Action Comics with Bendis. I just don’t see the "specialness" to it that warranted this as a mini-series…we have a new villain, major developments…but nothing to the LEVEL OF the John Byrne stuff.

I’m quite enjoying the TMNT: Urban Legends, reprinting the Image run of the TMNT book in color. While I know Peter Laird retained some publishing rights to his own series when he sold the property…given we’ve seen some IDW reprints of the Tales of the TMNT run from the 2001+ era, I hope we might also eventually get colorized reprints of his TMNT vol. 4…perhaps even some sort of finishing of the story that trailed off around 2007.

I need to catch up on my reading of Spawn, though being "on" the title since #256 or so, I’m probably still on at least to #300. Of course, a jump from $2.99 to $3.99 might have me reconsidering that. And as much as I like Priest, I have yet to actually read any of the Deathstroke vs. Batman issues, and as I’m easing out of DC, as this arc wraps, I’ll probably be off the title.

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Bane: Conquest finally gets to its 12th issue. I can’t even honestly remember at this point if I read the first issue last year with stuff going on in my personal life–but the intent was always there, so I stuck with the title. Now by the time I get around to gathering all 12 issues together AND actually reading, I should have waited for the collected volume.

The sheer audacity of this The Pouch character got me for Bloodstrike: Brutalists. I have had zero luck finding concrete info as to whether this Brutalists numbering is continuing from the 1990s’ numbering or a more recent numbering. If the latter, I may jump in; otherwise, might go for a collected edition.

TMNT Universe is another I have to catch up on reading…though being TMNT, it’s an exception to most of my usual problems with comics and gets that "pass" on its over-pricing.

Then we have the newest DC Nation issue; a 10-cent Project Superpowers issue, and another Back Issue issue caught my eye.

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With plans to catch Ant-Man and the Wasp, and known traffic issues with my route, I built a lot of extra time into things on Friday and made it to a Booksamillion I hadn’t been to in awhile, and managed to get this Tyrannosaurus Rex Pop that I passed on some time back and regretted doing so. I thought about getting the Velociraptor but ultimately passed on it due to other books (see further below) and a few other factors for present.

I continue to notice that I love these figures for non-human-face characters. They’re excellent for the style…but the human characters/faces just look too generic for my taste.

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I stopped in at The Exchange, a location of which I hadn’t been to in awhile…and had a 3-way excellent find!

Some years back, a friend had found a copy of this The Further Adventures of the Joker book for me…though in regrettably poor condition. Still, it was the only copy of the thing I’d ever seen or come across. But here, I found one in much better condition, and for 25% cheaper than a standard Marvel comic!

I’d been vaguely aware THAT there was a hardcover edition of The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, but finding it for $10–half the price of the PAPERback edition–and in relatively decent shape, and it being Superman…I snagged it, as I know full well I’d have totally regretted it if I didn’t and missed out. This is now shelved next to my original paperback copy (that I received as a Christmas gift in 1989…my first-ever TPB/graphic novel/collected edition).

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The Exchange also had this Samurai Usagi figure. I don’t’ recall if I’d actually ever seen this "in the wild" or not–I’d seen a couple of the regular version, and bought one of those at the time–but seeing this for only $10 (basically a $2ish premium over Target or Walmart before they prematurely clearanced the line out completely) I jumped on it.

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Along with the Jurassic Park Pop, the Booksamillion also actually had The Son of Neptune with the other bargain-priced volumes. I’d been eyeing these for quite awhile, but saw no point in buying the hardbacks for vols 3+ without owning vol. 2…and having bought vol. 1 in hardback when it first came out (whenever that was now) I wanted the hardbacks instead of the paperbacks. So finding vols 2-5, I sucked it up and spent the money to get these. The next challenge will be actually getting around to–you guessed it–reading them.

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And speaking of "challenge" and "reading" as a singular thing… Sarah-cat here has really gotten consistent with inserting herself into things whenever I’m trying to read OR take photos for this blog… but she’s so darned cute, and I’d always loved spotlighting Ziggy as well as Chloe along with comics and such, I can’t be annoyed with her. Especially when I can get her to actually look at the camera like this!

But as I posted on Twitter when I sent this photo out…it’s safe to assume that any photos in this blog have passed her inspection, as I can’t seem to take any without her being on-hand to supervise. Chloe is often nearby as well, though she seems to have delegated to Sarah, which means between both of them, this blog is 100% kitty-approved!

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The Weekly Haul: Week of May 30, 2018

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Walt

This ended up being another pretty small week for new issues!

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We have the first issue of Bendis‘ The Man of Steel, starting a 6-week 6-issue "event." GI Joe: A Real American Hero #252 is part 2 of the Special Missions arc that apparently is focusing on individual specific characters.

We finally have another issue of Doomsday Clock. I very nearly passed on this, but in the HOPES that it actually has the Joker in it, that there’s some sort of dealing with the "three Jokers" thing from Rebirth, I opted to get it after all.

I’m not sure if or how late Bane: Conquest is at this point…I don’t remember what I last read, just that I’ve been keeping up with the issues since I had several, to eventually have the full run TO read. I’d forgotten this even existed, though! One more issue to go, though, and I’ll be done.

Then, on strength of the writer’s name, I decided to actually try an Image #1 in The Last Siege, despite it being apparently an 8-issue mini-series.

Outside of the new issues, I wound up ordering 18-19 issues of Cat & Mouse by Roland Mann from mycomicshop.com. I just backed the Kickstarter for a new Cat & Mouse series’ #1 issue, and on realizing I could get a bunch of classic issues, jumped on that.

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The Weekly Haul: Week of March 7, 2018

Posted on March 8, 2018 by Walt

This week ended up being a relatively small, simple week for me as far as new comics go.

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New Superman issue, new Batman issue, 10th issue of Bane: Conquest (of 12). I nearly missed noticing Rogue & Gambit. I gave in on “hype” for trying Kirman‘s new title Oblivion Song. Having quite enjoyed the animated series in the ’90s, I’ve been getting The Tick‘s new series.

And seems we’ve got a new wave of True Believers issues this month for Spider-Man and Venom. I snagged the re-purposed reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #300, billed here as Venom vs. Spider-Man. I was pleasantly surprised at the thickness of the issue, especially for “only” $1! (and for better or worse, this is probably the ONLY way that I’m gonna own a single-issue edition of Amazing Spider-Man #300!)

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I did notice that X-Men: Red #2 was out…after so-so feelings from the first issue, I was considering getting #2 and giving the series a chance. The same goes for Avengers: No Surrender. After pointedly getting the issues for 6ish weeks running, I stopped cold-turkey. I am so incredibly sick and tired of Marvel‘s absolute unwillingness to stick with ANYTHING for more than a few months. In this case, they announced yet another mass renumbering to start in May, with a new Avengers #1, and Venom is renumbering, and a bunch of other titles. Rogue & Gambit is a 5-issue mini-series to my knowledge, and I’m treating it as its own thing, being a definite fan of the characters…and a definite “sentimental value” to it. And I’m willing to buy reprints like the 300, because it IS a reprint, is an issue I do not own, it’s an issue I have not read, and it’s “only” $1! Best of all, these reprints do not themselves have variant covers on release (and as reprints themselves I do not consider them variants, given the True Believers banner).

I feel like I should have totally, completely stuck to my guns regarding Marvel, but opted to sorta “buy into” a little bit with Legacy and had some now-obviously highly-misplaced “faith” that they MIGHT ACTUALLY “stick with” the “legacy numbering” even if they did other stunts and such.

However interesting stuff may look, however appealing, I’m trying to force myself to just be DONE with them. No Infinity Countdown, no Hunt for Wolverine, no X-Men: Red, no Avengers: No Surrender, no Astonshing X-Men. No Fresh Start for me. I’ll finish out Rogue & Gambit, I’ll perhaps snag reprint editions in True Believers, but as far as new/current stuff with Marvel…I intend to be done!

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The Weekly Haul: Week of February 7, 2018

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Walt

Been a long while since doing one of these posts. But, since I’ve not been in the mood for other posts, wanted to get something up this week. And this week does have several big books in it!

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First off, the Swamp Thing Winter Special that I’ve been looking forward to for awhile. Though it’s an $8 book, it boasts more than two issues’ worth of pages, maybe three…justifying its price. And as a "squarebound" issue, it’ll be able to go on the bookshelf with a growing number of such issues from the last few years. X-Men: Red #1 is here, and at $5, needs to do a LOT to justify its price…though I suppose ultimately it’ll simply fit with X-Men: Prime and X-Men: Blue and X-Men: Gold from last year. I’m definitely a fan of Adam Warlock, so at least somewhat interested in this, if only as a curiosity. Not so keen on Starlin feeling driven from Marvel, though, and haven’t been overly keen on the character in hands other than his. So we’ll see.

Then, of course, Superman and Batman, basically "givens" for me. And Justice League if only because I haven’t figured out where/if to break my run.

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Rogue & Gambit as I am a fan of the characters, and together. Been debating whether or not I’m sticking all the way with Avengers: No Surrender, but definitely in favor of a single title instead of umpteen different Avengers books with erratic shipping schedules. I picked up Jean Grey #10 that I’d considered last month, but since it lacked the Phoenix Resurrection logo, figured it wasn’t going to actually tie to that (boy, was I ever wrong there!)

Getting toward the end of Bane: Conquest, and same for Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica and The Jetsons.

I’ve a lot of reading to catch up on, and find myself wondering just how it was I used to get to read as much as I did just a couple years ago. It’s a shame there aren’t regularly-released "audio-comics" for commuters to listen to and get something of a story out of it. Maybe not the art itself, but…something.

Whatever the case…a huge, expensive start to February, and certainly reminds me of the need to be cutting back on titles, and to REALLY assess what I’m gonna get around to reading right away vs. just as well off to wait for a collected volume!

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The Weekly Haul: Week of November 1, 2017

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Walt

This week was a rather large week for new comics! Lotta interesting and interesting-ish stuff out…

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I need to catch up on my actual READING of them, but I’m really digging these one-shots focusing on the various Bat-men. For what I feel compelled to get new in the week, it’s great that there’s a new chapter each week, and does not feel like an overwhelming amount with say, five or six (or seemingly so) or more chapters out in a week. PLUS, the shiny foil covers are fun as they’ve not (yet) been used to fatigue, and for something called Metal, they’re truly appropriate!

Then there’s TMNT/Ghostbusters 2…a fun crossover conceptually, and I enjoyed the first series, so why not a second? And getting at least a weekly dose of TMNT through this, plus the "regular" stuff? Makes for a good month!

As anyone reading this knows, I’m sick and tired of variants, in general. An honest exception is where it’s warranted…such as with this week’s Superman #34! Shows that the 800th issue can be celebrated without having to DERAIL an entire numbered series! It’s observing the anniversary without having to BE a #800!

After the Jetsons backup in one of the specials back in the spring, I certainly wasn’t going to not check out an actual series that looks like it follows up on that! And I’m amused at the "return" of some more obscure characters lately, what with Deadman here, Ragman recently, and Mister Miracle. Then Usagi Yojimbo, which has been trucking along over the years; even with some hiatuses apparently, but it’s back, and I’m enjoying it thus far.

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Now, here’s where location and promotion can pay off: Black Lightning takes place locally, apparently–Cleveland, Ohio–and I don’t think I’d realized, but apparently the creator is local, too! So of course I’ll check this series out! I’m giving Harley and Ivy/Betty and Veronica a chance for the heckuvit…it’s a novelty thing. DuckTales ought to be a given, but I’m still not ready to commit month in/month out…especially as I’m behind on watching the new cartoon.

I need to catch up on actually reading Bane and Astonishing X-Men; already having several issues defeats the point of a collected volume, so "cheaper" to finish out the stories (plus the convenience of having all the issues in-house when I do finally binge-read).

I was not going to bother with Captain America, but some strong positive words on it from a shop owner went a long way with me. It gets this one issue, and I probably won’t come back til the novelty of whatever #700 is…but then again, maybe I’ll end up sticking around until #700. Time shall tell!

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The Lion King is one of my all-time favorite films (period, no sub-categorizing or such for "animated feature" or stuff like that). So for the price of two DC issues (or 1 1/2 Marvel issues), got this mini-graphic novel sized book. I think it might just be a print edition of a digital comic I’d bought years ago, but especially if so, cool to have this in print.

And somehow, I’d missed the DC Essential Graphic Novels edition for 2017, so definitely glad to have it for 2018…my OCD demands I still seek out a 2017 edition to go on the shelf with previous years!

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The Deadman issue is another with an "enhanced cover," which–again–I’m enjoying from DC for the nostalgia and such, and rather judicious use. It certainly fits for something like this title, and as long as it’s only for the first issue, I’m cool with it. (If every issue was this way, no-go!). Even if the $4.99 cover price was because of this, I’m ok with that as well, from DC, in this case: no real hubbub over the cover, so it was just there, and so I was willing to pay the extra. And if the issue would have been $4.99 anyway, then heck yeah, give me something extra! (Like the foil on the Dark Nights/Metal issues!)

And then as a bonus for the week, there were left over comics from Halloween ComicsFest, so I was able to get some of the non-kids-oriented comics (Sabrina, for one) and several other issues I’d missed out on with only choosing the ones I did last weekend. I was satisfied with what I’d gotten over the weekend…so these are definite bonus on top of that, making an expensive week feel that much more substantial!

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The Weekly Haul – Week of July 5, 2017

Posted on July 6, 2017 by Walt

Even a should-be-small week can get big pretty quick. But this was definitely a worthwhile week…all the more after some apparent worries that "New Comics Day" would be Thursday due to holiday and distributor stuff!

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As far as actual new comics go, definitely a small week, with the new Superman issue and Bane: Conquest, which I almost didn’t get, but since it’s not billed as Rebirth and isn’t part of a bundle, might as well keep up with it in the hopes I get to reading it before collected editions are out.

And it’s kinda hard to believe Comic Shop News is celebrating 30 years! I remember when it was still relatively new, back in 1992 or so. One of these days I’ll get all my issues together and sorted, an have a post for that…especially as I suspect I’m a weird one in the stuff I’ve actually saved over the years…including scattered issues of this!

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Then there’s the books from the bargain racks. For the price of 3 standard Marvel comics, I got each of these Bizarro hardcovers. And the Wolverine: The End was…the price of a current standard Marvel, but with 6 issues, far more worthwhile!

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And I’ll close off with a random picture of my "Titan" Ben Reilly figure now out of the packaging and on a shelf. I’ve long resisted most of these figures…but for being bigger (albeit less poseable), they’re way cheaper than the much smaller figures, and I’ve given on on some characters here and there. I think I have Spider-Man 2099 somewhere…might start a Spider-Men collection.

Or not, and just enjoy what I have.

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The Weekly Haul – Week of May 3rd, 2017

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Walt

This ended up being a "decent’ week of new comics–not horrendously expensive, but not all that small or cheap, either! But a bit of a spread on stuff I’ve been looking forward to, stuff I continue with, and some new stuff. Though it would have included Youngblood #1…except–thanks to all the variant covers–the "advertised" cover on the Image website was NOT available. Since I couldn’t get the advertised (and thus assumed to be "standard" or "basic" or "CVR A" or "regular") I did not buy the issue at all…and they lose any chance of my buying into nostalgia and trying any further issues. For screwing around with variants, they lose me entirely.

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This week sees part 3 of the Batman/Flash crossover The Button. A new Superman issue. Though I don’t plan to follow all 12 issues offhand, curious about the Bane: Conquest series, and the cover having a familiar-ish font for the logo and iconic look in itself as an image. New Captain Atom…and a couple new Ninja Turtles!

I am ESPECIALLY happy to see the return of the "classic" ’80s TMNT logo on the Funko Universe issue. E, after even the "classic" toys line adopted a "corrupted" form to make it look more like the newer branding!

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Having just last weekend "caught up" on the Life and Death mega-arc through the AvP properties, I’m rather keen for more all around, so definitely welcome this new Predator series.

I missed the Kamandi Challenge issue last week. And as to Swordquest….twenty-five cents. Not about to pass up that one…all the more with my nostalgia-factor kicked into high gear lately on stuff after listening to the unabridged audiobook of Ready Player One (and presently being "on the hunt" for War Games to watch for myself!).

No bargain/back-issues this Wednesday, no collected volumes.

We’ll see what’s waiting at week’s end…and Free Comic Book Day…and of course, the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie premieres tonight/Friday.

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Some Recent Effective/Appealing Ads from DC

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Walt

I usually try to ignore ads, or avoid them, or get past them ASAP. But some of them work, and actually ARE appealing and/or effective. Here are several recent ones that caught my attention, from Superman #20 and Action Comics #977.

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Initially, I wasn’t sure what to make of the news of The Button…it was "news" but seemed so far off. Now, lately, this ad has me chomping at the bit for the story…I’m not sure if this image is two parts of the same "lenticular cover," or if it’s an amalgamation of two, or what…but this ad itself, this split-down-the-middle image is one I really dig, and has me extremely interested and eager to get to the story!

Perhaps it’s that it still feels rather new to me (relatively speaking) to see Batman and the Flash so closely linked.

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Then there’s the new Warner Bros. Animation animated film Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. Sure, it’s an updated "based ON" sorta thing, adapting the ’80s story to fit a 2010s-era setting (characters, versions of said characters) and to shoehorn it in to the DC Animated Universe.

But as one of THE original stories I remember being talked about for these films, way back in 2007 or 2008 or whenever it was that this line started (was it really a decade ago?!?) it’s good to see that this is finally getting a release.

Of course, it also means I’ve long passed my window for reading the original story first…something that I (shamefully) have never actually read myself.

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I’d known Bane was getting a "limited series," AND that Chuck Dixon was back writing the character, but then I forgot again.

I really wish they’d put a cover price with ads like this…either boldly proclaim its worthiness at a certain price…or if it’s thought that the price would be a turn-off, consider a different price!

I don’t know if this will be $3.99 or "only" $2.99 offhand…at $2.99 I might follow it. $3.99 and I’ll probably check out the first issue and then wait for the cheaper collected edition(s).

dc_ads_early_april2017_revenge

I have a definite love/hate thing going on with DC and their portrayal of Zod in the Superman books. I’ve lost track of all the different Zods we’ve had, just in the last 15 or so years, so on one hand, I’m not keen on yet another.

On the other hand, the drama to this image–"everyone" knows the whole "Kneel before Zod" thing–so just SEEING the character, AND seeing Superman…well…kneel…yeah.

dc_ads_early_april2017_lazaruscontract

And finally, I have to reiterate that THIS is the way to do the multi-panel "build-an-image" thing with covers!

You do NOT force someone to buy 2, 3, 4, or more copies OF THE SAME ISSUE to form the one image!

You treat someone to a cool, larger image as a "reward" FOR following a larger set of issues (whether a crossover, story, mini-series, whatever)!

I’m tempted to check this out partly in support of that alone (we’ll see if I actually remember or feel the same way once the issues start coming out.)

Of course, there were many, many more ads and such in the two issues, but these were the stand-out ones to me.

A sort of "runner-up" would be a "post card" from a comic shop for a 4-part story in Old Man Logan…the images of Wolverine in different costumes with older comic covers making up the background is a really cool design, and probably would have hooked me…except the issues are Old Man Logan–a Marvel title, $3.99 an issue, and I’d rather read a singular story OR even just wait six months and maybe remember to read it on Unlimited.

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

More Mighty Minis!

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Walt

Out of my last 11 "blind bag" purchases, I’ve gotten 10 characters I specifically wanted…and no more duplicates! (like the 4 or so Lex Luthors I wound up with from the Justice League Action Mighty Minis line…)

It seems that some brands of these have codes on the packaging, and there are discussion threads online that list the codes. As such, the following:

mighty_minis_batman_villains

Several cool-ish villains. Chemo and Mr. Freeze (well, a mutated version…must be from the Batman Unlimited continuity?). A little less appealing to me with all that orange in place of brown is Clayface.

mighty_minis_bane_ww_aquaman

Then we have Bane, who was introduced to comics early in my time, and thus a key character for me…especially growing up in the ’90s!

I went ahead and snagged Wonder Woman and Aquaman to round up my group of characters…even though these are movie versions and not comic versions. I’ll make do with them until more comic-style ones are available.

jla_firestorm_teen_titans_go_robin

Rounded out the Justice League Action with Firestorm, the key remaining character from series 1 that I actively wanted. And then just because I found the codes, snagged a Robin from a Teen Titans Go set.  (Not like I have enough Robins yet…)

imaginext_dc_series_2_kingdom_come_superman_brainiac

And then, having had them brought to my attention, I’d bought several Imaginext blind bags and wound up with multiple Brainiacs. Once I "discovered" there were "codes" I was able to get my Kingdom Come Superman. (also don’t have enough Supermen yet).

mighty_minis_bus1_batman

Finally, at a Toys R Us, I stumbled across several packs of the original/first series of Batman Unlimited and was able to get a blue-and-grey Batman himself…a figure that’s eluded me since these first appeared.

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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