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Not at Comic Con X-Haul 2021

Another "catchup from summer hiatus" post! Back in July or very early August–whenever SDCC was–Cleveland-area shop Carol & John’s had their annual "Not at Comic Con" sale. Among other things, that includes a small room of longboxes of comics for $1 each…but if you buy 50 or more, they drop to 50 cents each!

I wound up going out that Friday after work, figuring what the heck, I could spend $50 or so and either get a handful of issues for under $50, or certainly add 50-ish random issues if I got particularly close to 50 where it’d cost the same either way, 50 or 100!

Well…I wound up getting a FEW more than that.

JUST…a few.

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But filled in a lotta holes in the collection, and while my preferred bargain-bin-sweet-spot is ’90s comics…over the past couple years or so with the CNJ sales, I’m actually able to extend the target scope of my collection beyond ~2003 all the way to the present.

To where–at least for the likes of Uncanny X-Men–I’m pretty close (relatively speaking) to having the entire run going back to my birth month. Alas, #141 in particular’s a problematic one to acquire, as are a few earlier ones. But as of this TYPING I believe I have #s 142-500 at least, and a number of post-500 issues; as well as much of the post-Schism run, a bit of the 3rd one after that, and the 2018-2019 pre-HoX/PoX run.

ANYway…I could ramble a lot more, but rather than that randomness and such, I’m just gonna present a photo gallery below of the issues laid out…if only as a personal record of stuff I’d snagged. (Also as of this typing, I’ve now duplicated on several of the Generation X issues because I stupidly did not check this stack prior to seeking those out and was over-eager to "complete the set.") More on that in another post, I think!

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I’d made it to the shop whatever Friday night that was, a little over an hour until closing. I honestly had not expected to find MUCH, but then found quite a bit. I was watching the time, though, and with just a few minutes til closing, had to grab what I had and get rung out, which was still pretty expensive despite everything being 50 cents!

As of this typing (Thanksgiving Day) I believe they have another sale coming up for Black Friday that I may stop over for. Time will tell!

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A Quarter-Bin Haul: Week of February 21, 2018

Perhaps a bit reckless on the spending after just being laid off, I spent awhile digging through quarter bins that I hadn’t in a long time, and got quite a haul. Of course, for all these comics from that quarter bin dive…it was still (in itself) LESS money than the new comics. And less than buying a mere SEVEN new Marvel issues, or only 9 new DC issues. Far more available to read, to fill in holes in the collection, to have conveniently handy for a bit til they disappear into boxes, etc.

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I’m not actually sure what The New Wave is, but I’m certain that my brain keeps trying to think Nextwave. Since the first few issues were present, I was able to snag 9 issues…enough to definitely check things out and see what I think of ’em, assuming I ever get around to the actual reading of these.

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And a complete run of The Man of Steel? Yeah, why not? I may want to revisit this series this spring anyway, given the current stuff.

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I feel like I recall Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 going for $40ish at one point. So scoring all four issues for a mere $1? Excellent! I still really like that first cover. Anecdotally…I originally bought #1 "off the stand" as a brand-new issue (though it was awhile before I ever got #s 2-4). I’m less sure, but thinking I’d had the choice of it or Vengeance of Bane and chose Azrael.

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And a complete 4-issue mini-series of Black Knight? Why not?

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Some classic Sword of the Atom specials, and the three issue Tales of the Green Lantern Corps mini. Can’t remember if I already have any of the Sword of the Atom specials, but I do have the Tales of the GL Corps mini already.

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Same goes for Guy Gardner Reborn and the Justice League America #70. The Justice League International Special issues are new to me, I believe, and interesting pieces, at that!

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Finally making a bit of headway on Green Lantern: Mosaic. I really need to figure out now which specific issues I’m actually still missing, as this gives me a solid 1-9, and I think I have #18 or so (whatever the final issue was), meaning I should have 8 or less issues to track down now!

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A nice mini-run of the early Kyle Green Lantern issues; I’d previously found a decent run that I believe was missing these, so between that, these,and what I already had, I should have most of the first 60 or so Kyle issues.

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While there were several missing issues, I don’t consciously remember this 2-part Parallax View story, but I’m eager to read it, even "out of order" and "out of context" for now! And while contemporary Valiant is on my $#!^ list, they didn’t do "original Valiant stuff, so I’m still somewhat interested in that run. And hey…Unity #0… not a bad issue, I don’t think, to pick up for only 25 cents!

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If other "early issues" of JLI and JLE were in the bins, I did not see them with the #1 issues, so I don’t feel as bad about "just" grabbing the #1. They go well with Justice League Quarterly, which I did find several subsequent issues! I’m not sure if there were only these 7 offhand but I don’t think I remember this title being around when I was getting into the main JL:A book around the Death of Superman.

I do like those first issue covers…a fun sorta "running gag" for this era of the title(s), somewhat revisited with the recent Omnibus volume.

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Then there’s Breakdowns, which was mostly present.

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A couple missing issues of JLE, but if I can find those in the near-ish future, this may be a good binge-read! Then there’s Jurgens‘ first issue on the title, with the "new" post-Breakdowns status quo that included Superman and Maxima.

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With getting Starman #1, I might actually have the full series now. If not, I’m only missing a few issues! Forgotten Realms appealed to my D&D nostalgia/curiosity of this era of the TSR comics. Superman #1 for the nostalgia, and to go with The Man of Steel issues. The confrontation with Supergirl shortly before all the Death of Superman stuff appealed to me for the "convenience copy" factor; same for the first issue of her post-Return mini (which did not seem to have its 2-4).

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I’d have to research if the gold-ink cover of Crisis #1 is a first print or not; offhand I’m thinking it’s a later printing, being in the quarter bin. The "key" issues 7 & 8 (Deaths of Supergirl and Flash) were missing.

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But outside of 7 & 8, I was able to snag the entire series. I’m pretty sure I have #7 somewhere…but I’m not sure about #8. I’d definitely be interested in a "cheapo" copy of #8 as a "reader copy" or such, just to have the issue. No need for "near-mint" for me.

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All that DC, and only a scant handful of Marvel issues. And one is a crossover with DC! The X-Men/New Teen Titans crossover…and this may be the best-condition I’ve found of the issue, for only getting it from bargain bins! I was rather surprised at the Contest of Champions being 25 cents..perhaps it’s a later printing, or maybe it’s that the thing’s not in great condition (but hardly "poor" condition). Shogun Warriors was interesting just for beign a #1 from this period. The Incredible Hulk issue looked like an interesting one-off to read. Avengers #1 (the first of about a dozen now in my "comics reading lifetime"!!!) for the heckuvit since it was there and 25 cents; same for the Heroes Return iteration of Captain America #1 (the second of about a dozen such #1s for that title in my "comics reading lifetime").

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Conservatively Quarter-Binning: Scud and West-Coast Avengers

I flipped half-heartedly through the quarter-bin this week, after a too-lengthy drive to the no-longer-local comic shop. Recent life events meant an immediate drop to being a LOT more conservative in spending, but I was a bit curious as the quarter bins looked to be a similar state to the last time I’d flipped through, weeks ago.

Of course, I never should have "doubted"–quite a lot of fresh assortment, but with my current mindset, didn’t even consider grabbing much…and ultimately I only bought 6 (amounting to a whopping $1.50!)

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Two of the issues were Scud: Disposable Assassin #1 and Marvel‘s West Coast Avengers #1.

I had no problems with myself, snagging these two #1 issues–I have plenty of problem when I find "runs" of a series in bargain bins with 12+ issues or such…minus the first issue where someone obviously "cherry-picked" only the #1s. But in these cases, they were just the isolated #1 issues…no #2, no runs.

Not necessarily the greatest condition, but not anything I would consider poor.

The West Coast Avengers issue is a novelty to me…I’m sure I have a few issues scattered in my longboxes, but I don’t consciously recall any particular run of the series. Yet, hey…it’s a #1 from back when #1s actually meant something.

And the Scud one caught my eye, having recently contemplated the single-volume collection of the entire series, though it’s been several years since it was published (I’d put that on a mental want-list at the time, though never actually got around to purchasing the thing). The fact that the issue is a third printing doesn’t bother me at all…I’ve no real intention of trying to track down the singles…knowing there IS a one-volume collection out there!

While I’ve found plenty of enjoyment getting runs of stuff and huge stacks of comics from bargain bins…it’s also quite cool just getting a select few, for such a small price. Especially when–instead of dwarfing the "regular new stuff" issues, this provides for an excellent "enhancement" of the "regular purchase."

The other four issues I picked up were two issues of Valiant/Acclaim‘s Trinity Angels and the first two issues of last year’s Telos series from DCYou after Convergence.

Going Zen

Scored a bunch of Zen: Intergalactic Ninja comics today at the local shop…a far superior haul to the week’s new comics (possibly excepting Shadowman #1 that I’ve looked forward to for awhile).

Probably the coolest of the bunch: 3-issue The Hunted mini-series AND the TPB, all $0.25 each.

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Next seems to be a 3-issue mini-series and a special focusing on “Young Zen.”

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I thought these covers were kinda cool…I like the trade dress of the things, anyway with the solid black background and the iconic-style images centered. Almost like portraits one could find hanging somewhere.

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Bargain-bin goodies

silversurferbargainbin20110119 Though I don’t get to go to many conventions, my local comic shop treats me remarkably well…and I’m quite spoiled, I think, when it comes to regular access to great stuff in a bargain bin.

Take this, for example.

This week, for less than the price of any one of many of Marvel’s current books…I scored Silver Surfer #s 1-12, 15, and Annual #1.

Not bad at all, I must say.