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When Seeking One Issue Goes Awry

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Walt

Another "bonus" weekend post!

Last weekend, I snagged a bunch of comics from bargain bins, including these four Superman issues, the Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite! story.

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Unfortunately, I’d managed to totally forget that there was a Starman tie-in issue.

Annoying, sure, but hey, not like that series was all that popular in the long run (though it ran at least 43 issues, if not more), totally overshadowed by the James Robinson run that followed post-Zero Hour. Surely it would be a simple matter–with four shops relatively nearby–to locate this one, single issue.

Boy, was I wrong! None of the four shops I made it to this week (including back to the usual, where I thought for sure the issue would be in the bargain bins and I had just missed it) had the thing in any bins, bargain or otherwise.

On a whim, I stopped off at a Half-Price Books, figuring I was already willing to "pay back-issue prices" for the thing, so I could grudgingly pay a higher HPB price since I’d exhausted other simple-ish in-person means of acquiring the thing. (*Still bugs the crap outta me that HPB assigns arbitrary high prices to more issues than not lately! They bill themselves as a USED books store, based on the notion of everything they carry being HALF OFF the printed/published cover price!)

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Somewhat shockingly enough, they had the issue!

…priced at $3. For a beaten-up condition, newsstand edition (UPC instead of generic box). But as usual and as I would factor for any comic shop back issue…the price is the same or less than what I’d pay for a new off-the-shelf, released-just-this-week comic, so hardly worth "complaining" about: the thing is, after all, over 25 years old, and most comic shops don’t seem to have MUCH stock going back before the early 2000s or so, it seems!

Of course, my "quest" for this one particular issue wound up with me making some extra purchases I had not planned on, but for time spent and even visiting other shops, felt like I should buy something rather than walk out empty-handed.

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Being much more meticulous about going through the bargain bins this weekend…I found waaaaaaayyyyyy more than I intended to.

Quite the difference between 36-year-old me and 11-year-old me: 36-year-old me can buy a stack of comics like this. 11-year-old me had a 3-year collection that in its entirety at the time was 1/3 smaller than this particular stack.

Also, those Justice League Action Mighty Minis being…well…miniature…certainly makes the stack look even more impressive.

I wanted 1 specific issue.

There are 122 reasons I would’ve spent less if I’d just tried HPB first…

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

The First Mega-Haul of 2017

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Walt

This past weekend saw my first "mega-haul" of the year, with a combination of Half-Price Books and a trip to the main comic shop, with freshly-stocked bargain-bins!

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At HPB, I snagged the long-outta-print trade-paperback-sized paperback edition of Batman: Knightfall. This is the Barnes and Noble "exclusive," which makes it all the more "rare" with ALSO being "out of print"…yet the thing was priced at a mere $8…HARDLY a "collectible" price for a book in such great condition all these years later! So much for consistency, I guess…their loss, my gain!

I also snagged the Alien: The Illustrated Story because it’s…well, Aliens. I’m a sucker for this stuff, and while I am thinking there’s a more deluxe/hardcover type edition of this available, for the price and being in-hand, I didn’t want to pass this up.

And finally, since I (thankfully) had "inventory" photos of my phone, I was able to determine that I did NOT yet own Dark Victory (It’s Long Halloween and Haunted Knight that I already owned)…and since I’ve intended to complete the "trilogy" for ages now, I figured I’d get that marked off the list.

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At the comic shop, there was a shortbox of TPBs marked 80% off. I was flat-out astonished to find this Superman: Eradication! volume…honestly did a double-take, and checked my ‘inventory’ to make sure I wasn’t crossing this with something else. But sure enough…this truly is the book I’ve been wanting for ages now, and unable to find for a reasonable price anywhere–in person OR online. And then just because it’s Dan Jurgens, Booster Gold, and at 80% off, the price of a single-issue of a current Rebirth DC comic, I also snagged the JLI vol. 1 paperback.

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I also got the latest issue of Spawn (pull list!), which I think puts me at about a full year of having the title on my pull list…a feat the title has never before done!

The TMNT issue I actually picked up at Toys R Us…it was some sort of Mega Bloks promotional issue that I’d been unaware of. Disgustingly, even this has a variant cover (I only saw this "regular" cover available, happily–I’d’ve been highly annoyed to ONLY be ABLE to get the VARIANT). Ridiculously-priced for what it is…but something about it struck me as something that would gnaw away at me if I did not get it, knowing it existed and I could get it FOR the same "cover price" as any other TMNT issue from IDW.

And then we get into the 25-cent bin haul, after the cut…

Continue reading →

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of November 30, 2016

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Walt

This week was a ridiculously HUGE week, in pricing, quantity, and physical size!

Getting into it:

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Newest issue of Surgeon X, which I enjoyed the first couple issues of, after jumping in a bit late. No apparent variant covers with this, or at least none that I saw to distract me or make me wonder which cover is the "real" or "regular" or "basic" cover. IF this is the variant or a variant…yeah, I’ll be highly annoyed, but I’ve seen nothing to indicate that!

I nearly passed on the New Talent Showcase, but I kinda liked the cover, and like the concept of the book, plus I’m just a sucker for these squarebound comics with spine text that can go right on the bookshelf as-is, even though they’re "just" a "single issue" of whatever. I also dig the notion of it being a one-shot/special to showcase the new talent, and not "pushing" some "branding" on a spread of regular/ongoing series as a notion OF the new talent (or "young guns") being somehow, by default, superior or more worthy of promotion than established talent.

While I appreciate the Direct Currents issue being magazine sized to go with the Rebirth preview back in the spring, I’d definitely prefer to see it comic-sized, as I do not presently have a good filing system for magazines. Still, as a "free" thing (comic shops had to BUY this, same as Free Comic Book Day stuff, same as loads of other promotional materials that we as customers tend to receive AS free) I can’t really grouse about it!

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I hate "clustering" of stuff. And it is truly very annoying after getting so used to DC‘s $2.99 price point to have two $4.99 books out the same week; all the more as these are not part of the "regular" series for either title, and thus I’m paying "full price" for to keep with complete runs from the DCBS "bundles" that allow me to get the entirety of Rebirth.

Worse, both of these are out the same week as the one IDW title and general exception to my other rules on pricing of "ongoing" titles and such TMNT Universe. Three issues, each one could be replaced with twenty issues from a quarter bin! $15…for three issues. Ugh!

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I’d "expected" these books last week: the shop passes the various Marvel blowout sales along to customers on their email list…so each of these cost me what two Marvel single issues would have! But each volume has a lot more than only two issues’ content!

And to me, in general, frankly, Marvel is doing a great job lately of making the Clone Saga and Ben Reilly Epic look particularly appealing to me…if only for knowing they’re 1. finite and 2. where they end. I’m just a bit bugged at the fact that books 5 & 6 are out of print/unavailable except at RIDICULOUS markups by third-party sellers. I may want the other two volumes for this set…but especially after getting these at only $8/ea, I sure as heck will not spend $20, $40, $60+ beyond cover price when I’d be hard-pressed even now to "justify" spending cover price on any of these! Great at $8, but Marvel‘s pricing in general is too "premium" for me on print stuff! (All the more their "new" content, as opposed to reprinting stuff from the 1990s)!

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Snagged these Double Take volumes for $1/ea (90% off). I know the company’s done/nothing forthcoming, and would have preferred to get all 10, but these are all that were present. For less than the cost of 2 Marvel issues, these’ll provide plenty of reading, and I’d hope I could (cheaply) find the other three volumes to have the complete, finite set, and though not in singles, this complete "dead universe."

Not impressed with most of the covers or the generic fonts–these look more like flags for a department store for differing lines of clothing or such, or some other generic tagging of something. But the notion of the stories being set in the same "universe" as Night of the Living Dead intrigued me before, and I’m certainly willing to have paid a whopping $1 per volume! (considering I have the shop pulling all $1-and-under promo single-issues, and I got these that each contain five comics’ worth of material!)

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Then just to grit my teeth all the more on a couldn’t-pass-them-up-for-the-price basis, I bought two boxed games. Together, these cost me a few cents more than two DC issues, and for under the price of a single issue apiece ($2.79ish and $3.49ish) I’m willing to have ’em for my games collection/shelf!

All the more at the price-shock of realizing the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game is a whopping $90!!! I’d LOVE to get THAT game, but that will likely have to wait to be some kinda personal reward/celebration of a major life event eventually. Assuming I don’t talk myself out of it in frustration over some key character minis being Kickstarter–exclusive. (Thaaaaaat is a matter for another post, perhaps!)

Here’s hoping that next week is particularly light!

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

Halloween Comic Con 2016: The Convention Haul

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Walt

Over the weekend, I had a chance to get to a quasi-local (for me) convention–Halloween Comic Con, hosted by The Pop Shop in Sandusky, Ohio.

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Prior to even going to the event itself, a friend gave me a few things he’d had for me, including a couple of Ultimatum hardcovers he’d picked up for me some time back!

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The main Ultimatum volume has Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum itself…unfortunately, does not have the Annuals that were collected in the March on Ultimatum regular-sized hardcover. The Ultimatum Companion includes tie-in issues in the run-up to, during, and after the event for Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, and Ultimate Fantastic Four; it also includes the Requiem issues for those titles.

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All in all, a couple of excellent oversized volumes for the Ultimate collection, and they’re very much the sort of collections I absolutely love: One volume for the “main” event itself and anything “core” to it…then a “companion” volume with the various tie-ins and such! Great package…

Then we get to the actual convention stuff…

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Free with admission we got this Soulfire Collected Edition volume. Nothing overly special (to me), but as a freebie…not bad at all!

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This Superman figure worked out to roughly $4…the price of a single Marvel comic…yet it’s something that generally would be basically a $20 item. Anyone can say what they will about Superman…but me? $4 for a full-size figure like this is something I’m quite game for! (And someday soon I may have to post a photo of my Superman shelf…)

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Unfortunately, none of the other figures in this wave were present… I’m not a huge fan of this version of Wonder Woman, but Flash, Green Lantern, or especially the Captain Marvel figure would also have been great scores!

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I initially made a mental note of the Hawk and Dove figures, though didn’t spring for them right away. Once I’d had a chance to wander the tables, and we were about to leave, I doubled back to check, telling myself they were a set. I would buy both if they were both still present, leaving whichever one was there if someone had already bought the other. Needless to say…they were both still there, and I snagged ’em.

Neither figure is that remarkable or interesting to me on their own…but the two of them, together, are really freaking cool to me!

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The Superman figure above and these four volumes were part of a $5/ea or 5/$20 deal. There’s a whole bunch of Superman paperbacks I’d like to own, but not enough to pay much for. At the same cost as a Marvel comic, though…I’m quite willing!

The Resurrection Man volume “rounded out” the deal, and for the price and having 14-ish issues (from the original 1990s run), not bad at all!

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Moving on into stuff, I snagged a 2nd copy of Superman #s 150 and 166 with the extra-shiny-ness thing going on. For the price, I was sucked in with the shinyness and the relative rarity…as in this is only the second time I can think of that I’ve seen this version of #150; and my original copy of 166 suffered some unfortunate rolling/bending years back being in the back of a longbox. For under $2/ea, glad to double-up!

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For “50 cents each or 5/$2,” I added an extra copy of the Superman: Save the Planet! special to the other four issues that had my attention.

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While I’d made sure ahead of this convention that I had my Ultraverse and TMNT comics sorted and missing issues logged…I neglected to log my stack of DC One Million issues…and unwilling to spend the extra $1 or 50 cents or whatever they would work out to on yet more doubles of those, I probably passed on a simple score of wrapping up my set of DC One Million.

That said…I snagged the DC One Million 80-Page Giant as well as what I hope is only a 2-part DC Two Thousand. I’d hoped for Flash: Terminal Velocity (the run-up to #100) but the stock skipped from the early 50s to the 120s…I settled for the four-part Born to Run story, as I couldn’t remember if I had the single issues or not.

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For basically $2 apiece, got Shade the Changing Man #1 and the Prime versus The Incredible Hulk. The former to compare/contrast with the new Young Animal iteration (Shade the Changing Girl) and the latter because hey, that’s a great price for an issue like this! (remember it, as this comes into play a bit later!)

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I believe I dug the Wild Dog and Uncanny X-Men issues out of a $1 bin. Hearing the character will be apparently playing a role in this season of Arrow and the surprise reference in another title recently, I figure I’d be glad to have this issue (unfortunately, they did not have the other issues of the series). And with the rumour of stuff for the upcoming Logan film (aka Wolverine III), I wanted to be sure to snag Uncanny X-Men 229 before it pulls a 266 in pricing on me!

(As an aside: if anyone has or could get me a copy of 226 in the $10ish range up to $20, I’d love to talk!)

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For the price of a single Marvel comic, I “upgraded” Aquaman #1 from a beat up copy to a nice copy…and filled out my Peter David run to now having a full run of #0 & 1-48! This includes “the” key issue–#2–where Arthur loses the hand…and I danced a fine line taking these photos between not actually sitting to read #s 1-3 and 0 and skimming through #2 and #0 in particular!  I remember when this series started, as well as noting Aquaman’s appearance in Zero Hour itself (see my 2016 Zero Hour Revisited posts), but had never gotten into/kept up with the series, to my later regret. Gladly, with ’90s comics being so (financially) cheap, I’ve embraced being able to catch up at a fraction of even the original cover price cost!

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My friend and I found a table with a huge selection of ’90s 25-cent comics. The listed deal was something like 25 cents each, so many for $2, or fill a USPS priority box for something…he saw us both amassing a decent stack, and made us a deal to go in one one together…so sharing the cost, we proceeded to grab some extra issues we’d passed on…and filled a box. Lotta cool/fun stuff…especially for less than 25 cents apiece!

I have (somewhere) a couple issues of the X-Men Archives, and apparently grabbed 5 of the 6 here. My friend pointed out the Magic: The Gathering issue…in a bag and board, it felt extra-thick, so I snagged it for curiosity of the thickness (turned out it included a copy of the Acclaim Comics preview I’ll reference below).

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Nothing really screams “’90s!” to me like these covers (and a handful of others from Image in 1992-1994). The ’90s get a bad rap, and to me, I’d say that a lot of what I think people really think of in the negative can be best referenced with early Image books moreso than stuff that leaked into DC and Marvel (as I obviously have an incredible fondness for the decade when it comes to comics!)

I also get a certain “satisfaction” out of scoring the “hot Image #1s!” of the early ’90s for a mere 25 (or less!) cents apiece.

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gen13_pricing_wizard_52And speaking of…Gen13. I pretty clearly remember this issue being one of THE “hot” issues of its time…to the point that I now probably have bought 5 or 6 copies for 25 cents each just to retroactively stick my tongue out (figuratively) at all the people who may’ve paid $20, $30, even $40ish for a copy of the thing!

Continue reading →

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

Conservatively Quarter-Binning: Scud and West-Coast Avengers

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Walt

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.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of June 22, 2016

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Walt

The other night, I went ahead and place an Amazon order for a couple of Flash books. I keep finding myself drawn to them at the bookstores, but they’re a lot cheaper via the site…so I finally convinced myself it was more than worthwhile to order them to have them and not be so tempted to “just” pay full cover price to a bookstore chain when it’s not like I’ll even actually get around to reading them immediately (unless I change my mind, in which case it’ll be more than worthwhile to have them on hand for sheer convenience!)

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I have a couple single-issues of the Grant Morrison story but still missing an issue. This volume will let me more than cover that for now and get to just simply read the thing. And then amidst all the awesomeness of DC Rebirth, and finding myself really drawn to The Flash lately, I figured it was high time to “finally” get The Flash: Rebirth both to have and just to read without having to find the single issues scattered throughout my longboxes.

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This would have been a tiny week with only the Bebop and Rockstead issue, except that so far Rebirth has been excellent and so my weeks have been quite heavily padded out. I’m not sure if there are any due next week or not…and I think my bundles kick in, so I should be back to relatively small weeks again, with a monster shipment at the end of July and a bunch of catch-up reading then.

Chances are I’ll still at least pick up Action Comics and Superman for the immediacy and enjoyment, despite the duplicate purchasing…for what I’m saving on the bundles I can handle it.

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I snagged a mix of stuff from the quarter bins that I’d swear was not there last week, and yet to glance at the bins, they look like nothing much has been added…but I found a whole treasure trove! Rai #1 from original Valiant, “pre-Unity” even! A Dreadstar #1/2 issue that was apparently originally included with an issue of Hero Illustrated. And a some random stuff that seemed worthwhile/caught my attention for being only 25 cents.

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Though missing an Advance Comics preview leaflet, the complete “official” Deathmate saga from Valiant and Image from 1993.

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Also from 1993, the Jack Kirby’s Secret City Saga 4-issue mini, with (apparently) three lead-in one-shots. I’ve seen all of these in the past, usually passing on them, but seeing them all together, I snagged ’em today–despite their NOT being in their original polybags with Kirbychrome cards.

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Initially I thought I’d be snagging an “old” GLC issue #35 as well as a New 52 #35. Though I then realized one’s a variant cover, for 50 cents (total) I figured why not? It’s a novelty. Much as I hate, loathe, detest, and avoid variants most of the time…here it is relegated to a 25-cent bin. At this point in its existence…I’ll buy it.

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Finally, about 16 (of 27-28, I believe) issues of Manga X-Men from Marvel Imports from back in the day. The entirety of this series–that I’m aware of without looking anything up or confirming it “only” ran 27-28 issues or not–adapts in manga the first season of the ’90s animated series. I know I have the first issue somewhere and possibly the 2nd, so I’m not terribly bothered at this stack of issues starting at #6. And the first season being possibly the most “iconic” and best-remembered (for me as well as based on what I hear from anyone else who mentions/talks about the series) I’d say it’s not that bad.

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of June 08, 2016

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Walt

The past week was yet another that could be counted as both a huge week yet a “small’ week for new-to-me comics.

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Had the five new Rebirth issues–three more of the one-shot/prologue/kickoff issues, as well as the first two of “regular numbering” for ongoing books in Action Comics and Detective Comics.

The Action Comics issue was by far my absolute favorite of this bunch–with ‘Tec not far behind…though all were of sufficient quality to continue to validate my own personal interest in the initiative for now.

(And rather than this post last week, I wound up gushing about the Action Comics issue instead!)

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The Rebirth stuff, of course, is on top of the other “usual” stuff of late. While the covers in particular on the Bebop and Rocksteady are a bit iffy (yet I am so extremely Extremely EXTREMELY glad the multi-part image covers multiple issues rather than being umpteen variants on the same issue!!!) I’m enjoying the notion of a weekly (if only a “mini”/limited series) TMNT book…more content/story/etc in a compressed amount of time…works for me.

I nearly missed the Thunderbolts issue…quite enjoying this new iteration…though hoping it does not tie into Civil War II, as I have absolutely no interest in supporting that story, in supporting “the latest event from Marvel, and it’s already prompted me to decide I’m done with Power Man and Iron Fist despite otherwise kinda enjoying that book.

I’d followed the “solo books” on the Gold Key stuff from Dynamite, tried the first issue of this mini, and figured it’s “only” 5 issues, might as well stick it out.

And I liked the last Aliens/Predator/Prometheus/AvP arc of minis, planning on keeping up with these (though they seem more spread out than that last one, linear rather than overlapping).

I need to get caught up on actually reading the Legends of Tomorrow book…I have no idea if it’s continuing past six issues, but I believe I saw something a few weeks ago of a Firestorm collected volume collecting that story as its own thing from these…and just as I want to support the $2.99 price point on the Rebirth initiative, I also want to support the $7.99 price point for this quadruple-sized-content series, anthology or not!

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Getting into bargain-bin stuff…last year (like April or March 2015) I’d noticed a bunch of copies of WildC.A.T.S #1, and got at least one or two. Then last August I bought $4 worth of the issues–16 copies–on a random whim/self-amusement. Given the quantity of copies still remaining…I figured for just half the cost of a contemporary DC issue…nothing wrong with another 6 copies. For the sake of the ridiculous quantity. Just because I can. (regardless of there being zero wisdom in it).

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Snagged a few other randomish issues. Almost did the same thing on the $1 copies of GI Joe #2…but a friend had “warned” me that there was a second print from that time, so all copies looking the same, I bought one and glad for that–it’s a second printing edition. Which I think I need for my singles collection, but there’s no “fun” in buying umpteen copies for the sake of umpteen cheap copies of a second print.

The other issues grabbed my attention for various reasons, and at 25 cents were not a bad purchase!

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While I’d tracked down the entire run of Eclipso: The Darkness Within annuals, I’ve had very little luck with the Valor or Eclipso ongoing books’ issues. Neither series lasted that long (hardly two years!) but given the annuals’ significance to me in my early days as a comics person, I’m quite curious about both series, as they remain a “blind spot” in my reading.

Finding four unique Valor issues was a bit of a surprise…as was my third (at least!) copy of The Darkness Within #1 with the 3-D purple “black diamond” thingie glued on. (I’d hardly known these existed before, and now have come across ’em a number of times, opting to purchase at least 3).

And then on strength of the pricing online, I ordered Batman: Shadow of the Bat vol. 1 as well as the 2nd (of 2) volume of The Infinity Watch…both for half off cover price. Yet even more stuff from the ’90s that repackaged and sold as new, I am quite enthused to buy…far, far moreso than I am most anything new!

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

Further Shame of Conventions vs. Awesome LCS

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Walt

Further putting conventions in general to shame, last Friday I’d gone BACK to the LCS in the hopes of snagging the rest of the Action Comics issues I’d passed on on Wednesday, and with it being Friday, and after work, and the store nearly empty…I did a more thorough flipping through the quarter bins than just the relatively quick pass through barely 1/3 of them that I’d done previously.

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Eleven of the first Twelve X-Men Forever issues.

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Pretty sure I’d recently snagged Strangers 1-16, so tacking several issues onto that for convenience doesn’t hurt.

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I am not sure if or where in the run of Hellblazer collected volumes this series was ever reprinted (Might have only been one of those Vertigo Resurrected issues I’m missing). For $1, not a bad acquisition…have not read this since summer 2001 when I was first introduced–solidly–to Hellblazer in general.

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For shiggles, grabbed several Spawn issues to be thorough…though I think I already had them. Better an extra $1 now than, say, $9.50 or more per issue (a local Half-Price Books had the Spawn #30 priced specifically at $9.50!).

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Several unrelated books, one-off things that had caught my attention–the Malibu issue has a hole through the entire issue–I don’t recall if this would be “THE” infamous bullet-hole issue from the early-’90s or just some stupid die-cut/hole-punch thing. But hey… 25 cents. And Adam Warlock, penned by Jim Starlin, with that classic The Infinity _____ logo? Beautiful cover, 25 cents with a digital download code (a digital purchase would cost at least 99 cents)…yeah, sort of a no-brainer, particularly as “just another issue” tossed on the stack.

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A bunch of #0 issues from the original Zero Month from DC Comics, immediately following Zero Hour. So many memorable, “iconic” covers, some of the more recognizable (particularly for the theme)…

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17 or so Mantra issues, for the potential convenience of an earlier re-read, or an extra set to look into getting bound!

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Minus one issue, the complete run of R.E.B.E.L.S. (’94, ’95, ’96).

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And of course, the Action Comics issues I’d even gone back looking for. I’m now only missing about 15 issues from having #532-904…

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…and I’m not gonna turn down cheap (25-cent!) copies of so many other Bronze Age issues…I have zero illusions of ever going all the way back to #1, but I expect I’ll eventually settle on a specific year or somewhat-reasonably-attainable number to work to fill in from–whether it’ll be MY “earliest” issue to current, or some number even if I have several earlier issues.

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Even snagged several post-Byrne issues, because why not? #700 is truly “iconic” to me, and the others…well, I have a mental image of my first personally-owned issue but didn’t know if maybe I was picturing something else, and went ahead and tossed these on the stack.

Of course, this week, I have every intention of sticking “just” to the Rebirth books and anything else already on my pulls…the past week’s acquisitions are not a sustainable pace!

Nearly 200 25-cent books and some great finds at a couple Half Price Books stores ultimately yielded a haul that far surpasses most anything I could (reasonably) actually imagine from a convention!

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of May 18, 2016

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Walt

For being a really small week with only one pull-list book and going in planning on one off-the-shelf book…this turned into a huge week of new-to-me comics!

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Been following–and quite enjoying–the Final Days of Superman story, if only for the fact of it being a multi-part story spanning four titles with a new chapter coming out each week, wherein I’m following the story itself and not so concerned about what title any given chapter falls in. Then there’s also Spawn, added to my pulls to support the high-numbering that’s been maintained through an age of renumbering/reboots/etc, as well as holding to the $2.99 price point amidst a sea of $3.99+ books. And I have yet to talk myself out of Power Man and Iron Fist, which I’ve thus far been enjoying overall.

And I’m definitely a fan of some of the Wizard specials…the Zero Hour book wound up costing me a whopping 20 cents this week!

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For $1 each–or all four of these for the price of a single Marvel–snagged these classic “digest” editions. No real rhyme or reason, just that they were there, lotta Batman on the cover, and they’re those classic digest editions!

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Getting into the bargain bins–freshly stocked, and I thought 25-cents-each (but turned out for the shop’s 29th-Anniversary-Sale, discounted to 20-cents-each), got a couple “shiny” dupes for the heckuvit. Then there’s The Longbow Hunters…I thought I was grabbing “all 3” issues but got home and realized that in my haste to delve into the fresh treasures of the expanded bargain bins, I only wound up with two distinct issues and a dupe-on-the-spot. Win some, lose some, I guess!

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First seven issues of The Power of Shazam!–dupes, all, but I recall several of my prior editions having some sticky residue or such, so worst-case, I have some dupes to choose between when I get to the sorting phase with my collection and that initial-pass to weed out dupes.

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Several one-off gems: a silver edition of The Strangers #1 as well as the mail-away The Solution #0. “Limited,” “hot” books around 1993/1994…25 cents here today! I’m kinda kicking myself for not snagging the bunch, but there were a number of The Brave and the Bold issues. My personal focus being Superman, though, I restrained myself from picking more up just because they were there. They weren’t in great condition, but for the novelty, I grabbed #150…thicker anniversary issue, and something just seemed really familiar to me–triggering nostalgia–with the cover. And then, even though it’s a bit wrinkly–probably water-damaged–DC Comics Presents #85, the “infamous” Swamp Thing issue I’ve been wanting to read or re-read or otherwise have…but couldn’t remember if another copy is truly hiding amidst my longboxes or not. For 25 cents (or as it turned out, 20 cents) absolutely a great purchase.

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Quasi-spoiling the find, I was unable to locate the fourth/final issue, but along with Underworld Unleashed #s 1-3, scored three special tie-in issues that I don’t think I’d ever consciously known existed…or sure didn’t remember, anyway.

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And then totally throwing my budget for the week out the window, nearly 50 issues of Wonder Woman. #s 89-136, and Annual #4. I’m truly curious now to “discover” what I actually own of this series…I have a bunch of early issues from a lot Dad bought for me years ago, and think I recall getting another run of issues somewhere in the 60-80 range, now this. Definitely a good way toward having the entire run, and at the very least, this purchase in itself gives me a four-year run of the title!

All in all…bought 75 or so comics, when I went in planning on 2. SOMEDAY I’ll get around to reading everything…

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

The Weekly Haul: Week of May 04, 2016

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Walt

Outside of several pretty hefty recent book purchases, actual comics made for a big week this week…and probably my widest, most “diverse” (publisher-wise) such haul in ages!

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In my main/regular/new issues, I have five publishers represented. I was not going to buy the Thunerbolts issue…while I’d greatly enjoyed the late-1990s/early-2000s and somewhat tried again with the series with Marvel Now, I’d trailed off. Something about this cover, though, just REALLY triggers the nostalgia factor for me. While I’d prefer the title be at the top of the cover, for the image they went with, it works…sadly, I am certain this “main” cover is hardly the only cover…thus it lacks the iconic status of the original 1997 Thunderbolts book.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, Thunderbolts (2016) #1 is only $3.99! I have been so extremely put-off by Marvel‘s high prices and the seeming stream of $4.99+ #1s that I’ve written ’em off as too expensive for my interest. I’d far prefer $2.99, but at this point I’ll “support” $3.99 OVER $4.99 for #1 issues, regardless of size (standard or extra…short me on size and the complaint’s renewed!)

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I’d picked up the first two issues of X-Men ’92 recently to “check them out,” having bought the series last year with the Secret Wars stuff…seeing the third issue, I decided to take a chance and buy this one so I’m “caught up” for the reading. I’d been quite surprised that the first couple issues were “only” $3.99 apiece…that #1 was not $4.99 was a major selling point for me!

A $1 issue from IDW, and a catalog of Marvel collected volumes round out the “normal” stuff for the week.

Which brings us to issues of timing, with their release falling on May 04.

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Star Wars Day seems to have become an official Thing, May 4th each year. As in “May the Fourth be with you.” So rather than stagger them across the entire month…Marvel threw us ten $1 reprints of #1 issues. For the price, I’m cool with them; they were pulled for me as part of my “$1 and under promo-priced stuff” part of my pull-list. In addition, I snagged an extra copy of several issues to give to coworkers.

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Given the relative (I believe) “recency” of several of the issues, I’m quite glad I waited. As is, I’m a bit miffed at these now-$1 copies of the $4.99 Star Wars #1 and Darth Vader #1 from last year…ditto on the Vader Down issue. Still, these give me a first-issue jumping-in point to help determine if I want to buy the trades…

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I also hit the quarter-bins, where I snagged several random-ish issues. The Wolverine issue brings back definite memories from when it was originally released, so I grabbed that on the nostalgia alone. I snagged the Captain Marvel because it was #1, did not have the other issues in the bin, and I wanted an ‘even number” of books. Turns out the Generation X/Gen13 books are variants of the same issue. I’m disgusted on principle but can’t be too upset…they’re wraparound covers, and I’m only out 50 cents for a double-length story.

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I totally forgot several weeks ago to follow up on an offer on the Guy Gardner issues–the store owner was planning on clearing them out “soon.” While I think I “missed out on” several early issues in the run, these issues are mostly what I recall being present at the time, so it all worked out in the end. I’m pretty sure somewhere in the Abyss that is my collection of longboxes I have the first 20+ issues–at least the bulk of the run before the book became Warrior…so I mostly passed on those for now, as I’m hoping to get the entirety of my comics collection sorted sooner than not…and I’m trying to exercise a bit of restraint in this regard (though adding 30 25-cent issues ($7.50) to an already cringe-inducingly large week on top of other expenditures may not be the most intelligent thing to do.

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

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