• December 2025
    S M T W T F S
     123456
    78910111213
    14151617181920
    21222324252627
    28293031  

  • On Facebook

    On Facebook

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Comic Blog Elite

    Comic Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

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

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Walt

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

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

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

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420c

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

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420d

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

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420e

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

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420f

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

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420g

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

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420h

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

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420i

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

weekly_haul_week_of_20160420j

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember Early-’90s Speculation on Image Comics?

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Walt

Remember when Image was so brand-new it was a company having its comics published by another (Malibu)?

Remember when those #1s were supposed to be so “hot” and “valuable” in the future?

Remember how $1.95 was quite a hefty price next to DC and Marvel‘s $1.25(-ish) cover prices of the time?

Remember that supposed notion that a comic’s “value” could only go up?

wildcats001x16

These 16 copies of WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams cost me a whopping $4. Basically the cover price of two copies of the issue…at its original, August 1992 cover price. With the bound-in card thingie still intact/present.

Maybe these aren’t “mint” and wouldn’t get anything close to a “9.8” if I “slabbed” them (shelling out far more than any copy is “worth” for the price of getting ANY “graded”)…but for a guy who collects for completion and story…the chance to read the entire story (or as MUCH of it as I’m able to get access to)…25 cents is not at all a bad price for this #1 issue.

It’s actually the later issues that would be more of a problem to find. “Everyone” has #1. How many people followed the series itself? How many followed for more than just the first year? Or after the cartoon didn’t last? Or…whatever else. How many saw the bright flash in the pan mature into something with any staying power?

Continue reading →

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Bargain Bin Haul: Kid Eternity

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Walt

Flipping through the quarter-bin today, I found two volumes of the Grant Morrison Kid Eternity mini-series. A bit furtrher into the bin, I found the third. I thought I was missing a fourth until I saw the “of 3” and satisfied, pulled all three.

kideternity1to3

I didn’t even notice until I got the issues home and was taking the photo seen above that the three covers form a singular image. Definitely an added “bonus” of sorts. This is ALSO the way such things SHOULD be done, in my opinion–any multi-part non-wrap-around cover image should be DIFFERENT ISSUES, not multiple variants of the SAME issue. But then, these were published some 23 years ago, before all that cropped up.

kideternity1to16

Along with the original mini, I also found the full 16-issue run of the Vertigo ongoing series. The first issue of this is the first Vertigo comic I remember ever being “aware of” AS Vertigo, as an “adult” or “mature readers” comic.

And while I almost left these in the bin, I figured 16 issues was a pretty good chunk of the series. Come to realize looking in the back of #16 that it was the series finale, thus giving me the full series.

This entire run cost me $4.75…hardly more than a Marvel, and cheaper than the cover price of one of the Morrison issues, even all these years later.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

75 Cents Very Well Spent

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Walt

This week is definitely one of THE best I’ve had in the way of 25-cent books!

I scored a copy of Dark Horse Comics Presents #8–the first appearance of X–as well as one of the four A Death in the Family Batman issues (#429).

And the REALLY special treat of the week–X-O Manowar (original series) #1 that the comic shop owner tucked in with my weekly pulls, and sold to me for 25 cents as it’s not in mint condition (“just” a ‘reading copy’).

75centswellspent20140226

I also snagged a number of other 25-cent books…Predator/Magnus and Magnus/Nexus, a couple issues of Valiant’s Original Turok and Original Solar; the first seven issues of Robinson‘s Starman (#s 0-6), a couple bronze-age Lois Lane issues, and a handful of Detective Comics ones I’ve kept an eye out for.

And for a “mere” $4, I picked up the “RRP” variant of Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men #1…the greenish background with the whole TEAM shown, that has been a rather “iconic” image for the book, despite the STANDARD cover having been Wolverine’s claws. While I don’t much like buying recent back issues and certainly not for $1 above cover price…my logic on this is that it’s the cover I’d prefer, it’s the one I associate with the series, and $4 is the same as “just” any other Marvel these days, so might as well.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Another Weekend Haul

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Walt

Last week–despite my best intentions–I still wound up with quite a haul of primarily bargain-bin comics. At least at Kenmore I kept my bargain-bin stack to the cost of one single “new” comic.

kenmore01

Because they were “there” and #1s, snagged Classic X-Men and The Question for a re-read/convenience factor. While I loathe variants in general, for a single 25-cent piece, I snagged the Shadowman 8-bit variant–worst case I could tear the cover off and put it up as a poster or something somewhere, for that pricing!

kenmore02

I also snagged a couple more Zero Hour issues, a DC One Million issue, and the first issue of Joker: Last Laugh.

kenmore03

Probably best of all, snagged 5 of the issues I was missing from Action Comics, when I intentionally dropped the Superman titles several years ago due to pricing and frustration, though with intent to “later” pick them up from bargain bins! $1.25 for the five issues, and three of these at least were originally $3.99 apiece!

comicheavenanniversarysale

Comic Heaven was having an anniversary sale, which included 30% off back issues. Having already snagged those other 5 issues of Action Comics, I decided to try my luck on filling in the rest of my “missing” run…found 3 of the issues. I also found a shiny-cover variant of Superman #150 that I don’t think I even knew existed until I saw it flipping through the back-issue bins!

The next day at Half-Price Books, I found Action Comics #900 (standard edition) for 50 cents, and saw the Superman/Batman annual, and for 50 cents decided to toss that on the stack.

halfpricebooksmentor

Also at that Half-Price Books, I snagged 2 of the 3 issues of Thunderstrike that I’m missing from the original 24-issue run (I’m now only missing #16!) as well as an issue of Ultraforce I was missing (love having my checklist in my phone!). I liked the cover of the Warlock issue and picked that up–possibly a ’90s Revisited post down the line in the not-too-distant future?

Later that night on a whim, I stopped in at a second Half-Price Books location just on the off-chance that they might have either of the two remaining issues of Action Comics that I’m after. Sadly, no such luck.

bloodlinesoutbreak

However, I did notice a couple Bloodlines annuals. Started to flip past ’em, but they kept going.

bloodlinesdeathstorm

…and going (and look! Demon Annual #2, first appearance of Hitman!)…

bloodlinesearthplague

…and going. Quite a few of these…but what about the Bloodbath mini that capped off the whole thing?

bloodbath

Yup…looked like this was the entirety of Bloodlines, INCLUDING Bloodbath. And though I have mixed feelings on ’em, I’ve been rather interested in tracking down several of these Annuals “events” from DC along with all these years later the Zero Hour event tie-ins. I’ve since gone through a checklist and sure enough…for the price of 3 current $3.99 books, got the entire Bloodlines event in one go. No piecemeal gathering, no shipping from mail order, no expensive convention.

And all of this for well under half of what I’d expected to spend for the weekend before other plans went awry.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Completing Two "Sets" in a Weekend Haul

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Walt

I snagged a few more bargain-bin issues last Thursday and Saturday, and finally completed not just one, but two “sets.”

Over the last several weeks I’ve been snagging the various Comics’ Greatest World issues:

comicsgreatestworld01

I’d “missed” Motorhead at JC‘s the last time, so went back to find that, and also came across a later Motorhead special. The CGW Motorhead issue completes my set of the Comics’ Greatest World issues this time around.

comicsgreatestworld02

Then, since I’d seen a number of these issues scattered throughout the bins, I decided to see what I could piece together of a second set. Found all 4 Arcadia issues.

comicsgreatestworld03

Also found all 4 Steel Harbor issues, including the 2nd copy of Motorhead.

comicsgreatestworld04

Found 3 of the 4 issues of Golden City…thankfully, I’d forgotten a duplicate I’d wound up with of Catalyst: Agents of Change, so this subset was completed as well.

comicsgreatestworld05

And I could only find 3 of the 4 issues of The Vortex…missing the final issue: Out of the Vortex itself.

comicsgreatestworld06

I was pretty sure I might have seen Out of the Vortex in the bargain bins at Comic Heaven–knew I’d seen several Comics’ Greatest World issues at the least. And sure enough…found Out of the Vortex there, completing a second set of the series.

misc01

Snagged several randomish issues at JC’s, including a Thor issue I saw an ad for when I paged through the final issue of Thunderstrike a few days earlier, so grabbed that. The GI Joe issue I don’t have, though I might have #1. The others were just sort of “hey, 25-cents…can’t beat that for this!”

valiantstuff

I’d actually meant to put the Timewalker issue back, but (obviously) forgot. The Secrets of the Valiant Universe I didn’t want to pass up despite being pretty sure I have that already. And nothing like pulling “rare” issues like Unity #0 and Darque Passages from a quarter-bin.

vanguard

I believe Vanguard is the character I recognized from a random Eternity comic I picked up earlier; found issues 1-3 here, so snagged ’em.

xbooksendofjuly

Grabbed several X-books from my list…

mercyogn

Near as I can tell, Mercy is a short prestige-format/”original graphic novel,” and definitely not bad for only 25 cents! (and early-ish Vertigo, at that).

slidersspecials

At Comic Heaven, I came across 3 Sliders comics. I only bought two of them as the other was a 2nd issue of two, and I didn’t want the temptation/frustration of trying to track down the first…and these two will be plenty (if not more than enough) to see if I even enjoy the property in comics. Six appeared to be another small “original graphic novel” and so well worth its bargain-bin pricing.

runevenomsilversurfer

It was quite cool to come across these Ultraverse issues. Two copies of the “newsstand edition” of Rune/Silver Surfer (a flip-book) and another copy of the Rune/Venom issue…signed by Chris Ulm and including a certificate of authenticity!

turtlesoupmini

I know I already have Turtle Soup in its entirety, but do recall at least one issue being in less than wonderful condition. Finding all 4 covers the bases, so to speak, on a replacement copy…and no sense leaving only 3 of 4 issues to frustrate someone else, anyway.

hypersonicmini

I have no idea what Hypersonic’s about, but it’s a 4-issue mini series of which all 4 were present…and I saw “Abnett” on the cover, so figure this oughtta be well worth a read.

misc02

The polybag on Divine Right caught my attention…but moreso is the “preview” issue for Stormwatch. Doom’s caught my attention as a mail-away. Overstreet looked interesting–rather than a price guide it’s got short creator profiles. And the Sojourn issue is Sojourn; an apparent one-shot or such. Originally $3.95 cover price…not a bad buy from the bargain bin.

misc2099stuff

Snagged the 2099 Unlimited issue to add to my growing 2099 collection. The Doom 2099 is the final issue, and I’m pretty sure these later issues are going to prove MUCH harder to track down than any of the early issues, so this was quite a welcome find. I grabbed the Iron Man issue as I’m filling out that run apparently; the Heroes issue is random Milestone.

miscdcstuff

I grabbed the Justice League issues as randomish ’90s stuff to read. Darkstars adds to my growing Zero Hour set. And Zen…well, I’m pretty sure this is a better-condition copy of one I already have…and hey, it’s Archie Zen for under 50 cents…can’t beat that!

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A Haul Worthy of Comic Con (part 2)

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Walt

The other day I shared a bunch of bargain bin comics I’ve picked up the last few weeks. Cool as those were (especially the Robin stack), the “heart” of it all–and where I’ve felt the MOST “progress”–has been with the X-books.

Here is the bulk of my Marvel haul the last few weeks…again, this would put what I could find at any major convention to shame….three local comic shops can outdo a room of 50+ dealers.

xmenwolverinehulk

I believe with this issue of Uncanny X-Men, I’m only missing Gambit’s first appearance (#266) from having a run on the title from Inferno to 400-something, and even the 400s are getting filled in nicely (see further below).

ironmanhulketc

These were issues I actually grabbed to round out a batch of “$.50/ea or 15/$5” issues. I’m going to have to pull together my Iron Man run soon to figure out exactly what I am missing–I’m pretty sure I’ve got at least half of the 1998-2004 series, and a good chunk of the Extremis series.

mephistovsmarveluniverse

Saw all 4 issues, which I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen all 4 at once or not…I know I’ve seen this in chunks of 1-3 issues, though. And for a mere $1? Heck, yeah!

2099worldoftomorrow

Kinda bummed, assuming someone cherry-picked #1 here. Still…easier to remember I need #1 than one issue in 2-5.

2099doomissues1to26minus2

As I’ve said repeatedly in this blog: I’m a sucker for “runs.” Doom 2099 #1-26 (missing only #2) was too good to pass up…though I’ve been more interested in getting a run of Spider-Man 2099 like this…and leaning toward adding the 2099 line to my “want list.”

captainamericafightingchance

I’ve long been interested in the Fighting Chance story, in tracking down a copy for myself. I once borrowed this run from a friend, and read it–years ago, over a decade back–but I’ve wanted to have a copy for myself. I’m pretty sure I’ve got most of the run from 438-454 or whatever the final issue was around Onslaught, the entire Heroes Reborn series, the entire Heroes Return series, and a part of the 2002 series…so had my eye on this as a point to go “back to.” Finding all 12 issues of the main arc plus the epilogue in one go for basically $3.25? Beats the heck outta “just” a single $3.99 book today!

1016728_654404861255975_924327134_n

And just because it’s a huge issue and was only 25 cents, snagged another copy of #400. Also grabbed Astro City vol.1 #1, first print…for the sheer novelty of it only being a quarter. Had there been more issues of the series, I would’ve snagged those as well–even though I have the collected volumes through Local Heroes.

shinyxbooksissues

I grabbed Prime and Uncanny #300 because of being big issues…and shiny. Can’t beat comics like this from 20 years ago that would easily be $8+ today…and getting both for about 50 cents.

xmanissues

Gradually starting to fill in the X-Man issues. I originally followed ALL the X-titles during Age of Apocalypse, and then a few months immediately after, before dwindling off on the various titles. I kept up with X-Man off and on through the years, which makes it a bit harder to remember what I remember because I read or have just seen the cover image for.

amazingxmenageofapocalypse

And I think I’m somewhat building another Age of Apocalypse set…at least if I can find all 4 issues of a given series together. I keep seeing Astonishing X-Men, but finally saw a full run of Amazing X-Men.

xmenunlimitedissues

Also filling in the X-Men Unlimited run. I’m also trying to track down the NON-shiny covers for the various issues that had ’em…while they’re cool and grab my attention, ultimately I actually want to have all “standard” covers in my main run of the series. In this case, the Phalanx Covenant crossover is the main such series of issues.

newxmenacademyx

Academy X is probably gonna be one of the harder series for me to fill in, given how “recent” it is. While $1/issue isn’t bad, I suspect that ultimately I’ll wind up having to suck it up and raid $1 bins for this series…barring more significant “finds” than the handful of issues here.

newxmen

I wound up buying the first two oversized hardcovers collecting this run…and jumped to the singles from there. So I’m backtracking on the singles. My main “goal” is the ’90s X-books through this NEW X MEN run; beyond that will just be bonus.

uncannyxmenissues

Despite focus on the ’90s, I think ultimately I’m aiming for Inferno to the end of the first Uncanny X-Men series…with hauls like this, it’s not too far outta the question.

xfactororiginalseries

I’ve had far better luck with X-Factor than I have with New Mutants…almost to the point that I’m debating whether I even want to track down the New Mutants series piecemeal. I may content myself with the later printings of Cable’s first appearance to the end, or just stick with X-Force.

xfactor2005

Though this “2nd” X-Factor series technically falls outside my “core” range…the renumbering to 200+ (and finding this 43-issue run) leads me to count it as one entire run on the whole…particularly given PAD’s lengthy run here.

generationxissues

I’d forgotten that Generation X only ran 75 issues…but should have recalled, as it and X-Man were both part of this Counter X sub-imprint/branding at the end, and both ended at that #75. This run is nearly 1/5 of the entire series…which isn’t bad at all!

excaliburissues

Excalibur’s in a similar vein as New Mutants for me, except I’ve had much more luck finding a number of issues for it. It’s one of the lower “priorities” for me, but since a lot of my fondness of the ’90s is centered largely around titles that existed during Fatal Attractions and around Age of Apocalypse…this certainly counts!

xtremexmenissues

Finally, a bunch of X-Treme X-Men issues. I’m actually particularly interested in learning more about what went down with Rogue and Gambit, and kinda see them as having disappeared into this series for a few years. How accurate that is remains for me to discover, but nothing wrong with adding another complete X-series to my collection…

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

A Haul Worthy of Comic Con

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Walt

Hand in hand with “panels,” comic conventions–to me–mean cheap comics and from sources outside my usual stomping grounds. Yet, more and more lately I find that what dealers bring to local cons just can’t hold up to “everyday bargains” I find at local comic shops: whether it’s 75% of HCs/TPBs when Marvel blows stuff out, the plethora of cheap “sets” and “runs,” or just (what I consider to be) high-quality quarter-bin stuff.

quantumandwoodyissuesandmisc

Right now, aside from wanting to fill out my TMNT collection, I’ve been working on my Ultraverse, Classic Valiant, ’90s Bat-books, and ’90s X-books collections. However, along with stuff for those “main” target areas, I’m a sucker for random single issues–especially with a shiny cover that would’ve cost $3+ 20 years ago but is now just 25 cents–as well as the random “run” of pretty much anything. (Say, 25 of 26 issues of Doom 2099 or 21 of 24 issues of Thunderstrike).

rai1dollarissues

I’ve loaded up on some great bargain-bin fare the last few weeks from three local comic shops: Kenmore Komics in Akron, JC’s in Cuyahoga Falls, and Comic Heaven in Willoughby (local when I visit my parents).

Above I show some Valiant stuff, including my $1/ea copies of Rai #6 (Leaves me with only one chapter of Unity to track down) and Rai #0.

comicsgreatestworldissues

I’m missing one single issue from having a (new) complete set of the Comics’ Greatest World original saga, and may research how long each of the spin-off ongoings went; though those series aren’t nearly as plentiful in bargain bins that I’ve seen.

ultraversepremiere0issue

I grabbed Ultraverse Premiere #0 because…well, it was a mail-away, so not nearly AS common as other early Ultraverse books from this time. Hawkman and Universal Soldier I grabbed for shiny-ness.

freexissueanddarkwingduck

I grabbed the Freex issue as a cover I didn’t recognize off the top of my head. The Green Lantern issue I recall being a “hard to find” issue back in the day, so am quite amused at being able to get (yet another) copy for only a quarter. And Darkwing Duck? Darkwing is just awesome!

runevsvenomissue

I know I’d had at least one copy of Rune vs. Venom years back, but since officially beginning my Ultraverse quest, for the life of me I have NOT been able to locate it. Stumbling across it–a lone, random Ultraverse issue in a collection of primarily Marvel and some DC was quite a welcome bit of serendipity!

shinyfoilycovers

X-O, Superman, and Doom just for the sake of shiny-ness. Especially X-O…I’m a sucker for these “chromium” covers!

detectiveissues

Detective Comics is going to be one of the harder series for me to fill in due to sheer longevity. Other series have come and gone, but Detective and Batman have 2-3 times as many issues to track down from the 1990s-2000s as any other single related title.

robin01to135

…Of course, snagging 135 issues plus several annuals for Robin in one go is absolutely FANTASTIC, if only for convenience alone!

robinminis

The week after I’d bought the Robin 1-135 stack, I was given these: they’d been destined for that stack, but just hadn’t made it out. I would have gladly paid the $4ish for these, but welcome the “bonus” to what was already a great price for such a tremendous run in one go.

zerohourissues

A couple years ago I assembled a set of Eclipso: The Darkness Within. I’m presently intending to also build a set of Zero Hour, Armageddon 2001, and Bloodlines.

onemillionissues

…and thanks to this set, DC One Million, as I believe this is probably 2/3 of the entire ‘event’.

Wednesday, I’ll plan on showing off the more plentiful Marvel and X-Books bargain bin finds of late.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

My End-of-May Bargain Acquisitions (part 3 of 3)

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Walt

After having initially passed on a number of Batman issues the previous week, last week I filled out more of my Batman collection for convenience of having the issues already in one place so I have less to dig for in the nearer-future:

I remember these Batman: The New Adventures issues from my early comic-reading days; I believe the two issues on the right were in one of those 3-packs that stores like Kmart and Hills used to carry.

batmanthenewadventures

Though duplicates, I wanted to have as much of the full Batman run as I can without digging through way too many longboxes, and re-buying the issues saves some digging (for now)…so another copy of the Knightfall issues:

batman492to495

I don’t recall how much the first printing “direct market” or “collectors’ edition” Batman #497 was once “worth,” but got it here for only 25-cents along with the surrounding issues!

batman496to499

…and for a mere 50 cents TOTAL, snagged BOTH editions of the oversized Batman #500. Twenty years ago, the “newsstand edition” was cover-priced $2.50 and the “collectors’ edition” was $3.95 cover price. (These days, that’d probably be $4.99 and $7.99).

batman500covers

I’m pretty sure I once saw Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 listed as being supposedly “worth” $40 or so (back in early 1993). The cover price of each of these issues was $1.75. In this purchase, I paid $1 TOTAL for all 4 first prints.

batmanswordofazrael

Fleshed out the Legends of the Dark Knight collection…

lotdkhothouseandturf

Nothing particularly special to me about these particular issues, except filling in some holes in the collection.

lotdkheat

…of course, Legends of the Dark Knight #50 is a “classic” for me–both for the image and the re-telling of the classic Joker story. Paid $3.95 for it about 20 years ago. Paid a mere 25-cents for it last week.

legendsofthedarkknight050to053

I recognize the Vows issue…but can’t recall offhand if that’s because I bought it in-print recently, or because I bought it as a random 99-cent digital edition. Either way, I’ve come nowhere close to paying full cover price for it, even if it is a duplicate this time around.

lotdkannuals

While I really only have random mini-series and specials/one-shots left to fill in my Superman 1986-2010 collection, I still have a long way on the Batman stuff…but I’m more determined than ever to stick to the bargain-bins as much as possible, though I know Batman: Year One and A Death in the Family will likely cost as much as most of the rest of the collection, unfortunately.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

My End-of-May Bargain Acquisitions (part 2 of 3)

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Walt

Heading into Memorial Day weekend here in the U.S. a couple weeks back, Half-Price Books sent out emails to remind members of their mailing list (which I willingly signed up for ages back) of a weekend sale: 20% off. Which, when stacked with the half-off most things are to begin with, makes for a functional 70%-off price for most things.

I wound up buying a couple randomish comics I’ve yet to read, an Archie book I forgot I never got around to buying/reading, as well as the rare prose novel purchase: two Aliens novels I’ve kept “passing” on assuming I already had them, when in fact I did not (until now). This whole bunch cost less than 3 contemporary Marvel comics.

hpbhaul0524

Also falling over Memorial Day weekend, the comic shop at the Great Lakes Mall–Comics and Friends–organized the Lake Effect Comic Con. I went in planning/hoping to find a couple specific books and some bargain-bins. A quick walk through the venue yielded no worthwhile bargain-bins of single issues, and none of the bargain-books bins seemed to have what I was after.

I did come across several Superman volumes in a $5 bin…and it IS Superman, so…I bit. I might’ve been happier with “just” the Daily Planet volume, but after getting re-exposed to the Phantom Zone stories in Superman vs. Zod recently, I figured other “classic” stories couldn’t hurt too much.

And given my interest in the hardcovers of major X-stories of late, finding Fall of the Mutants for 60% off made for an eye-catching splurge-purchase.

lakeeffectcomicconhaul01

One dealer had a table of old ’90s X-Men toys (most of them classic X-Force in particular). I did find a couple figures to buy. For the price of a single contemporary Marvel issue, I got both of the below:

lakeeffectcomicconhaul02
After a couple days away (and a great visit with a friend I hadn’t seen in ages) I returned home to find a package waiting for me: the Omnibus volumes I’d ordered off eBay a couple weeks back:

omnibiifromebay

I was fairly surprised at the condition these arrived in…really not bad at all, considering the price. And the GI Joe volume with 12-13 issues’ content cost the same as one of the single issues at cover price a few years back!

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »