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Superman Shelves Return

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Walt

superman_shelf_01It’s been a couple years since I really “refreshed” some of the shelves I have, and some recent Superman acquisitions had me curious what things would look like put together again.

So I took some time and pulled all the newer Superman books I’ve bought, and went through and got the Superman shelves re-organized and re-confirmed for myself that Superman is certainly a key part of my collection.

superman_shelf_01a

I’m very interested in tracking down Superman in the Fifties and Superman in the Sixties, as well as Superman Chronicles vol. 7. (I’m not sure if the series made it past 10 or not). I’m sort of interested in other Showcase Presents volumes, but not dead set on ’em…though the nostalgia might kick in and change my mind.

superman_shelf_01b

I think I’m three volumes behind in the The Man of Steel series…and off the top of my head, not sure what else I might be missing from the post-CoIE/pre-Death era outside of The Wedding and Beyond.

superman_shelf_02

I’ve waffled on whether or not to pursue the New Krypton era of stuff, as I just wasn’t overly fond of that…PARTICULARLY in retrospect (though I’ll take it over New 52!) I’ve got the first couple Superman/Batman volumes…though I’ll probably “upgrade” to the newer editions soon, replacing those two with the more compact, robust paperback with both under a single cover.

I’d also like to get the single-volume edition of All-Star Superman, and had been intending to get the single-volume edition of For Tomorrow…though that was rendered a bit moot by recently acquiring the Absolute edition for 75% off. Then again, that unfortunately does not fit properly on any of my shelves, and might be relegated to a “special” shelf with other books that just do not physically fit…which would leave these shelves able to make use of the paperback as well.

(Plus, hey…Superman.)

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Supergirl Premiere

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Walt

I was a half-hour or so behind…but otherwise, I basically watched this pilot “live.”

supergirl_01

Though I’d had no particular high-hopes when the show was announced, and stuck to my usual avoidance of trailers and news and stuff about development (failing to completely avoid some character names that would be in the show)…over the last several weeks I found myself interested.

Then curious.

Finally, just truly looking forward to this.

After all that…I saw several commercials…and was eagerly looking forward to the premiere.

supergirl_02

This was a pilot episode. So we were introduced to a lot of stuff, in a rather cheesy fashion at points. But it sets things up. And certainly left ME ready for the next episode.

We see Krypton, and “the origin” and such…we even see Superman (with creative lighting, though). We get Kara, her adoptive family (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman‘s Dean Cain is the father, Helen Slater of the 1980s Supergirl film is the mother). We see Kara in her private life, are introduced to the supporting cast–her boss, Cat Grant; “best friend” Winn, and office newcomer James “Jimmy” Olsen.

We learn some interesting stuff about her adoptive sister Alex, and meet Hank Henshaw, albeit one who does not pilot the doomed ship Excalibur.

Kara brings friends “into the fold,” setting the stage for stuff to come, while we see her perform super-feats and get some practice using her powers.

And like sister-show The Flash we get a teaser scene at the end to give a sort of “sub-plot” to be unraveled as the season progresses, with a character I wonder at my lack of familiarity even as I’m willing to roll with it.

And though it’s my initial reaction–and I’m typing this immediately post-viewing, to get some initial thoughts down before I can be influenced by others’ thoughts, reviews, discussions, etc.–I really very highly enjoyed this.

While I’m typically rather averse to gender-and-race-bending characters, given this is something wholly separate from the comics, we’ve already had numerous versions of Supergirl herself, and my understanding is that this technically will share a universe with CW shows Arrow and The Flash and there’s been effective character developments there that I totally overlook and enjoy…I’ll overlook it here.

James Olsen holds a lot of potential to me–getting away from the annoying down-on-his-luck dude-in-distress cub reporter and giving us an adult, cool, confident character with plenty of charisma in this episode alone. Hank Henshaw is a bit of a name-drop, but given the ties to “my” era of Super-comics, I’ll take it, and hope for some interesting developments there, given what the character was and became in the ’90s and early 2000s Superman comics.

I hope I keep up with this and don’t lose track of it. My enjoyment overall suggests this will be one of my initial watches each week, and at least for this first episode…this is truly an immediate favorite show for me, and a welcome guilty pleasure (even if it should be no surprise, given my history with Superman).

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Thanks, Valiant! (Superman and The Flash)

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Walt

Three months post-Legends of the Geomancer, and with having dumped Valiant entirely from my pull list, I’m finding myself buying other stuff as I continue to support the local comic shop–just not via Valiant‘s offerings.

superman_flash_oct_21_2015

This week, I snagged an old Superman vs. The Flash for cover price, and at another shop managed to find Flash #53 for the price of a standard contemporary comic. I was willing to pay $3.99 for it for the immediacy and specificity–I was seeking this specific single issue, hadn’t seen it in bargain bins, and it’s not like I often see the Flash in quarter bins anyway.

I wouldn’t be (able to be) buying the back issues and collected volumes I have been lately, had I not been "freed" from the weekly Valiant expenditure…though in some weeks I think I’m actually spending a bit MORE, but I’m "affording" stuff I would NOT be able to ON TOP OF buying Valiant.

So, in response to the ridiculousness that was Legends of the Geomancer and my finding other stuff that I’m truly ENJOYING more than just "tolerating" the $3.99 and turning a blind eye to variant covers and such…

I can only say thanks, Valiant.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Superman: Lois and Clark #1 [Review]

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Walt

superman_lois_and_clark_001Arrival, part 1

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Lee Weeks
Inker: Scott Hanna
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterers: A Larger World Studios’ Joshua Cozine & Troy Peteri
Cover: Lee Weeks and Brad Anderson
Assistant Editor: Andrew Marion
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Date: December 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

I’ve been looking forward to this, at least in concept. Superman…and Dan Jurgens. It can’t get much better than that, right?

I came into the thing expecting this to be “my” Superman sent back to help stop the Crisis and then picking up 5 or 9 or however many years later–with him, Lois, and their son (born in Convergence: Superman). Maybe I never thought through the details, maybe I was hung up on the notion of actually, finally getting “my” Superman (of sorts) back. The pre-Flashpoint Superman.

What I’ve found is that Superman apparently living on the New 52 Earth (or one very much like it), with things striking me as being pretty much the same as the “current” DC Comics Superman. Having realized the world was quite different, he stuck to the background, and even went “underground,” taking the name White, and operating strictly in secret, restraining himself from getting involved.

Since the New 52-ish world is similar in many ways, he’s–while operating in secret–sought to do what he can to prevent the rise of certain entities, prevent certain events from coming about. Meanwhile, Lois has written a number of books as an anonymous author, impacting the world as she can that way, while together they raise their son Jon.

When I think of Dan Jurgens on Superman, everything goes back to 1992’s Superman #75, The Death of Superman…particularly VISUALLY. It’s an unconscious thing, that issue, that story being such a key part of my childhood and early days in comics. As a result…it’s a bit jarring and such when my brain wants to see Superman one way visually and get something different.

Though he’s the writer, the art is actually be Lee Weeks, with a style distinctive from Jurgens‘ own. Getting past that, I like the art in this issue. Aside from “noticing” it’s not Jurgens‘ art, I really have no active/overt gripe with it. I never got pulled out of the story, out of the reading experience by any surprise or “weirdness” or such; there was no oddity to my eye with the depiction of the characters. And maybe it’s my earliest issues of Superman/Adventures of Superman–when I was introduced to the modern version of the character–but I really dig Superman/Clark with a beard.

Story-wise, this was a bit of an odd experience…having a lot of loaded pre-conceived expectations and notions as to what this should be, what I wanted to see, how I hoped the characters would be shown, etc. Given my personal “history” with Superman–the character being THE core of my comics-reading experience and the reason I was even first introduced TO comics–I freely admit that there’s really no way this was going to live up to my idealistic hopes.

What I got is mediocre compared to what I’d hoped for.

In and of itself? This was a solid issue. There’s some flashback/exposition that I’m not sure would make MUCH sense to someone just jumping onboard to “try” this, without familiarity with pre-Flashpoint continuity or having read Convergence and the Superman 2-parter from that. It provides just enough for me, to get around the lack of a textual “previously” page (and sets this up for the inevitable “graphic novel”) and to clarify that yes, this is the pre-Flashpoint Superman, yes, he went back and helped end the first Crisis, yes, he’s aware of this world’s other heroes, and despite reservations, he’s left them to their things and focused on protecting his family while helping in secret as he can.

We’re introduced to a couple of elements I don’t believe have been dealt with in the New 52 Superman stuff (or if they have, it’s not been in the limited handful of stuff I have personally read/been made aware of). Intergang, and Hank Henshaw. Lois is working on something with this world’s Intergang (a dangerous proposition)…while Clark seeks to make sure that Henshaw’s spacecraft does not meet the same disaster it did in the world HE remembers.

Of course, as always…the world is different, and there are other forces at play, and this is only the first issue of four or six or some such (though I’d love for it to be an ongoing series).

There’s not enough here to truly display the historical significance of this version of Superman/Clark and Lois, or of their having a child, being married, etc. The significance comes from being an “old” fan, to fully appreciate the unspoken, unmentioned context that gives plenty of weight to this. I can only assume that otherwise–to a newer reader–this is nothing more than an alternate, older version of Superman. That this Superman is now what the “Earth-2” Superman may have been to others in the silver age comics, or the “pre-Crisis” Superman to readers in the time I was getting into comics.

This book can surely be enjoyable for new readers and old alike, but I am on-board as the older fan/reader, and appreciating this bone I’ve been tossed, as SOMETHING for me that isn’t New 52 or some “out of continuity” one-off.

Filed under: 2015 posts, Convergence, DC, New 52, The, Superman: Lois and Clark | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Batman and Robin Eternal #1 [Review]

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Walt

batmanandrobineternal001Story: James Tynion IV & Scott Snyder
Script: James Tynion IV
Pencils: Tony Daniel
Inks: Sandu Florea
Colors: Tomeu Morey
Letters: Tom Napolitano
Cover: Tony Daniel, Sandu Florea, Tomeu Morey
Asst. Editor: Dave Wielgosz
Editor: Chris Conro
Group Editor: Mark Doyle
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Date: December 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Against otherwise better judgment, I decided to check this out. I’m sure it had plenty to do with being a #1–a chance to “check it out” from the start, before things get deep. Also that I got the impression the series is due to focus heavily on the previous Robins–Dick, Jason, and Tim–which is something I’m quite interested in (particularly Dick and Tim). I also have the hope of it being a lengthy but mostly contained story, and while I’m really not thrilled at the prospect of a WEEKLY $4 book, since it’s not like I’m really following anything else from DC and Marvel at the moment, I might be able to tolerate a weekly dose at the higher price.

We open with a flashback, then jump to the ‘present’ with Red Robin, Grayson, and Red Hood pursuing someone; a bit of an action sequence. Scene skips abound as we get a moment with the new Batman interacting with would-be Bat-protégé Harper Row, then more flashbacky stuff, and Grayson encounters a costumed figure that could have used lethal force but doesn’t; we’re introduced to this “Mother” as a concept, and “The Orphan,” and ultimately get a fairly disturbing “reveal” for the ending of the issue.

Aside from the concept, probably the first thing I noticed with the issue was the art. I tend to enjoy Daniel’s work, and even on a hit-or-miss basis, this one’s a hit for me. I really liked the look of the issue on the whole–including Dick and Jason looking rather similar (thanks to metatextual knowledge of Jason’s creation/introduction back in the ’80s). Really no complaints visually.

Story-wise I’m less-keen on stuff. Structurally, I definitely appreciate the issue. I liked that we’re dropped in on action right away (rather than some “talking heads” situation), and I like that we get a bit of an overview of the characters that seem poised to be focal points of this weekly series. It’s silly details that hung me up–stuff like “The Narrows” as a location I don’t ever remember in Gotham prior to the Nolan films or the Arkham games, as well as stuff from Dick’s flashback to his first “super-villain” tying to those films. I can’t quite put my finger on why that bugs me, but it’s there. Hardly a “dealbreaker,” though. I have more concern with Batman–Bruce’s–actions and potential motivation, perhaps just on a metatextual level.

Whatever the specifics…I enjoyed this on the whole. The issue also felt thick (and it is–I count 30 pages of story to the usual 20ish) and so the issue is much more worth its $3.99 cover price.

Seeing the third volume of the paperbacks for the previous Batman weekly–Batman Eternal–also out this week plants the seed in my mind all the more that I might prefer to just wait for collected volumes…particularly given how quickly I lost track of DC‘s weeklies last year. If I’m not going to get around to/keep up with weekly issues and binge-read anyway…might as well wait for my preferred format.

Still…a good first issue, working well as a “pilot” issue and getting me interested, confirming that yes, I am (myself, at least) interested in where this story goes, whatever the format. And as a first issue…this is well worth checking out if you’ve any particular interest in Batman’s sidekicks.

Filed under: 2015 posts, 2015 Reviews, Batman and Robin Eternal, DC, New 52, The | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of August 19, 2015

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Walt

As new comics go, this was a very small week, with only two new TMNT books:

weekly_haul_20150819a

I also hit the quarter-bins, where along with far more X-Men books than I’d had any intention of buying in one shot, I also snagged a couple of key Superman issues:

superman01s_and_aos424_quarterbin

Being what they are, and for the price, I wasn’t gonna leave these sitting in the bin. I have tentative plans for one of the Superman #1s and Adventures of Superman #424 for sure.

Hard to believe TMNT is about to hit its 50th issue. I’ve been keeping up with it since #1…

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Finishing the Story: A Redeeming Price on DC’s Convergence

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Walt

The other day, I very nearly walked out of the Mentor Half-Price Books empty-handed. Several collected volumes caught my attention on the shelf–but each was priced ABOVE cover price. A used books store, named HALF-PRICE Books, and they just randomly price books ABOVE cover price because it’s “out of print.” Yet, isn’t that the POINT? It’s a bunch of USED, old books, that probably are NOT just available walking into the local BAM, B&N, or even Walmart/Target.

But that’s more a topic for another post.

HPBhaul_convergence_0_to_8

This HPB location has a $1 default price, unless specifically priced with a higher price on a bag or bag/board.

BUT…they also had several “sets” in a box, and I flipped through, curious about what OUTRAGEOUS prices they’d have, if they’re already considering 25-cent comics $1.25+ individually.

I noticed this set, and pulled it out, VERY curious…and was rather surprised to see it priced ONLY $15. DC‘s Convergence…#0 and #1-8.

Three of the 9 issues were cover price $5 ($4.99). That’s $15 right there. The other 6 issues were $4 ($3.99), so that’s $24. $39 in cover price, for a series from only 3-4 months ago, complete set in one place…no hunting through multiple stores and paying full price all the while.

Less than half-price. Best yet, the full set CHEAPER than it would cost me to buy the single issues I was missing. And I held off on ordering the collected volumes, because the main thing I wanted was to actually finish reading the full “core” story…but if I’m getting that, I want it to match the other collected volumes…which means a much longer wait for the hardcover to be swapped out for a paperback edition.

Now, I”ll just get to read the story, and the heck with the Convergence collected volumes for awhile.

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of August 5th, 2015

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Walt

Though the photo looks contrary, this was my smallest week yet since dropping all Valiant several weeks ago.

weekly_haul_20150805a

The only thing on my pull list is the TMNT issue. The Age of Apocalypse mini is one that I’ll buy even though I’m primarily waiting for Secret Wars to make its way to Marvel‘s Digital Comics Unlimited.

The Eclipso: The Darkness Within issue is from the quarter bin, and really only caught my eye due to being one of the issues with the plastic 3-D diamon shard…a nifty artifact of the ’90s.

The Savage Dragon, the Strangers in Paradise, and Ultimate Spider-Man tpbs were in a 90% off bin…combined, the three were still cheaper than a contemporary single issue!

Finally, the Nightwing volume. This has the original 4-issue mini-series and then the first 8 issues of the ongoing (sadly, the Return of Alfred issue is not included). While I’d prefer to get something like this for a discount, I’m so completely fed up with Amazon right now that they’re not even a consideration. Plus, lacking Valiant, I wanted to get something I wouldn’t otherwise, and continue to support the LCS, so I bought this volume. 12 issues’ content for roughly original cover price, even a bit cheaper…nto bad at all.

I’m looking forward to the Robin volumes like this, and have had my eye on the Spectre ones as well as Saga of the Swamp Thing. These hit a sweet spot of having quite a number of issues while holding to a $20 price point. Sure, tax makes ’em a bit more, but to mentally settle at “$20” works, where even “$21” seems a lot steeper to me.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Future Looking More Like the Past

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Walt

I have yet to pay more than $10 (EVER) for a single non-collected-edition comic. And the way I’m loving this Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, am not feeling like I’m missing anything passing on basically anything new that DC is putting out, am more than content to get Image stuff as collected volumes (but only going beyond vol. 1 on a select few titles) and have recently dropped Valiant from my pulls…

It’s looking like there might be a ‘future’ for me in the past, in back issues.

back_issues_detective_575

Though it’s obviously beat-up and hardly in great condition, I had no problem at all paying $3 for Detective Comics [vol. 1] #575 over the weekend. The issue is over 25 years old, is a “key” issue that I am missing from my personal post-Crisis run of Batman stuff…and that $3 is no worse than buying some new DC issue that I can make up for in a $1 bin later this year or sometime next year at some kind of convention if it matters.

$3 is $1 cheaper than buying the cheapest Valiant comic and virtually any contemporary Marvel comic.

I don’t see rushing out and into buying stacks and stacks of priced back issues like this. But I certainly can see not being opposed to buying issues from this era for $4 and under just on the justification that it’s not costing any more than buying contemporary issues.

But it’ll be better, because I’m actually interested in stuff from the mid-’80s into the ’90s…far more than I am in current prices and the current direction(s) that…certain publishers…are going in.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Random/Arbitrary Super-Vinyl

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Walt

Browsing a local Barnes & Noble recently, I found myself perusing a clearance table…and noticed a couple of baskets of smaller items under the table. Amongst those, I found this:

superman_vinyl_cubed

Now, I sure as heck wouldn’t have paid full price for this thing…but at half-off, it was the price of a comic book, and it’s Superman! so it had my attention.

My first thought was size, and how tiny this is (depending on the size of your screen, the photo is probably actually larger-than-life). But then, I have a small display cabinet with a shelf of mini-characters like this, and figured this’d make a nice addition to it.

So I bought it, and opened it, and I’m not too impressed–I’d thought the whole thing–feet, arms, torso, head, and cape–were all magnets to be swappable, but it seems this is only a 3-piece unit: feet, torso with arms and cape, and head.

Still, I can’t be all that disappointed…it’s not like I have others in this line or planned to get any more, or to do any of the part-swapping.

My $4ish was a bit more than I’d say this is worth…but if you like any of the characters you find in the line, they’re cutesy and solid enough, whatever you might pay is on you.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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