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The Weekly Haul: Week of January 27, 2021

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Another week, another batch of comics. A sorta diverse week publisher-wise…while wholly lacking in any DC product!

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First is the new issue of Spawn…#314. I believe the next issue will mark 60 issues–nearly 1/5 of the entire series–that I’ve been buying the monthly issues! I was NEARLY tempted into buying a variant for this issue–as an additional piece–but couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. I’m happy to support the $2.99 price point–which is what helped KEEP me in 5 years ago once the cover of #256 drew my attention. But I’d rather have a secondary title at $2.99 to support than variants.

I have to blame Chris Sheehan (Chris is on Infinite Earths / X-Lapsed) for my snagging this issue of Deadpool–#10. And that little shark character. I suppose it helps that this is "only" #10, and I believe the final issue of this iteration of the title, so a little bit of blah/laissez-faire or whatever. Even as a $4.99 issue, I’m apparently going a bit "soft" on the price point for certain issues.

Then the latest Amazing Spider-Man, which I think I’ve pretty well had my "current-year/current-week" Spider-Man itch scratched the last few weeks. This is a frequently-shipping title and I’m not ENJOYING it AS a title the way I would want, so I’m ready to bail…I might determine the immediacy after I’ve read this one, though.

Then we have the third issue of the second iteration of a "color classics" Usagi Yojimbo. I think I even missed an issue or two of the main series, and not sure if I got around to READING any issues past the main IDW Usagi Yojimbo title’s second issue. I see it–sort of–like a companion title to TMNT, but I’m waffling on whether to stay with it or catch back up or what. I don’t want a "mini-series" for every single storyline…I’d much rather see color classic volumes at least matching the original publishing runs–sure, do new #1s when it gets to what was originally published by Mirage, and then when the title went to Dark Horse–but not for each 6-7-issue arc!

A friend had mentioned Kaiju Score recently-ish and I came across the first two issues, so noticing that #3 was out this week, I went ahead and bought it. I’m not keen on its $4.99 price point…but as I continue to bristle at a lot of DC stuff and looking to walk away from that publisher, I suppose I’m wanting to find something else to follow…or at least check out titles I maybe wouldn’t pay attention to otherwise.

I bought the previous issue of Wolverine–#8 (but apparently the 350th issue if you add up alllll the different volumes of the series over the years). And that was gonna be IT. But I’m sort of curious about what the cover depicts–an auction apparently for Wolverine’s hand (including claws!) being auctioned. Seems to me that should be impossible, knowing firstly that there’s been no hype over the character being permanently maimed (like losing the hand Age of Apocalypse-style) and secondly that the adamantium should prevent this. And perhaps thirdly, some nostalgia kicking in and there’s something more interesting to this iteration of the title to me now than some earlier volumes years back.

And finally, as a possible Bought it For the Cover candidate, seeing two issues of apparently the same title caught my eye. Heroineburgh. (Though in the moment I had a bit of a hard time making out the actual title with the coloring of the logo on the cover of the first issue). Some design issues (to my eye) there, but whatever. I flipped briefly through and it didn’t look horrible. Then I noticed a name on the cover and realized that this title’s something truly indy–and figured it was something hand-distributed by a creator (with the issues signed as a ‘bonus’) and decided to give it a shot, cuz hey…why not? And if I’m gonna be grumpy at "the big guys" and their stuff, might as well check out some stuff like this. What little research I did after the fact to see what I could find out about it did not impress me–this is apparently comic adventures bridging seasons of some YouTube video series, so I already wonder (not following nor having seen or heard of said video series) how much the story’ll hit me. Family ties with Pittsburgh, and it’s NOT New York or some other common comics-city, so…we’ll see.

And this week’s Comic Shop News features The Marvels with a pretty picture and I’m reminded that while I like some of the concepts and such the last couple years with stuff recognizing the 25th anniversary a year or two back of the original Marvels series, it just seems like it’s a branding that’s being highly diluted and stretched way too thin for me (all the more with having been sucked in a bit with Marvels X thinking that to be more X-based when it was a prequel to Earth X!).

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Along with randomly picking up the Heroineburgh issues, I checked back-issue bins for Dragonlance. I didn’t find any, but being in the generic "D" section gave me Dungeons and Dragons, which in this case was the distant "cousin" of what I was looking for, and I found a #1 for some mini-series and decided to grab it.

And while not part of the actual weekly haul, a rigid cardboard mailer had arrived just before I went to the comic shop, and opening that revealed the Serpent’s Eye…I mean Birthright…issue I’d ordered from some Amazon seller a bit over a week ago.

So these’ll go in the TSR comics collection (though I doubt I’ll go far on IDW D&D…time will tell in the end).


With this post, I think that’s 4 or 5 weeks in a row now hitting each week’s haul. Also looks like this is the 9th post out of 10 weekdays…a post rate I haven’t had in ages.

Let’s hope that 2021 doesn’t blow up like 2020 did after I was getting on track like this last year!

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Deadpool on DVD (and Blu-Ray, and Digital, and postcards…)

So, Deadpool hit home media this week.

No, I do not count the “early” release digital-only from a few weeks back.

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And after looking online to see if there were any fun exclusives, I went with Target. They have bonus postcards…and this edition was “on sale” to match the “regular get it at whatever retailer with no exclusives” edition’s pricing.

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Plenty of extras, too, so I didn’t even bother to consider/look at the DVD-only edition (especially for the First Week On Sale pricing being so similar!).

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As far as I can tell, outside of the “bonus” postcards, the only difference in Target‘s edition is the red plastic case instead of blue. And I’m totally ok with that!

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The postcards included seem genuine/usable…and I’m actually half considering putting some to use.

…Or they might just stay in the case and be forgotten about. But since I paid the same for this ad I would have for one without ’em…not a big deal either way.

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Still…very glad for the “combo edition” that certain publishers seem wholly opposed to anymore…especially for the price, if not principle.

Next step is actually sitting down and (re)watching the film…and certainly the extras!

New Year, New Toys…

I’m a sucker for certain toys, and characters…and certainly for formats, among a number of other factors.

Coming across a display of Deadpool plushies in Target recently, I couldn’t pass them up. I already have the oversized Funko Pop plush for Deadpool, so just the “standard costume” wasn’t enough…I also snagged the Uncanny X-Force one as well.

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These are a great size–small without being tiny, but large enough to plop where-ever and not lose them.

There were a couple other versions–the Blue and Gold from when he decided to join the X-Men, and what looked like an inversion of that costume as well (more gold than blue). I’m happy with these two, though I’ll be interested in what other merchandise will be out for the upcoming film, given general action figure issues with the whole Disney-Fox thing.

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I managed to hunt down the Extreme Heroclix Superman. This has the New 52 design that I’ve accepted as being pretty much standard now and what’s being pushed. While I no longer care for the game, I liked the sculpt, and have long appreciated the oversized Heroclix things as they make nice “statues” at a cost far under that of actual statues.

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While checking out the Batman v Superman stuff lately, I found these boxes of Mighty Minis–blind-pack miniatures. The ones I’ve seen are a mix of Batman v. Superman specific and Batman Unlimited (more comic booky than movie-based). I was going to pass on them until I spotted the Robin figure on a pack. It looks like the Batman Unlimited packs have Batman Beyond, Robin, Cyborg, Green Arrow, Flash, and Batman; and I don’t know if the package’s blacked-out silhouette image is to indicate un-advertised “chase” figures, or that when you buy the packet you don’t actually know which figure you’re buying.

I’d be interested yet in Batman Beyond and Flash, and wouldn’t mind Batman.

The Batman v Superman packs look to have Superman, a gold Superman, a black-suited Superman, Armored Batman, and green-gauntlet Batman. at this point I’d only want the regular Superman, so if I buy any more of these packs, I’ll probably go for the Batman Unlimited ones (though I primarily just wanted Robin, so I’m happy as-is).

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The packs are $2.99, which is rather steep for any bulk purchasing. As a random quick addition to a cart of groceries, it’s not bad, and I like the figures. They’re not particularly articulated, but look good.

And Robin (Tim Drake) is one of my absolute favorite comic characters (the version that was around til 2011 anyway), so I’m all for Robin figures…

The Weekly Haul – Week of July 29th, 2015

This proved to be a pretty big week for me…two Marvels and an IDW.

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I completely forgot about the Deadpool book, and figured I’d stay on it–not sure if it’s 4 or 5 issues, but I’m enjoying it and opted not to wait for it to hit Marvel Unlimited next year. And X-Men ’92 is just nothing but awesome on all sorts of levels. TMNT is TMNT, and a “given” for me.

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Though I usually stick to ’90s stuff through present, I delved a little further back with some back issues this week. Between quarter bins and some $1 bins, I snagged a handful of older comics that happened to appeal to me tonight.

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These Captain America volumes were already heavily discounted…but because they’re also rather beat-up–certainly not “brand-new” condition–the shop owner cut the price on both in half. So both volumes combined wound up costing me as much as three Marvel single issues.

So, definitely quite a haul for the week. Next week looks like it’ll be the first post-Valiant week where I’m not expecting anything one-off that’s been pre-ordered, where I’d been expecting these volumes as well as several I showed off last week.

For the difference, I’ll probably raid the back-issue bins…see if I can find one of the un-reprinted Silver Surfer issues from the run-up to 1991’s Infinity Gauntlet, or maybe a random Silver Age Superman or such…or browse the racks for an Image #1 or check the shelves for an Image vol. 1 paperback. Time will certainly tell!

Weekend Acquisitions – Fabrikations and Books

Over the weekend, I finally picked up the two Fabrikations figures I’ve been seeing around but hadn’t actually pulled the trigger on buying. As I’m realizing I have less and less interest in the "standard size" Pops, and do not care for the bobblehead nature of the Marvel and Star Wars Pops, these NOT being bobbleheads combined with their larger size make them all the more appealing.

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I also finally got I Was the Cat, which I’ve been "interested in" since last August. Found the Bone "tribute edition" hardcover at a Half-Price Books; Amulet at Barnes & Noble, and the Batman comic at a different Half-Price Books.

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Quite an expensive "haul," but definitely some cool stuff. I was fairly certain I already have this one issue of the four-part Death in the Family story, but this one is in better condition…and I honestly couldn’t remember 100% if it was the first issue or this one that I already had. For $4 (the price of a contemporary single-issue), I figured it was worth buying.

Thankfully, the weekend trip that resulted in finding all this stuff is a rare happening!

Axis Checklist – Act One: The Red Supremacy

The Avengers & X-Men must unite to stop Red Skull, the greatest evil the Marvel Universe has ever known!

October 2014
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #1
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #2
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #3

Axis Tie-Ins
All-New X-Factor #15
Axis: Carnage #1 (of 3)
Axis: Hobgoblin #1 (of 3)
Axis: Revolutions #1 (of 4)
Deadpool #36
Loki: Agent of Asgard #7
Magneto #11
Uncanny Avengers #25

Source: Promotional Postcard (pictured below)

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Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 20

This page of cards is a bit more interesting looking back, as being a bit more relevant to comics I was reading at the time, or within a couple years of this set.

Ghost Rider vs. Blaze, Hulk vs. Hulk, Spider-Man and Cardiac, Punisher and Ghost Rider, Wolverine and Omega Red, Cable and Deadpool all grab my attention just by concept. Hulk vs. X-Factor grabs my attention now due to knowing both were being written by Peter David at the time…though that was something I had not yet come to notice in 1993. At the time, other than perhaps the Superman books’ writers and Alex Ross on Marvels, I really didn’t have much concept of specific writers and artists.

In 2013 with the internet and such, it seems rather silly to have a checklist card, when one could likely very easily look up a “checklist” online for what cards exist. Back in ’93, though, this was an extremely valuable resource for knowing how many cards there were and what they were, in the holes in my collection. The checklist card was–outside of seeing cards for sale at the comic shop–the only real means of seeing the set as a whole.

Nowadays I would certainly feel a certain bit of disconcertment over having a “wasted slot” in a card pack taken up by a checklist.

Continue reading

Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 4

This is one “full” image that doesn’t really fork for me as a whole…it’s more like a couple images crammed together…probably because of Deadpool, Cannonball, and Slayback being in the air  and not looking like they have any context (such as rooftops).

That said, outside of Slayback, I’d consider myself pretty familiar with the other characters to varying degrees. I got to know Cannonball and Shatterstar in old X-Force comics, and was aware of Sabretooth and Apocalypse from the X-Men cartoon series. I knew OF Cable and Stryfe and Deadpool thanks to my friend (I remember him having collected the X-Cutioner’s Song arc as it came out…something I never collected/read until quite a few years later in 2005/2006!).

Of course, Deadpool’s gone from what I remember as a relatively popular “minor” character to being one of “THE” characters in the Marvel Universe; especially a few years ago when he was carrying something like 3-4 ongoing series!

I haven’t seen much of Sabretooth that I can think of lately; ditto Stryfe. Mr. Sinister has been through some changes, and I recall seeing his newest incarnation(s) last year in AvX. Apocalypse, too, has been through some changes, and last I recall of him offhand was Kid Apocalypse, probably also while reading tie-ins to AvX.

And it’s quite interesting to see the evolution of Cable through the years–from typical ’90s oversized body, shoulderpads and gigantic guns to more rounded/developed character in recent years, into his current role with a new X-Force.

Continue reading

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #1 [Review]


Full review posted to cxPulp.com
.

Story: 3/5
Art: 2.5/5
Overall: 3/5

Uncanny X-Force #11 [Review]

Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5