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The Weekly Haul: Week of March 10, 2021

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Walt

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And here we are…this week marks one week since the company I work for immediately transitioned to 100% remote work. That didn’t affect me too much as I was already working 100% remotely. But it was also only a week ahead of what felt like stuff hitting all the more a week later…and then the shutdowns catching up to the comics world.

And of course…DC. In their (Or rather, AT&T‘s) rush to do stuff, dropping Diamond and all the other shenanigans of stuff…well, look at this image below. NO DC. And of the 8 issues this week…7 of them are Marvel!

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This week starts with MY first new X-book #1 with the obvious trade dress/branding of the Dawn of X/Reign of X stuff since 2019’s X-Men #1…Children of the Atom #1. Not sure what to expect from the title, but as I’m currently all in mostly all-in on these I suppose I’ll find out. And being a #1 maybe I’ll find out sooner than some other stuff. Or save it for when I catch up as I’m (as of this typing) currently plugging through the #4s of Dawn of X wave 1.

X-Factor #8 adds to the X-stuff for the week, and is my first new issue of that title since diving back onto the family of titles!

Amazing Spider-Man #61 boasts of a new costume, and the cover reminds me a bit of one of the Complete Clone Saga Epic tpbs’ cover.

While his latest ongoing series (vol. 8? vol. 9?) just ended…we get a one-shot special issue celebrating Deadpool’s 30th anniversary/birthday in Deadpool Nerdy 30 #1. While–like Gambit and Cable–I missed the character’s actual first appearing, I came in only a couple years after…and have been around and aware of the character for a good 28 or so years of this 30!

Next up, we have TMNT Jennika II #5 (of 5? of 6???). Defffffinitely buying this for the sake of TMNT completion…I miss having other minis telling side-stories and such that dealt with multiple characters or other characters. But with the 3-issue 2020 mini and now this, in less than 2 years as a turtle, Jennika the character has gotten more solo-titled issues than any of the other turtles have in 37 years! (Each had a one-issue micro-series from Mirage; I believe I recall each having a 4-issue series from Mirage in the early-2000s under; and each hada one-issue micro-series early in IDW‘s tenure and then each had one-shots leading up to #100. So that’s 7 each in 37 years while Jennika’s already got 8 and maybe a 9th in a few weeks in only a little over one year…)

Wolverine: Black, White & Blood #4 is newly out this week…and I got taken in by nostalgia over the logo, and decided to go ahead and get it, as well as back-issues #s 2 & 3…which leaves only #1 to hunt down (perhaps this weekend?). I suppose DC has pushed me so far that I’m now forgiving and embracing stuff from Marvel that I shouldn’t (look at all these $4.99 books!) but I think for the moment, the X-stuff is approaching TMNT territory where I’ll give a pass that I won’t just broadly give to "everything."

But time will tell with the X-stuff. I’m not sure what’s up next week, but I think the week after is the first Marvel-published Aliens issue. And then the Omnibus in April or so. Still have to decide if I actually want that or not, given my aversion the last couple years TO Omnibus volumes over smaller, more manageable volumes. That being said…Aliens is probably more likely to get "Exception Status" than a broad pass to every X-title.

Who knows?

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The Weekly Haul: Week of March 03, 2021

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Walt

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Here we are with another medium-ish week! However, this week has a lot of first issues to it, with little guarantee of any #2s (for me). But time will tell!

Let’s get into the week’s books!

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Fire Power #9 probably marks the longest I’ve stayed with a non-The Walking Dead Kirkman title in one go. While my interest isn’t nearly as high or hyped as it was for the first several issues, I’m still enjoying the series enough and determined to keep up for awhile just on principle of it being self-contained and not DC.

Given the sheer hype of Peach Momoko and the absolutely ridiculous/crazy/stupid speculation and such rampant in modern/current comics, I "speculated" myself that I’d better snag the first issue just to be ABLE TO at cover price. I do NOT get what the hype is all about for this creator, and while I’m pretty much all-in on the Hickman-led X-books for present…that does NOT (yet) include ALL related mini-series…so as I type this I also feel a little foolish regarding this Peach Momoko Demon Days X-Men book. C’est la vie, I guess.

Despite determining to bail on DC post-Future State and more pointedly on Batman due to the jacked-up $4.99 price and a "backup" feature continued in Detective Comics…for some reason, I’ve been a sucker for Swamp Thing for…heck, I guess it’s been about a decade now (since that Search for Swamp Thing mini-series back in 2011 or so). So I couldn’t quite force myself to not buy this latest iteration #1. Of course, if I opt to (as is likely) pass on #2…that’s probably gonna be the next huuuuuge "key" book for something. (You read it here first, everyone! I’m even scooping Bleeding Cool!)

Hellions #10…aka Fallen Angels #16? Whatever the case…this one threw me a bit by its cover. It not only has a "corner box" which is quite abnormal for a modern Marvel…but even has a faux UPC box with an image of Sinister in the style of direct market editions of many ’90s books. As of this typing I’m nearing the end of the #4s in the initial Dawn of X stuff, so still quite a bit of reading to get caught up totally. But I’m working on it!

DC‘s Infinite Frontier #0 is something I was NOT going to buy. But I think I changed my mind figuring there MIGHT be something to it, something worth reading…and, it WAS their Rebirth one-shot that–a little less than five years ago–prompted me to go all-in on the main DC Universe line for over a year! They’ve pi…ugh…squandered away all goodwill bought with that issue, really, but I’m nothing if not a glutton for punishment.

Walking Dead Deluxe is already at its 10th issue. Only two issues left to complete the second arc. This issue also marks the 1/3 point to where I "discovered" the title for myself way back when, as my getting-onboard-point was the release of the 5th TPB (to issue 30) and then waiting several months for the next arc to conclude to jump into the single issues with #37.

Now we come to three more new #1s…maybe soon I’ll look back and tally up how many #1s I’ve "tried" in the last few weeks…and see how many have "stuck."

Nocrterra grabbed my attention somehow…maybe a well-placed mention on League of Comic Geeks, maybe something else; maybe that it looked to be a small week. But I’d messaged ahead to have a copy held, committing myself to this first issue. As I was checking out, we discussed that it looked like classic Image; and I remarked that the character on the cover looks a bit like Magik from the X-books. We’ll see once I get it read.

Undone by Blood: The Other Side of Eden #1 caught my eye primarily for being a #1, and the Afteshock logo. I’m rather appalled at myself for all the $4.99 comics I’m buying lately, but for the higher paper quality/cover stock it at least feels a BIT more worth it…as well as being a comic from a publisher that does NOT have a huge international corporation behind it.

I feel like Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters has been overhyped a bit…but it ALSO looks to me like something typical for Boom, which I’ve avoided buying anything/everything for over half a decade now over their Power Rangers #0 stunt. However…this is Oni Press. So…seeing one copy on the shelf and it NOT being a variant, I decided to REWARD it specifically for NOT being published by Boom.

And thus another Wednesday’s haul accounted for.

Nothing really that I was singularly looking forward to or excited about (I’m definitely looking forward to Radiant Black #2 and curious about Children of the Atom #1 next week or so). Had I truly "stuck to my guns" so to speak, this week might’ve been Fire Power, Hellions, and Walking Dead Deluxe…a mere 3 issues. Hardly worth rushing to the shop over.

I also specifically passed on Brzrkr (or however it’s spelled) from Boom because as said above…I refuse to (and have for almost 62 months now) buy any single issues from Boom. I’d obviously be part of their target audience for that book, but that IS something I’m sticking to my guns on. No. Boom. Single. Issues. Period. And really, nothing from them at all, if I’m being honest.

Looking like there’s a local one-day "dealer room" show coming up this weekend–masks and temperature-taking required of course–that I’m leaning toward going to. Partly to hunt some grails, partly to hunt more X-stuff, partly just to "do" something…anything…semi-social.

And "retail therapy" and all that.

We’ll see how it goes!

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Another Example of the ’90s Doing Gimmicky Covers Better: Avengers #s 379-382

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Walt

While I don’t have sources to cite/link offhand, nor do I feel like digging for any…I can still say that I frequently "hear" (read) the notion that "the ’90s" were SOOOOO horrible with VARIANT COVERS. Or the comparison made of modern "variants" and ’90s’ covers and such.

I make a huuuuuge distinction, though. For as much as the ’90s are known for all sorts of gimmicks and shiny foil holographic die-cut bullet-shot covers…even the most egregious and "aggressive" such programs did not even touch every single issue of any single series. And for as frequent as they appeared, they were NOT so incredibly prevalent as to be able to suggest that every single issue of every single title from every single publisher every single month had some gimmick!

In the ’90s, typically even IF there was some gimmick cover…it was either simply a "gimmick cover" or it was a SINGLE variant…more a different EDITION with one version being a "newsstand" edition and the gimmicked one being the "Collector’s" edition or such.

(I lay out a bunch of such covers in a post from early 2020 displaying the "era of excess" with Super-Blog Team-Up)

ANYway….

I recently came across a 4-issue block of the original Avengers title…issues 379-382. All were billed as a "double feature" with a Giant Man feature as a "flip book."

That is…you had the main/regular issue…but if you flipped it over, the back was another cover image, and you’d read from that side like the other and it’d be like reading two comics, but they’re a single unit!

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So, what really caught my eye with the issues is that the flip-cover is a 4-part image….when you put all four together you get a larger singular image. Fitting both for it being a GIANT image as well as being a "fun" gimmick if you happen(ed) to get all four issues!

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Nowadays…these would absolutely be VARIANT covers. There’d be NO "flipbook" aspect–it’d just be extra-sized with a "backup" feature, and multiple variants covers per issue, with ONE being this.

Or even more egregiously…I would NOT put it past modern Marvel to have all four of these be variants on the SAME ISSUE, incentivising the purchase of no less than four copies of the exact same issue…and they’d do this for multiple characters or costumes. Getting one to buy 16+ comics for a four-issue story.

But back in the ’90s? The price of the given issue was increased fairly proportionately to the increase in content, with the added bonus of the flip-book to let it "feel" even more like a bonus/extra issue, and all that.

Which–if one is already paying an extra price for an issue at all is far better than chasing variants and multiple variants PER extra-sized & extra-priced issue.

These particular copies of the issues?

I paid $1 for the 4-parter. 25 cents per issue…and incidentally, 12.5 cents per cover!

I would gladly welcome back the ’90s and the ’90s sort of covers over this modern deluge of variants. And heck…at least the way MY memories are…it’d even be preferable to the MODERN speculation bubble that’s been bubbling up more and more the last several years, too!

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The Weekly Haul: Week of February 24, 2021

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Walt

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Well…

This wound up being a huge week! So huge that I passed on a book I’d been considering–the Spawn Compendium. As-is I spent significantly more than I’d planned, for NOT having any collected volumes in the mix!

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New issue of Spawn–#315–putting us deeper into the 300+ territory. And if I’m recalling correctly, starting with #256…this puts me 60 issues (or 5 years, half-a-decade, more than 1/6 of the entire existence of the book) deep myself!

Crossover #4 puts us into the back-half of the mini-series (at least, I assume it’s a 6-issue mini-series as most such Image books seem to be?!?).

Amazing Spider-Man #60 marks 7 issues I’ve been along for the ride. This should be the 3rd chapter of this particular arc…and it was a combination of the cover in solicitation or preview somewhere and an issue being in my pulls recently that I decided to at least go through to this issue to check things out. Though I’m already more than tired of the Kindred character and tone and not entirely sure what I’m reading in terms of issue-to-issue stuff.

Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar #5 marks the conclusion of this mini-series, I believe. I hope. I’d snagged the first issue to try; then the 2nd-3rd when I realized two more were out in case I liked the first issue enough…and then #4 and now 5 to complete the series/story. Still have to read the issues. And probably need to stay OUT of such minis…depending on if/how Marvel and/or Games Workshop decide to (allow) stuff like this to be collected.

A couple of X-books this week in Wolverine #10, and X-Men #18. These get to be added to "the stack" for eventual reading once I catch up one way or the other–from the #2s in the first wave of Dawn of X or scooting forward from the X of Swords crossover.

Usagi Yojimbo: The Wanderer’s Road #4 marks 4 issues into the next arc of the classic iteration of the character, colorized here.

Kaiju Score benefits from a friend’s recommendation–this is now the 4th issue I’ve bought, with #s 1-3 still in the to-be-read pile. And I’m guessing this will be a 5-6-issue mini-series.

And then–while I’ve no real intention of sticking with DC into its new initiative (Infinite Frontier, is it? I’m blanking at the moment of typing and don’t feel like Googling it)–I’d picked up several of the other giant-size specials out of Death Metal so figured why not get this Generations Forged? Having bought those others, and DC being what it’s been of late, not keen on their collected volumes nor in double-dipping for already-graphic-novel-ish squarebound/title-on-the-spine issues…and my OCD would demand this eventually anyway. Plus…Dan Jurgens was a name I saw with it, so…yeah.

Whew…nine issues!

…What?

Nope, we’re not done yet!

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Stray Dogs #1 appealed to me (apparently) in browsing new comics for the week on League of Comic Geeks, so I’d clicked to have it appear in the "checklist" that gets emailed to me every Tuesday/Wednesday. And since the issue was available with the actual/main/"A"/standard/NON-variant cover…I snagged it. To add to the ever-growing pile of stuff yet-to-be-read and all that. Something I read about it, though made it sound different and interesting, and something I’d enjoy, so time will tell!

Nuclear Family #1 simply caught my attention sitting there, and the cover showing apparently an entire family…well, I’ll check it out. Not keen on the $4.99 price point, but already spending $4.99+ on other issues and it already being a huge week, I figured what’s another few dollars? And it’s at least for a comic from a publisher that’s perhaps a bit more warranted to have $4.99 issues–cardstock-ish covers, and NOT owned by Disney nor AT&T. So another issue that I have to shrug at, toss on the pile, and who knows.

And that wraps up another week’s haul. Well, I also bought another "art box" of the Jim Lee X-Men (1991) #1 art. (A shortbox featuring the cover of the deluxe edition). Whether I’ll add it in with shuffling my ’90s X-stuff, or more likely use it to house my Dawn of X to present X-stuff…I dig it. Perhaps I’ll look into an actual Dawn of X or see if there was a House of X/Powers of X such box.

Here’s hoping next week isn’t nearly as huge!

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Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

X-Men Legends #1 [Review]

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Walt

xmen_legends_001The Burning Blood Part One: Shattered Crystal, Scattered Dreams

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Brett Booth
Inker: Adelso Corona
Colorist: Guru-EFX
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Assistant Editor: Lauren Amaro
Editor: Mark Basso
X-Men Senior Editor: Jordan D. White
Cover Date: April 2021
Cover Price: $4.99

Possibly my earliest conscious memories of X-Men comics are the X-Cutioner’s Song event/crossover issues polybagged with a trading card…because a friend was collecting that crossover. It didn’t mean anything to me at the time, personally…though I wasn’t too far behind getting in thanks to the then-new XTAS, and Fatal Attractions event/crossover. There’s still the nostalgia for me for those ranges of issues as such. Two of the earliest issues I can remember owning for myself are Uncanny X-Men #300, and X-Men #24. I do NOT remember "Adam X" nor much of anything about a "third Summers brother" at the time despite whatever issues I was reading…anything I DID know or think surely came from trading cards and/or Wizard Magazine. When Brubaker got to tackle the definitive answer to the question of that brother in 2005’s Deadly Genesis it also didn’t mean too terribly much to me for not being all that invested in there being or who was "the third Summers brother."

Anyway…X-Men Legends #1:

We open on Erik the Red directing his minions–the Crystal Claws–to attack Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska. After much destruction and death, they find the people they’re after: Philip and Deborah Summers. The scene then shifts to find Cyclops and Havok–Scott and Alex Summers–back to back opposing a different wave of these Crystal Claw folks. Once victorious, they seek out Xavier for answers, given his relationship with a certain Shi’Ar. Before they get any, the brothers are called to Alaska where they learn of their grandparents’ kidnapping and ransom. The scene changes again to some flashbacky stuff of the childhood of a character calling himself Adam. He’s meditating in a field and when confronted, gets to show off his abilities with throwing weapons by killing a snake. Cable shows up and talks before giving Adam’s location to the Summers Brothers. While Adam deals with more memories, he finds himself set upon by Hepzibah and Raza of the Starjammers. Their fight is interrupted by Cyclops and Havok, and Adam fights them as well. When the three find themselves at a questionable stalemate, a ship decloaks to reveal Corsair–father of Cyclops and Havok. While he notes the confusion on their faces, Corsair reveals that he knows more than they do, and fires his weapon at them. To Be Continued…

There’s something refreshing and yet challenging about this issue. It’s refreshing to have an issue that has so much packed into it…rather than the decompressed, semi-cinematic, un-captioned, un-narrated, dialogue-less nature of too many modern comics. It’s refreshing to have a first issue start out right into action, rather than being all setup for the next five issues or so, as a mere 1/6th of a singular story. It’s refreshing to have editor’s notes and footnotes. And it’s darned refreshing to this fan of ’90s comics and ’90s X-Men to see Cyclops, Havok, and Xavier in their early-’90s look, not to mention an adult/older Cable, and various other touches that feel very reminiscent of the ’90s. It’s a bit challenging, however, coming 26-27 years after the comics it’s meant to fit around, and though familiar with the general time-frame, I’m not steeped enough in conscious memory of 1994 continuity, "Adam X," and the finer details of that. I don’t feel like I knew Erik the Red prior to Uncanny X-Men #350 in 1998 or so, and I’ve never been a huge fan of the Shi’Ar and such. I’ve also been conditioned especially over the past 20+ years to the decompressed format of modern comics, so found it a bit jarring to have so much going on in this single issue, jumping all over the place. For a new-in-2021-comic, it feels very out of place and a bit choppy/clunky.

The art team manages to capture a ’90s feel in addition to simply depicting the consistency of a ’90s-era "house style" of the characters’ costumes and such. It’s by no means a perfect fit, as it is still a comic actually published in 2021 with seemingly contemporary art, carrying with it a modern aesthetic I can’t quite put to words. The visuals are clearly intended to evoke the colorful, dynamic, over-the-top-ish frenetic action that I, at least, tend to associate by reputation with ’90s comics. This isn’t Jim Lee art by any means, but I liked it and found it rather enjoyable, particularly in the moment as I read this issue. At the minimum, the visual style helps the issue to show us this is a ’90s-era-style story, rather than just telling us the fact.

Nicieza‘s name was a huge selling point for me–he was one of the main X-writers when I first got into the X-Men in 1993 or so. Getting a new story from him that’s meant to fit right into existing continuity and that is not further-ballooning out modern elements was extremely appealing to me. I mentioned earlier that this issue felt very out of place and choppy/clunky. That’s in the context of being a comic published in 2021, based on modern 2021 comics tropes, generalities, and conditioning over much of the past several decades to the fairly strict, rigid decompression of every 6 issues being a single story, rather than having multiple core stories and numerous plot threads woven across 6 issues. The Summers brothers’ interactions; the quick shift to Xavier for information, the convenience of plot elements falling into place within pages…it worked for me.

If this was a modern issue, I’d expect a multi-page sequence of a mysterious ship approaching a planet that turns out to be Earth followed by multiple pages of attack and double-page spread(s) of the devastation left behind and a cliffhanger of two people with the surname SUMMERS being found. Instead, that’s just several pages’ prologue. In that regard, this issue could pretty easily–by modern standards–be broken out into 3-4 issues. At 30 pages of story in a $4.99 comic…it (grudgingly) actually seems worth its price compared to most same-length/same-priced comics.

This felt like a much longer read than I expected, and I enjoyed the details and captions and such…it’s not that the reader is spoon-fed, but the reader gets to read a story–they don’t have to participate, they don’t have to nitpick and think-deeply and pick stuff apart from subtle visual clues that lack any sort of dialogue or caption reference for key parts of the story…and the only "homework" the reader would need to do–if so chosen–is follow the editor’s notes to check back to X-Men #39 (immediately prior to Legion Quest and the Age of Apocalypse) and a Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell, I presume) issue. There are no "infopages" nor "infographics" interrupting the flow of the story, and really what you see is what you get.

This is by no means a perfect issue, and it is $4.99. But it’s an issue that I was looking forward to for awhile, based primarily on the concept and the cover; and that $4.99 gets you 30 pages of story rather than merely 20ish for $3.99; an extra 50% of story for only an extra 25% of price. The cover sports the "classic" bold, blocky 3-D-ish X-MEN logo certainly associated with the ’90s comics (and then some!) with "Legends" and "#1" worked into it…much the way the ’90s Superman comics fit "Action Comics" and "The Man of Steel" in against "Superman." The cover image of the main/standard/non-variant cover (pictured above) strongly evokes the ’90s to me and lent itself strongly to my sense of nostalgia and thus interest in checking this out…as a series, and certainly as a first issue.

Given that this is a story by a prior writer, meant to fit into a point of continuity nearly half the property’s existence in the past, this certainly won’t be for "everyone," nor will it appeal to everyone. It absolutely appeals to someone like me that grew up with the ’90s X-Men and looks fondly upon that period of the property. While likely a curiosity to readers brought in by Hickman‘s House of X Powers of X, Dawn of X/Reign of X/X of Swords and such…this is absolutely non-essential to what I understand of the current books, and more a chance for older, lapsed readers to get something new. Or for newer readers to get a taste of something out of the past that is actually new.

I’m certainly not keen on a comic’s being $4.99, but I definitely feel I got my money’s worth out of this issue and am really looking forward to #2 and beyond. Honestly, a telling point should be that I so thoroughly enjoyed this issue that it prompted this review at all, marking my first review of a "current issue" in maybe a year or more!

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Rogue Two

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Walt

Ok, ok…so that post title is a little off. Rogue One, Rogue Two…whatever.

Wholllllle different Rogue.

I (finally!) got around to getting my retro-style Marvel Legends Rogue out of her packaging. AND I had a spare stand, so I’m able to have her in flight/levitating rather than just standing pretty or such.

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Not the greatest of backgrounds, but had the photo from sharing with a friend. There’s a stereo speaker back there, as well as the Lightning Collection Red Ranger helmet and White Ranger helmet. And bonus points if you recognize the poster!

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I’d also recently received the Iron Studios Rogue Art Scale 1/10 statue. Apparently I had pre-ordered this all the way back in 2019, and it finally arrived.

Particularly compared to the Legends figure, this one seems a bit subdued color-wise, and a lot more "detailed," where the Legends figure is brighter and more comic/cartoon-based.

This statue is definitely not a figure–and cost at least 6 times what the Legends figure did–and is impressive in its own right. I believe this one is part of a numerous-character set that along with a $1200+ Sentinel can make up a huge diorama.

Unfortunately (but fortunately for my wallet!) I wouldn’t begin to have room to properly display such a full set, so I’ve stuck with Rogue here. Though I suppose a Wolverine and Cyclops wouldn’t be out of the question; nor Gambit. Except for the price. (Though I’d rather pay the price for a Cyclops statue in this line than a similar or greater price just because the Legends figure is "out of print"!)

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The Weekly Haul: Week of February 10, 2021

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Walt

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Another week, another haul…made particularly large this week by including some recent back issues, and a couple of back issues. The Dawn of X single-issue collection is coming along a bit…

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So we have a new issue of TMNT–#114–and I’d have to check, but I think this one lines up more with the description of the previous issue. And hey…Tokka and Rahzar!

Radiant Black #1 hit this week–I feel like I thought it was going to be a couple weeks later, but not complaining! I enjoyed it well enough on a quick read, and do think I’ll give it a few issues. Something about it also reminded me of Hickman and the current X stuff…just without the info pages.

Robin Eternal #2 (of 2!) should be my last DC Future State book. Then I think outside of $1 reprints and/or facsimile editions, Batman/Catwoman will be about the extent of my DC for awhile.

Two GI Joe: A Real American Hero issues this week. #278 of the ongoing, and a reprint of GI Joe Yearbook #1 from the classic Marvel run.

I’m less-keen on Amazing Spider-Man post-Last Remains but apparently going a bit further. Since I had #58 and #59 was out this week, I figure that’ll at least give me fuller context for #60, which had caught my attention for its cover that I saw somewhere online.

Annnnnd jumping onto the X bandwagon, X-Force #17 and Excalibur #18. I’m in the midst of reading X of Swords as of this typing, so at least going to wait til I finish that and catch up reading from there…as well as having a lot of pre-XoS to catch up reading!

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Morrrrrrrre Batman with Comic Shop News. I am so thoroughly sick and tired of sooooooooo much Batman. I’m wavering on Batman/Catwoman but the upcoming 3rd issue’s cover is a huge part of what sold me on the series outside of it being the continuation of King‘s run. But outside of that–because it’s (to me) THE continuation of what I’d been buying for the last few years–it just feels to me like the character is so vastly over-used. But DC being AT&DC at this point, it doesn’t seem like they’re going to be doing much other than Batman, since apparently Batman’s what sells.

And with B/C…even to me.

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Snagged a bunch of additional X books from the recent-back-issues…and even a couple of bagged-and-boarded-filed-away actual back-issues that–once combined with what should be coming soon in the mail–will leave me with mayyyybe one issue to chase down of Marauders. (Which for starting at the beginning with reading the Dawn of X stuff was definitely my favorite of the #1s!)

And there we go…another week of getting this "Weekly Haul" post up as an individual week, and another week of (week)daily posts. That makes 3 5-day weeks and a 4-day week before that. About how I got rolling about this time in 2016 and rolled through to late summer 2017.

Personal life is not allowing for that again…so we’ll see what shakes out in the near-future schedule/regularity-wise!

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The Weekly Haul: Weeks of October 28, November 4, and November 11, 2020

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Walt

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Been a few weeks…again. But hey…this time around, while having the no-post-gap of several weeks, I have pics of the hauls OF the several weeks!

So, let’s start with a couple weeks ago–October 28.

Week of October 28, 2020

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The long-awaited and MUCH-OVERHYPED TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 finally came out. Within the issue itself, there are several gallery pages of covers in addition to the usual/standard "gallery" on the inside cover with the usual variants shown off. I count no less than 65 covers. And counting the story pages of the issue…40 pages. So there are 25 more COVERS…than there are STORY PAGES in existence for this issue. I intentionally got the STANDARD cover. Not about to play the variants game with SO MANY variants, let alone this is a $9 issue. For the oversized format (an apparent callback to the size of the ORIGINAL 1984 TMNT #1 dimensions) and 40 story pages, prestige format/no ads, that’s not a horrible price, and IDW could easily have just shoved the price on up to $9.99, but didn’t. However, 10 different covers would be $90 AT COVER PRICE, but with so many covers apparently running $40+…yeah. Even MY "TMNT Exception" doesn’t go that far. At $40+, three covers that are just gonna get filed in some "current year comics" or "overall TMNT" box, or I could get a quarter-scale NECA figure (though I’m not keen on NECA at the moment).

Batman: The Three Jokers #3 is out. Three issues to be a sequel to the single-issue The Killing Joke. But being what it is, and by Johns, and my not being keen on DC distancing itself so much from even Johns’ stuff in general, I had given in on the first issue, so had to get the 2nd and third. And something about this project made it one I was willing to grudgingly get, and actually read ,and while it was rather extended and didn’t really GO anywhere, it worked well enough for me. (Yet just a week after the final issue, I saw an ad for the hardcover single-volume edition…ugh!)

Spawn #311. Nothing much to say for this issue; I’m ridiculously far behind on READING the title…but continue to simply "support" the title DESPITE the spike in variants, for the $2.99 value pricing in an overwhelming sea of $3.99-$9.99 single issues.

Then because I’m a total sucker, and despite the inflated $5.99 cover prices…I snagged the 50th issues of Batgirl and Red Hood Outlaw. Largely on the characters’ involvement in Three Jokers and the combination of coming out of that as well as The Joker War in Batman #100.

Though I have the original edition of the issue introducing the new Black Widow from Marvel Knights, snagged the $1 reprint, cuz as usual, I’m supporting cheap reprints of stuff since generally the reprints are from a time I enjoyed Marvel’s output far more than current-year stuff.

And then speaking of back issues/older stuff…latest issue of Back Issue magazine from TwoMorrows. This is another publication that I’ve been pretty glad to "support." They do high quality, well-researched stuff and the $10 is still a FARRRR greater time-value for the reading than any 2.5 $3.99 comics. Read one article and you’ve probably gotten more reading time than for 2.5 current-year comics, so anything else is just bonus for the money. I’ve probably missed an issue here and there of BIM, but between the cover story and whatnot, unlike comics, the content issue to issue isn’t what I’d see as serialized; it’s more the cover/topic that’ll grab me initially; as well as depending on how large a week on regular issues it might be.

Week of November 4, 2020

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Batman #102 is one I’m looking at sort of like the early 50s of this iteration of the title: it’s like a new #2, but I’ve decided to keep on PRIMARILY to "support" the high issue-numbering. If this WAS merely a new #2, I’d have passed on it and the previous issue. I need to catch up on reading around #s 91/92-99, but I think that’d make this "Ghostmaker" character make a LITTLE more sense to me…though I get slight "Hush" vibes as yet ANOTHER "new" character from Bruce’s PAST from his training is causing issues. Given rumours I saw on BleedingCool about DC essentially saying the heck with ongoing "continuity" come March…I gotta wonder just how far past #100 this iteration of the title will even go…or MATTER. My OCD would hate for me to have ultimately "kept up with" it for 102+ issues just to see it end a mere 4 issues later or something.

Firepower #5 means we’re one issue shy of "completing" a 2nd paperback. And with the "Prologue" tpb and FCBD edition of #1…we still have NOT matched in subsequent content what was initially available at once for this series. Which is both good and bad. I’ll likely be double-dipping, though. I’m not overly keen issue to issue on this book, but expect I’ll enjoy re-reading the first 6 issues in one go as I read the Prologue. And with my increasing avoidance of Marvel and DC, I’m willing to "throw in" with this title along with Walking Dead Deluxe as "regular" titles to replace what I’m not buying from those.

And speaking of…#2 of Walking Dead Deluxe. Once again, I hate the variant covers, and am starting to see this putting the issues out in color as an EXCUSE to do numerous variant covers. I’m specifically looking for the "A" cover (standard) cover. I initially had thought I might go for the one with the classic cover, but 1. that’s technically a VARIANT and 2. new iteration of the book, new cover. At least for these first few issues, I’m glad to give it a shot in color. And as said with Firepower…I’ll "enjoy" and appreciate this more than most new content out of DC and Marvel.

I was surprised to see Avengers #57. It’s a facsimile edition, but I think probably just about THE best one I’ve seen! They kept the original 12cents price on the corner box and simply updated to current with placing a modern barcode on the bottom corner of the cover. I actually wish they’d do this for ALL such editions–reprint the original cover price and all, but make sure the barcode is accurate. (Sure, you’ll get some folks who don’t realize what these are grousing "But it says $1.25, why is it $3.99?!?" but I’d argue that facsimile editions are intended for that middle-ground: the buyer/reader/collector who knows it’s a reprint of something classic, but not someone willing to pay the high prices for the originals. It’s not for casual buyers unaware of such things…if they’re out there.

TMNT: Jennika II #1 is an issue that gets in by virtue of technically being TMNT, and my OCD for keeping up with the IDW stuff (thus far I believe I have one of every single actual issue they’ve published, but not necessarily variants, ashcans, or promo pieces that aren’t full issues). Considering the first Jennika was interrupted by the Spring Shutdowns and #3 didn’t come out til…May? June? [according to IDW’s own site, June.] we’re barely 5 months since that mini. And the character is virtually starring in the main book. Even the other turtles have only had solo one-issue "micro series" outings…so why does Jennika deserve two different mini-series so close together within basically a single year?

I don’t think I even knew about this second round of Tales from the Dark Multiverse…but in a rare case of "advertising" via early-reviews I found out, and decided while I’m NOT getting any of the Death Metal stuff, I got last year’s round of TFTDM books, so might as well get this second round as well. Plus, since I already have the first round and haven’t double-dipped for the collected edition, getting this round also as ‘singles’ will keep to the same format without me double-dipping for OCD’s sake. I’m led to believe this HUSH issue is a retelling/alternate in name only, but…whatever, I guess.

I’m not sure WHERE I left off with the current, about-to-end Sandman Universe Black Label-not-Vertigo Hellblazer title. But for getting a couple of the other oversized/magazine-sized Black Label books, giving this Hellblazer one a chance. PLUS, as I’m a broken record…getting it to "support" the NON-BATMAN, NON-JOKER, NON-HARLEY QUINN such books.

Finally…Cross Over #1. I was NOT going to get this. In fact, I’d specifically decided not to. I feel like Cates is vastly over-hyped lately, since bursting onto the scene (I guess?) with God Country several years ago. I wasn’t going to CHASE this book, wasn’t going to seek it out, etc. But saw a bunch of copies there, and changed my mind. I can give it a look-see. After all…it’s Cates…but it’s NOT Venom or Thanos or Cosmic Ghost Rider/Galactus-Punisher-Old-Man-Wolverine-in-a-Black-Widow-Costume Marvel book. Best I can tell I was able to get the standard/basic/A/non-variant cover so I can simply read it for myself and judge it for myself.

Week of November 11, 2020

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And now catching up to "current week," and it’s a small one! Actually probably could have done without, but I thought there were a couple other issues out this week that I wanted.

Punchline I only got because it’s the same writer from Batman, and as I’ve yet to catch up on reading that run-up to #100, I don’t honestly know if I’d care for this or not. But I’ll be darned if I’ll leave it to have to chase it down later! And I’ll likely–ultimately–file it as an annual with the title. Not sure WHY it does not have "Batman" in the title…seems EVERYTHING ELSE published from DC even SLIGHTLY related to the character does. So why not this direct (apparently) spin-off special?!?

And as always, I’m a sucker for these True Believer reprints. ALL THE MORE when EVEN dropping much of the trade dress, the cover is STILL iconic and recognizable for what one single issue it actually is. The original edition of Thor #337 is from 1983…37 years ago, and still recognizable in and of itself. So many variants these days that you need a freaking ENCYCLOPEDIA and searchable online databases just to know what any given cover is from the cover alone.

Given the relative lack of anything else worthwhile…I picked up another pack of "top loaders" that I’ve been using for my personal "wall book" or "display book" comics. They’re like trading-card holders but sized to hold comics, typically including bag-and-board.

No real idea what else is coming out soon, other than subsequent issues of TMNT, Spawn, Batman, and….GI Joe: A Real American Hero.

Funny…triple-digit numbering all around! Must be something TO that, I guess???

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26 Years of Marvels

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Walt

Marvels came out in 1994.

While I don’t recall the exact date of getting #1…I do remember being in Comics & Collectibles with Dad, and chatting with Chris (the owner), and he showed us this absolutely stunning/beautiful issue with a painted image of the (original) Human Torch and some sort of clear cover piece with the title.

It was an expensive issue–$5.95 cover price! (at a time when most regular comics were $1.50-$1.95).

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I managed to get all four issues, and though a lot of the nuance of the series was lost on me at the time, I still loved the art, and remember Alex Ross was the FIRST artist–by name–whose work I could recognize/name at a glance.

Not terribly long after the original issues, there was a new #0 issue published. Sadly, this one did not have the fancy cover/deluxe format. However, it fits very well in with the second print editions of the main series.

And then last year we got the Annotated Marvels or Marvels Annotated, with #0’s content covered in the first issue. And following the four issues, a new Marvels Epilogue was released.

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I’m almost certain that I had a paperback edition of Marvels, for awhile. As of this typing, I was unable to locate it, so half wonder if I gave it away at some point.

Otherwise…I have the 10th Anniversary Edition deluxe oversized hardcover; the recently-acquired 25th Anniversary Edition deluxe oversized hardover; the Platinum Edition oversized slipcase edition; and the Monster-Sized hardcover.

For scale, the smallest books in the pic above–the deluxe oversized hardcovers–are larger wide/tall than a standard comic book!

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It’s sort of odd to consider that my original editions are now vintage comic books! They are definitely unique artifacts in my collection…in part as I’ve had them so long AND I’m relatively certain I have never even seen these editions in a quarter-bin or fifty-cent bin…probably not even a dollar bin. The first two issues’ covers are particularly "iconic" to me; and there’s a scene that must be in #3 of the Silver Surfer and a field of asteroids that always stuck with me.

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I’d also gotten the #0 issue while it was still new, along with the "2nd print" of #1. I only in 2020 got the "2nd print" of #s 2-4. These were regular-format issues with standard covers and interiors without the cardstock/acetate deluxe treatment…and were half the price of the deluxe originals.

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In 2019, the series was reprinted again for its 25th anniversary, this time with a bunch of extra material/annotations regarding the originals. Of course, while the originals are singular, iconic covers…OF COURSE Marvel had to do multiple variant covers on each issue. I, of course, went for the standard covers–showing the original-style logo (up the left side of the cover this time instead of across the top) and new images. There were other new images for the variants…as well as near-"virgin" editions of the original covers with virtually no trade dress. (And to me the trade dress–the solid color and border with the image otherwise showing through the title–is an iconic part of the series and its covers; a ‘virgin’ cover looks to me like just some "print" or like someone ripped the acetate layer off!

Like the 1994 #0 issue, 2019’s Epilogue issue is a standard-sized comic, regular cover without any cardstock/fancy upgrades to it.

Before the pandemic/shutdowns, Marvel was publishing Marvels X that I’ve "thought of" as a Marvels-style take on the X-Men side of stuff but have come to realize might have more to do with the Earth X/Universe X/Paradise X trilogy of projects.

I believe there was also some sort of Tales of the Marvels thing in the works.

I’ll have to (later) verify on Marvels X; I’ve never gotten into that series nor found collected volumes of the trilogy affordable with matching trade dress and such.

I’d been pretty dead-set against Tales of the Marvels or whatever it was to be, on principle and the use of variants and pricing. Having brought all my classic Marvels stuff together now, I think it likely that I’d make an exception.

Obviously I have a thing for this classic project, having three editions of the single issues, and at least four editions of the collected editions.

In the end, I suppose time will tell!

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Life During Quarantine: Savage Dragon, the Anniversary of Marvels, and the Walking Dead

Posted on May 23, 2020 by Walt

A couple weeks ago, I got it into my head to see what Savage Dragon Archives volumes were available to order. InStockTrades actually had volumes 4-9 available…which–when added to 1-3 that I’ve had for years–would take me all the way to Savage Dragon #225 content-wise! Which for me is basically "the entire series," though I’ll probably "give in" and get #250 later this year when that comes out.

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I also remembered that the 25th anniversary edition of Marvels was supposed to have been out, so I looked for that, and decided to add it on into the order as well…and was curious about its size, "assuming" it would be "oversized" but not for certain.

I was definitely thinking about the 10th anniversary edition, and wondered if they’d be the same size.

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Lo and behold…they are! Which is most excellent! I’ll need to do a deeper dig later, but I know primarily a huge difference is the 25th anniversary edition has the "annotations" from the Annotated Marvels re-release from last year, and I believe also contains the Marvels Epilogue issue.

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I remember being flabbergasted at the cover price of the 10th anniversary edition…and it was quite awhile after it came out before I acquired my copy (at a significant discount, though I don’t remember offhand what I paid for sure). The 25th anniversary edition is priced a mere ONE CENT higher than the 10th anniversary edition. (And to think…that was the 10th, but this 25th could be the 15th of the 10th…)

I’m a sucker for this series, though, and may have to do a post specifically looking at it, sometime later.

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Those Savage Dragon perfectly fit on the shelf (well, having displaced some miscellaneous color editions of the series). I really like having the "entire series" like this…it’s very satisfying compared to so many other series that I’m missing volumes.

Part of pulling the trigger on these is still being ticked-off at missing out on a bunch of GI Joe: A Real American Hero volumes by about a week last year. Saw that IST had all the ones I was missing, and "had to" just order them so I wouldn’t "miss out" again!

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While these don’t exactly show off the "over the years" piecemeal sort of collection the various existing TPBs are…I don’t have a full run of those, even; and I’d rather have a single version.

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Where does The Walking Dead come in? Just so happens that the shelf my Savage Dragon volumes were on share with The Walking Dead.

Here are several of the hardcover novels from over the years. I’m sure I’m missing at least a couple, but I’ll either find ’em or I won’t…maybe I’ll specifically hunt them later. Maybe I’ll happen across them somewhere.

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And here’s the complete run of The Walking Dead in paperbacks. The BKV(?) special from last year; all 32 volumes of the series; the Walking Dead Survivors Guide, and the sticks-out-like-a-sore-thumb-hardcover-ONLY Here’s Negan.

I went through a "shark-movie" phase quite awhile back, and from there into zombies. When I finally gave Walking Dead a shot, the 5th paperback had just come out. I started with volume 1, and VERY quickly breezed through acquiring/reading all 5 volumes. I then waited several months, having by then missed an issue or two after volume 5, figuring I’d get volume 6, and then jump on with the single issues.

Following the singles didn’t work all that well for me, and I went in and out getting them. I remember getting singles to the early-50s at least (a little over a year of singles) and feeling like #49 was almost a whole new series. I went TPB-only for awhile, but got back to the singles for the story leading up to just past #100. Then back to the TPBs…but dabbled with digital for All-Out War…and then left the series altogether for a few years.

Last year with hype over a questionable cliffhanger with Rick, I hopped back in and quickly filled the gap from the previous few years, and followed the singles to the end of the series (later getting the TPB for the sake of "completing" the series.

And now I have a nice little shelf of two (for me) complete series…plus some novels.

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