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The Weekly Haul – Week of November 30, 2016

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Walt

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

Getting into it:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s hoping that next week is particularly light!

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of November 23, 2016

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Walt

For a Wednesday that includes issues from last week, and the cover prices on stuff, this ended up being a rather light "week" for me. Especially with some stuff I’d half expected to have come in. Not gonna complain, though!

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Action Comics, A.D. After Death, and Super Powers! are from this week; as is TMNT, I believe. The Spawn issue and Darkwing Duck may be from last week; they were part of my pulls, but I didn’t make it to the usual shop last week. I actually swung by the other shop for the Action issue, as it was sold out at the usual.

I had not been planning on getting the After Death issue, especially being a limited series and "prestige format" at that…but its non-standard size caught my attention, and I figured might as well try it and see what I think of it.

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As part of a week-long sale, the usual shop was having a clearance sale, getting a bunch stuff out, with a "progressive discount" thing–Monday was 60% off, today was 70% off, and I believe Friday and Saturday will be 80% and 90% respectively.

I wound up buying a couple packs of gamedice for Munchkin, and the first three books above.

Batman Eternal vol. 1 cost roughly 3 regular Marvel issues, while War Stories and Superman: Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude were hardly more than the cost of a Marvel #1 each.

At the other shop, seeing the actual/regular/"finished" color cover edition, I went ahead and picked up the DC Universe: Rebirth – The Deluxe Edition…figured better to just pay that now than wind up adding numerous other things to some online order for now

I also flipped through the 25-cent bins, but nothing really caught my eye. There were several bins of series stuff, but others had already cherry-picked stuff, so there weren’t even any true "runs" of anything for me to snag.

Plenty of other stuff with Black Friday this week that’s gonna suck up money I don’t really have anyway.

Really, of everything, the one I was most looking forward to was the Rebirth Deluxe. It’s not a bad volume, though I think I was expecting something else. I’ve gotten SO USED TO hardcovers–especially the "deluxe" and "oversized" hardcovers–having dustjackets that this one feels a bit cheapened somehow, still slightly incomplete. But for its size, it’s not a bad price, and it’s nice to add to my "events" shelf.

Next week is a "Fifth Week" or "skip week," which at least on the DC side means several Annuals, which is also a bit of a bummer as they weren’t part of the bundles I’ve been getting, so if I want ’em, I’ll be paying the full price…

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

Stuff I Didn’t Buy – Week of November 16, 2016

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Walt

My "Weekly Haul" this week ended up consisting of Superman #11, Aliens: Life and Death #3, Reborn #2, and Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #2. I may get into those tomorrow or Friday.

But, indulging in some negativity and ranting (this is my own blog, after all–read it or not, completely up to you!) here are several things I didn’t buy, but considered buying, almost bought, or under other conditions would have bought…and why.

Moonshine #2

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I picked up Moonshine #1 last month to try, and for what it is, enjoyed it enough that I’ve been watching/waiting for #2 to come out. It’s finally out this week (Oct. 5 for #1, Nov 16 for #2…that’s about SIX weeks, no?) Thing is…it’s a brand-new series. New series, new creators, not spinning out of anything, hasn’t had long enough to really develop or have any "in jokes" or (to me) any real iconography or symbols or other stuff to warrant any relevant/useful/interesting/cool variant covers. But there they were on the shelf, two covers that–at least at the shop I was at–sat there in equal-ratio. So, just looking at them, I saw nothing overly obvious to indicate which was the "main" cover, the "A" cover, the "primary" or "basic" cover…in short, which one was NOT the "variant."

In searching for suitable images to use for this post, I’ve narrowed it down to the one with the skulls as being the cover I’d’ve gone with–and that was the one I’d added initially to what I had in my hands to purchase. But whether it was there or not, I did not see anything to indicate which should be which…and I refused to stand there in the middle of the shop, googling on my phone to try to determine an answer…but I also was not going to suffer buying a variant when I want to have the "regular" cover.

So, I wound up saying "screw it!" and put ’em both back.

Because of a variant cover, a series I was otherwise trying, interested in, willing to give a chance to–I opted NOT to buy #2, and as such will NOT be buying ANY OTHER single issues for.

Hope it’s worth it, folks. Maybe I’ll buy the collected edition, which presumably will have a single cover. But even there, for throwing a random variant in there, you’ve cost yourself MY purchase, and MY goodwill, such that here I am giving your book more space and time pointing out the customer frustration with variants, and that you won’t have me (not that I matter, personally) playing any role in talking the book up positively.

DC Universe: Rebirth – The Deluxe Edition Hardcover (LCSD edition)

dc_rebirth_deluxe_lcsdHere’s another one I’ve been looking forward to. I believe the "regular" edition of this should be out soon; a week or two, perhaps, yet.

But what really turned me off about this (and I was sort of surprised to see it out already instead of being held back til Saturday) is the cover. That is, the "sketch" cover. THe lines-only, without cover, except in the trade dress and credits.

See, I don’t get why people like these. (If you do, more power to you–I simply do not get it!) To me, it looks like a draft, and unfinished product, an inferior product. It’s not finished, it’s not the intended edition, etc.

So while I’d’ve been willing to plonk down full cover price for this thing in-person, in general…I was NOT willing to do so for an inferior cover.

Yeah, it’d almost certainly be on my shelf spine-out and I wouldn’t even SEE the cover most of the time. But when I’d pull it down off the shelf, I’d see it, and I’d be treated to the unfinished image at that point, and reminded of the sheer ridiculousness of it, when I can simply wait a week or two and get the full color cover edition, which is the actual product, and actually has the cover to grab attention and attract one to reading it.

Thanos #1

thanos_0001I should have been a prime mark for this book. Thanos, and it’s a #1, so supposedly a jumping-on point, right?

But this is Marvel. And at this point, I don’t trust them. Yeah, I could buy the issue, but is this a 6-issue series? Or 12? Will this be partaking in events before issue 10?

And then, there’s that shattered NOW! thing, recycling an initiative from just four years ago.

And that big #1 in the upper left corner, but then a small white #1 down near the Marvel logo and UPC box, as if to clarify "yes, this actually IS a true #1, this is not one of the issues we’re trying to TRICK you into buying as a #1 when it’s really a #7 or #18 or some other such!"

Further, there’s the fact that I’m not interested in buying any Marvel #1 issues for $4.99! That is way too freaking much for a single issue, padded/"’bonus’ material" or not!

Oh…well, this is "only" $3.99? Yeah, well, it’s seemed all the other #1s have been $4.99, and Marvel has been very clearly conditioning and "training" me into the SIMPLE "assumption" that ALL of their #1s are $4.99…so sure, it’s a "surprise" when it’s not, but I still have the other stuff above counting against it such that $1 less than assumed price is not a great selling point–this is STILL $1 MORE than grabbing a random DC Rebirth issue!

There’s also the odd mix Marvel has lately of stuff ignoring enough continuity to be frustrating in general to one who greatly enjoys continuity (at least 1980s into early 2000s) and yet being so stupidly tied-into stuff as to feel impenetrable if one has not been closely following recent events. Flipping through, I caught what looked like Thane, who I believe is a "son of Thanos" or such from Infinity (an event/crossover I did not and have not read) and thus another aspect of things I am actively disinerested in.

Perhaps most "petty" of me…this is not a Jim Starlin book, and I much prefer his take on the character, if only for some sort of internal consistency that I (again) do not trust Marvel to maintain in general at this point.

So, I walked out with my four comics that did not frustrate me on sight. Superman #11 had a variant cover, but the bulk of the covers present were the same–the one I got–and the other cover I couldn’t even tell what the image was supposed to be, just glancing at it. On Cave Carson, I was able to use the same methodology: this cover had more of this than the other, and seems to fit the title better. And it’s at least an "established" (if decades-old-since-established) property and not a brand-new-concept-characters-universe-everything kinda issue. Aliens is an Aliens comic, the 3rd issue of a stated-up-front-on-the-covers 4-issue-miniseries rather than something being cancelled before telling its intended first story or such. And Reborn #2 only had one cover available on the shelf, so no "confusion" or wonder about what the "main" cover is.

But as stated last week by Valiant‘s Dinesh Shamdasani, "we’d love nothing more but the industry is not set up for that" [having only 1 cover per issue] and "must also remember that while we both may not like variants lots of people love them."

Still, I’m obviously a clear case where having variants is a detriment, and that’s a couple of lost sales (magnified the longer Moonshine runs) and whatever else spills out of that.

And thanks to crap with variant schemes and holding content hostage, I’m presently (since July 2015) refusing to purchase anything from Valiant, and since their stunt with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0 earlier this year, I refuse to touch anything from Boom! Studios, either.

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of June 22, 2016

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Walt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of June 08, 2016

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Walt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of May 25th, 2016

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Walt

This is it–the week I’ve been looking forward to for awhile, at least a couple months!

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While I was disappointed to learn that–as I’d expected–Superman: Lois and Clark was NOT going to be some long-running ongoing series…the title’s got a darned good reason to not be continuing, as its purpose is basically ceded to the main titles.

And we have the final chapter of The Final Days of Superman in the final issue of the New 52 iteration OF the Superman title. This is the eighth chapter, that I want to say I’ve followed weekly now since at least the second chapter–I don’t recall if I had to wait a week to get the 2nd or if both were already out or not when I “gave in” on the Superman #50s.

Most importantly, though, we have DC Universe: Rebirth #1, a supposedly-80-page issue for $2.99. (What they neglect to advertise is that those pages include house ads for titles that begin showing up next week or so…there are only 68 STORY pages of actual content. Though I’ll certainly be drowned out in the general internet hubbub, I’ll touch on the three issues (primarily Rebirth) with tomorrow’s post.

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The second issue of the new Aliens series is out (I guess it HAS been a month already!), as well as the 25th issue of Letter 44, which though I’m way behind in reading I’ve been following since the bargain-priced $1 premiere issue grabbed my attention a couple years ago. IDW gets in on the action of self-promoting the top __ books everyone should buy from _____ (insert publisher. In this case, IDW!)

And doing what I hate, and giving me possibly my first big regret to the “standing TMNT order” for the pull list, IDW put out not only two issues of the TMNT line the same week instead of spacing them out, but two issues of the SAME TITLE, one being a totally ridiculous $5.99 ($6! What kid’s gonna drop $6 on this cartoon-based comic with some arbitrary sports star?!?) For TMNT Amazing Adventures, that makes this a $10 week!

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I swung by the other shop I sometimes get to, and ended up hitting the $1 bins…scoring several issues of Spawn that I don’t think I have…though the cover to #16 gives me serious déjà vu (making me think it’s 1. an image used on the cover of Wizard back in the day, 2. an issue I already have, and/or 3. an iconic image that stuck in my mind over the years from an ad [probably in Wizard if so!]). As I’m settling in with current issues and actually getting to enjoy them a bit and seeing more potential on the series, I’m increasingly interested in back issues, and kinda curious at how hard it would be for me to put together a run of the title.

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I also scored a couple other issues, as well as some “ephemera” (I love that word, perfectly describes a lotta the random crap I saved over the years. “Legitimizes” it and all that!).

The original first issue of the first mini-series of Savage Dragon, as well as a one-shot (or at least, just one issue here) continuing the Solar, Man of the Atom property back in the Acclaim days.

Ephemera-wise, there’s a promotional 75-cent Incredible Hulk ashcan; a Spawn comic originally packaged with one of the earlier action figures from McFarlane…and a Now Comics news-zine thing of some sort that piqued my curiosity enough to snag for 25 cents (though with Real Life going on right now, I haven’t a clue when I’ll get around to digging into it).

No collected volumes this week, no pending orders, etc… I’m burning out a bit from the stream of recent-ish purchases…and looking at a month of a crapload of DC titles.

That the DC books are gonna be $2.99 is SUCH a huge refresher, given the wealth of $3.99 stuff out there. Even stuff double-shipped that winds up costing $5.98/mo would be 40 content pages and is two issues rather than 2/3 of that for a single issue.

Surely much more discussion on that angle of topics soon.

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of May 18, 2016

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Walt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of May 11th Bargain-Stuff

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Walt

I managed to miss the pull-list stuff this week–store owner was busy with another customer, I forgot to ask, and I had a mix of stuff, so taking responsibility for myself…going back to the comic shop Friday to fix my error. Also stopped at the other local-ish shop to check on Captain America: Fighting Chance TPBs…alas, only had one, so zero temptation to splurge. Did get a handful of things from the quarter bins there. Between both shops, spent a whopping $4.50 on 18 25-cent books (and several extra Free Comic Book Day ‘free’ issues)!

(I say ‘free’ because the shops still have to purchase them…they’re just then expected to turn around and not charge customers for ’em. I know that, and appreciate that, so don’t truly consider them actually free.)

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Scored the first couple issues of ElfQuest…neat little find. A Hawkman special that I may already have but don’t consciously remember. A “UPC variant” of HardCase #1 for the heckuvit. A couple issues of a Milestone series I don’t think I knew existed (or had forgotten, anyway). The first issue of Starlin‘s Dreadstar ‘cuz hey…Dreadstar. And because I know I’d lost my original sometime through the years, I continue to–on occasions like this that I come across it–snag the initial publication that helped lead to the Earth X mega-saga.

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Several general-ish Marvel issues–the X-Men issue where we found out who Onslaught really is; a Marvel Comics Presents issue with the Falcon on the cover (‘cuz hey, I love the Anthony Mackie‘s MCU character!), and a couple issues–including the first–of Nomad (‘cuz hey…”Bucky”!) Snagged the first issue of MASK for quasi-nostalgic feelings; ditto the American Flagg! Special.

And then the Ash issue I actually opened up to check, and found the words “Vol 1. No. 1, November, 1994″…so I believe this is the first Event Comics issue…by Quesada and Palmiotti, several years before they were brought on with Marvel for the Marvel Knights project. As I recall, a relatively “hot” issue 20-ish years ago. 25-cents for me, now.

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Also grabbed a couple of shiny duplicates in Turok and Thunder Strike #1s, as well as X #25. And then the several Free Comic Book Day issues from the FCBD leftovers.

All of these for “only” $4.50…a far superior value to most contemporary single-issues, and more interesting and such to me than pretty much anything that Marvel is putting out right now for $3.99 apiece!

Still, I did buy several DCs, with a couple other comics to pick up Friday that keep the “bargain books” very firmly a small minority of my weekly purchase.

All the more with planning to give the first few weeks of Rebirth a shot, if only to show “support” for the $2.99 price-point.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The Weekly Haul – Week of April 13, 2016 (main haul)

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Walt

A day late, went through the LCS on lunch Thursday, and wound up with a pretty good haul.

Firstly, I found the Superman/Wonder Woman issue I’d hoped to find on Wednesday; and then my usual stuff.

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Everything else is either pull-list (Spawn added the other day–I’ve decided to stick with the title for awhile in support of the $2.99 price point, lack of promiscuous variant covers, and maintaining its numbering for 24ish years.

A couple $1 books, TMNT stuff, Letter 44…and the $6 Image Firsts Compendium vol. 2 (like the 1st volume, this has 9 issues, making each $1.50…only slightly more than a digital “sale” price and it’s a physical print-product, a thick volume.

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As is fairly usual (despite really running out of storage space) I raided the quarter-bins; found a dozen issues of Dragonlance. At least several are duplicate issues, but finding this many, I snagged ’em all to avoid any of them becoming “grail issues” in the future.

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Snagged several other “random” issues for the sake of getting them for 25 cents. Due to a comment from a fellow comics blogger (Chris is on Infinite Earths) I bought a convenience-copy of Uncanny X-Men #308…20-something years old, and still “only” the price of a cheaper contemporary issue and no worse than “just” buying any other issue of something new.

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I’m pretty sure I already have the Chaos Effect issues, but for 25 cents each, no sense passing them up. The Spawn issue caught my attention, and then I noticed several other issues of these Fan Editions…looks like they came with a magazine back in the ’90s (much like Wizard or Hero Illustrated…I passed on some others that weren’t sequential nor included a #1.

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And finally, the prestige-format Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown mini. I’m not sure if there were only 3 issues, or if there’s a fourth one…but again, for the price, wasn’t going to pass it up.

Next week may be a small week single-issue wise…though I’m finding myself unfortunately more than a little interested in some of DC‘s #50s…as well as feeling a pull back to the Superman family of titles that I’ve been away from maybe the longest time ever now.

And an extremely expensive purchase looming that I’ve had in mind for about eight months.

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of March 30, 2016

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Walt

This week is both small and yet still managed to be a huge week for new comics stuff for me.

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The only actual new new comic this week is the Deviations one-shot from IDW–this week the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles one, wrapping up their 5-week series (the other Deviations books were Ghostbusters, X-Files, Transformers, and GI Joe. I’ve been picking up the Walking Dead paperbacks soon after release for the last several volumes…I could get ’em cheaper on Amazon or other online retailers, but in a week like this, I don’t mind paying full price for the volume (still cheaper than even a $2.99 cover price for the contents). The Oni Press Starter Pack volume contains several first issues, it’s a sampler-pack of #1s. For $6 I’m absolutely game for checking it out; worst-case, I read the contents of some #1 issues I don’t have #2s or TPBs for and want to track something down.

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The Walking Dead vol. 25 comes shrink-wrapped with a reprint of Kirkman‘s Outcast #1… I hadn’t realized until I ripped the shrink-wrap off that it’s gonna be a TV series. I already have the first TPB as well as one of the Image Firsts reprint editions; but hey, no increase in price, and they included a one-sheet print of the cover over top, so that alone’s a nice bonus. Knowing/being reminded/learning of the new tv series and having this issue put right in front of me certainly goes a long way to getting me to finally sit down and actually read the thing, finally!

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An order I’d placed with InStockTrades.com arrived today as well. With special pricing, I got these for basically 50% off, which made them very much a worthwhile pricing for quick purchase. I’ve had my eye on the New Frontier for awhile; and the Infinity Watch and Superman and Justice League America (no of in that last one) volumes just hit last week, I think.

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All three volumes are a good size, especially for their price; I only paid a little more for the three than cover price for the New Frontier volume, and then shipping was less than the price of a single Marvel comic.

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Got the Superman & Batman Magazine issues for 25 cents each…they’re in crummy, battered, very much used condition…but hey, they’ll be interesting to page through! And while I vaguely recall the thing existing, I didn’t rememberuntil seeing these, so they are a neat random-find!

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Also snagged a few issues from an unsorted longbox bound for the quarter-bins.

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These Super books are a neat catch, I think…it’s easy for me to “forget” that there were whole “families” of Batman-related and Superman-related books even before the 1990s.

And the more I shift toward the notion of back-issues over new, I’m more and more interested in working backwards on the Super books of the early to mid 1980s, if not a bit earlier…and stuff like The New Adventures of Superboy and DC Comics Presents are very much on the likely list of stuff I’ll be actively pursuing.

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