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More bargain bin finds and even more shiny comics

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Walt

This was quite a week for new comics (as opposed to last week’s hardcovers!). Along with the new “regular” comics and the TMNT #50 Treasury Edition, I also grabbed a handful of issues from the bargain bin…might’ve dug more, but this latest batch isn’t in the greatest of condition, nor did I see any significant runs, and didn’t have the time or inclination to pick through my list of missing X-issues.

I know I found at least a couple of these Transformers issues recently at Comic Heaven in Willoughby,  but while I recalled finding 3 or so issues, I couldn’t remember if it was 1-3, 2-4, or some other combo. For $0.25/ea, I’ll chance it, though. Worst-case…it’s still pretty cool that I’ve found these for this kinda pricing twice now in the span of just a few months!

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I know I picked up at least a couple of these last November with the slew of X-books I bought, but also vaguely recall missing a chapter or two of this Shattershot crossover. Perhaps inspired by snagging the Evolutionary War and Atlantis Attacks omnibii last week, I went ahead and grabbed these annuals…the entire 4-parter for only $1. Not bad at all, especially as “just” a reading copy!

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Given there was no apparent “run,” I didn’t mind snagging Spider-Man #1 just for the heckuvit AS a #1. Besides, the gold ink sorta made it fit in with the others. I actually snagged two copies of Amazing Spider-Man #365…with at least one friend in mind who I’ve been giving some of these “shiny comics” to. And these days, some of these vintage or near-vintage comics that came with posters bound-in…25-cents is worth it for the poster alone (or for pulling a cover off to serve as a poster). Amazing Spider-Man #375 I grabbed for the shiny cover and sentimentality…I remember way back in 1993 or so when it came out and the handful of other “foil web patterned” covers.

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I didn’t consciously recall the Dr. Strange issue, and grabbed it solely for the shiney cover. While I know I already have the Punisher 2099 #1 and Silver Surfer #50, they again fell under the shiny cover bit.

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In total, I bought 15 25-cent comics this week…15 issues for 24 cents cheaper than the cover price of ONE standard new Marvel issue.

Keeps it in perspective, at least for me!

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

The 99-cent digital sweet spot

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Walt

comixologyscreenI love 25-cent bargain bins. That just seems to be the best price…perhaps because even going back 21 years or so, bargain-bins I recall–mainly at Comics and Collectibles–were 25-cents. And because hey…it takes FOUR comics to each one-dollar.

By that logic, the 50-cent bins rack up the price twice as fast, where every 2 comics are another full dollar.

And typically I avoid the dollar bins…even though it takes 4 of these one-dollar comics to match a single contemporary comic, when one’s used to ’90s comics and such around 25-cents…$1 seems a bit much.

But…digitally, it seems that 99-cents (effectively that $1) is the magic price point. Because of whatever limitations or “politics,” I have never seen a digital comic SELL for less than $0.99. Seems there’s “Free,” there’s $0.99, then there’s most of the usual stuff ($1.99/$2.99/$3.99+).

houseofmWhile I don’t usually buy full-priced ($2.99/$3.99+) comics, every now and then I have, for one reason or another. With a tablet now, I’m far more likely, as I do contemplate a more drastic shift to digital.

But primarily, I’ve been a definite fan–and sucker–when it comes to 99-cent sales from Comixology.

Whether it’s been acquiring A Death in the Family, Batman: Year One, Batman: Year Two, and The Dark Knight Returns for a mere $0.99 per issue (all 4 stories for about the price of a TPB of only ONE of the stories) or random other issues–Zero Hour/1994’s Zero Month issues, small runs of Cable, some Rogue and Gambit issues, or X-Force #1 just for the heckuvit, etc.–I frequently find myself buying at least an issue or two from most of these sales.

houseofmspidermanUsually the purchases are fairly spur-of-the-moment, but I actually thought specifically on stuff before partaking in this past weekend’s House of M 99-cent sale. I actually considered splurging for the whole event; but I’m still holding out hope of finding the hardcovers for a decent price.

While I was out shopping, I bought an iTunes “gift card,” treating it as if I was paying the price for a single collected volume. Once I redeemed it, I snagged the entire “core” House of M series, along with the 5-issue Spider-Man: House of M mini. And I have about $2 left over for something else.

I doubt I’d’ve bought any of these for $1.99 each…but for $0.99…I’ll buy in “bulk.”

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

Superior Spider-Man #1 [Review]

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Walt


Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 3/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: MARVEL, Marvel Now!, Superior Spider-Man | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Final Issue! (before a new #1)

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Walt

20121206-125935.jpgI saw this ad, and still can’t believe the whole “Final Issue” bit. Yeah, Superior Spider-Man and all that…but still…I’m not “buying it” and not gonna buy it.

20121206-130033.jpgWhile on the subject of Marvel…I did wind up buying Thunderbolts #1. Partially the novelty–buying THUNDERBOLTS #1 as a new issue–and it was only $2.99…NOT $3.99!

Sadly while I like the art, the story seemed too slow for a first issue…I think I expected something more, somehow.

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

The ’90s Revisited: Spider-Man Team-Up #7 (featuring the Thunderbolts)

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Walt

Old Scores

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artists: Sal Buscema, Dick Giordano
Lettering: Comicraft’s Team Dave
Colors: Tom Smith
Cover: Steve Lightle, Mark McNabb
Assistant Editor: Glenn Greenberg
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
Cover Date: June 1997

I remember the hype around the whole Heroes Reborn thing. After the Onslaught event (which began as an X-Men “event” and spread to the wider Marvel Universe), the Fantastic Four and the more prominent Avengers (specifically Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man) were shunted to another universe and “our” Marvel Universe was left without its heroes–just mutants more hated and feared than ever before.

And I remember learning of some new super-hero group, the Thunderbolts. Without researching and lacking 100% memory, I want to say they first appeared in an issue of The Incredible Hulk, and were going to be seen around the Marvel Universe, filling in a bit of the void left by the other heroes’ disappearance. Then I learned they were getting their own series. Cool…an actual brand-new super-hero group. And of course, thanks to (most probably Wizard) I was “spoiled” as to their Great, Dark Secret–though it would be a few months after Heroes Return when Hawkeye left the Avengers to go insert himself as leader of the Thunderbolts that I started buying their title–I actually, truly followed Hawkeye FROM the pages of Busiek‘s Avengers to Busiek‘s Thunderbolts.

So though I was aware of them, it was a good way into the run that I started with Thunderbolts–it’s only been in the years since that I’ve gradually been acquiring their earlier appearances–the Hulk issue(s?), and even the early issues of their own series. And when I saw this issue in a bargain-bin recently, it hit on some interesting buttons for me, just from the cover and concept.

For one thing…it’s a ’90s bargain-bin issue…to me, you can hardly go wrong getting a ’90s comic for only 25-cents (or less, even, with the right bargains or bulk-purchases!). For another, this is an early appearance of the Thunderbolts (I believe their own #1 is cover-dated May 1997, this is cover-dated June ’97). So this would be within the earliest concept of the Thunderbolts characters–before they were “outed” to the world for actually being the Masters of Evil (not really a spoiler, it’s been 15+ years AND it’s detailed within this very issue). And as a bonus, ’90s Spider-Man long before any talk of One More Day or a Brand New Day (and as I found out reading this, no talk of clones, either!)

I often lament contemporary comics’ high prices–hating the $3.99 price point and wishing for the previously-lamented $2.99-from-$2.50-or-less as $2.99 by comparison is much preferable. And here, this comic from 15 years ago is carrying a $2.99 cover price…but it’s a 38-paged issue (easily $4.99 or $5.99 and an “Annual” at that, these days!). Reasonably-priced at $2.99 with the extra pages, putting it well enough in line with $2 cover prices for 20-22 pages at the time.

The story itself is at once simple and cliched as well as nicely layered. When a guard at a warehouse is killed, a survivor sees a figure making a getaway that can only be Spider-Man! The mayor’s office reaches out to the Thunderbolts, to track Spidey down and bring him in for questioning…a task some on the team are all-too-thrilled to take on. The ‘bolts split into three groups to take on different aspects of their task–looking into the crime site, specifically searching for Spidey, and keeping an eye on a potential target-site. Continue reading →

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Obligatory “I Just Saw ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’!” post

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Walt

I just saw The Amazing Spider-Man.

Definitely a much different creature than the 2002 film from just over 10 years ago (end of my junior year! Where HAS the time gone?!?).

And yet, this film was a heckuva lot more enjoyable than Spider-Man 3 from just a few years ago.

In fact, this was the most I’ve enjoyed ANYTHING Spider-Man in a number of years.

I got to thinking, during a scene in the high school: THIS is how you go back and re-live the spirit of the early Spidey comics by Lee & Ditko & co. Other media. Not constantly restarting stuff in the comics or waving a magic wand (er…devil) at stuff and resetting things to the status quo from 20+ years ago. You get your movies, and video games, and cartoons and such to revisit that old stuff “reimagined.”

I also found myself trying to decide if this film “could” fit in-continuity with the 2002 series (nope, just gotta enjoy it as its own thing). I suspect if you’ve seen the earlier films, some elements of this one will have a bit of familiarity in a way…and I liked that.

There was a certain amount of “echo” to me from the 2002 film in this–so long as I’m not crazy, you’ll recognize a Lizard/Goblin parallel. And there’s another scene that reminded me of that “you mess with him, you mess with us!” from 2002.

Given this is a movie, I had zero problem with the costume (but doggone it, WHAT is with that mask not staying on?!?). The costume simply “is” Spider-Man; I couldn’t even tell you offhand if it’s more one version or another, though I’m sure you’ll find that around online.

While I much prefer Mary Jane, didn’t have any greater problem with Gwen being “the love interest” in this film than I did this being a reboot. Different series, different supporting characters…works for me.

For having only seen this once, and less than an hour ago at that–I’d have to say this was on par with 2008’s Iron Man and 2004’s Spider-Man 2. Well worth seeing, especially in the theatre.

Highly recommended!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

A little on a lot: New 52, Comic Book Men, and Spidey

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Walt

As I’ve not been blogging regularly lately, there are a number of things I’ve been thinking about, had thoughts about, and generally considered blogging about/retreading, but haven’t. I sat down Saturday morning for awhile and typed a lot more than I intended. So I’ve broken that into several posts (this is one of those posts).

NEW 52 IN GENERAL

justiceleague001I gave the “New 52” a much bigger chance than I’d intended to–I think I’d ultimately picked up 28-30 of the books. Dropped sharply for the #2s going down to only about a dozen, then I cut to Superman, Batman, Animal Man, and Swamp Thing; now I’ll be down to Animal Man and Swamp Thing…and even those are honestly on shaky ground with me. I don’t know if this “environment” of all these titles is anything like early post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DCU, but right now I’m not “sold” long-term for DC. I suppose I’m looking at the reboots of the entire Wildstorm line and wondering (still) if there’ll be another reboot, or a regression back to the “old” DCU (despite DC’s current protestations to the contrary). With the addition of the Earth-2 stuff, at the least there seems to be enough of a breakup of things that I don’t really “get” a feel of a “unified whole” for the current DCU…more a vehicle for various creators to tie in or not to stuff.

And frankly, rather than grudgingly purchase monthly titles and grouse that this isn’t “MY” DCU…since I’m so entrenched in the 1980s/90s/00s DCU, I may as well put my efforts toward tracking down runs of the Bat-books, and reading those instead.

I’m not actively opposed to the New 52/etc…but it seems to me DC should have gone “all the way” and fully relaunched even the Batman and Green Lantern books, such that the New 52 would be a truly full start. Because of the mixed bag of stuff, it creates a sense of half-assedness for me. I’m not actively opposed to giving parts of the New 52 a chance; the problem is that I am not all that actively INTERESTED in much of the New 52.

COMIC BOOK MEN

comicbookmenI watched Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Men last Sunday, and will probably watch again this week. I’m not all that enamored with it…but it’s tv involving an actual comic store with actual comics and such. As so many others have said…it’s like Pawn Stars meets Comic Shop. I’m not sure what I expected, but this wasn’t really it. Still, it’s on immediately following The Walking Dead which I’m going to be watching anyway…so CBM has a prime timeslot to retain me as part of its audience.

UNINTERESTING SPIDEY

newwaystodie01Two years after a friend loaned me a stack of comics (which I’ve been remiss in taking so long, but that’s another issue) I still can’t get myself truly interested in Spider-Man. It’s taken several spurts of self-forced reading to make any real headway into the “Brand New Day era” and even any positives I’m finding are pretty incidental. Initially I stayed away specifically because of Marvel doing away with the Peter/MJ marriage. But however solid the writing for the BND stuff may be, I’m just finding myself having a problem connecting with any of the characters; even if I don’t miss the marriage itself amidst the stories so far, this take on Spidey is just NOT INTERESTING to me.

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

Ultimate Spider-Man #160 [Review]

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Walt

Death of Spider-Man: Part 5 of 5

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Andy Lanning with Andrew Hennessy
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover Art: Bagley & Ponsor
Assistant Editor: Sana Amant
Senior Editor: Mark Paniccia
Published by: Marvel Comics

So, this issue is mostly one big fight scene. Seems the Green Goblin’s been busy, and it’s all come back down to Norman Osborn vs. Peter Parker. But unlike that first time the Goblin came back–when it was Mary Jane who was thrown off a bridge, playing on readers’ knowledge of what happened to Gwen in the regular Marvel Universe–this time, it just feels like little more than a ripoff of a two-decades-old Superman story. Yet, it works.

The villain apparently rose…many have fallen, and it’s down to the titular hero to save those around him from said villain.

Face it…the title of the story, the branding of the last few issues of this title and the Ultimate Avengers thing–it gives it all away. Much like knowing weeks before the story even began that Doomsday! was a tale that would end with the death of Superman. It was the journey to get there, watching the hero gradually take more and more of a beating, attempting to dish it back, and ultimately making a final sacrifice to save those he loves from a monster’s rampage.

The story itself–pretty simplistic. I haven’t read the first four chapters of it in this title, and bought (but wound up only skimming) the issue where Peter takes the bullet for Cap….yet, the recap page at the beginning of this issue sum things up pretty succinctly–I don’t need those chapters to “get” this.

The art–maybe not fantastic, but after recently reading the first tpb of the post-Ultimatum Ultimate Comics Spider-Man…Bagley‘s art–which I’ve always enjoyed and associated with Ultimate Spider-Man–is SUCH a thing of beauty. The characters actually look like I’d expect, as I got used to. The way they looked over the course of all those practically biweekly issues in college and all those TPBs after that when I went back to the series last year and caught up on over 60 issues of story.

As a whole…not truly worth the $3.99 cover price. Not even with that black plastic bag with the hero’s logo in red on it. But y’know? I missed out on Ultimate Spider-Man #1; I wasn’t able to acquire any issues til #4 or so, and was only able to get back to #3. But by and large (I got the first hardcover with those first 13 fantastic issues) I got in at the beginning. So I couldn’t bring myself to entirely “pass” on this ending.

If you’re already buying this title, sticking with the singles after the Ultimatum stuff and the renumbering and the re-renumbering, the changes in art and all that…if you read the earlier chapters of this story…again, face it: you were already going to or have bought this issue already. If you’ve sat things out, wondering at simply waiting for the collected volume: keep to that route. You’ll get a full story. If you’ve avoided this story on principle…hold to it.

This isn’t going to be for everyone. In many ways, I should be appalled at this. To see the character I so enjoyed reading about–and the supporting cast–put in this (albeit fictitious) situation, to see things come to this…it’s horrible. Heart-wrenching. But when you come down to it…this issue makes this version of Peter Parker, Spider-Man, much more real, at least in the moment. We saw his origin. His beginnings. His career. And now, his end.

If you can find this issue, without being taken for a marked-up price…I recommend it. If you’re a lapsed fan of the series, it might be worth getting to be there for the end. If nothing else–consider the collected volume.

Story: 4/10
Art: 9/10
Overall: 7/10

Filed under: MARVEL, Spider-Man, Ultimate Comics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #4 [Review]

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Chapter 4: Depression

Spider-Man mourns the loss of Cap, but still has to deal with stuff that life throws at him…

fallensonthedeathofcaptainamerica004 Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: David Finch
Inks: Danny Miki
Colors: Frank D’Armata
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
From an Idea by: J. Michael Straczynski
Assistant Editor: Alejandro Arbona
Editor: Bill Rosemann
Cover Art: David Finch | Variant by: Michael Turner
Publisher: Marvel Comics

This story has certainly lost much of its impact–on me–by being stretched out so much. That’s not to say it’s entirely devoid of impact…but going through these "stages of grief" or "loss" or whatever the official phrasing is would work much better had this series been more immediate and timely. After all, I have had what? A quarter year (or more) now to get used to the idea of Captain America being "dead," and to partake in the online culture of communication that has really lessened the character’s death–as I have come to really agree that within a couple years or so, we’ll have Steve Rogers alive and well, having "got better" after this ordeal…or worse, turn out that THIS Steve Rogers was a certain alien poser.

That meta-textual stuff aside…this was a good issue. This issue’s focus is on a "depressed" Spider-Man as he deals with the loss of a man he’d looked up to as a hero–not just a "fellow" super-hero or colleague, but as an actual hero far above his own "level," by whom it was an honor to even be so much as acknowledged. And while spending time in a cemetary, Spidey/Peter realizes that he’s got an audience…and when his spider-sense goes off, he leaps into action, lashing out at the clear and present threat. The issue winds down with Spidey and Wolverine (which helps hold this series together, not merely "jumping" from one character to another, but maintaining some continuity as the characters interact).

There’s a lot that could be said and analyzed and "read into" the text, based on knowledge that’s been made public about events the writer has faced, and I’d like to acknowledge that fact without getting into it beyond this statement.

The story seems to fit Spidey…I haven’t followed the character all that much for a number of years, so I might be getting something that’s not there, depending on the nuances one pulls out. For me, though, this seemed to be a solid reflection of Spidey acting in context of having just lost a mentor/father-figure/inspiration…and that he’s in the black suit lends yet further loss based on what he’s apparently been dealing with in his own book(s). The threat faced in the cemetery elicits the expected reaction from the character, while simultaneously providing a nice twist, breaking just a bit from a clichéd sort of formula.

I liked the art here. Finch isn’t an artist I’m terribly familiar with of late, only dipping into Marvel here and there the last several years…but the art is definitely recognizable, and carries a certain realism to it that (while allowing one to still subconsciously recognize it as "just" 2-d comic book art) adds a lot to the visual enjoyment of the story. And I think that is the best-looking version of the "villain" I can ever remember seeing.

As a whole, this issue (to me) is an example of how enjoyable story arcs can be as a series of stories that CAN be taken alone, but are also part of a larger arc, rather than a series of chapters that FEEL like they are 1/6th segments of a single story…and that makes it certainly worth its cover price.

If you’re following the series already, this isn’t an issue to skip on; and if you’re just interested in Spidey…you’ve got a good dose of him dealing with another loss in his life, mixed with some action here, and I think it’s fair to say you probably don’t NEED to have read the earlier issues to get/follow/enjoy this issue. I do think these may read better in a collected volume in one sitting, though. Of course, you can do much worse by way of single issues.

Ratings:

Story: 3.5/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Captain America, Classic Reviews, Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America, MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Invincible Iron Man #500 [Review]

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Walt


Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 2/5
Art: 2/5
Overall: 2.5/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, Invincible Iron Man, MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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