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The Weekly Haul: Week of September 11, 2019

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Walt

This has turned out to be a relatively small week of brand-new comics, after a few weeks of breathtakingly high totals!

Of course, to get stuff pared down, I’ve had to consciously bail on at least 4 mini-series mid-run, and avoid a couple first issues!

There’s just TOO MUCH established stuff that’s TOO EXPENSIVE to try much else. But that gets into topics for other posts, I think.

On to this week’s haul!

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The newest "HOX/POX" issue, whatever one we’re on now. I think this is "8 of 12" with the two series combined. The ONE issue so far that I’d actually want the VARIANT cover–Rogue (by Greg Land) and that’s the one no one has in-stock. Maybe at a convention sometime, or I’ll just find a high-res image and finally get my phone off its DEFAULT background.

Newest issues of Batman and Detective Comics. Both with a story-banner at the top and their logos at the bottom. Is September "Year of the Villain logos-at-the-bottom month" where August was "battle-damaged-logos month" or something?!?

Young Justice and Wonder Twins‘ new issues.

And the latest issue of Even Leviathan.

As Batman and Detective are both still biweekly (I believe), it seems STUPID to me to have them clustered together on the same week. If one misses a week, it ought to wait an extra week to keep the two titles "staggered." That way they’re just every-other-week, and for people buying BOTH titles, they aren’t doubled-up like this.

And the same goes for the Wonder Comics stuff–when there are less TITLES than there are WEEKS IN THE MONTH, these should be strategically-timed/released so that they’re not doubled-up one week and another week has NOTHING, as a result.

I skimmed the Young Justice issue for Tim Drake’s new codename that’s been teased…MAY have figured it out, but not sure if it’s the actual one, or a tease. Not keen on it if it’s what I think it is, BUT I think I can learn to live with it…and it has "potential," though I prefer the Red Robin moniker.

At least Tim Drake’s still around and they’re allowing the character to actually have much of his history and such without 100% throwing away a nearly-200-issue series’ worth of character development and such.

As "Grindy" as HOX/POX has been…4-5 issues at $5/ea per month means a single-dollar’s retraction allows for an extra issue for the same sort of expense…so if there are six X-books coming, then hypothetically I could get all of those for (average) the same cost I’ve been paying for these. At the same time, as annoyed and put-off as I am by Hickman‘s ridiculously pretentious use of "white pages" with just these handful of issues in a couple months…do I TRULY want to put up with that for the next 3+ years?!?

And if he’s got the primary, driving force for the whole family of titles…then do I really, truly want to get in on any of the titles if they’ll all just be beholden to his, where I’m not keen on having to read his title(s)?

Blah.

Another week down. Let’s see what next week holds?

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul Catch-Up: May 22 to July 3, 2019

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Walt

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Well…it’s been a looooong time since my last post. I certainly had not PLANNED on being 6 weeks between posts! But here we are! Work and "life" have gotten in the way of late–by the time I’m done with work I’m usually vegging out for the night; and family stuff has gotten in the way with weekends. AND since it’s not like I do this blogging for money or anyone other than myself…for better or worse, it’s one of the first things to fall to the side.

Of course, I’ve had the INTENTION each week of at least doing the Weekly Haul post, so I’ve had photos…so let’s just play catch-up all in one large go for now!

Week of May 22, 2019

This was a surprisingly Marvel-heavy week, with three Marvel issues!

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Action Comics, Detective Comics, and Dial H for Hero from DC.

Then Mr. & Mrs. X from Marvel, along with a True Believers (or rather, Marvel’s Greatest Creators, I guess) reprint of the What If..? issue that debuted Spider-Girl back in the day. And a "Facsimile Edition" of Alpha Flight #1.

Then there’s a single-issue edition of Drawing Blood #1, which is actually already available as a full-size collected edition via a Kickstarter from a couple years ago.

Back Issue has really come onto my radar the last couple years, and I was definitely interested in this issue spotlighting the THIRTIETH-anniversary of Tim Burton‘s Batman!

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We also once again had the full 6-drop of all the DC 100-Page Comic Giant! editions at Walmart…zero pretense of the "new comics every 2 weeks" or however they were billed at first!

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MINUS the Detective Comics 1000 issue, here’s what a shelf of the first 11 months’ worth of these looks like!

Week of May 29, 2019

This was one of THE most expensive smaller weeks in quite awhile for new comics!

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There’s the $5.99 Batman: Last Knight #1; the $9.99 Superman: Leviathan Rising giant-size issue; the $5.99 X-Men: Grand Design – X-Tinction #1; 3 issues for $10 on top of the "usual" frustrating $3.99 cover prices.

Said "regular" $3.99 each for the Heroes in Crisis finale; TMNT #94; and TMNT: Urban Legends #13.

Then $4.99 for Doomsday Clock #10 (apparently I was 5 weeks to getting around to actually reading it!) and $4.99 for the Detective Comics Annual.

Quite a price tag for "only" 8 issues!

Week of June 5, 2019

This week’s haul was big for a different reason! For the first time since the 25-cent issue a couple years ago, I bought an issue of The Walking Dead!

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New issues of Batman, of Young Justice, and of Adventures of the Super Sons.

The fifth issue of the current iteration of Criminal (just after I’d caught up on the previous four issues!)

And then, thanks to BleedingCool spoiling it for me, I was able to get a copy of Walking Dead #192. Granted–it was already spoiled for me, and was itself a surprise–I’d TOTALLY figured the ending (also spoiled) of #191 was all HYPE and would not actually go the way it did! Spoiled though it was, I figured I wanted to read it for MYSELF and NOT have to wait for another collected edition.

For the novelty of it–with Peter David and Dale Keown–decided to get Incredible Hulk: Last Call.

Then TMNT: Urban Legends #13 again (different cover…oops!), and Batman/TMNT III #2.

Week of June 12, 2019

And here we have the first issue of Event Leviathan, snagged because I wouldn’t want to have to hunt it down later, but presently "unreadable" until I catch up on my Action Comics reading. THen the new issues of Superman and Supergirl…I dig the covers, and Superman in particular at a glance fooled me a couple times into thinking I was looking at a ’90s comic!

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Then the new Detective Comics issue, Wonder Twins, and GI Joe: A Real American Hero.

I’m continuing to enjoy Spider-Man: Life Story and totally equate it with Superman: Secret Identity. I’m not sure how it’s gonna read in a collected volume, as it REALLY benefits from the gap between issues for its own time jumps. It’s technically a single narrative, but more like a bunch of one-shots; each with a 10-years-older Spider-Man, having progressed from being a teenager in the ’60s, 20-something in the ’70s, 30s in the ’80s, to his 40s here in the ’90s.

And a random True Believers Spider-Man vs. the gray Hulk issue.

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I also had gotten curious about the Flash: Year One story…and finding that all three issues available at the time were…available, I opted to snag them!

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Ordered a couple weeks earlier but arriving the week of June 12th, I got the Rebirth Deluxe Editions of Action Comics vol. 2-3 and Superman 1-4. Along with the vol. 1 of Action Comics and Action Comics #1000 Deluxe Edition that I already had, this gives me basically the complete "Rebirth-era" Superman saga in hardback.

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The Action Comics #1000 volume does not begin to match the trade dress, but then it IS sort of the break-point between these and the Bendis-era stuff. I’d consider going for the Batman and Detective Comics hardcovers…but with all the changes DC‘s been making to stuff, I haven’t a clue how many they’ll do or if later volumes will fit the trade dress or be split, and so on.

I’d gotten the Action Comics volume a couple years ago, and only got these others when I realized 1. they were available for ordering all in one go and 2. they were a "complete" set.

Week of June 19, 2019

I’d bailed on Usagi Yojimbo from Dark Horse when the series tried to switch to renumbering as mini-series to the story arc after having just gotten a couple issues with the intent of jumping on long-term. Getting a new start at IDW actually WARRANTS a new #1 and I’ll give the series another shot, having been aware of it for much of its history and enjoying what I HAVE read of it!

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Along with the premiere of the new Usagi series, yet another issue of Batman. I’m a few issues behind on reading–again–but have more or less been keeping up for 30-some issues now. I’m NOT happy about Tom King being forced off the main title and will likely consciously pass on the series from there–especially with the likelihood of a renumbering being close behind.

I’m enjoying getting the various facsimile editions from Marvel…again showing that I’m more than willing to buy their older stuff and far less keen on the new! I picked up a couple issues of the Marvel MAX Howard the Duck series back in 2001 or so, but otherwise don’t think I’ve actually gotten stuff…so this reprint of the first issue ought to be a good treat to read!

The final issue of Marvels Annotated wraps up the 5-issue (#s 0-4) re-presentation of the 1994 series for its 25th anniversary.

The next issue of TMNT: Urban Legends has us about 2/3 through the series. On a whim, I got Warlord of Mars Attacks for the sheer novelty of the properties’ mash-up.

And though I’ve not been a great fan of Frank Miller OR John Romita Jr., it’s Superman so I grabbed the first issue of Superman: Year One. It’s also notable for being one of the EXTREMELY VERY RARE cases where I consciously opted for the "variant" cover, far preferring it to the generic-seeming regular cover.

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And again here with the next round of the Walmart DC 100-Page Comic Giant!s.

I’m not entirely clear on their future from here…I believe they’re continuing, but no longer Walmart EXCLUSIVE; but not being the most stringent follower of solicitations or Diamond‘s PREVIEWS, I’m not sure if they’re orderable yet through comic shops, if the things will be re-numbering (again), and so on.

Week of June 26, 2019

Getting closer to present, the week of June 26th is only a couple weeks old!

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New Action Comics, new Detective Comics, and new Flash (for Year One).

The newest Spawn–#298–leaves us with just a couple issues til the big #300, which will be quite the sentimental thing for ME (and something I’ll likely cover in another post–perhaps moreso once that issue is out!).

We have the FINAL (ugh!) issue of Mr. & Mrs. X–as the board is cleared for the Hickman re-launch of stuff. Which I may check out against my own better judgment…I have my pre-conceived notions and expectations, but sort of feel I ought to give it a chance and see if I’m still on point with it or not.

And then the latest Dial H for Hero…

And after far, far too long–the third/final issue of Batman: Damned.

Finally…for the sheer novelty of it, a very good-condition copy of the black-bagged edition of 1992’s Superman #75 for "only" $10.

Week of July 3, 2019

And lookie-here…we’re finally "current" again! The most recent week of new comics!

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I was tentatively on-board for Walking Dead #193 to "see what happens next" after the events of #192–PLUS in the month SINCE #192 hit, I managed to catch up completely on reading the series, going all the way back to the immediate aftermath of All-Out War in the early #120s! 70 or so issues read in a month! Of course, I’m floored at it turned out to be the FINAL issue…though I applaud the use of the "fake solicitations" a la Ultraverse (Malibu Comics) back in 1993 when they solicited a couple additional issues of the original Exiles series despite that being a 4-issue series with an ENDING.

As mentioned earlier, I’m stupidly far behind on reading Action Comics, and thus all of the Leviathan stuff…and not being quite sure where this Lois Lane series fits into things, I snagged the first issue. Hopefully I’ll get caught up sooner than later and figure out where things are…I’m NOT all that keen on adding Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen to the buys, especially if I’m not likely to get around to reading them until they’d be in collected format anyway!

Then the latest Batman/TMNT III issue; and the final issue of Adventures of the Super Sons.

Another facsimile edition in New Mutants #98. And continuing the ’90s fun…a $2.00 copy of the first print of Superman #75 "newsstand" edition. As with the previous week’s buy of the black bagged edition…got it for the novelty of the thing!

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And since I’ve taken to showing the week’s issue (albeit often un-referenced/mentioned), here’s this week’s Comic Shop News cover, spotlighting the return of the Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium coming soon.

And there I’m finally "caught up" again. Amidst all these weeks’ worth of new comics are some toy purchases I may or may not get to showing off, and a game or two, some movies, and some general "real-life" stuff.

But if I get to them, they’ll be their own posts.

And maybe sometime this summer I’ll get back to actually doing some reviews and other TRUE "content" for this blog.

At the least, I’m pretty sure I have an Exiles #4 post pretty much ready to go, and then have to get to Firearm #0, Ultraverse Premiere #0, and the November 1993 Ultraverse ads post to finish that month…and I’d like to get to December 1993’s Break-Thru event before too long. But we’ll see what real life holds in the nearer-than-not future!

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul Catch-Up: Weeks of May 2, 9, & 16, 2019

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Walt

Well, it’s been a few weeks since a Weekly Haul post. I’ve taken photos to do the posts, but real life got in the way of doing these posts themselves.

So, here are 3 weeks’ worth crammed into one!

Week of May 02, 2019

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A very DC week!

Batman and Batman/TMNT III were out May 2nd…as well as the 25-cent Year of the Villain issue. Like its predecessor last year or the year before–the issue is not all that interesting to me, and turns me off more than on to upcoming stuff; especially as I really have zero interest in "The Batman Who Laughs" OR Snyder‘s Justice League stuff.

We’re nearing the end of Adventures of the Super Sons, and who knows what the future holds for these characters. I’ve also gotten behind in reading the various Wonder Comics titles. Even though I recently decided to go "all-in" on them, if I’m already behind and not overly concerned about it…do I really need/want to be buying these titles?weeklyhaul_20190502b

At a visit to a Five Below store, I snagged a copy of the classic How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. I remember getting this from the library several times as a kid–though it’d been defaced by other borrowers in a rather inappropriate way. Having my own (clean) copy is cool…though after I bought it, it occurred to me that I may have snagged a copy from Half-Price Books previously…though where that particular copy got to, I’m not sure at the moment.

They also had this Hot Wheels Batman classic ’66 Batmobile. It’s basically the only car I really "care" about, NOT being a "cars guy." So, it’s another little trinket to add to the ever-expanding collection.

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Then a couple days after New Comic Day, went with friends to an evening pre-Free Comic Book Day event where they’d brewed some custom beer. I tried the Wolverine’s Canadian Ale, and a friend gave me his empty Cyclops Weak Summer Pilsner bottle so I’d have both!

Week of May 09, 2019

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May 9th was a small-ish week comics-wise. I’m once more falling behind on reading for Detective Comics, which even though I tend to like the writer’s work, leads me to wonder if I care enough to "keep up with" the title, now that we’re past #1000 and it lacks the "excitement" of the "build-up to" that 1000th issue.

I’ve kept up with Supergirl primarily on principle–I think I had all of the Rebirth run, and definitely wanted to support the notion of a series ACTUALLY CONTINUING THE NUMBERING. I’ve yet to read any of the current run, unfortunately, so it seems another one ripe for dropping. And as said above on other Wonder Comics…I begin to wonder if I was a bit premature going "all-in" on the imprint if I’m not gonna get around to reading the things!

It continues to be rather "telling" to me that I’m happy to re-buy (at a premium price) stuff like Annotated Marvels for $8 as that’s "only" double the price of a standard new Marvel issue but it’s an extra-sized thing with even more added content in the annotations..and it’s a known quantity to me, having gotten the original Marvels issues new as they came out back in 1994!

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While at a Gamestop looking for the TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan game for X-Box, I spotted this Batman Funko Pop figure and knowing I’d "eventually" want it, went ahead and bought it so I don’t have to "hunt" it later.

Which is, in itself, another thing I’m noticing a lot more lately–I’m buying way more than I’d typically do, because it seems "everything" so QUICKLY goes "out of print" and "unavailable" that if I don’t buy it on the spot, I won’t be able to (reasonably) do so later.

And that takes a lotta "fun" outta stuff.

Week of May 16, 2019

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…And now we’re to the current/most recent week!

New Superman issue, new Batman issue, and the new Naomi. I’m not into "speculating" on books, and this title is maybe more a driving factor in my reconsidering the Wonder Comics line if I’m not getting around to the reading.

Then there’s the new Immortal Hulk issue. This makes the 3rd issue in a row for the latter for me…though I don’t know that I’ll want to keep going with the series. It’s not really coming off the way I expected, and I’d probably get more from it if I’d read the earlier issues–but if I do those by Marvel Unlimited I might as well do the series that way.

I’ve been digging the Spider-Man: Life Story series, so that’s a "given" for me; and while I was really looking forward to the first issue of Shredder in Hell, I was NOT counting on it being BI-MONTHLY as it’s been so far. At this writing the series should’ve been finished already (or the final issue coming out in a couple days)…not having 2 more issues yet to come sometime later this year!

Despite the being-behind-on-reading, I’m a bit more willing to suppor IDW‘s Marvel stuff. Though even these may be short on my list as the newness/novelty wears off and collected volumes start coming out that put the single issues’ cover prices to shame.

I’m feeling fairly grouchy toward a lotta comics lately…and while much of my frustration is with Marvel, DC is stacking up quite a bit. I’m none too keen on the upcoming Lois Lane or Jimmy Olsen 12-issue series. I’m behind on reading the main Superman and Action Comics titles as-is. And I’m NOT looking forward to the Leviathan "event" about to start. Also put-off by the Year of the Villain build-up (some of that from the 25-cent special having an opposite-from-intended effect on me, turning me off to stuff rather than building my excitement). As of this writing, I just saw some articles on Bleeding Cool with the August 2019 solicitations (and stuff from the Diamond Retailers’ Summit or such) with the upcoming cardstock cover variants (adding $1 to cover price for affected issues!) and that puts me yet further off from stuff.

EVERY SINGLE ISSUE having AT LEAST 2 covers continues to be a turn-off on principle.

Then the way stuff goes out of print and out of stock on collected volumes leaves me cold–recently, I’d thought I could "catch up" on the GI Joe Classic line; but maybe 2-3 weeks after I ordered vols. 7-8 (I had 1-6 from a few years ago) suddenly most of 9-16 is unavailable except from 3rd-party sellers jacking the prices way up for being "out of print."

I had had Game of Thrones spoiled for me from casual posts thrown out on Facebook that went significantly well beyond what I’d experienced so far, so I grudgingly gave up and gave in and though I’m only sequentially to season 5: episode 2, I watched season 8: episode 5, and will probably suck it up and watch the finale. If it’s gonna be totally spoiled for me anyway I might as well AT LEAST get the spoilers FIRST HAND from watching MYSELF!

So there’s that ending–and we’re a few weeks past Avengers Endgame and essentially the ending to 11 years’ worth of Marvel Cinematic Universe films–and The Big Bang Theory just ended–so it feels like a lot of endings lately.

And I begin to consider: maybe it’s time for me to take more of a "break" from comics?

Though I’ll "eventually" have to "play catch-up" anyway for the likes of Superman and Action Comics as I always do; perhaps I need to cut back to just a few things.

Spawn to #300. TMNT stuff. And Tom King‘s Batman, since it seems like NO ONE ELSE even actually does more than 10-20 issues anymore.

It’s not like I wouldn’t have other stuff to read–to catch up on reading–even if I never bought any more comics ever!

So who knows…

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of April 17, 2019

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Walt

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Another mixed sort of week! Not huge, not tiny!

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This week has the new Batman issue…I’m pretty sure that makes 2 weeks and 2 issues! Perhaps the title is back on schedule?

Spider-Man: Life Story #2 puts us 1/3 through this series. The first issue was set during the ’60s…this one’s the ’70s and we find Peter in his early 30s.

Naomi #4 is suddenly some big huge Big Deal (stupidly so, it seems). Thankfully, Comic Heaven had no problem with letting me get my single copy for cover price (having already bought 1-3…I’m solely interested as the SERIES, not stupid speculation!)

Then GI Joe: A Real American Hero #261 and Silent Option #4.

And of course, the weekly Comic Shop News.

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The latest round of Walmart 100-page giant issues all hit. I can honestly say that the novelty is wearing REALLY THIN at this point…part of the "fun" is 1. getting the ALL and 2. having them spaced out across the month so they’re not some big, bulky, HEAVY purchase. $30 in one go is not so fun!

Add to that, there’s been NO SIGN at over half a dozen Walmarts across 6+ weeks of the Detective Comics #1000 100-Page Giant. And like Valiant…if I can’t get "ALL OF THEM," then suddenly there’s farrrrr less incentive to even keep up with these. While I might suck it up for the next couple months–get to the #12s for the Batman and Superman ones–if I’m not able to locate the Detective one for cover price, I mayyyy be done.

Time will tell!

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The Weekly Haul: Week of April 10, 2019

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Walt

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Heyyy…look at that! I’ve been forgetting to use, re-use, and/or re-design this handy little logo for this Weekly Haul "feature" I try to do!

Anyway…medium-sized week for April 10, 2019. And for the first time in awhile, I think, it’s straight "big two" in DC and Marvel…though as-is-normal for me these days…Marvel‘s on the short end of things.

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First up, the new Superman and Supergirl issues. It seems rather odd to have Supergirl at such a (relatively) high number compared to Superman, but that’s what you get when you have renumberings/reboots/whatever shenanigans!

Detective Comics is "back" ALREADY…quite a bit of difference from last year’s Action Comics #1000 with a 3-or-so-month gap before #1001. For that matter, Action–which has long been "ahead" in numbering (thanks particularly to its Action Comics Weekly days)! (As an aside–check out Chris’ blog Chris is on Infinite Earths for a run-down in great detail of the Action Comics Weekly period of the title!)

So, by the end of this year…Detective Comics will be "in the lead" in terms of numbering! This issue also sports a new logo! I’m not enamored with it–like a lot of other comments I’ve seen online, it reminds me of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon logo, and does look like it’d be more at home on a line of toys and/or animated tv show than this comic series. That being said…I think it ALSO seems rather out of place against the current Batman logo, which I may be "used to" but still don’t overly like. To me, the new Detective Comics logo would look a lot better if it better-matched the Batman title…and I’m more than ready for (I say this now, anyway) a new logo for that title.

Next, we have the aforementioned Batman title. I’m not sure if this issue was "late" or what, but I’d swear the two titles were alternating weeks. And here we’re "already" at Wonder Twins #3…and I still need to read the first 2 issues as well!

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On to the Marvel titles…I suppose in my opening comment I neglected to mention that where Marvel has THREE issues I picked up on Wednesday…all three are reprints! Nothing "new!" The Marvel Tales issue features Thanos and reprints Warlock #10 (his original series), Silver Surfer #45 (an issue that I covered a few years ago), and Warlock and the Infinity Watch #8.

Incidentally, going from that, the True Believers Thanos and Gamora reprints Warlock and the Infinity Watch #9…the very next issue. And finally, True Believers Stormbreaker reprints Thor #339.

While I’m getting rather tired of the True Believers heading (I’d much rather $1 "facsimile editions" of these various issues), they continue to show (me) that Marvel is perfectly capable of putting out cheap(er) comics. AND that I overall really care very little for stuff they’ve published over the last 10-15 years (pretty much Avengers Disassembled to present). So reprinting stuff from the ’90s especially, as well as the ’80s and such…that’s where the bulk of my interest seems to be.

Finally, the week’s Comic Shop News features Second Coming. I’m not really sure what to make of it…it’s certainly gotten hype, and I might give it a try; though like most such projects, it strikes me as something probably better gotten as a collected volume rather than single issues. Time will tell!

I’ve found myself "gearing up" again with a couple things. I mentioned Mortal Kombat with last week’s post, and that interest continues. The same week that Mortal Kombat 11 is due out, the first new Magic: The Gathering novel War of the Spark is also due out. I find myself really hoping that even if they don’t "self-publish," that Wizards of the Coast gets back into doing regular novels for their various properties again…at least "core story" things. Maybe there don’t have to be new books every month delving into every side-character’s sibling’s personal history, but at least get a couple new books each year! I’d even settle for published versions of material they’ve released online!

And there’s the Force of Will card game. I loved what I saw with it last year, but it fell to the side due to "real life stuff" getting in the way. I’m not really sure what "sparked" it THIS time around, but I’ve found myself getting some new stuff for it including a couple of "playmats" and such, and even impulse-ordered a "crate" of stuff thanks to seeing it on several YouTube videos. And when I read a description of another item a bit closer, realized that where I thought it included 72 cards, it actually includes 72 booster packs…which is basically two boxes‘ worth. For only a little more than twice what I paid for a "cheapo box" last year, and not much more than what I paid for another box (also last year). So while I may not have much of anything overly "special" from the game…definitely bulking up on cards, and hopefully will be able to get friends to play it with me.

Though I’m also starting to re-consider my outright "boycott" of local gaming store(s). (Been refusing to do business with WPN gaming stores over their pricing of the Jace’s Spellbook product last year). However, even if I "give in" and seek out being able to play Force of Will at a game store, I fully intend to hold to NOT buying Magic: The Gathering product from the game store.

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The Weekly Haul: Week of April 03, 2019

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Walt

April 3rd was a decent-sized week of new comics. Not too huge, not tiny. Several #1s, a couple second (for me, at least) issues, and so on.

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I decided to give Major X a try, after some well-timed "hype" on it and such. Liefeld prompts a certain sort of nostalgia for me, and I was truly curious about the time-travel/meeting with 1991 characters aspect. Can’t say I’m overly impressed with the first issue, though, so it’s a crapshoot on whether I’ll "bother" with #2…probably depends on it being a slow week or not.

Sorta hard to believe we’re "already" at Young Justice #4. Ditto at already being to #9 for Adventures of the Super Sons. This is a series I’ll probably kick myself for…I wasn’t going to want to hunt it down later, but I am ridiculously/embarassingly far behind on reading anything with the title…AND with the Bendis stuff in "present" continuity…this seems something better left for the collected edition for me. …Except I think there’s either already or about to be a "vol. 1" for this series. But it’s a FINITE 12-issue series, so to me, there’s NO REASON only HALF the finite-series should be collected. It should be collected into a single full-story volume at its end. It’s that "collect everything regardless of length of run or PLANNED length of run" that (to me) can really turn folks off to getting single issues, even for something like this.

I’m giving Immortal Hulk another issue due to my curiosity…and wondering about a certain character. Figured I’d try Section Zero #1…I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something with it seems rather familiar to me, and I might be crossing it over mentally with something else from years ago, but I opted to pick it up "in case" so I can check it for myself.

Seems that IDW is again a "major factor" of my week with 3 of the week’s comics coming from them! I’m trying to give these Marvel Action: ______ titles a chance, and support them…especially as it seems like they do NOT have a TON of VARIANTS. And they’re likely far more self-contained than most of Marvel‘s own books, so strike me as being more "fun" and accessible without being involved in this week/month/quarter’s latest umpteen crossover event invasion secret whatevers.

GI Joe: A Real American Hero is–at #260 (or #105/106 from IDW itself) THE core GI Joe book to me at this point. Written by Larry Hama and having continued from the original Marvel series, it is at this point THE absolute longest-running Joe book I’m aware of, period, 2nd longest run for any publisher, where I think IDW itself may be on its 3rd-boot of stuff.

Finally, despite it being rather late, or perhaps because of it, I opted to snag Chandra #2. I’m not overly keen on this depiction of the character and such. But I’m VERY MUCH a fan of Magic: The Gathering in terms of its "lore" and with just a handful of books left to acquire to have the entirety of the in-print editions of the lore, I might as well get this as well.

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It’s cool to see Usagi Yojimbo get the cover of Comic Shop News for this week. AT LEAST with a "new publisher" in the title going to IDW, a "renumbering" is actually WARRANTED. It’s also likely a good jumping-on point for the character. I was highly put-off last year when I tried to jump onto the title and within a couple issues it switched to a new #1 with "legacy-style numbering" included to be a "mini-series" or such. I do NOT look forward to the umpteen variants on every single issue that IDW is surely going to pump out…but I’ll likely be giving it a chance anyway, being at the same publisher now as TMNT, and maybe I’ll "fold it in" with TMNT given the titles’ association through the years.

And there’s an Avengers Endgame previews to presumably push various collected volumes and such related or expected to be related to the film. I for one certainly appreciate these comic-sized ones for being comic-sized…as well as being a stand-alone thing instead of choking or bloating individual Marvel issues. And since I snagged the Captain Marvel one recently, figued I’d snag this as well.

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I also finally "pulled the trigger" on getting these Mortal Kombat figures from Funko. I’d seen them awhile back, and been "curious" about them more recently. I had NOT actually consciously realized they were Mortal Kombat X rather than "just" Mortal Kombat, but there you go. That three of my (if not my three, period) favorite characters are here made ’em a no-brainer.

I’d gotten Raiden, which OF COURSE then triggered my OCD and led to me hunting down the other two. I was able to get Scorpion and Sub-Zero at a Gamestop far off my usual area…but NOT far from where I was meeting a friend for Shazam which made things work out quite well!

shazam_ticket_stubAnd speaking OF Shazam, saw it on Friday the 5th.

I rather enjoyed it, though I’ve pretty much decided that I personally hold Wonder Woman (as #1) and Aquaman (as #2) above it in terms of my favorites of the "modern" crop of DC films (definitely over Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman, and Justice League…though I’ve yet to decide exactly where I hold Man of Steel in there, as I’d originally thought that and taken that one as a standalone property…as well as someone I’d seen it with sparking certain feelings).

I did not care for how New 52-heavy Shazam felt, but overall it was a fun film with plenty of light, humor, and so on; and even though toys had more than spoiled one thing (to say nothing of assumption and expectation from the comics doing so), I actually had had no idea what to expect of the film’s villain, and really dug the portrayal here. While I hope we’ll get Black Adam in a sequel, I’d prefer that before the "return" of this film’s villain. There was even a cameo I rather enjoyed that paid off through the film.

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The Weekly Haul: Week of March 27, 2019

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Walt

Last week was both a small week and a HUUUUGE week!

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On the "HUUUUUGE" part, we have the 1000th issue of Detective Comics! My very first issue of the series was #604…which to some reckoning makes this the 396th issue I myself have been around for. (398 if you count the two #0 issues, over 400 if you count whatever other titled out of sequence issues).

Then there’s the latest issue of TMNT: Urban Legends, guest starring some of the Savage Dragon characters. After all, this is the series that was originally published by Image, and I believe instigated at the time by Erik Larsen, creator of the Savage Dragon and associated characters.

And there’s the second issue of the latest iteration of IDW‘s Transformers. Can’t say I’m all that impressed after reading the first two issues. Maybe it’s not bogged down with intricate continuity, but it’s not engaging me all that much.

Next is the latest Action Comics, which I’m sadly a few issues behind on reading. I’m not terribly keen on stuff with this "Leviathan" branching out to a bigger event…overall, I’m just sick and tired OF events!

Which brings us to Heroes in Crisis #7. I’m pretty sure this was supposed to originally BE a 7-issue series. While it obviously, literally has PAGES that prove its length, I feel like there still hasn’t been any significant STORY developments or forward movement. It’s like something that might be better suited for–I don’t know–a "web comic" series or something, with each of these one-page "interview sequences" serving as a "strip," and EVENTUALLY they all get collected into some print edition.

I’ve thrown in with the Wonder Comics line…the latest premiere of which is Dial H For Hero. I’ve never particularly read any iteration of this title before, but do recall having an old ’80s issue, back in the early ’90s in my earliest days being "into" comics significantly.

Where I’d figued the William Gibson Alien3 thing to be four issues, apparently it was 5 issues. Longer story is good…now to find 1-4 and read the whole thing in one sitting! Fitting in a way as the latest Alien thing for me to read. In 1992 or so, it was the novelization of the film that "hooked" me on the franchise, and that’s lasted 27-some years now!

Finally, Mr. & Mrs. X #9…reminding me yet also once more again that I’m far too "behind" on reading, but quite enjoy Rogue & Gambit and so wanted the title. At this point I believe I can catch up on some reading even without locating all my single issues, thanks to Marvel Unlimited.

I have some small hopes of getting a review of Detective 1000 up in the next week or two. In short, it was a nice, thick issue with lots to read, and took me several sittings to get through. I passed on all of the "decades variants," due to the price, primarily. The ’80s and ’90s covers would’ve had me just for nostalgia of the classic "DC bullet" as well as the title logos themselves. But the image on the ’90s cover just wasn’t distinct enough or interesting enough to me. And the Frank Miller image has got to be one of the single UGLIEST cover images of a Batman I have EVER seen!

I’m still trying to locate the Walmart Detective Comics 100-Page Giant issue…and it might be my "breaking point" on those, as I enjoy having EVERY issue. Miss one, break "the streak," and why bother with the others? But I also refuse to pay $15-20+ for a $5 comic…especially with the many Walmarts around here and the frequency at which I’m able to visit said stores.

Though this post is for the March 27, 2019 books…here’s to the first week of April 2019–April 3rd–being a good week of new comics!

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The Weekly Haul: Weeks of March 13 & 20, 2019

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Walt

Personal life once more got in the way of even a simple, weekly haul post…so here’s a double-up from the last couple weeks! As such this also includes some Walmart, Half-Price Books, and Mac’s Backs books!

Week of March 13, 2019

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New Superman, Supergirl, and Wonder Twins.

I decided to try the new Transformers series. If IDW is rebooting the continuity and such and starting wholly fresh…fine, I’ll check stuff out. I’m not interested in following a ton of spin-offs and tie-ins or gigantic shared-universe stuff. But a contained universe, starting small, and seeing how much/if it grabs me…that I’m open for.

$4.99 for 100 pages of The Maxx is certainly worthwhile on principle…I’m more than happy to support such huge issues at great price points!

And speaking of…$7.99 for Annotated Marvels is still a great price and quite worthwhile to ME for my own nostalgia with the series. To get the cardstock covers, the reprint of the original issue (which I want to say–someone can correct me if I’m wrong–were $5.99 25 years ago) and the annotations for "only" $8 new is perfectly ok by me!

Then we (finally!) got the SECOND issue of the IDW Spider-Man series…I’d begun to think I’d flat-out MISSED this (and maybe the 3rd issue as well)! Not sure why it’d be so long since the previous issue, but it’s definitely something that if I miss an issue, that’d be that–I’m not gonna go way outta my way to hunt it down, but I’ll support it for several issues to check out and treat as its own relatively self-contained thing (I hope!)

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Then there were the release of the new issues of the six Walmart-exclusive (apparently only exclusive for a bit longer) 100-page Giants. I definitely dig the Superman cover most of all…the "iconic" Flash/Superman racing thing is quite nostalgic for me, going back to a 1989 issue of Adventures of Superman and its cover (which I eventually learned was itself an homage to a silver-age issue).

Though these are out, apparently there’s a "surprise" Detective Comics #1000 100-Page Giant due, but I’ve yet to find that one…and these six issues pictured above have probably been THE most spotty I’ve seen for the issues since last summer in availability–like the vendor cleared out all the previous stock and is only sparingly stocking these.

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Along with the Walmart comics, Half-Price Books had another one of their week-long sales via coupons, with Monday & Tuesday 20%-off-one-item coupons, Wednesday & Thursday 30%, Friday & Saturday 40%, and Sunday 50%-off coupons. I went to HPB on the Friday and snagged these Dragonlance novels.

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On the Saturday, I was in the area and visited a used-books store called Mac’s Backs, and scored a couple of Highlander novels I was missing, as well as 3 of the early Myth books by Robert Asprin.

I also visited another HPB location and wound up getting a pack of Justice League: New Frontier figures with a comic…alas, I neglected to get a photo of it, so perhaps that’ll be another post later.

Week of March 20, 2019

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Batman, Nightwing, and Naomi hit this week. The Batman issue is probably THE most disappointing issue I’ve read in ages–VIRTUALLY a "silent" issue that can be flipped through in moments and summed up as "Batman chases someone, and the identity might be a surprise." It includes a scene that references the Batman/Elmer Fudd issue from a couple years ago if you know what you’re looking at…but that’s hardly worth $3.99 on its own!

TMNT has its 92nd issue–we’re a "mere" 8 issues away from the first-ever TMNT #100 at this point! The new issue of Criminal is out. And I was juuuuust curious enough about Spider-Man: Life Story to get it…and it’s by far THE single best Marvel comic I’ve read in ages! A lotta personal stuff to it with personal nostalgia and such, but even so…I’d highly recommend it despite the $4.99 price!

I gave in on some "hype" over the Immortal Hulk issue and decided to check it out…it’s #15, and it’s the first Hulk comic I’ve bought as a new issue in YEARS and it wasn’t actually all that bad. It has be curious about the series, and maybe I’ll check it out via Marvel Unlimited…and maybe I’ll get the next issue. We’ll see.

Finally, the IDW iteration of Avengers has its 3rd issue–now an issue ahead of Spider-Man despite starting after that one.

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And since I was getting a splash of Marvel and didn’t hate the Captain Marvel movie, snagged the preview thing of CM stuff. And the usual Comic Shop News stuff with a spring 2019 preview I may or may not actually page through.

Depending on what personal life holds, I’ll hopefully "catch up" and actually get stuff posted for several other recent acquisitions in the toys-arena…as well as some new shelving arrangements.

And though I’ve been saying it for years now, perhaps this spring I’ll actually, finally get around to a full showing-off of my "comic cave." Though the space has come to resemble a cramped comics/dvds/games/toys store.

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The Weekly Haul: Week of February 13, 2019

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Walt

This week proved to be rather huge for new comics…at least for me, by my own standards! One might even say it was a Giant-Size week!

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Double dose Batman this week with Detective Comics and the Flash crossover. We also have the debut issue of Wonder Twins, which I opted to check out as I’m pretty much giving this whole Wonder Comics thing a chance.

Then there’s the newest issue of Superman as well as the newest Supergirl. And TMNT is into the "final countdown" to issue #100, as #91 hits!

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Marvel actually got me on MULTIPLE issues this week! The usual with Mr. & Mrs. X #8. I "gave in" on Savage Sword of Conan #1…though I’ve no conscious intention of getting #2 and onward. There’s a nostalgia factor here, and I’m willing to "sample" the thing and get the #1 because it IS Conan, and I want to at least have "tried" one issue if I’m gonna be down on Marvel with it. If I’ve never bought so much as one issue, where do I have any authenticity to criticize?

I didn’t even know about Marvels Annotated until the last second. I’m a sucker for this sorta thing…and as a "key" series from my youth, I’m more than willing to "double-dip" with getting this series again, with notes from the creators. Given the story AND visual quality–and this issue has both the original first issue AND the later-published #0 issue–along with the notes, it feels to me like an EXCELLENT (by Marvel standards) value!

Criminal is back and I realize I have yet to read #1. Though I have all the TPBs (I believe) of the series thus far, with this new iteration, I figured I’d give it a few issues as single issues to see if/how it grabs me, AND see what any collected volume may look like, if it’ll be in line with the others, and so on.

And Alien 3 (the William Gibson adaptation) comes to a close. Unless Tristan Jones is doing further covers of the newest Aliens mini, I’m pretty much done with the property as single issues and will opt for the collected volumes.

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And then DC and/or the vendor that handles these at Walmart opted to drop ALL SIX of their MONTHLY 100-Page Comic Giant issues in the SAME WEEK. Even though these are a solid value at only $5 apiece for their size (these’d be $10 through Diamond to regular comic shops)…SIX of them at $5/each still stacks up to a whopping $30!

A mere 8 months into the "experiment" and we already have TWO re-titled/re-numbered books with the Teen Titans book switching to the Titans title, presumably to capitalize on the DC Universe app/service show but other than the logo on the front and a #1 instead of #8, I believe it’s otherwise exactly what we’ve BEEN getting. The same thing with Justice League being retitled to Wonder Woman.

Then we have the new additions of The Flash and Swamp Thing, after "experiment" issues in a Swamp Thing issue last October and a holiday special in December.

Of the original four, only Superman and Batman continue on with their title and numbering.

I’ve a bit of mental "sticker shock" as I look all these over and tally up the costs–seven $5 issues, an $8 issue, and everything else $3.99. At least the Walmart issues don’t have six out every week; and the Conan and Alien3 issues are one-offs at this point. I’m only getting a couple issues of The Flash for this particular crossover with Batman. I jumped back onto Detective Comics for the run-up to #1000, but have yet to decide if or how far beyond #1000 I’m going to go. At the least, I am NOT impressed with the "Decades Variants" and so expect to simply get a single copy of the regular cover edition and let that be that. (Where last year, I got the standard cover, decades variants AND a couple other retailer covers for Action Comics‘ 1000th issue).

Though I’ve been "mid-life crisis-ing" with some purchasing recently…that cannot and will not extend to comics, at least NOT long-term. Huge weeks like this remind me just what a poor value comics truly are, and will push me to all the more drastic decisions regarding what I’ll buy regularly.

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The Weekly Haul: Week of February 06, 2019

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Walt

February starts out with a medium week. Not huge, not tiny. Though it’s another with an issue missing from the week before, picked up amidst the bunch!

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While I despise the $3.99 price point AND that DC is NOT doing digital codes with the books regularly/predictably, I think I’m pretty much ‘sold" on the Wonder Comics stuff, at least for checking out the first issue or two for each of the titles. This week had Young Justice #2, which was a no-brainer for me, given the way I enjoyed the first issue. This one didn’t hit me quite the same way, but was still enjoyable in itself!

We get the first chapter of The Price [of Justice] in Batman #64, beginning a 4-issue 2-per-title crossover with The Flash, written by the writer of The Flash (rather than Tom King, the regular on Batman).

From the previous week is the $9.99 Mysteries (of love) in Space, a giant-size special playing off the classic Mysteries in Space title. As a sucker for these giant-size issues, I snagged it. Where I’m "ok" with DC doing $10 issues and NOT OK with Marvel is that DC has the decency to have them be standalone issues and NOT part of a regular series. Get the special, don’t get the special…one isn’t "penalized" by a gap in their collection or feeling "forced" to buy the issues!

Adventures of the Super Sons is over the halfway point of its run; GI Joe: A Real American Hero sports one of THE highest-numbers in American comics (coming behind Spawn‘s #294 or so) and I’m giving these Marvel Action books a chance, if only for the "novelty" of being major Marvel properties published by IDW (and thus semi-immune to gated/ratioed/EXCESSIVE variants and crappy continuity stuff).

Finally, I tend to follow Blake Northcott‘s work, so of course snagged her Aspen Visions: Fathom issue. I think this is a one-shot, but time’ll bear that out, I suppose.

I missed the Man and Superman giant-size special, but hopefully it’ll be back in stock this upcoming Wednesday.

…Which will itself hopefully not be too huge a week, as I’ve had a couple other huge non-comics purchases within the current paycheck, and another planned for the next!

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