Random Comics-Related Stuff

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A place to talk about anything to do with comics that doesn’t belong in the other threads.

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That is looking like an incredible mess but very Amazon.

Guys, just switch it back. You can do it. C'mon. Switch it back and no hard feelings. https://t.co/kcWNBzU0A5

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 18, 2022

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Todd

I like the “two sentence summary”

“They broke everything. Nothing works.”

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Ben, Todd

New vs. nostalgia – why new characters have a hard time succeeding in superhero comics

https://www.gamesradar.com/new-vs-nostalgia-why-new-characters-have-a-hard-time-succeeding-in-superhero-comics/

This is for @jrcarter who also follows Elsewhen:

I know. Kinda sucks.

TV ad for a comic convention in the late 80s.

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Todd, njerry

Best non-Marvel or DC comic book superheroes

JRCarter wrote:

Best non-Marvel or DC comic book superheroes

I glanced at it but…

The list does not have Grendel (the Hunter Rose incarnation) so…

The list of best non-Marvel or DC superheroes has 4 characters DC publish. ‘Could do better’ is my review of that article.

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Martin Smith, njerry, Dave

garjones wrote:

The list of best non-Marvel or DC superheroes has 4 characters DC publish. ‘Could do better’ is my review of that article.

Just consider yourself lucky you could read it at all through all the pop-ups.

Thankfully, because of Adblock Plus, I didn’t get any.

1 user thanked author for this post.

It’s harder than you think to name favourite non-Marvel or DC characters.

At a dinner table chat recently my wife asked my kids to name their three favourite Marvel and Dc characters. I got challenged to name my top 3 non-big two.

I said Judge Dredd and Hellboy pretty much instantaneously, and then got stumped for number 3. I wanted to say Constantine, but DC. I wanted to say Grifter, but DC again. Conan? Marvel. Ultra Magnus? Marvel.

It made me think. There are a lot of independent comics that I read, and many that I love. But, there are few that I read for a specific character. Which is the almost opposite of DC or Marvel, where I could easily name several characters who I love almost unconditionally.

The power of IP, I guess.

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DavidM

Would you count characters from Preacher as DC for this? Published by Vertigo and yet to integrate into the DCU.

Vikram wrote:

It’s harder than you think to name favourite non-Marvel or DC characters.

At a dinner table chat recently my wife asked my kids to name their three favourite Marvel and Dc characters. I got challenged to name my top 3 non-big two.

I said Judge Dredd and Hellboy pretty much instantaneously, and then got stumped for number 3. I wanted to say Constantine, but DC. I wanted to say Grifter, but DC again. Conan? Marvel. Ultra Magnus? Marvel.

It made me think. There are a lot of independent comics that I read, and many that I love. But, there are few that I read for a specific character. Which is the almost opposite of DC or Marvel, where I could easily name several characters who I love almost unconditionally.

The power of IP, I guess.

Tintin
Asterix
Lucky Luke

Done!

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DavidM, Vikram, Dave

Martin Smith wrote:

TV ad for a comic convention in the late 80s.

Weird to see a European TV mascot – DJ Kat – in an American ad break…

It’s easy to name lots of great non-Big Two leads just by looking at my bookshelves. But I think that often doesn’t translate into wider public awareness because a lot of these indie characters don’t make it to movies or TV series like so many of the Marvel and DC ones have.

Still, with stuff like Hellboy, Dredd, TMNT, Kingsman and Kick-Ass having had multiple movies each, and even Spawn still having a fair profile despite only having one movie (so far), I think you’d still find a fair few non-Big Two characters have broken through to the public consciousness in that way. TMNT in particular was one of the biggest crazes on the planet for a while.

Anonymous wrote:

Would you count characters from Preacher as DC for this? Published by Vertigo and yet to integrate into the DCU.

It’s a good question. Is it just the ownership of the publisher that makes it a DC comic? The likes of Planetary, Ex Machina, The Authority, Sandman, Promethea etc. all have great lead characters, but you could class them all as DC comics if you chose to make that argument, even if they’re not DC universe stories (or exist only on the fringes).

Dave wrote:

It’s easy to name lots of great non-Big Two leads just by looking at my bookshelves. But I think that often doesn’t translate into wider public awareness because a lot of these indie characters don’t make it to movies or TV series like so many of the Marvel and DC ones have.

Still, with stuff like Hellboy, Dredd, TMNT, Kingsman and Kick-Ass having had multiple movies each, and even Spawn still having a fair profile despite only having one movie (so far), I think you’d still find a fair few non-Big Two characters have broken through to the public consciousness in that way. TMNT in particular was one of the biggest crazes on the planet for a while.

Great characters, sure. No doubt. I agree 100%. But, would you count them as amongst your “favourite”  comic book characters?

Dave wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Would you count characters from Preacher as DC for this? Published by Vertigo and yet to integrate into the DCU.

It’s a good question. Is it just the ownership of the publisher that makes it a DC comic? The likes of Planetary, Ex Machina, The Authority, Sandman, Promethea etc. all have great lead characters, but you could class them all as DC comics if you chose to make that argument, even if they’re not DC universe stories (or exist only on the fringes).

I excluded them as DC books, too.

Vikram wrote:

Great characters, sure. No doubt. I agree 100%. But, would you count them as amongst your “favourite” comic book characters?

“Favourite” is a very personal thing I guess – it’s subjective and it’s somewhat different to calling a character “great” in the sense of that list, which seems to be to some extent about characters that have made it big (in terms of general popularity and awarness) despite not being from Marvel or DC.

Anyway, to answer the question, Spawn and TMNT were definitely up there in my younger days, and even if I don’t follow them any more I still have a fair bit of residual nostalgic affection for them.

But to be honest I think the same is true for most Big Two characters these days, for me. Spidey will always be a favourite, Daredevil is an all-time great and Batman will never not be cool, but most other superhero characters wouldn’t rank highly on a current list of favourite comics characters.

That’s just how my personal tastes are nowadays though. I’d rather read about characters like Ethan Reckless, Joe Bob Coates or Easton Newburn than another story about the Flash running really fast or Iron Man coming up with a new suit design, even if I wouldn’t ever pretend those characters are going to be widely considered to be as great as the Hulk or Green Lantern or whatever.

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Andrew, Vikram

Also, worth noting that the list at that link is stated to be for superheroes only, which obviously narrows the options quite a bit.

Sorry, Dave, I was thinking of my wife’s question rather than whatever was in that CBR list. So very much favourite rather than great. Conflating the two may not have helped the clarity of the conversation. My bad.

Anyways, process question, how do you guys only quote part of a post rather than the whole thing? Using the “Quote” function just gives me the whole thing, with no option to edit stuff out. What am I doing wrong?

If you highlight just the text you want to quote, then press quote, it should just quote that part.

Vikram wrote:

Sorry, Dave, I was thinking of my wife’s question rather than whatever was in that CBR list. So very much favourite rather than great. Conflating the two may not have helped the clarity of the conversation. My bad.

Ah sorry, I misunderstood slightly there. Yeah they’re two slightly different questions I guess.

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Vikram, Tobias Radesäter

Vikram wrote:

Sorry, Dave, I was thinking

It happens to the best of us.

Vikram wrote:

What am I doing wrong?

Have you tried turning it on and off again?

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Todd

Vikram wrote:

Anyways, process question, how do you guys only quote part of a post rather than the whole thing? Using the “Quote” function just gives me the whole thing, with no option to edit stuff out. What am I doing wrong?

Highlight the text you want first, then select the quote button (which is what I just did here).

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Vikram

My favorite two comics characters are Hellboy and Savage Dragon. At the moment I can’t think of a third one that isn’t part of the Marvel/DC rosters; maybe Ogami Itto (Lone Wolf and Cub)? Marv (Sin City)? Michonne (Walking Dead)?

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Andrew, Vikram

I have a lot of characters I love that aren’t DC/Marvel.

Jesse Custer, Tulip, Cassidy, Blacksad, Obelix, Giuseppe Bergman, Bamse, Arne Anka, Calvin, V, The Phantom, Ratte, Haddock, Seaguy, Yorick Brown, 355… there’s plenty to choose from.

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Vikram

I discounted the Vertigo characters, because they are still DC books, even if creator owned. I was probably making too fine a distinction there (or not enough), but I’m going to stick to my guns 😂

Asterix (and Obelix) is a great shout. I loved reading those books, although I haven’t done so in probably decades now. What’s a good album to get back into them with?

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Martin Smith wrote:

TV ad for a comic convention in the late 80s.

Weird to see a European TV mascot – DJ Kat – in an American ad break…

Yeah, there was a short-lived American version of DJ Kat in the late 80s, I think localised to Chicago. Not sure whether that one or the Sky one came first, but Sky’s was certainly more successful.

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lorcan_nagle

Vikram wrote:

Asterix (and Obelix) is a great shout. I loved reading those books, although I haven’t done so in probably decades now. What’s a good album to get back into them with?

They collect them now in omnibuses, you get the 3 albums in one. I got this one for the kids a few years back:

 

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Vikram

Vikram wrote:

Asterix (and Obelix) is a great shout. I loved reading those books, although I haven’t done so in probably decades now. What’s a good album to get back into them with?

The new ones by Ferri and Conrad are OK, I’ve been picking them up and just recently read the newest one, Asterix and the Griffin, which nicely captures the feel of the old globetrotting adventures where they’d visit a new country.

Those omnibus editions Gar mentions are a good deal but they collect the old original books, so probably the exact same ones you read decades ago!

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Vikram

Vikram wrote:

What’s a good album to get back into them with?

I’d say start from the beginning and work your way forward. It evolves along the way and is just great. You could also just jump in wherever (but make sure it’s made by Goscinny or Uderzo, the ones that have come out since I find highly lacking), the stories are very self-contained although some characters are introduced and referenced from one album to another.

It’s a great series to collect.

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Andrew, Vikram, Dave

Anonymous wrote:

but make sure it’s made by Goscinny or Uderzo, the ones that have come out since I find highly lacking

The only part I find a bit lacking is the English translations, which don’t quite compare to the great work that used to be done by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge on the UK editions.

But I think the art in the most recent books is really nice and manages to preserve the feel of Asterix without being an outright imitation of the old books.

I signed up to a free month’s trial of Readly recently, which is a digital magazine subscription platform. It seems a pretty good deal generally. £7.99 a month for free access to hundreds of titles, including all their back issues. I mainly signed up to read through Retro Gamer magazine’s archives and specials. But I noticed that the Beano is on there. Now, I’ve not read the Beano since about 2000 at the latest, because, well, it’s a kids’ comic, but I have a lot of nostalgia for it and my nephew’s going to be old enough for it soon, so I was curious to see how it looks now.

I started by going back as far as it goes, which is early 2014 and reading a couple of issues there and they weren’t that great. Very pop culture obsessed. You’ve absolutely got to follow the zeitgeist and keep up with what kids are into, but having a Numbskulls strip about Sharon Osbourne? Celebs On A Sledge? Ballboy being a string of parodies of real football managers? A page of YouTube video recommendations? It felt like the comic was desperately having to pander to other things it thinks kids are interested in instead of having any self-confidence in its own characters . There’s a wide range of art styles on show, which I want to be in favour of, but a lot of them just feel wrong/look crap. I mean, they made Roger The Dodger look like an Oatmeal strip.

Anyway, after yelling at some clouds, I skipped to the most recent issues and the disparity was surprisingly large. Ok, I guess the eight year (!) gap is a long time. Anyway, the Beano as it is now seems a lot more assured of itself. No celebrity stuff, no “hey, you kids like YouTube now, right?” and instead actual reader engagement – fan art, every issue has a reader turned into a Beano character and cameo through the issue. The art style across the comic is more unified and feels more traditionally Beano-esque, which pleases this old man, but also they actually credit the creative teams now, which is a pleasant surprise.

The other interesting thing is that since 2014 even they’ve modernised the characters a lot. The Bash Street Kids for instance have gained a couple of new members – a black girl and an Asian girl – and some of the more pejorative names have been changed (Fatty is now Freddy, Spotty is now Scotty). There’s also a more cohesive feel to the whole comic, with more cross-over between. Back when I were a lad, it was a rare thing to see Minnie the Minx in a Dennis The Menace strip, but now you’ve got characters like Rubi (a teen genius inventor in a wheelchair) and Minnie appearing in each other’s strips, one of those new Bash Street Kids is also in a strip about her family etc.

I’ve no idea if it’s any more popular with kids as it is now than it was in 2014, but it feels like a better product and I’m looking forward to introducing my nephew (and later my niece) to it.

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Dave

Yeah, my kids had a Beano subscription until relatively recently and it’s a decent kids comic. Feels just like a slightly more updated version of it’s old self really.

I do remember that slightly earlier era you mention, it all felt a bit desperate and celeb-obsessed.

Although on the subject of that Roger The Dodger art style, I think that’s a fairly popular look for young readers at the moment – it reminds me of the (very good) stuff that Jamie Smart does in the Phoenix like Bunny vs Monkey and Looshkin.

Dave wrote:

it reminds me of the (very good) stuff that Jamie Smart does in the Phoenix like Bunny vs Monkey and Looshkin.

It is actually by Jamie Smart. And I don’t mind it generally it just doesn’t seem… right, you know?

Martin Smith wrote:

It is actually by Jamie Smart.

Ha! I didn’t know that but it’s very much his style so it makes sense.

I do think it’s a bit jarring, although mostly because I grew up on the slightly more old-fashioned look for Roger The Dodger.

Off the top of my head:

Detective Inspector Archibald LeBrock (Grandville)
Noman (THUNDER Agents)
Confessor (Astro City)

Close contenders:
Duke McQueen
Judge Dredd
Johnny Alpha

Scott Pilgrim is a specialist subject on Mastermind tonight.

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Dave

The Original Plot For The Unfinished JLA/AVENGERS Crossover

https://tombrevoort.com/2022/02/26/the-original-plot-for-the-unfinished-jla-avengers-crossover/?fbclid=IwAR08cRU_v2_CAzMRDLLPp_Y_Dcu2A4LWIiDnmuTfZYgbd_CWA7WaKZNWo0M

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Al-x, Todd

JRCarter wrote:

The Original Plot For The Unfinished JLA/AVENGERS Crossover

Yes… A shame. What might have been.

There was a proposed company trade of She Hulk for Martian Manhunter that was already dicussed.

Then there was this Alan Moore DC Title epic “Twilight of the Gods”

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/lets-all-read-alan-moores-proposal-for-dc-event-comic-twilight-of-the-superheroes/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_of_the_Superheroes

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JRCarter

Anyone have any good recommendations of comic book documentary movies? Anything, really. I’m going through some stuff right now and need some things to watch.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2822584/

Future Shock – a 2000ad doc.

In Search of Steve Ditko:

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DavidM, Ben

Future Shock is a great tip, thank you!

I’ve already seen In Search of Steve Ditko, but it’s a very good tip too.

Future Shock – the most honest documentary ever.

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DavidM

Ben wrote:

Future Shock – the most honest documentary ever.

Oooh! The hype is building!

I’m thirding the Future shock recommendation. Probably the best comics documentary I’ve ever watched.

 

 

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Ben

It’s mainly because, and it’s the same in the Thrill Power Overload book, none of these guys seem to have a filter. Like in Sean Howe’s Marvel book there’s a lot of inferred stuff about conflict but very little directly, meanwhile the 2000ad creator goes ‘ I told him to fuck off’.

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Todd, DavidM, Ben

I just saw a headline that said, “Katy Perry wins in Dark Horse copyright appeal”. I didn’t even know that Dark Horse were doing a Katy Perry comic.

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Bruce

Bring back pop music comics!

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Todd

I’d probably buy a Katy Perry comic book. But only if it was drawn by Adam Hughes.

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Al-x, Todd, Rocket

Or Terry Dodson, or Frank Cho.

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Rocket, Al-x, Todd, Vikram

Al-x wrote:

This is for @jrcarter who also follows Elsewhen:

He stopped at issue #31. Now the waiting game until April 4th.

I wonder how he got rights to make these apocryphal/fanfic Xmen stories
that pick up after the alternate issue #137.

Well, he isn’t selling them.

Vikram wrote:

I’d probably buy a Katy Perry comic book. But only if it was drawn by Adam Hughes.

JRCarter wrote:

Or Terry Dodson, or Frank Cho.

Perverts!

My kind of perverts!

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Rocket, Sean Robinson, Vikram

Al-x wrote:

Well, he isn’t selling them.

That’s essentially it.

Byrne is one of the greatest creators ever in superhero comics but what he’s doing is fan fiction, you can write the next Harry Potter novel as long as you don’t profit from it.

He earned a lot of money in his comics career, he is on oath that Marvel paid him over $10m across his career there so I guess he can just enjoy himself doing high quality fan fic and commissions in his old age.

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Todd

There’s been a few heavy metal comics released recently. Anthrax had one based on their album Among The Living. There’s been a Holy Diver by Dio one. Iron Maiden had one based around their mascot Eddie. I spotted another one based on Pantera’s Vulgar Display Of Power too. No idea if any of them are good – I imagine they are a mixed bag.

Bruce wrote:

There’s been a few heavy metal comics released recently. Anthrax had one based on their album Among The Living. There’s been a Holy Diver by Dio one. Iron Maiden had one based around their mascot Eddie. I spotted another one based on Pantera’s Vulgar Display Of Power too. No idea if any of them are good – I imagine they are a mixed bag.

I bought the Anthrax one a while back. It’s OK and an interesting novelty but none of it was truly memorable and I haven’t rushed out to buy any of the others.

Tempted by the Vulgar Display Of Power one though as it was always a favourite album.

I don’t know anybody who has read the Dio graphic novel.

And considering that half my online life is spent on a comics forum, and the other half on a music forum where we worship Ronnie James Dio as a demigod, that’s pretty telling I think.

The danger of searching for Dale Keown issues of Pitt on eBay. This is what I see every time I log in now 😂

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Todd, Dave

That’s exactly what someone would say to cover their Brad Pitt habit.

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DavidM, Al-x, Todd, Vikram

@jrcarter

As I brought up in another forum, someday all my stuff will be in storage for a week or more.
May be a good time to get rid of all my single issues of comics, could be 10,000

Is there any possible way to get fair value?
Consider the fact that I don’t want to catalog what I have, wouldn’t want to deliver to multiple stores, don’t have the time to E-Bay.
Just want to take to one location and hope for the best.

But dear God man! Spawn! Youngblood! X-Men! Legends of the Dark Knight!
Number One’s that were supposed to put me on Easy Street!

Or maybe I could be sitting on a large pile of crap, and would have to either take what they offer, or take to another store.
That volume may not be enticing either, and it’s not like the stuff from the 70’s and early 80’s is in good condition.
I suppose I could help myself by saying up front I’m willing to take store credit, and can spread that out over time.

Wouldn’t even know what I could be looking at. Sinking in that it’s not going to be a large sum. Would I even get $1 per? $0.25?
If it was $0.10 per ($1000) that might just kill me.
But then what’s the value on something that’s just taking up space?
I don’t buy monthlies anymore, have definitely gone to TP’s and HC’s, and will go digital when DC gets their International act together (or did I miss something? Figured I would have heard about it.)

Thoughts?

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Sean Robinson wrote:

As I brought up in another forum, someday all my stuff will be in storage for a week or more.
May be a good time to get rid of all my single issues of comics, could be 10,000

Is there any possible way to get fair value?
Consider the fact that I don’t want to catalog what I have, wouldn’t want to deliver to multiple stores, don’t have the time to E-Bay.
Just want to take to one location and hope for the best.

But dear God man! Spawn! Youngblood! X-Men! Legends of the Dark Knight!
Number One’s that were supposed to put me on Easy Street!

Or maybe I could be sitting on a large pile of crap, and would have to either take what they offer, or take to another store.
That volume may not be enticing either, and it’s not like the stuff from the 70’s and early 80’s is in good condition.
I suppose I could help myself by saying up front I’m willing to take store credit, and can spread that out over time.

Wouldn’t even know what I could be looking at. Sinking in that it’s not going to be a large sum. Would I even get $1 per? $0.25?
If it was $0.10 per ($1000) that might just kill me.
But then what’s the value on something that’s just taking up space?
I don’t buy monthlies anymore, have definitely gone to TP’s and HC’s, and will go digital when DC gets their International act together (or did I miss something? Figured I would have heard about it.)

Thoughts?

When I sold 95% of my collection (which was about 80-90 long boxes) a few years ago, I got a few grand for it. I basically got paid for about 1% of it because the other 99% was essentially worthless. I think because I’ve been going to the same shop for decades, he took the entire collection knowing the majority would sit in his storage forever. I think most shops would have cherry-picked the collection and left me to deal with the rest. I probably could have sold the whole thing piecemeal on eBay but that would have taken forever.

Here are some things to keep in mind when selling your collection:

1. First and foremost, you have to make the conscious decision you want to sell your collection. You have to be absolutely certain you want to do this because there is a point of no return. Once your collection is gone, it’s gone. If you have any doubts, don’t do it. By the time I sold my collection, I was more than ready to get rid of the fucking thing. My wife kept asking me “Are you sure you want to do this?” and I was sure I did. Also, don’t let anyone pressure you on your decision. It has to be your decision and yours alone.

2. This is the harshest truth you need to know: You need to make peace with the fact you will be paid a small fraction of its value and what you paid for it. You will not get you cost back. You will probably average less than a penny per book for the non-valuable ones, if even that. This is the hardest thing to accept but once you do, the process goes a lot smoother.

3. It helps to realize that you did receive entertainment value when you read them. That does count for something. It’s an intangible value, but a value nonetheless.

4. Go through your collection and decide what you want to keep. Once you’ve done that, go through the keep pile to decide what you really want. Do this a couple more times. Going through the keep pile a few times helps you determine what is really important and of personal value to you. When I looked at some books again on subsequent passes, I saw them with a fresher eye and was able to make a more certain decision. Make sure you keep only what you really want. Some of the books I ended up keeping had no real monetary value but meant something to me and were ones I knew I would read again.

5. Once you’ve decided what you want to keep, you now need to determine how you will sell your collection. If there is an LCS you frequent and have a relationship with, speak to them about buying your collection. If they are amenable, they may give you more than another store would. If you choose to try to sell on eBay, understand that could take a very long time to unload. Add to that you will be selling the same stuff that many others are also trying to sell.

6. Understand this process may take some time. Depending on how you sell your collection, it could be weeks to months before everything is settled. Be patient.

7. If the best you can do is sell you valuable books and you’re stuck with a ton of crap that no one will buy, you may want to see if there’s some local charities you could donate them to. You may be able to get a tax deduction and you get the knowledge you’ve done something positive.

8. Once you’ve sold your collection, you will experience a kind of “phantom limb syndrome”. You will see or hear something that will trigger a feeling of “I have that book – wait, I DON’T!”. It’s natural and does fade over time.

This is not an easy process and can be very emotional. Take your time and don’t be in a hurry. If you (or anyone else here) goes through this process and have questions or needs support, feel free to reach out to me on a thread or via PMs. This can be tough at times and you don’t have to do it alone.

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DavidM, Vikram, Sean Robinson, Al-x

Sean Robinson wrote:

Is there any possible way to get fair value?

Yes, give them to me and I’ll owe you 10’000 blowjobs.

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Sean Robinson, Todd

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, give them to me and I’ll owe you 10’000 blowjobs.

It’s not like I’ve done any drunken research on the subject (although a friend might have), but I do think that is a pretty damned good offer.

Moral of this story? Todd. Missed. Out.

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Rocket, DavidM, njerry, Todd

Todd wrote:

you’re stuck with a ton of crap that no one will buy, you may want to see if there’s some local charities you could donate them to. You may be able to get a tax deduction and you get the knowledge you’ve done something positive.

I can’t speak for the US, but UK charity shops would absolutely take comics off you. I was dumped with given a big bag of unwanted comics by a friend last year and as I read through all of them – mostly Panini three-in-one reprints – I gave them to various local charity shops and they were really glad to get them every time. And the cool thing is, there’s a decent chance they’ll end up in the hands of people who wouldn’t ordinarily be in a position to buy/read comics (ie poor children).

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Sean Robinson, Todd

Sean Robinson wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, give them to me and I’ll owe you 10’000 blowjobs.

It’s not like I’ve done any drunken research on the subject (although a friend might have), but I do think that is a pretty damned good offer.

Moral of this story? Todd. Missed. Out.

Anders didn’t make me that offer.

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Rocket, Sean Robinson

Todd wrote:

Anders didn’t make me that offer.

Maybe your collection wasn’t worthy.

Today is the semi-pseudo-non-non-non-non-official Draw Death’s Head Day.

We shall draw Death’s Head, yes? Immediately, yes?

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Todd

Anonymous wrote:

Maybe your collection wasn’t worthy.

I don’t think you could handle how big mine was.

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Sean Robinson

Martin Smith wrote:

Todd wrote:

you’re stuck with a ton of crap that no one will buy, you may want to see if there’s some local charities you could donate them to. You may be able to get a tax deduction and you get the knowledge you’ve done something positive.

I can’t speak for the US, but UK charity shops would absolutely take comics off you. I was dumped with given a big bag of unwanted comics by a friend last year and as I read through all of them – mostly Panini three-in-one reprints – I gave them to various local charity shops and they were really glad to get them every time. And the cool thing is, there’s a decent chance they’ll end up in the hands of people who wouldn’t ordinarily be in a position to buy/read comics (ie poor children).

My LCS has a section of their back issue bins that’s always full of Panini reprints priced at like €2 each, and it’s just there to put cheap(-ish) comics into kids hands when they come in.

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Todd, Martin Smith

[DavidM]

Todd wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Maybe your collection wasn’t worthy.

I don’t think you could handle how big mine was.

THAT’S WHAT… no, hang on, that doesn’t quite work…

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by DavidM.

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Todd

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Martin Smith wrote:

Todd wrote:

you’re stuck with a ton of crap that no one will buy, you may want to see if there’s some local charities you could donate them to. You may be able to get a tax deduction and you get the knowledge you’ve done something positive.

I can’t speak for the US, but UK charity shops would absolutely take comics off you. I was dumped with given a big bag of unwanted comics by a friend last year and as I read through all of them – mostly Panini three-in-one reprints – I gave them to various local charity shops and they were really glad to get them every time. And the cool thing is, there’s a decent chance they’ll end up in the hands of people who wouldn’t ordinarily be in a position to buy/read comics (ie poor children).

My LCS has a section of their back issue bins that’s always full of Panini reprints priced at like €2 each, and it’s just there to put cheap(-ish) comics into kids hands when they come in.

It strikes me as ironic that Panini’s “Collector’s Editions” have next to zero value with collectors.

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lorcan_nagle

I worked with a guy back in the late 90s who was big into them, but that’s largely because they were gettable in newsagents, and we were living and working on the outskirts of Dublin on shift work and you usually worked 6 days a week – so opportunities to visit the city centre and comic shops were slim. I would make it in every few weeks, randomly flick through the X-books and drop hints for what was going to happen in six months in the ones he was buying.

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Martin Smith

Well that was always bullshit. Unless new to comics the idea that foreign reprints could be worth anything wouldn’t have convinced anyone. It’d be like me doing a print of the Mona Lisa and claiming it would rapidly rise in value.

I just liked that they were very good value and made reading comics easier, with crossover type stuff they just presented them in order. In the 90s I preferred reading a Panini Spider-Man or X-Men to trying to work out a US reading order.

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Ben, Martin Smith, Dave, lorcan_nagle

Just saw an ad for this: Alan Moore doing a “BBC Maestro” series teaching storytelling, available Thursday:

https://www.bbcmaestro.com/courses/alan-moore/storytelling

33 videos/6 hours for €99

I’ve been so tempted…

[Martin Smith]

Lesson 2 – Writing As Enchantment

6 mins

Delve into the history of writing modifying consciousness from stone-age magic and the bardic tradition to you, now, typing away.

I think we can safely say that Alan wrote the course material and didn’t slap his name onto a pre-written curriculum.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Martin Smith.

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Bruce, DavidM, Dan, garjones, paul f, Dave, Todd

Glad to see so many people buying the JLA/Avengers reprint to honor George Perez and support the Hero Initiative, and definitely not just to flip it on ebay for a quick profit.

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Martin Smith

Funnily enough, Forbidden Planet cancelled my pre-order yesterday saying that they couldn’t get any. Seeing as I must have been one of the first people to submit an order (literally as soon as the book came online and the news broke a month or so ago), I’m not sure I entirely believe them. Oh well.

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Ben, Dave

Vikram wrote:

Funnily enough, Forbidden Planet cancelled my pre-order yesterday saying that they couldn’t get any. Seeing as I must have been one of the first people to submit an order (literally as soon as the book came online and the news broke a month or so ago), I’m not sure I entirely believe them. Oh well.

The Big Bang only got two copies, which they’re selling for $200 each for charity. There are not a lot of copies anywhere.

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Vikram

I know it was an extremely limited run, but that makes it even more galling that people are flipping them for a quick buck when the money from each copy could have gone to the Hero Initiative.

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Todd, Ben, Vikram

This was all pretty inevitable when they capped them at 7000. If you count every comic shop and mail order company globally it probably does come to about the 2 copies Big Bang got.

I don’t know who made the decision to cap it but it’s lost the charity a lot of potential income, they could have easily sold 10 times that amount.

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Ben, Todd

garjones wrote:

I don’t know who made the decision to cap it but it’s lost the charity a lot of potential income, they could have easily sold 10 times that amount.

I gather from something Busiek said on Twitter that it was the largest run they were able to do under the circumstances and at such short notice. I imagine reprint rights issues may have been at play behind the scenes too.

Something is better than nothing, and more copies would have been ideal, but even with a limited print run it feels like more could have been done to ensure the sales went to the Hero Initiative rather than ebay scalpers.

I suspect there must be something from Marvel/DC behind it. They have either imposed a time or number limit because it’s not really a taxing amount for any printer and without a time window you could either wait until they have bandwidth or go back for second prints.

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Todd, Dave

Yeah I assumed the same. There have always been complicated rights issues and negotiations around that book.

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Todd

Sorry @jrcarter for the bad news but:

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JRCarter

So, Zoids… and Grant Morrison fans

I found this story: https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/knj6qr/zoidsbritish_comics_the_time_marvel_cancelled_a/

and then this content: http://www.bloodforthebaron.com/zoidstar/comics.html

Anyone want to guess where the Grant Morrison material starts, or play spot the artist?

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[Sean Robinson]

Original Stan Lee Corpse Sells At Auction For $5 Million – The Onion

NEW YORK—After an intense period of bidding that drew record-breaking offers for the creative force behind Marvel Comics, the corpse of Stan Lee sold Thursday for more than $5 million, according to officials at Christie’s Auction House.

“This is a remarkable piece of comic book history that any serious fan would be proud to own,” said Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti, explaining that for collectors eager to get their hands on an original Stan Lee, the auction presented a rare opportunity.
“Cadavers like this don’t come on the block very often, especially in such good condition. Sure, there’s the normal wear and tear that you expect in a decomposing body from this period: The eyes have sunken back into the skull, and the skin is peeling in certain places. But regardless, this remains one of the most sought-after corpses I’ve ever had the pleasure of auctioning off.”

The $5 million price represented a substantial profit for the seller, an anonymous collector who reportedly acquired the remains from a gravedigger in 2018 as part of a $150 deal that also included Philip Roth.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Sean Robinson.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Sean Robinson.

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JRCarter

This may be the best thing Brian Bendis has ever written.

@BRIANMBENDIS
·
6 Apr
VERY happy to report this Alan Moore @BBC masterclass is the real deal. i’m a handful of chapters in and it is everything this life long fan and educator could have wanted from it.

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garjones, Rocket, Todd

[Ben]

This is looking fantastically bad ass and starts in July:

https://www.comicon.com/2022/04/14/excalibur-meets-2001-liam-sharps-arthurian-sci-fi-epic-starhenge-announced-by-image-comics/

Edit – some of these look good too:

https://deadline.com/2022/04/idw-original-comic-book-projects-potential-film-television-adaptations-john-ridley-1235001866/

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Ben.

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Rocket

Al-x wrote:

Sorry @jrcarter for the bad news but:

Also from Instagram:

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Todd, JRCarter

[Al-x]

I posted somewhere about this comics channel on YouTube called  Thinking Critical. I don’t agree totally with the guy, but he is spot on when it comes to the storytelling,  industry, etc.  DC has Superman off world as some gladiator slave with the Authority as his lackeys there, Superman’s gay son storyline is more miss than hit, too many titles tied to Batman and therefore Batfatigue, and now that DC has restructured itself,  it has a lot of work to do. The guy rails against some title directions like Tom King and his past killing of Alfred, Jason Aaron on the Avengers, etc.

So some readers have gone to old comic runs on digital and are reading them, myself included.

Funny… during BSG, I used to rail against  binge watchers who catch up that way and called them bandwagon jumpers because they never waited week to week. Now everyone is  binge watching a show that is streamed, waiting for a comics story to be compiled in a trade, etc.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by Al-x.

Sounds like you got suckered by the YouTube algorithm Al.

I can’t say I was a fan of killing off Alfred conceptually, but Batman: The Detective did something interesting with it.  Nor are many batbooks new, been that way for about 30 years.  Also, it’s DC, there’ll be a reality warp reset and Alfred will be back.

Aaron on Avengers gets a lot of flak but what I’ve read of it has been fun.  Sure, it lacks a cohesive identity due to linking with numerous events, but the same was true of Bendis’ run.

As for Taylor and Superman, the amount of acclaim it has had elsewhere undercuts the claim that it’s failing from the depths of YouTube.  Pretty certain there’s this story with Superman in space, oh yeah, it was called Exile.  In the late 80s.

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Sean Robinson, Todd

And has been said many times before, Batman pretty much keeps DC afloat. While fans of other characters may have “Bat-Fatigue”, it appears his fans don’t as they keep buying what is offered.

DC will killing the JLA and they’ll stay “dead” for a period of time. When they return, I’m sure it will be accompanied by a soft reboot of the line.

Remember, we are talking about comics from the Big Two. Nothing is ever permanent and there’s always some form of reset around the corner.

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Ben

Ben wrote:

As for Taylor and Superman, the amount of acclaim it has had elsewhere undercuts the claim that it’s failing from the depths of YouTube.

Yeah I think most of the criticism there has always been ideological. Tom Taylor is probably the best writer in mainstream comics right now and I’ve never read a bad thing he’s written.

You are also essentially torn in many ways as a publisher. Readers complain of rehashing old ideas and also complain when you change things up. It’s there in Al’s summary, too much of the same Batman stuff, why is Superman in space being different?

Maybe those that want to just read old comfortable comics is fine for them. A lot of people are like that in music, just play the same stuff they liked as a teen for the rest of their lives. You don’t have to read new comics if whatever they do disappoints you.

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Rocket, Todd, Ben

Todd wrote:

And has been said many times before, Batman pretty much keeps DC afloat. While fans of other characters may have “Bat-Fatigue”, it appears his fans don’t as they keep buying what is offered.

DC will killing the JLA and they’ll stay “dead” for a period of time. When they return, I’m sure it will be accompanied by a soft reboot of the line.

Remember, we are talking about comics from the Big Two. Nothing is ever permanent and there’s always some form of reset around the corner.

Hello 👋

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Todd

Ben wrote:

Sounds like you got suckered by the YouTube algorithm Al.

Maybe.. or Maybe not

I don’t agree with everything he says, just a few things.

He does get into what titles are selling well…

I have seen the rehashing, repackaging. We all have.

I know Alfred will come back. Some cosmic reset will come.

 

Does bitterness start to grow on you as you get older? Makes me wonder.

Al-x wrote:

He does get into what titles are selling well…

I didn’t get far in and I spotted the usual trope about the Superman sales we’ve seen before.

Critics have been comparing high points like launch issues or Jim Lee on art and the like to the regular sales. Truth be told Superman doesn’t ever sell that well. It hit me when I read a criticism of the DC focus on Batman and mid run Bendis Superman was selling barely over 30k, one of the biggest names in comics and big coup for DC. The Taylor run on Jonathan Kent was selling pretty much the same, just over 30k.

I’m afraid that looking at this guy’s videos there is a clear agenda, it’s 90% negative and about 50% anti-woke. A high percentage of anger posts about female creators.

You may not react as automatically to the gender and sexuality stuff but here he is getting angry at the idea of ‘bending the knee’ or using a black Catwoman. I’d recommend Ed Piskor’s Youtube channel celebrating comics. It is going to reward anyone better than this rubbish.

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lorcan_nagle, Todd, Ben

Yeah…Why I didn’t buy into it all the way.

But on your recommendation:

Ed Piskor it will be then…
I will try

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garjones

I should say the actual channel is ‘Cartoonist Kayfabe’.

https://www.youtube.com/c/CartoonistKayfabe

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Andrew, Al-x, lorcan_nagle