Comics Shipping for 4/1/09

DARK HORSE COMICS

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #24
Who Wants to be a Superhero: The Defuser

DC COMICS

Authority #9
Bang Tango #3 (of 6)
Batman: Battle for the Cowl: Man Bat #1
Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazan #4
Dead Romeo #1 (of 6)
Flash: Rebirth #1 (of 5)
Greatest Hits #6 (of 6)
Haunted Tank #5 (of 5)
Jonah Hex #42
Justice Society of America #25
Looney Tunes #173
MAD Classics #25
Mighty #3
Preacher #1 – Special Edition
Prototype #1 (of 6)
Scalped #27
Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 (of 3)
Strange Adventures #2 (of 8 )
Superman and Batman #57
Teen Titans #69
Teen Titans: Annual
Trinity #44

IMAGE COMICS
Astounding Wolfman #14
Cyblade #4
Jersey Gods #3
Killer of Demons #2 (of 3)
Noble Causes #40
Savage Dragon #146

MARVEL COMICS
Agents of Atlas #3
Amazing Spiderman #590
Astonishing Tales #3
Avengers: Invaders #9 (of 12)
Black Panther 2 #3
Cable #13
Captain America Comics, 70th Anniversary Special #1
Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #2 (of 5)
Dead of Night Featuring Werewolf by Night #4 (of 4)
Deadpool #9
Destroyer #1 (of 5)
Dr. Doom: Masters of Evil #3 (of 4)
Franklin Richards: April Fools
Invincible Iron Man #12
Marvel Assistant Size Spectacular #1 (of 2)
New Avengers: Reunion #2 (of 4)
Official Index to the Marvel Universe #4
Secret Warriors #3
Universal War One Revelations #1 (of 3)
War of Kings #2
X-Men First Class Finals #3 (of 4)

OTHER PUBLISHERS
Angel Blood and Trenches #2
Army of Darkness #18
Betty #179
Boys #29
Buckaroo Banzai Origins
Cars Rookie #1 (of 4)
Farscape #4
GI Joe #4
GI Joe Movie Prequel #2
Glamourpuss #6
Gravel #10
Irredeemable #1
Knights of the Dinner Table #149
Masquerade #2
Pals N Gals Double Digest #130
Sabrina Vol. 2 #101
Shrapnel #4
Star Trek: Countdown #4
Star Trek: Crew #2
Tales from the Crypt #11
Transformers: Maximum Dinobots #4
Transformers Spotlight: Jazz

Some items of interest this week include part 3 of the Deadpool/Thunderbolts crossover Magnum Opus.   Several DC miniserieses ending this week.  New Avengers: Reunion is out again this week, but frankly I disliked the first so much I probably won’t even look at it.  Otherwise it looks like a slow week for the big 2, they’ve already gotten their big titles out recently, so we’ll have to wait for next week,

Review: Deadpool #8

It’s so refreshing to see Deadpool with his own series again.  I have to admit, for all my love of Thor and the Cap being such amazing heroes, Marvel has some damn great anti-heroes, most certainly including Deadpool, who always sets off with the intention of selling to the highest bidder, and more often than not, tends to come home with no cash at all because much to his dismay, he did something stupid… like the ‘right thing.’

Lead up to the Story

Deadpool has been engaging in shenanigans as usual, been jumped by random b and c list villains, most recently Tiger Shark, out smarted friend and foe alike, and served up enemies to zombies.  Through all of this, he’s found out that both his friend Bob and Tiger Shark were hired to take him out.  The hit was put out by none other than Norman Osborn, or Oscorp.  Basically, if you weren’t paying attention, Norman Osborn is the new Tony Stark and runs the new SHIELD (called HAMMER).  He tricked the world into thinking he was a savior by killing the Scrull queen, using information that Deadpool got for Nick Fury.  All in all, Deadpool is pissed, and this is part 1 of what we can hope is a good old showdown at noon.

Plot Synopsis

Daniel Way has Deadpool begins his assault on Stark Tower.. Osborn Tower?  I don’t know.  He’s assaulting it anyway (this review is starting to sound more and more like a Deadpool comic).  As I said above, this is the first part of the story arc, called Magnum Opus, and is part 1 of 4.  It starts with just a little back story, and goes straight into action really.  Deadpool initially runs into some robotic traps, steals the Iron Man chest piece, throws some bad hair jokes Osborn’s direction, and begins his ascent.  We are then plunged into a classic Deadpool hallucination.  This one is a Jack and the Beanstalk parody, and although it is only a few pages in length, it falls sort of flat.  Not that it is bad, it just seems to be an unnessessary stopping point in the story, a storyline bottle neck of sorts.  As unfortunately for us that it does, things start going worse for Deadpool when he gets into a fight with his inner monologue, or readers.  I can never tell if the white boxes are supposed to be readers, a voice in his head, and if the yellow boxes are him thinking.  No matter what the case, they’re ignoring him, because when he reaches the top, it’s not Osborn who’s waiting for him, it’s the Thunderbolts.

Art Critique

The art is pretty well done, Paco Medina has the Deadpool look down to a T.  Explosions, guns, action scenes, he can do them with great skill.  Basically, everything that you are most likely to encounter in a standard issue of Deadpool.  Sometimes faces are an issue, and can come out disproportional (for example, see the recap page), but this is the exception rather than the rule.  The hallucination, which I mentioned was not my favourite part of the story, really gives Medina a chance to shine, and he takes it.  Everything is much more comic than usual, and I mean that in two ways.  First, it’s absolutely ridiculous, which is awesome, the adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk is right on target.  Secondly, if you look behind the action, you’ll see that the background is actually made up of dots, as the old comics and newspapers were.  The only major criticism that I have is that when Deadpool takes the Iron Man chest piece, it’s not immediately apparent.  I had to look back and check a few times, and maybe this was intentional, but there could have been a larger colour and size difference.  That said however, the third page or so, the full page spread with Deadpool decked out to assault Stark/Osborn tower is pretty fantastic, it’s always great to see how each artist will render Deadpool fully equipped for action.

Is it Worth Buying?

I would say absolutely, this looks to be a good story arc.  We know that Daniel Way can write a good story, and he’s set it up perfectly for a high action comic in the next issue, with a great cliffhanger.  Even to non-deadpool fans, I would recommend picking up the next few issues of Deadpool.  The story is great, the art is great.  Daniel Way has come into his own with his ability to deliver one-liners befitting Deadpool, with just enough humor, and a few thrown in there that probably only make sense to Deadpool himself.  I will be looking forward to the next issue, to see how the merc with a mouth settles the score not only with the Thunderbolts, but also with the voices in his head.

EDIT: Magnum Opus is Deadpool 8-9 and Thunderbolts 130-131.

You caught me…

I recieved an email this morning asking why I haven’t been posting as many reviews lately, and if I am “stalling” for some reason.  Yup, you caught me, I’m stalling.  I had a bout of real world-ness to deal with (applying to graduate school, working 2 jobs at 12 hours a day) and just hadn’t been able to get to my local comic book store.  Mix this with my chronic, compulsive need to know a whole story, and as a result I’ve got a whole big pile of comics sitting around, in a huge mess.  Well, in an attempt to clean up the house, I decided it was finally time to really organize my comic book collection last week.  I took a photo to send to a friend, and it is reproduced here.  From top to bottom, right to left, the following comic piles have been organized in such a way that Howard Hughes looks rather commonplace…

At the top is a mess of comics I determined that I had read, so I bagged and boarded them.  Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Rebellion, Star Wars: Legacy, Star Wars: Dark Times, Comic News (yes I save them), random bargain bin comics including a number of Alpha Flight, Thor, Marvel Knights publications, Conan: The Cimmerian, two comics featuring Fin Fang Foom (look for a post on this pile!), Wolverine: Origins, X-Men: Legacy, Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, X-Force, my DC pile, Captain America, War Machine, New Avengers, varios Iron Man comics, Weapon-X: First Class, and Deadpool.  The largest piles by far are Star Wars: Legacy and Knights of the Old Republic.  Right now I am wading my way through these comics, and enjoying every minute of it.

So, yes, I was stalling, and I got caught.  But have no fear, reviews are incoming, probably even one today, so make sure you check back at Your Comic Relief for all your comic related needs!

Comics Shipping for 3/25/09

DARK HORSE COMICS

Conan the Cimmerian #9
Indiana Jokes and Tomb of the Gods #4
Star Wars Legacy #34
Umbrella Academy Dallas #5
Usagi Yojimbo #119

DC COMICS

Batman: Battle for the Cowl, Commissioner Gorgon #1
Batman: Gotham After Midnight #11 (of 12)
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #3
Cartoon Network Block Party #55
Gears of War #5
Jack of Fables #32
Justice League of America #31
Madame Xanadu #9
Oracle #1 (of 3)
Planetary #1
Resistance #4 (of 6)
Superman #686
Top 10 Special #1
Trinity #43
Unknown Soldier #6
War That Time Forgot #11 (of 12)
Wildcats #9
Wonder Woman #30

IMAGE COMICS

Amber Atoms #2
Darkness #76
Elephantmen #17
Spawn #190

MARVEL COMICS
Amazing Spider-man #589
Captain America #48
Daredevil #117
Dark Reign Elektra #1 (of 5)
Fantastic Four #565
Guardians of Galaxy #12
Immortal Iron Fist #24
Incredible Hercules #127
Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #46
Mighty Avengers #23
Ms Marvel #37
New Avengers #51
Nova #23
Runaways #8
Skaar: Son of Hulk #9
Squradron Supreme #9
Thunderbolts #139
War Machine #4
War of Kings: Darkhawk #2 (of 2)
Wolverine: First Class #13
X-Infernus #4 (of 4)
X-Men: Kingbreaker #4 (of 4)
X-Men: Sword of Braddocks
X-Men: Times and Life of Lucas bishon #2 (of 3)
Young X-Men #12

OTHER PUBLISHERS

Archie #595
Archie: Double Digest #197
Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War #3 (of 4)
Caped #1 (of 4)
Crossed #4 ( of 9)
Death Defying Devil #4
Futurama Comics #42
GI Joe Origina #2
Incredibles: Family Matters #1 (of 4)
Mupper Show #1 (OF 4)
Sonic Universe #2
Terminator Salvation – Movie Prequel #3 (of 4)
Transformers: All Hail Megatron

Marvel is having a big week, with a lot of titles comic out, and several miniseries coming to an end.  There’s also a good number of palindrome comics, the ones that I remember specifically were Superman and Fantastic Four, and upon rechecking, Archie.  Three for one week is pretty high.  This is a pretty heavy week for me, with Captain America, War Machine, Hercules (which I have to remember to add to my pull list because I love it), X-Men, Conan, Star Wars, as well as Batman.  Overstreet comic book pricing guides are also released this week in both hard and soft cover.  What comics are you going to pick up?  Do you have any recommendations? Let me know!

Nemesis, or “How to become a Superhero”

I found this posted over at Has Boobs, Reads Comics.  It’s a pretty fantastic short movie about two arch-enemies/friends who work both with and against each other in an attempt to discover their superpowers.  It is very Heroes-esque, and even has the main character watching Heroes at one point.  It’s got subtitles, which I personally like.  Having grown up overseas, they are something of a comfort item to me I think.  I generally put subtitles on what I watch anyway, or maybe I’m just going deaf… who knows.  Enjoy!

Star Wars Poster

Many of you know that I am a huge star wars fan, possibly to an unhealthy level.  I watch Star Wars, read the books, play the games, play games that remind me of Star Wars, and read the comics.  My good friend recently pointed me in the direction of a BustedTees poster, detailing a possible memo within the Galactic Empire.  It definitely merits sharing with all of you.

My Comic Life With eBay: A Retrospective

Today’s post comes from Mike Haynes, the founder of Panels of Awesome.

Usually, I avoid collecting comics. If a comic is really good, I’ll grab a couple issues and read them but I rarely “collect” the comics. There’s really only one title that I’ve tired desperately to collect from issue 1 to the latest issue and that, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who knows who I am, is Amazing Spider-Man.

When I got back into comics, after avoiding them for a couple of years, I grabbed the latest issue, which was probably somewhere around #519 or 520. I read it, I liked it. I had to have more of it so I started heading to my local shop and picking up back issues. This little plan worked out nicely for a while until I started finding massive gaps in my collection that would require much more effort to fill. Enter eBay. Needless to say, the website has helped me fill in the entire run from the 1999 relaunch until now, annuals included. Where would I be without it? Probably dead or crying. Here’s a couple of the rarer issues I was able to get my hands on thanks to eBay and, obviously, the people who decided to sell the comics in the first place.

Amazing Spider-Man #39 (Volume 2):
This issue, entitled ‘Nuff Said, is a fairly interesting one for the fact that there’s not a single line of dialog in the entire book aside from a quick blurb about how the issue was actually thought up as well as the breakdown of all the pages courtesy of JMS. The story shifts through the main characters as they go about their regular days. Mary Jane wakes up, shoots some photos and goes to a movie premiere before calling it a night. When we shift to Aunt May, she’s at the local library canceling her Daily Bugle subscription, because of it’s unfair coverage of Spider-Man, and is switching to a newspaper that is much more neutral. Jump to Peter and we find that he’s, as usual, being a hero. He saves a couple people from a fire before heading home and falling asleep thinking about Mary Jane, who’s now living alone in LA. It’s surprising how an issue with absolutely no words can somehow be more interesting than many issues that are filled with them.
Price payed on eBay: $3.00 (Plus shipping)

Amazing Spider-Man #30 (Volume 2):
This issue, in addition to introducing one of the most important characters in his run, is actually the issue that kicked off J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Amazing Spider-Man. The character introduced is Ezekiel, who would prove to be a very important part of Peter’s life during the run of JMS as it related to the totemic aspect to Spider-Man’s past. Aside from showing Ezekiel for the first time, the issue is fairly simple in design. It’s mostly just a “day in the life” style story as Straczynski gets his feet wet to the world of Spider-Man and shows us how Pete’s been dealing with the numerous changes to his life recently. So, while it might not be the most action-packed issue, it’s monumental in the sense that JMS’ six year run started right here. Funny story, I went into a shop and asked the owner about buying this issue and he told me that it would run me about $50. I checked eBay and, as you can see, got it for quite a bit less.
Price payed on eBay: $4.50 (Plus shipping)

Amazing Spider-Man #36 (Volume 2)
This issue, known to many as “The Black Issue”, is the comic that was released in 2001 which explored the effects of the 9/11 attacks on the heroes of the Marvel U as well as the city of New York. It’s a very powerful issue that shows the police and firefighters doing everything that they can, with a little bit of help from the Marvel heroes, to locate survivors and save the lives of those who fell victim to the horrific attacks. The best part about this issue is that, while it’s a Spider-Man comic, there are a number of cameos from different heroes and villains in the Marvel U that really give the comic book that much more impact. More importantly, instead of showing the superheroes as the ones who are rescuing survivors and saving the day, the emphasis is put on the policemen and firefighters being the true heroes. The best example of this is the great final shot of the comic in which the superheroes are placed in the background of the panel with the police and firefighters placed in the foreground indicating just how much more important their presence was at ground zero than that of the fictional superheroes. Overall, it’s a stunning issue that is easily the jewel of my Amazing Spider-Man collection.
Price payed on eBay: $35.00 (Plus shipping)

When I was looking around for issue #36, I tried the same shop as I did for issue #30 and the owner told me that the comic would run me $150.00 and that he could put me on a layaway plan if I wanted. Needless to say, looking back on this all, eBay’s been pretty good to me. It’s hard to imagine what my comic collection (not to mention my wallet) would be without it and I know for a fact that, somewhere down the road, I’ll probably require it’s services again.

Ebay Week Day 2 – Comic Lots: Buying in Bulk

Welcome to the second day of Ebay week at Your Comic Relief! Yesterday we covered single issue purchasing, so, the logical progression from single issue comics is finding lot issues. What is a ‘lot’? A lot is several items clumped together to be sold as a group. There are two main kinds of lots, specific lots and random ones. Each has certain pros and cons that you should take into consideration before placing your bid. Keep in mind that each bid on Ebay is final. The different lot kinds may have different names depending on who you are talking to, but I will be referring to them as random and specific.

Specific Lots

Specific lots, such as this (which is a good example of niche comics being a great bargain) is a set of two or more comics that are sold together as a unit, and are clearly defined, set issues at set standards of quality. That is to say, there are certain issues that a person is selling, and you are aware up front of what you are purchasing. Specific lots are great if you are looking to purchase a run of comics, or just really like Daredevil. Important things to consider here include quality. If you’re getting an amazing bargain, at what cost to the comics is it? If the comic is listed as “Good Condition” that’s not necessarily a good thing. Comic grading is something you should definitely become familiar with before delving too much into the world of Ebay, don’t worry though, all that will be covered this week as well. Additionally, look to see if the comics are bagged and boarded already, or if you will have to do that yourself. Look for pictures, especially if you are not entirely sure about the comic grading system.

Random Lots

Random lots, as you may have guessed by now, contrast with specific lots in that they are lots in which you do not know which exact comics you will be receiving. They are usually larger; a seller is more likely to sell you a random selection of 100 comics than they are to advertise themselves as “random 5 comics.” Advantages of random lots include lower prices relative to specific lots, however, you don’t really know what you’re getting, and you could be getting 75 Star Trek comics, which are worth more as ash than as comics, or you could wind up with some great deals. If you are a collector that values the monetary worth of their comics, even if you have no intentions of selling them, one gem may make the whole purchase worth while. A few months ago I purchased 160 comics for roughly $45 US, and I got some great stuff in there, along with some complete crap.

Finding Lots

To specifically search for lots we much delve into the realm of Advanced Search. But, dear reader, do not be afraid, the advanced search will not hurt you, it is there to aid you. If you scroll roughly half way down, you will see a section called “multiple item listings” this is what we are looking for. You can define a minimum, maximum, or exact number of comics you are looking to buy at once, or just click the lot checkbox, and it will bring up anything. This will greatly aid you in your search.

Anything else?

As always, make sure to check Life of a Welshman for additional examples and links! If you have any questions or comments, leave a comment and let me know. By the way, all the pictures you see posted on these articles are off issues I have personally obtained from lots, or in yesterday’s case single issue orders. You can count on this theme to continue through the rest of the week. Specifically note how terrible the Star Trek comic is…

Ebay Week Day 1 – Finding Single Issue Bargains

Attention all! Ebay week if (finally) underway! After many false starts, including yesterday (my job started that day and I completely lost track of time), I almost failed uploading tonight as well due to the storm, but I think I have a window of time big enough to get this post up. This week should prove to be fun, I even have a guest post from Mike Haynes of Panels of Awesome, but that’s for later. So, let us begin, how many times have you missed a single issue that isn’t in your pull box, or you have a run of old comics and are missing a few issues? Well, Ebay can be a wondrous source of single issue comics, even if you are not looking for one particular comic, but you’d like to collect some back issues anyway. While the amazing deals are out there, We, as the comic book community are still feeling the effects of the comic speculation bubble, and as a result there are a lot of overpriced comics due to overspeculation, and a lot of general crap floating around. But hopefully with these few tips will help you accurately search out what you are looking for. Before I start however, I have to say that this is merely a bargain hunting strategy, and if you happen to be looking for Ultimate Spiderman #1 Variant, you’re going to have to be prepared to pay top dollar.

Speculation, What is it, and how does it affect me?

Comic prices are very interesting, as there is no simple linear rule to defining the prices (eg, older = more expensive), as the aforementioned speculation. First though, we must address the issue of, what is speculation? Speculation, put simply, and in the context we are viewing it, is the act of speculating or guessing that a particular item, in our case comic books, will one day become valuable, or that it can be resold for more later. Speculation, literally defined means trading with the purpose of making profits, and I’m sure you’ve seen this, such as when Captain America #25 was released, and it was immediately being sold, or attempted to be sold for $25 dollars on Ebay even though my local comic shop was selling them for the standard $2.99. The first printing was fairly limited however, and they probably sold. As much as this is something that does not please me, I don’t believe my hobby should really be belittled by others for profit, it is a viable trade strategy. We saw the same attempts with the Death of Superman, but DC printed an incredibly large number of those issues, and they’re now found in bargain bins pretty much everywhere. So, the most expensive comics will be the old rare ones, followed by more recent comics being sold by people trying to make a quick dollar, but if you’re searching for something a little more obscure (ie, not a hot item), from the 70-90’s, you’re sure to find a great deal.

What should you, as an honest comic collector take from all this? The short story is, if you are hoping to pick up an important issue you may have missed, Ebay is probably not the place. Heck, the internet is probably not the place you want to look. My advice would be to check out other comic book locations in your local area. Chances are one of them heard the issue was going to be big, and ordered some extras, especially if there is a comic book store located in a cit around you, such as midtown comics in NYC, or a very small comic shop, that probably doesn’t get many patrons is also a good candidate; basically anything on either extreme if your first choices aren’t working out.

Finding Single Issue Bargains

Moving on to what Ebay and the internet can do for you, instead of what it can’t. For this installment of Ebay week, I will be giving some examples and pointers of good search methods, some of which can be applied to finding just about anything on Ebay. First off, know what you are looking for, or alternatively, know that you are not looking for anything in particular, and just browsing. If you have never used Ebay before I suggest you do some browsing, and test searches before committing to anything, it can be daunting, and you want to make sure you are getting the best deals. First off, make use of the categories if you are just browsing, but if you are looking for a particular item, it would be best to not limit your categories due to poorly categorized items, a good example of this would be listing an autographed comic under collectibles, or memorabilia. Also, while browsing/searching, be sure to look to the left hand of your screen. The upper section allows you to limit your search to categories and sub-categories, such as only silver-age comics. Below that allows you to limit or expand your search to include Ebay stores as well as those who offer free shipping. Now, onto the specifics, when searching Ebay, instead of just searching “Signed Thor comic” and taking the first thing that pops up, do alternate searches using synonyms, such as autographed, graphic novel, or include the author or illustrator. Doing this requires you to make good use of the watched items feature. Just click “Watch this item,” and come back to all your favorites later. Doing this allows you to really see what the bargains are. I’ve picked up a good number of comics for exceptionally cheap, such as Journey into Mystery #123 for about $12 US, or the occasional bargain for $3-5 US like the last issue I needed my for Official Marvel Handbook series. However, don’t be afraid to be patient, if you’re in a rush you’ll make mistakes. In my hurry to collect and read all the issues of Civil War I had missed, I ended up spending way more than I had to, and then shipping on top of that! Remember to look for deals on shipping, many sellers will offer them.

Addendum: For examples of what I’m talking about, see my other blog “Life of a Welshman” for proof that great bargains DO exist out there! Today’s entry can be found here.

I’m not dead yet!

So, last I was here, I mentioned I was sick. Well “I got better” (ok, last Monty Python reference). I haven’t been around as the end of semester has been hell. I’ve got a pile of probably over 300 comics (I found myself at a rummage sale with comics at 50 cents a comic, some good finds which I’ll write a post about later) that I have to read. That’s well over 4 weeks of comics, rummage sale stuff, a few random Ebay purchases, and Free Comic Book Day acquisitions. Hope everyone is doing well, I’m not gone, still around, and will be back exceptionally soon. I will be getting my undergraduate degree in biochemistry in EIGHT DAYS!