Wednesday, November 20, 2013

SPECULATION: Uncanny X-Men #282 (first Bishop)

Now that I've hoarded enough, I'm going to throw out a speculation pick for Uncanny X-Men #282, first appearance of Bishop.  I chose this book for 3 reasons:
  1. It's still cheap at less than $10 but prices have risen in the last month as people are beginning to snatch them up.  Still, a lot of shops and online sellers with stale catalogs are-a-plenty.
  2. Bishop is in the new X-Men movie called Days of Future Past.  This fits perfectly in the Marvel Universe and could see Bishop as a new stable character in the movieverse of Marvel.  Bishop is really, really important if you don't already know.  I have a feeling that, if there's another X-Men movie, we'll see Bishop, Cable, Stryfe, and probably Deadpool.
  3. I had to focus on one.  There are many others to look at but I think Bishop could be a great one because he seems to be overlooked by speculators even though he's THE linchpin that essentially saves the mutant universe a half a dozen times or so.

Midtown Pull List for October

"Somebody Stop Me!"

The first step in admitting you have a problem is blogging about it...anonymously.  Well, okay, I'm not blogging anonymously - but you're the only other person that reads the crap I write so I might as well use a fake name.  I'll go with Bogongo.  I know I'm posting this late.  Frankly, I was going to post something else then discovered that I had already started several posts that, although seem unworthy to publish, appear to have a sufficient amount of text already written that it would be wasteful not to finish and post.  Don't waste words!  There are some people in the world who can't even eat their own words - to delete them would be wasteful.  Okay, so below is was my pull list for October that has long since been filled and delivered.  I didn't realize Farlaine was so big (only so much you can tell from pictures); it's kinda hard to store.  I don't even want to post my pull list for November.  Suffice-it-to-say, I bought all the Ghost Cop I could find.  I literally ordered the last Ghost Cop issues they had at Midtown after buying the last 14 issues from TFAW.  So, all tolled I'll have 42 Ghost Cop issues.  At least the quantity answers the ultimate question.

Take care,

Bogongo

Qty Title/Issue (S)ub or select (X)
1 Bushido #3 S
1 Bushido #4 S
2 Ghosted #4 S
5 Other Dead #2 Cover A Regular Qing Ping Mui Cover S
1 Peter Panzerfaust #15 S
10 Pretty Deadly #1 Cover A Regular Emma Rios Cover S
2 Rat Queens #2 Cover A Roc Upchurch S
1 Sex Criminals #2 S
1 Six-Gun Gorilla #5 S
7 Three #1 S
1 Walking Dead #115 Cover A Charlie Adlard Standard Cover S
1 Zero #2 Cover A Tradd Moore (Limit 1 Per Customer) S
1 Afterlife With Archie #1 Cover A Regular Francesco Francavilla Cover X
1 Afterlife With Archie #1 Cover C Variant Tim Seeley Cover X
1 Bushido #1 Cover A Regular Studio Hive Cover X
1 Bushido #2 X
5 Farlaine The Goblin #1 X
5 Ghosted #1 1st Ptg (Near Mint) X
1 Ghosted #2 Cover A 1st Ptg (Limit 1 Per Customer) (Near Mint) X
1 Ghosted #3 1st Ptg (Near Mint) X
1 God Is Dead #1 Cover A Reg Cvr (Near Mint) X
1 God Is Dead #1 Cover B End Of Days Cvr (Near Mint) X
1 God Is Dead #1 Cover C Iconic Cvr (Near Mint) X
1 God Is Dead #1 Cover D Incentive Pantheon Cvr (Near Mint) X
1 Hinterkind #1 Cover A Regular Greg Tocchini Cover X
1 Hit #1 Cover A 1st Ptg Regular Ryan Sook Cover (Near Mint) X
5 Imagine Agents #1 Cover A Regular Khary Randolph Cover X
15 Letter 44 #1 X
1 Mocking Dead #1 Cover C 2nd Ptg Yellow Hazard Cover X
1 Mocking Dead #2 Cover B Variant Max Dunbar Subscription Cover X
1 Mythopolis #1 Cover E Incentive Variant Cover X
1 Other Dead #1 Cover A Regular Qing Ping Mui Cover (Limit 1 Per Customer) X
1 Other Dead #1 Cover B Variant Kevin Eastman Subscription Cover (Limit 1 Per Customer) X
10 Rat Queens #1 Cover A 1st Ptg Regular Roc Upchurch Cover X
15 Six-Gun Gorilla #1 Cover C 2nd Ptg (Near Mint) X
5 Walking Dead #1 Cover C 10th Anniversary Edition X
1 Walking Dead #115 Cover L Variant Blank Cover X
3 Zero #1 Cover B 1st Ptg Becky Cloonan (Near Mint) X
1 Zero #2 Cover B Christian Ward (Limit 1 Per Customer) X
1 Bushido #5 S
1 Death Sentence #2 S
5 Farlaine The Goblin #2 S

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Comic Book Speculation for Fun: Undervalued....Superman: Man of Steel #18...FIRST ...

Bringing my readers'...excuse me...reader's attention to this article (hi Mom).

Comic Book Speculation for Fun: Undervalued....Superman: Man of Steel #18...FIRST ...: Hello Everyone, I felt a little nostalgic upon reading a great article on Superman #75 by Walter Durajlija this week. I clearly remember m...

Thursday, October 17, 2013

PGX will grade and encase The Outliers with the dust cover

Just received this good news from PGX Comics regarding The Outliers:


"Hello David, 
We could include the dust cover in between the inner and outer holder so yes we certainly could. Please make a note about wanting this when you send the books in.  
Thank you,Daniel"

From what I read in one of the forums, CGC has said they won't include the dust-cover, so this is really good news if you want to have the book slabbed intact with the dust cover.

I'm going to send a handful or two of books in early next month (still waiting on some deliveries).  I'll update this post with pictures when get them back from PGX.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

5 Reasons Why the The Incredible Hulk TV Show (1978) is the Best Superhero TV Show of the last 30 Years

I know the temptation is to be smarmy and cynical.  I won't do it.  The Incredible Hulk is and may always be my favorite super-hero tv show of all time.  Here are 5 reasons why:
  1. Each show plays out at a leisurely enough pace to ensure proper and purposeful character development in each episode.  Every show is given a chance to breathe and grow without forcing action.  Action comes - but I never feel like they just needed a ratings Hulk to come crashing through a wall just for an uptick in the Nielson's.  The Incredible Hulk is a testament to the craft of story telling.
  2. The dialog isn't canny and/or corny.  I'm no gamma radiation scientist, but I'm sure some of what they're shooting over my head isn't complete bs.  Also, you can't go on touting the dialog without praising the acting.  Bill Bixby delivered in the role as David Banner.  He played the part passionately, angrily, righteously, and humbly.  As I watch now 30+ years later (and having acted a bit here and there) I really appreciate what he brought to the role of David Banner - he brought manhood.  I cannot leave out the comedy stylings of Lou Ferrigno.  I know that as the Hulk, he was this big, angry, green guy; but Lou Ferrigno played the Hulk as a big, angry, green, guy with a big heart.  Really.  You can see the tenderness of the Hulk when he innocently takes a peanut from the hand of a little girl, or when he sits down and begins petting a tiger cub, or when he sits down and has a meal with a traveler.  Yes, the Hulk is a rampaging beast but he's no monster - Lou Ferrigno captures that.
  3. The soundtrack.  There are few TV show theme songs that can cause such an emotional response as The Lonely Man by Joe Harnell.  In my opinion, only M.A.S.H.'s Suicide is Painless jerks the tears easier.  It plays like a music box that you wind up, press against your ear then slowly open and slowly close just to hear the mechanism engage and disengage over and over.  It reminds you of a slower paced time of your life when your biggest concern was having your homework done in time to watch your TV show because you didn't even know what a VCR was back then.
  4. The introduction.  In each episode (at least in all of the season 1 episodes that I've watched so far) there is a detailed explanation of why David Banner is on the run.  It's beautifully edited and includes the undying line of "Mr. McGee, don't make me angry; you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
  5. All five seasons are now on Netflix.
I reserve the right to modify and extend my remarks and now yield back the balance of my time.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Outliers Comic Book drying up on ebay

I have been keeping an eye on the low-print comic book called Outliers by Erik Johnson.  This book was a kickstarter campaign that was very well received.  No sooner had the book been shipped that it started showing up on ebay.  The buzz picked up shortly after and the book took off like a rocket selling for $40 - $55 per copy.  Signed copies were priced between $80 - $120.  As with most hot books, the market cooled after a couple weeks; there were simply more sellers than buyers.  Still, the book held above $30.  Today I checked the current ebay listings for Outliers and saw there were only seven (7) listings with the cheapest at $44.99 + $5 shipping.  I contend that the book has dried up enough to stabilize the floor at $45 for a nm copy.  We'll see if I'm right.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Batman The Dark Knight #23.4 - Joker's Daugther review

This probably isn't the worst origin story I've ever read.  It's barely an origin story.  It's basically some flashbacks mixed in with the "present".  I don't want to spoil it for anybody not in the know...so stop reading now.

It's not really....are you still reading but don't want to read spoilers?  Whelp, stop reading then!

Spoilers ahead.

The Joker's Daughter isn't really the Joker's Daughter - it's Duela Dent, daughter of renown psychotic District Attorney, Harvey Dent/Two Face.  She's got issues.  As she dawns the face of the joker and burns burns smiles onto her victims, somebody assumes she's the Joker's Daughter and that's when the hilarity ensues.

This series (villain's month) seems to be pushing everything too fast.  A good origin story takes at least a full book, not a few panels sprinkled in every so often.  I was hoping for a whole book dedicated to the actual origin of Duela Dent - or at least a turning point moment like in Breaking Bad when Walk lets Jane die.  Whoops.  forgot to warn about Breaking Bad spoilers.