In the Dark

A journal by Tnerb

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About this journal

Oblivious to anything new

Entries in this journal

My Younger Brother

Or My Father Doesn't Know After ranting about how I hate wristbands at Wizard World, the BCC had to go and issue them. We're they there last year and I didn't notice since I was admitted as press? The VIP's were issued a badge and a lanyard and I almost thought of upgrading just for that. But anyway, this isn't about wrist bands, this is about meeting Bagofleas, but trust me I will write more about the con. For almost two full days the both of us ran around with various CGC witnesses. Mile,
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Itching with Fleas

Or the Day before Baltimore Although Bagofleas had a much longer drive, mine was filled with pitfalls, delays, and time in a dealership. An early start became a late finish all because of a tire blowout on Interstate 95. Arriving in Baltimore by six allowed us to meet up for dinner at seven. My friend who came with me tolerated the two of us enjoying a rapid fire conversation about anything comic related and we exchanged gifts before our meal was even ordered. As for what I got him I'll let
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The Wizard World Wristband Epidemic

The Lanyard Derivative The first major comic book convention I attended occurred between two life changes. In 1992 I became a father and a little bit later in 1994, after an accident, Doctor's claimed I should be dead. In 1993 however Comic Fest was hosted by Philadelphia. The three things I can remember most was the naïve thought I could sit on the cold concrete floor and sell a few comic books, the souvenir cup I bought which I still might have, and a requested day off of work for this f
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A Backfire Fired

Or Beginning Again through Old Means The new job wasn't suppose to be that way. It was set up to be successful. Every eventuality was planned for, even the possible outcome of failure. The only variable that wasn't taken into account was me leaving. I wanted to get away from serving. Living off tips is a difficult thing to do. Yet I succeeded, I paid my bills regularly, was able to afford trips, both mini and weekly, and I was also able to grade or purchase graded CGC comic books. There wer
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Following Bagofleas, following me...following Bagofleas

or The New Mutants Rock I met Bagofleas through the registry by complementing him on his New Mutants set. At that time I had only just started where as he had at least 50 percent of the set finished. I was amazed and hoped that one day I would have a set just as nice as his. Eventually I found a few of the series signed by Bill Sienkiewicz, Chris Claremont, or both. My first few were purchased of eBay From Rich Henn. Since then he went out and searched for me. There were others I found too, li
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Is it the Comics, the Grade, or the Writing?

Or Why Collect? There are days, unlike this one, I wonder why I collect? What is it about these four color books that hold my attention with a measly 22 pages? Is it the artwork of scantily clad super heroines? Is it the -script that leaves me hanging, on the very last page, of the very last panel, with the very last word? Is it the possibility of the value, the hope I might have the next Amazing Spider-Man #1, Incredible Hulk #181, New Mutants #98, or more recently a high grade copy of Wal
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Is Wizard World too Big? Part III

Or hoping they might change Wizard World is not a comic book convention, not anymore anyway. It's a pop culture event or in other words a media circus surrounding anything within geek culture. This includes wrestling, sci-fi, horror, and of course how Wizard even got started in the first place, comic books. A fact I think they have forgotten. I understand a company is meant to increase profits. Without an organization properly set up for this ability to achieve monetary gain, its purpose of
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Is Wizard World too Big? Part II

Or Have I learned to expect more? A local con that I enjoy is the Philadelphia Comic Con. This is held multiple times throughout the year in Essington, right outside the city limits of Philadelphia. This small event is only three dollars to enter or two with a flyer, an admittance fee that cannot be disputed. Even though this small event is located in a "hall" of a local hotel, it normally occupies at least twenty dealers and they try to host at least one artist/author. One of the recent co
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Is Wizard World too Big? Part I

Or did I just sign my own death certificate? I went to Philadelphia Wizard World in June 2013 or do they prefer to be called Wizard World Philadelphia? Although recently they have opted for a symbol with the letter "W", it still precedes the hosting city. Is it ego that each of their conventions have the show's company name before the city that's hosting them, a city that has been around long before the convention itself? I'm not quite sure. I went this year in Philadelphia as I did in the
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When Death Claims Me

Or is it simply an Innovation The first Novel that I read that had me forget about time was from Dr. Who (go figure). Although I had all the privacy I could muster in the confines of my own room, I went to the library to read and my father had to come get me. I didn't understand since I was only there for an hour, I mean seriously how paranoid could a parent get. As I tried to point out that I just had breakfast, my father told me it was time for dinner, and corrected me that I was there for e
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Trapped

Better Safe than Sorry After deciding to go to Hawaii I needed to take care pf a few things, first and foremost was the care of my cat. On a previous trip I had someone come into my home and watch him. I was lucky enough that she stopped by twice a day. This also put my mind at ease because if someone was watching my home then they wouldn't know when I was there. This trip I had no help and no such illusions. After making sure my cat was taken care of I decided that even though my comic bo
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Struggling

Or Who needs these comic books anyway? Life is only easy when you look back. The days ahead are always dark, dreary, and fearful. In my case the feeling of report card day following a weekend. I try to be optimistic and hopeful in everything I do. My vacation is over and Hawaii was something to behold, but now reality has set in and I wonder do I have what it takes? With the Baltimore Comic Con fast approaching and I have already laid claim to a hotel room, I might have to drop a day and s
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Aloha

In Hawaii they say Aloha which means hello and goodbye, which goes to show you when you spend too much time in the sun, you don't know if you're coming or going.   George CarlinI'm in bed over 5000 miles away from home. I went to Other Realms already looking for those elusive New Mutants in a raw condition if they were worthy. I settled for two modern age books. I'll tell you more about this place later. Suffice to say it was a good experience. I noticed after I landed that the registry awards
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Hawaii

Or, If I could only find a job out there. It's the day before my flight and two days before my cruise. Tomorrow I will be time travelling across dimensions like the Doctor in the Tardis. Of course it only works for travelling six hours into the past. Now only if I can get those lottery numbers for the future. Last year on my first cruise I brought a copy of New Mutants #15 with me and took pictures in various locations with it. I will be taking it to Hawaii with me to do the same. And if you'r
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Traveling in Style

Or What do you mean the flight is ten hours? My trip is a few days away and I'm not even packed. The other day I was busy washing all my clothes with the full intent of packing. My two suitcases were ready and waiting for my clothes, but the only thing that got packed was my cat thinking the open luggage was his new bed. Instead of adding clothes I was vacuuming out the hair that he left behind. There are a few things I am trying to get done. Some of these things are beneficial to the trip,
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It Begins

PLEASE... For something completely different, please read below. Any Comments. Any Critique. Any Thoughts, would all be appreciated. It Begins: A Prologue   It was dark and quiet when the small flashes of light began to illuminate the murky cavern. Bits of blues, reds, yellows, and greens reflected across the dullish brown walls. The repetitive lights lasted fractions of a second before being swallowed by nothingness. A soft echo accompanied the breathing of a light wind while swirls of wat
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Three More to Go

Or Seriously, Only Three More to Go I can't believe it's almost here and with only three more to go I can barely contain myself. I've been waiting so very long and now the time is upon me, hell the time may very well be upon you and you don't even know it yet. As soon as I noticed, I became almost as giddy as seeing that not only was my ASM #129 graded after my third signature, but it retained its 9.6 status. And now after actually typing the above I realize I feel EVEN more excited than I was
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Time is Running Out

or It is Said, Time is Money It's early and I sit awake. My time in bed was shorter than I would have liked. My schedule has been flipped and now I work again for a paycheck. Fortunately it will be a weekly paycheck, but my wallet spasms without money being added everyday rather than every week. I never spent the money that I drew in from accepting tips from tables until I deposited the funds for bills. I knew this month would be strenuous. I went so far as paying a little over double my elect
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I have an Iron Man #1 in a 9.6 SS

Or I have it, I just don't own it. What comic book fan doesn't jump at the chance to get a signature from Stan Lee. I knew I needed another book signed by The Man and what better book than Daredevil #2 to finish my complete Daredevil run, but I wasn't the only one to get signatures. Lee K (more on this story later) and RonnyLama both sent me books. In the case of Lee K, a single Marvel Tales of Suspense #65 (I know, Lee K with a Marvel comic) and Four books for RonnyLama (FF 9, FF 16, X-Men 3,
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Approaching 30,000

Or Reaching Two Milestones It's been a few years since I first started collecting CGC graded comic books. I started with Secret War #2 in a 9.8 and Daredevil Vol. 1 #90 in a 9.0. They were purchased at my first Wizard World strictly as a novelty, and at only $25 a piece, I thought it was a deal. It wasn't until I saw a copy of The New Mutants #1 at the Philadelphia Comic Con when I decided I wanted my favorite series in the best possible condition. At the time the forty five dollar price tag o
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Quitting

Or Taking a Chance This posting is more personal than comic related, but I've written some personal things before so why not again. Recently, I gave my two weeks notice. My last day is on Friday, July 5th. Of course quitting will severely deplete any additional monies I may acquire to purchase comic books, but the new job could increase revenue exponentially. I probably also quit when they needed me most. Vacations are starting and some key personnel decided to quit. Do I dare say it is a sink
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'Quod vitae sectabor iter'

Or "What path will my life take"   Or "Which path in life will I choose?"   Or "because I shall pursue the path of life"   Or Who uses Latin anyway?My Mother hated me collecting comic books. I never understood why. At one point I left copies of Uncanny X-Men issues 190 and 191 in the dining room on the windowsill. These comics were left there after I looked them over on the kitchen table one day before school, mind you the dining room was and always was devoid of furniture. I can only r
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Is a 9.0 OK?

Or What's your Ideal Grade? I recently purchased two Daredevil books to get signed. The second one I'll mention another time, but the initial desire to complete a full Daredevil run ended with purchasing a copy of issue #2 in an 8.0. This book was purchased through Comics to Astonish, a retailer/dealer that I buy from on a regular basis. The desire for this book was to not only complete a full Daredevil run, but to have the first ten issues graded by CGC and signed by Stan Lee. I currently hav
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Another Top Ten

Or Starting off with Three Are there books you loved reading, or still have to read when you go through your back issues? Is there a single issue, one-shot or annual that still lingers in your mind? Recently I have found Locke & Key by Joe Hill and when I say recently (2yrs.) that's comparative to when I started reading comic books. The reason I jumped on the story was IDW gave out a free copy on FCBD a few years ago. I have the first five story arcs in hardcover published by IDW and hav
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One Point Behind

Or I could strike now. I started adding my books I had graded from Wizard World Philadelphia. The first time I tried the books were ineligible for their appropriate spots. I only tried my New Mutants #1. J figured if that one was denied, they all would be, including the signature series books signed by Bob McLeod. Normally I'll get an email stating it was accepted but this was not the case this time. I let the time lapse for the registry awards and finally decided to add them today. I am now
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