Continuing my latest tirade.

Well I was going to let it ride for a while, but eBay delivered me a new object of especial derision -- an SS 9.4 copy of Wolverine 102.5. Why would I find this particular book annoying? Well, for starters, its listing title mentions Slott, Vallejo, and Bell. But, did any of these wonderful contributors actually sign the book? Why no, that would make too much sense! This particular copy is signed by none other than Len Wein and Herb Trimpe along with the standard Marvel default of Stan Lee. For sale at the low low price of $999.99.

Yes, 102.5 is one of those Wolverine issues that's tough to come by in high grade. But considering 1974 occurred 22 years prior to 102.5's release, I ask again -- why the hell would anyone buy this book? Especially when you consider it's SIMPLE to track down a show where Mark Buckingam and/or Dan Slott are appearing (and yet I think I'm the only one to have copies signed by these 2). Heck, even Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell were at Wizard World Philly last year (couldn't bring myself to crack my SS 9.8 for them though).

Look, if it's your thing to undertake collecting the entire 1-189 run signed by the original Wolverine creation brain trust, then good on you. Collecting should be a personal journey first and foremost. But if you're just out to make a quick buck by having the first person who can spell W-O-L-V-E-R-I-N-E sign random issues, then frankly you're helping to cheapen the entire concept of the Signature Series. Please, collect the signatures you want. Don't chase registry points at any cost.

In my case, as you may have already guessed, I overwhelmingly prefer signatures from direct contributors to an issue. Ergo, for example, here's my Wolverine 187 that I had signed by artist John McCrea.

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