bronze_rules

True story.

Years ago I called about a craigslist collection. A nice elderly woman answered and explained that her husband had saved all these boxes of old comics, one of which was the first issue of the Thing.

My imagination ran wild, --FINALLY A WINNER -- the Thing, Horror, Golden Age!!! Calm down, relax, don't sound overly excited. I asked, 'er.. do you know what the price is on the cover?.'

She replied, 'no, I'd have to go look.' I said, 'please do, I'd really appreciate it (calm down, relax...).

She comes back, 'didn't see the price...but there's some big monster on the cover. Me thinking..... OOOOOOOhhhhhh (calm down) . Oh ok, anything else you noticed?

Well, yeah, he's this big brown monster, looks like he's made of rocks and he's wearing these big blue trunks.......   Imagination brought down to reality.

That's how most of my finds went. At least this one was over the phone and I didn't waste gas.

Ok, one more story. Years ago I drove an hour to a block garage sale that supposedly had a bunch of old comics (like a million other listings). I was there a few minutes after the start of the sale. The guy goes, 'some guy came and bought all the boxes.' I asked, what kind of comics were in it? Oh, they were like early action, horror EC, yeah bunch of old ten cent comics.'   While the result was quite rare it was another (almost predictable) wasted effort of gas and time.

I've been to all the comic stores mentioned in the bay area (many years). Best dealer (and high grade bronze inventory) I ever knew was Phil at comic collector shop. Not sure if he's the same Phil mentioned at Heroes, but last I checked he moved to

https://www.heroesandchampionscomics.com/ in Sunnyvale. Looks like maybe he and Allan merged into Heroes, so not sure if service is as good as the old CCS anymore, but worth a look. 

Bonus for the mention of Bunky Brothers, not only were they the first (comic store) store I ever went to in San Bruno, but they had a place in San Mateo my friends would call 'hole in the wall.'

On 5/20/2022 at 4:26 PM, kav said:

3 years of graphic novel work:

@oakman29 @Hudson @Artboy99

Here I thought I had accumulated a stack...

On 5/19/2022 at 6:11 PM, kav said:

In the movie you will notice potato chips are left alone by food scroungers.  Guess why.

good detail if intentional. On that note, doubt anyone would haul around their booty in the shopping carts either.

On 5/17/2022 at 10:19 AM, F For Fake said:

Times have changed when it comes to collected editions, and rarely have they changed for the better. We DO get more sewn bindings these days (from Marvel, at least. DC seems to be fond of the glue on some volumes), but paper quality has definitely diminished, leading to much thinner volumes. The paper quality varies from book to book, depending on where its printed. The books coming out of R R Donnelly seem to fare better than the ones coming from Turkey, for example. I'm sure much of it is related to supply chain issues, as there has been a paper shortage (along with an everything-else shortage). There must also be a cost-cutting factor as well. It adds up to us getting the same books as before, only the MSRP has gone up (sometimes $25!), and they're thinner books with thinner paper.. Not a great tradeoff! However, compared to secondary market prices on OOP books, it's a compromise I can live with. I can pay $60 for a brand new copy of a book I previously sold or missed out on, versus paying $200-$400 on eBay, OR just not getting at all. I'll take the slightly cruddier $60 option. It's unlikely that a better deal is going to come along. And considering how some of these reprints are lingering, this is very likely the last physical copy we're going to see of some of these books. Sure, ASM 1, UXM 1, DD by Miller, Thor by Simonson - those are evergreens, they'll keep them coming. But Dr. Strange Volume 2? I don't expect we're gonna see that bad boy again.

Without the recent movie release, doubt they would have even done 2 for some time. I remember years ago an LCS worker was lamenting that he could never ever afford a copy of Thor 1 from Ebay. So glad they came out with replacements for almost all of the big first ones (except maybe Iron Man).

On 5/13/2022 at 8:58 PM, The Meta said:

Youre the one missing the point

The only flaws you are going to press at a show are superficial ones

They aren't teaching anything other than most likely, how to damage books

Its a scam, and like other scams, people want to believe in it and are stupid to do so

One doesn't need to be at a show to provide a quality video of the work done on their book. If they are showing that they damage books, then you won't use their service, right? That's the beauty. Wouldn't you like to have that ability for all the pressers you pay for? Me personally, I'd like to know that 99% of pressings done mysteriously, behind closed doors are far better than these guys. But that's just me.

Whether or not pressing is a scam, that's your opinion. I don't necessarily disagree. But that's a different discussion. 

Short aside. Years ago I brought my Mercedes in for a smog check. I sat there watching the guy do his work and noticed he was looking all over for where things were and not putting them back properly. He was all upset that I was watching him and told me you have to go wait in the other room or stand back on the other side of the building. Well, a day or two later, my engine would mysteriously die at stop lights. I recalled that he didn't put on the air filter securely and I popped the hood to correct it. No problem after that, but I bet the dealer would charge an arm and a leg for solving that, and I'd be hosed for a service I paid for. I feel the same way about work done on anything I leave with others. Just a personal quirk. I'm not really defending these pressers for good work, I'm merely saying they are among the very few who allow you to see what they do (poorly as it might be). I doubt anyone would even know how poorly they cracked the book out without seeing it captured in person or through video.

On 5/13/2022 at 8:52 PM, The Meta said:

They are only divulging what not to do

Yes, let them teach people how to damage books to sell off to some stupid sucker

You're missing the point. The important part is they are divulging. The same standard should apply to all pressing services that are paid for. Show people how difficult it is, so they won't try on their own, and understand how important it is to pay true professionals for their important service. Those who perform poorly will get weeded out.

We can heckle these guys for their work. But I give them credit for divulging their 'secret' sauce. 99.99% of pressing is done behind closed doors, so no one really gets to see what happened to their comic other than the final product.

It sure would be nice to have a video of all press work disclosed as part of the service, to appreciate how well books are actually pressed and treated. 

On 5/13/2022 at 1:42 PM, Wolverinex said:

Agreed.  Clea should have been aomeone else.

Could also have been the costume that made her come across somewhat ridiculous. It was like a pinkish/purple barbie doll costume or putting on a mego doll costume from the 70s.

On 5/13/2022 at 9:22 AM, F For Fake said:

This stuff showed up this week. While I was occupied with other releases, several recent LoSH HC's have quietly gone out of print. Managed to get a decent deal on this set in an eBay auction, below what I would have paid for BIN for the volumes individually. So, now I need to pick up Before the Darkness V1, as it is starting to creep upwards. V2 is still readily available at a discount. Silver Age Omni 2 is OOP and starting to get stupid. I have a hard time paying nearly $200 for a book that was $55 a year ago. Oh well, I'll be patient. 

The Thor by Aaron Omni is the rare collection of modern material that caught my eye. Following the everything-selling-out-in-minutes days of the early pandemic era, most omnis released in the last several months have stuck around for weeks and months, even eventually getting discounted. I haven't had any trouble picking up most of what I wanted on my own schedule. However, something told me I should probably get this one sooner rather than later. And I'm glad I did, as it sold out at the usual suspects within a few days, and the eBay prices are already approaching MSRP. With the movie coming soon, I wouldn't be surprised if this one gets a rush reprint, but it doesn't really matter, I've got mine. Will I have time to read it before Thor Love and Thunder is released? That is the question!

I got stuck with the Quesada variant, which sold out the next day too. Was really lucky that HIckman FF 1 showed up randomly the other day (hidden inventory?) I managed to snag it and it too was gone in a day. Can't take chances with some of these. 

Phantom Stranger Omni supposed to be coming soon. I recall JLA was cancelled for a long time, we'll just have to see.

On 5/8/2022 at 4:33 PM, electricprune said:

I was going to ask the same thing! It was less than a second, but I think it was him.

On 5/6/2022 at 4:54 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

That's true. I thought it was dumb as hell, but if you need to kill Black Bolt I guess that's how you do it.

Oh, and the fact that Black Bolt was in this was f***ing amazing.

My thinking is on a technical level, if Black Bolt's body can absorb the sound waves he emits in close proximity, he must have some kind of built in protection that could withstand a nuclear bomb. Fail for me on that.

Loved it.  I was unfortunately 10 or 15 minutes late. Could anyone explain if they recapped any of Wanda's backstory from the show?

I think that is the single biggest problem and it put my nephew to sleep. He and his girlfriend were asking questions like who the heck are those kids, and why should we care? And who's that old man in the hot dog stand they keep showing. What the heck is the relevance?

I loved seeing the illuminati, but my gripe was how easily they were bested. I know they had only a few minutes, but that was kind of annoying. They made Wanda close to a Dark Phoenix level character, similar to what they did with Ms. Marvel. And for her to so easily take out Ms. Marvel and Prof. Xavier was a bit fantastic.

I thought America Chavez was ok. She was important for the story.  I don't know much about her, but having her suddenly take out Wanda so easily, was again a bit fantastic. 

The scenes in the sewer reminded me of the issue of Dr. Strange where he and Wanda had to find the darkhold in the sewers beneath avengers mansion, before Dracula could get to it. Wonder if that issue shot up.

I only wish it was longer. 

I don't see the movie generating spider-man level money, because it's way to scary for kids. A huge plus for us adults, But I could see kids getting scared like I did with the original Evil Dead.

Just got back and loved it! Way better than Black Widow. I liked better than spider-man and batman (latest) too. 

Could be because I'm biased to Sam Raimi and Evil Dead Lore.  I also enjoyed all the homages and fan service. This is how I would like to see Dr. Strange, not like a kiddie movie. I think it could be very scary for kids, though. 

I also think non hard core fans were underwhelmed by missing backstory.

On 5/5/2022 at 2:20 AM, Bosco685 said:

What a fantastic first episode.

So many legacy characters portrayed in a fantastic way. And a Picard haunted by the fact he know his future fate.

Think you meant Pike, but yeah, agree otherwise. Really harkens back to the original flavor.

I remember when TNG first came out, me and my friends would lament, there's no spock, and that guy isn't really a kirk.  Changed our tune after a few seasons.

On 5/6/2022 at 8:39 PM, Lancia Stratos said:

My first bronze age horror book. Gonna be fun looking through this thread to find more I want

This thread is exactly what got me hooked on bronze horror. Avoid Sterling's posts if you don't want to go broke.

I'm reading through a string of Conans (mostly John Buscema)... nice cover by Buscema. I look at the splash page and think, is this real? Stan, Jim Shooter, or any Sr. level editor allowed this?

It's surreal in the sense it is like a low budget cartoon animation.

The fact that it is Sam Raimi, and seems to have some resemblance to the evil dead and zombie universe tells me I'll probably like it even more than Spider-Man's latest.

This regardless of the critic reviews - hope I am right on this one. I don't want a kid movie, I want the dark and frightening version.

Some of the best parts of Spider-Man for me were the Dr. Strange scenes (the crypt, weird beasts in the fridge, mirror universe, etc).

I'll take Spider-Man holofoil $1

Madam Web Spider Man throw in.

On 4/30/2022 at 12:01 PM, Jayman said:

Edit to the above: I think I noticed a Frazetta swipe in that story. What say you all?

Good Catch! Although, I sometimes wonder that, if they can do all those other great anatomy panels, why the heck do they need to swipe one or two? Once you master anatomy there should be no need to swipe, I would think.

Although, Dan Adkins admitted to this and it hurt his career.

RIP Neal. What a phenomenal impact you've had.

all kinds of stuff came out on IST today. Thor Jason Aaron. Conan. Rocketeer AE. I missed Hickman 1 and it's gone now.   Didn't think a second edition would sell out that fast.