500Club

You're right. It's definitely more like a 9 or 10 year old's work. The colorist deserves some blame for the bland color palette as well. All in all, put on a rack with other covers, this one would suffer by comparison, even as an A cover, let alone a 1:25.

You are very mistaken if you think 17 copies in 9.8 is common, considering its one of the highest print run title/book of its era. The reason why some of the ASM 201-230's in 9.8 are in single digits is because they aren't worth the shipping+slabbing fees in relation to their realized sales value in 9.8. There are numerous dealers and non-dealers alike sitting on dozens of copies of these books, just waiting for them to break out (like ASM 210, 212, Annual 16) in order to make it worthwhile to submit them. You know you're quoting me from 2009, right?

Yup. They were pre-spec age, so the book languished.

If the guy with the gun on the left gets a shot off, Deathstroke will be speaking in a higher voice from here on in.

NFL SuperPro.

IDW wasn't able to print to orders, and advised retailers there'd be an allocation down to 80% of orders.

Well, yeah. The guy was born in 1911. He probably died the next day.

No. Unfortunately not. Although, in his case, I think he’d out himself pretty quickly with his posting style.

The shoomanfoofighters

On the bright side, they lift a lot of weights in the yard, shoo...

But I have about 12,000 (of 36,000) books in 9.6 - 9.8 condition, and don't need any capital - so what should I do? I'm barely going to have the time to sell them in my lifetime . . . Then you’ve got the enviable luxury of trading return for convenience...

Exactly. It’s like a Fight Club motto: The first rule of First App club is: there are no rules. The second rule...

Those are often trimmed.

For Canadians on the board, collectibles are deemed to be 'personal use property'. Items that sell for over $1000 are to be reported, and capital gains taxes paid on money made over the $1000 threshold. Best to keep records of eBay and CL sales for this reason. @greggy - confirm if correct?

No, it’s cooling down. I agree with anyone who is comfortable with their established game plan.

The wrong choice is to send it out... in this case. BUT, if you’d found that book in 9.6-9.8 condition, and have the wherewithal to not need the capital for 3-6 months, sending it out is probably the right choice. I think that’s what @kimik is driving at... if you can accurately grade 9.8s and have the wherewithal to go the graded route, there’s a lot of books that significant money is being left on the table by selling raw.

Who, d.s? FTFY

I don’t like the Templesmith style, either, but it does fit this book well. A good first issue.

If. I’m with @kimik ... won’t be Preacher or Outcast, but isn’t the second coming of TWD.

HELLLLLOOOOOOOO???? Mods?

I hit most of the stores in both Calgary and Edmonton at least once a month. Some limit buys to 1-2 copies per. Some are open buy. Despite that, there are books that sell out, including well ordered books like Batman and Venom. FOMO and the sheer volume of spec sites and internet information seems to drive things. X-Men 12 was a Wednesday sellout, despite issue 2 being the first app of the High Summoner. That’s all due to spec chatter; it’s not like the masses had read the book at that point.

Yes, from Alberta. I think it’s the combination of stores being careful with order numbers in COVID times, and the general current spec mentality. That’s not to mention the fact Marvel and DC appear to be wise to the idea that new characters and first apps sell books.

Yup. ** clean up on aisle 2684 and aisle 2685...! **

No, he didn't. I love Byrne - he's my favorite creator - but as you can see from the article, he never hid his light under a bushel, or really cared to hold his tongue.

The part in the left column describing how Byrne interacted with Claremont at times is exactly what I envision when I hear the phrase 'creative differences' used in describing the breakdown of a partnership.