Gatsby77

Yeah - and I hate it. The market has shifted such that the only "keys" folks care about are first appearances that may get movie and/or TV bumps. And it's even come full circle with multiple movie appearances (Venom prior to Spider-Man 3 and again now with the Venom film; Punisher with the 2004 movie and again with Daredevil Season 2 and the forthcoming Netflix show; Dark Phoenix issues with Last Stand and now with X-Men 7). I look forward to the comic book movie trend finally bursting. (Not saying I haven't bought 22 copies of Thor 337 on the theory that Beta Ray Bill will show up in Guardians 3, but whatever...)

At the risk of being Captain Obvious, the multiplier adjusts for the higher budgets. And it's particularly telling how much people liked Wonder Woman -- even folks on this here boards thought there was zero chance it would surpass Guardians of the Galaxy 2's domestic take after it grossed more than $40 million less than that film its opening weekend. That's a hell of a lot of ground to make up, let alone end up easily surpassing -- by the end of its run.

I have a hard time thinking of Maxima's first appearance as key-worthy. It was actually the first issue of Action Comics I bought off the newsstand because of the eye-catching Perez cover. Cool story, but as far as I'm concerned she basically peaked in Armageddon 2001. So...she's already appeared in Smallville and Supergirl...and now her first appearance is key? I don't see it.

But at least Infinty Gauntlet _deserves_ to be a key. That series (and all of the tie-ins) was my generation's Secret Wars. Sure, there's no Secret Wars # 8 Spidey costume origin, but this was _the event_ of 1990/1991 (whichever). With Silver Surfer 50 kicking it off. And suddenly a whole generation of folks looking to backfill the 70s Thanos-Warlock-Starlin saga, as well as Silver Surfer 34, Thanos Quest, etc. I even pre-ordered from Previews a limited edition copy of Infinity Gauntlet # 1 signed by Perez in "Platinum" ink for $30. One of the favorite books in my collection, albeit now rendered worthless since it was well before the CGC signature series era.

I'd be interested in a list of just post-2004 books. Ex. I collected Batman off the shelf from about # 390-# 625 or so (the post-Hush storyline by Azzarello). So i'm good on the Copper and 1990s keys. But for someone who has been out of the game the last 10 years or so, what's key after that? Clearly # 655's on the list (first Damien, right?) But what about -- is it # 635 (first Jason Todd as Red Hood)? Read recently that it's a $60-$75 book. Batman Annual 25? Was this the issue we discover Jason Todd's alive? Or was it the *alternate version* of Batman 429 where he lives? I forget. But is this still considered key? Are there other random post-2004 $25-$40 books that are worth knowing about?

By my count on the census, only 24 total first printings of Classic Comics 1-20 have graded out at 9.0 or higher. For issues # 2 and # 10, the best copies grade out at only 8.0. It's possible that a super set is sitting out there somewhere raw, but I'm shocked at how few have been slabbed.

I'm good with Lady Gaga. Her turn in American Horror Story last year was decent, and I think she's going to surprise a lot of people when the remake of A Star Is Born hits.

*patiently waiting for the geeks to defend this one, a la suicide squad*

Greg - I don't disagree with your skepticism, but I'm just reiterating what was reported in those three issues of Valiant Voice more than 20 years ago. I don't have them anymore, but from what I recall, Solar # 9 was listed among the top 15 rarest, so I don't think it's a stretch that Solar 10 (with its much higher cover price) was the second-rarest issue of Solar. Also recall that no issues of Magnus were listed among the top 15 rarest. Which would make their footnote of Magnus 12 at "16th or 17th rarest" the lowest-printed of the first 16 issues of Magnus. Also not hard to believe, given it wasn't a coupon book and had a $3.25 cover price. Believe it was Valiant Voice # 2-4 that listed the top 15 rarest Valiant books, with either # 2 or 4 citing the info on Magnus 12 and Solar 10. Anyone have them and can check (and/or provide a scan)?

Umm...no. Yes - it had a relatively high print run for Valiant at the time (~45,000?) but it was still before the Unity crossover that launched Valiant books into mainstream popularity two months later. Happy to wait for ValiantMan to confirm or correct but I believe the Valiant Voice issues noted that Solar 10 and Magnus 12 were the 16th and 17th rarest of the 47 or so earliest Valiant books. So both were easily in the bottom 50% of print runs for the first 50 or so books released. Neither Magnus 12 nor Solar 10 were ordered to anywhere near the extent of Magnus 1, X-O 1 or (esp.) Shadowman 1 (because by that time Valiant had begun to amass a following). You're right: due to its unique (for the time) gimmick cover, Solar 10 sold out very quickly after it hit the stands. But it wasn't ordered by speculators ahead of time, hence it's being the only Valiant book to go to a second printing. It's also always been hard to find in true 9.8 shape. And as someone who has indeed hoarded a few key Valiant books over the last 15 years, I can say...I only have two copies of Solar 10 (vs. say...27 copies of Magnus 0, 24 copies of Shadowman 1, 6 copies of Harbinger 1, etc.).

Seriously - I'd lose my shorts to see Harbinger 25 on-screen. Eternal Warrior was one of the few original Valiant titles that stayed of consistently high quality all the way through, esp. considering the nosedives Magnus and X-O took near the end. Ninjak was a crappier book by comparison but it too stayed consistent the whole way through -- although I'm still pissed it was cancelled before the story resolved.

Really well said. But I still think we can draw a bright line and compare at least relative box office performance in adjusted dollars since say...2000 onward. Why 2000? X-Men came out that summer, and heralded a new modern era of superhero franchises. Yeah -- Blade came first, but X-Men arguably started this current craze, and era (and Hugh Jackman rode that wave through what - 9 movies??) As popular as Wonder Woman is, it's nowhere _near_ the cultural touchstone that was say...Batman in 1989, or Titanic in 1997. Example: Iron Man 3 made more domestically than did Spider-Man. But that's BS because Spider-Man opened on nearly 500 fewer screens yet sold a good 40% more tickets than did Iron Man 3. And it was the # 1 movie of the year. Sure, Iron Man III was # 2 for its year, but by a relative nose. Not Spider-Man -- it made $60 million more than the # 2 (The Two Towers) and more than a $100 million more than # 3 (Attack of the Clones). Inflation matters, y'all.

Slow clap for the pun. Well done, sir. Well done.

The only reason folks love to lie with un-adjusted statistics is they're in the business of selling _today's_ product, not the product of 15 years ago, or more. It's still a BS metric. By that logic, Spider-Man: Homecoming has made more domestically than Batman (1989). Not even close. The two movies aren't just not in the same ballpark, they're even in the same state in terms of box office gross, let alone impact on pop culture. There are blockbusters, and there are blockbusters. No: due to media fragmentation no movie will unseat "Gone With the Wind" from its "Biggest Box Office" perch. Likewise, it will be a _damn_ long time before a new Rated R movie unseats The Exorcist from it's near $1 billion adjusted take for top Rated R film (albeit, with re-releases). For instance, there's only been one movie this century to rank as the # 1 film in America for more than 4 weeks - Avatar, which managed to be # 1 for 7 weeks. But that's still a far cry from Beverly Hills Cop, which -- Rated R -- managed to rank as # 1 for 14 weeks. That's insane. It's more than most movies are even in theaters today.

I've said it before, but this was the kind of fresh start and fresh take Spider-Man needed. Biggest strike against it is they didn't wait to release it three years from now, when general audiences could have forgotten more of the last two movies and be more primed for a re-boot. This film has already surpassed the last two films domestically and will finish comparably worldwide. But it had to overcome negative vibes from three lousy Spider-Man films in a row. This was a great start to a new chapter. And one that history will treat kindly. Now if only we could get the powers-that-be to wait at least another 8 years before even attempting a 5th FF movie...

Much as I love Scott Mendelson, a Best Picture nom for Wonder Woman is a reach. His "aspirational" argument boils down to: it was a better (and more popular) film than anyone expected. That's great, but it's not enough for "Best Picture" consideration. I loved it, and I'm sure it will end in my "5 favorite of the year" list, but for me the last 20 minutes (Ares showdown) were so tonally dissonant and a let-down from the 2 hours before that it prevents it from being a truly great film. For me, Wonder Woman isn't comparable to the masterpiece that was The Dark Knight -- or even the Dark Knight Rises. Even The Winter Soldier was tighter overall -- and had more immediate social relevance, as it was a direct critique of the Patriot Act. Wonder Woman was amazing -- and gives hope to the rest of the DCEU, but we geeks should slow our roll a bit. Also, I agree with Mendelson that Get Out is the best film of the year so far. I'm still processing Dunkirk, which I saw yesterday -- it was so different from what I was expecting that it may take me another week and/or viewing to decide how I feel about it. My gut reaction was that it's weakest film since Batman Begins. That's less a criticism than it sounds, and more a reflection of how masterful I thought The Prestige, Dark Knight, Inception, Dark Knight Rises, and Interstellar were.

I have no problem with the Craig movies aping the Bourne movies -- which I think is absolutely the case. Consider how bad Die Another Day was -- holograms, lasers, a Korean-turned-Brit, a Korean with a diamond-studded face, Madonna stunt-casting, needless CGI wind-surfing and a flippin' invisible car. It was a cartoon. And then the Bourne Identity came out and showed how well serious modern espionage could be done -- turning even _Matt Damon_ into a believable action star. The Bourne Identity instantly made the Roger Moore-Pierce Brosnan Bond films obsolete. So then we got Casino Royale, which was done better than the original book easily bested all of the Roger Moore entries. It was a direct response to Bourne, and was necessary to keep the franchise alive. On that note, it's succeeded beautifully.

I don't believe that for a second. They know how bad season 1 was. If they do indeed try a second season, there's nowhere to go but up.

My favorite as a child -- and the first one I ever saw -- was The Spy Who Loved Me. But as an adult it's not even in my top six. And agreed -- On Her Majesty's Secret Service had arguably the best story this side of Skyfall. But it gets lost because it starred Lazenby rather than Connery. Still, it has Telly Savalas and Diana Rigg. Most importantly, it's the only film (and book) other than (perhaps) Casino Royale where Bond loses in the end.

Doesn't matter. Don't forget that Nolan resurrected Batman after two painfully bad franchise-killing disasters of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. Any superhero film can be done right if the story is good. The key is to get the origin story out of the way in the first film so the second film can focus on a bigger world (and iconic villain counterpart).

Yeah - but that's not a bad thing -- it shows what's possible with good writing. And underscores how Batman vs. Superman was in comparison. You put two of the most famous superheroes in the world in a movie for the first time -- and even better -- have them _fight_ each other -- which we fans have been waiting for since the aborted Andrew Kevin Walker / Wolfgang Peterson project 12 years ago, and it gets hosed (easily) in the U.S. by a decent Wonder Woman movie. That's like a movie about Guardians of the Galaxy out-performing Spider-Man. (oh...wait...)

In the original books 008 was a woman and the highest number mentioned was 0011. And 006 was -- next to Bond -- the biggest bad-. Something that Goldeneye played on perfectly. Those of us who'd read the books were keeping track and having him turn traitor was a brilliant twist. I too will defend Skyfall. Easily the best Bond film since Goldfinger. Top 5: Goldfinger Skyfall From Russia With Love Casino Royale Goldeneye

I liked the book when I read it a few years ago. Thought it was good, but basically un-filmable. Until Spielberg signed on. Yay! The trailer looks like it might do the story justice, but the more I think back to the book, the more I'm convince it was just a rip-off of the far superior Snow Crash (by Neal Stephenson) but with '80s pop culture references bolted on. Seriously - if y'all liked Ready Player One, read Snow Crash.

It pains me to actually agree with Jaydogrules here, but he's right. Homecoming will surpass the domestic total of _both_ of Andrew Garfield's films later this week. And it cost less up front to produce than any film since the first one. Most importantly -- unlike the last three films -- it was _good_. Which means there's actual goodwill going into the next film, whereas this one was fighting nearly FF-levels of audience fatigue after the the last three lackluster outings.

Also - the synopsis for David Ayer's "Bright" makes it sound like RIPD, but set in LA.