Gatsby77

Great book! And good luck. I sat on a trio of 9.8s and 15 or so raw NM/Ms for *years* waiting for a movie. Gone now, but dang...I think it'd work best as a Netflix show.

Wow - you're so wrong here, it's hard to know where to begin. On your first point - you're missing the key character trait of Tony Stark. Massive arrogance. Which is exactly how RDJ played him in the first Iron Man film - and following ones. Not "funny slacker industrialist" - those traits (such that they were - I think that's a gross overstatement, esp. in the first film) are just natural outcomes of his arrogance and (literally) being the smartest - and wealthiest - guy in the room. They're not defining traits of the MCU Stark by any stretch. If any thing, they're ways he expresses his arrogance, just as Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne adopted a bored socialite playboy vibe. And...RDJ made a "career of playing twerps and outsiders"? Sure...but also of top-tier dramatic roles, including U.S. Marshals, Natural Born Killers, One Night Stand (a phenomenal movie), Chaplin (his first Oscar nom), and the then-recent films A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Zodiac. Zodiac may not have been a blockbuster, but it certainly reinforced his abilities as a top-tier actor. Your last statement is wrong too - "I don' think he fit people's image of a super-hero?" Huh? He fit my image of Tony Stark from the 30 or so Iron Man comics I'd read back in the '80s. Again - it wasn't off-beat casting at all - it made perfect sense. But it *was* risky because he was a) not a *recent* marquee box office draw and was b) a rehab / insurance / don't-finish-the-movie or maybe OD-Phillip-Seymour-Hoffman style risk.

As I've noted before, RDJ's casting was risky -- but it was anything but "off-center." I mean, he looks (and acts) almost exactly like Tony Stark. Would Tom Cruise have been good? Yes. Would he have been as great as RDJ? No way. I think the far more "off-center" choices were Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and even Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. They could have gone with half a dozen other choices over Gwyneth Paltrow for that role - and while it's fairly minor, it's also spanned the decade (and been integral to Tony's story).

I've loved most of their choices. Would have preferred Emily Blunt as Black Widow, tho.

So...20 years from now, even de-slabbed, collectors will be able to tell books from the Promise Collection due to the tell-tale messed up stables from the pancake pressing?

Huh - noting that the Promise copy has Siamese pages as well. Does that mean it'd be a presumptive 9.8 without that defect? Either way, I'd rather have the Twilight copy.

Here's an interesting case study. Detective Comics # 120 (probably my favorite Penguin cover). The Promise collection issue is tied for highest graded at 9.6 (white pages). https://comics.ha.com/itm/miscellaneous/detective-comics-120-the-promise-collection-pedigree-dc-1947-cgc-nm-96-white-pages/p/7244-175054.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 The other 9.6 is the Twilight Pedigree issue, which sold in March 2019 for $8,900. (Off-white pages) The Church (Mile High Copy) is a mere 9.4 and sold a decade ago (when it was the then highest-graded) in Dec. 2010 for $17,750. The Twilight copy is currently for sale via Heritage BIN / Make-an-Offer for $17,500 (a bit less than the inferior Mile High copy sold back in 2010). See here: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/detective-comics-120-highest-graded-twilight-pedigree-dc-1947-cgc-nm-96-off-white-pages/i/800095942.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 So what's the Promise Collection 9.6 copy worth? What does the presence of now two 9.6s do to the value of the Mile High 9.4? What's the Mile High copy worth today (pre-Promise Collection sale) now that the Twilight copy sold for 1/2 as much?

Umm... Magnus 0?

Yeah - the original story is called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, author unknown, from the 1300s. I had to read it in college as practice in Middle English before tackling Chaucer.

*Cough* https://screenrant.com/marvel-movies-pass-bechdel-test-feminist/

Umm...no, Andy Serkis does not have an Oscar; in fact, he's never even been nominated. And folks around here *hate* Captain Marvel, in which both leads were Oscar winners (Brie Larson) or nominees (Samuel L. Jackson). They also hate Iron Man 3, which featured 2 winners (Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow) and one nominee (Robert Downey, Jr.). But sure.

Neither Black Panther nor Captain Marvel sucked. Both, in fact, were excellent.

BS. It's the technology introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp that literally enabled the time travel pivotal to the team's success in Endgame. Captain Marvel was a top tier MCU flick that would have stood on its own - far better (for example) than: Incredible Hulk Captain America Iron Man 2 Thor: The Dark World Doctor Strange Ant-Man Ant-Man & the Wasp Age of Ultron And (again) Brie's performance fit the role - she's a USAF fighter pilot who has had to outperform her peers every step of the way. Or would y'all have preferred she crack jokes the whole time and misplay the character as much as Ryan Reynolds did with Hal Jordan?

So...a female director can't helm a solid male-led action flick? Kathryn Bigelow - and her Oscar - would disagree. And even if the rumors are true that James Cameron ghost-directed Strange Days, Point Break is still a classic.

Where is @Jaydogrules? He was the biggest Venom movie booster (and, conversely, Into the Spider-Verse detractor) on the boards.

Counterpoint: nobody who spends $1,000+ on a comic book is purely in it for “historical significance.” I remember the first time I spent $6 on a back issue (Ghost Rider - 1990, # 1), the first time I spent >$50 (New Mutants # 87), the first time I spent $200 (Ghost Rider - 1950, # 1), the first time I spent >$800 (X-Men # 1), the first time I spent >$1,000 (Batman # 5) and the first time I spent >$2,000 (Showcase # 4). Just because I’ve been doing this for 30+ years doesn’t make me any less aware of value than the latest “new money” who have only been doing this for 3-6 months. Nor should I have any more claim to these Promise Collection books than that new money.

What D84 said - and already covered earlier in the thread. Pep 22 is out of contention because it’s a superhero book.

I agree with this defect and qualified grade. The staple misplacements are so egregious it's basically impossible to read the book. Imagine it would be a 3.0 if universal (blue).

This is short-sighted thinking on your part. Yes - Sony currently holds the film rights to the Spider-Man universe characters, and my understanding is the MCU-Sony sharing is currently only in place for Peter Parker / Spider-Man. But if Kevin Feige wanted to use Venom, or Carnage, or Morbius (etc.) in the MCU, there'd be a revenue share agreement with Sony in place by next month.

Fair. Bridge to Terabithia (2007). Classic children's book. I had to read it for school in 4th grade and it traumatized me. The trailer makes it look like Harry Potter light. It's...not. It's about death, family, and survivor's guilt.

Thelma and Louise. The trailer is almost ludicrously misleading, right up there with Bridge to Terabithia. Both those movies intentionally hide not only the quality of their respective stories but also the very genre to which each film belongs Yes - Thelma and Louise is a road trip / buddy movie, but it's also a taut psychological thriller, not a comedy - something this trailer doesn't even hint at.

Also - as much as I love Cerebus 1, I wouldn't bet on the character long-term. Cerebus arguably peaked in popularity in the mid-80s, and the last issue was published >16 years ago, with no pop culture revival on the horizon. Despite its significance as an important indy and Bronze book, the character's fan base is only getting older. Archie, meanwhile, has stood the test of time for 75+ years and the characters had a pop culture resurgence recently with the CW's excellent Riverdale (with season 5 due out in the fall).

There is a 9.6, but it's signature series. Great book, but it'd get smoked by Archie.

Seriously, man. Bad form! You should honor the bids and have let the auction run its course.