F For Fake

I'd like to know where to find these imaginary old ladies sitting on gold mines of crazily underpriced golden age keys, because all I ever run across are old ladies selling crazily overpriced copies of coverless westerns and food-smeared funny animal books. Seriously, the "comics are worth money, therefore all comics are worth money" thing is much more rampant than the "uninformed seller". To the point where I'd say the latter is nearly extinct. That being said, if someone offers me something and I meet their price, it's not unethical to make the purchase, even if it's under market value. Now, if they offer me a low price and I try to lowball them further, that would be pretty slimy. So, uh, I don't do that. THAT being said (and I said that above, and am now saying this) I'd be inclined to throw them a little extra if I was aware that they were very light on their price. It's not about being ethical, I do it because it makes me feel nice to do nice things for people. But, again, it doesn't happen often, because most folks think their comics are treasure.

I had 9.8's of the first 10 issues, and a couple of others (1st Michonne). Bought them raw, had them pressed and subbed. Sold them during the second season of the show, which I assumed would be the peak of its popularity. I wasn't smart enough to see it lasting several more years. I think I got around $900 for the #1, though itmay have been closer to $750. At the time, whatever I got, it was a very good price, and I was pleased. Then I sat back and grimaced as the price on the #1 climbed up to $2500. Have been kicking myself ever since, but vowed that if they got back to around $1k, I'd be a buyer. I'm not sure we'll ever see it sink that low. But I can hope!

Waiting for prices to tank a bit more before I start buying. But I WILL be buying, at some point.

This is true, it's tough to justify paying $3.99 for a digital file when the same $3.99 at a comic shop will get you a physical item that may or may not increase in value. It's the same scenario with video game downloads: why does a download of a new game cost as much as a physical copy? With the physical copy, you can at least trade it in or sell it off down the road once you're done playing. I believe the answer is: deference to retailers. Comic shops are hanging by a thread as it is. They are the only avenue most publishers have to get their products into people's hands. So, publishers need to maintain that relationship with comic retailers. If they start offering day and date new issue digital comics (to the actual weekly READERS who keep these shops alive) cheaper than comic shops can offer the same physical product, then they're hurting the retailers, which will, in turn, hurt them. So, i get it. I enjoy reading digital comics, but I don't buy NEW digital comics, for the reasons outlined above. But it's a terrific way to catch up on lots of reading via Marvel Unlimited, Comixology, Humble Bundle, etc. You can usually get issues for 99 cents, or for a monthly fee, etc and still feel like you're getting value. Meanwhile the comic shops aren't being undercut on brand new books. It doesn't make much difference to me that I'm not up to date, because I usually run anywhere from 6 months to two years behind on my reading anyway.

I get it. But it looks like he's not willing/able to meet your (admittedly reasonable) standards, and has decided that your money isn't worth his hassle. Hopefully you can find someone else that provides a similar product and better customer service!

Just wondering, did you contact him about your concerns BEFORE dinging his feedback? Your concerns seem totally valid, but yeah, if someone gives me a neutral or negative, that's going to be an automatic block. Now, in my case, I'm naturally going to do everything I can to rectify the situation, and it sounds like he's asleep at the wheel. But you have to see if from his perspective: at this point, you're more trouble than you're worth.

It was like having Kirby Krackle explode in my brain!

Maybe I'll get that custom title at long last!

It's interesting, to me, his stuff is beautiful. It excited my eyes and my brain. But it took me a lot of time to get there. I started reading comics in the post-Adams, post-Golden 1980's, when Art Adams was blowing up, just before the advent of Silvestri, McFarlane, Lee, etc. That is what comics looked like to me. Kirby's art was WEIRD. It was UGLY. I just didn't get it. Years later, I was 19 or 20, working at a comic shop, and an older guy who worked there started showing me Kirby FF's, and one day it was like a switch flipped in my brain. I GOT IT. It all clicked. Now we're 25 or so years moved on, and he's one of my favorite creators in any media or all time. He's the godhead. When I show Kirby to my non-fan friends, folks who don't read comics at all, most of them also just don't get it. They think it's "ugly", "blocky", "over-exaggerated". And I get that, because when I was a kid, that's where I was at. So, to give a long-winded answer to your question, I think he would be met with resistance, because we are so far removed from where he started, from so much of the graphic language that he actually created, that his work seems almost alien.

Superman is a great idea, but how many really great Superman stories are there? For the Man Who Has Everything, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, and All Star Superman. That's...all I got.

It's pretty devious, but it works! I was good as I had never bought the first volume, so I just grabbed them both, which covered the shipping threshold. I already bought these stories in the original comics, then the hardcovers, then the Absolutes, so I hadn't been in a hurry to buy them one more time. But the price on Vol 2 was so nice that I had to go ahead and grab them both.

Same. We were just talking about this in another thread, but as much as I adore his 60's Marvel run, and Golden Age Caps, and even his romance books, there is something so off the wall about his 70's stuff. New Gods is the pinnacle, to me. It's pure, untethered imagination, and he was drawing with such power and confidence. Fully in his prime. The second-run of Marvel books, like Eternals, Devil Dino, 2001, Machine Man, etc may not have the weight of the DC stuff, or be as pioneering as the 60's stuff, but they're unquestionably jam-packed with crazy ideas and lots of vitality. His brain just never stopped, and his fingers, for the most part, managed to keep up with it, at least up through that run. The 80's stuff is admittedly not so hot, though I do have a fondness for it. But 70's Kirby is where it's at. It's bananas.

Mine should be here today too! It's hard to beat the free shipping plus loyalty discount from IST.

Yeah...I don't know. Is it including foreign editions, reprints, collections? I'd like to see the criteria they're using as far as what constitutes an "appearance".

Careful, pretty sure @Buzzetta is a big Phish fan...but we don't hold that against him.

It's so great! As a kid, Devil Dinosaur was totally a joke. When I got older and truly began to dig into Kirby, I realized what I'd deprived myself. Pure, untethered insanity. Still planning on getting this as a tattoo some day.

Whoa, @NoMan just dropped The Shaggs on the board. Outsider art cool guy credentials confirmed!

I met Infantino at DragonCon, that was somewhere in the 10 to 15 year ago range. He was very, very crabby. I got away from him as quickly as possible. Maybe he was scaring people away from that table at Motor City!

I've also read (somewhere, can't find the source now) that Miller isn't really doing Superman so much as he's doing a riff on Kurtzman's Superduperman, which makes sense to me.

Thanks bud! Got the Rat all assembled and cleaned up last night, just waiting for the stickers to arrive. As for the Terror Drome, I did manage to get it disassembled without breaking everything, and got all of the small parts cleaned up, but I need to take the lower and upper decks outside so I have some room to make a big soapy mess. Maye this weekend!

I have this issue with writing, and I'm not even a professional writer, just a (questionably) talented amateur with a few credits in local papers, fan websites, band bios, junk like that. I can't count how many friends have come to me with this "great idea" they have for a project. They want to have a sit-down meeting about it, or send me reams of word docs detailing their pitch. Of course, they're just the "idea" people. They want me to do the writing, which is, you know, the actual WORK. I finally cut everyone off. For friends I just tell them that I barely have time to write my own stuff, much less anyone else's, and for non-friends, the answer is simple: i don't write for free, or on spec. Pay me, and I'll write.

I'm sure only a small group would consider this a grail ad, but it's mine, because it was on the back of every comic I read for quite some time!

I think that's a super nice page for $300. I don't even like Superman but I would have bought it. Congrats!