F For Fake

It's criminal that they charge $5 for that piddly little bit of info. Oh well. LIke i said in CG, looks like a 1.0 to me, based on other 1.0s I've had. I was wondering if it was missing something, but since it's complete, i dunno, I'm surprised it's not a 1.0.

I don't know, it's strange. I had a FF #5 with a completely detached cover still get a 1.0, and there were more pieces missing on it than on yours. I wouldn't think the tape would hurt it that much, because even if the tape was missing, most of the cover appears to be present. At first I thought maybe there was an issue with brittleness, but it says off-white pages, so I'm not sure. Are the staples rusted? Are there more stains than what we can see here?

Great stuff @JoshuaM! Look really sharp!

Agree with the other folks, I had 1.0's that didn't look as good as this. Great pick up, enjoy the cool book!

You know, it's a shame about those covers, because it's my recollection that Mike Mayhew actually can really flat out draw, and doesn't need the bells and whistles. To be sure, drawing digitally is still drawing, and you have to be a skilled artist to use those tools. But with covers like these, it's like they make the "digital" aspect the feature, rather than a tool to enhance the "drawing" part. Different strokes and all that. I'm sure some folks love it, because there seems to be a lot of it. For what it's worth, I hate comic covers these days anyway. Covers used to tell a story in and of themselves, and give you an idea of what you're going to be reading inside. Today, covers are essentially miniature posters, and who cares what's inside? A lot of cool images out there, but they have nothing to do with storytelling. Give me a solid bronze Marvel cover over all of the Artgerms in the world, any day of the week.

As long as I get to blame someone! And watch it with that noodle!

I thought I posted about this already, but maybe I didn't? If I'm repeating myself, please flog me with a wet noodle. I sat down and watched all four hours of this thing last week. While there aren't enough drugs on earth to make me think it was a GOOD movie, there's no question it's a BETTER movie than the theatrical version, and the previous Snyder DC flicks, which I really hated. By a country mile. It's not even close. So, that's something, right? Steppenwolf, while still a hideously goofy looking CGI abomination, seemed to have more development, which made him somewhat more interesting. It's still a nothing story about chasing down Macguffins (usually a big fan of movies filled with "mother boxes", but this was something else entirely), but at least I found him, and therefore his quest, a little more interesting in this go round. It was also an improvement to actually give Cyborg something to do, and I always enjoy seeing Joe Morton in stuff, so that's nice. Gal Gadot, god bless her, can't give a line reading to save her life, but physically embodies the strength and beauty of Diana pretty much perfectly, so she gets a pass. I hate the Flash costume, I don't care for the Flash guy, but whatever, who cares? And Khal Drogo is fine as Aquaman, but it's a waste, because dude was clearly born to play LOBO! I have no beef with Ben Affleck either. I don't think he's a bad actor or a bad Batman. My problem is his ridiculous looking costume. Whenever Batman shows up, it's like the Michelin Man waddled into frame. I couldn't hold in my laughter when he "fights". Bwahahaha. Why they make him so THICC?? Damn, Batman got curves. You would think that after 30+ years of Batman features, they'd finally give one of these guys a costume that would allow them to turn their heads, but nah. We don't have that technology. Sorry Ben. You tried. The Superman guy, on the otherhand, fills out his trunks nicely, and I'll admit I've always liked Superman's dumb black costume. Looks good on film. The character still has/does nothing, and serves no purpose, but still LOOKS cool. And that's what matters here, right? Stuff looking cool? Apparently this thing was so long because we needed lingering tracking shots over landscapes and architecture set to a Nick Cave soundtrack. Seriously, not one, but TWO Nick Cave songs? Does Nick Cave know about this? Surely it would make him frown more than usual. And that would be amusing. It's so perverse that I had to admire it. I mean, that's not something I expected at all, I had to giggle, as it was so jarring. All I really want from a movie these days is to be surprised, and that definitely snapped my head around. So, kudos for that? Also, we had to listen to those ladies sing about Aquaman in some made up language, like he's Mothra or something. :What's that? I'm being told that they were from Iceland, and therefore their language actually exists. Likely story!: Things I liked other than the bizarro music cues and thinking about Nick Cave being bewildered when he receives this particular royalty check? Well, the big final fight was kinda cool. And the Amazon fight was kinda cool too. Despite his other limitations, Zack Snyder actually does know how to choreograph clear action. He's no Michael Bay, and that's a good thing, because Michael Bay is the debbil. He's like the anti-Michael Bay. He does that slow-mo/bullet time deal as well as or better than anyone, and can create some pretty cool images that way. No fast cutting, and I do admire that. So, I'd say those two big set pieces were definitely the highlight of the flick, but neither of them were worth the three hours that transpire between them. I had to fight the urge to check my phone for most of the running time. That may be a personal issue. I also enjoyed the epilogue stuff, which hinted at a much more interesting film than the one we just saw. At the end of the day, I didn't love it, or even really like it, but who cares? People should like what they like. I don't think any of you are wrong or dumb for liking it, but there's clearly something about these movies that I just straight up do not get. And that's ok too. Zack Snyder's Justice League: thumbs sideways, zero out of no stars, participation trophy awarded to all involved. Now excuse me while I prepare to watch a proper FILM. As a high falutin' cinema lover, I'm keenly interested in this upcoming, small arthouse feature, Godzilla vs Kong.

Watched the first two with the wife on Friday. It was after midnight by that point, and time to hit the hay, so we'll save the third one for this Friday, which is basically our "TV night." We'd watched Falcon and the Winter Soldier before that, and she wasn't in the mood for a movie or anything she'd have to "really pay attention to", so Invincible fit the bill. I'm not familiar with the comic (outside of buying and selling a few) but I was familiar with the basic concept. I thought that whiplash tonal shift in the first episode was handled terrifically, and got me very excited. The wife doesn't love ultra violence, but it gave me the giggles for sure. Voice cast is a pretty amazing roster, and the actual performances range from ok to pretty good. Some of that dialogue is going to sound ridiculous no matter who says it. I'm not sure if it's lifted directly from the comics or not, but it wouldn't surprise me. My biggest knock on the Walking Dead comics was that I enjoyed the overall plot and characters, but the actual dialogue was usually god awful. Invincible seems cut from a similar cloth. Maybe not as bad. But it's still pretty stiff and predictable. The animation is interesting, in that some sequences look like super cheap 90's style OVA anime, while many of the action sequences border on beautiful. You can really tell where they spent their budget. The "talking" scenes tend to look very stiff, but the action is go go go, very fluid and engaging. So I guess it evens out. If I have to sit through a few Sunbow/DIC style moments of dialogue to get to the eyeball popping stuff, I can live with that. Overall, I got a kick out of it, as did the missus. We'll keep watching it until we get tired of it, which is how this stuff usually goes.

Hive Wars was a Kay Bee Toys exclusive, and was kind of the last sputtering gasp of the Kenner Aliens line. I remember getting the whole line at KB on clearance for $3 a pop, or thereabouts. At one time they had a price spike, particularly the Hicks and Integer 3 figures, but they're much cheaper now. This was sorta like Kenner's attempt at crossing their house style with a more stylized, 90's "extreme!" art style. It was an interesting approach, but that was the death knell for the line.

Absolutely. I know it FEELS like everything is on fire these days, but there are still tons of great comics out there that no one is talking about at all. I believe the common expression around here is something like "buy what everyone else isn't." If you buy a book after it "pops", you're too late. Best to focus on picking up cool stuff that no one else is talking about. Or, my favorite, stuff that used to be hot, that is now cold, and can be had for a song. If it blew up once, it can blow up again. I think we're seeing that as demonstrably true, as many of the old Wizard Top 10 books are once again blowing up these days. And if you don't care about "investing" or speculating, man, there are COUNTLESS cool comics out there to be bought! Low grade Silver DC's, mid-grade Marvel bronze, lots of great art and writing from 80's indies. There's no shortage of cool stuff to collect, if all you care about is collecting.

Coooooool!

Nice job on your nail polish, @kav. Are those little flowers?

Yup, you're doomed. Soon your life will be ruled by shelving and books, and you know, it's not really such a BAD life!

Sweet. I sold my omni's a loooong time ago. Hopefully there's a new Cory restoration for these. I'll be happy to buy these as a replacement for the long gone omnis. I love my big doorstop sized books, but I have to admit the MMW are easier on the wrists!

Hmm, what's up with Man-Thing? I had a fine copy snapped off ebay last week after languishing for a while. I guess it's still just key book/#1 issues/covid market madness.

I sold my 9.6 and 9.4's of #1, and my 9.6 of #2, when I got my 9.8's. No one cared back then, I doubt I got more than $40-$50 a pop for them. Oh well. Still have my 9.8's!

Which company does the video game grading? Seems like that would be the natural evolution. I guess an argument could also be made for AFA doing it, if you agree that a "game" is also a "toy", but I dunno. CGC is already set up to do magazines, seems like it would be pretty easy to start slabbing paperback gamer modules as well.

I'm not seeing the rust. My experience with rust is that if you have it, you'll definitely see it.

There are two.The 1986 signed/numbered edition of 4000, and the 10th Anniversary signed/#'d edition of 10K slipcase set by DC. Each comes with a specific signature page with the numbering and limitation info.

I wouldn't buy in this market, it's insane. This book is crazy hot, but it's common as dirt. I'd find a nice raw at a fraction of the price, put it in a mylar, and call it a day. If prices come down, you can pick up the 9.8 then. If they don't, you can slab the raw. Win win.

This is exactly the kind of stupidity I want from a superhero movie. At long last, I'm excited about a DC movie. Can't wait!

Well none of this chatter is making me optimistic, but I honestly didn't expect much. I had to return to the office this week (after working from home for a year) so I haven't had time to get out to the comic shop. Instead, I've been coming home and falling asleep on the couch at 5:30pm like the old man I apparently am now. Anyway, my copies should be waiting in my box, will probably get to them next week. I have yet to see any cover that I actually like. They just all look very Marvel same-y to me, computery, ugly, dull.

Same. I pulled so many of these out of dollar bins that I eventually stopped buying them, because they just sorta sat there. Buy for $1, sell for $10, nicer ones maybe $15, but there were definitely plenty to go around. Of course, I'm all out of them now!

You know, I love Howard, and a lot of other people do, but it’s not something I can just straight up recommend to any and everyone, because a lot of the appeal would depend on your sense of humor. If you like weird/funny bronze stuff at all, it might be up your alley. I think Steve Gerber was a genius, for a lot of reasons, and Howard is one of the big ones. Also, lots of great art by Gene Colan, Frank Brunner, etc

This guy arrived today! There was also a third, special 300th variant cover, but I still vastly preferred this, the traditional faux marble with gold foil variant. Ltd to 675 copies, I’m surprised Marvel even bothers to print the variants anymore. I guess they can depend on that hardcore crowd to chip in a few thousand every month for the latest book and make it worthwhile. Speaking of which, I need to order the new Dazzler volume! I don’t do many masterworks anymore, but since I sold my Howard Omni way back when, and the material has apparently gotten a new remaster, I had to have this one. It’s crazy how thick MMW are getting these days. They’re like little omnis!