Martin Sinescu

I didn't really care about them six years ago, so maybe it's up to 5 or 6 guys now. Are the rest of you guys the ones outbidding me?

That just put in to perspective just how far away from owning that book I am.

Even as just straight Joker, one of the (dare I say) "endearing" things about the character is his unpredictability and the way he can toy with the "will I kill you? will I be nice to you?" tension, so I think that aspect was perfectly on-target.

I'm trying to visualize a Batman #1 where my house used to be.

I bet those annuals started to lose their appeal (among the run collectors) when they became the platform for crossovers like Atlantis Attacks and Evolutionary War. I can definitely see collectors of specific titles passing on their own titles' annuals if it would also necessitate buying annuals of books you didn't collect to get the complete story. I feel like up until then the quality was higher, but the gimmicky nature of the big events kind of tarnished their credibility. Just my two cents.

and I'll take this

One other thing to factor in is the delay between newsstands hitting the rack versus directs. There were times I missed out on a book at the LCS because of day-of-release sellouts, but knew to keep an eye out at the grocery store a few weeks later to pick up the newsstand. I assume ASM 252 was very heavily speculated on and that would've extended to newsstand pickups as well, so that would almost definitely increase the high-grade survivors. As you said, 238 might've been more under-the-radar which would affect both the orders placed and copies hoarded upon release. Definitely agree on your observations for each book in regards to newsstands versus directs as I've noticed the same thing myself, but 238 doesn't fetch too much more for the newsstand version (more along the lines of what newsstands used to fetch a few years ago, which was maybe 10% premium, versus these days where it's based more on the desperation of the buyer).

Two things, I have DC direct market issues starting with 10/1980 cover date. To your last point, in Fine condition or so, to ask a premium for a newsstand over direct is a bit foolish. However, I'd say that, while at the beginning the print runs were heavily weighted toward newsstands, my experience from the Batman/Detective run I was building a few years ago was that the number of newsstands which have survived in high grade from that early period is now much smaller than the directs. When I started putting my run together, I really didn't intend on getting a copy of each, just wanted 1 NM raw copy of every issue. I was surprised a few years later when I went back over my spreadsheet (which did break down whether I had N or D), that immediately upon the start of directs at the end of 1980, the copy which I had for my run was a direct. Very rarely was there a high-grade newsstand in the mix and this was, again, primarily from buying indiscriminately with no favorability toward one or the other. It is significantly harder to find 9.8 newsstands from the early 80's as well. Wolverine #1, DD 181 -- books that are incredibly common in 9.8 -- took a good bit of searching to find my 9.8's. They're not crazy-rare, but the directs overwhelmingly outnumber them.

Yup, like school on Sunday..... no class.

It's posible we have different impressions of 1981

As far as the specific year, I had a bit of a hard time pinning it down exactly. Felt more like late 70's, but I saw 1981's "Zorro, The Gay Blade" (that other Summer of '81 movie about a swashbuckling guy with a bullwhip) on a theater marquee. Didn't feel like '81 to me though

Yeah, and I knew that when I typed it out, but the actual quote would've taken up more space to get the full context or would've been too vague if I'd just done the one line, so I did some editorializing. Kind of like Rick saying "Play it again, Sam" except that he didn't.

I'll also say that I like that the riot inspired by Joker put Bruce's origin in motion. The theme that Batman "created" all the costumed super-villains has been going on for a while, so this kind of turned that idea on its head. I was talking with a friend at work who said he'd like to see a Batman origin done the same way. While I think that's a much harder story to work with since Batman's origin is pretty much Ten Commandments-level set-in-stone, there's some fun that could be had playing with Bruce's own sort of mania being born/inspired by the insanity of Joker's actions.

I just dismissed the possibility of TW being Arthur's father as Penny's delusion and I think it emphasizes the true hopelessness of the Flecks' situation. She was hanging on to this one chance at getting her and her son out of poverty and the whole thing was based on a complete fabrication. There was never any hope there. Anyway, I generally dislike all of those sort of "long lost relative" revelations (aside from "Luke, I am your father", which is the king of them all). In fact, that's kind of what put a damper on Court of Owls for me. That plot device is so played out and it just smacks of un-creative writing. Joker and Batman don't need to be brothers to somehow intensify their rivalry. At least, not for me. I do like that Wayne was kind of a jerk (he's always made out to be such a saint, but people are rarely so one-dimensional), just don't think it really would be to the extreme that he would have an affair that produced a child which he covered up to such an extent. I don't mind that they played around with the possibility within her mania, but ultimately it's a little too "Days of our Lives" for this movie.

Art make brain hurt.

FINALLY a movie that got DC Noir right! I loved it..... but not in the way I love something like the feel-good Marvel movies or even Dark Knight. This was pretty much not a "comic book" movie. Taking Joker, one of the most instantly-recognizable villains in our modern culture, down to "street level" and using him as a vehicle to expose painful, traumatic social issues was gutsy, but it freaking worked. This movie was.... uncomfortable.... like Cuckoo's Nest or Taxi Driver. There was very little in it that was pretty and warm; it felt like an aspect of real life for millions of people. As a Batfan, I thought this was the best, most believable, and easily the most realistic, portrayal of the character (never saw SS, but that's a chapter I'm happy to leave out), while still continuing the natural progression built up by the previous interpreters: Romero - Nicholson - Hamill - Ledger. It was a truly powerful, vulnerable and complex performance from Phoenix -- that guy's depth is phenomenal. One of my favorite scenes from Gladiator was the deleted scene were he goes bats&*t crazy on the bust of his father. When I heard he'd been cast as Joker that was the first thing I thought of and it gave me hope that this just might work. I'd say maybe a 9 out of 10. I'm not sure that I'd say I like this better than Dark Knight (although I've become much more critical of its flaws recently, I'd still say it's one of the best all-out action/suspense movies), but I'd say I appreciate the Phoenix Joker better than the Ledger Joker and that's kind of surprising as I thought Ledger set the highest possible bar.

run away (that's a link, click it and laugh)

Were there pics? Could be it's FF 5 (Vol. 4) I mean, can you even get a coverless copy of FF5 for $450?

An 8.5 #6 is high on my priority list! Stunning stuff, Straw!

Speaking of X-Men, 12 and 14 are pretty solid keys. I assume you have the annuals in your ASM and FF runs, but, if not, there are a few keys in there as well. Besides the heavy-hitters you mentioned for DC, Detective 225 is up there as another big key as well. B&B 60 is a personal favorite of mine. Also, Bats 121, 155, 171, 181, 189 with 121 and 181 being key first apps of major villains, the others being 1st SA appearances of villains.

I really hated that one along with the Spidey-hoodie. 90's redesigns, IMO, were generally

Been trying to put together a McFarlane newsstand 9.8 run, got positively annihilated on this one. I know there's a few others going after the run as well 'cause I've been beaten out on several books, but this was the most extreme premium I've seen on the McF's so far.. Directs hover around the $300 mark.....

Oddly enough, I think I've seen the originals so many times I have virtually no interest in a theatrical re-release. Maybe Empire, but I honestly haven't watched any of these movies in at least 10-15 years (and I have several versions of the VHS through the various phases of meddling if I wanted to go back and indulge). The desire just isn't there for me, my inner child has turned the corner.

Yup. From our point of view as sellers, we don't like it, but they are still providing a service for us and when they have to transfer money twice and have nothing to show for it (usually not through any fault of theirs), that's obviously not to their benefit. The marketplace mentality has changed greatly over the last decade or two, both in stores and online, where buyers have very little obligation or burden in terms of refunds, so it's usually the sellers that are forced to eat the loss. I'm curious as to the Visa/Amex question, but my assumption is that they do not refund transaction fees to retailers if an item is returned, so then paypal would be just in line with that policy if it's correct.