Brock

Here's a few lesser knowns that I really like. The Lady Death: Scorched Earth book (not my copy) was a Kickstarter book with 3 cover variants, all very hard to find.

I just read SIKTC Vol. 3 and am still enjoying it. Best book of the year for me, though, is the new Strange Adventures hardcover from DC. An great story, packaged in a book that has amazing production values and is - in itself - an aspect of the story.

There was a list of the Big 8 published in CBSI a few years ago, but I can't find it at the moment. This group is typically considered the hardest-to-find of the Whitman DC variants, and includes: Action #508 Batman #324 DC Comics Presents #22 Flash #286 Justice League of America #179 Legion of Super-Heroes #264 New Adventures of Superboy #6 Superman #348 In addition, the following two books are also very difficult to find: Sgt. Rock #329 Warlord #22

Here's a complete list of the DC Whitman variants if that helps: Action Comics 481-483, 485-492, 495-499, 501-508 All-New Collector's Edition C-56 Batman 306-308, 311-320, 323, 324, 326 The Brave and the Bold 143, 145-147, 150-159, 165 DC Comics Presents 1-4, 9-12, 14-16, 19, 21, 22 Famous First Edition C-61 Flash 268, 273-276, 278, 283, 286 Green Lantern 116-119, 121 Justice League of America 158, 160, 163-173, 176-179, 181 New Adventures of Superboy 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 Sgt. Rock 329 Super Friends 13-16, 20-23, 25, 32 Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes 244-248, 251-258, 261, 263, 264, 266 Superman 321-323, 325-327, 329-332, 335-345, 348 Warlord 22 Wonder Woman 250-252, 255-264

We have a whole thread dedicated to Whitmans here in the Bronze section, including lots of discussion of the DC Whitmans - join us! In terms of the DC Whitmans, you can find some information here: https://www.sellmycomicbooks.com/whitman-comics.html We've had a pretty good sense of what DC Whitman editions there are for about 20 years now, though the existence of a Whitman version of DC Comics Presents #22 was unconfirmed for many years. Over the past decade, though, about 20 or 30 copies have been found. There is no particular meaning to the logo variations - they just evolved over time. No single issue has multiple versions of the logo - they were all printed the same. There are some interesting related variations though... Batman #307 (for example) seems to have had its print run interrupted for the production of the Whitman variants, with the spot on the cover where the Whitman logo appears showing different colour variations before and after this interruption (or at least that's the theory - hard evidence is lacking). Some DC Whitman variants are very hard to find (especially a group sometimes referred to as the 'Big 8'), but most are reasonably common. They can be difficult to find in high grade, however. I am trying to assemble a registry set of CGC graded DC Whitmans in 9.0 or higher, and it's been a long, slow process.

This looks like it might be related to the DC Universe variant packs, so I wonder if it was part of the same program from DC, for distribution to Wal-Marts, Costcos, etc. Batman/Spawn War Devil was published in 1994, which is when the DC Universe variant editions began (I think?). But before the "DC Universe" logo was used in the UPC box for these books, DC published a number of Batman books for these packs with variations on the Bat logo, like your copy here. It may be that the War Devil release slightly preceded the DC Universe program, or that Image objected to having "DC Universe" printed on the book. Certainly the 2-pack that @Talapas1 found resembles the packs from that program. But let me call in the real experts here... @Cpt Kirk @onlyweaknesskryptonite @Warlord @bellrules

Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. His last couple of books (D.O.D.O., Fall) were a bit of a letdown for me, but so far, this one is classic Stephenson.

I just bought a copy about a month ago, though it was the collector’s edition. To me, it highlights the realities of the Marvel vs DC lemmings… I bought a CGC 9.8 for $40. That’s insane… there are so many DC (and indie) bargains right now that common sense says it’s time to stock up. This book is a great example of a current bargain.

This may be conflating smart money with easy money. The whole ‘Marvel is king, DC is worthless’ thing has become a bit of a meme on the Boards recently, and I don’t really buy it. As I see it, movies and speculators have made Marvel books far more volatile, which translates into lots of quick spikes (which we celebrate) and drops (which we rarely discuss). For the speculation crowd, this is ideal - the rapid increases in demand are great for flipping what may have previously been drek. If you measure the market by the volatility of these low value books, then it’s definitely a game of Marvel (and to a lesser extent, late bronze/early copper indies). I’m happy to take advantage of this, and sell these suddenly spiking books, but I’m putting the money back into non-Marvel books, including classic golden age covers like Planet Comics, popular indies (TMNT, Crow, Usagi, etc.) and bronze DC keys. Why? First, because the Marvel market to me seems so frothy and irrational, and second because if you’ve been around for awhile, you’ve seen this cycle before… Marvel is always the back issue market leader, and undergoes periods of rapid escalation. This has typically been followed by a bit of a price retreat, and then a recognition that the prices of other books - especially DC - are relative bargains in the market. This then triggers an extended period of slower and steadier price rises among these books. It happened in the 1980s, the 1990s and the early 2000s. In fact, I wrote an article for Overstreet about this - back in 1993. I’m not sure why anyone thinks it won’t happen again.

If you meet your younger self during the discussion, the universe may implode.

Wow… I saw a copy on @143ksk’s shelf, but I did not know there was a 2nd edition. Guess I’m doing some shopping tomorrow…

Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics

The comicspriceguide.com website has an interesting function where - of the approximately 1.1 million registered users - you can see how many have copies of any particular book. For reference, 47 people own the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, and 21 own the very rare editorial variant of Sandman #8. In comparison, it shows that only 19 own a copy of Masked Rider #1. I know that the plural of anecdote is not evidence, but I find this interesting...

I have one tucked away in my collection. That one's a total ghost, though... It's not even listed in most guides. I do think it's a case of a book being so unknown it currently has little value. So few people know about it that no one's actually looking for it.

So I purchased my first Planet, and it arrived today. Why do I feel like this is a slippery slope?

I remember buying all the 2099 first issues when they came out, and being open to collecting any of the titles. The only one that I stayed with beyond issue #1 was Doom 2099.

Yes, but I think the point he’s making was that Doom 2099 was actually a pretty good read, unlike the other 2099 books.

The Little Shop of Horrors guy has some other worstest listings, too:

List it for $50,000 and tell everyone it's half price.

One of my favourites!

Hmmm...

Hmmm... what's the best way to describe this series? Maybe Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets John Wick with a dash of Midnight Mass? Maybe a touch of the Waking Dead, too, as - aside from the central character - these are pretty much everyday people we're seeing in teh story. It is pretty violent, and keeps its cards close to its chest plot wise - it will likely be several volumes before we really know what's happening. Volume One was a fast-paced monster hunt adventure. Volume Two was not quite as strong (though still good), and begins to deal with the aftermath of Volume One, but also begins to seed a much more complex back story. I do suspect this reads better as trades than as singles. Does that help?

Can't wait to see your cover published by Image Comics, so we can compare the two...

I have really enjoyed Something is Killing the Children, though I've only read the first two TPBs.

Just spotted this one on eBay: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/384581248026?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 Harley Quinn (2014) #1 2nd print with a cover by Clay Mann labelled as a #1 1st print variant cover by Adam Hughes.