oldmilwaukee6er

You don’t buy it, you rent it Soundtrack: Just one of 130M+ Americans back to work this week and it is time to sober up after the intoxicating holiday weekend. I read that the Guardian is reporting a 10% decline in Black Friday sales, yet it still brought in excess of $151M. However… will the lady pop on a cyber Monday PS4 (so far she has not)? Even I do not know. Often when I work online, I like to listen to music or movies. I particularly like to listen to Rounders and Glengarry Glen Ross (sometimes Fletch). There are many good quotes in Glengarry Glen Ross, but I enjoy the following by Al Pacino’s character: “You know, they say you don’t buy it, you rent it. The thing. You really, ah… what do you keep? I mean, you don’t keep anything Security. Things. Things. You know? It’s just… you strive to stave off insecurity. You can’t do it… Stocks, bonds, objects of art, real estate, what are they? An opportunity. To what? To make money? Perhaps. To lose money? Perhaps. To indulge and to learn about ourselves? Perhaps. So SPOONing what, what is it? They’re an opportunity. That’s all they are. They’re an event.” ~Ricky Roma, Glengarry Glen Ross

The Lady Speaks. . . About Waiting on the PS4 The heinous holiday season is upon us. I’m not a shopper. At least, not a physical space shopper (outside of cons and festivals that is). I do shop quite a bit online, as my grossly overdeveloped pop culture-themed t-shirt collection can attest to. However, it’s the holidays which means wants bubble up uninvited to coincide with “deals” that aren’t really deals but just discounts applied to massive pre-sale markups. Still, I am human and my want right now is a PS4. I want a PS4. I want Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. I want Fallout 4. But I’ m not sure I’m ready for the jump. “Why? Why would you, 'the lady,' wait any longer?” The simple answer is: I’m not done with my PS3 games. I have several I haven’t played all the way through yet (Darksiders, Devil May Cry 4, Borderlands 2, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 3, L.A. Noir), I have some I want to replay (Dishonered, AC Brotherhood, AC Revelation, Hard Rain, Arkham Asylum), and I have some that I want to complete in totality (AC Black Flag, Skyrim, Dragon Ages: Origin). These are pipe dreams. That’s a lot of hours of gameplay, as I teach. Nine months out of the year I’m lucky if I play an hour a week. When summer rolls around, well, there are a myriad of other things to do outside. I’ve spent the last three years buying used games and experimenting with genres I normally don’t gravitate toward (such as first person shooter FPS). It’s been a ton of fun. Plus, the Playstation Store has allowed me to download on the cheap games such as Abe’s Oddysee and Herc’s Adventures, both PS1 games. Yes, I do own Herc’s Adventures on disc and I still own both my PS1 and PS2 but it’s so much more convenient to have digitally on the PS3. Here’s the breakdown, though. The best deals for this holiday season that I’ve seen thus far involves the 500GB PS4 with the Uncharted collection for $299 (Best Buy & Game Stop). That’s not a bad deal for a console and the equivalent of three games (I do not play multi-player online , so a single player campaign counts as a full game for me). However, it’s not what I want. I already own and have beaten the first of the Uncharted games and I never got around to the other two because I found Assassin’s Creed, and well, that’s a love that can’t be trifled with. I really wanted Playstation to put out an AC Syndicate bundle, but that doesn’t seem to be a real thing in the US. I did find one place in the UK doing that bundle but I’m not about to go that route. Also, if I go PS4 wouldn’t I want to go 1TB? Well, the only bundle at that memory point is the new Call of Duty. I don’t like Call of Duty and I have no interest in playing Call of Duty. Plus, that price point is $349 which is still a deal (the console alone still retails for $349) which is more than I want to pay because I am going to buy other games. However, I also don’t like to pay full price for games and will wait months to find a game I really want second hand or on deep sale on Amazon. The "XBone" (X Box One) is not an option. First, it’s misnamed. It’s the third generation of Xbox and to name it X Box One is inaccurate. This is a gripe I have with Assassin’s Creed, too, if you recall. At the heart of it all, however, I am a PS gal. I bought my PS1 in 1997, I still own it, it still works, and I’ve never veered from that course. I bought my PS2 in 2007, I still own it, it still works, and I’ve never been tempted to switch to Xbox or 360. As a matter of fact, if you own a PS2 this is the golden era of used games. You can find PS2 games everywhere at the moment, probably because Sony just stopped offering support for the consol earlier this year. But still, so many games are available right now on the cheap. XBone means Microsoft, too. I use Microsoft on a daily basis for work. Heck, I’m writing this right now on Word. I know the bugs and issues inherent in Microsoft software. There really is nothing attractive to me about XBone. Except, a savvy shopper might point out, the price. Yes, XBone has better holiday deals with bundles at the $349 price point but offering better games and 1TB memory (believe me, I’ve lingered long over the Fallout 4 bundle). The current plan is to just wait. I’ve got time. PS4 isn’t going to disappear between now and spring. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Fallout 4 aren’t going to run out by spring. I’m just a little irritated because I have the money to spend now. By waiting I am testing my resolve. Will I squander my funds on other fun things between now and when I actually decide to buy? Will I just sit on my nut and wait for the opportune moment (after Captain Jack Sparrow)? Or, will I pop on Cyber Monday because I’m horribly impatient and I have the money now? Only time will tell.

The Wednesday One – 11/25/15 There really was no Wednesday One this week for me, this week’s new comic book day sorta snuck up on me with the Thanksgiving holiday. The lady and I have been off since TUES, though I am still teaching an online class. TUES we partied pretty hard, not gonna lie. Every other TUES we are playing bar trivia with 2 friends, one of which is ‘the chef.’ The first night we played trivia we were 6pts off the money, but the bar does $2 Corona / Modelo & $2 pork tacos. We skip a week because of the chef’s gaming night and we were on for this week. We scored 38/50 and finished 5th of 13 teams. Balls. After trivia on Brady Street we walked back over to the corner spot to close out the night. Locals night, all sorts of regulars (WED of Thanksgiving is one of the biggest bar nights, TUES was not too shabby)… we shut ‘er down about 2am. Yup. So new comic day was more than a little hangover day. Whew. I had this dream that I used my little Mighty Con nut to pick all the dollar boxes in Milwaukee on new comic day- Vortex, Collector’s Edge, Nostalgia World, Turning Page, & Lost World. Cover some ground; burn some go juice. HOWEVER, the fog of my hangover only lifted around 2pm. We hit the pet store (CRAzy busy) and then the main Collector’s Edge on Kinnickinnick in Bay View. We bought the new Spawn, Fight Club 2 #7, and Munchkin #11 and pulled Terry Moore’s Paradise Too TPB for $5. I felt a little bad for skipping my little east side chain in favor of the flagship, so I put in a good word for my LCS manager with the big boss. He said “I raised him from a seed.” Since then I have been chilling in the apartment. I did not have to travel for family, with renovations (oldest sister’s), downsizing (oldest brother’s), and health (father) the family was scattered to the wind. The lady, being from Montana, can cook a mean bird and so RELISHED the chance to “cook and watch football in my pj’s” and not have to travel for family on a major holiday (a rare treat). SPOILED. She started cooking at 830am and I was eating a plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing w/ pork sausage, and green bean casserole for the Liverpool v Bordeaux match on the Watch ESPN app. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We will not be shopping tomorrow, but the lady has been intently watching the PS4 gaming system sales / doorbusters and I believe she is working on some text about it. More to come there. I have been slowly reading through Fight Club 2 and taking notes. Peace, Om

The Lady Speaks. . . Mighty Con, November Edition Since my quarter finally ended Saturday, November 21, I decided to help my husband setup and sell wares at the November Mighty Con. Once again the location was the American Serb Hall. They were promising it to be larger than ever. This was causing some concern in the buildup to the show as the July Might Con was incredibly packed. There was no parking, barely any room to move, and they had people crammed into every available hallway/room with the exception of the auction room which was where they were doing a blood drive. To curb crowds somewhat, I think, this time Mighty Con raised its door price from 3$ to 5$. One other concern leading up to the actual day of the show was that someone pretending to be the company that hosts Mighty Con was taking money from vendors. I know this because a warning was posted to the Mighty Con Facebook page. And a last concern was that Milwaukee was due for its first snowfall of the year Friday night into Saturday afternoon. The predicted 7-10” ended up closer to 5” so the weather was really a bit of a nonissue, although the parking lot at Serb Hall had black ice in patches and it was the coldest day of the year at a balmy 23 degrees at 9am when we arrived to unload. By 4pm, the end of the show, it was a scorching 27 degrees. The temperature plays into the story later on, trust me. Upon arriving we learned that we hadn’t been assigned a table, yet. So I waited while they figured out where they were going to put us. Om did some early bird scouting. The wait didn’t take long, maybe 10+ minutes and we were assigned a table in the hallway off the main hallway. We were the last table on that end and the location was pretty prime. We were near the restrooms and the bar, two massive perks at a con! Because of the proximity to those two locations, just about everyone who entered the con, but not the main hall, had to go by our table. The major drawbacks: 1) it was freezing in the hallway from the doors opening and 2) there was no escaping the Christmas tunes they played over the PA system until football started at noon. As the table was set up, I did a few cursory trips through the main convention area and the smaller secondary room. At 1030am or so I noticed there were a lot of empty tables. Most of those filled up by 11am, but not all of them. Chatter from the floor revealed several happy vendors who had lucked into an extra table or extra space because of a no-show. Despite the open spaces, the floor felt more crowded than ever. The aisles appeared to be smaller or maybe vendors had pushed out farther, I’m not sure. A minor quibble for me, but certainly not for the vendors affected was the fact that the free comic book advertised meant a series of long boxes right at the entrance. Unfortunately, some back issue dealer was also situated right by the door which resulted in him having to chase free comic book seekers away throughout the door. I can only imagine how annoying and time wasting that must have been. In terms of vendors, I was disappointed. It felt like there was less variety this time than in the past. Definitely comic back issue, toy vendors, and artists ruled the day. I just felt like there was a dearth of handmade wares available. There was only one trade paperback setup and while the prices were great, the selection has been whittled down over the various cons (I’ve seen this vendor at the Milwaukee Fantasticon, the various Mighty Cons, and I think even Wizard World Madison so I can only imagine how many other cons in the area he sets up at). Usually at a con the more times I traverse the floor I find something new that catches my eye and I end up making late-in-the-day purchases. That simply didn’t happen this time. Perhaps I’m burned out on cons, as since 2014 we attended Wizard World Chicago twice, WW Madison, Fantasticon several Burnham Bowls, and three Mighty Cons, plus the Sci-Fi/Pop Culture Con that is held each year on my campus. Or maybe vendors are running low on wares, which doesn’t make sense since this is the last Mighty Con before Christmas. There were virtually no PS3 games, but PS2 games as far as the eye could see. Don’t expect to find anything newer there, either. However, there were a ton of Atari games. I have no way of knowing if the crowd was larger than ever (a friend who arrived around 130pm overheard them say 475 had already been through the door). It was definitely steady with those who bought early bird accessing showing up between 10 and 11am and the general public arriving at 11am. Once again the demographic skewed toward families with young children. Unlike the July show or the one before that, the children were well-behaved. There were a large number of teenagers, as well. The teens were buying art and posters mostly. I do know that when they announced over the PA that hot dogs, brats, and tacos were available in the bowling alley it was like being trapped in a zombie migration. I know how a salmon swimming upstream feels. Continuing with a trend I love, there were more cosplayers than ever at this Mighty Con. Steampunkish costumes and Spider-Man (red and blue as well as black and white) were probably the most common costumes. There were two great Harley Quinns and two Power Rangers that were fully committed. Deadpool garb was still really popular, but I repeatedly overheard/saw Deadpool garbed individuals asking vendors for Batman and Harley Quinn materials. Marvel may win the boxoffice and the overall merchandising, but DC wins with fans looking to spend dough. Things also feel to be at a 'Star Wars saturation level.' This means that every single booth, no matter what it was hawking, in some way incorporated Star Wars. It feels disingenuous and nothing feels original or special anymore. It’s all mass-marketed. That being said, I did buy one handmade Star Wars purse for $20 and a Star Wars cigar box purse for $10. My addiction to R2D2 really knows no bounds and any rational attempt to reign it in results in near-psychotic breaks of R2D2-related spending. Additionally, I bought two prints from Jeff Balke for $6 (and that’s after lecturing him on the horrible misogynistic drawings of Alice in Wonderland as a sexually available harlot. Oddly enough, he was cool saying he’d quit working for Zenescope Comics. Honestly, I’m sure he’s heard it before and was pretty rehearsed in directing people in other ways.). I also bought two Essential X-Men (volumes 4 & 5) for $5/each (now I have 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8). I bought $10 in additional prints from a local artist. All in all, I guess it was a success. I was looking to drop a lot more on a wider variety of objects and felt a bit slighted. Perhaps if I’d updated or brushed off my back issue list I would have felt satisfied. Then again, I hate digging through long boxes so probably not.

Mighty Con Report- 11/22/15 We received 5 inches of snow FRI night and SAT day. The perfect weather to grade all day- me putting in 8-10 solid hours, but meeting all deadlines with time to spare. Slipped down to the corner spot for a light meal and drinks before turning in early in preparation for the SUN show. After the snow, I was feeling a little lazy and went “show light” with two short boxes, a rubbermaid bin, and a glass case (and my wheel cart / dolly). In addition to underground comix, I brought modern specs and indy books; a variety of pricing from $1-300 (X-Men #2). We arrived just a tad after 9am, about an hour before early birds. There was some confusion with the booth and the lady stayed with the dolly (lift) for 10-15min while they sorted out where they were going to place the underground comix guy (by the bathroom / toward the bar). I used this time to pick 2 dealers' 50c to $1 books. I did not find anything to buy, twice scanning the room for my booth and checking back with the lady. I saw a fair amount of $2 books and $5 books throughout the room; strong Chicagoland presence. It appeared that the weather did scare 2-3 retailers away. I was content to sit back and observe this show; work my booth; and otherwise chill and pick a few good books. I forgot the keys to my glass case (rookie) and so I put it under the table and went with my two short boxes and some undergrounds and Crumb on the table, along with modern spec books, and my X-Men #2. I also brought the top only comic book spinner rack that I have, with excellent tin litho ($150). I generally did not set up until 20min before early birds, instead used the time to scout the room. Mostly for me it is better if I pick first and sell to the public versus other dealers. I saw my Harley crossover book for sale at two places for $15-20. I saw We Stand on Guard #1 for $5. I did not see any Paper Girls or much Tokyo Ghost, however I did not cover 100% at that time. Moderns rule this show, I saw one dealer with a CGC BA12 for $950, a nice CGC 9.6 Malibu Sun (Spawn) for $450… one good TPBs dealer, one dealer specializing in signed and foreign books, and the usual array of local dealers. I sold the following undergrounds- People’s Comics #nn $25 (death of Fritz the Cat); Skull #1 $10; Tijuana bible group $12; modern Crumb group $15 (Mystic, Self-Loathing); $5 in magnets (that I make); $5 Star Wars Dixie cups $5. Plus other miscellaneous sales. All told I netted $130 after expenses, which is a pretty good show for me. I also discovered my formula for these shows- blow out my reader copies & sell 1-2 spec books and I can cover my table and have fun. I brought some of my modern spec books- Scooby Doo Team Up 12, Paper Girls 1, Tokyo Ghost 1, Harley Annual 1 (marijuana version), and a Walking Dead #1 WW Chi variant. I priced them generally 3-4 times what I had into them. I sold the following 2 modern spec books for a small profit- $10ea Paper Girls #1 & Scooby Doo Team Up (Gotham Girls xover). LOTS of kids commented on the Scooby Doo book as they walked by and a few girls looked at it closer, as it had Harley (priced at $15). But it was one 6-8yr old girl that bought it. She and her dad were looking at books, she appeared to have some comics, and she pointed to it. And he said “is that the one you want?” and pulled out his wallet. I said, “is this for you?” to the girl and said $10. I tried quickly to explain to the dad why that was a good book but they were off and the lady had this whole theory about how it was ‘his weekend with her’ and so he didn’t even think twice about her buying a $10 comic. Then I thought about how formative comics could be for that little girl right now in her life and I hoped that she remembers that book in 15-20 years fondly when it is a $100 book all day long. The Paper Girls went to another young lady of 19-20. She was very excited to see it, was in Los Angeles when it came out, and could not find it there. I said $10. In thinking about it now, in both instances I could have gotten $15 for the book, people were already ready to pay when I discounted, but I had a chance to foster the hobby in a minor way for two burgeoning collectors. In sitting back and observing more (versus hard-core dollar box grinding), I can really see that there is a lot of fresh blood in the hobby right now. A lot of families, lots of young kids, more minorities and women in the room than ever before. At one point, early into the public entry… a young lady cosplaying Deadpool stopped in front of the table to adjust her katanas / backpack. I complimented her costume (I was wearing a Deadpool hat) and she said that the Con was her first and that this was a present from her father. I asked if she was going to see the movie, if she thought her dad would take her? She stated, ‘I’m 12’ and ‘my dad said he would watch it first and he may take me.’ When my friend ‘the picker extraordinaire’ (and he truly is; friend from Wisconsin Antique and Advertising Club) arrived about 100pm or so, he noted that the doorman’s notes stated at least 475 paid entries, while the Facebook event notes 1300 people as having attended. A FAR CRY from the ole Burnham Bowl show or one of Alan’s airport dirtcons! With all the new faces entering the hobby as a result of the Geek-Era-Con-Television boom, now is the time to recall our own pitfalls in the comic hobby and work to ethically educate this next generation. Now is the time for ethical fandom. After chatting with my friend and working the table a little, I had a chance to go around the room about 330-400pm. Moderns rule, as I said before, and I continue to find some good books in dollar boxes- Cerebus, Y the Last Man, Saga, Wolverine, & Spawn. There is a strong visual response to Spawn from younger kids, I was wearing my airbrushed shirt and lots of people commented. In fact, the airbrush guy splitting a table with an artist started (but did not finish) a Spawn shirt as well. However, this fondness for the images, or the cries for another Spawn movie, or the love for the cartoons has not yet translated to the back issues (still reasonably priced). As my final pick, I noticed that Hauser brought out some more of his rotated $2 stock and I was able to pull three nice early Usagi Yojimbos for $5 total. There was some movement by other dealers to begin packing up after 330pm, my booth packs easy, so I waited until all the booths were packing and we were out of there by 420pm. Peace, Om Sweet cover image of Usagi in full samurai armor from Critters #38. Totally forgot about this as a Usagi book. Nice copy for $2.

Spider-Gwen/Gwenpool/Gwen Stacy- Marvel’s “It” Girl (An Om & the lady joint) Has there ever been a character created by a variant cover before? How ‘meta a metaphor’ is Gwenpool for the second coming of the post 1990s boom? This entry will attempt to trace Spider-Gwen’s instantaneous popularity through the lens of the “it girl” in popular culture. The phrase “it girl” entered the English language sometime around the turn of the century. Originally it was used by British middle class to denote a woman who had confidence, intelligence, and was sexy without being overtly sexual (Etherington-Smith & Pilcher, 1986). Author Rudyard Kipling is often credited with the origin of the term in 1904 due to the following quote “It isn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just 'It'” (Kipling Society, 2014). In the 1920’s the term was revamped by American screenwriter Elinor Glynn to refer to a woman who had achieved celebrity status due to her socialite lifestyle. Since the silent film era the term has been used to denote a woman, usually young, “who receives intense media coverage unrelated or disproportional to her personal achievements” (“It Girl,” 2015). As most know, Gwenpool first appeared on a variant cover of Deadpool Secret Secret Wars #2, drawn by Bachalo. The variant was part of a Gwen Stacy cover event. I knew that public opinion was split on Gwen's return and the further dilution of the Spider-Man canon. However, the lady was quick to point out some initial Reddit backlash to Gwenpool, as the initial fan reaction was strongly in favor of Spider-Gwen and not Gwenpool. Fans referred to the announcement of Gwenpool as a “gimmick” which devalued. Others asked that Gwenpool be “killed with fire” (The Daily Dot, 2015). Is this indicative of a larger Deadpool backlash? Or are people tired of Marvel’s ham-fisted attempts to incorporate women into their universe in a meaningful way (now that the mutants are verboten, that is?). Those who were optimistic were so only because of the fact that she is a female superhero. Very few women characters escape the weird contortions that the Escher Girls continually point out ( http://eschergirls.tumblr.com/ ). Even fewer escape hypersexualized costumes and behaviors (j'accuse Monsieur Cho Spider-Gwen outrage! ). Spider-Gwen manages to evade most of this. She is already an insanely popular cosplayer costume and she manages to be confident without playing the sexuality card (Nader, 2015). The summer 2015 con season saw Gwenpool’s popularity increase with some smartly done cosplay depictions as well ( https://www.google.com/search?q=gwenpool+cosplay&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=775&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMIss7Xn5-VyQIVyNQeCh3hpQSQ ). Moreover, Marvel is listening. Starting last week, Gwenpool is running as a backup in three issues of Howard the Duck and made another variant cover appearance (Lim). But back to Spider-Gwen, Earth 65’s Gwen Stacy, a surprise hit for Marvel. Originally, she was supposed to have a minor appearance in Edge of the Spider-Verse #2 before going full bore into the Spider-Verse. Instead, fans clamored for more of Spider-Gwen (Suiter, 2015). Spider-Gwen #1 was the third best-selling Marvel title during its launch and had over 200,000 pre-order sales (Canty, 2015). Ultimately, Marvel decided to give her a monthly title, and problems like Spider-Man, e.g. complicated parental problems and a burgeoning reputation as an outlaw. Spider-Gwen is becoming a favorite amongst hardcore fans (Pulliam-Moore, 2015). June 2015 featured a Gwen Stacy crossover event where she was depicted as other Marvel characters on 20 different titles, for example the X-Men, She Hulk, the Avengers, Wolverine, Dr. Strange, and the aforementioned Deadpool. (Images: https://www.google.com/search?q=gwen+stacy+variant+covers&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAmoVChMItICuzKGVyQIVRigeCh1yXgZI&biw=1600&bih=775) Since then, Gwenpool’s rise has been likewise fast-tracked- from variant cover to, backup feature, to one-shot issue. Yes, this Christmas will see her in a Christmas one-shot titled Gwenpool Special #1 (Kamala Khan and Kate Bishop also have stories) This begs the question: Is Gwenpool / Spider-Gwen’s popular on her own or is this a bit of bleed over from the Amazing Spider-Man movies and the popularity of Emma Stone? One could argue that Stone is herself an “it” girl. Her movies are fun but it is not as though she has achieved Jennifer Lawrence levels of success. Birdman (92%) Easy A (89%), and Zombieland (85%) are her highest rated movies at Rotten Tomatoes (I left out Super Bad since it is not her vehicle). Her movie average is 53.5% (Rotten Tomatoes, 2015). Truly, she seems more popular for her stylish fashion choices, keen sound bites, and her relationship with Spider-Man Andrew Garfield. Birdman has easily been her most critically successful movie earning her an Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe nomination, and a BAFTA nomination (IMDB, 2015). All the said, there is no denying that Stone’s Gwen Stacy was awesome. She was smart, savvy, and generally more pleasant than the earlier Mary Jane. However, Stacy is tragic; she has to be. Her death is a defining moment not just for Spider-Man, but for fans as well. As a comic reader, one gets used to characters being killed off and then miraculously reappearing (X-Men, I am looking at you). Gwen was different. Gwen stayed dead in the major continuity. Was she a plot point? Sure. She was a damn good plot point, however. The everyman, Spider-Man, messes up and hurts someone he loves. It is part of his relatability. By bringing Gwen back, even as Spider-Gwen, a bit of that is lost. Spider-Gwen’s existence is tied to her fans. One fan campaigned Marvel with a homemade movie made of Stone’s scenes from Amazing Spider-Man spliced with her other movies (Canty, 2015). Even still, fans want a Spider-Gwen movie and they want Emma Stone to play her. Which brings me back to my earlier point: Is Spider-Gwen popular on her own merit or is this the result of newer fans who were unfamiliar with the Gwen Stacy storyline demanding that Gwen/Emma is brought back? In light of this… Gwenpool is meme, Spider-Gwen is “it,” and Gwen Stacy is legit.

The Wednesday One Becomes the Wednesday Five- 11/18/15 It is amazing how if you have enough 1-2 book weeks it can quickly become 5 book weeks. My pulls this week: Usagi Yojimbo #150- one of the longest independent serialized comic book series in existence. Jem & the Holograms #9 Tokyo Ghost #3 Star Wars #12 Extraordinary X-Men #2 TUES I got the chance to pick two antique malls- one in Appleton and one in Manitowoc. I was helping a friend complete a Craiglist purchase of a remodeled / retrofitted Peugeot bicycle. Another friend came along and we had about 1.5hrs in delays hitting the road and so I had to shave two more antique malls off the route. It rained pretty hard most of the day, so that was a lot of hard driving for not a lot of good picking. I did purchase a 1991 TMNT Playmates Space Usagi action figure on the card for $27. So that purchase, coupled with Usagi #150 on WED and I have officially fallen back down the rabbit hole. The purchase did spark my interest in a project that I have been thinking about- trying to modify and paint a custom Usagi action figure. I want to build him in full samurai armor, banner in hand, carrying the decapitated head of his former master. The moment Usagi becomes a ronin. Toward that end, I have picked up a few loose action figures- namely the first Usagi figure, a TMNT Samurai Leonardo, and the armor from a TMNT Panda Kahn. There are not many color images of Usagi in his full armor. Before the statue came out (depicted above), there was only the image from UY#4. As you can see, I am using Leo's legs, a few accessories, spare armor pieces, and the rest is regular Usagi. I have two friends that paint miniatures and should be able to help me with the project. Thanksgiving week is definitely the time to catch up with my reading. I now have 2-3 issues of Usagi to flip through, and the lady is restocking my Kindle Fire with my Usagi graphic novels for Thanksgiving weekend! I found my lost copy of Fight Club 2 #5, so I can catch up reading that title and make a decision about whether or not to keep the title. I also went back around these past two weeks and picked up Batman 45-46 so I can stay current on Mr. Bloom’s storyline.

New slab bags. As the lady once said, ‘so it’s not enough to slab it, now you have to buy a bag to protect the case?’ Yup, pretty much. She ordered 100 bags from Bags Unlimited, a company that I have done good business with in the past. I had one last fresh bag that I used on my JLA #1, fresh back from CGC. Like others, I do not like the standard-issue CGC bag. It is too big, does not seal easily, and does not store cleanly. I like the Bags Unlimited poly bags myself, and my current bags were probably bought around 2004-2006, so it is probably time to swap them out. Plus, I am hopeful the holiday season brings a box from CCS/CGC (84 calendar days and counting). Well ANYways, it was one of those free shipping, transfer from UPS to USPS. UPS handed it off to USPS and the package was supposedly delivered last TUES, by FRI my wife called the company up, it’s gone, and they replaced it right away (thought this time via signature). Well guess what arrived SAT? The first package. Actually my neighbor texted me that a package was out front. Strange. Now I have to decide what to do. The lady had this happen about 2mos ago with a pair of shoes… package lost replacement sent; the original arrives after the fact. We do not get that many packages anymore (the lady and Amazon), but I haven’t been actively collecting back issues for some time. The company was so nice about sending a replacement, I want to do the same and return the merchandise. So, in keeping with my post last time, I am going to try and sell something every three months. At least one thing a month to start and then perhaps scale it back after I build a little nut. I have been talking about downsizing and specializing for some time and the collection is in need of some curation. I mean, 5-7 copies of some issues!? I already have some 9s and higher for my Zaps and Freak Bros, I mean do I really want to submit a bunch of raw books like I did in Chicago, at great cost… or buy upgrade over time on already graded books? That is a question to ponder over Thanksgiving. What else is new? Big grading week, with 20+ individual papers at about 30min each, plus additional assignments. I will also be prepping for Mighty Con Milwaukee this upcoming SUN. I have a table and will be bringing out my two sale boxes of Crumb, undergrounds, and modern indies, plus my reader copies of Star Wars, some video games, and my leftovers from the antique shows a year ago. I just have to make my table back and decide what my picking budget will be (and what my want list is these days). I plan on packing light, cheap books, and picking aggressive to start the show. Then I will sit back and show off some underground comix to the good people of Milwaukee. PS > Did make a cheap eBay purchase ($8 shipped)... I picked up another copy of the Kickpuncher #1 mini comic that was part of the Community Season 1 dvd release (drawn by modern underground artist Jim Mahfood). This is my current copy that I am hoping to upgrade: It will be fun to re-watch the first season over Thanksgiving break.

Thanks for the shout-out! I promise to look at your Spawn list over Thanksgiving and see if I have any 9.8 raw candidates. I read recently that you were recovering from your ACL. I blew mine (ACL/MCL) in late 2001 when we were living in Bozeman, MT. That recover can be a long tough road before you forget about the injury. Perhaps I can supply a small lift during rehab. Best, Om

On all-season radials and forced sales I have been in need of some new tires for the vehicle for some time. I was alerted to my tires last year during late summer, which they rated 2-3 out of 10, and it was going to be time. I pushed them through one final winter, even enjoying a few donuts in fresh, snow-skiffed parking lots. This summer I blew one out and limped into a gas station. I had to borrow a tire iron, but changed it in less than 9min, swapping out the spare tire and making it to teach my night class with 3min to spare. I shopped around until I found a local tire chain that sold me one replacement tire for $45 installed, and I remember on my last visit to get my car serviced the paperwork noted my tires at 2, but this time I had one 6 out of 10. I promised them that this was a stop-gap measure only, to save up for new tires. With my new online class started, I got an extra paycheck and now was the time. Is it not funny that tires are always on sale when you do not need them? Or that you only need 1 or 2 and they always want to sell you 4? I started shopping around… first I did the online research to see which national chains had tires in my area, and then I shopped promotions and rebates online. It became apparent that only 4-5 companies make tires for my car and all the promotions ended in October. Probably lots of people think “I need new tires before winter” and that’s tire season. Initial price comparisons had my tires in the $130-178 range, so I was hoping to find a 50,000mi tire for about $110 installed (initially targeting Cooper’s $70 rebate). I went to a local Midas (crazy busy), I went online to Midas and requested an appointment (was never contacted), and called another Midas store to get an appointment for Saturday and when I followed-up, Cooper does not make my size tire. Balls. Back to the drawing board. After teaching FRI, I called the Bay View shop that helped me out over the summer and found four brand new Yokahama all-season tires for less than $500 tax and all. They even got me in just after 4pm and the whole thing took 40min maximum. I got over 70,000mi out of that last set! Nice experience for all that money and the car has some new shoes. Coincidentally, the weather was just amazing out this weekend 50s+ and sunny. Everybody in Milwaukee going stir crazy knowing winter's coming. FRI night after the tires, we stopped by our fave dive bar in the Fifth Ward / Walker’s Point area of Milwaukee (Sabbatic) for a slow pint. SAT was working from home- grading most of the day until 4pm and then hitting the corner spot for a nice meal and the weekly news / gossip. SUN the weather was mighty fine! We walked down to the CVS on Brady Street so the lady could buy some bright red hair dye. It is kind of a fall thing for her. We also made a precision run to the grocery store for our Thanksgiving turkey ($13). I played soccer all afternoon in Lake Park with a friend and his kids. It was the kind of November day that makes you feel guilty to stay in and hobby. The apartment is all clean, the windows all open & airy, and all I want to do is spread out my comics and hobby- read Fight Club 2, catch up on We Stand on Guard and watch some American football (boring international week for soccer). A week from SUN is Mighty Con Milwaukee(!), which has quickly become my favorite local comic show. I have a table for this show ($20) and want to price a few things and organize some stuff for my wee booth. That will be my focus for selling this week. One thing about ‘why we collect’ that still has me somewhat troubled- the notion of redundancy in collecting. If one accepts that NEARLY ALL humans collect because it increases survival, then redundancy in collecting does become problematic and is not easily justified. For example, why do I need 7 copies of Freak Brothers #1 1st print? Recently, when sorting through a box of graded books, I discovered 5 slabbed copies of Zap Comix #2 1st and 2nd prints. They are: *CGC 6.5 Zap Comix #2 1st Heads first miscut *CGC 6.5 Zap Comix #2 1st Heads first miscut *CGC 4.5 Zap Comix #2 1st Heads first miscut *CGC 9.6 Zap Comix #2 2nd *PGX 9.4 Zap Comix #2 2nd OK, to have one example, that makes sense- and it could satisfy any number of the reasons why people collect. Or even two examples, a high grade and a low grade reader or a first print and a second print. However, 3 of the same book? This pushes past nostalgia, history, beauty, pride of ownership, preserving the past, or other intellectual / psychological pursuit. This pushes into the less altruistic competition, investment (arguable), and control. So I mention this 'existential angst' to the chef SAT night and he says “keep the best, and sell the rest.” Ahh yes, hy-grading. So, I have been thinking about that, why I am reluctant, how I struggle to sell, how a goal of putting together the best set of Zap Comix led to me being 3+ deep in many issues. Will I be satisfied with just one example? What is it I am really trying to preserve, here? Heritage Auction’s magazine Intelligent Collector discussed why collectors should also sell (Halperin, 2015). Halperin (2015) writes that an occasional forced sale is the best reality check there is for collectors. Selling gives us more insight into our own judgment and a chance to evaluate / curate the collection. “Any attempt at selling gives you insights into the market that you don't get if you only buy” (Halperin, 2015). So, I think a good collecting goal for 2016 will be to sell at least one item every 3 months. References Halperin, J. (2015a). Why collectors should also sell. Intelligent Collector [online]. Retrieved from http://www.ha.com/intelligent-collector/why-collectors-should-sell.s?article=sell

The Lady Speaks. . . Sandman (text= The lady; images / emphasis me ) The other day my pre-ordered The Sandman: Overture arrived from Amazon. It’s the Deluxe Edition, but knowing Gaiman and Vertigo, this will not be the last or even the seventh to last edition published. I do already own the individual issues, some of the issues I have multiple copies as multiple covers came out. While I normally eschew the multi cover fad, I’m a sucker for Sandman (and the Endless, in general). So why did I need to buy the hardcover deluxe edition graphic novel? Because the Sandman needs to be read as a whole unit. It loses its magic when you read it one issue per month. Or, in the case of Overture, one issue every 6-8 months. I want to experience the story as a whole. I want to get lost in the art and have it melt into my dreams. Sandman Overture HC November 2015 Sandman began when I was 12 (November 1988 but dated January 1989). I was heavily into the X-Men at the time but something about that first cover caught my eye. It was eerie. Typical Dave McKean psychologically teasing art. A shadowy, primal figure framed by wooden shelves filled with various bric-a-brac including Buddha, animal bones, cats, and orchids. At the time, there was nothing else on the comic shelves that compared. I bought it on a whim after getting my mom’s permission because it was Vertigo and therefore adult, you know. The story blew me away. Here was Morpheus, Dream, captured by some pasty effete dudes looking for world domination and/or immortality. Dream escapes and exacts his revenge on his captors. Dream is drawn like a younger gothic Robert Smith with dangerous cheekbones. His eyes are black voids with white dots. He is angry, haughty, and dismissive. His word balloons are black, his words are in scrawled white. Dream was the epitome of the gothic bad boy that every girl growing up in Nowhere, Montana dreams of. The colors and art were gorgeous. Even in just that first issue one is introduced to so much lore, history, and mythology. It was smart. It was grownup. At 12, I could see that. I wanted to live in that world. As the story unfolds and we meet the other Endless (listed here from oldest to youngest): Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium (originally known as Delight but for some reason she went mad). They’re squabbling siblings, jockeying for universal power except for Destruction who has gone missing. The world of Dream is further fleshed out with Lucien the librarian, Cane and Abel the Biblical brothers, Nuala the fairy, Matthew the Raven, and a whole host of nightmares. Many of these secondary characters continued on in the series The Dreaming. The Endless (by_crisvector) After Dream, Death is the obvious star (although I am awfully fond of Delirium). Gaiman created a Death who is adorable, friendly, and kind of digs her job. I wanted her to be my best friend (and I kind of still do, to be honest). She’s also the only person who can knock Dream down a peg and get through his massive ego. A good of example if this is in Sandman #8 (also her first appearance) “You are utterly the stupidest, most self-centered, appallingest excuse for an anthropomorphic personification in this or any other plane!” Sandman #8 (image): https://readrant.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/sandmanwings.jpg The entirety of The Sandman is difficult to explain, which is why I hope the Joseph Gordon-Levitt produced movie attempt doesn’t try to do the entire 75 issue (plus the 6 Overture) run in one shot. It’ll be a disaster. There’s too much for one movie. And an origin story wouldn’t make sense because the Endless exist as long as life in the universe exists. As Death says in Façade (Sandman #20) “When the first living thing existed, I was there, waiting. When the last living thing dies, my job is finished. I'll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights and lock the universe behind me when I leave.” If they’re smart, which I am skeptical of since this is Hollywood and DC, they’ll start with Preludes and Nocturnes and go from there. I hope they don’t start with Overture because that’s a trip. It might be too out there for movie audiences. But the story is essentially this: Dream has to regain control of his world because while he was captured for 70 years there were a ton of power plays that took place (including one involving Lucifer). Several nightmares escaped into the waking world (The Corinthian for one, who is one freaky mother chucker). Then the story veers heavy into fantasy with Oberon and Titania not pleased with how their world is mixing so much with both Dream and reality. Finally, there is Daniel, Dream’s son (and not a very good endless name at all) who ascends as the new king of the dreaming. There are some excellent one-shot stories along the way. Dream of a Thousand Cats stands out as does A Midsummer’s Night Dream and Men of Good Fortune. A Doll’s House is still one of my favorite story arcs. Dream visits Hell, Asgard, Faerie, plus all the realms of his siblings. He also appears in the real world (my favorite is when he seeks out Constantine to get back one of his magical items). Historical figures mix with mythological figures. Ancient times to modern times are woven into the storyline. Literary references abound. The Sandman runs the gamut from comedy horror to dark fantasy without ever being too moralizing or dumbing things down (both of these superhero comics tend to do). Each issue of The Sandman was an intellectual exercise. I probably studied up more on various mythologies and religions reading The Sandman than I ever did for a school assignment. I started collecting Sandman from the get-go. Sometime my junior year of high school, our basement flooded. My room was in the basement. I think you know where this is going. I lost just about everything comic related. I lost part of my Executioner’s Song run, most of my Sandman, my Spider-Man comics, Shade, a bunch of Excalibur, X-Force, X-Factor, etc etc. You get the idea, devastating. Admittedly, I wasn’t exactly a bag and boarding type back then and what I lamented was the loss of the stories. Over the years, I recollected what I wanted from what I lost. The Sandman was the one that took the longest and I finally finished it in 2013. I still need the #8 variant, but time is on my side. When Sandman ended, I diligently collected The Dreaming and The Books of Magic. I still have complete runs of those. I have both Death and Dream statues. I have Death and Delirium action figures. I have the complete PVC interlocking sets for both The Endless and The Dreaming. I know I’ve gone on far too long. Here’s the synopsis. As a 12 year old literally living in the sticks, The Sandman afforded me an escape that I couldn’t find through traditional books or super heroes. It tickled my romantic fantasy and spun elaborate tales that I still think about to this day.

The Wednesday #2s- 11/11/15 & TLDR why humans collect So as my Wednesday night class ended last week, and before my online course gets into full swing, I had a little time to research and read about why humans collect. It must be the changing season and the suddenly dark nights that have me nesting and turning inward. Post-Halloween party, I have been cleaning windows, and going through my closet and bookshelves trying to clean and organize my belongings. It has given me time to think about why I collect things. True or false. Everyone collects something. Over 70 animal species do some kind of collecting as a way to increase survival. Humans are unique in that we collect items purely for the satisfaction of seeking and owning them. The desire to collect only became possible about 12,000 years ago, once our ancestors gave up their nomadic lifestyles and settled down in one location (Jarrett, 2014). One psychoanalytical explanation for why humans collect is that unloved children learn to seek comfort in accumulating belongings; another is that collecting is motivated by existential anxieties – the collection, an extension of our identity, lives on, even though we do not. More recently, evolutionary theorists suggested that a collection was a way for a man to attract potential mates by signaling his ability to accumulate resources (Jarrett, 2014). Collecting is a basic human instinct; a survival advantage amplified by eons of natural selection. Those of our ancient ancestors who managed to accumulate scarce objects may have been more prone to survive. Now, there are MANY motivations to collect (after McKinley, 2007): Nostalgia and/or a connection to history Investment; accumulation and diversification of wealth (security and freedom) Pure enjoyment (dopamine), relaxation and stress reduction; including appreciation of beauty, and pride of ownership Expand one’s social lives; social interaction with fellow collectors and others (i.e. the sharing of pleasure and knowledge) Preserve the past The purpose of study, knowledge, and learning The quest Psychological security, filling a void in a sense of self; liberating psychic activity Claim a means to distinction; a means to immortality or fame Competitive challenge Recognition by fellow collectors and perhaps even non-collectors Altruism (since many great collections are ultimately donated to museums and learning institutions) The desire to control, possess and bring order to a small part of the world Many writers point out that the motives listed above are not mutually exclusive. The majority of collectors reap several benefits, though some may invest excessive amounts of time, energy and discretionary funds (McKinley, 2007). Many non-acquisition based pastimes provide similar levels of satisfaction, but serious collectors of rare objects will very often find that they have created some wealth at the end of the day (Halperin, 2015). Perhaps Davis (2014) captures it best “so in one sense, collecting is a scholarly pursuit that can share information about the world we live in at the same time serving as a deeply private passion that feeds our individuality or our attempt to secure immortality” (Davis, 2014). For me, I collect for nostalgia of my hippie days and a connection to the counterculture of the 1960s. I enjoy comic books as a real goods hedge against inflation and view my collection as diversification of wealth. Some items do give me pure enjoyment, but as the lady has pointed out it is sometimes the hunt for cool stuff that gives me the most pleasure. Moreover, I do get a small amount of stress reduction from hobbying. I like re-arranging and classifying parts of a-big-world-out-there, which can serve as a means of control to elicit a comfort zone in one’s life, e.g., calming fears, erasing insecurity. I largely spend money on my hobby and often I say that I am a better buyer than seller. Sacrificing collecting over lifestyle Benson (2011), in article titled “Collecting as pain and pleasure,” discusses the balance of collecting as walking the precipice of the temperate climes of hobby versus the tropics of unruly passion. There is time, energy, and money spent in acquiring, maintaining, displaying, updating, and upgrading. This drains resources from family, friends, community, work or self (Benson, 2011), which can have negative psychological implications. Davis (2014) outlines the steps of a collector. The first stage is accumulating – or not throwing anything away. Stuff comes into your possession that looks good or interesting, or is amusing or historic, and you put it in a folder, or shove it in a drawer (Davis, 2014). The second stage is acquiring – when you go out deliberately to look for objects to add to your collection (Davis, 2014). The final stage is when you start buying the things you already have again, upgrading, because you want a better copy (Davis, 2014). If you collect, your first priority should be to develop an honest self-awareness of your personal ambitions. You might even try to predict how those ambitions are likely to evolve throughout the remainder of your life. One of the more interesting theories on why a collector may start a new collection has to do with having two or more of something (after Stanford research I. Simonson). Owning two or more of the same items are difficult to justify psychologically. The redundancy of items is not easily justified by the mind. Therefore, individuals are likely to collect more of a thing. Funny, how this week is issue #2 on two recent titles- Twilight Children #2 and Assassin’s Creed #2. The lady is definitely IN on AC2, so assuming the little LCS has a copy, it is coming home with me (it didn’t, sold out in 1hr). It seems I am at the point of decision with Twilight Children. Do I buy a third, and then a fourth? It is only a 6 issue miniseries… Alternatively, do I stop at one from now on? The Wednesday One- Twilight Children #2 If I only had one book to buy, it would have been Assassin’s Creed #2. However, my little LCS only had two copies allotted and both were scooped up by 1pm. Apparently, this is a book that is tough for the small chain to reorder (Being a UK publisher). I know I can pull the other LCS- Lost World of Wonders tomorrow, but burning go-juice for one book… even if it IS the lady’s pull, that’s a little tough. Oh who am I kidding!? Next up- RL (real life) need tires for the car before the snow flies References Davies, H. (2014, Nov. 7). Hunter Davies’ guide to becoming a collector. The Guardian [online]. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/07/hunter-davies-guide-becoming-collector Jarrett, C. (2014, Nov. 9). Why do we collect things? Love, anxiety or desire. The Guardian [online]. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/09/why-do-we-collect-things-love-anxiety-or-desire Halperin, J. (2015b). Why do we collect things? Intelligent Collector [online]. Retrieved from http://www.ha.com/intelligent-collector/why-do-we-collect-things.s?article=collect McKinley, M.B. (2007). The psychology of collecting. The National Psychologist. Retrieved from http://nationalpsychologist.com/2007/01/the-psychology-of-collecting/10904.html

OK. So things have been a little bit busy, in short putting my time into job applications (2), our Halloween party, and starting a new online course. Last Wednesday was teaching all day until 930pm, but I picked up a few books… Tokyo Ghost 2, Spawn and a couple more (Munchkin & Sandman Overture). But Art Ops #1 really stole the show- this book actually spun me off on an iZombie kick on Netflix too. Art Ops #1- this book beat Unfollow #1 by Vertigo for a spot on my pulls Thursday off (sans online) was getting the cleaners though in anticipation of the party. FRI was work and then to the corner spot to pick up beer for the party (3 cases of Rheinlander stubbies 7oz of 5% lager; local pale ale 7% 1/6 barrel for $75). SAT was grading during the day and then the party PM- until daylight savings time. SUN was recovery- I had to return the keg empty and so poured off two 32oz growlers, one liter pitcher and 0.5L. Returned the keg that night. MON was back to the usual work grind. No eBay auctions ending or packages to arrive. Just more work. Don’t get me wrong- glad to have the work and time to job hunt. I have one more good application in play. TUES recovery; clean windows, clean apartment; WED teach all day (one guest speaker); good potluck with my night class- kept them an extra 20min last class! Ha. So, I never told the lady, but I did spread some $1400 around on these latest Heritage auctions… some good underground comix stuff coming up (and most I do not intend to win). Still good stuff. That led me to contact a new fellow UG collector who collects HG Freak Brothers. I started looking up census data. Tough books, fewer than 2-46 graded copies per issue… and there are the hurdles of finding first print copies. For example, Freak Brothers #1 was reprinting well over 20 times in 44 years. My hoard of Freak Brothers #1 1st prints- I just cannot pass this book up at the $100-150 level This week was a big week for me. As an X-Men fan, this was the week I was waiting for to jump back in. Post Secret Wars. Extraordinary X-Men #1 and Uncanny X-Men #600. Plus Star Wars #11 which is my go-to reader, and then Fight Club 2 #5 (one week late?) and Paper Girls #2. I was really excited for Paper Girls- I cannot even tell you- it was the highlight of my sad little day to pull off the guest speaker to LCS run. My LCS was sold out, but the manager pull his reader out and threw it on my pile. At that moment I was on the brink of taking my business to Lost World for good and that magenta cover came out. Damn love the quiz at the back; I may be going for the prize (still awaiting my membership card; I will definitely scan my SASE). Wednesday One- Paper Girls #2. If my LCS had sold out of this book in 2hrs I woulda been pizzed Honorary mention- Extraordinary X-Men #1. Calling old school X-Men fans! This is your book. Humberto Ramos’ whack doodle art on Storm’s 2-foot mohawk (yes Storm is rocking the team lead!), oh and this girl Magik is back in fashion (as the lady said “oh that’s Colossus sister from Essentials X-Men Vol 6 Uncanny X-Men #199-213). Old Man Logan. Anyways- it’s the X-Men you knew before Secret Wars. Kinda. But I have been reading it on my phone Marvel App… it’s pretty good so far. Definitely going to buy it, pull the digital download and then flip the back issues at a local con (or gift them). I did not read Uncanny #600 but Iceman was definitely outed. Will future collectors desire non-popped digital downloads (even if they are expired) versus popped? Is it our era’s value stamps? I think so. But is it something I will check in a dollar bin? Probably not. Still, for the books I am holding I am not popping the download stickers. Happy to make it to FRI! Cheers everyone, survived meetings and more classes and got a little more chat time at the LCS before meeting the lady and ordering a pizza. This weekend I wrap up my WED night course and watch some college football with the lady (LSU v Alabama). Geaux Tigers! Also soccer this weekend- I caught most of Liverpool v Rubin Kazan and look for the Liverpool v Crystal Palace match on SUN (and maybe a local D3 college match, the lady was talking about her college’s team).

The Lady Speaks. . .Married to a Collector This is a hard entry to write. You see, collecting is a double edged sword. It embodies many of the things I love most about my husband while also encompassing some of his more annoying traits. I would never change his collecting tendencies, although I’m sure he feels as though I’ve definitely impeded his collecting freedom. I knew when I met my husband that he was a collector. It’s in his blood. His dad and oldest brother are baseball collectors. He’d done many shows with them, learning to haggle and hawk and trade. On the other hand, he fancies himself a minimalist and often talks about getting all his possessions down to what would fit in one vehicle (or even one bag). As I look around our house, I don’t really see that happening. The thrill of the hunt is more important to him than the actual object in most cases. He’d probably argue that I’m not accurate in that assessment, but I stand by my claim. It’s about scouring the obscure flea markets and antique stores of the Midwest looking for that great deal on something cool. What is cool? That depends entirely on what’s caught his interest. In the past this has included Nemadji pottery, Transformer Construct Bots, various industrial signs, action figures, video games, artwork, crates, strange military boxes for ammunition, circuit boards, weird ceramic figures from the 1950’s and 60’s (their name escapes me at the moment), poison bottles, R2D2 figures, little brown jugs (some specific maker) and so on. To be completely fair, I have been responsible for many of these collections either as the impetus or as a fellow collector. But the list is really so you see the variety of objects that have caught his eye in the past. There is no real rhyme or reason which is thrilling on one hand and absolutely confusing on the other hand. The exception to this is probably comic books. With comic books, it’s all about the object being in the best condition possible to be bagged and boarded for posterity, possibly with an eye to slabbing (slabbing will be another topic of discussion as I find it a violation of all that is good and holy in the world). He exercises incredible patience with his comic book collection, often waiting years for the right price or right condition. It’s been fascinating to watch him buy new comics that aren’t viewed as collectibles, but as reader copies. In the past he rarely would have spent money on reader copies. I find myself more worried about comic condition at the moment with my Jem and the Holograms, Munchkin, and Assassin’s Creed comics. So all of this sounds pretty positive so far, yes? Well, now for the downside. Sometimes what comes home is kind of gross. Dirty, dusty, smelly, totally authentic. As far as an object being a part of history, cool. But ew. I blame American Pickers for their obsession with rusty gold. One, gold does not rust. Two, rust means tetanus. Please keep your gurvy sign with jagged edges away from a location that might find my half asleep leg getting carved open. Who knows what strange latent viruses and allergens you are bringing in? I understand “head shop fresh” is a preferred attribute with some comics but seriously, that first appearance of Iron Man that you bought at Burnham would have killed me if you brought it home. I’m pretty sure it was ink on top of mold and nothing more. Or what if the object is haunted? This is especially true poison and medicine bottles. Maybe I’m being girly, but I like my collectibles and antiques clean. It’s sometimes very hard to support a random collectible because sometimes they just don’t make sense. Like the aforementioned ammunition boxes. They’re big, we don’t really have good spaces for them (they’re currently jammed under windows and are cat perches), and they’re not cheap. I can’t remember the exact prices but sometimes $50 on an old wooden box is a lot of money. Yes, it’s not as much as a night out but there are times when money is tight and it’s frustrating to see it spent on a collectible which may or may not actually accrue value in the future. And that’s another irritation—speculation. How long do I have sit and have these freaky ceramic dudes stare at me before we can move them at a profit? How much profit is good profit? They are also not cheap running anywhere from $30-$80 bucks in the wild. I’d gladly ship them off for $5.00 more than we paid. But he wouldn’t. That seemingly infinite patience is what makes him a good collector, a good person, a good husband and incredibly maddening.

My Usagi Yojimbo bromance Soundtrack: The rabbit ronin. Miyamoto Usagi. I have liked this book for probably a decade or so. I have a cobbled together a working-run of books from all three volumes- Fantagraphics vol1 and Dark Horse vol3- with the fewest books from Mirage vol2. My original owner books were Dark Horse vol3 31-72 (with a few misses), which coincides with my collecting period during 1999 - 2004. I think the first book I ever saw / read was a used copy of Green Persimmon (Summer Special #1? I still do not have that book). Since 2013, I have again run collected Usagi with less emphasis on condition than Spawn; I maintain a want list and generally pick the books at less than $2 on average. Sometimes I will widow-shop issues at Mile High Comics, and sometimes (rarely) during a codeword sale, issues can pop down to the $3-4 mark. Miyamoto Usagi, Stan Sakai’s creator-owner property, is approaching #150; #215 in a series; spanning 31 years of publishing. Current print runs are estimated to be about <4800 copies based on Aug2015. First off, Usagi’s name is not Usagi Yojimbo, a mistake I sometimes make. His name, as noted above, is Miyamoto Usagi. Yojimbo is the Japanese word for "bodyguard" as Miyamoto Usagi was the personal bodyguard a lord and continues to perform this role for small villages. The name Miyamoto refers to the legendary Miyamoto Musashi, who is renowned for his unique double-bladed fighting technique and there are many parallels. ANYways, I will just let you, the reader, fall down that rabbit hole, if you so choose: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi When we got a Kindle Fire, the tech-savvy lady uploaded nearly the whole run of Usagi TPBs and that is when I had the chance to read nearly the whole tale. Why does Usagi appeal to me? He is a loner, a wanderer, a masterless Samurai on the path of bushido. He is an exceptionally skilled warrior that uses an atypical fighting style, having been trained by the hermit lion Katsuichi. His fighting style is often commented upon and it so unique as to make him very powerful enemies (as it did his master). Moreover, Usagi is such a skilled fighter, humble, patient, fit, adaptive that early in the series (Vol1 #2) he single-handedly takes out the Dogura fencing school. This sets up a major sub plot that leads to **SPOILERS** the formalization of a childhood rival in Kenichi, Usagi leaving his home town & love, the birth of his son, and subsequent raising by said rival (now the magistrate). Usagi entered the service of Lord Mifune and became a full samurai, rising to the rank of personal bodyguard. He performed well, and his lord was pretty good. Lord Mifune was killed during the Battle of the Adachigahara Plains. Usagi, loyal to the end, beheads his own master to prevent his body / head from being disgraced / paraded around and then flees to the woods to bury the head. With that act, Usagi is a ronin, a masterless samurai. He returns to the battle, but realizing that his troops are routed and the enemy is picking off rogue samurai, Usagi flees for his life. Usagi’s travels often put him in the way of trouble, the setting of the story being the upheaval that followed Feudal Japan right around the time of the first Shogun. Usagi next encounters a small panda named Lord Noriyuki, the heir to a province / clan. This eventually leads a friendship / informal arrangement with Geishu clan- Usagi often helps them and they have a standing offer of employment for Usagi. Yet still he wanders. One thing you should know about Usagi is that he kills. A lot. I mean he MUST have killed thousands of creatures. As in >3500 confirmed kills . I thought about trying to count them once. Like have a Tumblr or something. Trust me; Usagi is the original ‘OG murder rabbit.’ He beheaded his own master for sake! For the most part, Usagi will not deliberately try and murder you. He uses the full spectrum of force, from talking to people, his body language, to tripping them or clubbing them with his hilt. However, make no mistake, if you draw-down on Usagi, with few exceptions, YOU GONNA DIE. He is one bad lagomorph. The murder rabbit. Over a billion served. The way Stan Sakai draws death is classic too… a small dialog box with a skull of the creature drawn in. With Usagi, you know they are dead (and when Usagi dies at the end of Senso #6). Therefore, the characters that survive around Usagi are most interesting. Usagi’s friends Gennosuke- Bounty Hunter- Gen and Usagi’s paths cross a few times. Early their relationship Gen represents a critique of the path of bushido, arguing in favor of a mercenary attitude determined never to be poor again. It is clear he and Gen work well together, and bounty hunting in early Shogun rule seems lucrative. However, Usagi’s path more often leads him away from Gen. It is probably important to note that Gen greatly admires Kitsune the fox Kitsune- Street performer / Thief- Usagi usually runs into Kistune the fox in larger cities- particularly in the Shogun’s capitol. He is tolerant of her moral ambiguity- she considers herself an ethical thief that only steals from those that can afford it (she often steals from Usagi). Her motto is "A girl has to do what she can to get by?" There is some romance between Usagi and Kitsune, but ultimately she ends up with Gen. Usagi’s lovers ( like a rabbit, yo) Mariko- Babymomma- they have a son Jotaro, raised by Mariko & Kenichi. For most of the story, it is presented that Kenichi knows and raises him dutifully, while Usagi does not know. Therefore, he is really more of an uncle that later connects with Jotaro (making certain he is trained by the hermit Katsuichi BTW). Tomoe Ami- Good friend / Combat partner- This is clearly who Usagi should end up with, and it is seen that the two have deep feelings for each other that go beyond mere friendship, e.g. “Tomoe's Story.” Her marriage to another man is eventually arranged by her lord. Chizu- Ninja- A powerful ninja who crosses paths with Usagi several times. Not a lover, but she rarely misses the opportunity to steal a kiss, even if she and Usagi are often at odds. Usagi often blushes and tolerates her in the same manner he tolerates Kitsune, even once nursing her back to health from near death (if I recall correctly).

The Wednesday One- 10/21 Much like last week, I was looking at another new comics Wednesday where I might not be able to participate. I checked my favorite spec site (www.cbsi.com) for recommendations and thought about the following books: Clean Room 1 (new Vertigo from Gail Simone) Sunflower 1 of 6 (Mallouk; pre-movie spec) Last week, I cancelled office hours because I wanted new comics and the time at home. This week I took a break and made a smash and grab, pulling two books Usagi Yojimbo 149 and Tokyo Ghost 2 The Wednesday One Honorable mention to Karnak 1 (Eliis), which my LCS guy was pushing. There was one copy left on the LCS shelf at 3pm, but I left it because *spoon* Marvel and the Inhumans (beyond Star Wars), if I spec one of their books it will likely be Extraordinary X-Men by Lemiere and probably the 600th issue of X-Men. Let some other fanboy feast on inhuman Ellis goodness. So my necessity to time the LCS has me thinking about the other things I have working against me in terms of speculating on new comic books- a) I buy “off the rack” of the LCS and thus pay cover price; b) my LCS is small- 8-10 copies for the bestselling titles, 2-3 for newish stuff (I nabbed the last Tokyo Ghost), no scarce/obscure stuff like Black Mask books; c) which means stuff sells out quick. Establishing a full pull account at Lost World, where I can access Previews and make educated moves. This would also add a discount too. I could also order online, especially useful if seeking a big stake in a particular book. However, I do like my LCS manager, I like the vibe of the store, that it is only 1 block away from my apartment, and I like the challenge of no subscriptions, picking ‘in the wild,’ being at the whims of local markets / tastes. I thought about trying to add newsstands or magazine shops to my list to try for high-grade newsstand copies. If only I had a Game Stop closer, those variants I could get into. I think if it were a perfect world, I would burn some go-juice to Lost World of Wonders (25min) and pick a copy of Sunflower. . . Up next- The ronin rabbit: A brief history of Usagi Yojimbo

The Lady Speaks. . . Assassin’s Creed This entry is all about my undying love for Assassin’s Creed (prior to Assassin’s Creed my favorite franchise was Tomb Raider). One disclaimer, I do not own a PS4 (that’s another entry right there) and so I have not played Unity, Rogue, or the whole suite of “other games” including Identity and Chronicles (which I just learned through Google even existed). My love of Assassin’s Creed spans the following games: Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed: Revelation, Assassin’s Creed III, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. I want Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate so badly because it combines two of my passions: Assassin’s Creed and Steampunk/Victorian England. How I found Assassin’s Creed is an interesting (to me, at least) story. In 2012 or so, I was teaching my Visual Arts class which focuses on video games as an art form. I use McGonigal’s Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (2011) as one of my primary texts. One of the assignments was to write a reflection on a video game answering questions such as Why do you play it? How does it make you feel when you play it? Etc, etc. There was a student in the class, a little bit older than the rest (they are traditional college-aged kids) who kept to himself. He wore a pretty heavy duty back brace and sometimes had to use a cane. It was through his paper that I learned about Assassin’s Creed. This particular student has been in a pretty severe car accident and had broken his back. It had taken several surgeries for him to even begin to function as a “normal” person. During his lengthy and painful convalescence, one of the games he entertained himself with was Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. The way he described the game was eloquent and passionate. He spoke of how when he played as Ezio, he could not only walk again but scale buildings and perform acrobatic feats that he had never been able to do. Through Ezio and Assassin’s Creed, this particular student was able to be free in a way his broken body wouldn’t allow. That sold me. I had to try this game out. First, I needed a PS3. I saved up my extra monies (I have a book selling gig on the side and do community book discussions) and sent my husband out to find me a refurbed PS3 (I’m cheap, okay. I don’t buy consoles or games when they first come out and I never want to pay full price). He had a guy so I trusted him. The first batch of games that I purchased didn’t include Assassin’s Creed, however. If I remember correctly it was Batman: Arkham Asylum (who doesn’t want to be Batman?) and Unchartered: Drake’s Fortune (appealed to me in the same way Tomb Raider does) that were my first two purchases. Eventually I picked up Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. From the moment I loaded the game, I was hooked. What do I love about the franchise? First off, I’d never played an open-world game on the scale of Assassin’s Creed. Granted, I dabbled in GTA on PS2, but I never really took to it. Second, the Assassin’s Creed games are beautiful. Yes, I’m a sucker for all that accurate architecture, art, clothing, ambiance. I spent the first hour or so just wandering around Rome. I may never get to see the Coliseum in real life, but as Ezio, I scaled that sucker. The first time I climbed to the tippy top of a tower and performed a Leap of Faith I felt my own heart jump a bit. It was that good. AC Brotherhood Being an assassin is fun. I’m a middle aged woman. It simply kicks to be an assassin. That’s why Liberation remains one of my favorites in the series. While being a kick male assassin is fun, it’s even more fun to be an -kicking female assassin in the antebellum south (full disclosure, we lived in Louisiana for 6+ years so anything that has to do with the bayous and swamps and New Orleans is going to win me over). That’s why when Ubisoft declared at the time of the launch of Unity that they couldn’t make female assassins, I was pissed and almost swore off the franchise. They had already created a female assassin, Aveline. And she’s Creole to boot! I see that they’re rectifying the lack of female assassin’s with Assassin’s Creed: Chronicles (Chronicles: China has a female assassin) and Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate will include Evie, a female assassin. Evie is the first female introduced to the main storyline as Aveline is not considered cannon even though she crosses over with Connor from Assassin’s Creed III. Aveline (AC Liberation for PS Vita) Evie (AC Syndicate for PS4) The new comic book also centers around a female protagonist, Charlotte de la Cruz. Since the animus storyline takes place during the Salem Witch Trials, her ancestor is a white male which causes her to think “My ancestor is a white guy? Mom has some explaining to do.” There’s only been one issue at the time of this writing (it dropped October 14th) but I’m optimistic that it’s going to be a fun read. Charlotte de la Cruz- AC comic book from Titan That’s not to say all the games are equal. The original Assassin’s Creed is clunky, limiting, and the voice acting is unintentionally hilarious. Altair’s voice doesn’t change from Desmond’s so you end up with a 12th century Jersey Shore assassin. Brotherhood is an improvement, for sure, and since it’s the first Ezio game, I’m fond of it. #ladiesloveEzio Assassin’s Creed III is a step back. Connor moves like a lummox. Black Flag is fun to play but suffers from side quest fatigue. With each iteration, the game adds more and more side quests to the point where they become repetitive and a total grind. Also, you sometimes lose the main storyline in all the quests and achievements. There is going to be a movie starring Michael Fassbender (which is good, I guess?). They moved it out of the main story continuity, which is a smart move. It’s hard to explain the plot of Assassin’s Creed. In a nutshell it’s about memories being genetically encoded and passed down through generations. The Templars and the Assassins have been embroiled in a war since the Crusades. There’s alien/gods and Apples of Edens, the Animus which is the machine that helps you retrieve your ancestor’s memories, and a potentially evil corporation called Abstergo that wants to profit off the technology (okay, according the Assassin’s Creed Wiki, Abstergo is the main front for the Templars so it is indeed evil). In the real world you were Desmond for the first five games and Altair, Ezio, and Connor in the memories. In Black Flag you were a hired hand to go in and help develop a video game by retrieving Edward Kenway’s memories. I don’t pay a ton of attention to the overarching plot, clearly. Still, this is currently my favorite franchise in video games. Other franchises that I’m fond of include Bioshock (although Infinite was really disappointing), the Arkham games, Borderlands, and Devil May Cry. I also liked Dragon Age: Origin, Skyrim, and I am currently playing Darksiders (Joe Madureira art).

The death of the collector Found an excellent article on FRI night, the lady passed it to me, and off I was down the rabbit hole. I marked and typed up the following, a summary of sorts. The growth of electronic sell-through (EST; I am not convinced this is an industry standard term) market for digital comics signals the end of collecting as the organizing logic of American comics culture (Steirer, 2014). In his (2014) article he demonstrates how the translation to digital comics has disabled most collector interactions- namely through file-based digital rights management, terms of service restrictions, and in-app automated file management (Streier, 2014). These are the three approaches media companies employ to prevent consumers from selling their digital purchase. Like nearly all other forms of digital media, digital comics cannot be resold. This is because digital comics depend on how the digital comic gets coded as an object. And right now, digital comics are coded to exclude almost every form of consumption save buying and reading. This is at the heart of Abad-Santos’ (2014; as attribute in Lucas, 2014) critique of how Amazon ruined ComiXology by gutting the apps’ one-touch buying to avoid Google/Apple fees and thus alienating readers and publishers alike. This reduced the app to more or less a fancy PDF reader for comics already purchased (Lucas, 2014). And get this(!)- Presently, collectors are not purchasing objects at all; rather they are purchasing access rights. I will find this out the hard way in early 2016 when a bunch of my digital downloads begin to ‘archive’ to a subscription service and my access rights expire. Basically to date, digital comics represents a more deliberate effort on the part of publishers to remake the market, increase their power within it, through the use of in-app file management preventing the possibility of a secondary market. The death of the collector represents a gain for the publishers who via code will have increased control over how the books are used and distributed (Steirer, 2014). Streirer (2014) does hedge his bet by stating that the shift to digital distribution does not necessarily preclude collecting as a mode of consumption. So long as the direct market and EST market can mutually coexist, digital comics impact on collecting culture is likely to remain minimal. So what does the future hold? The manner in which digital comics have been coded means more casual interactions with comics, ala carte sales, ever available issues, and impulse pricing. The new digital comics’ culture will be determined largely if not solely by the experience of reading comics AND NOT on collecting them. This stems from the longstanding tendency to view consumers and retailers in binary terms. To study consumer practices versus collector psychology. So can digital comics be coded to perform array of consumption that underpins collecting? Can digital collectors participate in a secondary market, either through selling or buying? Can collectors participate in a long-running conversation about the value of whatever object is in question (Steirer, 2014)? These remain interesting questions for the future of comics. At present, the answer is on limiting consumption, and points to the death of the collector (Steirer, 2014). References Steirer, G. (2014). No more bags and boards: collecting culture and the digital comics marketplace. Journal of Graphic novels and Comics, 5(4): 455-469. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2014.913646

I noticed there was 4 copies of this book still on the shelf at the stellar Lost World of Wonders store, so probably not underprinted versus the regular copy. Or really a spec book. If anything, the regular copy was selling faster at the big store (only 1-2 copies left). I think the premise of this book is funny, as a principle from the underground comix movement is that one cannot always draw nice things. I do not collect Scottie Young variants, did not buy his variant for Spawn 250, and generally find the work too cutesy. However, you can't always draw nice things. So that alone earns a spot in the modern collection.

No teaching THURS and the lady was essentially off too, having just to arrange a docent-guided tour of the school's art museum. We had the morning together to clean the apartment, and then shopping for Halloween supplies. Since I could not nab one of the two Assassin’s Creed books that trickled down to the East Side Collector’s Edge location, Lost World of Wonders (25min) was on the list too. The lady is a gamer and this is one of her favorite franchises by far. We also hit American Science & Surplus, which is right next to Lost World, for Halloween ideas and accessories. I am going as Beaker from the Muppets, having studied DIY ‘instructables’ online. At Science Surplus I picked up a white posterboard for 85c and 2 plastic golf tees for 10c each for pupils. I also picked up a pair of orange rubber gloves (possibly on the small size) for $1.50 that I may (not) use. Next we hit Lost World of Wonders for her AC book and I got a copy of Batman 44 (origin of Mr Bloom?; the shop still had 5 copies of 43 1st Mr Bloom on the shelf), Savior 7, another Paper Girls 1 (they still had 2-3 more copies) and was tempted by another Twilight Children 1 ($5), but 40 pages for Paper Girls, no variants, $3- that’s good value for a spec book. Right before walking into Jo Ann Fabrics, I got the call on the job- NO GO- nothing but positive platitudes, but came out number 2 and number 1 said yes. Balls. The lady was a little crestfallen. We moped and shopped through Jo Anne Fabrics and I picked an orange feather boa for hair ($9), flesh pink felt fabric ($5 for close to 2m), 2 styrofoam balls($9), 1 styrofoam egg (nose $4), spray adhesive ($7), & white pipecleaners to help secure the eyes & nose ($1). We also picked up some packing ($7) for the lady’s female jedi costume (Twi’lek or tailhead). After buying supplies, we had some soup and salad out to ‘celebrate the loss’ and talk through it before heading to afternoon meetings. That night, I cut a 1-yard piece of fabric and spray glued it to the posterboard. I still have plenty of fabric to make another or to make oversized gloves. I have since advanced the head pretty quick, working on it in two 35min stints since THURS night using staples, packing tape and strategic hot glue to construct the head. Before rolling the posterboard, I hot glued (reinforced with paperclips) the feather boa along the inside top and then rolled and continued the boa around the outside. I used the pipecleaners / hot glue and made optic nerves of sorts to pull through the posterboard and secure on the other side. The same with the nose, which I spray painted orange (had this at home). My Beaker Halloween costume: I was thinking that a good variant on this costume would be to use a black boa (or felt), black nose, and green felt to mimic a Beaker / Frankenstein’s monster. I think that could be done with an additional $20 / 1-hour, and I may try it ‘just for fun’ (add some neck bolts, etc.).

The Wednesday One- 10/14 Productive TUES at home. Graded 20+ papers and online discussion (about 6hrs of work), then wrote like mad and did some computer maintenance. I upgraded for free to Windows 10 on FRI night, a process that took about 2hrs. It was somewhat a mistake to do it, because it took so long I missed out on posting to one online discussion forum. And then the last 2 days have been sorting through what I’d done. Today I had to enlist the lady to reinstall my scanner so I could scan comics again- no small task having to also update drivers. Everything was working in time for The Muppets. This is pretty much the only TV show that I make a point of watching, and I do enjoy it. We killed cable back in late 2013 and have not looked back. I have to stream some live sports via TV Ole (with ad block), but otherwise do not miss cable. I do miss a DVR though. Live sports and a DVR, yup. However soon cable TV will go the way of the land line telephone (telegraph). Today is my long teaching day, about 10hrs or so with office hrs. I hope to hear about the new job soon, this week I bet. It would be a really great opportunity to get a new title, steady pay, and perhaps the balance of not having to teach (no grading every weekend!). Hope hope! Sometimes I allow myself to daydream the purchase of a nice slabbed underground with the new $$. Besides the new comics, and my trip to WW Chicago, I haven’t bought any more comics for a while. I guess that’s kinda insincere, but I haven’t bought a good back issue in 3+ months. New comic day has lost a little allure now that I cannot get there on WED. That means that spec’ing is harder, because timing is everything at my small little corner LCS. We get maybe 4 copies to compete over, if you ‘got no pull’ & picking of the shelves like me. Mostly it is not a problem, because I can time my arrival around 2pm WED (just after the nerdlingers that annoy the manager, but before the mundanes, and right about time the cute waitress from Ma Fisher’s stops in) and stay and chat until the norms come in. Perfect. **Wrote part of this last night, I since cancelled part of office hours to pick the LCS and had success except for the new Assassin's Creed book* THIS WEEK: Jem & the Holograms 8 for the lady The new read (now that Sandman Overture is done): Twilight Children #1 Vertigo- The Wednesday One Scottie Young's Fairyland #1- Spec book with an underground feel ($3.50):

Why Hollywood controls the future of comics OK, so in my research on the future of comic books, another theme rose to the surface; “the legitimization of comics through Hollywood” (attributed to Mark Millar, in Parker, 2015). To me, this statement means that Hollywood controls the future of comics (Parker, 2015). I suppose it is already the industry norm that comics are beholden to films (after Baker, 2014) and ‘all in the name of corporate synergy,’ as I like to say. Corporate synergy across transmedia properties means that everything is licensed. As such, comic plotlines are easily predictable, e.g. Spidey’s appearance in the black costume, the return of Logan/Wolverine ‘roundabout movie time, or even the marginalization of the X-Men / Fantastic Four (after Blunt, 2015). In addition, notice how this synergy flows both ways and comics are part of it, ala BOOM!, Dynamite, & IDW preference for licensing established properties versus developing creator-owned content. All this will make it more difficult for a new breed of comic book characters to break into canon (Lucas, 2014). This synergy has led to short-term jolts of shock versus long-term story and character development, and has led to an environment where fans are cynical of reboots, relaunches and resurrections (Lucas, 2014). Yet, expect more events (Baker, 2014). Baker (2014) argues that the synergy of transmedia properties will put pressure on successful artists to change roles and may lead to the end of creator-owned properties and a move to mainstream behavior of retaining rights (Baker, 2014; or Layton’s (2013) move away from comic publishing for job security). This is in part because the money is in the movies and the merchandise and not in the storytelling, as the price point is sweeter (Blunt, 2015). Additional concerns… this Hollywoodification could lead to a decline in ethical fandom or fans ‘looking out for the little guy’ (Blunt, 2015). The example being the somewhat famous quote from Len Wein in 2009, "Hugh Jackman is a lovely man, and at the premier he told the audience that he owed his career to me and had me take a bow. It was very gratifying and very nice. I would have preferred a check" (as quoted in Blunt, 2015). Yet comic books will still be relevant (or why we LOVE lurv The Mouse) Collectors will always crave a tangible object to hold, pass on, and read. However, a big hurdle for comics publishing is CLEARLY cost effectiveness; the average comic is $4, the average iTunes movie download is $5, which means that comics are now in direct competition with Hollywood (Layton, 2013). That said, there is a growing demand for new stories, franchises, transmedia properties, and intellectual property (IP), as well as a growing need for new voices and new creators (Kozlowski, 2014). Therefore, even if floppies lose money, they will serve as loss leaders as a way to develop and curate future IP. Not only will Hollywood need comic books, humanity has an increasing need for a distraction from reality and the real world (Lucas, 2014). With all the horrible things happening in the world, there is a basic need for superheroes (Lucas, 2014). Additionally, floppies are growing their fan base. In 2014, women 17-33 years old were the fastest growing demographic in the comics, and that female-led comic titles doubled in the last 5 years (Parker, 2015). However, the “legitimization of comics through Hollywood” has yet to be extended to female comics (Parker, 2015). As writer Gail Simone wrote in a noted Twitter storm, “complain about the diverse readership and readers coming in from film all you like, but you are enjoying the benefit of their dollars.” A diversifying fandom means the next generation of creators is inevitable and this should make us feel inspired! Nevertheless, our hobby’s strong connection to Hollywood means we are only ‘one business decision’ away from the extinction of the medium, as outlined in this sobering journal entry excerpted from comic book artist and publisher Bob Layton (2013): In 2013, the average print run of all 300 comics published monthly was approximately 15,000 copies. On average the art and editorial content run between $13-23k, while the average cost of printing and distribution is $6-7k. Diamond distribution typically takes 60% off the cover price to distribute the product nationally. This means that an average selling comic (15k copies), produced, printed and distributed on the low end of the estimate ($19k), nets the publisher/distributor $5,000 (4 x 0.4 = 1.6 x 15000 = 24000 – 19000 = $5000 average profit before advertising revenue). “Eventually, some middle management guy within the Disney Corporation is going to figure out that comic publishing is not very profitable. At that point, he will probably lobby to shut the publishing arm down in order to save the company millions in expenditures per year. Hoping to get a big promotion for his innovative thinking, he will inadvertently cause over half of the volume of the comic industry to disappear overnight” (Layton, 2013, para. 18-19). Let me just repeat that… if Disney (or TimeWarner for that matter) were to shutter comics publishing they would cause half the volume of the comics industry to disappear. While this may never occur, a real possibility remains and this would have devastating impacts across the genre and do irreparable harm to the direct market. Extinction is the ultimate problem for the future of comic books. ____________________________________________________________________ References Baker, T. (2014). 10 predictions for the future of comics. Retrieved from http://whatculture.com/comics/10-predictions-future-comics.php Blunt, T. (2015). The future of comics: A Q&A with author Geoff Klock. Retrieved from http://www.wordandfilm.com/2015/06/the-future-comics-the-future-men-an-interview-with-author-geoff-klock/ Layton, B. (2013). What is the future of comics publishing? Retrieved from http://www.boblayton.com/what-is-the-future-of-comic-publishing/ Lucas, J. (2014). The future of the comic book in a digital world. Retrieved from http://www.nerve.com/culture/the-future-of-the-comic-book-in-a-digital-world Parker, L.A. (2015. Why the “future of women in comics” thinks it helps to be terrifying. Vanity Fair [online]. Retrieved from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/07/kelly-sue-deconnick-profile

Spec’ing on the future of comics Soundtrack: In thinking and talking through the post about my Grandmother, and debating some of the futurist points with the lady, we inevitably turned the conversation toward the future of comics. I enjoyed this article by Baker (2014) where he notes that “now more than ever is an excellent time to be a comics reader” and that “the medium has never been so widely accepted as a legitimate form of literature and entertainment by the mainstream” (para. 1). http://whatculture.com/comics/10-predictions-future-comics.php As I started to take notes for this post, and was having fun doing so, I thought why not try and synthesize the latest theories on the future of comics? Therefore, I spent the last week or so building themes (first few): The internet is a gift and not a curse The internet is a gift and not a curse (Lucas, 2014), but this will be a double-edged sword. As the sales of print or hardcopy comic books (herein floppies) dwindle, digital comics will continue to emerge. Parker (2015) notes that current industry estimates put the size of the North American comic book market at around $900 million in 2015, compared to about $700 million in 2011. While floppies are doing well in terms of total dollars, indeed increasing, this is largely due to the increasing prices of individual comic books ($3-4/book) versus an increase in units sold (Lucas, 2014). Screens are the new paper While a core group of passionate collectors still crave the in person community that grows out of showing up at a brick and mortar store (Karpel, 2013), humanity is clearly demonstrating a preference for digital versus print media. Additionally, the death of the floppy will be aiding by declining disposable income of future generations, as more money is allocated toward the water-food-energy matrix. A hobby driven by disposable income and the hoarding physical products is likely doomed (Baker, 2014). http://www.unwater.org/topics/water-food-and-energy-nexus/en/ As you can imagine, the ramifications of this shift are complex, often contrary, and not always positive. As the digital comic revolution continues to evolve, it will increase device delivery (Kozlowski, 2014), increase pressures for subscriptions (Kozlowski, 2014), lead to increased trade paperback sales, comic bundles, loot crates, etc. Additionally, the digital media revolution will likely make self-publication more expedient and profitable (Lucas, 2014). And Amazon (or something like Amazon) will take over, i.e. Amazon buys Comixology, gains monopoly, starts publishing new content (Baker, 2014). However, early attempts seem fraught with technological limitations of, e.g. web-based flash players noted in Karpel (2013), or Abad-Santos’ (2014; as attribute in Lucas, 2014) illustration of how Amazon ruined ComiXology by gutting the apps’ one-touch buying to avoid Google/Apple fees and thus alienating readers and publishers alike. This reduced the app to more or less a fancy PDF reader for comics already purchased (Lucas, 2014). ALL THAT SAID… While ‘screens are the new paper,’ they will not be fully animated, nor will they be like the standard floppy (Karpel, 2013). Instead, a new alchemy of digital media will emerge to include a combination of music and visuals or as Karpel (2013), writes the “magical moment when the music resonates with… the page.” This will advance to a more “adaptive audio experience,” the most cited example being Marvel’s Project Gamma. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=51353 FINALLY, the digital revolution is already influencing how audience commentary is packaged (e.g. CGC Message Boards or Subreddits), and this will become as much of a lifestyle for fans as actually reading the comics themselves (Lucas, 2014). We are effectively taking the simple act of going to the LCS with a few friends and turning into a global conversation. Next up- Hollywood controls the future of comics Latest purchase: Paper Girls #1 1st and only. I drove over to Lost World of Wonders to score this and then we went to the Great Pumpkin at State Fair Park / Petit Center to pick out Halloween costumes. I am going mad scientist, and the lady is going as a female jedi (likely a tailhead Twi'lek). We are hitting Jo Anne Fabric and Hobby Lobby to finalize a few things this THURS AM. ___________________________________________ References Baker, T. (2014). 10 predictions for the future of comics. Retrieved from http://whatculture.com/comics/10-predictions-future-comics.php Blunt, T. (2015). The future of comics: A Q&A with author Geoff Klock. Retrieved from http://www.wordandfilm.com/2015/06/the-future-comics-the-future-men-an-interview-with-author-geoff-klock/ Karpel, A. (2013). We’ve seen the future of comic books and, oh, wait, it crashed the server. Retrieved from http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682563/weve-seen-the-future-of-comic-books-and-oh-wait-it-crashed-the-server Kozlowski, L. (2014). The future of comic books: Who will create tomorrow's heroes? Forbes [online]. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/lorikozlowski/2014/07/09/the-future-of-comic-books-who-will-create-tomorrows-heroes/ Lucas, J. (2014). The future of the comic book in a digital world. Retrieved from http://www.nerve.com/culture/the-future-of-the-comic-book-in-a-digital-world Parker, L.A. (2015. Why the “future of women in comics” thinks it helps to be terrifying. Vanity Fair [online]. Retrieved from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/07/kelly-sue-deconnick-profile

The Lady Speaks… About Collecting One of the questions I ask myself is: Am I a collector? It’s no secret my husband is and if I compare myself to him I don’t think I’m a collector; however, a cabinet of poison bottles, a bookshelf of Easton Press Masterpieces of Science Fiction, and an entire wardrobe made of R2D2 gear might lead one to a different conclusion. The most recent incident that is causing me to question my collecting reality is the birth of a new short box for the comics I supposedly don’t collect. The poison bottle collection For the most part I don’t collect comics. What I mean is that I’m not interested in speculating on comics and I’m only marginally interested in chase variants. I started reading and hoarding comics in the late 80’s. As many tales of woe begin with, it started with the X-Men and spread to the X-Universe (X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Men Blue, X-Men Gold, X-Factor, X-Force, Excalibur, and all crossovers with other titles including Death’s Head and the West Coast Avengers). I also started collecting The Sandman at the same time. Eventually I added Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children. Not to mention the stupid X-Men collectible cards (I believe we finally sold those off at a garage sale in 2008). In 1994, before I graduated high school our house flooded and I lost almost everything (except the damn cards). In college I stopped collecting comics in favor of more productive things such as getting drunk, skipping class, and occasionally protesting things because of reasons (it was the 90’s, after all). I only started up again when I met my future husband who was also a lapsed comic book collector. And it was right back to the X-Men plus the new additions of Strangers in Paradise, The Dreaming, Books of Magic, and some indies. I managed to grab random Harley books, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Painkiller Jane, and we were diligent about our Wizard ½ issues (the Mars Attack is in my office at work). Our collection slowly grew over the years to a max of 15 long boxes and another half dozen or short boxes. Doesn’t sound impressive, but keep in mind we moved that mass from Missoula, MT to Billings, MT to Bozeman, MT to Baton Rouge, LA. In Baton Rouge we moved 3 times. By the time we were ready to leave Louisiana, we were ready to cull the comic book herd. And we did. For the longest time I held on to two small boxes comprised of nearly complete runs of Death (The High Cost of Living, The Girl Who Would Be Death, and The Time of Your Life), The Sandman (completed in 2014), Strangers in Paradise (completed in 2015), the Dreaming (completed in 2001), the Books of Magic (series 1 completed in 2013ish, series 2 completed in 2000), and Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children (not completed, please don’t bring it up). There are some random books in there as well Bohos (1998) and Batman Beyond series 1 (1999). My new long box will hold my ever growing Jem and the Holograms and Munchkin runs plus my Sandman Overture and random Grendels. But I’m not a collector. No, the retro gaming consoles, the aforementioned poison bottles, the voodoo dolls aren’t collections, I swear! You see I don’t have to be a collector because my husband is. I’m an enabler, perhaps (hence the Construct Bots, the industrial signs, the wooden explosives crates and boxes, the beer patches, and the pint glasses). I’m also flighty. I’ll chase a collecting vein for a year, two at the most, and then I lose interest. My husband often continues my collecting for me. He finished my Strangers in Paradise run and has continued the video game and poison bottle collecting. Some of the collections (the pint glasses, the Nemadji pottery) represent casual collecting we both can do. A family photo of the Nemadji pottery collection (tourist pottery from Moose Lk, MN) I don’t consider myself a collector because I don’t care about appreciation. I collect things because I like them and when I no longer like them I get rid of them. Also, I’m fairly cheap. For example once cool poison bottles reached $100, I stopped collecting. When it comes to comics I don’t care about condition so much. I pick the copy that looks the best to the initial eye. That’s good enough for me. One time my husband asked me to pick up a copy of Spawn at the LCS and it was nerve wracking! I had to look through each issue scouring for color break creases, mis-wrappings, soft corners, poorly placed staples, color smudges, and dings. Too much pressure! In the past few years, in the name of decorating mind you, not collecting I’ve found copies of Wonder Woman 157-158 (the Egg Fu covers), the first appearance of Rogue as an X-Men, the first appearance of Dazzler, the first appearance of Psylocke, and I have a copy of X-Men #137 (Phoenix Must Die). They are all in my office along with Mars Attack ½ from Wizard, two Batman Beyond action figures, Death and Delirium action figures, a Rogue action figure, both pvc sets of The Endless and the Dreaming, many bobble heads (including Boba Fett, Atom Ant, and Rosie the Robot), and Funko Pop Vinyls (Sharknado, R2D2, Robot Devil, and Ezio from Assassin’s Creed). They are all out of their boxes and clearly on display. See, I’m not a collector. I’m not. Really, I’m not.

Work weekend This weekend was a working weekend, as we say, and one that was dominated by grading. Teaching can be easy, teaching can be fun, teaching can be quite enjoyable- but grading is a grind. Apologies to my lady, if she is reading this post, as she typically handles larger class sizes, teaches on the quarter system and thus teaches more credits on average than I do. However, grading whoops my . We knew it would, and so celebrated my interview on THURS with our favorite local band and a nightcap at the corner spot. FRI was departmental meetings, teaching, the usual… a typical FRI night might be in bed by 8pm, just slagged from the week. SAT was a 10-hour grading jag, punctuated by walk along the Milwaukee River and a pint on Brady Street. “A long walk and a slow pint,” as we are fond of saying. We watched some college football (generally SEC; Geaux Tigers!), ordered take out, and then proceeded to finish Gotham Season 1 on Netflix (love love love). I longed to get my grading done so that I could focus back on my writing, particularly the synthesis research on the future of comics. I have fallen down the rabbit hole (futurist theories, moonshot thinking) and I now see this as a larger project than a journal post- some 8+ pages of single-spaced notes and counting. In particular, I am looping the lady into the mix and we are targeting a panel at Wizard World Madison (possibly WW Chicago too) and a regional academic conference- all with the stretch-goal workshopping the ideas toward journal publication. Therefore, that is where my focus has been. That is one of the beauties of journaling, I can write what I want when I want (squirrel!!). MON midnight my online class ends and my schedule will free up a little after that class is closed out. However, my lady PICKED UP MY SLACK and wrote another post while she was procrastinating her own grading! And so I present the next installment of “The Lady Speaks.”