Randall Dowling

My specialty.

Anyone that thinks girls/women aren't into comics, hasn't been paying attention at conventions over the last 20 years. The number of women that I've seen (who aren't the tagalong girlfriend of some fanboy) shocked me at first but now it's just normal. I think it's foolish to ignore that demographic, no matter how good or bad The Marvels is/was. The last few times I went to a comic movie, there were plenty of women, several without any men. One of my best friends has 3 daughters, ages 8-13. They're all huge fans of graphic novels and comics (much to my surprise, because my friend is absolutely not). Good stories are good stories and the best ones captivate the most people, regardless of race, color, gender, creed, orientation, or other superficial distinction. The only thing I've seen, in recent memory, keep people from appreciating a good story is ideology. Unfortunately, there's a number of people that are just rigid in their belief that someone's trying to trick them or indoctrinate them or persecute them or get them in some way. And that seems to get in their way of enjoying a good story. My older brother is one of those and now he doesn't seem to like anything anymore. Which is sad because he used to be a lot of fun to watch movies with. I really wish he'd lighten up and have fun again but suggesting that only makes him more bitter.

I've always thought that series had tremendous potential.

Agreed. It was a 2 episode story that got circuitously stretched into a 6 episode "season" (more like a mini-series, if you ask me). I don't think either the character of Kang or the actor playing him are very compelling. While both Owen Wilson and Tom Hiddleston are strong actors, they were both pretty limited by average directing and mediocre writing. My emotional concern for any of the characters was very low. As some have pointed out, this is considerably better than watching Secret Invasion but then, that's an exceptionally low bar for reference. Kind of like saying the Black Adam movie was better than the Morbius movie, IMO. In the end, I just think they're in dire need of a new slate of producers that actually understand the characters and the value of the stories. There's a deep well of material to work with but if you don't know what you're looking for, you just end up with an uncompelling group of episodes, loosely tied to together by a contrived outcome. Harsh, I know, but true.

For those unfamiliar, here's a little snapshot of the census for graded copies right now for both books: While not definitive of the exact relationship between the 2 books, it pretty much reflects my experience collecting both issues. Eerie 8 > Creepy 9

That Eerie 8 is so freaking tough. Beautiful copy, Greg!

One of McGinnis' best, IMO.

Every one of those magazines is a steal for the price given the quality of material. Great stuff, sir!

Lots of very cool books, Rick!

Very tough book!

This make way too much sense. Unless you're one of those people that doesn't like to waste an opportunity to take advantage of someone else. Then this is just loser talk.

I think particularly because it seems very inconsistent for inclusion at time of production. My guess is that many copies of ASM 238 and FF 252 never had the insert included when printed and, as @Lazyboy said, the other titles (Iron Man, X-men, etc.) that had the insert sporadically, are production errors. While I have always thought it was pretty dumb, it doesn't really matter. Collectors will always value the books with everything included over books that don't.

I forget every other issue that had them. But pretty sure I've seen the insert in these others: Iron Man 168 Marvel Tales 149 X-men 167 Captain America 279 Thor 329 Avengers 229 Conan 144 Probably other issues, as well. I don't think these had the insert in every issue printed. May have been regional or similar to Mark Jewelers? I don't know.

I've posted this before over the years but I'll do so again here (apologies to those that are reading it twice). Back in the early 90s, I used to run a comic book store in the small Mid-western town where I lived. We had back stock on many books from over ordering in the 80s including issues like Fantastic Four 252 (which also had the Lakeside Tattooz insert). Some people were starting to ask when they bought a copy whether or not it had the Tattooz in the book for the various issues that were supposed to. To our surprise, very few of the books in our stock had the actual tattooz. They all had the insert, untampered with. But there were no tattooz inside the insert (you had to hold it up to the light to see if they were in there). So, we started asking regular customers if they had them in their books. Several went home and looked at their copies of both FF 252 and ASM 238 and were shocked to find out that their copies didn't have the tattooz either. What was remarkable was all of them had purchased copies and bagged them, put them away and hadn't touched them since. One customer's copies had come from subscriptions (anyone remember the kraft paper wrap around Marvel subscription books?), and he didn't have the tattooz. All had inserts, relatively few had tattooz. So, the only conclusion we could come to is that not all copies had tattooz in the insert to begin with. No idea what percentage but if one used the sampling from our little investigation, far less than half came with tattooz. Is it possible that some chumpy kids took the tattooz out of books on the newsstand without buying the book? Sure. But that wouldn't explain subscription copies or our backstock at the store. I personally don't think books without should get the green label. But I do think blue labels should note whether or not they are there.

One of my favorite stories about Voltaire (which may or may not be true) is that on his deathbed, as he was nearing the end, a priest came to see him. After sitting down on a chair next to the bed, the priest asked Voltaire if he would renounce the Devil for the sake of his immortal soul. Voltaire responded "This is no time to be making enemies." Even if the story is apocryphal, I still enjoy it. Print the legend and all that.

Just good, solid alliteration.

Routinely, the best thread on the boards.

I'd love to take you to a major art museum, like the Art Institute of Chicago or the Met in NYC. After spending an afternoon looking at those works with someone that can share some knowledge about them, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't feel the same way. It really isn't about "artsy people". It's about something much, much more. The fact that most people lack literacy doesn't mean reading is a waste of time.

I would guess it's more likely a warehouse find. Battle Cry is a great title.

That's a very cool book! I'm a big Chandler fan.

Yeah, same thought about that scene. This episode was better than the last but it's all a bit... amateurish. Which can have it's own appeal (agree with Greg's correlation with Dr. Who). But if I wanted to watch Dr. Who, I'd just watch Dr. Who.

No lies detected.

I feel like I keep trying to like this show and it keeps coming up short of my reach. It reminds me of a lot of drekky 80s comics- overly complicated stories that lack depth but try to make up for it with lots of references and cool words. Not sure I'll keep losing time to this show. We'll give it another episode or 2 yet, before abandoning all hope.

Wow! That's really saying something given your collection! Very cool book!

Yeah, likewise. Very enjoyable and looking forward to next season. We have multiple storylines that are on cliffhanger status and I'm interested in all of them. Well done!