Amadeus Arkham

Nice. How sure were you that it would come back a 9.8? Thanks. I was about 80% sure it would be a 9.8, 20% chance it was a 9.6. Had it pressed before I subbed it just to make sure.

Have you accepted Galactus into your heart?

The One Above All?

Here is my ticket to the dance. Just got it back from CGC yesterday.

Just arrived today. Thanks to joeypost for squishing them and making them purty. Highest graded on the census and only graded Pittsburgh Pirates variant. Not bad for a hand-out book that was in a draw-string backpack for four years. Purchased from a boardie Don't know where I missed on this one...

I don't know how they'd do Old Man Logan without rights to Hawkeye, Red Skull, Hulk and Spider-Man. Leads me to believe that's why they will do a "loose adaptation inspired by" Old Man Logan.

Ouch. And the $120MM estimated doesn't include marketing dollars spent?

I'm definitely going to read through it as soon as I'm done with the bigger Clairmont arcs on X-Men.

What's the ceiling for X-Factor #24? We all know that Archangel is going to be in the next X-flick, but he hasn't shown up in any trailers or anything yet, outside of Singer's Instagram account. Current census is: 9.9 - Universal (1) 9.8 - Universal (354) Signature Series (71) Total (425) 9.6 - Universal (356) Signature Series (66) Total (422) Closed BINs on eBay are all over the map, with the lowest CGC 9.8 closing at $182.50 and the highest being under $299 via an accepted Best Offer. How much room does this book necessarily have to grow in the future once we get closer to Apocalypse?

I'll hold on to my 9.8 1st print unless prices (and I mean closed auctions/BINs) start consistently breaking $200. As much as I love what WB/DC has been doing with Dawn of Justice, I have a creeping feeling in the back of my neck that they will up Doomsday somehow.

Yeah, if memory serves each successive issue had more and more of the containment suit being destroyed with each punch until they showed Doomsday's bone claws and gray color.

Back in November of 1992, DC was using the "continuity diamonds" so one would know which books to read in which order in accordance with their storytelling. The following books were all released that month, have cameos of Doomsday's fist, and their corresponding diamonds are listed. Street date is in parentheses: Man of Steel #17 - 41 (September 9 or 16, 1992) Superman #73 - 42 (September 25, 1992) Adventures of Superman #496 - 43 (October 28, 1992) Action Comics #683 - 44 (October 28, 1992) December 1992 Man of Steel #18 - 45 (first full) So it would appear that technically MoS #17 is Doomsday's first appearance in continuity and in time. I got the release dates from comiccollectorlive.com so take them with a grain of salt. I guess technically by the time MoS #18 is release it's Doomy's fifth appearance? If we're counting fists?

I would guess that the ceiling is partially set by other DC Comics from that era with lower print runs but high demand. For example, Batman Adventures #12 has a lower print than Man of Steel #18, and Harley Quinn is more popular than Doomsday. As a result, I would not expect Man of Steel #18 to even (ever?) come close to the value of Batman Adventures #12. Man of Steel #17 is an interesting case because there is much, much less Doomsday in Man of Steel #17 than there is Wolverine in Hulk #180, but for now, Man of Steel #17 has a higher price. What is that higher price for MoS #17 based on? It's not based on the amount of Doomsday in the book. It's likely that Man of Steel #17 has a premium (for now) over Man of Steel #18 due to the fewer number of CGC graded copies for #17. If both books had similar CGC census numbers, we would likely see Man of Steel #18 with a higher price because it is the first "full Doomsday". That's an interesting situation though, because Doomsday "appears" throughout Man of Steel #18, but he's always covered by his wrappings. We don't get to "see" Doomsday until Superman #74. I think it's the cover of MOS18 that collectors like so much. Great cover. And yeah.... why is MOS 17 doing so well? I don't get that at all. Yeah, I don't get it. #18 has the better cover, more stuff happens in the book and it's a full first appearance as opposed to a...fist. Smaller print run, perhaps? How many other characters have a cameo first appearance out-perform their first full and first cover?

Wow, that's blazing fast. Wonder if they invested in a new encapsulation machine?

My MOS #18 9.8WP first print will be delivered to the house on Monday! I wonder what the ceiling for this book will be once Doomsday is officially revealed as the villain. There are currently 955 in 9.8, with 5 in 9.9.

Welp, that's what you get for buying a Hyundai I guess.

I'm sure if I send my Saga #1 in to get reholdered, they will print out a new label with the key notes on it.

I'm just waiting for Kata Mara's "reshoot wig" to pop up on eBay.

My copy of Saga #1 doesn't have anything on the label, but if you look it up by certification number, it says: Sometimes CGC is just slow on the uptake on documenting first appearances.

I would think that ECCC and C2E2 would be "busier" for CGC than SDCC.

Sounds like something that can be posted in the "Ask CGC" forum.

Is it possible that there are Japanese comics that pre-date 12/94? EDIT - The MMPR first appear in the April 1994's Super Sentai #2. Would this be considered a comic appearance or a magazine appearance?

If anything I'd say they are doing a pretty good job. I've seen some 9.6 books come back that I have no idea what kept it from being a 9.8 though so I'd say they are leaning to the strict side if anything. Good to know. I wish CGC would have Grader's Notes on 9.6s like some other companies do.

So quick question and I would like everyone's opinion. Do you think that in the busy convention season, CGC grades a little bit softer than normal? Like are they in such a rush to get these books out that they might not see everything on a book? Or are they grading them just as tightly and just having the customers wait it out on the back end?

Just read it. It's amazing what Charlie Adlard can do to convey emotion with just drawings, no dialogue. There's something in the air that makes me think there's big happenings a transpiring. I have a feeling that Kirkman and Adlard are really going to come big with the run-up to issue #150. Here's a new preview of next month's cover: