VintageComics

No different than buying a book graded by a reputable dealer, I guess. It's a small niche service and you use your eyes, the rep of the seller as well as the grade provided. Not a bad idea, actually.

Is that supposed to be Jack Kirby? It looks like him. I agree. Back in the 1930's to even the late 1980's artists stayed forever (with a few exceptions). Beggers couldn't be choosers. But with the proliferation of the digital age, the ability to live anywhere and to work anywhere artists can be more picky. Some artists take the work even if they don't love it. They just want to pay the bills much like a journeyman or session musician. I doubt we'll ever again see artists who spend half a century in comics like we saw from the GA to the MA in the first 50 years of the hobby.

Also, I know this theory has been floated around here many times before, but it feels like the CGC Effect, i.e. slabbing of moderns, has nurtured a cover-driven market. A pretty pin-up looks pretty nice in a plastic case. I get it, I just don't care for the books personally. Not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg but it's all a product of all markets speeding up due to reliance on digital transfer of information. Retailers want to sell as much as possible as quickly as possible, so they want to preorder as accurately as possible. The bottleneck is how quickly artists can put their work out. There certainly has been a shift towards covers over the last 20 years as well due to Certification. Books like Detective #33 (origin issues) used to be huge keys but they have been overtaken by books with 'better' covers. The end product is a cover driven market. Our lives have become a string of dopamine hits. People want their dopamine hit and they want it now. The faster the better.

Hey man, no offense but I've gone back 4 pages in the eBay forum and you have the same book being advertised on each page. Real estate is precious here and to be fair to everyone, you should just bump your 1st thread rather than create a new one each time. That leaves room for others on those 4 pages. Just my

Read my first few posts on the first page. I was pretty chill. The word ludicrous wasn't directed at you. It was directed at the market, which collects covers with 32 extra pages attached to them. I made the comment because I thought it was relevant. The rest of the discussion has been spurned by other posters. So I guess the 'market' has decided.

Boy, you are really aggressive towards me. Have we tangled in the past? I said it was ludicrous that covers don't match what's going on inside the book. You don't think it's ludicrous that covers don't match interiors? All that matters is what's on the cover? That's fine. May as well collect post cards. Personally, I don't think it's healthy for the market. There are only so many different poses you can put a woman in to sell a cover before it gets dull.

It's interesting to note that pin-up covers were at their most popular both then and now, when Super-heroes (and comics in general) struggled to find a popular theme (ie. what sells). So they resorted to putting pin-up women on them.

I'm in my late 40's. Now get off my lawn.

Neal Adams? Sometimes it felt like Adams was light boxing a photograph, his illustrations looked so real (and photo-like).

Does Artgerm only draw women? It seems that the only reason to collect these covers is the same reason to buy the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. And that's not meant to be an insult. It's an observation I made over a decade ago as covers become more focused on poster type covers and even more importantly, having hot women on them.

Welcome to the internet.

And you sound like your opinion is the only one that matters. I have no idea how the publication process goes. I just know that covers don't match interiors. And if covers of books don't need to match interiors of books that is very much an extension of how society functions today. You have about 6-7 seconds to catch someone's attention when writing a song. And if you don't catch their attention in those 1st 6 or 7 seconds, the song is a dud. Even if it isn't. It's a product of the digital age speeding up everyone, reducing their attention and levelling the playing field so evenly nothing really stands out any more. Not even something great. And if the cover of the book doesn't need to match the interior story, then I'd say there's a problem. Wouldn't you? Are we on a tangent? Of course. Welcome to the internet.

Have you ever asked here? https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/forum/92-moderation-review-request/ Yes. Like I said, moderators reply to that link (or when I've messaged them directly) but I was not talking about that.

A picture of a comic book interior? A splash page? You'll need to be more specific. Are you talking about the stain around the staple? It looks like a rusted staple and rust transfer stain that has spread into the paper due to moisture.

That goes back to our points about getting what you pay for. They don't have time. I sent one such mail once and the mod did a detailed reply and noted that it had taken them 2 hours to construct it. They aren't actually as technically competent with the board software as we are, as they don't use it. So the mod was annoyed, as I'd effectively wiped his day out. We shared replies, each time with me making what I thought were clear and a factually accurate points in support of my case and the mod each time would gloss over those points. So it was a waste of both our times on that occasion. On the flip side, I have had points overturned. I have always had mixed feelings about this subject. One day I don't give a damn, the next I feel that sense of moral indignation. One day I'm on the mods side - let's face it, what a job, moderating us lot - the next I want to scream when moderation actions blatantly 'fail' (in my opinion of course). Online is no different to real life. If a guy upsets you in the pub, you react, however calm and dignified you may be. If the guy on the phone at the company who has mucked you about won't listen to reason, it drives you nuts. And you react. So that's why some of the most prolific boardies, and me, are here in this thread discussing a topic which some might say we should all get lives over. I have humped the button about three of four times in the two and a bit years I've been here. Two were retaliatory, and two were to test the process. I felt petty each time. So its not something I think I'll ever do again. Until we get a full time admin person on here, who can add the value I outlined in earlier posts, we're stuck with this system. So best we get on with it. The resource isn't equipped to assess each button hump in a contextual way. The rules are clear enough, so if the mod sees they've been broken they'll likely act. They don't have time to say "oh, it's greggy, so that's an in joke". They probably don't know who greggy is even. Who does? The main issue with the process as I see it is that it is inherently unfair. As I said earlier, if person A masks swearing ten times, and no one reports, they get away with it. If person B swears once, and gets reported, they get moderated. So it is possible to get someone banned by reporting their every transgression. Hence people like lizards2 starting to back away for fear of a total ban. Lizards2 is a great, long time poster here. It would be a sad day indeed if he were banned. And others like him. So the mods need to look for the patterns, to see if people are being 'ganged up on'. But they don't have time, do they. And admin, in the main, fail to intervene preferring instead to put their faith in the process. The cheap, poorly conceived, inaccurately administered, unfair process. So to conclude, the only way to improve things is to ramp up the resource. Hence my suggestion of an annual fee to pay for a full time administrator who's sole focus is to make this place as fair and effective as it can be. It'll never happen of course, as who aspires to excellence nowadays, when the bare minimum gets them by? And if a few valued contributors fall foul, hey, it's a chat forum. No one died. To be fair, most moderators I reach out to do reply. I just disagree often with their conclusions. But the emails I sent were specifically sent to Collectors Society higher ups on the quality of moderation. And those emails went unanswered.

Yup. Great to see you Jeff. Hope all is well with you and the fam.

So, the cover has nothing to do with the book and that doesn't seem strange? We've jumped the shark as a hobby and it's indicative of society in general. I'm not arguing with you. Just pointing out how ludicrous things have become. And on your point, it's not hard for someone to convey to the artist what the story is about.

Because if you ask moderators (and you get an answer) they usually tell me that a post was reported. It's the way things work around here now. Moderators don't actively engage in threads today the way Arch used to 15 years ago. Now they simply moderate obvious posts that stick out like a sore thumb and reported posts.

I'm not sure why you consider it a "problem" insofar as the covers themselves. Well, the art is nice but it's more like buying a post card than a comic book. Often the covers don't have much to do with the stories and I prefer being drawn in by a cover if I'm reading a book. I'm old fashioned that way. Additionally, I tend to remember story arcs I like by the covers (which were tied into the stories). If the covers are simply poster art, they don't remind me of the story arcs. I don't form an emotional attachment to the book in the same way.

We do play the obstacles. But we also like talking about the time that broken window made the game a little more exciting that day.

Written like a true Virgo. And I tend to agree. What you are left with is less quality and less objective thinking.

BTW Andrew, I broke a leg 3 years ago. So I can make that joke with street cred now.

I think the bigger problem is that covers don't tie into the stories. They're poster pieces to themselves. I think I'd like captions back on comic book covers.

Break a leg! And brunettes > blondes! Oh yeah, FU. And we miss you.

My cases have been similar. On the old boards it would have been good fun. On the new boards, I was reprimanded. I've sent two clear, calm emails. Never even received a reply. +1,000,000 It's a game to some people who are petty and have nothing better to do than mess with other people.