GeeksAreMyPeeps

Can we talk about Marvel Age 97?

 

What the is wrong with you people?

 

First Darkhawk? really? $15+ really?

 

marvel Age 12 - first appearance of Spider-man Black Costume, completed sales of $20?!

 

if there wasn't an earlier sign of the coming comic book apocalypse this is it now.

 

Jimmy I usually enjoy your posts but not this one. How is Marvel age not the first appearance of Darkhawk?

There is a preview of Darkhawk #1 in MA 97, but Darkhawk does not appear in the story. Darkhawk appears on the cover and on a pin-up on the inside. If we go by this criteria, then Previews magazine is where most characters' first appearances would be.

 

ok then how is ma 97 not darkhawks first comic book appearance?

 

he isn't appearing in continuity or in a story, is he? marvel age was sort of a preview magazine advertising stuff. it isn't a "comic book". is capes #1 the first walking dead (and there's even part of the story there) or the WD with the chew preview? honestly, those other two are probably better candidates as 1st apps as pieces from the story are in there.

 

otherwise new mutants 86 is the first app of cable. they show his face in the "coming next month" section.

 

This is ironic on several levels.

Still stuck with copies of SEX #1 that I'm looking to let go.

So you've got a bad case of comic blue balls?

So I have read that Snyder might be introducing Hush in his next arc, might be interesting.

 

Does anybody know for sure if CGC considers Hush's first appearance to be Batman 608 or 609 by any chance? Or when his first appearance actually was?

 

-J.

 

I think 609 as Tommy Elliot, and 619 as Hush.

However, the CGC labels on those books doesn't mention first appearance for either.

 

That's what I thought as well. Though he is on the cover of the 608 RRP. Would that not actually make that his first appearance ?

 

-J.

 

Depends what the print date of the RRP was.

 

The 608 RRP is dated 12/02, the same date as the regular edition. 609 is dated 1/03. So unless I'm mistaken the 608 RRP would be Hush's first appearance, even if only on the cover.

 

-J.

 

The first print of 608 was released Oct 23. 609 was released Nov 27. You'll have to find out when the actual DC retailer summit happened in 2002 to figure out if the RRP technically pre-dates the release of issue 609.

 

Oy vay. That may not even be possible. I can see why CGC doesn't say either way on the label. They may ultimately just base it on the listed release date of the comic. There really should be some official labeling on one of those books though when Hush's first appearance was.

 

-J.

If I'm reading the posts above correctly, the suggestion is that since Hush appears on the cover of the giveaway to retailers that that issue should be considered a first appearance? I think any book that's not available to the public doesn't really qualify. (Actually, I don't even think that con exclusives that are available for a weekend con the weekend before the official release date should qualify if it's an exclusive of the same issue.)

I get the impression that at MCS, $10-and-up books (picking a random cutoff) with scans are graded much tighter, and perhaps by different people entirely.

 

Seems like I've read a number of complaints here about their grading on 'filler' books, and I do find them believable... but I've bought quite a number of 'better' books from MCS over the years, and been well pleased with the grading every time.

 

Unfortunately for them, I placed an order of "filler books" so I could gauge how trustworthy their grading was without making too much of an investment in the process. Now I know, and I won't give them any more business.

One would think that if you're not going to invest too much time in grading books that won't sell for much (which I totally understand, because someone has to be paid to do that), you'd automatically knock down the grade a bit for defects you may have missed with a casual scan.

When I placed my order with MCS, I also placed one with Searchlight Comics, and while my experience with their grading was similar, their customer service was much more responsive and actually issued the refund they said they would.

MCS has strict grading?

 

I bought about 10 Conan The Barbarian books from then since I've head so many wonderful things about their grading, All books were "NM+" The books showed up with multiple color breaking spine creases and small bends on the corners, along with surface wear. I mailed them back for a refund. No idea what others are seeing. I'll sell there though

I had a similar experience. I bought a batch of books from them on eBay to fill some holes in my Valiant collection. I had to return about half of them for being overgraded, and they didn't refund me in full for return shipping as they claim they will.

One "Near Mint" book had a number of color-breaking corner creases and was roughed up in a few other areas. One "Very Fine" book had a pretty pronounced rolled spine

Seems relevant. Here's a recent 8.5 from MCS.

 

My opinion on the grade in spoilers.

 

I put it at a 9.2 with impending press/slab grade of 9.4 probably even 9.6. As high as the very small CB corner crease on the bc will let it go.

 

 

 

That edge stress at the top is going to knock it down a bit, no?

 

I'd be terrified if a newborn had any sexual prowess.

 

Now there's a comic book premise that'll sell like hot cakes! BABY CHUBSTER, PRIVATE EYE

Gave his mom an O on the way out

Figment #1 !!!!

I meant to put that in the "misses" thread

 

 

That's an ignorant / unfair statement.

Figment cannot be judged until mini is complete.

It has been a fabulous spec if you were in from ground floor.

 

Disney fan base > Vindictive lunatics on CGC boards.

 

Figment #1 is a speculator-y pick beyond what most of you are capable of, so I completely get the animosity.

 

The question is whether the Disney fan base will just want to be able to read the book, or whether they must have the first prints. That will make a big difference in the prices these books realize long-term.

ENORMOUS ENORMOUS ENORMOUS! WAY TO GO TIM.

On Wednesday Midtown's TImes Square store still had a batch of the regular and variant covers. Today I stopped by after work because I had missed something on Wednesday and it looks like someone cleared out the variants. (A few of the regular edition were still available.)

I was surprised to see a few copies of Figment #2 still available.

Why is there a debate over the #1 and #6 issues in relation to Coulson ( I know few care ) ? He appears in the first issue as cheese. If Superman showed up in a book and people called him Clark for 5 issues, would the first 1 not be his first appearance ? For the record I have 1 of each of his possible 1st appearances including the cartoon book.

 

1st Clark Kent yes, 1st Superman, no. There are plenty instances of this. This circumstance isn't so cut and dry because Coulson is a regular human and doesn't have a costume.

This is all just conversation. At this point the market has decided #6 is the one that demands money.

 

Well you know how I feel about the market determining facts about comics. In this case the market only reflects the lack of knowledge concerning these two characters first appearances. I hate to use Harley Quinn as the prime example but if her face appeared in a secret file at the end of BA 11 the market would change over night and we wouldn't be talking cameo either, it would be a first appearance conversation. The only difference here is that Nick Fury Jr isn't a beloved character.

 

Coulson on the other hand had a few appearances prior to Battle Scars, this being his first. There really is no disputing this no matter what Battle Scars 6 sells for.

Perception is the only thing that matters. I mean, take Domino. Her first actual appearance is in X-Force #8. No one seems to care that before that, she was being impersonated by a shapeshifter. No, it's the first appearance of the shapeshifter in New Mutants #98 that everyone wants to own.

Enormous is still cooking. I read it again last night and still can't get over the art. How long do you think it takes to produce a book of this quality ?

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=spread+%231&LH_Sold=1&_osacat=63&_from=R40&LH_Complete=1&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1311.R1.TR6.TRC0.A0.H0.Xenormous&_nkw=enormous&_sacat=63

I'm not sure whether this book is digitally painted like Clayton Crain's work on Rai, but after the currently monthly arc wraps up on that book, there's going to be a 3-month hiatus before it returns in December. So (for that book) I'm guessing close to two months for the art on a complete normal-sized issue. Seems comparable here, although Enormous was an extra-sized issue. Are these puns already old?

so how are they going to bring black nick fury into continuity? i know he's in the ultimate universe, but eventually they're going to merge everything to sell some books...nick fury's younger (half) brother? nick fury's love child with gabriel jones's sister? so many possibilities.

 

my son is very confused between the comics and csrtoons/movies/tv. it's not like green lantern where john stewart is an actual different person and kingpin in the movies, who should have been black to start with in the comics.

 

He's nick furys son.

And he gets darker in battle scars from 1 to 6

 

I thought he was born from a love child between Nick and an African American, thus his darker complexion?

He was born from the desire of Marketing to have the Nick Fury in the main Marvel Comics Universe to look like the guy that portrays him in the movie. And they even put out his eye, like his dad, like there's a genetic disposition to losing an eye or something. It's ridiculous. That's all one needs to know. The end.

1st Katana

I've got one of these somewhere. Probably no better than a VF, but I don't care, because I don't think I'd part with my Outsiders books. When I first started collecting, I bought the first 7 issues from my local shop as a set, and it was my favorite book until they canceled it. It was lots of fun in those pre-web days trying to find all of the Outsiders' appearances.

Somebody got shilled all the way to the cleaners:

X-Factor #24 $137.50

http://www.ebay.com/itm/X-Factor-24-First-Appearance-of-Archangel-Marvel-Comics-X-Men-1988-/171373124915?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item27e6a25d33&nma=true&si=fwTA7mMsG%252FBznsoug1OkyBpue4o%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Wow. Not even slabbed. Would a 9.8 even get that high?

By the way...the first no-contest "second printing" based on sellout demand that Marvel ever did?

 

Ghost Rider #1, 1990.

What constitutes this being "no-contest"? While I'm not informed about the G.I. Joe reprints, the first issue of The 'Nam quickly went to a second printing due to demand in 1986. (I first started collecting right around this time, and the reprint was on sale around the same time as issue 3 or 4.)

Wouldn't Star Wars reprints be a result of demand?

Or, are we somehow separating second prints from reprints (which come out second)?

I go with RMA.I believe the Joes and Star Wars were reprints,no?

 

Joes are almost all labeled "second", "third" printing (except for #3-5), so they're easy to classify, even if they didn't come out until 1985-1986...2-4 years after they were first printed.

 

The Joes are a quite unique situation. Someone at Hasbro was either pestering Marvel to reprint the books, or someone at Marvel was far-sighted (probably Larry Hama.)

 

By 1985, early Joes were the hottest thing on the market, just before the explosion part of the B&W Explosion, and #2 first prints were $50 books at one pont (in 1985 dollars, making a raw copy worth about $125 in 2014 dollars!)

 

FIrst, they reprinted #3-4 in 1983 (who knows why they didn't reprint #2 first, and #1 was, of course, because of the Baxter paper.)

 

Then, a few other issues were reprinted in 1984 (#7, #10, #17-19), and the rest mostly in 1985 and 1986 (see 65 cent cover price, not in place before April, 1985 cover dates.)

 

It was totally haphazard and random. I'm going to have to sit Larry Hama down some day and have him explain what was going on at the time.

Why would you think Larry Hama had something to do with the situation with the reprints? Certainly as the writer he would have little input. Even if he also editing the books (I have no clue whether he was, just speculating from your comment) that may not be his decision to make. Decisions regarding print runs, reprints, etc., probably come somewhere else along the line, from marketing or sales departments.

 

Larry Hama was much more than a writer at Marvel. Several of the editors and writers at Marvel, especially in the 70's and 80's, "floated" between production and other depts. (like Peter David, who was in circulation, and would have been intimately familiar with sales numbers), and were quite familiar (especially with the then-relatively new royalty system) with how well their own projects were doing.

 

Since GI Joe was a toy tie-in, it simply made sense to make sure the book, in multiple different issues, was available in K-Mart, Walmart, and wherever the toys were sold for customers to purchase along with them.

 

Why do you say "as a writer, he would have little input"? He certainly didn't make the final decision on print runs; that would be circulation, but they didn't work in vacuums. And Larry was a smart guy, and was involved with the project with Hasbro from the beginning.

 

It makes perfect sense for Larry to have suggested to sales to have bagged reprints of the books (since Marvel had been doing bagged comics through Whitman for a decade or so at this point) on the shelves along with the toys. In 1983, the Marvel Books division took over the bagged distribution of licensed and in-house property tie-ins, which is when we see the first reprints of Joe, along with others, like Return of the Jedi (1983), Secret Wars (1984), the Star comics like Thundercats (1985) and Muppet Babies (1985.) Marvel Books would have either warehoused the copies they needed until they were ready to bag them, or reprinted whatever they wanted to include if they didn't have originals on hand.

 

I'm not saying he did, but it's not far fetched at all. Someone certainly made the decision to include Joe in the project, albeit in a most random way.

I realize he did quite a bit, but my understanding that it was mostly on the creative side, including the art some issues. I got to speak with him a bit at a convention a few years back that I was the comics coordinator for, when he was one of my guests. Fun fact: although Hama is probably far better known as a writer, he considers himself an artist first.

By the way...the first no-contest "second printing" based on sellout demand that Marvel ever did?

 

Ghost Rider #1, 1990.

What constitutes this being "no-contest"? While I'm not informed about the G.I. Joe reprints, the first issue of The 'Nam quickly went to a second printing due to demand in 1986. (I first started collecting right around this time, and the reprint was on sale around the same time as issue 3 or 4.)

Wouldn't Star Wars reprints be a result of demand?

Or, are we somehow separating second prints from reprints (which come out second)?

I go with RMA.I believe the Joes and Star Wars were reprints,no?

 

Joes are almost all labeled "second", "third" printing (except for #3-5), so they're easy to classify, even if they didn't come out until 1985-1986...2-4 years after they were first printed.

 

The Joes are a quite unique situation. Someone at Hasbro was either pestering Marvel to reprint the books, or someone at Marvel was far-sighted (probably Larry Hama.)

 

By 1985, early Joes were the hottest thing on the market, just before the explosion part of the B&W Explosion, and #2 first prints were $50 books at one pont (in 1985 dollars, making a raw copy worth about $125 in 2014 dollars!)

 

FIrst, they reprinted #3-4 in 1983 (who knows why they didn't reprint #2 first, and #1 was, of course, because of the Baxter paper.)

 

Then, a few other issues were reprinted in 1984 (#7, #10, #17-19), and the rest mostly in 1985 and 1986 (see 65 cent cover price, not in place before April, 1985 cover dates.)

 

It was totally haphazard and random. I'm going to have to sit Larry Hama down some day and have him explain what was going on at the time.

Why would you think Larry Hama had something to do with the situation with the reprints? Certainly as the writer he would have little input. Even if he also editing the books (I have no clue whether he was, just speculating from your comment) that may not be his decision to make. Decisions regarding print runs, reprints, etc., probably come somewhere else along the line, from marketing or sales departments.

Every week at least once somebody says to me, "I didn't know they made Walking Dead comic books."

 

You should see the comments on Todd McFarlane's FB post of the Rick resin statue... Some people posting stuff like "that's not Rick," "that looks like Chuck Norris," "Todd must not be happy with the sculpt," "well it seems Rick is gonna lose a hand; thanks for spoiling it" and "that looks nothing like Andrew Lincoln." SMH...

I make it a point of telling those who don't know about the comic how Glenn dies. Sad sad faces follow

I'm the same way, except I run down the list, and add a name for every "No way!" reply I get.

 

NICE! Yeah, people do get bummed out when they learn how Glen dies. My wife was, for lack of a better word, appalled when I showed her the sequences leading to the brain bashing.

I just recently started reading TWD, and am only a few arcs in (and have never seen the show). Any chance you could format any spoilers as spoilers?

The Death of Superman was ridiculous. It was precisely the type of story aimed at 8 year old boys, with 8 year old reasoning. Nothing was explained, there was no buildup, there was no backstory, this guy just decided to show up and wallop Superman, and 7 issues later, Supes is dead?

 

Stupid.

 

If I was 8, I would have thought it was the greatest thing ever, just like I thought the Poseidon Adventure was the greatest movie ever when I was 8.

 

The only clever part was the decreasing number of panels per book. That was kinda cool.

The bigger problem with the story is that Superman would find a way of winning that doesn't constitute just walloping Doomsday.

Thanks. It seems to the general audience, a 9.8 is "perfect" and a 9.9 or 10 must be hand-assembled by Benedictine monks or something.

For shame! That might result in fingerprints.

Turok #1 sold 1.75 million copies to the Direct market...and it was only the SIXTH highest selling book of 1993 (MOS #22, Supes #78, Action #687, Adventures #500, 501.)

And the 5th for the month it was released (same month as launch of Reign of the Supermen)

By the way...the first no-contest "second printing" based on sellout demand that Marvel ever did?

 

Ghost Rider #1, 1990.

What constitutes this being "no-contest"? While I'm not informed about the G.I. Joe reprints, the first issue of The 'Nam quickly went to a second printing due to demand in 1986. (I first started collecting right around this time, and the reprint was on sale around the same time as issue 3 or 4.)

walking dead 127 still above 10-9 dollars.. Outcast is a good pick.. Kirkman:) when more news comes out for the show.. it should get to a better level.

Considering that there was news of a show before the issue released, and it's a Kirkman #1, I can't imagine that the print run isn't huge due to people speculating when placing orders. (Didn't the '90s teach us anything?) Even if the show is decent, I can't see #1 being a particularly pricey book long-term. (Subsequent issues, which will have a much lower print run, might be a different story.) And if the show doesn't take off, there are going to be a lot of people with a lot of copies.

My LCS scans the bar codes.

This would probably be the quickest way for an LCS to complete sales, and also ensure that no one tries to get a variant at the normal cover price.

Anyone else going in on the Rai #2 Recalled Mask Variant???

 

I'm figuring awesome artist+awesome writer+pretty good comic so far+limited numbers=huge potential.

 

Do I have something here, or am I being ridi-culous???

 

I wouldn't hold your breath on Rai; the overwhelming sentiment on the VF boards is that the recall error was quite abundant in a number of shops. That, and I don't think a lot of people will care....if the VF regulars don't care about this, then few people will.

 

This. The people that should care don't.

Hello all. I'm new here but a regular on the Valiant Fans boards. I can't speak for all Valiant collectors, but personally I'd pick up one of the recalled books if I could get it at cover price, but I have no intention of paying any more for it. Some people might, and it if Valiant's fan base grows, there might be higher demand, but I don't see it for now.