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mattn792

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Journal Entries posted by mattn792

  1. mattn792
    Hello all!  As many of you probably already know, I've run a little charity thread for the past three years in G/S/B, where @jaybuck43 and I pick a worthy cause or two to raise money for, I inevitably finish a strong second in whatever gentlemen's bet we agree to, and then I put up the seed money.  Myself and several generous boardies put up books to give away, folks pledge money, and we raise some good dough for our chosen cause(s).  Simple, right?
    And this year will largely go the same way, except that you'll all have a chance to really make me earn it this year!  I wanted to do this little preview journal as much for myself as for all of you, because I'm attempting a feat that I'd never have even dreamed of accomplishing prior to meeting my fiancée, who is a bonafide badazz with 4 Iron Mans under her belt (if you don't know why this is impressive, see here - Ironman Distances: How Long is an Ironman Triathlon Race? (bettertriathlete.com)).
    No, we're not jumping straight into an Iron Man together.  She wrapped up toting our daughter around 24/7 in mid-March, and at this particular juncture, I'm pretty sure I'd turn into something like this by the 2/3 point at the latest:


    So what is that we've undertaken and will underpin this year's charity thread?  That would be the Dopey Challenge, hosted by Disney World this coming January.  What the hell is that you may ask?  Well Disney hosts a 5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon, and marathon on consecutive days.  And the Dopey Challenge is to finish...all of them.  48.7 miles in 4 days, with the distances basically doubling each day.  Don't believe me?  Check it out - Challenges | Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend | runDisney. 
    When the time comes, participants can have all sorts of fun with their pledges - per mile, per race finished, betting against me finishing, time bonuses, whatever!  I think we'll once again have a great time.  The thread itself won't launch until December as usual, but stay tuned to this journal for some updates on how training is going, how I'm feeling overall, what my time goals are, etc.  I'll keep using this same entry to provide updates in the comments section.
  2. mattn792
    So let's do this!
    In a text to my wonderful girlfriend today, I said something to the effect of "it's like a cloud of lousy has been hanging over this whole week."  
    And it's the truth, we've both felt that way about our respective work weeks.  But that also makes me smile when I reflect on just how much higher the floor is for "lousy" than it used to be in my life.  
    Looking at the calendar, today (May 26th, but my typing carried over into the 27th) is actually the 9 month anniversary of my divorce being court official.  It's like Facebook official, only much legal-er!  We were "only" married 5 years, together for 7 and change, but it was still the worst thing I've ever been through in my life.  Even when you know it's the right thing to do, there's still a really heavy emotional soup to swim through.  I didn't want to come out of it resentful...but I ultimately came out of it resentful.  Though even resentful has a new definition - I don't wish her good, or bad.  I just have no wish.  Why is this you ask?  The money, the house, her...meh, I can easily move forward from those.  The only lasting wound - I got cut off from my three dogs.  After she said she'd never do that.  That's a microcosm of the relationship - a lot of talk, little execution.  Reminds me of my father.
    There's a lasting image in my mind from July 19, 2021, which was the day I moved the rest of my stuff out of the old house and into my new one (I love my new house btw).  I had stopped back over to feed the dogs on my way out of town for work, and as I was about leave out, my Siberian husky, my baby girl, flopped down in front of the front door and raised a back leg in her standard "pet my belly" posture.  I'd left the house plenty of times before, and she had NEVER done that.  It was like she knew I was leaving for good and was saying "Don't go!".  No shame, I cried for half the drive to Minneapolis.  It's a 6 hour drive btw.  Have not seen baby girl or the two boys since that day.  And I asked multiple times.
    One of the things a person learns quickly in codependence recovery - a codependent is drawn to what's familiar, even if it sucks.  My ex-wife was very insecure and frequently nagged me about petty stuff, much like my mother.  And as mentioned before, she promised, or ranted, or threatened, to do this that or the other, and never did.  Much like my father.  But... recovery!  Why didn't I see this?  Because we got together in 2013, and my recovery journey didn't start until a year later.  By that time, I probably felt somewhat pot committed, but more relevant, I wasn't immediately ready to acknowledge that people in my life were hurting me just as much as I had hurt them.  There were probably about 720 distinct invitations to break up.  But my mindset at the time was that I could work on myself and lead by example.  It clearly didn't work.  But that's OK.  I understand why I thought I could do it by myself at that time.
    So yes, I make for a good study in a psychology journal, but what does this all have to do with comics?  Well, if anyone has seen my recent sales threads, you're aware that I've started to lose my passion for collecting while maintaining a strong passion for the hobby.  Somewhat oxymoronic, yes, but I can honestly say I still can't wait for a show once I commit to attending.  And flipping through the raw back issue boxes is still a blast.  But buying the plastic off the wall, then storing it in the comic closet, next to the readers I never read...can't I do something better with that money?  
    The simple answer is yes.  In the past 6 months, I've been on five vacations.  In the past 5 years prior to November 2021, I'd been on one.  And I have had infinitely more fun.  Seriously, no scale can capture the level of fun of these past 6 months in comparison to the prior 60 months.  And a big part of that fun - the people.  I've been surrounded by great people, and great settings, at every turn.  I can finally be me to the fullest, not constantly tiptoeing around someone else's multitude of triggers.
    Focus Matt, comics.  Yes, comics.  The overarching point - my collecting went back into overdrive in January of 2013.  Not coincidentally, that was right around the time that I went through a really bad break-up, which rolled into several really dull dates, then led to hurting a really wonderful woman because I was a total mess of a human, and ultimately led to the relationship with my ex-wife.  And from January 2013 to January 2021, my collecting was always rotating between spots 1-3 of my favored escapes.  Hell, let's just call it my list of priorities.  Collecting was a big help in keeping me distracted from the harshness of a reality I wouldn't acknowledge - the relationship wasn't working.  
    So, when the fact of divorce finally became real in the throes of last year's winter, I started to realize that I had a bunch of...stuff...accumulated.  Some valuable stuff, sure, but still stuff.  And I had to ask myself, "what is all this stuff really doing for me?"  I started downsizing.  The initial stuff was easy, save for maybe the JIM 85.  But that's only because it hasn't stopped appreciating in value haha.  Yet I still trucked a good amount of it to my new house, and I sort of started accumulating again.  I didn't think I needed the distraction, but looking back, maybe I still did a little.  I was on my own (for the first time ever!), and comprehensively, the happiest and healthiest I'd been in quite some time.  Which only accelerated after I adopted my new husky.  
    But there was a lack of people in my life.  I bonded quickly with one set of my new neighbors, but I had lost most of my rolodex of friends in the course of the failed marriage (another casualty of my ex-wife's insecurities).  And my own family was out of the picture (a result of my own choices, zero regrets or regerts there).  Essentially, I was missing someone that I could lean on when I did need it.  Two times when that fact really hit home -- night #2 in Vegas, when I was sitting alone in the Irish pub between the Luxor and Mandalay Bay, and on Christmas.  Christmas has always been a bitter time for me - it was a chore with my parents, and they'd fight like clockwork.  And then my ex-wife turned it into a competition.  "You only got me x, and I got you x, y, and z!"  It's a wonder I didn't have any Christmas nights like in Step Brothers - "You smell like scotch and cheesecake."  Probably because I don't like cheesecake!
    2021 was the first Christmas I was completely free.  And football was on.  But I was still bitter.  Football on TV says, "Merry Christmas, from our family to yours."  I'd respond, 'F YOU!'    
    So ultimately...comics!  Since 2013, I had never made them a financial burden (prior to late 2007 though...), or a hoarding kind of obsession, but they have been my security blanket throughout large portions of my life.  But there's no shame in that.  My counselor proudly says that alcoholism saved his life by making life bearable until he got into recovery.  And comics did much the same for me.  They were my escape from situations that I found unbearable, until I had developed the tools to make any situation bearable.
    Life isn't just bearable though anymore; someway, somehow, I'm enjoying the heck out of it.  EVERY.  SINGLE.  DAY.  My passion for collecting may have lessened in the process, but I'll take that trade off any day of the week!
    Leading to today, and this week's cloud of lousy.  I dislike my employer.  I want to leave.  Everyone in the office seemingly wants to complain to me.  For whatever reason, I don't want to hear it this week.  And this wonderful woman in my life isn't yet here with me every day.  And she's having her own work issues.  And FaceTime is a meager substitute for a long, tight hug when you both really want and need it.  
    There was a time long ago when I would have let this turn into a never ending downward spiral (at least until some temporary fix came along).  
    BUT...there are still many positives at work.  I'm not just going to up and quit, because that would be idiotic.  And maybe other opportunities are on the horizon, we will see.  But more importantly - soon, very soon, she'll be here with me.  And when late December of 2022 rolls around, I fully expect that I'll probably come home one day to find her in the midst of beer number three, trying to gift wrap the cat, while our dogs look on in sheer perplexity.  And I'm going to lose my damn fool mind laughing.
    It's not a never ending spiral.  Lousy is only temporary.  Tomorrow is always a new day.
    Thanks for listening 
  3. mattn792
    Top set in registry needs more!!!
    Hello all. Just wanted to put it out there that I'm looking for more 9.8 and above Wolverine books. My set is nearing completion and as most everyone knows its much harder to finish a set than to start it. I will pay top dollar to anyone looking to sell a 9.9 or 10.0 (as a reference, I paid $529 for my 10.0 copy of #2, and I have a 9.9 #1 on the way that cost me $995).
  4. mattn792
    A (multi-part?) tirade against Marvel's epic blunder.
    Greetings all! While I've chosen to utilize my own collections on the registry to post my numerous comic related thoughts, I finally had the utter misfortune of reading Marvel's remarkably unremarkable "Death" of Wolverine story, conveniently force fed into 4 overpriced issues. I have no idea where this is going, how long or how often I'll post about it, but watching my favorite comic character of all time get put out to pasture in such a disdainful manner makes, no requires, me to vent.
    I'm not going to re-hash what has made me such an ardent Wolverine fan as I've already written about that extensively in my 1988, 2003, and Complete sets. Click on over to those if you'd like some further insight into what's created this two decade plus Wolverine fanatic.
    So let's get one thing out of the way immediately -- we all know Wolverine won't stay dead. Even when Marvel announced this blatant cash grab back at the beginning of 2014, I'm sure most of you met this news with a passive yawn. "Oh, like Marvel hasn't killed a character before, only to bring him back 20 minutes later? Yeah, call me when the series is back to normal."
    And like I've recently been thinking about, how many of us were taken in and wrapped up by the Death of Superman storyline? I know I was, and it turned out to be one of the greatest comic hoaxes ever pulled since DC clearly wasn't going to let one of their main cash cows ride off into the sunset. But at least Superman got a proper send off. The series was epic, Doomsday was bonafide evil, and Superman was forced to give it his all in the final confrontation.
    Now let's contrast that with our dear Mr. Logan's "death":
    - Recycled "bad" guy (Dr. Cornelius)
    - Recycled plot (put adamantium in folks)
    - Forced villain cameos
    - Numerous blatant plot failures, including my favorites:
    * Sabretooth goes from head of the Japanese underworld to Viper's pet, with the explanation, "I got locked up. mess happens." Right, it's that easy.
    * Cornelius spending the GDP of Europe on everything EXCEPT some recent intel on Wolverine to makes sure he's even worth capturing. You know, since his whole scheme centers around our hero.
    And on and on.
    I ask, did Charles Soule intentionally want to make this the dumbest story ever written, or did he just assume that he'd off the long time fans no matter what he wrote? My guess would be the latter, but I'm betting Marvel didn't care either way since they assumed people would be buying no matter what.
    And to borrow a thought I saw on another post from another site, how long did it take for Wolverine to go completely back to normal after the Microverse hit the Off switch on him? He has his 10 beers, and after they hit home he's right back to fending off bullet wounds, sword stabbings, and tomahawks to the head. Oh sure, Sabretooth put it on him for a bit, and then he got his fancy armor and was mean and shot some people as a contract killer for a bit. Deep stuff. Combine that with the molten adamantium death, and Marvel could've skipped the whole healing factor loss entirely. Doesn't anyone compare notes anymore?
    But like we all know, he's not going to stay dead. I even bought the post-death books with the intention of reading them after I read the actual death storyline to see where this would go. But the death story was so atrocious that I'm probably just going to put them on eBay instead. Even going in knowing that I'd be displeased that my guy was meeting his end, I at least expected a story that wasn't just some juvenile circle of life nonsense.
    But wait! I'm sure "Wolverines" will be WAAAAYYY better. Because no one has EVER brought a bunch of imposters to throne together to try and replace a beloved hero. Nope, this doesn't mirror the "he's not really dead!" Superman issues that lead up to his eventual return. Not one bit. Maybe Wolverine's return can go just like this:
    - Heart attack! "Yo, Logan! Those fools don't look right, you should jump out of that parade!"
    - "I'm in high school, and Wolverine!"
    - "I've just emerged from this pile of rubble, I'm Wolverine!"
    - "Grrrr, I'm a robot! And Wolverine!"
    - "None of you clowns are Wolverine! I am! Ta da! Now where's my whiskey?! I'm go'n get to tore up!"
    That's about all I've got for now. Frankly it feels good to finally put some of the thoughts that I've had swirling onto e-paper. In the end, agree or disagree, this is all just one man's opinion. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.
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  5. mattn792
    Let the tirade continue.
    So it's been about 3 weeks since I posted my first journal decrying Marvel's "death" of Wolverine stunt (thanks for all the views and replies btw). You may be wondering if my stance has softened in any way, to which the answer is an emphatic NO. If anything, I've grown even more disdainful of it, to the point that all the Marvel Now! issues are going on eBay. I really did give it a lot of though, and it turns out I have no intention of ever reading them again (or for a first time for some of them).
    Plus, I certainly don't want them in my house spreading their Now! nonsense and corrupting the other books in my collection. Left unchecked, 69-71 would morph from a Savage land storyline into a three parter about Wolverine going to a day spa. OK, maybe I'm being a touch melodramatic.
    But I think the larger conclusion I'm trying to get at is I think I'm just done with new releases altogether. I've reached what I refer to as the Simpsons/Family Guy point -- eventually, THE NEW STORIES JUST PLAIN SUCK. Is this a result of the same characters sticking around for decades, only with a new pc twist (Thor, Cap, Superman, Miss Marvel, Northstar, etc.)? The normal consequence of time passing and getting older? Lousy writing? The fact that there are 900 different storylines to try and follow simultaneously? Probably a combo of all of the above I would surmise.
    Does this mean comic collecting has passed me by? Oh, you better believe it has not. If anything, I feel my disdain for the current Marvel books has made me even more passionate about the books from my youth. I'm as aggressive as ever trying to complete my 1988 and 2003 sets as well as the runs of Uncanny X-Men books that I'm hoping to put together over time. Heck, I might even have been more aggressive by now, except that my fiancee would be really pissed if I mis-allocated the wedding money.
    Will it be weird walking into the local shop and simply ignoring the new release racks from now on? Probably. But why shell out the cash for something I don't want? Much like when I realized I should stop collecting CGC graded issues (with a few exceptions) from any of the post-2003 and the Origins series, why buy something simply because I feel I should for set continuity purposes? If there's no connection and no enjoyment, why bother?
    Does any of this make sense, or am I just old and bitter? Either way, let's end with a little shameless self promotion. Here's a photo of the only current SS 9.8 copy of Wolverine 102.5, one of the crown jewels of my 1988 set.

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  6. mattn792
    He taped pointy rebar to his hands?!? Seriously??
    The "death" of Wolverine storyline still sucks. I took $40 on eBay just to get the garbage out of my house. Moving on.
    In today's abbreviated journal, let us delve into a non-death but still cash grab related topic -- are you a fan of having totally random issues signed by a character's (Wolverine or otherwise) creator(s) (say, Wolverine v3 59 by Len Wein and John Romita)? To me, unless we're talking about Stan Lee (no Stan, no Marvel/Stan Lee Presents.../Stan Lee, Chairman Emeritus), no thanks.
    Question the 2nd -- why am I going to pay you $500 for such a book (yeah I've been on eBay recently)? One man's opinion -- Suydam, Chaykin, and Guggenheim are responsible for that issue, what the hell do I want Len Wein's signature on it for?
    Feel free to offer your thoughts as I go back to the UFC and fantasy baseball. And more self promotion -- Wolverine 10, CGC 9.9. 1 of 2.

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  7. mattn792
    Continuing my latest tirade.
    Well I was going to let it ride for a while, but eBay delivered me a new object of especial derision -- an SS 9.4 copy of Wolverine 102.5. Why would I find this particular book annoying? Well, for starters, its listing title mentions Slott, Vallejo, and Bell. But, did any of these wonderful contributors actually sign the book? Why no, that would make too much sense! This particular copy is signed by none other than Len Wein and Herb Trimpe along with the standard Marvel default of Stan Lee. For sale at the low low price of $999.99.
    Yes, 102.5 is one of those Wolverine issues that's tough to come by in high grade. But considering 1974 occurred 22 years prior to 102.5's release, I ask again -- why the hell would anyone buy this book? Especially when you consider it's SIMPLE to track down a show where Mark Buckingam and/or Dan Slott are appearing (and yet I think I'm the only one to have copies signed by these 2). Heck, even Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell were at Wizard World Philly last year (couldn't bring myself to crack my SS 9.8 for them though).
    Look, if it's your thing to undertake collecting the entire 1-189 run signed by the original Wolverine creation brain trust, then good on you. Collecting should be a personal journey first and foremost. But if you're just out to make a quick buck by having the first person who can spell W-O-L-V-E-R-I-N-E sign random issues, then frankly you're helping to cheapen the entire concept of the Signature Series. Please, collect the signatures you want. Don't chase registry points at any cost.
    In my case, as you may have already guessed, I overwhelmingly prefer signatures from direct contributors to an issue. Ergo, for example, here's my Wolverine 187 that I had signed by artist John McCrea.

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  8. mattn792

    Did I call this one?

    By mattn792,

    X-23 really is now the...
    ...Wolverina? Or does eBay deceive me? Honestly, can someone answer that for me?
    I won't waste the time it would take to spit on the new release rack (plus that's probably a great way to get arrested, which I'm not in favor of), much less keep up on the comic debacle that is today's Marvel, but I am curious to see if the prediction I made at the end of the tirade I posted in my Wolverine (Complete) set actually came true.
    While I prep myself to be violently ill, let us remember a great moment in Wolverine history...

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  9. mattn792

    Let's play a game.

    By mattn792,

    I call it "Find the Blue Foil on the Cover."
    Go ahead, scroll down to the photo and see if Wolverine is foil embossed. Or if there's a foil Wizard logo. I'll wait.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    Did you find it? Yeah me neither. We all suck at this game.
    In the past I've dealt with unlabeled deluxe editions, mis-labeled variants, Signature Series labels that list the wrong signer, but this one may be the worst yet.
    On the plus side, the Joe Phillips signature turned out great. Can't wait to eventually add this one to my registry set.

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  10. mattn792
    Star Wars is fun again!!! AGAIN, *** SPOILERS ***
    ONE LAST TIME -- SPOILERS CONTAINED. STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE AND PLAN TO DO SO.
    My wonderful wife was kind enough to make "The Force Awakens" the first movie we saw as a married couple, and as JJ Abrams has proven wont to do when he takes the reins of a beloved franchise, his first effort spurred mostly positive feelings within me.
    So I'll start with a few things that didn't quite sit right. As we've seen, the occasional lack of originality and some mind boggling plot failures have been known to bog Mr. Abrams down. Yes, I'm talking to you "Star Trek: Into Darkness", with your terrible "Wrath of Khan" rip-off and your magic Khan blood. Fortunately, this movie didn't devolve into "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes the Jedi's Hope Back."
    Anyway, yes, another desert planet, another bar filled with intrigue, another planet blowing up dealie that gets subsequently blown up itself. We've seen those before, though they were hardly movie killers. In fact, I thought the crashed Imperial fleet on Jakku was a nice touch, especially with the lack of explanation as to how it wound up there.
    However, there's been one thing that I absolutely haven't been able to wrap my head around: If the Empire was defeated, and the Republic returned to govern in it's place, and the First Order arose from the Empire's remnants, shouldn't the Republic be battling the First Order? Why is there a resistance (staffed by many prominent rebels) and who are they resisting? Wasn't the rebellion's entire purpose to restore the Republic, and shouldn't they have hitched on with the Republic once the Empire was defeated? Did I miss something during my viewing?
    Oh, and why did the Republic put seemingly their ENTIRE FLEET around one planet? Doesn't anyone pay attention to history in the galaxy far, far away?
    BUT, despite all that, I had a freakin' blast watching the movie. I grabbed the wife's arm in glee when Han and Chewie walked onto the Falcon again, said "uh oh" when Han and Kylo Ren faced off, and could barely keep from shouting "Get some!" when Rae nearly chopped off Ren's head. While the shoddy acting and plodding stories of Episodes I - III may have given Robot Chicken great fodder, Episode VII gave me a renewed appreciation for just how bad those movies are.
    Let me ask you this -- for even one minute, did anyone feel like Liam Neeson, Ewen McGregor, Natalie Portman, or Samuel L. Jackson fit into the Star Wars narrative? All great actors and actresses, yet seemingly totally out of place. Surround them with a largely terrible supporting cast and...accchhh. Hayden Christensen's high pitched "I hate you!" at the end of Episode III sounded more like it came from a 15 year old girl who just had her cell phone taken away by mommy rather than an alleged Sith bad . It is what it is though.
    So in conclusion, huge thanks to JJ Abrams, Harrison Ford, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, and everyone else who helped make the Star Wars franchise a whole hell of a lot of fun to watch once again. No it didn't dethrone "Empire" as my favorite, but that isn't what I was hoping for. I just wanted to recapture some of that magic I felt when I first saw "Jedi" (I originally saw the trilogy in reverse when I was a kid) some 25 years ago. Mission definitely accomplished.
    I look forward to your comments.
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  11. mattn792
    Yes, it's 1/2 thank yous, 1/2 eulogy, 1/2 goals accomplished, 1/2 goals to finish, 1/2 reflection, 1/2 looking ahead.
    You totaled that up right, it's a review of 600% of my 2015! But before I begin reminiscing about comics and comic related accessories, I need to start with the most important part and acknowledge my wonderful new wife, who puts up with my hobby and doesn't bat an eye when I occasionally spend a few hundred bucks on the latest and greatest addition. Now, you might be asking yourself -- "Why is this clown writing a journal entry for the registry on New Years Eve instead of spending it with his new bride?" Funny you should ask; she's fast asleep in the bedroom in advance of her 11 PM - 7 AM shift. Our alternate schedules are tough, but we make them work. One of the many, many reasons I love her so dearly. With that said fearless reader, for tonight it's me, you, the pets, and a cold one (or three).
    While I've been pre-planning what to write in this entry for several days, I kept waffling on where to begin. Ultimately, I think the best place to start is with the biggest accomplishments -- I've finally reclaimed both the Wolverine 1988 and 2003 thrones. For now anyway, you can never underestimate my worthy competitors. Any of you who have followed those sets through the years has probably noticed that I've been locked in an epic, yet friendly, competition with frostking and worldsbestcomics for several years. I think the camaraderie we've shared throughout the process has made it that much more enjoyable.
    As for how it happened, the 1988 set owes some thanks to frostking's oldest for starting college and usurping some of his comic budget . In all seriousness though, what really made this year happen were a cavalcade of Larry Hama and other contributor appearances that teamed up with a lost and found box of extra books recovered from my parents' house as well as some minor buying risks that really paid off. One particular lot I snagged off of eBay turned out to be graded far too conservatively and produced eventual SS 9.8 copies of the non-Deluxe editions of 87, 88, 90, and possibly 89 (pending the book's return from AwesomeCon). Those 4 slots began the year completely empty in my set, an immediate deficit of 112 points. Filling 84 of those obviously gave me a massive boost.
    Now here we are at the end of 2015, and it's almost surreal to say that my 1988 set is nearly complete (to my SS 9.8 or mint standard). Since the X-Men cartoon of the 1990s, and more specifically Wolverine, are the reason I got into comics to begin with (starting with Wolverine 61), I can't even put into words how much completing the set will mean to me. But, there's always obstacles to conquer, most notably the boogey man books -- the ones that you just can't seem to find a potential 9.8 copy of. For me its been 21, 31, 32, 34, 35, 143, 184, and the 2001 Annual. Couple that with a dearth of Erik Larsen and Steve Skroce appearances (I vehemently refuse to have non-contributors sign random issues), and completion by the end of 2016 may be a tad optimistic. Doesn't mean I won't try though!
    The 2003 set's journey back to the top really doesn't have any fun anecdotes, I've just plugged away at it relentlessly. Although the 2015 London Super Comic Con certainly helped with its Simone Bianchi, Klaus Janson, and JR Jr. infused line-up. Charlie Dyer also deserves credit for selling me a nice run of SS 9.8 Civil War issues. 2016 should bring more of the same, with some extra emphasis on searching for high grade 2003 copies at C2E2 and WW Chicago.
    So is that all I did? Why no! I kicked off a Maximum Carnage set, pared down my Dark Tower books to the Gunslinger Born issues only (storage space considerations), COMPLETED my Wolverine: The Origin set, and kept plugging away at my Uncanny X-Men set. I won't go into great detail on any of them here as it would result in a journal that's WAY too long, but suffice to say I've adequately written about them within the sets themselves. There's also a particular investment I made in my Wolverine Limited Series set, but that won't be journaled about until the final results are in.
    Alas, it hasn't been all kittens and sunshine in the comic world though. To explain why, we have to rewind into the fall of 2014, when the sophomorically written tragi-comedy that was the "death" of Wolverine and its banal aftermath was released. One weekend afternoon while my wife and mother-in-law were getting their eyebrows done, I walked up the street to the local comic store and picked up as many issues as I could. I figured I'd read our dear Mr. Logan's end since there was no way Marvel could disappoint me any worse than killing off my favorite character of all time. Or could they?
    Yes they could. I was forcefully proven wrong. After a greatest hits of forced villain cameos, a recycled back story, a recycled quasi-bad guy with the common sense equivalent to that of a standard sheet of dry wall, and a "death" that could've skipped the whole drawn out lead up to it, Charles Soule had thoroughly and totally insulted my sensibilities. Fury ensued. The only reason the Marvel Now! garbage polluting my collection was saved from the fire pit was because it all quickly sold on eBay in one fell swoop.
    That could've been the end of my disappointment, except it got me to thinking. Specifically, what the (multiple expletives) is Marvel doing to its history? Characters were no longer iconic, they were simply interchangeable fodder for what I call the pander machine. Thor is now Thorina. Steve Rogers is old for some reason, making way for anyone else to pick up Captain America's shield. Seemingly half the longtime population of the Marvel universe is now gay because, why exactly? As time went on, Wolverine became Wolverina (as I sadly predicted) and the Hulk is now the Totally Awesome Hulk. Seriously, the "Totally Awesome" Hulk. "Like check out my shades bro, totally gonna get some rays! Hulk Tan!"
    Diversity is a great thing, our world is obviously filled with it and we all benefit from the exchange of ideas throughout cultures. Age, sex, gender, religion, preference -- go to a convention, take a visual survey of the attendees, and then ask yourself if anyone has these things at the forefront of their mind. Diversifying the cast of characters isn't the issue.
    What I can't understand is how every one of Marvel's writers and editors is so brain dead that they can't come up with an original idea. You mean to tell me no one could hatch a Falcon series, especially after Anthony Mackie was fantastic in "The Winter Soldier"? Or create one that could sustain X-23 or Lady Sif as the main protagonist? Or, heaven forbid, create a NEW superhero with a NEW moniker that happens to be female, black, Jewish, hispanic, tattooed, libertarian, and/or whatever?
     
    Apparently not, because Marvel has instead chosen to push the icons aside but still does not have enough confidence that their newly diversified roster can survive without piggy backing on the icons' legacies. I find it pathetic and an insult to every demographic they're trying to attract.
    And let's not forget the variants. Lots of them. Thor 7 can't have just one cover. It needs 26 of them! 1:500, sketch, hip hop, death me

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  12. mattn792

    100%, but not Complete.

    By mattn792,

    Wolverine (1988) reaches a midpoint milestone.
    There I was. It was Tuesday, January 19, 2016, and I was engaged in an interminable wait for the mailman. 1 PM. 2 PM. 3 PM. 4PM. 4:40 PM...f this, I'm not sitting at the office all night. And then right as I was about to put my coat on, I heard the office door chime and my books had finally arrived. Having figured out a pretty accurate way to follow the census, I already knew to expect two SS 9.8s (40, 59) and an SS 9.4 (89 non-deluxe) from AwesomeCon. And its the 9.4 that has led us to this brief reflection on my 1988 set as it is the book that finally made it 100% populated.
    Now I saw "populated" because my set is definitely not "Complete". Anyone who has spent a little time viewing my Wolverine for President set will know what an ardent Wolverine collector I am, and that naturally led me to set an ultimate goal of a full SS/Mint set. Doing a quick scan of my set, I count 62 books that don't currently meet that criteria. However, we must also subtract the 9, possibly 10, books that I know are coming back in SS 9.8 but aren't in hand yet. Then we must also consider that I have 11 more issues out for signature or still in the grading process. So in reality, I'm more like 40 issues away from my goal (and an Erik Larsen/Steve Skroce signing spree would resolve about half of that). Its certainly getting close.
    The only thing that sucks is that my list is starting to get exclusively into what I call the "boogeyman issues". 21. 31. 32. 35. The 41 and 42 2nd prints. Doombringer foil. 2001 Annual. And others. Those books that, no matter how freakin' hard you look, you just can't seem to find a potential raw 9.8 that you think is worth ponying up the cash to have signed. Or you think you did find one, and then it bombs the grading. And at the same time, if you've got a Universal 9.8 copy, you just can't bring yourself to crack it and risk a downgrade. What's a man to do? Crash the back issue boxes at C2E2 for starters! It may be frustrating at times, but the chase is a lot of fun!
    For this week though, I'll enjoy the moment when my set hit 100%, and dwell on how far its come since my first impression of CGC ("bah, who wants a comic book in a trophy case?") to my first impression of the Signature Series ("so some guy wrote his name on it, whatever...") and all the hits and misses in between (such as -- "10.0? Nah, I'll save the extra $30 buy the 9.9". "$2700 is a great price for the Nabisco variant!". "$400 for a 9.8 102.5?!? Hgblurshgkfhjk!! Buy it Now!!!!!!").
    And on one last note, I'm proud to say I still own the first ever 9.8 addition to this collection - a copy of the 145 Dynamic Forces edition - which is also the first ever 9.8 I achieved from my first ever submission to CGC way back in 2001. Though a Universal that was later supplanted by an SS book, and despite its potential to fetch me a sizable amount of cash were I to sell it, it's not going anywhere.
    So here's to you, "only a 9.4" legit non-deluxe Wolverine 89. You did good.

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  13. mattn792
    Giant Size Topless Slumber Party
    No, I still don't give a mess about current Marvel releases, I just like making fun of them. Moving on.
    I haven't written a journal since January, so it's time to get back in the saddle. The past 5ish months have been a busy time in my own little corner of the collecting world. Initially I had planned to take a decent spending break after telling my C2E2 budget to go sit in the corner and stay quiet while I splurge on Silver Age X-Men. But as it turned out, if three straight days of working the Comics to Astonish booth and setting up Rich Henn with places to eat in Chicago couldn't stop my wallet from hemorrhaging money, then nothing could!
    OK, that's not quite accurate. Citibank and its titillating 6 month 1.99% APR promo had a little something to do with it too. As did a look ahead at what's to come -- key books keep getting more expensive, and odds are my wife and I will look to expand our family in the next year or two. So the end is approaching for my generous comic budget. The time to strike was now.
    I've always had a rough list hashed out in my head of the keys I ultimately want to add to my collection -- Avengers 1, JIM 83, AF 15 (yeah, that's probably a pipe dream), GS X-Men 1, X-Men 94, AND...Incredible Hulk 180-182. Complicating matters was that I'd also like to complete a run of X-Men 1-19 signed by Stan Lee, and the sooner the better since he could stop making appearances at any time. And JIM 85 for good measure, because Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Need I say more?
    So what stopped me from tackling some of these throughout all the years I've been collecting? My pesky Wolverine collection of course, which always found a way to take my money. But here we are in 2016, when my Wolverine set is damn near complete. NOW I could expand my horizons. And expand I did. From the list above I landed X-Men 3, 4, 12, an upgraded 1, JIM 85, and our feature presentation - a full Universal 9.6/white page set of Incredible Hulk 180-182!! Being the Wolverine fanatic that I am, how could I continue on any longer without these?
    There's significant details about what led me to put the specific group that I now own together in my actual registry set, but suffice to say I wish I had done it years ago. Maybe then I could've put together a 9.8 run!? But at the same time, was the money ever really there? In retrospect, it was once -- I should've bought the set in 2010 instead of remodeling the kitchen in my old condo. In fact, I shouldn't have invested a dime in that place considering the loss I took on it...
    Regrets aside, a milestone I'd been dreaming about for 15 years is finally complete. I've actually owned two previous copies of Incredible Hulk 181. The first was a low grade, raw 3.0ish copy that I landed for about $60. Can you imagine, $60!?! They sell for $600 now! The other was a PGX 8.0 that I picked up in a large eBay lot. If it didn't look like a 6.5, I might've actually kept it.
    So...when I unpacked this book in particular...freshly arrived from Australia...Wolverine looked about 10 times his actual size, like he was literally jumping off of the cover...yeah I'm a comic nerd, sue me

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  14. mattn792

    Older Man Logan

    By mattn792,

    Retirement Home Confidential
    Join our hero as he delves into the unseemly world of counterfeit Viagra, rising Medicare Part B expenses, and the great Golden Girls blackout of 2047...
    I'm only half joking when I say Marvel is one day going to steal one of my idiotic ideas. They certainly couldn't do any worse. Moving on.
    So here I go from not writing a journal for months to 2 within the span of a week. I guess consistency isn't my strong suit.
    A new batch returns, and another long overdue goal is knocked out. Although, when I think about it, overdue actually didn't turn out to be such a bad thing in this case.
    The Wolverine Limited Series is obviously important to any Wolverine collector, but it's also an important piece of comic history as it portended what was to come for our hero. Granted I could've put the entire series together in 9.8 back in 2001 if I had really set my mind to it, but I think it worked out much better between 2015 and 2016. Because...
    come 2015, a certain Mr. Miller rediscovered both his sharpie and his enjoyment of large sums of money. If you've seen what Frank Miller is charging per signature these days, then you know you REALLY have to want his signature. Which I did, on this entire set. Of 9.8s. Well, 9.8s excluding the TPB anyway.
    While it would've been nice to have the entire run signed by Miller, Claremont, and Rubinstein, an eclectic combo will do just fine!

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  15. mattn792

    School's out...

    By mattn792,

    for-evah!
    I was hoping to get "Welcome to my nightmare" on this as well, but who am I to argue with Alice Cooper?

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  16. mattn792
    We're slacking on the journals!
    Myself included of course.
    I'm actually relatively stunned that 2016 is over, it seems like a couple weeks ago that I was at WW Chicago endlessly standing in lines for Carrie Fisher (may she finally have found peace) and the X-Files cadre's autographs. But here we are, January 1, 2017.
    I will NEVER forget 2016 to put it simply. I've been a devout Cubs fan my entire life, and my God it finally happened. Montgomery from the stretch, curveball to Martinez, grounder to Bryant, Bryant throws to Rizzo...history. I didn't even have words, I just hit the ground and hugged...my cat. My wife had already fallen asleep, having had enough of my overbearing fandom. A fandom which thankfully has thoroughly mellowed out for ALL sports now that I've seen that one sports moment that by far would always mean the most to me. Though I'll admit I half lost my mess on Friday when the hated ones Ronda Rousey and Dominick Cruz both lost spectacularly to Amanda Nunes and Cody Garbrandt, because that was awesome.
    Anyway, this is a comic forum, so let's get back to discussing comics. Collecting took a left turn for me this year, no question about it. Over the years much adieu had been made (by me) about my ever climbing Wolverine collection, and much ranting had also been offered (by me) about how much I hate what Marvel has done to ruin the character with their new PC approach to publishing. As the year wore on, my attention deviated from Wolverine to my other established goals and also turned to the opportunistic acquisition of certain books from other series that I also felt a definable connection to. Books like Incredible Hulk 162 (first Wendigo), ASM 239 (first full Hobgoblin) and 300 (first Venom), plus more Silver and for the first time...GOLDEN AGE books, like the one pictured below.
    To paraphrase Al Bundy -- "2017...Let's rock!"

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