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... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

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. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

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. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

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. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

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. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

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).