EastEnd1

And last for this month, another X-Men... this one came polybagged with a CD to access the internet thru something called "MarvelOnline.Net", (not to be confused with the 800 pound gorilla (and soon to be minnow) of the day, America Online!)...

More Garth Ennis... plus Clint Eastwood homage cover and new small time publisher... equals collecting opportunity! So three copies went on the Westfield order form. Alas, another miss...

Now this is a GREAT Spawn cover... the dark character superimposed over a bright full moon! It's even more eye-catching when you hold it in your hands...

Howard Chaykin first grabbed my attention in 1983 with the publication of "American Flagg" from First Comics, one of the early independents. Before that, I remember some collectors deriding him for what they considered his lackluster artwork on Marvel's "Star Wars" adaptation. But the Reagan era sci-fi political satire of American Flagg was so new and different, with stylized, almost "digitized" art that matched the jingoistic times... it was great! And made me a Chaykin fan forever. Hence, it was an easy call to pick up three copies of his new Vertigo series in 2001, "American Century"...

Love the cover on this Green Arrow... definitely not your dad's Green Arrow...

One thing I was always keen on was the return of old long unseen characters brought back in new modern ways... in this case Enemy Ace. This squarebound book also had the added enticement of Garth Ennis scripting...

Another one for the Batman fans...

It's the FINAL (and presumably harder to find) issue of Hitman! Again, I was a big Garth Ennis fan and I'm not totally sure if I stayed with this series the whole way, but it's very possible with this last issue showing up. I actually read it after opening the box just to see how things turned out for "Hitman" Tommy Monaghan... I won't give away the ending, but have to say it was perfect. Farewell Tommy...

The next box up is from April 2001... the book on top is actually a pretty nice get... can you guess why? [hint... the cover kind of gives it away]

Agreed... as I got older, I enjoyed going through the indie section of the Westfield catalog each month moreso than the DC and Marvel, mostly for the reasons you outline. I was very curious to see what new material was on the horizon and eager to try to pick the "hits". There was certainly plenty of drek in that section, and I had way more misses than hits, but every once in a while a jewel would show up. Hopefully I'll be able to post more of those as I open these boxes...

I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying the thread! I remember thinking during that period after the nineties crash that it was a good time to be buying new comics as I figured the imploding circulation figures would lead to more scarcity and hopefully higher values for new comics. So while I did pull back on a number of Marvel and DC titles when they killed and restarted their long-running titles, I didn't pull back on my comic spending overall... I just plowed the money into other things. It's one reason why you see so much variety in what I've been posting.

I've posted this before, but since we're on the topic, this is the ONLY piece of original comic art I own. Wish I had bought a lot more of it when I could!

Didn't realize the connection to Beauvais of Aliens and Predator fame.

Thanks again for putting the "meat on the bones"... great background info on what at first blush might seem like "throw away" material to many.

I remember enjoying the Aircel books during the "Black and White" boom of the mid-1980s which, under the helm of Barry Blair, were a step above much of the other small publisher black and white drek common during that time. Dragonring, Samurai and Elflord stand out for me. Warlock 5 was a good one too. Looks like the book attempted a bit of a comeback with Sirius in early 1998...