David Swan1

The Fourth World Omnibus is coming out in December. I intend to preorder it.

Thanks for the recap. I love the second Swamp Thing series.

Great Cover

It's taken me years and a bit of cash but I am finally in the top spot in Captain Marvel Adventures. My recent ascent was helped by the fact that Starman221 was going in the opposite direction. Seeing the goal within striking distance I did a sprint to the finish line and put myself fairly deep in the red based on my buying budget but that's cool because I always pull myself back out. My recent purchases may be my last for most of the rest of the year unless a must have item appears. My next goal is to try and reach the registry total that Starman211 had when he won the 2009 Golden Age set of the year. That total was 34870 while I have 29930. I have no illusions that I will suddenly win Golden Age set of the year the moment I exceed 34870 particularly since the competition has become much fiercer since 2009. The lowest registry point total in the Golden Age category was 47355 but that one was 95% complete while mine is a dainty 35%. On the other hand I have no comics with a grade less than 7.5 and I average well above 9.0. A good percentage of my collection are highest or second highest grade. I probably have a better chance of winning best presentation and I've spent a ton of time on my comic descriptions. I've read almost every comic I own using scans online. So if you want to learn more about Captain Marvel, the ORIGINAL Captain Marvel, Please check out my set and enjoy. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

SO I was working on acquiring a new comic for my Captain Marvel Adventure collection and was working on trying to find a price we could both agree on. This went on for awhile and I finally concluded that the seller wasn't going to budge anymore so I went to buy it. To my surprise the seller suddenly jacked up the selling price by $100. I don't know if I pissed the seller off or they figured they could squeeze me for more. I can say I will never give in to some greedy or stupid seller and it's unlikely I'll ever own this comic. I'll be damned before I deal with a seller that pulls that kind of garbage. In all the years I've been buying comics I've never seen anyone pull this kind of stunt. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Maybe not tragic but unfortunate. I decided to buy a fairly inexpensive All-American Men of War off Amazon. Although it was a middling grade it was the second highest known grade and was selling for less than $100 so grabbed it up. When I received it in the mail I was surprised. Rather than send it in a box it was sent in a large envelope and bookended with two pieces of thick cardboard. There is a reason every other CGC comic I've received has been sent in a box and it became evident the moment I opened the envelope. There was a two inch crack in the upper portion of the case and a massive crack spanning the entire bottom of the case. I could literally pry apart the case and touch the comic. Luckily the seller was super cool and not only refunded me the full amount but didn't even ask for the comic back since the case was ruined. I felt bad and I would have given her some nice feedback if Ebay had allowed me but I guess they don't do that on returns. I kept the comic in the broken case and I have it in my registry but it would have to be re-slabbed. I have no doubt the seller learned a valuable lesson. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I decided to create a few custom sets and naturally based them both on Captain Marvel Adventures. My first is the legendary Monster Society of Evil run which lasted 25 issues. The longest continuing comic story line of the Golden Age in any comic. The second custom set includes the 28 issues city stories. In neither of these runs do I own even half the comics but it's a fun new goal to try and complete them. Someday I might add some more custom sets. I was considering including all the comics that feature Tawky Tawny or perhaps the 5 issue Oggar, the Mightiest Immortal, story although maybe 5 issues isn't worthy of a custom set.https://comics.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/ComicCustomSetView.aspx?s=20040https://comics.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/ComicCustomSetView.aspx?s=20041To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I added six new comics to my Captain Marvel Adventures collecting in 2015 which was more than expected but I came across several can't miss auction items late in the year. Because of the unscheduled purchases I enter 2016 deep in the red and may not be buying my next comic until spring time. At this point I'm only scheduled to buy three comics in 2016 but that's always subject to change based on availability and the three are some big ones. Overall I've done a good job of keeping my finances in line. I will go into deficit spending (based on my budget not my actual cash) but I've always gotten back in the black. My goal to reach the top spot in Captain Marvel Adventures has gotten much closer this year. Not only have I added a significant amount of registry points but the current top set has dropped significantly. I am now less than 5400 points away which is not a lot when you're talking Golden Age sets. I've finally moved past the 1/3 mark in terms of volumes (i.e I have 51 out of 150 issues). My goal of winning Golden Age Set of the year will continued to be hampered by a lack of volume. It appears that the judges place a lot of emphasis on volume and like to see something around 90% or more of the set and I may never be able to get to that level. I could just buy a ton of lower grade issues but I don't want to go that route. Maybe the judges will start to emphasis quality over quantity someday. If I can't win Golden Age set of the year there is also Best Presentation and I've done a ton of work related to presentation. I've been going through each issue I own, reading the stories and writing up summaries. It's a somewhat laborious process but fans of Captain Marvel will hopefully enjoy the effort. Every single issue I have includes an image and summary. If you are a fan of Captain Marvel or just want to see a Golden Age set with 100% images and summaries that contains almost exclusively 1st and 2nd highest grade issues please check out my set. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

As I get closer to the number one spot in Captain Marvel Adventures I thought I'd look back on how it all began. It started with Superdickery. Superdickery.com is a hilarious website devoted to covers and interior frames where Superman is being a... well... a . This was common during the Silver and Bronze Age when DC enjoyed having covers where Superman is acting out of character in order to attract the attention of readers. It was inevitably the effects of Red Kryptonite or Superman acting like a jerk in order to teach his friends a lesson or as some strange scheme to entrap a thief. One cover I discovered on Superdickery.com that I really enjoyed (although in this case he wasn't being a ) was issue #54 where Superman is simply engaged as a lifeguard for no apparent reason. I bought a CGC graded 7.5 copy just because I thought it would look cool on my wall. My second CGC comic bought was another cover I particularly liked, Captain Marvel Adventures #30 with Cap as Robinson Crusoe. At this point I really wanted to get more Superman comics because quite frankly I think Superman and Action Comics had much better covers than Captain Marvel Adventures. I love the covers where Superman is doing mundane tasks like working as a lifeguard or helping an old woman with her car. The problem was that the high grade Superman comics were prohibitively expensive as in 10 times the cost of a high grade Captain Marvel Adventures. I started trying out different series including western and war comics but in the meantime I would continue to get Captain Marvel Adventure comics and increasingly aimed for higher grades. My lower grade issues were all bought early on but I've never bought anything lower than a 7.5. At some point I noticed that I had a legitimate chance at having the number one Captain Marvel Adventure collection and decided to put all my chips into that one collection. My dream collection would be Superman and Action Comics but I love my Captain Marvel Adventures and it's one Golden Age collection where I can actually afford the high grade comics. My plan is that this will be the last CGC collection I will put together but a Golden Age set like this can take a lifetime. If I had more money than I knew what to do with I might grab some of my favorite Superman and Action Comics with covers I love but that day is not today. The image below is not the comic I own. Mine is a 7.5 but I didn't capture an image. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I am now within 10,000 registry points of taking the top stop in Captain Marvel Adventures. I'm proud to add a very lovely 9.0 copy of issue 82. It's not the highest grade but it's pretty darn good and the highest grade of 82 I've yet to see for sale. I've gone way into the red in my comic budget but I make exceptions for auction items that fit into my collection. It may be until late spring before I make another purchase unless another must have comes along. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

All my CGC collecting resources are being devoted to Captain Marvel Adventures and I've finally hit the one third mark on the way to 150 issues. I seriously doubt I will ever own all 150 issues but having 50 is a nice start. There are still enough comics available online to keep me busy for years to come. I still lag over 10,000 registry points behind the leader but I'm literally eating into his lead. The comic that got me to the 50 issue threshold was from starman211's own collection so as my registry total went up, his went down. I've believed for a long time that the top set no longer exists but that's a journal for another day. This is actually the third comic I've added since my last journal so things are proceeding along quite nicely. Based on my budget I hadn't planned on making another purchase until spring 2016 but I make exceptions for auction items. I don't love the staple placements of issue 147 but the page quality is nice and this is the second highest grade in existence. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My goal is to one day win Golden Age set of the year and I thoroughly intend to meet that goal even if it takes me a decade or more but the fun is in the journey. So with the 2015 Registry Awards posted I thought I'd look through this year's winners and see if I could possibly be competitive using my Captain Marvel Adventures collection. I'll go through them on by one. 1. BarristerBaker, Golden Age Flash, Flash Comics. One of the few Golden Age winners in recent years with a registry point total I could conceivably reach. This is a set that definitely focusses on quantity. It has a fantastic 94% of the 104 issues but most of them are middling grades. There are 0 images or descriptions. My set lags behind all these winners with a measly 31% completion but besides that I could see myself being competitive with this set. 2. cheetah, Wings!, Wings Comics, A set that definitely deserves its spot. With over 145K registry points and 100% completion this is a set I could never compete with. Those stats would have been enough but cheetah went all out including images on nearly 100% of the comics including front AND backs. 3. RareHighGrade, RareHighGrade Pre-Bat Tecs, Detective Comics, Despite not featuring Batman and having a lot off middle to mid-high grades it still manages to ring up over a half million registry points. The HIGHEST registry point copy of a Captain Marvel Adventure comic that I know of is a 9.6 copy of issue #3 at 18000 registry points. Detective Comics #1 graded 6.5 is 150000 points. Not only am I constrained moneywise in approaching this sets point total I literally don't think it's possible to even come close to 500K even if I owned every single highest grade CMA in existence. This set has a very impressive 84% completion but 0 images or summary. I would have LOVED to see the comics. Every comic in this set was added on the 31st of May. I know I can never compete on registry points and likely will never reach its completion percentage. For me the best of the three was Wings Comics with easily the best presentation. Last year's GA winners were dominated by registry points in lieu of presentation and I was glad to see a set with a more reasonable registry point total. My goal is to reach about 36K registry points in the next 7 years which is still over 10K lower than the lowest set among the winners. I'm still of the belief that Best of Age winners should put in at least some effort into presentation. Last Year I wrote a separate journal on my chances at winning best presentation but I'm going to combine my two journals this year because comparing my set to the winners is apples and oranges. The winners this year are all recent comics with relatively low registry points and very high percentages. I will admit I saw some presentations that inspired me and learned some new techniques. I think it would have been neat to see more of a mixture of ages rather than all modern comics. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I have continued to devote my entire monthly comic budget to Captain Marvel Adventures and the progress has been significant. Since January I've added just one new issue but it was a biggie and almost single handedly satisfied my required number of registry points to achieve my goal of taking the top spot within a decade. At this point I have 7.5 years but I'm well ahead of pace. Three years ago at this point I had purchased 11 CGC comics and bought 27 total throughout the year. Two years ago I had purchased 7 CGC comics by this date and ended the year at 13. Last year I purchased just 6 CGC comics throughout the year and this year I have bought just 1 and will likely buy just 1 or 2 for the remainder of the year. The reduction in volume is offset by an increase in quality and I've added some comics that previously I might have blanched at because of price. Having a budget has really helped me keep my expenses in line but I confess that it's a challenge to go 6 months between purchases. My ultimate goal remains to have the top golden age set. I already have my next two purchases planned out (in fact I have them planned out until 2020 believe it or not). My additions may be slow in coming but they're big ones. I've countered my lack of purchasing by focusing on presentation. Thanks to comicbookplus.com I've been able to read the Golden Age Captain Marvel Adventure stories and I've been working on writing up descriptions for every comic I own. It is a long and laborious process but I've become quite an expert on the stories and if anyone wants to know more about individual issues there are few places better than my set. On the other hand it's probably not the most thrilling thing reading through the summaries. At some point I will probably rewrite them and make them briefer. I now have 31% of the set with every single comic having an image and description. That's up 3% from this time last year. My collection has 26 highest grades with 14 being alone at the top. Compare that to the top collection which has only 9 highest grade issues and just 1 that sits alone at the top spot. Almost all the rest of my collection are second highest grade. My lowest grade is a 7.5 and I have eight 9.4's and two 9.6's. The top collection has 23 issues graded BELOW 7.5, only three 9.4's and nothing above 9.4. Starman221 has an impressive 37 pedigree issues which beats my 27 although my percentage of pedigrees is much higher. Despite being well behind the top Captain Marvel Adventure set in volume and registry points I have a much higher average grade, a higher registry point average per issue and far more top grades. There are a few more areas my set lags behind. Starman221 has issues 1 through 26 while I have nothing earlier than issue 30. Starman221 is tied for the highest grade of issue 1 which although only a 5.0 is still the best CGC grade in existence. He also has a 7.5 grade of the hard to get issue 150. These are the alpha and omega of the set and I confess that I wish I owned them. However if I were collector with unlimited funds and I wanted to create the greatest Captain Marvel Adventure set ever I'd be looking at my set not the top registry point set because I doubt there is another CMA set in the world with this many highest grade issues. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

This is my first CGC acquisition since early September 2014 but it's a big one. Captain Marvel Adventures #56 is my second ever 9.6 and it's an issue I've been eyeing literally for years and it's likely to be my biggest pickup for the next few years. I may actually be picking up a second, far less costly, CMA issue within the next week but after that I may have another half year break as I gather my funds. I have a very strict budget and my purchases are all plotted out for the next few years barring changes in availability. My goal remains gaining the top position in Captain Marvel Adventures and issue 56 gives me a very nice 1800 registry points. Currently I need at least 1874 registry points per year to achieve the top spot within my 10 year plan and this single issue nearly gets me all the points I need for 2015. This comic will also put me back into the top 500 registry points which I have a goal of staying within. I haven't added the issue to my registry yet because of something weird in the registry. When I go into an individual issue and modify the OWNER'S DESCRIPTION I have no problem. However, when I tried to add issue 56 by going into EDIT SET I got an error on 7 issues that I had exceeded the 6000 character limitation. I'm not sure why I can exceed 6000 in OWNER'S DESCRIPTION but not EDIT SET. The only solution I can see is to go into those 7 issues and modify the descriptions to get them under 6000 characters. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I haven't purchased a CGC comic since early September and the first possible next purchase would be early March but that in no way means I have given up my dream to have the best Captain Marvel Adventures comic collection. Quite the opposite. I have big plans this year but I have a strict budget and I dug myself a big hole with a monster purchase last year and I'm just now back in the black. What I've been doing is reading a lot of Golden Age CMA stories available on ComicBookPlus.com to further acquaint myself with a character I've spent so much money on. I've also added a lot of story summaries to my issue descriptions. These probably aren't thrilling to read but it's fun to do and I've learned a lot more about Capt. Marvel. As I read through the Golden Age comics some questions come up, some I've thought about in the past and some new ones that hadn't occurred to me so I thought I'd write them into my journal. Although I haven't seen it expressly spelled out in the GA stories it's pretty clear that Capt. Marvel and Billy Batson are separate entities. This is not Billy expanding up into adult sized. So where did Capt. Marvel come from since he first arrived as an adult. He also immediately knew how and speak and integrated himself into the culture. This implies to me that Capt. Marvel and Billy share thoughts. In one story I read it seemed clear that Capt. Marvel doesn't somehow observe Billy when he's not around but when the two transform there is no moment of disorientation which means that when Marvel or Billy manifest they have the memories of their counterpart. What's interesting to me is that although Billy transforms into a separate being (I believe this is no longer true in more recent stories) he appears to be the only member of the Marvel family that does this. Freddy Freeman and Mary Batson change clothing but their physical appearance remains close enough that I always assumed they were the same when they were Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel. Same with Black Adam (Teth-Adam) and the three Marvel Lieutenants. In the case of Teth-Adam he simply remained as Black Adam once he initially transformed. So why doesn't Freddy Freeman simply remain as Captain Marvel Jr. since as Freeman he is forced to use a cane because of injuries dealt to him by Captain Nazi. I understand why Billy changes back otherwise Billy would cease to exist but for Freeman and Mary they would look essentially the same except be invulnerable. Their main weakness is their vulnerability when Freddy and Mary. Does Captain Marvel age? Billy only changes to Capt. Marvel when needed for as long as he's needed so when Billy is around does Marvel age? But the bigger question is, what is the deal with Billy? He's a twelve year boy yet he works for radio station WHIZ. And he's not an intern he actually has a daily broadcast. If Cap and Billy share a mind and Cap gets his understanding of the world from Billy it's not surprising that he doesn't act like a child because Billy doesn't act like a child. He seems entirely self-sufficient with no parents and no friends his age. About the only friend he seems to have in the GA is the past middle age Mr. Morris and later the talking tiger, Mr. Tawny. These are just some of my musings. I'd love to hear other peoples thoughts. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

2014 was a great year with my main goal being to focus on quality over quantity and to put all my energies and money into Captain Marvel Adventures. In 1012 I purchased 27 comics and in 2013 I reduced the number to 13 while this year I purchased just 6. I ended the year below budget and went well over 3 months without a single purchase. On the other hand I broke my previous record of registry points for a single comic twice and picked up my first 9.6 graded Captain Marvel Adventure comic so I definitely stuck to my quality over quantity goal. I managed to reach number one in All-American Western and maintained it until competition time receiving my second certificate. On the other hand I lost my number one spot in All-American Men of War and with my sole focus being on Captain Marvel Adventures it may be a permanent demotion. I have already set my purchasing schedule all the way to 2020 and if I stick to it I will be picking up just two comics next year but one is a monster. In order to stay on my schedule to take over the number one spot on CMA within 10 years (7 years now) I need a little bit less than 1900 registry points per year and these two comics will keep me on pace. Based on my schedule I won't be picking up another comic until early summer unless a new item comes on the market and believe me the waiting is hard. I would like to stay in the registries top 500 but that may be more than my budget can handle. I made some big purchases last year that put me deep into the top 500 but my grip is slipping fast. If I really do wait until May or June for my next purchase I will definitely be bumped. My long term goal is to win Best Presentation award because I think Golden Age set of the Year is simply out of my reach. The sets that are winning have more registry points than I could ever amass and possibly more than one could possibly amass with Captain Marvel Adventures. My problem is that my quality over quantity goal really hurts my chances at any award because my percentage of completion is well below 50% To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

There is a telling story about Steve Ditko where he sent a 6 page letter to writer Steve Skeates who had written a -script for a The Question story when both worked at Charlton Comics. From CBR, "This 6-page letter was sent because of the loose wording Steve Skeates employed when The Question was engaged with a criminal -- calling him "friend"." Skeates referred to the letter as "scary" http://ditkocultist.com/2012/01/19/related-articles-cbrs-urban-legends-revealed-steve-ditko-3/ This was not the only encounter between the two Steve's. They co-created Hawk and Dove and that collaboration lasted a whopping 1 issue before Ditko left in disgust. Skeates identified with the mild Dove while Ditko naturally identified with the aggressive and uncompromising Hawk but Ditko felt Hawk was given the short shrift which is ironic because I read issue one and Dove was a useless pantywaist who contributed nothing. Hawk may have been hyper aggressive and reckless but at least he did something. This is not me taking Hawk's side this is simply how the story was written. One wonders how much more worthless Ditko would have made Dove if Skeates hadn't been there to defend him. Ditko had a second "Grey Negotiator" story in "...Ditko Continued..." This time Violence and Force are beating up a white guy who's shouting, "M... My Money..." The story is pretty much the same with The Grey Negotiator advising against extremism and advocating compromise. This time, however, Violence and Force proceed to pummel The Grey Negotiator mocking him as they beat him mercilessly. The Grey Negotiator is thrilled that the two saw the light when they toss him a single dollar bill while walking away. Then he... dies? Hard to tell with Ditko's art. Ditko is interesting in that on the one hand his stories have all the subtlety of a brick to the skull but on other occasions he's very coy. Obviously all the characters in The Grey Negotiator are intended to be representational rather than literal. Both of the victims are stark white bordering on luminescent which in the world of Ditko means they are good. Both of the victims clearly have money, the woman is literally holding cash and the man's chief concern is his "M.. My Money". Money means they aren't needy so they are deserving of protection. Most people probably think of a physical attack when they hear the words force and violence but it's much more likely than Ditko is referring to legal compelling as in taxes or regulations but you'd have to be plugged into the Objectivist/Conservative/Libertarian mindset to get that. I'm not 100% sure who The Grey Negotiator and I'm not convinced Steve Ditko fully thought this through. The Grey Negotiator might represent politicians who negotiate to allow taxes and regulations on the wealthy. Or given the fact that The Grey Negotiator blames the victim I can only assume that in Ditko's world he must be a liberal. One of the problems in understanding Ditko's stories is that they run counter to what we would expect in a superhero story. Self-sacrifice is wrong, self-interest is right. Affluence is seen is a virtue and poverty is seen as a vice. Mercy is bad. If Mr. A faced off against The Joker he would kill the Joker without a second thought. What the reader ends up with is Steve Ditko's interpretation of Ayn Rand's philosophy which was often a muddled mess to begin with. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

"The Best Deal" was published just last month (November 2014) in Mr. A #15 which means he was 86 when he produced these stories. Were there really 14 other Mr. A comics? It was published by Robin Snyder and Steve Ditko and contains two Mr. A stories the first being "The Best Deal". According to Wikipedia Steve Ditko said in 2012 of his self-published stories, "I do those because that's all they'll let me do". What I read from that quote is that Ditko would like to do more mainstream stuff but there is no interest which is quite sad. Mr. A is more than just a footnote in the history of Steve Ditko. Mr. A now literally seems to be the focus of his creative output in his declining years. "The Best Deal" opens in Border City and dialogue balloons show the entire city to be highly corrupt or at least corrupt as far as Ditko is concerned. Ditko has a very, dark depressing view of humanity. Even those who are not necessarily corrupt have succumbed to the ideas of moral relativism and *gasp* compromise. Let me get to the gist of things to keep this as short as possible. Some very vague corruption is occurring and Mr. A arrives to take some crucial evidence from a crook after delivering his trademark black and white card that turns all black in the crooks hand. He delivers the evidence to the police but the evidence points to a group of do-gooders who defend their actions. Whereas many comics tend to use the corrupt industrialist as a villain Ditko likes to use the social do-gooder. It would be a mistake to think that Ditko is implying that evil people are using social cause groups as a front. Ditko literally sees those who are concerned with social good to be at best misguided, at worst evil. Mr. A's alter ego, Rex Graine, is a newspaper reporter at the Daily Crusader. The owner wants Graine gone but when he acquired the newspaper from his brother (Henry Reder) there was a stipulation that he could never fire Graine. The brothers wife and the owner are predictably physically ugly and angry (Ditko has no use for subtlety) and they refuse to run Graine's corruption article because it has "no real social concern" One would think business corruption IS a social concern but go figure. Mind you there is nothing to suggest that Mrs. Reder is protecting the corruption because she has any involvement, just that she only wants social concern articles. The next line is perhaps the most telling in the story. Mrs. Reder says, 'All business is dirty evil business. We have to be concerned first with the social ills, minorities, the needy not the greedy' As I noted in my previous journal if a fool or an evil person says something in a Ditko story then Ditko believes the opposite. The message the reader should gather is that we should NOT be concerned with social ills, minorities or the needy and SHOULD be concerned with protecting the greedy. When Mrs. Reder says, "the newspaper must be responsible to the HIGHEST SOCIAL GOOD!" there is no indication that she isn't completely serious. We as the reader know she is villainous only because she has an ugly snarl as she says it. It would take someone plugged into the Objectivist/Conservative mindset to 'get it' that social good = evil. Just to drive the point home the brother adds, "My brother, his policy is part of the corrupt system of greed over need". In this case since the brother (who is likely an Objectivist) supports greed over need then that is GOOD. Graine understands Mrs Reder and Iges, the owner, but managing editor Otten seems more conflicted even though he tells Graine to get off the corruption case. Could he be... PRAGMATIC! (tip: pragmatism is bad in the world of Steve Ditko) Mr. A finally takes down all the crooks despite the best efforts of his newspaper and the police. Ditko closes by once again showing the breadth and depth of corruption in Border City. Rex Graine sits at his desk silently castigating the compromisers, those who find virtue in helping the unearned, those who hate and fear extremists and those who see moral equivalence. The End. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Let me start by saying I have no axe to grind with Steve Ditko. I consider him one of the most creative and influential artists in comic history. His design of Spiderman's costume is one of the most iconic ever created and I've generally found his art style unique and appealing. I also don't disagree with ALL the values Ditko expresses, for example I'm right there with him when he supports reason and logic. In fact I agree with a lot of things he says but as I will show in my journals Ditko takes his views to an absurd extreme. The first story I will discuss was published in 2009 in "...Steve Ditko continued..." That's literally the name of the comic book. It's a black and white comic with zero ads published by Robin Snyder who had been his former editor at Charlton, Archie Comics and Renegade Press. Everything in this 32 page comic is done by Ditko, cover to cover. The story (if one could call it a story) doesn't feature Mr. A but is a nice way to dip your feet into the world of Steve Ditko. It's called 'The Grey Negotiator' and has a 2008 date on it. The first thing one might note is how badly Ditko's artistic skills have diminished. In 2008 Steve Ditko would have been around 81 or 82 so it's not surprising but it's still painful to see. It looks like a high school students drawing if he or she was trying to emulate Steve Ditko. However, the ideas expressed here are pretty much the same as those he's expressed since at least the 1960's so if his ideas seem "out there" it can't be blamed on senility. The very name of the main character is a double whammy against him. Ditko believes that the world is literally black and white, good and evil, right and wrong so if someone is grey they are a fool. Likewise Ditko is against negotiations and sees compromise and pragmatism as appeasers to evil. We open with two dark colored brutes named Violence and Force kicking a prone white woman (and by white I mean stark white including clothing) who is shouting, "HELP! STOP! ...my PROPERTY I have RIGHTS. OWWW" To drive the point home the woman is holding a piece of paper with a dollar sign on it. In comes the ridiculous Grey Negotiator with his center part, gap tooth smile, rotund belly and overall stupid costume. For the super dense, Ditko nicely added the word Compromise across his belly and a barely visible G and N on his torso. Another G and N are on his boots. He's also holding an olive branch and white flag lest the audience still not get it. The Grey Negotiator urges Violence and Force to "Reduce your extremes" This is another thing to note about Steve Ditko, if he creates a character who is evil or a fool and that characters advocates something you can guarantee Ditko is against it. If the Grey Negotiator is against extremism then you can guarantee Ditko is for extremism and Ditko makes no secret of this. We also get a glimpse at Ditko's bizarre dialogue which may be a symptom of his age. Violence says, "Well, not an absolute. to negotiate, a maybe, perhaps, suppose, it's for the good of all" To which I would replay, "Say what???" The Grey Negotiator convinces Violence and Force to allow the woman to live and she can keep SOME of her money. The Grey Negotiator then castigates the battered and bruised woman blaming her for everything before walking away crying at a job well done. Here's the main problem for me. Ditko's black and white world does not allow for any negotiation, compromising or quite frankly any evolution of thought. Obviously negotiating with thieves physically assaulting a woman and taking her property is absurd but Ditko sees the scenario as a morality tale for life in general. Ditko's uncompromising principles are likely the reason he left Marvel and why most of his later work was so unmarketable. An inflexible uncompromising view is disastrous from the Federal government right down to marriage and all points in between. If Ditko truly lived the uncompromising life he advocated it's probably not surprising that he never married or had children. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Tomorrow I will begin a new series of journal's on Mr. A and Steve Ditko so if you liked my previous journal's prepare for more of the same. I will endevour to be as hard hitting as Rex Graine himself To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Awhile back I did a series of articles on Steve Ditko's Mr. A that some people seemed to enjoy so I've decided to revisit the character because he's just so darn fascinating. I managed to win 4 more Mr. A comics on EBAY so once they arrive I'll be creating some new journal's discussing the character. For those who are unaware Mr. A was Steve Ditko's ultimate realization of an Objectivist hero. His first attempt was The Question but there were limits on what Charlton comics would allow so Ditko could only truly cut loose when he started to self-publish. Mr. A was intended to be a reflection of the beliefs of Ayn Rand. The Reductio ad Absurdum except Ditko was 100% sincere. Alan Moore based his character Rorschach on The Question and Mr. A to which Steve Ditko said that Rorshach was, "like Mister A, except Rorschach is insane". Actually I would say that Ditko was simply lacking self-awareness about his own creation. The main difference between Rorschach and Mr. A is that Rorschach lives in a semi-realistic universe whereas Mr. A lives in an Objectivist fantasy. I will get into more on the character later but suffice to say Mr. A is one of the most fascinating and perhaps inadvertently disturbing comic characters ever created. If you want to know more about Mr. A here are my previous journals... http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=13504 http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=13519 http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=13531 To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I rarely buy new comic books, sticking exclusively with compilations, but I was interested in the new Multiversity series by Grant Morrison and when the latest issue came out last Wednesday I really was chomping at the bit to read it. Problem was I was out of the country at the time. So I decided to give digital comics a try and download it onto my Kindle device. Here is my experience. First, the price of a digital comic is the same as the physical comic which in this case is $4.99. I know that most of the cost is in the writing and art not the paper and staples but it would be nice to see some reduction in price. At least there is no tax. One thing I think would be cool as to get the digital copy free if you purchase the physical copy. I downloaded from Amazon which was fairly easy. I have the Kindle app on three different devices; my Windows phone (comic wouldn't work and even if it did I wouldn't bother), an HP Slate which I had with me on the vacation and a Chromebook. The images are much smaller than a comic and some of the frames were near impossible to read. You can double click a frame and it will expand somewhat but it's still nowhere near the actual comic size. The expanded pictures were easily readable with my glasses on but I still feel like I'm not getting the full experience. Even on my larger Chromebook the frames were much smaller than a physical comic. It's not a huge deal because I plan on buying the compilation when it's released but if this was the only copy of the comic I had I would feel I was being a little cheated. You would have to have a pretty good sized monitor to get actual size. When you expand a frame the comic will move frame by frame instead of page by page when you swipe right to left which is a good idea. Overall I see room for improvement. Having a digital copy certainly will reduce the volume of space my comics use and it's nice to be able to read on the go with no worry of damaging the comic. It also separates the reading from the collecting which in my mind is often a good thing. On the other hand I wish you could increase the size much larger than what I seem to be able to expand it to. Also, I wish the price were a bit lower and if you do buy a physical copy you should get a digital one for free or perhaps a small additional fee. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

There are a few Captain Marvel (the REAL Captain Marvel) items coming out I thought I might mention for fans. Grant Morrison's Multiversity: Thunderworld Adventures will... oh heck, let me just quote Wikipedia "The fifth one-shot, illustrated by Cameron Stewart, Thunderworld Adventures takes place on Earth-5 and features characters from the Captain Marvel family. Morrison described this book as "a classic Shazam book but it's done in a way almost like a PIXAR movie or the way we did All Star Superman. It captures the spirit of those characters without being nostalgic or out of date." Morrison noted it as his "attempt to see if you can get the pure note of Captain Marvel, with no irony and no camp and just make it work for everyone. It's like a myth, a little folk tale. It's pure." The one-shot will be published in December 2014" It sounds AWESOME and although I wasn't blown away by the first three Multiversity issues the fourth one featuring Charlton comic heroes in an homage to Watchmen was a tremendous success as far as I'm concerned. The second item is coming in March 2015. From Amazon... "2015 marks the 75th anniversary of Shazam! DC Comics is proud to present this new hardcover anthology collecting some of Shazam's greatest stories." Sweet. That's a definite pick up for me. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401255388/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1G4HCA24ELA5B&coliid=I1B6PZ6AHZZOHH To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I recently moved to Denver and yesterday got a chance to check out the Mile High Comics shop which is more of a warehouse. The first thing I noticed was what a weird location it is and it really is like walking into a warehouse. There is a big banner out front but the front door is unlabeled. Going inside is like entering the Mecca of geekdom. The volume of stuff is so far beyond anything I've ever seen before it was awe inspiring. I'm used to comic book shops maybe 10 to 20 percent the size or less. I could spend all day but I only ended up buying a couple of comics, two issues of Grant Morrison's Multiversity. There were only a couple of dozen CGC comics so clearly Mile High barely deals in CGC graded comics. Now for the rub. Almost everything was very high priced. As far as I could tell books were sold at cover price and all the toys and stuff seemed very expensive. If there is an item that ONLY Mile High has and you have to have it then I guess you pay the price but as a budget conscious buyer these prices were too high. Here is an example. On the wall they had a high grade issue of Miracleman #15, a comic I own bought when it was originally published. The price was $1500. I would LOVE to believe Miracleman #15 is $1500 but when I looked on Ebay I couldn't find a single one selling for more than $400 and there were CGC graded 9.8's. The comic in the store was not CGC graded. Issues actually bought on Ebay were even less. That means Mile High was trying to sell the comic for well over triple the going rate and I even went on the Mile High website and confirmed the $1500 price. There was an issue of DC Comics Presents #49 for around $350 which is even further beyond anything I can find. These are just two examples I happened to notice and I wasn't specifically searching for overpriced comics. Perhaps Mile High somehow confused their own comics with actual Mile High Pedigree comics (that's a joke). So I loved the quantity of product but I ended up spending more at another store a few miles away because the prices were so sky high. One might even say, a Mile High. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Anyone who's seen my collection can easily glean that I am a big Captain Marvel fan so I am excited to see that DC will be producing a Captain Marvel movie, called Shazam! (for legal reasons) *Ugh*. With a release date of 2016 I wanted to do an infrequent update on the movies progress. Here is my first update... it's been pushed back to 2019. I do believe they WILL make it since Disney/Marvel is rolling around in dough and DC needs to get SOMETHING in the theaters to compete but seriously, five years!?!?! My daughter in daycare will be in third grade by the time the movie comes out. The only upside is that it will give me more time to build my collection before the possible spike in value. Now Disney/Marvel has officially announced they will be releasing a Captain Marvel movie... IN 2018!!!!! This is a family friendly message board but I really want to use profanity. I don't know who I'm madder at, Disney for CLEARLY taking aim at WB's groin or Warner Brothers for racing at the speed of a sloth. Warner Brothers will likely get up to speed just as the superhero genre begins to sputter out. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.