wardevil0

Not bad for a quadruped. If my slabs show up two weeks late but delivered by Punxsutawney Phil, all is forgiven.

Got this email today, looks like I can expect the FedEx DeLorean to arrive last week! Hi, .. Your package from SHIPPING MANAGER is delayed. It is scheduled to arrive on Fri 10/07/2022 estimated between 8:05am and 9:20am.

Let's not overlook current Antarctic products! Still a lot of quality stuff coming out of there.

And that's not even considering the variety of alphabets in the world. I don't have to translate Os Justiceiros to retype it into the database, but where to even begin with Indonesian, Arabic, Korean, etc etc?? If you don't know how to recognize those characters you've really got nowhere to even start. That being said, there was, is, and will be a dedicated fan base who could have provided some supportive input (at least as a starting point). If I submit Die Spinne 95 (Condor, 1983) and say it has contents from Amazing Spider-Man 238 and Tales of Asgard 1, it should be relatively simple to check that with available resources. I spent a lot of time cataloging international editions for Grand Comics Database. You don't have to accept that at face value, but if you have my copy of Dan Defensor 1 (Ediciones Vertice, 1981) and GCD suggests it contains Daredevil 152, start there and verify it. I think a lot of us would have contributed to the CGC notes database voluntarily, and it would just take a few positions of responsibility to verify it. I think most of us would even agree to longer TATs under a "CGC Worldwide" process for non-US originating books. Send in a well-known UK edition of Mighty World of Marvel and get it back fairly quickly. Send in the fist confirmed Filipino National Book Store edition of Marvel Feature 3 and expect the label to indicate it includes the contents of US Marvel Feature 3 and the letter column from US X-Men 98, it may take a while. I guess that's a long way to say grading international editions has been an enormous missed opportunity for every company that's tried it. Maybe someday this niche will grow to a size that will justify the effort of a new labeling system and terminology...

I called the customer service, 1-800-GoFedEx, and after navigating the computer interaction to finally get to a person, he basically just read the tracking info to me. "No problem, it's scheduled for delivery next business day!" "But what about the previous times it said it was on the truck but nothing happened?" *shrug over the phone*

Another day. On FedEx vehicle for delivery. Delivery exception. Delivery delayed. Delivery scheduled for next business day. Three days in a row the box has been on the truck for delivery but not delivered.

I'm currently awaiting a FedEx return of books... first scheduled delivery: Oct 7. On the truck for delivery. Delayed. Next scheduled delivery: Oct 10. On the truck for delivery. Delayed. Next scheduled delivery: Oct 11. So what's been happening? Looking into the tracking details, no delivery attempts were made. NO DELIVERY ATTEMPTS MADE. Apparently they're just taking my slabs out for joyrides.

I've always been curious about the pixelated cover art to SiP 3, I wonder if it was originally drawn on computer or scanned for reproduction at a lower resolution?

It's unclear whether or not Marvel approved the story. Bear in mind the office politics in Marvel at this time: Stan Lee was the man in charge, but he was pretty distracted by other things. Allegedly, Stan Lee approved the death of Gwen Stacy without really reading the proposal, then was pretty mad when they actually killed her. It's pretty easy to imagine the Mexican publisher La Prensa calling to say they wanted to make some changes to be more appealing to the local audience and whoever answered the phone at Marvel saying "Sure, sure. Whatever you need." I guess it is fair to say it's Mexican canon, because it definitely was part of their regular published run of the series. The non-canon issues are pretty easy to identify, as they usually have a damsel on the cover and involve fighting aliens or robots or something. They also made some non-canon Master of Kung Fu and a few others.

As much as I'm sure I'll regret engaging with you, I just want to suggest the specific issue in question defies both these claims, as it was originally published in Spanish, and has not been officially translated into English (although I think they made a German edition a few years ago). It is also not a reprint of American comics, but certainly is derivative. Not everyone likes international editions of comics, and that's fine. It's clear you are in this camp, and that's fine. So noted. Move on.

It's part of why these are "non-canon" Spideys. The Mexican audience/distributors/someone was so put-off by the death of Gwen Stacy they actually deviated from the -script sent by Marvel HQ. In this issue specifically, Peter marries Gwen and this becomes the status quo for Mexican Peter Parker, about 15 years before US Peter Parker marries MJ. Considering this fan-fiction is just to be disparaging. The original Japanese Spider-Man manga isn't "fan fiction," and neither is this. It's original, foreign-sourced Spider-Man produced professionally and under license.

The next series I want to dive in to, once I finish getting the last few issues of Twilight X. I always enjoyed the way Ted integrated such detailed vehicles into his artwork.

Here's one in my collection I'd like to have marked as "newsstand" on the label. Yes, it's readily apparent by looking at it that this is not the standard edition, so the label notation isn't adding anything as important as a Mark Jewelers or Mennen ad insert notice. But, if nothing else, the 15 points this issue is worth to the registry are certainly not representative of the notability of this issue. Maybe it's not important to note Spidey head vs. UPC on a random, plentiful Copper Age comic like Avengers 288, but there certainly are cases where it may be important.

Joe Wight turned in some ABSOLUTE KNOCKOUT covers... here are a couple of my favorites:

Another batch of AP goodness met with CGC goodness! The gold-embossed Small-Bodied NHS 1 deluxe is notorious for having the gold flake off. They're also individually serial numbered on the cover, but CGC has been inconsistent with noting that on the label. This one is #123, which I think is fun.

Ben Dunn's interpretation of Toots for an early episode of Twilight X in Mangazine (Vol 2)! This white cover is pretty tough to find clean in high grade.

No one really knows, and given how returns were processed it's impossible to know precisely. There are also discrepancies per comic, as some just sold better on newsstands. Amazing Spider-Man sells well everywhere, but a specifically for-kids comic would sell better at the newsstand. There would also be fewer high-grade copies remaining, because of the target audience. As a part of their justification for overpricing newsstands, Mile High has an article that's not bad in itself, but relies heavily on his "experience," which is not necessarily "evidence." https://www.milehighcomics.com/newsletter/031513.html Their breakdown: Year % Newsstand %Direct Market 1979 94% 6% 1982 80% 20% 1986 50% 50% 1990 15% 85% 1995 10% 90% 2000 5% 95% 2005 2% 98% 2013 1% 99% Above and beyond the simple production distribution, Mile High factors the likelihood of survival in VF or better. It's pretty easy to find any given copy of Amazing Spider-Man 193 in Newsstand, but much harder to find one collectors would consider "high grade." How much harder? Unknowable.

Picked up a midgrade Grimjack 26 from a 50 cent bin several years ago. It's a good series, and I knew there was interest in the TMNT appearance. Got it home to read and...

Splash page to the Ninja High School 1 Poster Edition available from Antarctic Press at conventions in the early days, signed by basically the entire staff at the time: Herb Mallette, James Hanrahan, Ben Dunn, Marc Ripley, and Carlos Castro.

Here's a classic Silver Age Marvel, ultra-low-grade, pence-price, with a price tag from the legendary London sci-fi, fantasy, and occult bookshop Dark They Were and Golden Eyed! Also stamped "Watney Book Stall." I pulled it from a dollar bin near Richmond, Virginia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_They_Were_and_Golden_Eyed_(bookshop)

The ludicrously rare trade paperback, no less!

Classic Mike Sagara! It's too bad anthropomorphics have fallen out of favor in monthly comics.

One of my most unusual Antarctic Press editions: Anatomical Acupuncture! A medical text published for Ben and Joe Dunn's father, epitomizing his efforts to familiarize traditional medicinal acupuncture to Americans.

The unusual size and relative obscurity has basically eliminated the chance of a NM copy. I've seen very few copies that didn't display some degree of crunch along the top because of the height. The census shows only one 9.6, four 9.4s, and one 9.2.

I would've thought this would at least rate a "conserved" label if not "restored." I guess the 1.8 is meant to take the added staples and tape into account?