Sal

when i got back into comics around 2005 or so, i did what any naive person would do; looked up to see if the purveyor of those centerfold ads in every Marvel comic in the bronze and copper age was still in business. i wound up buying a few slabs from them at exorbitant prices but that's my fault, not theirs. X-Men 110 9.2 for $49, anyone? How about a Hawkman 5 8.5 c/ow old label for $98? No? Right. flash forward about 3 1/2 years. a new Silver/Bronze age original owner collection surfaced in St. Louis and was brought to market by a group called - at the time - Mound City Auctions. these books had been untouched prior to slabbing and as this was at the height of the 'is it pressed/unpressed' craze going on, were very desirable for that reason. many of the nicest books were slabbed and while it wasn't enough to constitute a pedigree - nor was that designation sought, i don't believe - it was a really nice collection that attracted a lot of attention from the community. by all indications, the auction went really well, with both internet and live bidding. many GPA records were set, iirc. roughly around a couple of weeks after the auction, Chuck sends out his MH email and announces that, due to the success of the Mound City Auction and in light of the prices realized therein, his prices on slabs were clearly too low and he was now going to raise prices accordingly, that he might be more aligned with the marketplace. after i picked my jaw up off the floor, i replied back to their mailing list person and asked that my name be removed from their list. everyone knows their business model is designed to appeal most to the uninformed but this was beyond the pale

"Firss, chu get the money, then chu get the comics, then chu get the wome- uhh, wait thass no right, I theenks."

see, this is why folks like me need folks like you; to provide contextual analysis and inside baseball bons mots for this magnificent wonderland

i can't be the only one reading the initial post and thinking "there's something about this i'm not being told," can i? it's as though customer service complaint rants posted here come from a strange sort of template or something

i love the idea of individual x-men movies, following in the mold of the Thor/Iron Man/Hulk/Cap plan. so here are mine; Wolverine - starting with his days in the Canadian Special Forces, ending with Xavier meeting him in that room where he cuts off the dude's tie. wall to wall action with a runty Canuck. Nightcrawler - a dark adventure with equal parts swashbuckling and crippling, central European racism/anti-mutant sentiment. ending with Xavier mind controlling the mob chasing Kurt, who completes his character arc by rising above the evil surrounding him and exposing his soft, gooey center. Storm - Blue Lagoon meets The Lion King. wide vistas, strong ecological/environmental message and ninety plus minutes of a hot half naked chick fulfilling her destiny until a white devil in a pith helmet sells her on the idea of taking her act worldwide Colossus - growing up on the Collective. fighting the scourge of communism one row of corn at a time. a movie for the people! Shadowcat/Kitty - a nice Jewish girl from the suburbs gets into teenagey angst, fighting the goyim and the spectre of a neo ratzi revival in upstate New York. she gets abducted by aliens and gets a tiny dragon for her troubles. saved by Corsair and the gang and brought down to earth to take up her spot at the Institute. Gambit - if they can make Ant-Man workable, why not this guy?

I would start here; http://www.fantagraphics.com/love-and-rockets-library-locas-book-1-maggie-the-mechanic-new-printing/ it's okay if you don't "get it." Taste is relative within specific bounds, and just because I love it, doesn't mean that something is wrong if someone else doesn't. I never got into Barks and don't get the infatuation with Matt Baker, but I can recognize that they are two supreme talents worthy of admiration by the community as a whole. But seriously if you don't at least think the art is some of the best in the medium something is probably wrong with you and you should consider some sort of therapy

Mark Millar has done at least one - if not two - try out contests in recent years. There were like four writer winners and four artists, who were then paired up and the result published in a Millarverse Annual. The results were mostly meh, but I'm not a professional talent evaluator

just read the books. it's all i'm saying

any issue of Love and Rockets. honestly, Jaime Hernandez might be the best writer/artist in comic history. his work is flawless. flawless

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8416494/?ref_=nv_sr_1 just guessing. it's DC, so who knows how far this will get before it either dies or fades away

Challengers of the Unknown? Maybe. They are a definite precursor to the FF and thus a gateway for all SA superheroes. I think a strong argument can be made but not sure how much mental energy i want to spend on working out what that exactly is

technically, a bottom loader, no?

if there's one thing i've learned over the years, it's that the amount of punctuation used in a screed by a New Guy is directly proportional to the validity of their complaint(s). in this case, i think we can all agree that it's time to break out the pitchforks and torches and follow this guy to this thread's inevitable conclusion

Good ole Lenoir. Or Lenn-wah, if you prefer

the Swank issue has a Bode/Wrightson story in it, according to the sticker on the bag. Those Pussycat books fetch a decent coin in good shape, iirc

What? No.

four pages and no "...oh, about tree-fitty" comments? slipping

i'm not a mind reader, but i'm guessing that a large part of the reason moleman was so willing to on his own rep was that he has no real intention of coming back here

coincidentally enough, this page is now up for sale in the Heritage May Signature Auction; https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/jack-kirby-and-vince-colletta-thor-126-splash-page-9-hercules-original-art-marvel-1966-/a/7187-91026.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515

As I said, people...

yeah the original post, to me, is akin to; what would you prefer: A - a 5 course meal, personally prepared for you by a Michelin 3-star rated chef, or B - a Falcon Punch to the grundle, delivered by a top-ranked heavyweight boxer i mean, there are probably some who would pick B, but those people are clearly suffering some sort of brain-related malady

honestly, it looks more like a printing error/issue than fading but it's hard to tell because the photo is so crappy . looks like the ink levels were low to me. i would think the whole book would be evenly washed out if it was fading

this is like a dream pickup for me. holy mackerel

My folks took me to see this at the drive-in. i wasn't quite four years old and I think i remember falling asleep before it ended. Pretty sure i had nightmares afterward. Probably not the best idea my parents ever had

I will see your "don't nobody care about dose DCs" and raise you a few;