ExNihilo

Can we get a photo of you re-enacting this image? I'd like you to sit on a bed and bend over...uh, unless you have a plumber's crack...then don't bend over. Whatever photo you take, send it to Bagley and tell him what a god awful artist he is and to re-take his human anatomy course.

I actually don't quite understand the hate this issue gets. I think a lot of people kinda roll there eyes at the gimmicky cover, the notion that a main character "dies"...again. But I always loved the way the issue was written. And then there's Bagley's art, always masterful.

As a fan of both Spider-Man and Peter Pan, this one always gets me. Amazing Spider-Man #400..."Second to the right...and straight on til morning."

At this point would you trust any pic posted? Or would there be reason to assume it was just some random pic taken off the internet?

At my LCS, I occasionally see a parent with their kid(s) in the store. Mom or dad will tell the kid(s) that they can "buy one book" or "you have $6, you can this book for $5 or you can buy these 2 for $6, what do you want to do?" The majority of the time it's adults buying books so I'm not sure what that says for the future. It admittedly seems bleak. I also see the estimated sales figures from comichron and I just see how vastly different the marketplace is when compared to the 90s when X-Men and X-Force were selling in the millions. http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2018/2018-10.html That said, when I'm on reddit, it seems to me that TPB's are a very popular reading format (and I'm assuming redditors tend to be millennials or younger). There's also an untold number of digital readers. I guess what i'm saying is that print runs are down where I feel there is a balance between supply and demand so I don't foresee a crash in the physical market. Comics are a medium where people will always want physical copies. I think this is steeped in the fact that we see books like 'Tec #27 and Action Comics #1 and think "golly, those books are worth a lot." And because of that, people will continue to falsely believe that a physical copy might hold value in 60 years time. That all being said, I do think the variant market will reach a breaking point. It's almost sickening to see so many publisher variants plus store exclusives. When you have like 50-70 different covers for the same book being published by LCS's across the country, I think at some point it waters down the market for them. Now, the hypocrite that I am, I partake and buy these variant covers. But it's typically because the covers themselves do look nicer than the standard cover. At this point though, i'm not buying variants as an investment. I'm buying them for their artistic qualities. Some variants though are catered for the possibility of "investing" simply because they're rare (1:250, 1:500, limited print runs, etc) and some collectors out there like going after those.

Overall, extremely ecstatic with the books I got back today. These first two books were from my dad's collection. I could have just kept them in mylar since I have no intention of ever parting with these, but I was curious to see what grades they would get so I sent them off. Considering how people were less protective of their books than we are today and based on the checkered storage history (the books spent time tucked away in a basement and then garage - in an area with moderate temperatures and low humidity...but still...effectively outdoors), I was expecting something more along the lines of a 7.0. So I was very pleasantly surprised to see these high marks. I also picked up a copy of Fantastic Four #49 from a boardie a while back. I think it was originally described as Fine+, so I was very happy to get it back with a 7.0. I was aiming to get as close to an 8.0 as possible but with the way the cost of the trilogy has shot up the last few months, the price started to get away from me so I kinda took whatever I could get. Overall, I'm very happy with the score on it and now I just need to find a #50 in the 7.0-8.0 range to complete the trilogy. Final thoughts regarding this latest batch of books..I noticed all three books have no newton rings when you look at them straight on. Certainly not to the same extent as some other books we've seen on these boards. From an angle, you can see some faint rings, but nothing outrageous. I find this really impressive considering I would expect the black covers for Thor and FF to really highlight any rings that might be present. But as you can see from the images (with my reflection...sorry), the rings are largely non-existent. I'm not sure if I got lucky or if CGC has somehow changed their slabbing process, but whatever it is, i'll take it. Last thing, all three books were pressed.

I own multiple 9.6/9.8 copies of X-Men #1 and FF#1. The Jim Lee ones at least. Kneel before Zod!

For the record, aggressive tones and responses typically aren't conducive to discussions. Secondly, size or value of a collection isn't indicative of intelligence, wisdom, or breadth of knowledge in a given subject. Trotting it out as though it's some sort of measuring stick for greatness tends to show an underlying subconscious insecurity. That and some people on here have books that number in the like 20k-40k range. And god knows what the value of books are for people who collect GA/SA heavily (like the people who have multiple copies of AF15 and FF1 and IH181). Side note: how is it these things always crop up on a Friday. Does everyone just save their dramatic outbursts for the weekend to help speed up the work day?

I dunno...there are actually feet in this image. And the muscles on Conan aren't nearly "Liefeld big".

I like sigs. I have books with sigs on them. That said, it does reduce the availability of high grade blue label books. Now if I'm getting a book signed, I try to make sure I have a nice unsigned copy as well.

Even if it's just a scribbled incoherent mess?

Yeah, I could see how my kids would look at my collection of $0.25 books (hell, that's probably being too generous as far as value goes) and think to themselves "how do we tell dad we don't want his worthless books?"

As a business, cancelling completed orders like that seems pretty despicable. I'd be pretty pissed if I were one of those completed orders.

But with comics isn't it potentially a little different? My dad introduced me to comics and handed his comics to me for safekeeping. I can't imagine many are worth anything, but they're significant to me because of the personal connection. I hope to one day spread the same love for comics to my son/daughter and to similarly pass my collection to him/her. And I would hope they would see the books with the same sentimental value. (But then again, i don't have the massive collection you guys have so I'm not really running into the same issue of space that some other boardies are.)

I don't have an answer, but there was some speculation/discussion here. That said, I think part of the reason why the value of his sigs had increased in recent years was because the cost of his signature had increased in recent years.

I don't have a source, but I had heard that the Silver Surfer was Stan's favorite creation. With regards to OP's question, I give my vote to AF15. You could argue that without the FF, there would be no Marvel. But the truth is, the FF are special amongst comic book fans. They don't really resonate with the greater population. Spider-Man has been one of the most popular Marvel properties from a commercial standpoint. I look back and I certainly knew Spider-Man before I knew who Mister Fantastic was. I think without the popularity of Spider-Man and Hulk in mainstream media, other characters might not have struck a chord in popular culture. So for that, I give a tip of my hat to AF15.

There's a reason why I barely passed Chemistry.

I'm not sure what's more ridiculous...the band name (Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs) or this performance for the song? I'm

A series of hydrogen and oxygen molecules whose temperature have been reduced below 0 degrees Celsius, blanketed over a mountain of carbon molecules.

Amazing Spider-Man v2 #36 (the 9/11 tribute issue) is when I realized that comics were so much more than superhero/action stories. Some people will gripe about supervillains crying, Straczynski's words and how he highlights that the real heroes are the ones who run to danger without the aid of super powers and how we are stronger together were all very rousing. Especially in the wake of the tragic events of that day. Silver Surfer: Requiem has so many great moments. Really, each issue stands on its own, but this series of panels always stood out to me. You get a sense of how noble the Surfer is. How much wisdom he possesses. And at the same time, a semblance of the humanity which he is constantly striving to find for himself again. Then there's also [SPOILER if you've never read Requiem] this panel. I just love the amount of respect afforded to the Silver Surfer.

Geez, you weren't joking. "This way Betty" <dramatic pause> "come" <pause> "as we agreed."

All Star Superman by Grant Morrison It's revered by DC fans, but something about Morrison's writing just doesn't do it for me.

Grades don't appear until after the Grading/Quality Control stage in case QC finds something and the book needs to be regraded. Imagine how upset you'd be if you saw a 9.8 at "Graded" and then received a 9.6. It's best for them to reserve judgement until a score is finalized.

How quick was the turnaround time?

PSA: I was under the impression that when books were with CCS, they would appear on your submissions page as CCS-Rec'd or CCS-Verified or something along those lines. Well, I've had a few books that I submitted for CCS which appear as "Received" so I thought they had already moved through the pressing phase. (They admittedly moved through quickly so I figured CCS just determined that a press was unnecessary). Anyways, I called customer service today and was informed that the books are still with CCS despite appearing as "Received". tl;dr - i'm not sure what CCS/CGC's notations mean anymore, but if you subbed a book for press and are wondering why its appearing as "Received" for so long, it's possible it is still with CCS.