RockMyAmadeus

And, by the way...as groundbreaking as Sandman was, let's not be fooled for a minute into thinking that Gaiman wasn't doing heavy recycling of stories that were, in some cases, thousands of years old.

Yes, this is all very important to keep in mind. Name the stories that have come out from Marvel or DC in the last 20 years that have been original, and made an impact on comics history. What...? None, you say? Ok, name the characters that have been created in the last 20 years that have been original, and made an impact on comics history? What....? There aren't any, except maybe, possibly, a Wolverine clone....? "But...but...but...what about Hush in Batman!?" you may protest. Ok. Tell me 1. what happened in Hush, and 2. how it impacted Batman in any way. I can tell you what happened in Swamp Thing #21. Hell, I can practically recite it from memory. I can tell you what happened in Batman #426-429, cheesy as that story is. I can tell you what happened in Batman #436-442. I can tell you what happened in Amazing Spiderman #300. I can tell you what happened in X-Men #266....sorta. Claremont was clearly high on something when he wrote the last 5 years of X-Men. I can definitely tell you what happened in Watchmen, and Killing Joke, and Miracleman, and Animal Man and Sandman. The last 20-25 years should be called "The Derivative Age." Consider one of the most popular titles from the 00s: Ultimate Spiderman. What is Ultimate Spiderman? A "re-imagining" of the previous 40 year history of the character's stories! Bendis spins a great yarn....don't get me wrong...but one of the most popular comics of the entire decade was a DERIVATION of characters and stories that had already been told. Why? Because no one wants to give Marvel or DC anything new and exciting...or just different. You go to Image, and you find Ellis' brilliant Stormwatch/Authority masterpiece, and Astro City (still derivative!!), and Planetary, and Walking Dead, and other stuff that is fun, or interesting, or creative...lots that didn't work, but some that did. DC and Marvel? Forget it. Why create something that is only going to make money for other people? DD was a couple of seconds from being cancelled...no, really. Mainline characters don't go to bi-monthly publication because sales are UP. Claremont and Cockrum were given X-Men because it was already a dead title. Batman, when Miller took on the character, was selling less than 100,000 copies a month, and was limping along (yes, Virginia, there was a time when Batman was in the dumps, and nobody wanted it.) Wonder Woman was CANCELLED ALREADY when Perez was given the character, reducing the number of characters in continuous publication since WWII to 2: Batman and Superman. Justice League was no hot shakes in the sales dept, which is why Giffen & DeMatteis were given a shot. Pasko's Swamp Thing was dying on the vine. Animal Man had a grand total of 15 or so appearances in his first 20 years of existence. So what made the "Copper Age" so great is that creators took existing concepts and turned them on their heads. Whether it was Gaiman's Sandman, or Moore's Swamp Thing...very little was created in the Copper Age that was wholly new, but what was done was that the artform was perfected, from a "almost entirely for kids" medium in the late 70s, to a "holy , this stuff is really, really good!" by the early 90s. Now, you see endless derivation, endless repetition of old ideas, endless recycling...and it's part of the larger Arc of Culture that the West is going through in its dying phase. Look at what's popular on TV. Do you see groundbreaking shows, like Lost (which, due to the ineptitude of its creators, Damon and Lindelof, was squandered)? Do you see groundbreaking cultural shows, despite what you may think of their premises, like Will & Grace, or Roseanne, or Murphy Brown..? No. You see Will & Grace, Roseanne, and Murphy Brown...and Magnum PI, and Twin Peaks, and....well, you get the idea. 2017-2018 reboots of these 80s and 90s originals! And, as an example of how taking an idea and building on it can work, that quintessential sequel, Star Trek: The Next Generation, was a "Copper Age" (1987) production. Then....Paramount took that idea and ran it smack dab into the ground until...it...couldn't....get....back....up....again. So. There you have it. You want to know why new comics struggle to sell 100,000 copies, or 50,000, or 2,000...? It's not...AT ALL...because "people are moving away from print to digital." No. It's because very few companies are publishing anything that connects with the public. If someone came up with an X-Men, like Claremont, Cockrum, and Byrne did...or a DD like Miller did....or a Sandman like Gaiman did...or Swamp Thing like Moore did...but NONE of those things, something totally original....the public would eat it up. The superhero movies are proof of that...and the Star Wars movies are going down the tubes because they're just rehashing the same stories. Tell a good story, and the people will flock to you, regardless of the format. They really will.

Yes, the copy pictured is a 1st printing. Lonestar does list items concurrently on eBay, so I was wondering if it was a case of them not knowing the difference, and listing it, like you had said you bought all their copies of the 2nd printing, hoping one of them was a newsstand, and none of them were. Bffnut answered that question. You can come at these from two different ways: buy all the newsstands and hope one is a 2nd print, or buy all the 2nd prints and hope one is a newsstand. What I'm asking, since you can't search through Lonestar's "sold" items, is this: did the listing that you bought, bffnut, accurately depict (in the picture) what you were buying, or was it just a regular 2nd print pictured, and a newsstand copy just showed up? Info on where these books come from, even if they lead to dead ends, is still useful in piecing together a picture of why they came to exist. We may never know, but any bit of information might turn into a bigger story. Maybe if I use the magical notification feature @mycomicshop can find out more info on where they got this copy of a fantastic "book that should never exist." In any event, this is the highlight of my week, and I'm thrilled you found it, bffnut, and I'm thrilled you got it, Kirk, and that you shared it with everyone. So exciting.

For $7! VERY nice!

Yes. When an item is not available, at any price, collectors lose interest. Even if something is available for a "stupid" price, there's more value in other items that are priced reasonably, so people generally move on. "Out of sight, out of mind." People won't pursue collections of, say, "Amazing Man", because when are you going to have an opportunity to buy a copy of #26? The most valuable coins in the world...1913 Liberty Nickel, 1804 Dollar, 1794 Dollar...all have 5, or 15, or even 100 or more examples known. The ones that are known only by one or two or three examples...1873-CC No Arrows dime, 1822 $5, 1825/4 $5....all generally cheaper than their more common, and more famous, counterparts, in the very, very rare times they come up for sale. "Done in by its own scarcity."

Is it this listing? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Superman-2nd-Series-50-1990-FN-Stock-Image/312207502054?hash=item48b1046ae6:g:QxUAAOSwk3BbZgvs

Gah! Now I have to find out where Lonestar got that copy!

Orrrrr....if I couldn't get that...and it's #1...then #2 and #3 is Soulfire Preview Pittsburgh and Ekos Preview Pittsburgh, in that order: (Sorry I can't find any scans of the origina art)

I love Turner art, and miss him terribly. The one piece I would own before any others is the cover to Witchblade #25, Fathom variant. Of course, that's " dream on, fanboy" territory, so... PS. I love that Lonestar pixelated Sara's behind...

Books were all printed at Quebecor, in Canada...(in Quebec, if that wasn't obvious.) I would assume the bags were printed there, too, but it's possible they weren't. Would make more sense if they were.

Was that the store's takeaway, or your own? Coins are on fire today, and have been for quite some time. The 50 state quarter program saved the hobby. There are new records being set for coins all the time....the Eliasberg 1913 Liberty 5c just sold for $4.56M a few days ago. The fourth....yes, the FOURTH...known example of the 1854-S $5 just sold for $2.1 million last week...the first discovery of a new example since 1946. And, as mentioned, even at the bottom end, collectors are having to "make do" with problem coins, because problem-free coins across the board are so expensive. Try finding any problem free New Orleans $20 pieces for less than 5 figures. It's tough. Even a REPAIRED example of the 1856-O $20 sold for $132,000 recently...and that's usually the kiss of death, into the melting pot you go. Not anymore.

So does that mean I should also shred the longboxes of DCU variants? Only the rare ones.

That's an interesting theory! The collector in me cringes at the thought...but if there's no other way to tell, you make a compelling argument.... I wonder if that has already happened.................

Yes, this whole thing has been an elaborate scheme, a long con, cooked up by all parties, to mysteriously reveal the existence of a heretofore unknown case of these books, to sell to the suckers, er, collectors at $300 each. And it would have worked, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!!

No, because the 30 and 35 cent variant were printed for the US market, to be sold in the US, despite their limited status. It's the psychological stigma attached to a price that isn't "American", which means it's "off" in some way (to eyes that are used to seeing American prices.) Fair or not, that's the way it goes. Interestingly enough, Canadian versions are accepted in the US without question, and always have been, while Australian books...when they make it here...are rarely noticed....and all because they share the same price symbols. It's that big ol' "d" and/or "p" and/or "/" that just kills it for UK copies. If the price symbols had been the same...even if the prices themselves were different...I bet you would see no resistance at all.

This is so exciting. A new Robin #1 AND a second copy of Superman #50 all in one week! Happy, happy dance. Now to get them both signed and slabbed.... I kid, I kid! Don't hurt me!

So, bffnut, would you be willing to explain how/where/when and whatnot as to how you found it? Did you find it at a store, or online, or in your own inventory/collection? I found mine hidden in an eBay listing, early last year. I wasn't sure what I would get, and it could have been a weird anomaly. Couldn't believe it when it showed up. This is outstanding! Now there's TWO known!

YAY!!!!!!

The US version, of course, because the book was published in the US, and because of the decades-long resistance of the US comics market to recognize UK versions as being "on par" with US versions, which makes sense. Alternately, if there had been US versions of books like L. Miller & Son's Marvelman, printed at the same time, then I would place more value on the UK versions, since that's where the book was published (yes, I know, it originated from Captain Marvel reprints to begin with, but work with me.) Of course, it is far, far, far more difficult for US collectors to obtain books published in the UK...like 2000AD, for example...than for people in the UK to obtain US versions, because of the disparity in size between the two markets. If there was a concurrent US version, printed specifically for the US or North American market, then I would want the "original" UK version. 2000AD #2, for example, or Captain Britain #8. And...not quite the same, but Warrior Magazine is valued much more highly than its later Eclipse counterpart, at least for issues #1-10, because Warrior is the original. Publications flowed regularly to the UK from the US after WWII; they rarely flowed in reverse. LOTR and Harry Potter are two significant exceptions to that dynamic. Interestingly enough, culturally, the UK provided significant and far-reaching contributions to the US in other artforms, such as music and film (film especially from the 90s forward), but in comics, it would take British creators working on US-published comics to make their most significant and lasting contributions.

Thank you for your cooperation.

There are resources to help you with your depression. The NHS has a section devoted to depression, including information on where to get treatment. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/clinical-depression/ That said, however, I've found that the way to beat depression is to get outside of yourself and help others. Volunteering at a local shelter, helping other people (or even animals) can do wonders for your own outlook. Here's a site to help you about that, if you're interested: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-volunteering Hope that helps.

Two copies of 9.6, because there's a good chance I can turn at least one of them into the 9.8 that I really want.

That's complete insanity. AND a 9.9...?

Pasadena Coin Co on Colorado Blvd?

So long as you keep your personal opinions about other members to yourself, I don't expect anyone will have a problem with how you conduct yourself. No one here has the right, authority, or is even qualified to offer their opinions about strangers posting on the internet and their "flaws." To do so, then, is to do nothing but invite conflict. It's beyond arrogant, rude, disrespectful, and has no place here. There are plenty of people with their opinions about you, as well, but they keep them to themselves, because this is not the place for it. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.