RockMyAmadeus

The question to ask is "what are you comparing"? If you're comparing comics4less' "8.5" to a CGC 8.5, that's not really a straight across comparison. Frequently...and often with a press and a clean...a comics4less 8.5 can end up in a 9.2 or 9.4 slab.

Hmmmm. I dunno. I've been considering this since it was posted, and I am of the opinion that Sandman #1 is nothing like the other books, which were just variances in ink levels. It is my opinion that Sandman #1 was a genuine error that was fixed.

Yes, this is a totally healthy, natural, and legitimate expression of human nature.

I notice there are a lot of nerds in your pictures. Is this on purpose...?

It would not take that sort of collapse for WD #1 to see sub-$1,000 prices. Several books have done similar things in the very recent past. Factoring for inflation both externally ("Inflation") and internally (the avg. cover price of a comic today), that has happened with books like Cerebus #1 and TMNT #1, both of which were $400-$500 books by 1986-ish or so. TMNT #1 was the Walking Dead #1 of its generation, as you know. By the end of the 90s, you could buy both books for $100 or less. Thanks to its creation in the CGC age, there are plenty of ultra high grade copies available, so it stands to reason that supply will outstrip demand at some point. It has had legs longer than most, for sure...but without characters that are sustained, to which successive generations can identify, once the idea has played out in the public consciousness, all that will be left are the collectors. And if Kirkman ends the series at some point, that's it. Someone said earlier that WD might have been cancelled if the show didn't exist...? That's not true. Image has published, and continues to publish, books that would have been, and should have been, cancelled by other publishers, because that's what Image does. Without the show, I suspect we'd still be on issue #180 or wherever we are at the moment.

Define "catastrophe."

Absolutely.

Although I have little doubt that such scenarios have happened, I've never seen it. I've seen known quantities behaving badly, but not with creators. I've never, ever seen someone "just drop down" a short box, and stand there expecting the creator to sign them all, with a "chop chop, time's a-wastin'!" attitude. I suspect it might be more an issue of perspective than anything. Someone sees someone with a short box, and they jump to assumptions. I often walk around show floors with 1 or 2 short boxes, and sometimes people behind me say "um...are you going to get ALL of those signed...?" knowing exactly what their fear is. I respond with, "oh, no, I'm just getting a couple of books signed by so and so. It's easier to carry these around this way. Isn't their work on such and such a book great..?" And, among the CGC SS community, such attitudes and behaviors is virtually unknown. For the most part, it's a group of men and women who are professional, courteous, and beyond reproach when it comes to dealing with creators in person. Sure, we vent to each other in private, and here, but few of us would ever create drama at a creator's booth, because that's the way to get cut off by creators AND CGC.

Yes, and not a one could be slabbed. So, I have two junky Star Trek "picto-novels", and a Namor #26. Better than nothing.

You're in the wrong place. According to whom...? Why is it anyone else's business how someone collects...? What business is it of ANYONE to tell someone else what they "should be satisfied" with...? What business is it of ANYONE'S to tell someone else what they do and do not "need"...? It's pure snobbery, to put absolutely no fine point on it. Never mind the fact that, "in sports", athletes usually have nothing whatsoever to do with creating those cards. By the way...do you know what the healthiest way to deal with people who "pretend to be fans" is...? Treat them like fans, and stop being greedy, worrying about what other people may or may not make. I've witnessed literally thousands of books being signed, by all sorts of creators, and I have never seen "drama" in a line caused by people seeking signatures. Creators, yes. People with stuff to sign? Not once.

You were with me until that. Charging a "slabbing punishment tax" is greedy, selfish, and does much more harm than good. It will, eventually, create quite the backlash. Charge $10,000,000. Have at it. But don't charge separate fees for the same service, based on information that is none of the creator's business or concern. It's beyond absurd. "Oh, that's for slabbing? Yes, that's double." "Oh, you're a creator? Oh, then your food is double. Oh, and your drinks. Oh, and your groceries. Oh, and your supplies. Oh, and your clothes. After all, you USE all of those things to make filthy, dirty money. And, even worse, if you're an artist, you get paid TWICE: once by the publisher, and then again when you flip that page to someone else. Greedy."

I'm just giving you a hard time, using unfunny humor that everyone rolls their eyes at.

Wait, her gone? Or your gone? I can't keep my gones straight.

It's a good story. That era of Spidey, from #238 to essentially #329, is one of the best in comics, and Spidey being Spidey. It's just classic Spidey, and the logical progression of the Lee/Ditko character. Stern, Michelinie, and co. really turned out a great set of stories. Plus, Peter David was doing good work in Spectacular at the time as well. It's just FUN. If you've never read Spidey #252-259, and the corresponding issues in MTU and Spectacular, get it and read it. Spidey #259...aside from the horrifyingly bad Frenz art (Mary Jane is a MODEL...she should look like that full length panel in ASM #302, not a bag lady), it's quite a nice story about Pete & MJ's history. And, of course, the whole "who is Hobgoblin??", which played out for several years, was pretty exciting, even if the climax was a let down.

I, too, much prefer the old slabs, still. They weren't as clear as the new slabs...but they weighed less, and were a lot easier to deal with. I've accepted Newton rings as a fact of life. I know it's not affecting the book, so I just suck it up. However, I'm greatly concern with staple tearing with shifting comics, which is still happening.

It should't be convoluted. The symbiote story, wholly apart from Venom, was its own tale from 1984-1985. Spidey #258 and Web #1 would have been the end of it, if Michelinie hadn't created Venom. It's a nice, fairly self-contained saga. Frankly, while I thought Venom was a logical and clever use of the idea, the symbiote's story with Peter is quite touching, and the final confrontation in the bell tower in Web #1 is heartbreaking. You end up feeling for this alien creature, and yes, it's what made the concept of Venom so compelling. The scene in Spidey #317 is also quite good.

Do not overlook FF #274. The last page leads directly to Web #1, showing the symbiote escaping from the Baxter Building.

I...I think I'm going to cry....

I am not a critique. I just hand them out.

About the same. I've got respect for Austin, but he doesn't make me tingle like Byrne and Claremont.

I got to meet him finally at NYCC last year with IDW. It was....it was. The odds against him doing SS are 107,298,113 to 1, but...you know...hope springs eternal. Can you IMAGINE...? Thoughts of 9.8 double signed X-Men #108-143 make me cry.

OK.....well, I feel foolish now. You and RMA are "mad" buyers....or perhaps I'm just a real lazy one..... I'm a TRS, so I get best listings anyways, but the stuff I sell is so very niche...Justice League America #31 signed by Giffen, DeMatteis, and HUGHES!!...that often, those searching for it find I'm the only one on the page.

Times 10,000.

All the time. I don't ever search by "Best Match", either.