MedicAR

My request for facilitators worked!  

It technically worked too well as I've got a couple for shows that I don't list as they are sci-fi and horror shows rather than comic-centric shows.  But since they were kind enough to drop me a note, I wanted to make sure to let everyone know about these two:

Hank Pym is taking subs for the Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas which has some awesome Trek guests.  William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew,George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Levar Burton, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, John De Lancie, Karl Urban, Ron Perlman, and tons more!  August 2-6

Kevlar is accepting subs for the Walker Stalker in Atlanta with Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Melissa McBride, Michael Cudlitz, Josh McDermitt, Alanna Masterson, Michael Rooker, Ron Perlman, and whole mess of other Sons of Anarchy stars.  October 27-29

Hi!  

I'm seeing a decline in people accepting submissions for shows.  I know it's kind of the middle of the season and things are hectic, but I sincerely do not want to leave anyone out on the Appearances thread.  I've been though this subforum, hit up the sites I could think of, and generally poked around to try and get everyone on the list for the shows you are attending.  I am certain I am missing some of you, so please PM me, post here, or even post in the Appearances thread.  

As always, thank you for your time and services!  We really appreciate it! 

On 6/18/2017 at 1:22 AM, Wystan said:

Last I checked Stan Lee signatures went exclusively through  NYComics http://www.nycomics.us/. Contact them and they can probably get Chris' signature for you as well.

I just contacted NYComics about Stan Lee, they are not currently handling him.  Anastasia's Collectibles appears to be the only direct route right now.  

SDCC is up!  I’ve combed the listings for Artists Alley and Exhibitors for what I hope is the most comprehensive list available.  

I don't want to stray too far off topic here but has anyone read Providence?  It sounds intriguing.  

1 hour ago, Drbearsec said:

My Frank Miller DK3 Sketch came back finally.  Even better, Azzarello happened to be there and got his signature at the same time.

 

 

Looks like Frank has a new signature style! 

17 minutes ago, seanfingh said:

I had dinner with Steranko in Cincy and it was just like Doug's story - lots of stories and hooting and hollering - but with the added bonus of crushing pounds of grilled meat at a Brazilian steakhouse. 

So it is not out of the question?  

6 minutes ago, SuperGrover said:

That's an AWESOME story!

Thanks, it really made up for our first near-meeting.  

The last one is my favorite of the bunch.  I caught Neal Adams with no line Sunday morning in kC.  We chit chatted and I asked about a sketch but requested that it not be the usual profile that he does, preferring a straight-on sketch of Deadman, similar to the #1 from 1985.  He said he would but could do something even better if I'd take a chance.  I agreed, cash was exchanged and he set to work.  I swear he can just print money.  I don't know that it took him a full 30 minutes and that was while talking on the phone and working his table.  I think it turned out awesome.  Deadman has been a favorite since I first discovered him around 1986.  I give that date because I had to fish the mini series out of the back issues, so I know it had finished.  

The second one is from Frank Brunner.  It's got some smudges on the back which I think can be removed.  Time will tell....

I haven't played the sketch game much lately but have three that I'm proud of.  Sorry for the individual posts, I like to keep the comments with the book and attaching them doesn't allow that.  

We'll start with one I'm really kind of tickled to have.  My goal is to put together the New Teen Titans by George Pérez.  This makes my second and I've found a third, leaving Cyborg, Wonder Girl, and Changeling to go! 

Two more which really surprised me.  I thought these covers were a no brainer for a Steranko CGC SS, but then I understand my point of view is unique at times.  As a result I've got a pair of one-of-a-kinds! 

Theres a story with these, too.  

I met Mr. Steranko in Kansas City at Planet Comicon this past April. Before I get going, let preface the story with this: I apparently have some of the absolute worst luck in meeting creators. I first met Mr. Steranko at SDCC in 2006. I thought he was arrogant and stand-offish as he (supposedly) would only come forward and speak if you bought an item from the Vanguard Publishing table. I seem to be the only person ever to have been told this or to have had this experience. I had the same experience with Jim Lee at KC a few years later and was the only one to have a negative experience there as well. By all accounts, both are fun an friendly guys, meaning that I either exude some negative vibe or managed to catch both at the worst second of their day. I prefer the second option but whatever.  

So, in KC it was a three day show and I only made the second two. I got there early Saturday but didn't get in early and he already had a significant line. I just kept an eye on things and went about my business but his line never seemed to shorten. He even took lunch (or went to a panel, I don't recall any panels with him but who knows?) and the line actually grew while he was gone. Sunday, I made him my #1 priority and got in early and made a bee line to his table. I was about sixth in line and had to wait more than an hour to get my turn with him.  

My time came and I approached slowly and with great reverence. I had a couple of books for him to sign, both the recent SHIELD books with the Kirby/Steranko covers, one in color one in black and white. We spoke briefly, he asked about what color to sign in and I told him that he was the artist so I trusted his judgement. We had a little banter about it and he signed them then asked if I knew the story behind the covers. I told him that I did (I honestly thought that I did), that the cover had been one of a few pages from an unused story. He just beamed and said, "No, that's not it." He proceeded to tell me how he had approached Stan Lee at Marvel Comics in the 60s and he had sat in a waiting area with a few other artists, all of who had "fancy $400 leather portfolios." He said that he had arrived with his art wrapped in newspapers because he "didn't need to spend that kind of money to show that I knew what I was doing." He said that he got his turn with Stan and that Stan immediately loved it but expressed concern about accountability. He recalled that Stan spun in his chair and rifled through some original art pages, finally snagging what would become this cover and another page, both penciled by Jack Kirby. He told Mr. Steranko to ink them and bring them back next Thursday at 2:00. Mr. Steranko kind of scoffed at this point, grinning and saying, "I didn't need a week for that, I could have had them done that night but I wanted to show that I could follow orders." He said he returned with the pages the next Thursday at 2 and Stan was blown away, and offered him work on any book he wanted. He took Strange Tales and the rest his history.  

This all reads like it only took a minute or two but this was close to a 20 minute story with all kinds of flourishes and embellishments. Mr. Steranko was clearly holding court and it was truly a sight to behold. He somehow managed to work in that it was his first time in KC....ever! I had to ask the obligatory, "did you have any barbecue?" to which he rolled his eyes and said, "YES! I tried the barbecue, I'm going to go find some sauce to spill on my shirt so everyone will quit asking!" With this, I grinned and asked how he felt about Italian food. He smiled and leaned in close like it was all suddenly a big secret. He said, "is there good Italian here?" I told him it was some great Italian and suggested Cascones restaurant. He straightened back up and asked the guy behind me, "does he know what he's talking about? Is there good Italian food here?" I cut him off, asking, "Really? You think a fat guy doesn't know good Italian food?" We laughed and carried on a bit more. He said that he wanted to try it and I told him I would gladly take him the next time he came to town. He told me to talk to the promoter and I said I'd put in a word about coming again next year. He said we'd go then.  

I don't imagine that we will actually have dinner, even if he does return, but that's what happened and it makes a great story.  

11 minutes ago, Jimmy Linguini said:

Fantastic!

Thanks!  I loved the show when I was a kid.  My parents would groan and roll their eyes when it was on, so I didn't always get to see it! 

Big thanks to Rich Henn for helping me out on this one.  

The original live action Spider-Man, Nicholas Hammond! 

1 hour ago, jbeez909 said:

If there is such a case of senior citizen abuse, these greedy handlers should be convicted of it! 

I am deeply concerned about this but don't know where to start with a lack of solid evidence, address, or even full names.  

3 hours ago, Mercury Man said:

There will never be a shortage of Stan Lee signatures out there.  If you plan on selling a signed item (especially comic) and are trying to command a premium on your asking price for said signed book, that is a fools errand in my humble opinion.   Supply has definitely outpaced demand.

You are absolutely right, the trick is to get something special signed.  I'm a fan of the Milestone Editions in that they are reprints of books he actually worked on and are plentiful in high grade.  The covers that he actually appears on are a good bet too.  I think people that are having him sign random Deadpool, Wolverine, Gwenpool, and any other flavor of the month will be sorely disappointed.  Of course, at this point everybody may be disappointed.  

spidermanbeyond helped me out pretty close to the last minute with the Silicon Valley Comic Con.  He not only got two signatures from Russ Heath for me, he also scored a sweet Swamp Thing sketch from Tom Yeates for me as well!  Oh, and let's not forget the press that got my Millennium Edition Our Army as War a 9.6!  There's links to the books below.  

Thanks!

Here's one that I really thought would grade out a heck of a lot better but hey, who knows?  

It's from ToyBiz.

On 6/12/2017 at 2:45 PM, seanfingh said:

I posted this in CG, but it qualifies for this thread as well:

 

http://www.myslabbedcomics.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=7012&GSub=631

That's a sweet book.  I had finally found one that I considered worthy and was looking for an op to get Mr. West and Mr. Ward.  

Big thanks to spidermanbeyond for accepting a few books for the Silicon Valley Comic Con.  I managed to score another book for my DC Millennium Edition collection signed by Russ Heath as well as a fantastic sketch by Tom Yeates!  

21 hours ago, GACollectibles said:

George Perez- Starfire $110

ComicBase tech support is looking over my databases now to determine what the problem might be.  

Here's what happened.  While organizing the Steve Ditko self-published books that have been released through his Kickstarter campaigns, I recognized a pattern in their numbering.  I saw it as either two series, one of what he calls "32 Pagers" and one of specially themed issues or one series of regular and special issues.  The hang up was that there are also trade paperbacks and they combine reprints of parts of both.  My solution was to create a single title, using the "32 Pagers" as the regular issues, the themed issues as specials, and the trade paperbacks as, well, TPBs.  The numbering fits this system and there is no indicia in any of the books, leaving it all open to interpretation.  I entered all of the information since CB had a smattering of the issues, all as individual titles.  I thought it made sense to keep them in one place, particularly since there was a consistent numbering thread running through them.  I offered this to CB and it was rejected.  Whatever, no big deal.  That's one of the advantages of CB, you can enter your own titles.  If you do that though, you have to keep them updated with whatever new issues or information may come about.  The system is designed to update information as needed on any titles in the CB master database and it will delete obsolete issues and/or titles.  The caveat is that if you have your own titles and have any issues in stock, CB will not touch that title/issue just ignoring it.  It did this with my Ditko books for a couple of months then it deleted them and the entire title.  I asked about it and was told that it wouldn't delete anything that had an issue in stock.  I also noticed that the Grass Kings variants that I had added , HipHopf Comics and the Emerald City variant had been combined into a single book and the Emerald City entry was now gone despite me having that one in stock.  I added roughly two long boxes of books to my inventory but when I checked the statistics, my collection had shrank by 65 books.  I didn't sell or delete a book, adding an estimated 250+ books, but by the statistics, I dropped by 65.  I went to add a stray Ditko book I had located only to discover the title completely wiped out.  I added a Grass Kings issue and found the ECCC variant deleted and that I no longer appear to own it or the HipHopf variants according to CB.  

Here's where it get really weird.  The inventory dropped by 65 books.  That's the total quantity of the Ditkos and the Grass Kings issues.  None of the books from the two long boxes were added at all.  All of these (the boxes, the Ditkos, and the Grass Kings) were entered at different times with the two long boxes being over the period of a couple of days.  They were saved as they were entered but they suddenly went poof like a political thread from Comics General.  I believe this all happened after an update from CB on 11 May, 2017.  

As for the import to Collectorz, it almost works but it will take a lot of time and effort.  When CB exports a title, it looks like this: 

Batman Adventures
1,1,NM,
,1/SI,1,VF,
,2,1,NM,
,3,1,NM,
,4,1,NM,
,5,1,NM,

Using #1 as an example, you get the issue number, quantity on hand, and condition (I can select a lot of fields but these seemed pertinent).  It's pretty straight forward.  Unfortunately, CollectorZ needs the title for each issue meaning that I will have to copy and paste the title in front of each individual issue number.  CollecotrZ also has no importable field for the condition of the books, meaning I have to enter each one individually.  This isn't looking like a workable solution but I will keep plugging along.  

All of them?  Is there another?

Thanks for the ideas.  

ComicBase has been fantastic but it keeps having hiccups.  I've had entire databases become corrupted.  I had an error in the program occur where the notes for Batman #428 were randomly inserted into various titles and issues throughout the system.  Now it has deleted a title that I created and had issues in inventory for despite the claim that if an issue is in stock of anything, an update will not delete it.  Their last "upgrade" was a fancy new picture on the startup screen and their "mobile app" is an icon on your home screen that takes you to a bookmark in your browser.  The capper is losing two long boxes worth of entries that have been assimilated into my regular collection, somewhere around 250 books.  I only know because my total number of books in my inventory went down after adding them.  They have an option to back up databases to the cloud an that "app" I mentioned before will allow you to see your collection on your device.  It sounds good but we only get to see empty databases or incomplete information.  The best part of all of this?  Their only suggestion for all of these problems is to contact their tech support.  When I asked how a call to tech support will fix a problem on their website, I was told that a remote session could be done! 

  Right.  Like I want the people who can't get their site, program, or app together to have a poke around in my computer!  

CB is pretty limited in that you can either export as "Spreadsheet-Database Records" or "Formatted Report."  I tried the spreadsheet option which was just a mess and didn't seem to interact with Collectorz in any meaningful way.  I'm poking around again to see if can find a way to expedite it all and will keep information up to date here as I get the impression that others on the CB site are as frustrated as I am and looking for a way around it.  To top it all off, we have no way to privately communicate between users so I can't help them out other than publicly on the CB site.