Qalyar

I wouldn't count print comics out quite yet. There's an art element to comic books (otherwise no one would ever have cared about variant covers), and you can't display a digital file. Also, there's a lot of the comic industry from a sales standpoint that all-digital doesn't duplicate well. There's no really good way to have a secondary market for digital files without opening up other problems (like ease of piracy), and the publishers know the secondary market matters. You can't realistically do things like limited editions or retailer incentive variants in an all-digital industry either. Also, people are gradually starting to realize digital only isn't always a good thing. Video games made the flaws obvious first; when a publisher stops supporting an online-required game, that game ceases to be. And there has been at least one proprietary e-reader format that was discontinued, taking libraries with it. Digital is convenient, but there is a virtue to actually owning "stuff". Yes, there are going to be digital-only titles. Just like there are ebook-only novels. And yes, there may be fewer monthlies overall, but the format isn't dead because DC is having problems. Not anymore than it died in the Marvel Implosion or with the collapse of the black and white indie era. Or, reaching back, with the end of Charlton or Gold Key or so forth. For the collectors side, I do expect some price stagnation. We've had a good run up on a lot of keys; that probably won't continue unabated. COVID doesn't help that. I mean, I'm not predicting a 90s indies collapse, where $100-200 books go right to the dollar box. But don't expect the next 10 years of price changes for Hulk 181 or AF15 and so forth to look like the last 10 years... The VERY top books -- Action 1, Tec 27, etc -- are now firmly the purview of the super-rich, so their future is harder to predict. Ultra luxury goods don't track general trends well.

The main distribution point for that Acclaim Reader was the 1997 Chicago Comicon, where they were freebie give-aways at the Acclaim booth. Which is why they have the signature page back cover, not unlike many other convention give-aways. Of course, the 1997 Chicago Comicon had all of like 5k attendees, which is a big part of why these are hard to find. I'm sure Acclaim found other ways to hand out the copies left behind after the event, but still... That slabbed copy is particularly nice not just for the 9.6 but for the white pages designation; these were printed on some terrible newsprint paper and many of them are the worse for it.

Context doesn't make it any better. The entire story in that issue is built on not-even-Bizarro-world logic. On the other hand, the Batman ad for Hostess fruit pies is fantastic.

Values are fairly flat, but that's not entirely bad for collecting (as opposed to investing). Admittedly, stamp shows are dying the same death as stamp stores in years past, but internet dealers make stock available to a wider array of collectors, and organized collecting groups like the APA are engaged in outreach that's slowly seeing a rise in philatelists who aren't middle-aged or older white men. Stamp collecting has been "dying" for 50 years. It's changing, but it's not going anywhere as a hobby. Can't speak to whether this is accurate or not, but plenty of creators who do have this sort of contract will tell you that's it is trivially easy for corporate rightsholders to weasel their way to meeting obligations. DC is not losing WW.

That was my attempt to be subtle while asking "Are these all Dylan books?"

Some of this was unavoidable. DC Universe was a dead property walking due to the merger. DC Direct was ... not well-positioned, and DC has already been outsourcing some of its fig production. And it's entirely possible that their new corporate overlords felt that there were simply too many layers of "local" editorial oversight and management. But that doesn't mean this is a good thing either. I don't think DC is going to go to zero on floppy comics, at least not real soon, if for no other reasons than the media would run with it as "DC Comics cancels Batman and Superman!" (even if that's not technically accurate) and no one wants to see that. But I do think there's going to be a reckoning. I suspect that main titles for their core characters -- stuff like Action Comics, Batman, Detective Comics, Justice League, and Wonder Woman -- aren't going anywhere. I imagine that some of the broadly adjacent titles will go digital-only, and there will be a push to move the spinoff mini- and maxi-series (stuff like The Batman's Grave and Wonder Woman: Dead Earth) to direct-to-graphic-novel in future. Things like Plunge will also be more likely to appear as a complete graphic novel than as serialized comics (but they're not going to tell Joe Hill to pound sand). Other titles that aren't directly part of the main DC brand, stuff like Amethyst, Far Sector, The Last God... I think are in real danger.

That makes it rather less likely that this has been corrected, sadly. Do we know if the July-graded books have the same, um, source? Regardless, the more I think about what should be done to correct this problem, the more I think the solution has to be more than just preventative. I suggested that there be a note added to the certification record. But honestly, I'm not sure that's adequate. If I was elected god-king and got to choose the outcome here... I think I would "amend" the certification record for the affected books to state that the certification was revoked, but that any current holder of said books could contact CGC for a shipping label that would allow them to send the book in for a reholder (correcting the label and restoring the certification entry) at CGC's cost. We all know that the person (or persons, because there might be more than one) who intentionally created these won't do that. But it would at least provide SOME benefit to collectors who get stuck with these down the road, and offer a little bit of warning in the meantime (not that I expect most people look up CGC certifications before buying slabs, but there's only so much possible right now). Of course, I think the chances of any such remedy happening are very, very small.

QC issue, of sorts. If you look up all these books by their slab number, they're all graded as restored (that is, purple label) books. But for whatever reason (hint: cost), CGC decided not to print purple-label versions of their "premium" character labels. What was supposed to happen was that if someone submitted a restored book for a character label, they would get a slab back with a normal purple label and be refunded the extra cost of the character label. What has actually happened in quite a few cases is that they've gotten slabs back with blue character labels that include text describing the restoration (like a purple label would). But too many people just buy the labels on books, and these labels are blue. CGC has said this has been corrected, but I'm also dubious of that claim. In particular, the book in this thread is more recently graded than many of the others we've seen. Is it possible that they've actually stopped this since 06/24? Well, I sure hope so... The problem has been made worse by at least one person (and, gee, who could that be?) exploiting the issue, almost certainly intentionally, to produce blue-label restored books. That he has been able to do so with some consistency suggests this is (or at least was) a more significant issue than the occasional QC failure. I have no idea what I would want CGC to do at this point (other than, you know, not making there be more of these). Certainly, no one is going to pay to reholder their blue labels into purple labels. Especially not bad actors profiting from this. At the very least, I'd like to see some sort of explicit note added to their certification entry. I've never had a good opinion of the character labels, but I never imagined this would be the problem with them.

Probably of interest to relatively few here, but... nevertheless. Also, ugh, I'm a terrible photographer. Charles Burns's Black Hole, #1-4 (the Kitchen Sink issues; the rest of the title is with Fantagraphics), first printings. Yeah, combo breaker on #3 there. But these have been harder to find in grade than would be expected. The thick cardstock covers with gloss printing are prone to all manner of surface scuffs and color breaks. Also, probably the majority of copies across the board have bindery chip issues because the printer used evidently didn't sharpen their blades enough to deal with the thickness of the cover. Many, many copies have had time, handling, and general quality turn those chips into more serious defects. In a lot of ways, these suffer from the same problems as the much better known (and rather a lot more valuable) Spider-Man 1 Platinum.

Most of what I submit is Modern, and it's hard to get too excited or depressed about 9.6/9.8 wobbling, although I've been pretty happy with my hit rate here lately. I did have a limited-run variant of a book that almost no one cares about that I really thought was gonna get a 9.6... but I missed a soft defect on the back cover that blended in with the design. So it got knocked ... all the way down to a 9.4. Still can't complain too much, as even that makes it top of the census, haha!

Perhaps there's a market for someone to found a new company, called CGCGC perhaps, that grades and encapsulates CGC slabs themselves. Slabs would lose points for case cracks, surface scuffs and other defects (like how some of the labels are kinda wavy... I hate that!). Clearly, slabs that demonstrate SCS or other post-encapsulation damage will get the equivalent of a green label from CGCGC... I do get the desire to have flawless slab cases for display, and I'm sure CGC will offer some sort of assistance here, but these are really tiny scratches, all things considered, surely?

I'm a significant percentage of the way to a full run (with variants) of high grade, slabbed issues of Midnight Nation. Which hasn't gotten me teased yet, but probably will now.

Seen and playing a plotline role in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, is the collected TPB for Black Hole.

CGC's internal grading standard clearly deviates from that one in this regard. There are occasional books that have a single color break and no other flaws that manage to come back with a 9.6. More frequently, I'd consider a book with one such tick and no other issues at all to be a likely 9.2/9.4 candidate (note of course that books with a color break on the spine often have other defects). Regardless, it definitely does not hard cap the grade at 9.0.

Those color rubs are probably from the comic shifting against others during initial shipping. That's not a manufacturing defect, but exactly how much CGC deducts for them varies somewhat from book to book. However, they're also really not the problem here. The FCUL is the problem. I suspect that started life as a bindery tear, but that's far, far beyond "bindery tear" levels now. There is surface material missing from the front cover, and what will likely be deemed a nascent spine split. Oh, and the FCUR isn't great, either; it seems to have some impact damage (which could, maybe, press out, but I wouldn't press this because nothing can help the other corner!). Honestly, I think this is a 9.0 book, plus or minus one grade level.

That Alien 3 miniseries only exists as a direct market book. Still, nice picks. The 1988 series is always nice to see, and the 2009 newsstands are pretty darn elusive.

Image suffers from... three factors, I think. First, and foremost, it is rather associated in many collectors' minds with the mid 90s excesses of the industry, which includes, of course, ludicrous print runs. That doesn't foreclose interest in Image titles before or after that; see renewed attention (and value) given to Valiant. But it hurts. Second, especially before TWD and the dominance of non-line comics at Image, it was known for its house style. Big, loud, all about the fight scenes and splash pages. That's not entirely FAIR, mind you, but there's at least a bit of truth there. Outside dedicated fans of a line, even other comics junkies are less likely to be able to name a Spawn story arc (much less a Darkness one, or a Wetworks one, or...) than they are some random DC/Marvel character. That doesn't mean the Image books don't have great arcs. Sometimes, anyway. But they're just not watchwords. And lastly, the adaptation craze. Image, by its nature, can't license and option things off in bulk. And the creators' efforts have been, well, let's not mince words here. Adaptations of Image properties come in two categories: disappointing (Spawn, Witchblade) or abortive efforts doomed to development hell (the list is too long!). Worse, at this point, other sources have lapped some of the Image properties. Rising Stars was optioned for a film that never happened, and too bad, but since then, we've had The 4400, Heroes, and The Umbrella Academy. Not the same stories, surely, but what was an innovative comic would now be part of an already-populated Netflix category. WildC.A.T.s would have to set itself apart from the X-Men, the Inhumans, Sense8, and tons of random other "supernatural group" stories. Still, I think some of this stuff is undervalued. Variants of the first wave of Image stuff are scarcer than expected. And a lot of the books, both in the early 90s (before things got stupid), and the early to mid 00s (after the 90s explosion but before TWD and such) are... surprisingly tricky in high grades. Or I could just end up wrong! I certainly have a fondness for a lot of books that isn't proportional to their FMV.

My 20 Moderns received 6/25 went to SFG on 7/29, then G/QC on the 31st. And 8/4, F/I/S! 12/20 books are 9.8s, and a couple others got the 9.6s I suspected they deserved. Also, I can't really complain about a 9.4 when that still makes the book the top of the census. On the other hand, it looks like the labeling problem on two books didn't get fixed, so I'll be dealing with that later, but in general, really happy with this submission.

Actually, come to think of it, the 35c price variant version of this book might be near the top of the list for valuable "collector's editions".

I definitely like the CGC holder better on aesthetics. Also, that's a pretty Chaos Orb in it!

Let me assure you that your understanding of the "actual malice" standard for libel is even less complete that your knowledge of the 8.0 grading standard for comics.

If the horror mags count, FMOF 1 will be hard to beat. I believe there have been some sales close to 5k. No 9.8 or 9.6 copies are known; if a 9.8 were to exist, I wouldn't be surprised to see it make $15k+

There does currently exist a set for the Marvel Comics Labyrinth: the Movie mini-series. I would like to have a larger set created in parallel for all of the Labyrinth comics. I feel this is generally in the spirit of "Mini-series/One-Shots sets for a character/title" as required for "custom" competitive sets. Serial numbers included in brackets when I am aware of examples. Labyrinth (Complete) [or "Complete with Variants", however titles are currently standardized for this sort of thing] Marvel Super Special #40 (Marvel, 1985) [0502713019] Labyrinth: the Movie #1 (Marvel, 1986) [1392114021] Labyrinth: the Movie #2 (Marvel, 1986) [1990331019] Labyrinth: the Movie #3 (Marvel, 1987) [1241523003] Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Special #1 (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2016) [0296972020] Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Special #1 Baltimore Comic-Con Edition (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2016) [1428257005] Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Special #1 Convention Edition (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2016) [1447881014] Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Special #1 Fried Pie Edition (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2016) Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Special #1 Unlocked Retailer Edition (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2016) [1462978039] Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Special #1 Variant Cover (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2016) [1223042004] Jim Henson's Labyrinth 2017 Special #1 (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2017) Jim Henson's Labyrinth 2017 Special #1 Sook Variant Cover (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2017) Jim Henson's Labyrinth 2017 Special #1 Variant Cover (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2017) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #1 (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2018) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #1 ComicsPRO Edition (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2018) [1568833013] Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #1 Durieux Variant Cover (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2018) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #1 Isaacs Variant Cover (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2018) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #1 Sienkiewicz Variant Cover (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2018) [1259606006] Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #1 Thompson Variant Cover (Boom! Studios/Archaia 2018) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Under the Spell #1 Bastian Variant Cover (Boom! Studios 2018) Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Under the Spell #1 Variant Cover (Boom! Studios 2018) As a side note, there are quite a few entries that aren't currently in the census (mostly later issues of Coronation), but those can be added if and when they're slabbed in future; this is more than enough for a legitimate set to get started. Set created on 12/2/20. Thank you

Because I actually do pay money for the oddities, drek, and occasionally popular comics that I collect!

Good news: As of 7/29, I have SFG! Bad news: Two of the books I submitted were variant covers of an issue that has previously been slabbed with a single label, making the variants indistinguishable. Despite assurances from CGC that they'd be broken out correctly at my request, and despite including notes to help them do just that, they currently have identical entries in the SFG line item list. I've sent an email in the hopes that this can be caught before finalization...