BuraddoRun

Good man. Today I hit up 3 stores and got all the freebies I wanted. One store had a 25 cent sale on a bunch of books and I picked up a few bucks worth of those. I will say, regarding the intent discussion above, I DID see a lot of kiddos at the stores excited about getting free comics. It was a nice day for families to go out and have some fun at the local comic shop.

That's part of FCBD, and that part is great, but it's not all. Why would Marvel make 1:1000 variants for their "free" comics? Why would DC make a "free" comic variant with a literal price on the cover? Why would Marvel and DC put out comics that aren't reprints and are actually lead-ins to big events they have planned? And finally, do you think comics available on FCBD like Bunny Mask are meant to get kids into the hobby? The truth is, FCBD is simply marketing. You have comics meant for kids like Sonic and Donald Duck and a number of other books. Then you have books clearly meant for adults like Nottingham and Bunny Mask. And this variant thing...c'mon. Companies want to bring in new customers but they play to trends and marketing. They want to drum up hype and get people to spend money and collect. And if there's any goodwill in their intent, yes, of course they want kids to have fun books to read. But they also reward adult readers. These books are not all introductory books. And they KNOW people have FOMO and pay to that with the ridiculous variants.

So, what FCBD books do you think will be hot this year, if any? Marvel and DC both have ratio variants for their books this year. Marvel is going wild with 1:1000 Peach Momoko variants. I don't know if any of my LCSs will even order 1000 copies, not that I'd buy it anyway. Maybe that Bunny Mask Tales, or the Nottingham book, or Jeff Lemire's book Bone Orchard Mythos will be good pickups. Potentially good reads if nothing else.

Didn't we already get a "Hulk for the Hulk" with Kluh? Add me to the list of those underwhelmed by Hulk #6. I'm sure Titan will make another appearance but I don't know how popular he'll be or how used. My opinion, I think he's pretty lame.

I feel like after all this time, Usagi Yojimbo is still an underappreciated comic series. I'll admit, I'm a new fan myself. I was first exposed to the character when I was a kid and got his TMNT action figure, but I never read the comics despite being a comic reader at the time (I was almost exclusively into Marvel books in the 80s and 90s). A number of years ago, a good friend of mine got into the books. He was excited to start reading them and tried to get me interested, but I scoffed, because I just wasn't into anthropomorphic characters at all, and though I loved (and still love) Japanese history and entertainment, I just didn't feel it, so I didn't even give it a chance. Fast forward to summer last year, when Issue 20 of IDW's series advertised the introduction a new regular character. I had been getting tired of what Marvel and DC was pumping out, and was expanding into more indie titles. I finally decided to give Usagi a try, and figured even if I didn't like it, that specific issue would be a good investment because I knew Usagi had its loyal fans and it was a first appearance. But you know what? I really enjoyed the comic, and have been picking up the new stuff (including the new color reprints) monthly since. I've been a little behind in my reading, but I just recently finished Issues 25-26 which introduced (to me; he's been around) a cool villain named Jei. After finishing the issues, I did some internet research and learned some interesting things about some of his inspiration (Jason Voorhees, believe it or not!) and his first appearance, which I promptly picked up for a good deal off eBay. I guess I just wonder why it isn't much more popular than it is. I know Usagi has his faithful fans, but I just feel like the character is still undiscovered, or maybe just not given a chance, by many who might actually end up enjoying it like I did. It's pretty remarkable that Stan Sakai has been writing, drawing, and lettering the series all this time as well. He's 68 years old now. You just don't get that true continuity with anything from the big 2 companies. Maybe when the Netflix series drops (that's still happening, right?), it'll get more fans. But anyway, I think the series is great for readers and collectors alike. There are surely gems of back issues that can still be gotten at a good price, and I believe there will be future classics from the series as well.

Picked up 4 more DC packs today, 2 from the last batch and 2 from the current one, all wins. The funny thing is that a lot of the packs at this Walmart were opened and searched, including the 1st pack pictured with RWBY 7B. The 2nd pack is a duplicate comic-for-comic.Then there was a 7A in a newer pack, and of course the photo-cover exclusive Batman in the last one. I'm surprised these were all even there.

With tax and shipping I paid a total of about $375

Not a comic but since it's an appreciation thread, here's a commission I purchased (I bought it second-hand, not directly from her) a few months ago.

I got both of these months ago, but have been lazy about posting recently. The Peach Momoko I bought on consignment from mycomicshop.com. I was browsing their selection of OA and saw it for a good price and made an offer that saved me about $50 IIRC. I'm a big Tokusatsu fan so couldn't resist her take on Kamen Rider! The Francesco Manna piece has a more interesting story. When I was new here and getting into OA, I looked him up after reading The Rise of Ultraman from Marvel because I liked his artwork and, again, I'm a Tokusatsu fan. So I found his rep and ordered a page. But my excitement dwindled a bit when I found out that he draws digitally and hand inks some of the pages which are then put up for sale. So yes, it still has hand-done artwork, but it's a step down from hand-drawn pencils (though a big step up from monoprints). Anyhow, I put down a fair amount of money and questioned whether I paid too much. Regardless, I paid, and waited to see it in person. And I waited...and waited. I emailed the rep to ask for tracking and was given a number, but every time I looked it up, it said a shipping label had been created but they hadn't received it yet. So finally I emailed his rep again and politely asked for a refund. He apologized and explained that Francesco not only had to deal with COVID delays in his country, but had also gotten sick himself. But he was better and, if I would accept it, would do a free commission for me because of the trouble. I agreed. A little while after that I received the page of OA I paid for, and it does look very nice in person. The commission, I was told, would come later when he was going to fulfill a bunch of commission orders at once. So I accepted that and moved on. Fast forward many months later, and I honestly just assumed I was forgotten and wouldn't receive the commission. I didn't bother emailing his rep, though, because the initial delay was understandable, the communication had been good, and I did get what I paid for, after all. So I just let it go. But then, one day, I got a package with this commission. And man, It looks cool, and beyond that, it's all hand-drawn! So I feel like my initial disappointment in the digital pencils/hand-inked page was made up for with this commission! TLDR; it worked out! Shout out to both Francesco Manna and Cadence Comic Art! They stayed in communication, were open about everything, and kept their word about the bonus commission. I would (and likely will at some point) buy from Cadence again.

I picked up 3 more DC packs today. So here's the thing about RWBY 7. According to Bleeding Cool, neither it nor gen:LOCK 6 were supposed to make it to comic racks. DC apparently announced that they would be digital only due to COVID delays and maybe contractual issues. However, both issues had already been printed and were in Diamond's warehouse. But, they were destined to be pulped. Despite this, some issues of gen:LOCK 6 got sent to Europe, so a few of those showed up on eBay. Soon after that, Walmart comic patrons like us (and various Youtubers) found out that gen:LOCK 6 had made it into some of the DC 4-packs. As you can imagine, many more started popping up on eBay because, again, they were never supposed to be released. I went hunting and found quite a few copies, personally. But that was gen:LOCK, and this was months ago. RWBY 7 was still MIA...until this latest batch of DC 4-packs. It wasn't until today that I found a couple of copies of it, both from one Wal-Mart I visited today. Thankfully both of them are in great shape! Oh, and apparently there are 2 covers available. I only found Cover A, which is the most desirable, it seems, but Cover B is still a good hit. https://bleedingcool.com/comics/final-issues-of-rwby-and-genlock-no-longer-printed-by-dc-comics/ If you want one, yes, you could spend $1500+ for a raw copy on eBay. But surely the cost of visiting various Walmarts either in your area or even a decent drive away would be cheaper. They're still out there. Heck, you may even still be able to find a gen:LOCK if you see some of the older packs on the shelf. I'm pretty sure it was in the batch that came before the one with the masks.

I got this letter a few months ago, after I redeemed my Final Five sticker and separate from the Passive Aggressive comic they mailed me, though it was clearly meant to come with it. Has any one else here gotten this? Because, for one, it's cool, but there's something peculiar about it that is either a funny coincidence or something done by them on purpose that personalizes the letter. Either way it's cool. I'll let you read the letter. Look for the potential typo. Here's the thing: my name is Brad.

I picked up 1 of each of the 8 new Marvel packs today and 4 of the latest DC packs. I honestly didn't get anything of note in the Marvel packs (besides the Walmart exclusive covers of course), but I got a couple of cool books in 2 of the DC packs: 1. From the Black Manta DC pack: What did we call it when store exclusives came out of those Marvel packs? Variantgate? Well, I pulled a Catwoman 80th Anniversary J. Scott Campbell store exclusive variant! 2. From the Superman '78 pack: Justice League # 59 1:25 B&W Snyder Cut variant

So I picked up a $7 grab bag of comics which was exclusively Excalibur (and Marvel Comics Presents featuring Excalibur) that had 14 books in it. Three of them ended up being Newsstands. I love that Excalibur 1 book, Direct or Newsie, so that made it worth it to me alone. But I found another surprise (pic 2) that I'm excited about. That one isn't a Newsie, unfortunately. Not bad for 50 cents a book, eh?

I reached out to them recently to inquire about some new art from one of their artists that hadn't shown up on their site yet. They got back with me quickly and specifically informed me that the art I was interested in is an "artist proof" and was created digitally. I wasn't aware when I asked, and so declined interest, and they replied politely. I don't think there's any intent to be dishonest or not forthcoming. If it's not clear on their site concerning some of the art, just shoot them an email and I'm sure they'll give you specifics.

It was most likely USPS but it might have been UPS. I didn't pay attention and threw away the box, but it was delivered to my P.O. box so it had to be either USPS direct or a UPS hand-off. In other, crappy personal news, my 2 buttons for the 2 exclusive comics redemption was apparently lost in the mail, and I waited too long to file a claim so now I won't even get a refund on shipping or the inherent $50 insurance. Now I either gotta hope it somehow makes it one day and Bad Idea honors the postmark date, or resort to the secondary market. Or just let it go, I suppose. Ugh. Finally, I think that rock redemption is legit just for a rock and nothing else. It reminds me of a thing Cards Against Humanity did that was for a piece of poop. Literal, dried, poop. People sent in for it hoping it would come with an exclusive card or something, but nope, they got exactly what was advertised: poop. I think if you send in a button for this current redemption you'll get a rock and that's it. I have 1 button left (and may or may not get more with the last few comic titles due out) so I'm not trading for a rock.

I bought one of each of the new packs. More new art exclusive covers in this batch, which I like more than the simple title color swaps and missing UPCs. But the red Moon Knight does look cool, I admit. I got some decent stuff, but nothing major. At least one 1:25 variant (Conan) and a couple 1:10s I think.

It doesn't sound like that will be the case, unfortunately. The article even said they're aging the paper to match the original. "By burying a needle in a needlestack, we render the original as much a forgery as any of our replications"

My Passive Aggressive Final 5 sticker redemption came in today. Shipped in a Gemini mailer with a current size bag and board.

I don't know much about pricing or about a lot of the series, but I do know their first appearance is in Ultimate Fantastic Four 21-23. Those issues might cost a bit, but you can grab issue 20, which technically has a cameo at the very last panel, for cheap I'm sure. Oh, and issue 21 has a variant cover as well.

While it's true that minor character 1st appearances are inflated nowadays, as are most comic books anyway, Black Cat is no longer a minor character. She has her own book now, is currently the main player in an event with the Infinity Stones (no longer gems thanks to the MCU), and makes appearances in other books fairly often. She may not be major like Spider-Man, but she's definitely not minor. So what does that make her...mean? Anyway, the buzzword in comics these days is "key," and ASM 194 is at least a true key compared to the other stuff labeled that these days.

Got this recently. You can't see it on the scan, but at the top above Uatu's head in blue pencil, it says "STAT HEAD FOR PG 3 - FLOP IT!" And I don't have the OA for page 3, but the published page does indeed have a mirror image of his head. There are notes in various places around the border making it clear that there should be a colored border for the flashback. They ultimately chose purple. Finally, in the bottom left panel, where it says, "Their plan was four-fold," there is a stat glued over "was four-" and a blue pencil note that says "WAS." I assume it originally said "Is" and needed the simple correction. Funny enough, the stat obscures the top of the line underneath a bit, but it was published that way, with a partially cut top of the word "Fold."

Got the corner box art for Power Pack # 63 by Mike McKone. These 4 pieces were also used as bonus stamps in the 2017 Marvel Value Stamp Book.

Every time this special came on when I was in front of the TV as a kid, I would sit and watch it the whole way through. I know the ongoing X-Men animated series was considered the best by most, but I was disappointed in the drop in animation quality compared to this, which was very good. Awesome that you got part of the storyboard from it!

So close! I want to see you get there!

Maybe this isn't something I should ask publicly, but was there some sort of fallout with Bill? I've been enjoying his Dueling Dealers shows, and I've also enjoyed the Comic Art Live shows when Will and Glen are on. I haven't watched any of THIS show yet, but I'm sure I will soon.