bluechip

All the pieces are wash, since the Gwen panels are from the B&W Spectacular Spider-man magazine in 1968, and the Pussycat panels are from washtone magazines as well. But maybe the point is that all the panels are both Pussycat and Gwen.

When I skimmed Burkey's "new" listings I saw a Pussycat page and couldn't help wondering if Mooney got a little confused about whom he was drawing. As I looked up other images from the title my confusion only grew. See if you can identify which of these drawings are the sexpot "reporter" and which are Peter Parker's first love.

I like pieces which are genuinely rare and close to one of a kind. I tend to collect them myself and I think that sometimes collector/dealers denigrate them specifically because they are not easy to find and, thus, not easy to make money buying and selling them day in and day out, the way one can with things that are simultaneously both "rare" and very common. But I consider it a disservice to all such things when one like this is hyped beyond reason or common sense. It may well be one of the rarest DD things out there. Though, even with only two known to exist that makes it less rare than anything which is one of a kind. But even if was with virtual certainty one of a kind, it would still not be the "most sought after". And phrases like "if you have (one like this) you're sitting on a gold mine" is such a transparent way of trying to say "I'm sitting on a gold mine" that it would turn me off, even if I agreed with it.

More than any other industry that involves crowds (sporting events, concerts, cruise ships, theme parks and theater) the comic/popular culture community thrives already online, and can adapt for the time being to doing more online. If I were in the business, I would look heavily into setting up virtual cons whereby a reasonable fee entitles fans to participate in real-time online events which give them opportunities not only to see panels but also to interact online with celebrities and creators, both by asking questions in a virtual "hall" and one-to-one in a virtual meet and greet. Signatures, sketches, con exclusives, contests, games, demos, raffles, group viewings, and even virtual shared meals and parties can all be part of the experience, which could run for several days in real time. While it doesn't replace all the exciting aspects of the real thing it also eschews the need for hotels, parking, and pushing your way through a crowd just to cross the street.

That was inevitable. Things will begin to return to (a new) normal sooner than the most naysayers think, and the economy will bounce back much more robustly than the fearful believe it will. But this development is no surprise except in how long it took for them to confirm it. They should try to do some sort of virtual con, with PPV panels and chances to "meet" and chat with celebs and creators online. You could even have virtual interactions with artists who do con sketches online in real time. San Diego's been overdue for some creative thinking to make it easier for people to enjoy themselves without having to wait on absurdly long lines for even the most mundane panels. Maybe if they come up with some creative ideas for 2020 they can continue being creative improve the live con experience in time for its return in 2021.

? Guessing that's a euphemism or a metaphor, and that Steve didn't actually revel in the shooting of buffalos

The focus on keeping brand new books in mint condition boosted the sales of new books, which made subscriptions less palatable. But if comics publishers had made a better effort to maintain subscription deliveries as a thing, there would be much less discussion now about whether the comics business can survive. As for the collecting of actually rare and vintage cultural items, there will always be a desire for such things, unless and until society collapses to such a point that the value of your collectibles, or for that matter the value of virtually anything else in your portfolio (outside of shotguns, greenhouses and machines that pull water from the air) will be the least of your concerns.

Is it me or does the cover of 156 look like Gwen killed that guy by thrusting her arm into his back?

True scarcity and value of collectibles often have an inverse relationship. Dealers cannot make a consistent and dependable income by purchasing and reselling things which are so rare that they are hard to keep in stock. Dealers need things to be scarce enough that an average person can't get them without expending more effort than they like or want to -- but not so scarce that a dealer cannot reliably or even easily maintain a sizable inventory.

Three words Honus Wagner Card

What you describe only happened with student loans because the Congress designed it to be corrupted, carving out sweet sweet deals for the middlemen who took taxpayer money at extremely low interest which they were then able to loan to students at highly inflated interest. And to top it off they rigged the bankrupcty laws so that student loans could never be forgiven -- essentially making it so the swampy middlemen got guaranteed profits with no risk. When an attempt was made to fix the middleman problem it was decried as a "government takeover of the student loan industry" even though it was, and remains, government money behind the loans. That was not a problem "...when the Fed takes something over..." but a problem when the Fed created an unholy alliance between the government and private industry to ensure private profits and subvert the supposed good intentions behind the program. As economic "ism"s go that made our student loan program a lot less like the "S" word ism and more like the "F" word.

Size matters. It's cooler if it's the same size as the finished art. They often are stationery letter sized which is smaller than the finished original art (but, ironically, close to the size of the published art). I bought a prelim once thinking it was letter sized and didn't realize until it arrived that it was the size of a postcard. And I bid way low on a prelim in a recent auction thinking it was letter sized only to realize after losing it was full board sized.

Digging around in storage the other day I discovered a box filled with booze and soda left over from a party some time ago, and there were half a dozen bottles of unopened corona beer. I put them aside figuring maybe they'll be collector's items.

I've visited, worked and lived in countries where they didn't presume that allowing any lawsuits at all is necessarily catastrophic. Yet the costs of their health care per capita isn't nowhere near what ours is. But while they do have lawyers who can sue for malpractice, they don't have heath care company CEOs making the kind of seven, eight and even nine figure salaries they "earn" here.

I think that I've been told by numerous dealers that a key book I once had which had a similar defect would automatically get a .5 I forgot to ask whether they meant that I would get that grade or the book would get that grade.

I was all but certain somebody would say that (bolded section) but the devil is in the details. There is a world of difference between 0 lawsuits and "endless lawsuits" and neither of those extremes is a good one, but people seem to assume it has to be one or the other. I can all but guarantee three things. 1: there will be companies that do things which are flagrant and even malicious violations of safety, like bosses who demand people work while sick and bosses who deliberately stand, coughing, over anyone who implies they should be cautious. 2: There will be workers who insist on a level of safety which is virtually unobtainable and who will try to sue even if they hear someone cough a hundred yards. And 3: the immunity laws that are passed will seek to ensure that lawsuits are impossible in either example #1 or #2

The industries getting "essential" ratings sometimes are justified and sometimes just because the CEOs have political pull. I would imagine there are some instances in which some folks in management simply miss the in-office experience or feel like they've lost control somewhat. Some people will get sick who needn't have gotten sick and some lawsuits may result. Let's see how long it is before the best connected Job Creators get Congress to pass laws making them immune from those suits (if laws like that aren't already in the previous stimulus bill, they will follow soon enough)

"Flash Crash" might just catch on. There is little reason that this downturn would not reverse itself quickly in the event of a faster-than-expected vaccine. In the more likely event it will take longer for a vaccine, there are many industries which will be able to adjust. Most office work can be done at home. A good deal of manufacturing can be accomplished with increased hygiene protocols. Much of entertainment can be skewed temporarily toward home usage. Sports and concerts, theatrical events (including theatrical releases for films) will not recover fully unless and until there is a vaccine. What we may see in the weeks and months ahead is a reckoning regarding the role of government in aiding people and/or industry. The countries which have stricter controls over the movements and behavior of people, and which take a more proactive (and constructive) role in their economies will see their manufacturing sectors increase, as they will be able to return to something approaching normal operations more quickly than those countries which cannot or will not impose hygiene regulations (and especially not those which equate saving the economy with maintaining the pre-virus heights of corporate profits and executive bonuses).

The Great Depression actually saw the birth of comics as a medium, and experienced exponential growth and popularity. Similar growth occurred in all entertainment mediums, including film, theater, vaudeville and radio (advertiser supported). Not so sure how the Depression years were for antiques and collectibles, though...

Are subscriptions no longer a thing? And if not, is it because mail can't guarantee a comic will arrive in 9.8 condition and not enough buyers can conceive of buying a comic just to read? Publishers may need to adapt. And perhaps CGC can offer a service, getting them directly from the publisher and sending them out slabbed,

Don't know if anybody's already explored this view, but if people trend toward doing more things indoors, then all things which can be done or obtained and enjoyed in the germ-free confines of home, may become more popular. And collecting is one of the things you can do with your money that doesn't require behavior that feels risky in times like this.

SDCC will almost certainly not occur -- at least not in the way it has before -- unless a vaccine is completed and tested more quickly than one ever has before. Even if that were to occur, so many people would be staying away out of an excess of caution that, well, you might have an easy time getting into Hall H for the first time in a decade or so. The comics and science fiction fan and gaming communities already make use of the internet on social media and interactive role and game playing far more than any other revenue-generating leisure activity, so if were a comic con exec I'd be toying with ways to create a con that's either all-virtual or some sort of hybrid virtual and real-space. If the convention center is not converted into a hospital it will be empty, so some limited use of it, coupled with some huge innovations with interactive web activity, could yield an interesting experience, especially if it involved online previews (and even premieres?), big stars talking with groups of people online in real time, taking questions, etc. It won't make the same kind of money for San Diego, and most likely not for the comic con org, but if I were them I'd be cooking up something.

One more thing... We're seeing lots of cities on minimal activity, but that in itself is not apocalyptic. Many businesses and industries shut down for several weeks over the Christmas-New Years holidays. Some virtually shut down between Thanksgiving and mid-January. Used to be, if you traveled in Europe during August, you could have all of Paris or Rome to yourself, because nobody was there. And the people who were there weren't doing much, In Russia, try getting business done between mid-December, when the "New Year" holiday starts, and the beginning of February, when it finally starts to wind down. Much of the time China was on lockdown was already a virtual dead zone for any business not directly connected to their New Year celebration, which, like the Russians', goes on for about a month. Not so long ago, New York was like that (check out the "Seven Year Itch" or "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and you'll see how people would just shut the doors for several weeks or even several months because, well, it was "hot" and AC was a rarity.