Lots of talk lately about drek. Example. Specific examples

[01TheDude]

 

 

 

Those look awesome!

 

Yup. Something starts to look so awesomely bad that it's no longer the drek that it was a few decades ago.

 

seems a little obvious those would become hot items someday-- I mean it says "Collectors Item" right there on the cover.

 

but they are sort of funny in their own way

[Unca Ben]

 

 

 

Those look awesome!

 

Yup. Something starts to look so awesomely bad that it's no longer the drek that it was a few decades ago.

 

seems a little obvious those would become hot items someday-- I mean it says "Collectors Item" right there on the cover.

 

but they are sort of funny in their own way

 

One notable thing about these books are, being Dell comics, they lack the CCA seal and they portrayed characters that were banned in comics that carried the seal. No vampires, werewolves, or walking dead in DC's , Marvels, Archies or Charltons at the time ( well, except for Archie's Madhouse & the odd Jerry Lewis or Bob Hope book ).

[the blob]

 

Someone saw a speculation move with these:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-ct-UNREAD-NM-M-to-VF-DC-AMETHYST-Princess-of-Gemworld-1-Premiere-1983-/162249571091?hash=item25c6d3fb13%3Ag%3AAC4AAOSw44BYCxK3&nma=true&si=MWCRhdvf4M7KTm6zum%252BQIQzvOBc%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

From the eBay listing:

 

These books are part of a lot of abandoned retail stock that had been in storage since it was new.

 

Sarcasm. Look at the price. Plus free shipping. Amethyst ain't there yet!

[the blob]

 

 

 

Those look awesome!

 

Yup. Something starts to look so awesomely bad that it's no longer the drek that it was a few decades ago.

 

seems a little obvious those would become hot items someday-- I mean it says "Collectors Item" right there on the cover.

 

but they are sort of funny in their own way

 

One notable thing about these books are, being Dell comics, they lack the CCA seal and they portrayed characters that were banned in comics that carried the seal. No vampires, werewolves, or walking dead in DC's , Marvels, Archies or Charltons at the time ( well, except for Archie's Madhouse & the odd Jerry Lewis or Bob Hope book ).

 

I would buy those out of a dollar box until my arms hurt.

[valiantman]

I wouldn't be a very good "valiantman" if I didn't point out the weaker aspects of the publisher when it comes to the "drek" discussion.

 

While the stories were mostly good throughout Valiant in the 1990s, the earlier books (1991-1992) were "best", which meant the glut of books published in the "mid-years" (1993-1994) are still filling longboxes at comic shops around the country and giving Valiant a bad name.

 

~1993-1994 Valiant books which qualify as "drek" even if the stories were OK, simply due to the abundance of supply:

(because even the Valiant fanatics don't need anymore copies, even if they're free)

Archer & Armstrong #9 - #20 (if marijuana is legal in your state, you might hang on to #11)

Armorines #1 - #6 (unless that #0 has a Timewalker ad on the back cover, you can toss it, too.)

Bloodshot #2 - #15 (at least #1 is first chromium book in comics history, even if it is common.)

Deathmate (this is at least half Image's fault)

Eternal Warrior #9 - #20 (but #9 has the Book of the Geomancer! Yes, but how many do you need?)

Harbinger #12 - #28 (some possible value in #14-#15 due to first appearances, but not in the past 20+ years)

H.A.R.D.Corps #2 - #15 (H.A.R.D. to sell)

Magnus #22 - #35 (#25 is shiny silver-ish, and probably worth a shiny silver-ish nickel.)

Ninjak #1 - #10 (though some people do like a #1, no matter how many were made...)

Predator vs. Magnus #1 - #2 (the trade paperback is another story... keep the trade.)

Psi-Lords #1 - #5 (Oh lord, sigh.)

Rai #9 - #20 (What's that you see? 84 copies of #11? Yeah, we all do.)

Second Life of Dr. Mirage #1 - #6 (No second life in the back issue bins.)

Secret Weapons #1 - #8 (Not a secret if they're more common than a phone book.)

Shadowman #9 - #20 (#16 is the first Dr. Mirage, and #19 has Aerosmith... but common, so common...)

Solar #16 - #32 (#19 looks like Lawnmower Man. 'member him? I 'member!)

Turok #1 - #10 (so many Turok #1... so, so many...)

X-O Manowar #9 - #35 (and #0 is pretty cool, first full chromium cover in comics history, but no one needs 100 extra copies...)

 

There's no guarantee that other books outside of this list are in demand, but they are less likely to be taking up a ton of space (literally) in your boxes.

 

So, if you've got these books in a longbox or twelve and you're waiting for some Valiant fan to get excited... you'll be waiting a very, very, very long time. Like the witches in Monty Python's Holy Grail, you might as well build a bridge out of 'em.

 

Counter-argument.

 

Many of these books are actually good, even if worthless.

 

Yes - there's a cabal of long-time Valiant collectors that consider most post-Unity books to be drek because they _never_ had value back in the day -- and yes -- the print runs were artificially inflated by 5-10x for many of the books listed above.

 

But while they are / will forever be worthless doesn't mean they were _all_ bad.

 

Specifically, I'll defend:

 

Eternal Warrior # 9-20. This series was consistent all the way through, and this run includes some great stories featuring the Immortal Enemy and Master Darque.

 

Harbinger 12-25. Ditto - the core of this run. Maybe nothing as impactful as Torque's death, but 15 is an important Harada issue, and # 25 (with Pete vs. Harada) was an epic story and Valiant at it's apex.

 

H.A.R.D. Corps 2-15. Ditto - this series was consistent through-out. A Mission Impossible-style rotating team that chose both different personnel _and_ the powers they wielded specific for each mission.

 

(And I'm not just saying that because I won my Second Life of Dr. Mirage Gold from Bernard Chang for answering his trivia question, "Name 6 members of the H.A.R.D. Corps.")

 

Ninjak 1-10 - Sure - the art quality plummeted after Quesada left, but the story was consistent all the way through. And I'm probably the only person on earth pissed that the final storyline never finished.

 

Shadowman 9-20. This was when the series actually got _good_, with art by Bob Hall. And that says something, given that an earlier issue had art by some guy named Steve Ditko.

 

Turok 1-10. We go from great Bart Sears art to great Rags Morales art. Yeah - Morales only became a star years later with Identity Crisis but his Turok run was great.

 

Finally, X-O's my favorite Valiant character. That said, there's little to defend in this portion of the run.

 

Oh -- except # 14-15, with the Turok team-up and arguably Bart Sears' best cover ever on # 14.

 

 

Worthless? Yes.

 

But devoid of value and drek? Hell no.

 

I'm never opposed to a counter-argument that is made of comments I would also say.

[Badger]

Alien Legion is an absolutely fantastic read. A character driven, war/team book masterfully edited by Archie Goodwin at his prime.

I will not surrender my run anytime soon.

+1 Love(d) Alien Legion!

[FineCollector]

I collect at leatlst 3 items on that list that people consider drek. Dealers will also consider them drek until you tell them your looking for a copy of Tribe #1 in nm, then it magically becomes $10, same with everything else. People talk trash about something they dont collect or cant get rid of fast enough untill someone wants it.

 

It was harder to put together a list than I thought. There are very few comics that no one wants at all.

 

Drek to me is simply books that no one seems to want. Titles like Marc Spector Moon Knight or Namor are very much drek, but I still haven't given up on finding the copies I'm missing "for free" in collections!

 

My definition of drek was shaken this weekend when I drove to Montreal to buy a "minty" run of 90's-2000's Amazing Spideys. Not as advertised, obviously, and when a few issues in the late 300's and early 400's were missing, the dealer brushed them off as just dollar books. I didn't believe him, but then I visited another store in town, and found similar issues in the store's dollar room. When did Amazing Spider-Man stop being a dependable back issue? Are Bagley Spideys drek?

[oakman29]

The only Aircel / Malibu title I have is Dragonforce, which has some nice early Dale Keown artwork.

 

Dragonforce

 

Aircel- Men in Black.

[roach04]

I've always considered "drek" to be god-awful reading - never considered dollar value in the equation at all. Heck, most comics published in the last 20 years - you can't even get the price listed on the cover if you try to sell it - but there's still some good reading.

 

I'm not 100% up on the pricing, but things like Ostrander/Truman Grimjack, Grell Warlord, Levitz LoSH - none of that (I believe) has any real value dollar wise but it ain't drek - it's awesome.

 

 

[warcomicsguy]

I'll second this. Charlton war titles have many good stories and art. Sam Glanzman is a master.

[Gatsby77]

Oh - more Valiant drek.

 

This is $.25 fodder on a good day, but it's also my all-time favorite Quesada cover.

 

[KirbyJack]

 

 

 

I sorta want to add the MF Enterprises "Split!" Captain Marvel to this list.

[FineCollector]

In that case, is anyone buying the Shadow by Archie Comics in the purple superhero suit?

[Ken Aldred]

 

I sorta want to add the MF Enterprises "Split!" Captain Marvel to this list.

 

+1

 

Abysmal.

 

[valiantman]

Oh - more Valiant drek.

 

This is $.25 fodder on a good day, but it's also my all-time favorite Quesada cover.

 

If Quesada hadn't given Solar horseteeth, that might be worth $.28.

[newshane]

Some people are arguing that 93/94 era Valiant Comics are drek.

 

I couldn't disagree more.

 

The writing on Magnus, at least, was quite good and the art wasn't terrible either.

 

Might be worthless, but I think DREK means more than that...Drek means it's terrible to read.

 

Valiant Comics were not terrible to read.

[newshane]

Does drek = no value or bad writing?

 

Both...IMHO

[Real Elijah Snow]

I remember buying this one and thinking that Solar was going to have a completely red face from that point on.

Oh - more Valiant drek.

 

This is $.25 fodder on a good day, but it's also my all-time favorite Quesada cover.

 

If Quesada hadn't given Solar horseteeth, that might be worth $.28.

[Real Elijah Snow]

Totally agree. The Malev war is still one of my favorite story lines ever.

Some people are arguing that 93/94 era Valiant Comics are drek.

 

I couldn't disagree more.

 

The writing on Magnus, at least, was quite good and the art wasn't terrible either.

 

Might be worthless, but I think DREK means more than that...Drek means it's terrible to read.

 

Valiant Comics were not terrible to read.

[F For Fake]

To me, Drek has always been the stuff that clogs up bargain bins, that you can't even give away. It's not a comment on the quality of the book itself. For all I know, Sun Devils, Skreemer, Sonic Disruptors, mid-90's Valiants, Force Works etc may be great books, but they just sit there, unloved and unwanted, forever and ever.

 

Strikefore Morituri is a worthless "drek" book, but I think it was actually a terrific series.