Qalyar Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 On 5/22/2024 at 7:27 PM, EastEnd1 said: Now this purchase hits home for me as I was a corporate tax advisor working at one of the Big Four accounting firms at the time. I was also, and remain, a big Beatles fan, so I'm sure George Harrison's "Taxman" was strumming through my head as I searched that month's catalog. Can't say I've read this comic, but if it makes tax advisors bad-asses, I'm on board! This is generally recognized as Cover B of Taxman. I... don't remember how the two covers were actually distributed. Anyway, this is one of a pretty good chunk of somewhat-interesting, almost-totally-forgotten books by indie comics writer Doug Miers. Sadly, Miers died of a sudden heart attack at age 42, back in 2005. Here's CBR's tribute to him. On 5/22/2024 at 7:29 PM, EastEnd1 said: I will defer any comments on this one... Randy Zimmermann has done just all kinds of stuff as a freelancer in the indie comics world, including a pretty extensive credits list with Caliber, some issues of Furrlough, just... all over the place, really. Spank and Shock are his personal monkey creations. Not going to pretend they're my thing, but good on Zimmermann. ADAMANTIUM, oldmilwaukee6er and EastEnd1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 23 Author Share Posted May 23 On 5/22/2024 at 11:45 PM, Qalyar said: This is generally recognized as Cover B of Taxman. I... don't remember how the two covers were actually distributed. Anyway, this is one of a pretty good chunk of somewhat-interesting, almost-totally-forgotten books by indie comics writer Doug Miers. Sadly, Miers died of a sudden heart attack at age 42, back in 2005. Here's CBR's tribute to him. Randy Zimmermann has done just all kinds of stuff as a freelancer in the indie comics world, including a pretty extensive credits list with Caliber, some issues of Furrlough, just... all over the place, really. Spank and Shock are his personal monkey creations. Not going to pretend they're my thing, but good on Zimmermann. Thanks as always... you have terrific insight into some of these more esoteric titles. Qalyar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmpknface Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 On 5/22/2024 at 8:43 PM, EastEnd1 said: On occasion, Westfield would offer signed copies of certain comics. I'd imagine artists and writers, especially at smaller publishers, were happy to participate as Westfield had a pretty big subscriber base. In this case, the presence of Kurt Busiek's signature on a new Image title rang opportunity to me so four copies were ordered. Yet another speculative purchase that didn't work out... This was a cool series by Buseik and Immonen! Make sure to read one! EastEnd1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 Now here's a great team-up of two of the most deviously-faced characters in comics (with a noteworthy cameo from Harley Quinn)... I'm suddenly channeling Jim Carey... F For Fake, ADAMANTIUM and the authority 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 This one looked like it had a lot of potential... alas, another bust... ADAMANTIUM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 On to Marvels... and another terrific George Perez Avengers cover... ADAMANTIUM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 Marvel Knights #1 made it's debut with this busy Joe Quesada cover... pmpknface, the authority and ADAMANTIUM 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 I also picked up two copies of the Daredevil variant cover... pmpknface and ADAMANTIUM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 And while we're on the topic of Marvel Knights, Punisher #4 yielded yet another fantastic Tim Bradstreet cover featuring a clever collage of the character's classic symbol... skulls... pmpknface and ADAMANTIUM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 One more for the X-Men fans... pmpknface 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 On to DC... this month brought a nice Batman cover featuring the villainess Orca and her apparent flotation devices! pmpknface, Coverdeath and F For Fake 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 The bullpen certainly did a great job of capturing DC's hokey silver age comics with this one... ADAMANTIUM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 Another KILLER Batman:Dark Victory cover from Tim Sale... ADAMANTIUM and pmpknface 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 (edited) This one was one of Alan Moore's better titles, yielding a feature film starring Sean Connery a few years later. While researching the issue, I came to learn that a rare variant exists that goes for over $1000! Apparently the initial release featured a page of vintage advertisements, one of them being for what "EVERY WOMAN is interested in"... "the wonderful MARVEL Whirling Spray Syringe", with explicit references to it's utility for a certain female organ. I guess creators Moore and Kevin O'Neill were feeling a little MARVEL mischievous. Anyway, the issue was quickly recalled by DC (America's Best) and re-released with the "MARVEL" expunged. With great anticipation, I turned to the ad page of my copy to see if Westfield had sent me the variant all those years ago... alas, gone was the reference to MARVEL in my copy... replaced by AMAZE! Edited May 30 by EastEnd1 ADAMANTIUM, F For Fake, pmpknface and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 And finally the last issue from the June 2000 box, yes it's "Aliens vs Predator vs Terminator"!! Better than a WWE cage match! Next up... February 1998! habsfan1 and F For Fake 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qalyar Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 On 5/29/2024 at 7:50 PM, EastEnd1 said: This one was one of Alan Moore's better titles, yielding a feature film starring Sean Connery a few years later. While researching the issue, I came to learn that a rare variant exists that goes for over $1000! Apparently the initial release featured a page of vintage advertisements, one of them being for what "EVERY WOMAN is interested in"... "the wonderful MARVEL Whirling Spray Syringe", with explicit references to it's utility for a certain female organ. I guess creators Moore and Kevin O'Neill were feeling a little MARVEL mischievous. Anyway, the issue was quickly recalled by DC (America's Best) and re-released with the "MARVEL" expunged. With great anticipation, I turned to the ad page of my copy to see if Westfield had sent me the variant all those years ago... alas, gone was the reference to MARVEL in my copy... replaced by AMAZE! It's easy to imagine Moore being up to no good, but in fact the advertisement as it was originally printed... was real. In that it was a reproduction of a real late-19th century ad for a real product: the Marvel "Whirling Spray" Syringe person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed. Moore probably found it funny and evocative, but the authentic ads (and the ones intended to look authentic; there are some of both) were also part of the conceit of LoEG in general. DC didn't see it that way for... some reason. Moore, of course, was grumpy about the change. Not that "Alan Moore is grumpy" is really a breaking-news headline. He might be the only major content creator I can name who manages to exist in a higher intensity state of perennial discontent than Harlan Ellison. ADAMANTIUM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 On 5/30/2024 at 12:20 AM, Qalyar said: Moore, of course, was grumpy about the change. Not that "Alan Moore is grumpy" is really a breaking-news headline. He might be the only major content creator I can name who manages to exist in a higher intensity state of perennial discontent than Harlan Ellison. Yes indeed... a lot of great stories didn't get written thanks to Moore's infamous grumpiness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Apologies for the long delay, but here finally is the box I received from Westfield in February 1998. It was a pretty big order, and I'll have a lot of books to display from it... grendel013, oldmilwaukee6er and ADAMANTIUM 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 This box came with a few freebies from our old friends at Wizard... first was a superhero calendar for January 1998 (the flip side with a DC holiday poster)... Coverdeath and ADAMANTIUM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEnd1 Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 And next is a Wizard Special Edition "Earth X" comic with a cover courtesy of Alex Ross... pmpknface, the authority and Tec-Tac-Toe 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...