Hibou

This weekend started with this... Please try to help Raccoons when you can. My daughter got this plush at the Marvel store in Disney World for my wife and I. There's certainly a story behind it but I'll save that for a little later. She's a senior in college this year and so her and her roommate decided to go there for spring break. She said it was a lot of fun but very expensive. Anyways, this was the perfect gift for us... a little sad though. Guardians 3 was such a good movie! It's been a crazy busy past few weeks but I certainly have a lot of good purchases to talk about soon enough. I had a rather long update all typed up last weekend but lost it all with another pc crash. That's kind of why I may do these disjointed posts going forward until I can get things stabilized a bit with this wretched antique of a computer.

As St Patrick's Day weekend approaches, I'll pay a toast to my dear friend from Ireland who is by far... from Ireland. (That's a long story!) Cheers to you Rob... \

Now I think I understand what 6's and 7's mean but give me a second to make sure...

Intermission... This was always David's song for me and as I later found out, it was one of the last songs he listened to on this plane. I think he did that for a reason.

This weekend was a good one. I helped my older daughter with her cell phone plan and then my wife and I picked up our younger daughter from college to bring her home to apply to our local university for graduate school. We told her that the only thing we asked was that if she accepted their offer, she wouldn't end up at the bookstore. If she did, she'd end up working with Rob and that would be terrible... (Just kidding...) Anyways, before we picked up our daughter, my wife and I stopped at this local used bookstore and I found a few interesting items, but it was what I found as we were leaving the establishment that had me in circles for the rest of the day! Before I get to that, I'll start with what I found that piqued my interest on this day... The first, was a set of Alien Legion (#1-#8) from 1984... I loved this title back then and I had a good friend in high school that shared my passion of this title so it was really nice to find this set which set me back by $16.00. ... ... The second item was this advertisement from 1882 featuring two owls enjoying an adult beverage (I think)... And the last item was this original signed promotional piece. I'm guessing it was from the 1930's as it features the image and signature of Vincent Lopez (Big Band Orchestra) and Sonny "Skyler"... You'll all recognize this song from a famous 1939 movie performed by the duo. For $10.00, how could anyone pass up this great piece of Americana Big Band Era History?! ... ... ... But it was this one book that was simply sitting on a window shelf that had me in knots... the price was steep but after talking to the bookshop owner about it, he offered it to me at a 50% off reduction. I passed. It ate at me the rest of the day as it started to drastically affect my mood. I knew in my soul that I shouldn't have passed on it, but with my other weekly financial obligations, it just wasn't the right time. Additionally, I think I wanted to do some research first. Well... I did the research and hopefully in a couple of days, I will be able to complete this possibly wonderful story!

It's interesting to see actual graded examples and the wide range between a 3.0 and a 7.0.

She was one of my favorite artists that I got to interact with at a show. Very saddened by this news.

So that's the prelude as to why I shifted my purchases from the Fantastic Four to the X-Men during these months. Again, I was desperately trying to save my family... Obviously, none of this worked out, but in my mind (and still to this day), I felt that there was a path forward, towards achieving this... somehow. And it was those thoughts led me to this next purchase which was a copy of X-Men 133, or what's now been distinguished as "Wolverine's first solo story", from 1980...

Through the late summer months into autumn of last year, I couldn't stop listening to Depeche Mode. In some weird way, that helped keep me grounded surrounding the turmoil that fell upon my family... the power of music. Some perfect stranger sneaks on tip-toes Steals my Shadow and goes where I go... (Hello David. What do you want to do today?) Following my binge buying of Fantastic Four books, I started to drift towards some X-Men books as I previously mentioned. I suppose that purchase of that Jim Lee X-Men 1 was kind of the bookmark to that. It represented the bridge between David and I. I can't remember if I told the complete story here or not regarding David and my wife but I suppose this is as good a night as any to start this journey. I guess I'll start with a little bit of time travel as it goes back to my original Rusty Staples, Sunken Treasure journal... the part where I told the story of being introduced to John Byrne's X-Men while in middle school in the early 80's by a friend of mine named, Brian. This was around 1982/1983 when I was introduced to John Byrne's X-Men and it had such a profound effect on me. I have to admit that I was more captivated by the artwork than the story telling by Chris Claremont, but now looking at these books from a 54 year old perspective, rather than from a teenager's perspective... it was both of their contributions that made that run so magical, in my opinion. That's probably why I ordered this today and can't wait to dive into it... Anyways... I was very familiarized with the X-Men and in the early 1990's, after my experience at the Joe Kubert school in NJ, I started working at the local university bookstore. Eventually, I would meet my wife here but this is where the story of David and I begin. Let's call it 1990. David was 9 going on 10 years old and this cute girl would sometimes bring her son in with her to work if there was a day off of school or a snow day or something to that effect. Well, I was seeing someone else at that time, but whenever this woman would bring in her son (David), I would end up, unknowingly, "baby-sitting" him. I'm not sure if that came across appropriately because I never thought of those days as "baby-sitting". I will never forget one of our very first conversations at this back table within the department that I worked. Somehow our conversation led to comics and then to (of all topics!)... the X-Men. He actually asked me on that day, how I knew so much about the X-Men and comics in general. That. That day... That was when and where our deeply rooted connection was formed. Over 30 years ago. So... This is weird to write but it's certainly the truth... David and I shared a connection longer than my wife and I... Try to figure that one out!

Ok. Sorry CGC. Yes, I took liberties here and yes, it was fun. Ultimately, I just wanted to post the truth and I guess here we are...

Another weekend finds its way in... how in the world does this keep happening? Today was a good book collecting day as I went up to my favorite LCS to take a look at a couple of low grade collections. I ended up buying this one collection that certainly needs some work, but holds a lot of potential based off of what may transpire in the Deadpool / Wolverine (Deadpool 3) movie. These were mostly early (new) X-Men books with most of them in the Byrne / Claremont era. There were a few that I wanted for my PC regardless of grade so I was happy to pick those up. Anyways, I'm starting to get an idea as to what is actually happening to me and it's both interesting and bittersweet at the same time. I kind of feel as if I'm looking at pop culture events and objects through the eyes of my son as if he were actually right along side me viewing this in real time as I would be viewing this. I know that some of that thought is based off of circumstance as in this moment in time, it was not meant for him to go... but it just happened to end that way. The books he lost - I'll find. The events he was thrilled to look forward to - I'll witness. The injustices he faced - I'll fix. You know, in some strange paranormal way, I feel like we're going to see this through together... one way or another. That probably makes no sense but it does to me as I write this and that's all that matters, right? ... ... ... Maybe it's the night that makes all of these thoughts materialize. Or maybe it is not the night, but rather, it's sister... Ok, yes... I just wanted to hear this song and wedged that in but can you blame me? It's a beautiful song. Something else that I've noticed that has changed in me is my attention to grades relating to certain books that I've been targeting. You see, I keep thinking back to when I was looking through David's books and seeing for the first time, the love that he had for certain titles and characters. It was never about centering for him. It was never about page quality, nor ultimate grade. It was always about the book. If you loved the book, character, story, or artist... that's all that mattered and to some degree, that's the attitude that I seem to have found myself adopting. To hell with the 9.X's... I'll get the book I like and be happy with it! And so here I was, looking at random auction sites when I found this one X-Men book that just screamed out to me. You have to get this! It was the ultimate rare copy after all... A 9.8 copy of the Jim Lee era, X-Men #1. However, this ultra rare copy was encased in one of CGC's Modern Era label slabs and based on my equations and based on current market trends and newly adaptive trading... This super rare copy of X-Men 1 (1991) should grade out today at a CGC 17.0 !!

It was a tough night...

As 2023 came to an end, the one thing I couldn't shake was where David was when I first met him. We're going back 33 + years now... I'll get to that story soon enough but I have always, and will always, associate the X-Men with both David and myself. Again, I'll get to this story soon enough but David and I initially connected (33+ years ago) based off of the X-Men. Many years prior to that, my comic universe blew up when I was introduced to John Byrne's X-Men (through a junior high school friend) in the early 1980's so that's where we're at. Once I attempted to resurrect my family with the Fantastic Four, it appears that I also tried to go back in time and pull David back into this timeline by revisiting The All-New, All-Different X-Men. There was that one book that I never owned that I tried to obtain prior to theendoftheworld... but there was also Wolverine (of course), but then there were these whispers of something else on the horizon. Yes, I bit... slightly. I heard those whispers of a certain pop star that might be a part of this movie that I (and David) couldn't wait to see, in Deadpool 3, especially in terms of what characters might surround this movie. Now this distant rumor sounded plausible but I didn't think that it would create the hype that it did. I went out and secured a copy of X-Men #130 that I was comfortable with, based on eye appeal and price. I've always really, really liked this cover even though I wasn't a big fan of the character. For me at this point, this wasn't a speculative buy as it was just more a 'piece that needed to be added to a personal collection'. X-Men 130 and the 1st appearance of Dazzler from 1980... So is Taylor Swift going to be Dazzler? I have no idea - most likely not, but can I actually nominate a singer for Dazzler as well as slide in a much needed intermission here? How about, Dazzler meets Kiss. This is Michelle Joy of Cannons (dressed as Dazzler for Halloween) with her band (dressed as Kiss)...

As 2023 would finally come to an end, this would absolutely be where I spent the most of my money during the year... on Fantastic Four books. It is kind of ironic as with the previous incarnation of this journal, that's exactly what I was trying to focus on. The Fantastic Four and a funny green skinned alien with a large head. The sad part about these acquisitions though is that they weren't part of a forced focus - rather, they were a subconscious attempt at retaining... or regaining my family through the constructs of these heroes of my past. So yes, despite the Scarlet Witch... despite PulpFest and The Shadow.... hell, even despite BlueCoal... The Fantastic Four was where I looked to save myself. ... ... ... These are those 2023 additions...

The last Fantastic Four book I bought I guess brought this whole story full circle in a way. One night, I was just mindlessly browsing eBay and Mercari when I saw this book at too good of a price to pass up. I did have a relatively respectable raw copy that I believe I mentioned before but this graded copy I found, looked pretty good. Again, the price was just way too good in my opinion. It's funny, but I when I started this latest incarnation of my journal, I was trying to explore the sudden incredible spike that comic books in general took... and now here I was on the other end of that swing where so many books were dropping down to levels last seen before theendoftheworld in 2020. It was only fitting as I had just bought the misprint version of her 1st cover appearance, at a CGC 5.5, and now I had her 1st appearance too... at a solid CGC 6.0. Perhaps I was hoping that she could explain these funny symbols to me that started to appear in my head during those terrible weeks of August. Talk to me Agatha Harkness...

How does one go on following the death of someone so dear and so close? You know, I've lightly touched on this subject with my friend Rob some years ago as he went through something similar and upon that discussion, I realized that experiencing death in such a devastating and emotional manner... it becomes transformative. Rob transformed. I've transformed... as has my wife and my older daughter. My younger daughter seems to be in a different place right now and that may (hopefully) protect her. As I'm writing this here, I'm also reminding myself that I need to sit down and document 4 separate, but incredibly vivid dreams I've had of David over the course of these past 6 months. There's definitely something going on here. I sit here typing this as I just saw the trailer for Deadpool 3. David would've absolutely loved this. And he did...

Of course I needed a starting point and that's precisely where this story would take root. "It's about war and what he had to go through..."

So what's the big reveal here? What was I doing, unknowingly with all of these Fantastic Four purchases? Well... Looking back, it's kind of simple. After the passing of my son, my immediate family was now reduced to my wife, my two daughters and myself... the four of us that are sadly left. The Fantastic Four. But then there's this... Marvel's First Family. I remembered my younger daughter's favorite book on my walls... FF#3 and their first appearance in costume. That was the book I purchased in NJ and now, here was the bookend to that as it was the last Marvel (non-superhero) title in 1962 with Fantastic Four #2. Of course it's the lowest of low copies but it just may be something I can work my way up in. I already have a plan to improve it. So, in all... I got the first appearance of Annihilus and Franklin Richards... then I got the trippy Agatha Harkness misprint issue, and then their second appearance as a team. Yeah. I was definitely trying to resurrect my broken family.

Back to my story... There was certainly a reason why that Fantastic Four #110 entered my conscience and it has a lot to do with symbolism. Agatha. That circle. Odd symbols.... I'll get back to that soon enough, but for tonight, I'll go to my next purchase and this was the one that, sadly, pointed out to me what it was that I was doing with these purchases. I've told the story of the Fantastic Four Annual 6 purchase and the story behind that from the Smoke Shop Collection but this next book is absolutely one of my favorites and when I saw it for sale on eBay from the same seller at an attractive price, it definitely got me thinking. I had owned a copy of this one before when I shifted to the Fantastic Four collection and outside of selling my low grade copy of issue #1, this sale was my next regret as it was a nicely presenting copy at a CGC 3.0. So when I saw this (also, nicely presenting) copy of issue #2 far sale... albeit incomplete, I had to consider it. That Thing pinup must've been very popular in 1961/1962 because that's what this copy was missing. Still... at this price, it certainly wasn't a steal, but it was a fair price and so I went through and purchased it. In terms of eye appeal, it surpassed that copy I had owned before and I think that's why I forgave the color touch and the missing pin-up. I love that this issue depicts the last appearance of a "supernatural team" for Marvel, wherein the next issue (Fantastic Four #3) actually introduces them as superheroes with their costumes and perfectly bookends the copy of FF3 that I purchased as my younger daughter was leaving for Japan. There's a lot of weird 'spotting' on the slab and I might go ahead and re-holder it because of that. And here is that Thing pin-up...

We're six months in. Hey, David...

To hell with it. Thank you, Justin. Somehow and someway, this video is what I needed to see tonight. I deeply hope that no one ever, ever has to understand this! To my two daughters...

So yeah, that was a bit ambiguous. Par for the course? Perhaps. ... ... ... Anyways, I'll start this weekend with a brief intermission based off of a (unsolved but now) solved mystery. Years ago, I posted this image on these boards hoping for some information that would lead to a discovery of who was featured in this signed photo. Well, thanks to either algorithms or AI... that mystery was solved over this weekend. So here is that signed photo of mine from 1920... The alluring actress shown here? That would be Vivian Reed, the silent movie actress. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Reed_(actress,_born_1894) What I immediately noticed in her biography was that she was featured as Princess Gloria in the L. Frank Baum production of 1914 called, "His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz". Well, that made a world of sense!

Looking back at what I was buying prior to this nightmare, I suppose it wasn't that big of a surprise as to where I was going or more appropriately, what I was trying to accomplish here. I told the story of the book I picked up as my younger daughter departed for Japan - that copy of Fantastic Four #3 with married pages... That purchase was at the end of March... well I forgot about this next Fantastic Four purchase and this one was about 4 months later, at the beginning of July. With everything that's happened, I'm not surprised I forgot about this book even though it's a pretty big one. Obviously back then, I was highly anticipating any news surrounding the Fantastic Four movie and of course I was regretting having sold all of those FF books that I had. With news leaking out of the Silver Surfer and Galactus, I had to find a somewhat affordable copy of this one here and I also had to find one that was centered. I think it bothers me more on the FF books when the mis-wrap is so that it cuts off the corner box art which of course depicts the heads of Marvels first family. Anyways, I was very happy at the time to add this one to my personal collection even though it is kind of a 'lost book' to me now because of when it was purchased. Unfortunately, from July on to... well... today, it's like those days and months are all wrapped up in this dark, sad connective story. It's probably the thing that I'm struggling with the most on a personal level and that's solely based on how I connect and view everything. I've tried to convey that here in these pages but I probably haven't done a good job at it. Fantastic Four #49... the first full appearance of Galactus and the 2nd appearance of the Silver Surfer. So with that, now I believe I'm current in terms of listing my purchases and yes, I felt a small bit of comfort in adding that Fantastic Four Annual #6 to my collection. With that purchase, that marked the 3rd FF title that I had purchased this year and that would join the 3 issues I had acquired from the past couple of years. Those books being Rob's Fantastic Four #6 that I did some work on, the Restored (small color touch) copy of Fantastic Four #11 and the low grade Fantastic Four #18 with the first Super-Skrull. But almost right after getting that FF Annual 6, well... I think this is where things started to get a little weird. After David's passing, I started to get this idea in my head, or rather, a 'plan'. You see, I still felt that I needed to help him somehow even though he was no longer on this plane of existence. I always tried to help him so there was no way that I could simply stop now. These images in my head were swirling... like trying to form words but unable to. It was more like a swirling idea and that's when this next book kind of 'appeared'. Yet another Fantastic Four book that I had to now look into because there was something there that I needed. Rob remembers the time that I told him about this book and how I really wanted to find one 'in the wild' at one point. And so once again, I spent a night looking online when I found this on eBay, yet again. As my world had been flipped... black was white, up was down and left was right... it was like I was in a type of Negative Zone. Yes, the Fantastic Four references continue but not like you might think. There's a book out there that is kind of a negative issue as in a negative photograph and it features the first cover appearance of Agatha Harkness. Do you see how this all ties together? Now how in the world do I simply ignore all of this? Yes, that Agatha Harkness from WandaVision but not the Kathryn Hahn version. So when I found this issue, the grade was lower than I would ideally want, but the price was right in line with what I would want to pay for this book so it just made sense. And again, there was something that spoke to me about the cover of this issue and perhaps it simply added fuel to the fire of this idea that was trying to form in my mind. This is one of my favorite books that I own. The Green Variant of Fantastic Four #110 (along with what the regular issue looks like)... In case anyone was wondering how I went, kind of mindlessly, from FF Annual #6 to FF #110... I guess it really does make sense somehow. Purchasing this book when I did, pretty much summed up my state of mind in August and September. Total chaos reflected in a type of negative image or maybe, the Negative Zone. But what about that circle with the symbols near Agatha Harkness? Just made up gibberish by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott, right? Exactly.

Here is the literature that came with that Fantastic Four Annual #6...

I was so close here to asking for an intermission when I thought of something else... My dear older daughter, Lisa. We share a lot in common in terms of our personalities and such... many of which I've tried to explain to her. But when I think back to some of my fondest memories, it's when she 'graduated' to the status of an adult and we would go Christmas shopping for the family. One night in particular will always bring us plenty of laughs as I took her to Rochester, NY of all places. Anyways, she had a rough spot there for many of her adult years but I always tried to be there for her like I was for David... sometimes, maybe more so. I once told her that this song, would always (and will always), remind me of her... (Yeah, here's my intermission...)