X-ray Spexx

I guess I should first state that I was never a big DC comics fan but heres what I thought based on what I saw. I'm pretty excited about the whole slate of comic book movies on tap for the next several YEARS but I am a little concerned about the quality of some of them. I think the summer is gonna be dominated by comic book movies for the foreseeable future but I feel like we run the risk of comic book movie fatigue, especially if there are a whole bunch of bad ones, and they're PG13, with happy endings, and mangle the storylines, no swearing, etc. Already, when I talk to my wife about what movies I'm looking forward to seeing she's like " capes, powers, whatever ". As I've said before, I think the comic industry is on the verge of a bubble much like it was in the 90's with all the variant covers, scarcity by design, missed issue deadlines, reboots, inflated prices, etc. and its only a matter of time before this house of cards built on a three legged chair collapses. Until then though, lets enjoy the ride. I saw the Suicide Squad trailers and I was intrigued to some degree but I had a few reservations. I think the movie can only be as strong as its weakest link which is clearly Will Smith. I think Deathstroke ( aka cool Deadpool ) along with Harley Quinn & Joker are gonna be the characters people are wanting to see. Harley and Joker I think are covered for the most part but Will Smith simply can't act. Whatever hopes they had can only go as far as Will Smith's range which isn't far. I'm sure he'll probably be trying to work a joke or some Fresh Prince into his lines every few minutes. I think what happened is he probably had his people say " Hey, Will wants in ", and that was that, but I don't think he was anybody's choice. As for Harley, I think the character is interesting in the comic book sense but I don't know that that'll translate to film well and her actual name sure as hell shouldn't be Harley Quinzel. It'll have to be written really well. As far as Joker, I don't know that I'm feeling it all that much. I like were they're trying to go in the sense that the Joker never really looked like a criminal hence the gold fronts and tattoos but I just feel that they went in the obvious direction. Criminals have gold teeth and tattoos so lets put some on him, hey how about a tattoo that says HaHaha, nothing says crazy like HaHaHa right. I always felt that the most successful Joker storylines were so good because writers gave him style and his character was distinct. Batman is the dark knight detective, strategist, planner whereas the Joker is unpredictable and criminally insane, two opposing forces, hero and nemesis. What let you know the Joker was criminally insane were his actions, not his tattoos or gold teeth. I find Jared Leto's Joker to appear more in the moment, sign o the times, and comical whereas Heath Ledger's Joker was sinister and frightening before he even did anything. When I first saw Heath Ledgers Joker I thought he looked like what I never knew the Joker should have always looked like and what the hell was I thinking falling in love with Jack Nicholson's Joker. We'll see what happens. Whats the deal with Killer Croc, in the comics he's like a creature, and isn't he supposed to be huge, in the trailer he looks like a power ranger ( like Apocalypse ). If Marvel can pull off a believable Hulk then I'm sure DC could have done a better job with Killer Croc. Lastly, whats up with the latin american Cholo-esque character, who's he supposed to be? I can understand the desire for diversity, I'm all for that, but Chuck Tailors, Khaki's, white t-sirt, starter jacket, and a skull tattoo on his face. There were guys like that walking around the neighborhood I grew up in. I thought they could have done better. I think the crowning achievement is Viola Davis as Dr. Waller, I feel like they got better than they deserved for such a small role. I heard they initially wanted Oprah, but come on, she owns a network, is a billionairess, and has only done like 4-5 movies in the last 30 years. I don't think she's trying to cap off her career or that it'll draw middle aged women to the theater by having her in the movie. With regards to Batman v Superman, I'm pretty excited about this one as well, until I saw the latest trailer. As with Suicide Squad, I think the weakest link is Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and maybe Gal Gadot as WW, but at least you can look at her, Jesse Eisenberg looks crazy with long blonde hair. Like the Joker, I always thought Lex Luthor was so cool because he was sinister and I don't think Jesse Eisenberg can pull off sinister. Mark Zuckerberg is not sinister unless he's stealing your ideas. The conflict between Superman and Lex to me centered around the fact that Kal el is like a god, he was born that way but is totally unassuming about his power and just wants to be like the rest of us whereas Lex is supremely smart believing that it elevates him above everyone else but despite that can never have what Superman was born with. Hero and nemesis. It takes gravitas to pull that off and I don't think Eisenbergs got it, Kevin Spacey, now your talking, its like trading in a Cadillac for a Prius. As for Gal Gadot, I've never seen her act but I don't mind looking at her. I don't know how they're gonna pull off the invisible plane and magic lasso but whatever, I'm on board. As far as Afleck as Batman, I've been pretty impressed with him after The Town and Gone Girl, I can see him as a older, saltier Batman, especially after J. Lo and Gigli, I'm on board. I'm worried about the story though, the Dark Knight Returns which this movie is loosely ( and I do mean loosely ) based on was if anything a core Batman story but here we have a Batman story in a Superman movie. How is that gonna play out, I don't know how if I can see how that works. I thought the DKR conflict centered around Supes sensibilities jading him in changing times and his becoming a company man whereas Batman has always been a vigilante and outsider. I thought the endgame fight between the two was Batman proving to Supes that despite his acting like one of us he must on some level recognize that he is superior to us which entails some degree of Hubris which is the weakness that Batman exploits by opening up a couple o cans of whupass on him as only Batman can. On some level Superman would have to know or rather believe he's superior to us ( ie. " I could have killed you by now if I wanted to "). Superman thought he was going to win that fight which made the loss so painful and awesome. You've got to love the whole idea of Superman wanting to be one of us but on some level recognizing he's better than us but in our frailty we lay him low proving that in fact he is mortal after all. Masterfully done, and I especially like Frank Millers personal " I did this to you " feel which I had never really seen in Batman stories, very bitter. Unfortunately, thats not what this movie is about which worries me. Of course the battle will be awesome to watch, a real treat, but without the deeper meaning I don't think it can truly be awesome and genre defining which DKR was. I think this is what Christopher Nolan was always shooting for with his Batman Trilogy, whether you believe he accomplished it or not is a different story, but I definitely think the transcendent is wh To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I know everyone is tired to the age old CGC vs the company which shall not be named, but here it is once again with feeling. Lets start with some simple things, when I was a kid I bought G.I. Joe comics as a child of the 80's. I didn't care if they were particularly good or well written, I liked G.I. Joe and the comic books were grittier ( haha ) than the cartoon. I bought them and reread them until they fell apart. I would spread them all across my floor and read and my mom would vacuum over them or throw any of them away if she felt they were too violent. A few years later, I got into Marvel Comics during its late 80's - 90's hayday just in time to pick up books from the spinner rack ( remember those ), things like ASM 300 or New Mutants 98, etc. I had a cousin who had a cache of Silver Age runs and called my shabby collection trash. I bought a copy of the first appearance of Silver Surfer in FF ( probably 8.0 ) and traded it for $50 and some other books in trade and actually felt like I got over on the guy. Yeah, we sure pulled the wool over that guys eyes, lets go get some Burger King. I say all this to express that before CGC, I read and collected comics for the love of collecting comics, thats it. I knew that certain books were " worth something " but I never thought of it in terms of cashing in. My mother always taught me that its not what the book says its worth, its only worth what someone will give you for it ( I'm sure everybody remembers Wizard Magazine and their price inflation ). Then came CGC, and everything changed. CGC definitely brought clarity to the market such that you could buy with confidence and there would now be uniformity in grading, eliminating the subjectivity to a large degree. CGC also provided this service for a hefty price, in many instances the price outweighing the value of the book. In a short span of time they essentially helped to further monetize the hobby. CGC also effectively devalued everyones collection instantly. Im sure everyone remembers sending in they're prized books that in their minds were NM only to get them back as 6.5-7.0's. Everyone, dealers and professionals, will tell you that it raised the bar extremely high and some might say too high. Let's not forget that CGC also had a virtual monopoly on the industry for 12-13 yrs. Lets not forget that the turnaround times for books are around 4 - 4.5 months which is roughly back to back submissions in 12 months. Don't get me wrong, I like the clarity that CGC provides. I like the idea of maximizing the value of my books and preserving them. Im also saddened by the fact that with the price pressures that have come along with monetization of the hobby a lot of doors are closed to average people. When I got married, I bought a ridiculous batch of Marvel keys as a wedding gift to myself as I figured " I'm spending how many weeks salary on this ring, why not do something for me ". I'm glad that I did, as the prices have more than quadrupled, I couldn't buy those same books today even if I wanted to. For example, I bought 2 copies of Hero for Hire 1 for $40 and $65 ( from Comic Supply, remember that dude, before he started ripping people off ) which came back 9.0 & 9.2. Sadly those same books in the aforementioned grades are going for around 1K, which I know I wouldn't pay. I recently saw a dealer listing a Marvel Premiere 15 9.6 for 1K or a Ms. Marvel 1 9.6 for 1K. I remember going to SDCC several years ago and a guy had a box, a freaking box of Nova 1 priced for $5 and $10 so I bought three cause I was into New Warriors at the time. I got a 9.8 and two 9.6's, I was pleased. When they hit their peak in a few years people were asking $4-500 for them which I would never pay. What about all the books that we all want but can never afford due to price pressure. I wanted a first appearance of Black Panther, yeah right, maybe if I take my daughter out of daycare and homeschool her. So, in closing I do have an appreciation of what CGC has brought to the industry but its not without cost and those costs are high. I like the way my comics look in their slabs and I'm proud of them but I'm also separated from them which is weird when I think about sitting on the floor reading those G.I. Joe comics. No matter what, I can no longer get the dollar figures out of my head, no matter how much I like the book. Sadly, I have slabbed books that I like that I have never read, cause they're slabbed! So yes my friends, there is a cost, make no mistake. Don't even get me started on the conflicts of interest that abound. Like, why am I now getting advertisements to sell my books in my boxes with my slabbed books. I got an advertisement for a copy of Dark Knight III signed by Frank Miller and the whole creative team for like $1,200, guaranteed 9.8 ( why can't I get guaranteed 9.8's ? ). Or my favorite, the Darth Vader Star Wars variant which goes for like 4K unslabbed, who knows what a 9.8 would go for, like 12K. So like I said, just some qualms and quandaries that I struggle with when I think about CGC. Or my very favorite, who can tell me the difference between a 9.8, a 9.9, and a 10. Rob Overstreet is probably rolling over like a damn rotisserie chicken at Sams Club. I still haven't sold a comic yet, but the pressure is on. - Spexx - To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. 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Just the facts, make your own judgement Books submitted as Value Tier June 5th 2014 marked as received by CGC Books marked as shipped safe October 14th 2014 presently awaiting delivery Days at CCS 40 total Days at CGC 131 total Business days at CGC 91 total Totals from leaving to return to me 171 and counting Grades Avengers 164 9.4 OFW/W Avengers 165 9.6 OFW/W Avengers 166 9.4 & 9.6 W Avengers 174 9.6 W Avengers 175 9.8 W Avengers 177 9.6 W Captain Marvel ( Marvel 1st series ) 30 9.6 W Manifest Destiny 1 9.8 W Daredevil 131 9.6 OFW/W Daredevil 161 x 2 9.8 & 9.8 W Ms. Marvel ( Marvel 1st series ) 1 9.6 W Punisher Limited Series 5 9.4 W Strange Tales 179 9.4 OFW To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Complaineth, and Ye Too Shall Also be Heard Chapter XVII Verse II - Book of SpexxWHAT!, Modern tier rolled back to 1975! Just like CCS ( which CGC owns by the way, though no conflict of interest here ), just like TOC. Let your voice be heard and see what happens. Although, this represents probably the least of the changes I think everybody ( or at least I ) wanted, it still represents some acknowledgement of the reality regarding peoples frustrations, some good old fashioned responsiveness. Anyone old enough to remember that, when you complained about something and companies valued your business so they changed to accommodate you.For all the people who said, " I deserve to pay more cause CGC has been so good to me and my family ", or " If I say something about what everyone might be thinking I should be blocked lest I interfere with CGC's rich business and noble mission ". Seriously though, this is major.Keep pressing for what you want and demanding what you feel to be fair from those you support. Only an open mouth gets fed! Like I said, I think this is probably the least of what CGC could offer but it shows they acknowledge the realities on the ground and the fact that people let their dollars to the talking. I really appreciate this concession ( although not without reservation, as I think of the 4 submissions that are snaking their way through CGC's bowels ), and look forward to seeing what happens next. The ground is moving! Keep pressing!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Just a couple of thoughts after reading the ongoing discussion about CGC and TOC ( the other compnay ) as people weigh in. I've found this ongoing conversation about CGC, TOC, etc to be very interesting and informative as I really appreciate everyones perspective. We're a community of collectors at various stages in the game and I think everybodys perspective is informative. A few things surprised me though, one was how a lot of people seemed to feel that CGC should have the right to block posts at their discretion whether it be reasonable or totally self serving. A lot of folks seemed to feel like " Hey I deserved to be blocked if I should cross the line ". I feel there are rules and there's right and wrong and they don't always equal the same thing. CGC has basically said in their terms of service for the boards that they own anything you put up and have the right to block anything for any reason. Those are the rules, but you don't have to like it nor do you have to believe that its fair. Although CGC hosts the boards I feel that we the collectors make it what it is. Not only do we finance it through our patronage but we give it substance from our contributions. I think we should feel empowered by this and recognize that power such that if we feel that something is unfair we have the right to demand what we want. The impression I get though is that not many people feel that strongly about being blocked or feel that its totally reasonable under the circumstances which kind of leaves me at a loss, but so be it. Just like great nations, you fall when you stop listening to the people. Also, I understand a lot of people have personal relationships with CGC and what not, which is cool, I'm just a little more cynical. I look at it like business, money for services. My friends do things for me because they love me, CGC does things for me because I pay them. Like Tnerb, I also was a CGC skeptic, thinking it was not worth the money until I saw what people charged and paid for slabbed books. One area where we disagree is when he says that CGC was started to protect the consumer. I don't deny that maybe that was partly the impetus but in reality I think its simply they recognized an opportunity in the marketplace. Before CGC, you bought books raw and although there were grading standards there was always a big difference between my NM and your NM. I don't feel that CGC was started out of altruism to the consumer, I feel they recognized an opportunity, brought together the expertise and resources then set the price point and went on the dominate the market they helped to create. Lets be clear, its a business, I don't care if they are nice to you or friendly. They process invoices for payment and it ain't cheap. What they really do is allow you to preserve your books, maximize the value of your books, and create a common language and standard for commerce, for money ( lets not forget that ). They extract the cost for all of the aforementioned benefits, its like a profit share and for the most part its totally worth it. I tried to avoid the whole idea of slabbing my books but what sense did it make to have NM books that would quadruple in value just by getting them slabbed. Tremendous value right, but what about what it did to the market. Books quadrupled in value so now you can't buy that book you wanted in 9.8 because its now $275 ( ie. X-facftor 5/6, Thor 337, etc ). It used to be enough to have a book in NM condition, now ( as I am also guilty ) its got to be a 9.8 or its trash, or signed five times with a sketch and cypher on it. When I was a kid everybody was a comic collector, now everybody is a comic book speculator / collector. So it was a tremendous boon to the marketplace but not without a price but what else could you do. Well now there is something else you can do and CGC is none to happy about it. For the longest time CGC had a monopoly on the market and we gladly paid the price because you had no other viable choice. I feel that this monopoly is in part why you see things like the high fees, $5 processing fee, modern starts at 1980 instead of 75, 4 month turnaround times. Then they turn around and acquire CCS with the assurance that there would be no conflict of interest. What else were you gonna do but pay and wait. I'm sure that to some degree we've all been frustrated by these things at one time or another. I feel like to some degree we were taken for granted. This is in part what frustrates me with this whole idea of blocking peoples posts if the speak about TOC positively or otherwise really. CGC had a monopoly for the longest time, record profits, no competition, etc. If you block people for advertising for a competitor I can understand that but if you block people to keep them from talking about something that may or may not be in their best interest, well thats just fear. If you don't want people to talk about TOC then offer the best service hands down. Your done, nothing to talk about. You don't see anybody blocking posts about PGX, you can talk about PGX all day. PGX, PGX, PGX! In order to get things to change and address peoples frustration the overall model and service needs to fundamentally change. Like I mentioned in another post, all of a sudden I'm getting advertising emails from CGC that run along the lines of " Now submit your books for the same great price and same great turn around times " which I find a little tone deaf. I always found it funny that they ask you if you have a coupon on the submission form, has anyone ever gotten a coupon for CGC that they didn't pay for? In my mind the rate limiting step for slabbing books is probably the grading as it requires expertise, but 4 months really. If you were in college, you could submit your books and they'd be ready by the time you finished the semester. How about spending some of that Monopoly money to hire more staff and graders to speed things up. I think a fair turnaround time should be 30 days, thats it. I can close on a home in less that 30 business days. Lets also keep in mind that 30 business days is like a month and half. Also, lets make received mean what its says, you receive my books and the clock starts ticking. Modern needs to start at 1975 not 1980. I find it funny that CCS still considers modern to be 1975 but CGC starts at 1980. Whats up with that, is this just to capture higher fees on a larger percentage of books. Handling fee needs to disappear, plain and simple. You paid the cost for handling when you paid the submission fee. Separating them out as separate fees is petty. Price points should drop to round numbers, like 15, 25, 35, etc. No more 18's or 28's. You should receive email notifications as your books move through the process if you like. You should be able to see your grades as soon as they're available because they're not gonna renegotiate the grades anyway. I remember they used to do that, you called and they would even email you spreadsheet upon request. Graders note should be free. I don't understand how you can pay for the service of grading your books but if you want to know why, well thats extra. You already paid for it, plain and simple. Grading standards should be transparent, it would eliminate a lot of confusion in the process and ease a lot of frustration with getting books back that don't grade out like you would expect. Anyway, th To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

What a world, What a world! Did anybody else like Harry Potter? I was late to the whole Potter thing as I only started watching near the end when they were all older and kissing and killing and what have you. Thats when it started being something that I could somewhat relate to. What I liked though was the whole way no one would say Voldemort's name, they just called him " He who shall not be named ". To me it just signified how he was just a bad mama jamma and you couldn't safely mention his name, cause he was always watching or listening. I don't think Voldemort was really sitting around magically listening to everyones conversations or reading every owls mail but clearly if you called him by name he would know. I always figured that if I were in the Wizarding World that I would probably still talk about him, I'd just call him Tom. Mama called him Tom, works for me. Truthfully, as was the case with Harry Potter, this all feels very sinister to me. What are the rules? If there are rules, isn't that just kind of silly? Aren't we all adults, paying adults at that. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Or was there a post this morning that is mysteriously gone this afternoon So I get up early this morning and while I'm lying in bed as its my day off I pick up my phone and start surfing around. I check my e-mail, Facebook, Marvel movie news etc, and then I come around to Collectors Society to see if theres any action on my last submission. I check the status compulsively I admit, I mean the books were listed as received for value grading June 5th, what am I expecting, its barely the end of August. Anyway, I notice a post about CBCS from someone talking about quality, guarantees, competition being good for the consumer, expedient service yada yada yada, usual stuff. I thought the post was pretty spot on and I wanted to add my two cents as I saw there were already 5 replies so it seemed like a lively topic. I tried to Discuss on Chat Boards but it wouldn't allow me to which I thought was due to my phone itself. I went back to sleep and figured I'd reply when I awoke, but this time on my laptop. So I get up and what do you know, the post is gone, replies and all. Did the author remove the post? Did CGC staff remove the post? Did the author get kicked off the boards? Am I next? Can anyone shed some light, or better yet can the author of the post and/or anyone who replied to the post speak on the matter? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Ill try not to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. So first off, let me say that I'm positive that this movie will makes TONS of money regardless of the quality, good or bad. Second, I'll probably end up seeing many more comic book movies until they get really, really bad ( ie. The Wolverine Part 2 ). Lets be honest though, GOTG are a bunch of reject characters put together to keep Marvel Comics cash machine ringing. Starlord is a reject from Marvel Preview, so is Rocket Racoon, Groot is another forgotten character. Drax is a former hero created to be a foil for Thanos, he died, was then resurrected as an insufficiently_thoughtful_person, who is now smart and a mercenary/criminal/ninja. As I've started to note of late, Marvel isn't innovating anymore, they just keep rehashing old characters, like Ant Man. I always though Ant Man was a poor idea for a character which is why Henry Pym changed persona so much, they were trying to figure out something that would stick. Now everybody loves ant man but I still don't understand why. Why does Ant Man succeed where the Human Fly doesn't. Who knows, but if Marvel can keep digging up characters from 60-70's and rehabbing them, there won't be any new ideas or characters anytime soon. With regards to the movie, there really isn't much of a plot, the movie simply serves as a means of getting from point A ( 2 infinity gems ) to point B ( Infinity Gaunlet ) via a popcorn movie that maybe can stand alone as another successful franchise. Below are 10 things that make this movie a weak entry: 1). Massive Humor Injection - they attempt to inject a lot more humor than say the Avengers but the timing is so poor that it interferes with the narrative and not all of it is funny. In Avengers the humor is unobtrusive and integrated into the process of the narrative but in GOTG its halting to the narrative, not always funny, and ruins some serious moments. 2). Characters are Flat - the characters don't have much depth at all. What we do not about Peter Quill is pretty shallow and cheap. The rational for how Peter Quill comes to be Starlord is laughable. Drax, Groot, and Rocket have no backstory. Gamora has some backstory to add depth but its minimal. 3). Bad Acting - the worst actors by far are Dave Bautista as Drax and Vin Diesel as Groot. Maybe its because Bautista isn't really an actor nor is Vin Diesel for that matter. Lets ask this, if Groot only says three words, how is it that Vin Diesel can mess this up? Why hire Vin Diesel at all to say three words, why not just get any voice actor? 4). Too Much CGI - way too much CGI and not enough live action. Too much CGI is part of the reason Stars Wars Episodes 1-3 sucked in addition to other factors. Live action is why Captain America Winter Soldier was so good. When you've got too many actors walking around in front of green screens talking to tennis balls it makes for a bad movie. 5). Bad Story - I know you can't just take a comic and put it on screen or vice versa, but why do they always feel the need to completely rewrite the story. Last I remember Drax was on a mission to kill Thanos, Gamora was a double agent for Thanos who changed to ally herself with Adam Warlock and was killed for it, Nebula was Thanos granddaughter whom he attempted to kill but she was never his agent, Gamora and Nebula were never sisters, and Ronan the Accuser was an agent of the Kree high intelligence. The original story was well plotted out and executed over several issues, over several years, in several books. What happened. 6). Poor Score - it seems like every time they want to get some type of emotional response from the audience we get another old school hit from the 60's-70's. This is in the place of good acting, good storytelling narrative, good scripting. Needless to say I thought the movie sucked totally, like Thor 1 & 2, Wolverine 1 & 2, Daredevil, Punisher 1 & 2, Incredible Hulk, etc. Its still gonna probably make a ton of money. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I mean, are you really satisfied? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the clarity and reliability of the grades that they render and what its done for the industry but lets be real about the what this has done to the hobby. 1. What CGC has done is clearly a boon for comic book collecting in that you can buy books with confidence in their quality but we PAY THROUGH THE NOSE for this gift to the industry. A press and a slab for a modern book is $30 and 3-4 months, never mind the insanity of sending submissions fast track. In a lot of instances I've had to decide which is cheaper, buy a pre-slabbed book now or press & submit my unslabbed books for damn near the same price or more and wait 3-4 months. When the process of collecting costs as much or more than the actual collectible I'm not sure what that is but it sure as hell isn't a gift to mankind! 2. Now that CGC is the gold standard, its brought clarity and reliability to the market and its also raised the price for everything. Books that I bought just a few years ago that were considered worthless are now showing up on eBay for $125 because they're 9.8's. Does anyone remember going to the 2 for $1 bin at a comic shop or con and now seeing some of those same books selling for ridiculous prices. It seems like nowadays its not so much about the book itself as it is the grade, now nothing is worthless if its a 9.8. A couple of real world examples, why does every issue #1 from Image end up on eBay 9.8 ( likes thats a real feat ) for $75-100 in less than 30 days. Why are new books that are not all that rare in the grand scheme of things selling in 9.8 ( not a real feat ) for more than some books that are actually rare and actually old. I know I'm not the only one who has seen the Image #1 9.8 of the moment selling for X number dollars and thought, man I could buy a oldie but goodie in 9.8 for that kind of money. In short, CGC grades have helped to lead us to a place where we have books that are clearly worth something but how much, books that are clearly worth nothing but how little, and new books that you can't quite determine tell how much they are worth in comparison to old books. 3. CGC is one big mystery wrapped in a puzzle. We all know Overstreets grading criteria but why are CGC's criteria a secret? When CGC came out a lot of people saw the value of their collections drop. People who had bonafide great collections ended up having mediocre sets once CGC started dropping bombs on peoples collections. Are there any old school collectors out there who can back me up on this. CGC's grading criteria are a secret so you can't argue with them about the grades they give. CGC's grading criteria are secret because they are more stringent which makes it harder to attain a respectable grade which keeps us coming back for more. Don't get me wrong, I don't think its all bad but I'm sure CGC isn't off put by the business this generates. The boards, registry, and awards spawn competition which keeps up coming back for more. 4. Is anyone still bothered by the clear conflict of interest with CCS aligning with CGC? Its hard for me to believe that two affiliated companies don't share info. You mean to tell me a box arrives at CGC from CCS and the CGC staff open it like " wherever did this box come from, come let us grade these anonymously submitted books ". All CGC needs is one good scandal to bring ruin to the market. I love the boards and community CGC has established. I like the service they provide but my admiration falls far short of love and devotion. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Yeah, I know right. I don't think there is such a thing as a stupid question. If you want to know, go for it, and stone the crows. I read almost everyones post, even if I'm not terribly interested cause sometimes you start reading and you get interested. I will say that I read some posts that I think are lame or rather melodramatic I should say but maybe I'm just too cynical. If I wrote a post about my Dad or how I got that very first comic and someone made fun of me I would probably laugh, especially if it was funny. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't tend to post things that are so emotionally close to home that I couldn't laugh if it inspired others to do so. I come here to have fun, and laugh, and be laughed at too. I feel like some people are getting so emotionally wound up over a journal entry it borders on the ridiculous. I mean, cats are going ALL CAPS and putting under_lines where they don't belong and all other manner of the profane. I mean, if you went to Comic Con and you ran into somebody who thought Power Pack or New Mutants was lame would you fight them? Power Pack is that serious? Lets keep it light and civil and laugh for goodness sakes. I've been on the site for a little over a year and already I've had threat of bodily harm from RonnyLama and a hard dis from SW3D. Over comic books! Someone asked what OAK stood for and I responded One of A Thousand ( as in 1K ). Its cheap I'll admit, but I like bad jokes, the badder the better. I think a good bad joke is so bad that it falls through the floor of being bad and comes through the ceiling of being good. What was funny too me was that people responded to it like, " How could that be, I always thought it meant One of A Kind, what is the basis of your assertion ". Dude, I really didn't think people would take it that seriously. When I first saw someone on here say OAK, I didn't know what it meant either. For like 2 minutes until I looked at the context. I also find it funny that we talk about OAK's when I'm thinking, " Didn't they print like 150K of that comic ". But when you got it triple pressed quadruple signed, then yeah, I guess it is an OAK. If you've got the God Slab with a 10 grade or even the Jesus Christ Slab with a 9.9, then yeah, you've got an OAK. If you've just got a 9.8, well then you've got a One in A Thousand basically. As far as the mathematical formula to determine the value of CGC vs ungraded books or creating a graph, good luck. Lets get personal, when I was a kid I remember bragging to my mom about how much my comics were worth and I remember her looking at me without missing a beat like, " Are you out of your F*&$ING mind ". Her exact words were along the lines of " The only person those things are worth that much too is you. They're only worth what someone is willing to give you for them ". Thats the GOLDEN RULE OF COMIC COLLECTING, your comics may carry whatever value you give them for whatever reason but as far as money goes, their only worth what someone will actually pay you for them. If you don't believe me, try and sell your comics to a dealer like Metropolis or HighGrade and start about what GPA or Overstreet values the book at and see what they tell you. See what dealers pay each other for books and what they'll pay or sell it to you for. Mile High will take all the New Mutants and Power Pack issues you've got slabbed or not for 0.20 cents on the dollar. Have you ever looked up a price on GPA and it said the book was worth $50 then you look on ComicLink or eBay and the cheapest you can find is $100. Or vice versa, you see it listed as worth $100 on GPA then try to list it on eBay and the most someone will offer you is $20. Don't mean to sink anyones battleship but lets be real when it comes to the dollars and cents. And I've got an embarrassing number of issues of Power Pack and New Mutants by the way. Lastly, the best thing about the original post after I almost fainted after deciphering SW3D's hard dis was this line about 18 posts in from Bag of Fleas: " I agree with X-ray Spexx... " I know right, who cares about what. I agree with X-ray Spexx 2% milk makes me gassy I agree with X-ray Spexx ( you fill in the blank ) That coming from Bag of Fleas is like it came from Tnerb as they shared the same womb, maybe even the same egg. Instant street cred. My stock is rising. Some people post for years before getting such props. Stay Trippy To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I read the OG post and found the discussion that followed to be interesting in and of itself plus raised a bunch of other questions. 1. I agree, I tend to be hesitant to buy PGX or get stuff graded by them because the overall consensus in the community ( buyers, dealers, etc. ) say they suck! I don't know if they suck or not cause I've never bought or had anything graded by them. All I know is that it sucks for PGX cause word of mouth is everything and by what I hear nobody will even give them a chance. I think it would be good for CGC to have a viable competitor cause this chokehold they have on the market sucks! I will say one thing, have you ever held a PGX slab? Those things are like twice as thick as CGC slabs, I thought that was cool! CGC could up their game in that regard, they'd probably charge us more though. 2. Now let me say this is not hate first of all. I see a lot of posts where people talk about how they just love CGC, the service, the convenience, the people, like on a personal level. I'm a little more cynical. While I appreciate the service they provide, make no mistake, I pay through the nose for that service cause it sure as hell aint cheap! As of now, I think I've easily spent more on buying slabs or getting books slabbed than I ever did on buying actual raw books. When I used to by raw books, I was content in my ignorance, hell everything that looked good to me was a 9.8. In fact there was no such thing as a 9.8, anything 9.0 or greater was NM and that was that. After CGC, I'm way more conscious about those treasures from my childhood. Its like looking at your children and having a favorite. That being said, why does CGC ask for a discount code when you submit, who the hell gets a discount on CGC grading, someone explain how that happens! Why is the turnaround estimate so off, a value submission takes like 5-6 months in realtime, not 59 business days! I submitted a coupon submission which is supposed to be 15 days, it took like 30+. Why is it that you can submit multiple submissions and your later submissions can end up in the queue before the earlier ones, and the list goes on. 3. You truly can take a CGC slab, crack it and resubmit it straight away and get a lower grade. The proof; Tnerb's quintuple signed quadruple pressed ASM 129 which started out a 9.6 and after being written on and baked to many times to count then begging for death ultimately came back a 9.4 ( though that story is clearly not over ). Let us remember this is Tnerb whom we all know and trust and thus it must be true. I buy the idea that there are 9.8's which I think we call agree on, but do 9.9 and 10's truly exist? Can anyone tell me the difference between a 9.8 and a 9.9 or a 10, or a 9.9 and a 10? I guess the pages in a 9.9 or a 10 are not only white but they still have sap on them. Maybe you can see the age of the tree in the pages. 9.9 and 10's don't exist, I think its just a gimmick by CGC to give people something to strive for. I'd be curious to see what people think. Does anyone even have a 9.9 or 10 and can they post it so we can see it. 4. Nowadays everyone is all about the 9.8, its got to be a 9.8 or its trash. I've got a friend who's like " I've got the eye, I can spot a 9.8 anywhere ". Lets be clear, if you submit a book from 1990 to present and its a 9.8 does that really mean anything. I mean, I guess it does, but once comics stopped being printed on wood pulp and started looking like Vogue magazines the 9.8 grade doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Unless your willing to buy them from me on eBay for top dollar, then by all means 9.8 and nothing less. I respect peoples interests and preferences but if you've got a 9.8 from 2013 and your calling it a gem your still telling lies to me. Lets get some CGC snobbery going on here. Although I do like Jupiters Legacy, Sex Criminals, and Manhattan Projects. I bought two comic books today and it cost me like $7. What happened to the day when $7 got you 9-10 books and a slurpee. 5. I got some books pressed recently and I gotta say, its the way to go. I know people are split on the idea, but dude lets be real, your not really adding anything to the book and it can clearly add value and pop. I submitted 2 Hulk 181's unslabbed back before I bit the CGC apple and opened my eyes. Submitted them and they came back 8.5's, and I gotta say I was pretty devastated to have spent so much and waited so long to get 8.5's. I sent them to get pressed and they came back 9 & 9.2 easily adding ridiculous value. If I were to go out and buy a 9 & 9.2 I'd probably spend around a grand or more each. I don't want someone else's book thats been graded, I wanted my book to be that grade and pressing is the only way. Its like having a child that grows up and works at McDonald's, which is cool cause I like Mickey D's, but you might always want more for them. Sorry Screenwriter 3D. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

This post is WAAAY too long but hopefully will clear up a few things I feel like the Salman Rushdie of the comic world given the sh*tstorm after the RIP Stan Lee post. I've got emoticons throwing what appear to be rotten tomatoes at me ( they're so small I can't accurately assess freshness ), I've got people going ALL CAPS on me. I received death threats and a late night tone poem from RonnyLama. I worry about the safety of my online persona. I picked up a follower, which is funny cause I have no idea where the hell we're going. Man this thing really took on a life of its own, which I think is good in a way. Lets be clear though, I don't hate Stan " The Man " exactly the opposite, I don't want Stan to die, I'm not trying to inspire anyone to hate Stan Lee or create an argument as to why anyone should. Who joins a site called Collectors Society and hates Stan Lee. I just truly thought the content of the post was funny and the title was to catch the eye. I never actually thought people would read the title alone and rush out into the streets mourning the death of Stan without reading the post or checking to see if it were true. I wouldn't. My usual response to this sort of thing is " Get the F**K out of here ", until I hear it from a credible source. When Stan passes, I don't think the Collectors Society blog will be where the news is broken. If I caused anyone any undue distress or need to change their underpants then I sincerely apologize, truly. Also, if Stan, his family, or any personal acquaintances read the post and were offended ( I don't believe so ) then again I truly apologize. Please ask Stan to sign my books and respond to the letter I sent him circa 1986. As far as the criticism goes, it goes both ways. Some didn't like the humor, which I can respect. Some thought it was tasteless and crass which I can also respect, but hey, I like tasteless crass humor. If you can't join a site about comic books, with mostly men, and be tasteless and crass then I think that speaks volumes in and of itself. Others simply hated the title, were offended by it and couldn't get past that and didn't bother to read the post. But truly, I never imagined anyone would read the title and rush out into the streets. Lastly, some people clutched their pearls as though to say " how dare he speak of Stan Lee like that ", which I think is kind of silly, others were overly self righteous. Honestly, no one has lived a perfect life, we've all got dirt under our nails and thus no one is sacred or sacrosanct. Theres Stan Lieber the man and Stan Lee the legend and they're like two different people walking two different paths. When you read the post its not cruel to the Stan Lee I know and love, I let him out the exit in the very beginning, its about something else entirely. I do poke fun at Stan about things that are truly funny but stop short of being cruel, like his hair plugs or Youngblood #1 making him keel over. The post may seem bizarre or macabre but not any more so than the reality that inspired it. I was talking with some friends recently and I mentioned that I had a pretty scarce book in a good grade, bout 9.4. Friend was like, dude you need crack that slab, get Stan Lee to sign it, get it pressed and reslabbed, and pray for a 9.8 cause it'll be worth X much more. Then he was like, " Dude you better hurry, you know that dude could die at any time now ". He didn't say it to mean, " I can't wait for Stan to die " or " I hope he dies soon so my signed books will be worth so much more ", but more as a point of practical wisdom. We laughed about it, cause it was macabre and bizarre but also true, books signed by Stan Lee are worth a lot more and who knows how long he's gonna be around. You simply can't talk about collecting comics today without being cognizant of the fact that they're worth money, and that you can make them worth even more money depending on how far your willing to go. Therein lies the crux of the matter for me. That's the 800lb gorilla in the phonebooth and the elephant in the room getting it on and like it or not Stan is in the middle of that orgy. When I was a kid, you went to the corner store ( there was no comic shop ) and picked up a copy of what you liked and read it until it disintegrated. You rolled it up, you traded it, you copied or traced the pictures. Then came the idea of having to get nice copies, then bags and boards, then specially made boxes, then multiple copies, then CGC. Initially I was good with just having nice copies, I was a little reluctant to slab books but then it became obvious that slabbing was the most practical thing to do, like it or not. Initially I was happy with a 9.0, then it started slowly creeping toward 9.8, then it was cracking slabs for signatures and pressing, then multiple signatures and pressings. Tnerb often talks about his triple pressed, double slabbed, double signed ASM 129. I think this is what happens to us all. The original creative outlet that intrigued us and the nostalgia that ties us to comics is inseparable from the real world economics of the comic industry. Even Tnerb commented that his ASM, which I'm sure he loves, is worth about $2600 which I think is pretty low as it is an OAK after all. And whether we like it or not Stan Lee signings are as much a part of the economics as anything else. When I met Stan at Comic Con, and when I say met I mean standing 20ft away with a couple hundred other people, it was amazing. I definitely had my moment when I thought, " I can't believe it, its Stan Lee ", Members Only jacket, checkered shirt, thick opaque glasses and all, and he genuinely seemed to be a man of the people. He signed a bunch of stuff but I did notice a few things. Like the scalphunters didn't have to wait in line like the rest of us, their stuff got signed regardless while the rest of us had to battle it out for like 25 tickets. Some stuff he signed and he was like, " Ahh a fine specimen ", but someone handed him a copy of say TittyMonster #1 or Bloodkill #1 and for a second he looked like " What the F**K is this ". And while he signed a great many books he might as well have been signing checks cause it was not lost on anyone there that his signature instantly quadrupled the value of whatever he signed. TittyMonster #1, quadruple value. Its this perverse relationship between nostalgia and economics that the original piece makes light of, not " The Man ". See LittleBills on Tnerbs post response about scalphunters not even knowing Stan's real name or Mackenzie999's post about Stan's signature being devalued. Lets be real also, in the sense that Stan Lee has little to do with the modern evolution of the comics we collect. I feel that he's the face and spirit of what originally got us into comics but I don't know where that fits into whats going on now in the industry. In a way I'm all for Stan Lee signings and wouldn't mind a few signatures myself but also I feel its like taking pictures of your kids with a plastic Santa. Yeah it represents Christmas but is that what its really all about, is that not tacky. Also, when I was a kid I looked at my parents and thought they were perfect and could do anything, and why shouldn't kids think that. When you grow up though you look at your parents for who they really are To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I know right, I was just as surprised as you I was looking at the AP website and saw where Stan " The Man " actually died in April 1992 after reading a copy of Youngblood #1 at a signing event. The exact cause of death was unknown but its believed that he suffered tremendously as his face remained transfixed in a rather pained expression. Initially it was ruled a homicide but a subsequent investigation was dropped and there had been lingering speculation in the industry that it may have in fact been a suicide. Marvel Studios reportedly chose to disclose this information as their contractual possession of his corpse will expire in 2014 as agreed upon in an out of court settlement with Stan's family. After his death Marvel took possession of his remains and had them reanimated in order to fill contractual agreements for upcoming film appearances and promotional signing events. Apparently according to the agreement Stan's corpse will continue to sign and appear in movies until the summer of 2014 after which his body will remain in state at Marvel Studios in the main lobby for six months atop a horse which some have criticized heavily resembles Jack Kirby. The family apparently was adamant that the lower half of his body must be submerged in soil from Manhattan at all times which offended many in the Bronx. After 2014, Marvel will take possession of his hands and a recording of his voice saying such phrases as " Excelsior " and " True Believers " indefinitely for future signings and appearances. The Hair Club for Men and Brillo retain possession of his scalp due to the proprietary nature of the technology used in his hair restoration. Hair Club nor Brillo could be reached for comment but an unofficial spokesperson with knowledge of the agreement stated on condition of anonymity, " Its ours, we created it, we own it, end of story ". After the removal of his battery, the family will take possession of his remains ( including his spine ) to lie in state indefinitely at his favorite local Manhattan deli in the corner booth. His DNA will be donated to science and it is widely believed that it will sent into space by NASA along with items such as George Washington's wooden false teeth, among other items. Various celebrities commented on his passing, the most interesting of which are as follows: Stan's wife Joan Clayton Boocock Lee was quoted as saying, " WHAAAT! ", upon learning of his death after feeding his disembodied remains for the past several years. Neighbor Saul Romanski from Washington Heights was quoted as saying " I never trusted him after he changed his name, who does that? His family name is Lieber, I'm gonna call him Stanley Lieber. His mother was a wonderful woman ". Comic creator John Byrne was quoted as saying, " No comment, but if I were to comment it would probably be negative. I always took issue with his decision to wear Spiderman socks when Fantastic Four would clearly have been more appropriate but...", as he was taken into custody attempting to touch the hem of Stan's burial garments. Barack Obama was quoted as saying, " He was a great American icon and trailblazer who proved that like many great Americans before him, you don't have to have a soul to have a heart ". When press Secretary Jay Carney clarified that it was Stan Lee the president was quoted as saying, " Who ". Sharon Stone commented on the their much talked about affair by stating, " Oh my God, Stan was a real treasure. I don't know if I can say this, but let me tell you, he was great in the sack. I mean he was hung like a mule. Our relationship was great while it lasted but we finally grew apart. It left me very distraught but I eventually got myself together and went on to do Basic Instinct and the rest is history ". Noted comic speculator Clutch was quoted as saying, " its about f**king time, man I been waiting for this for years! My ebay store is blowing up like crazy. I sold a few of his baby teeth and some old sheepskin condoms for like $1500 apiece. I got an auction going right now on some his signed receipts from Denny's ". Collaborator Avi Arad was quoted as saying, " Stan was good man, we make a lot of money together. His hands will appear in the next couple of movies and then we'll see how it goes ". Joe Bidden was quoted as saying, " Get the F**k out of here, Stanny boy is dead. God love em ". This is in response to the bizarre nature of how everybody is waiting on the man to die so they can cash in on everything he's signed. From personal experience after going to conventions and watching my comic book heroes turn out to be real a**holes in person, Stan is one of the few people who genuinely seemed to be happy to be amongst the fans and sign. Its just a shame that everybody is waiting to cash in on his death. I'm sure people were rushing to ebay as soon as they read the title. - Spexx - To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

It's beginning to feel a lot like 1990.... SO, I went to my LCS today to get a copy of East of West. I know right, I know how it sounds but I couldn't help it, i drank the Kool-Aid willingly. I read the synopsis about the book and wasn't terribly impressed ( sounded very 6th Gunnish to me ). But then I remembered that I read Manhattan Project and was very impressed and now that I want the actual comics I've found that I can't hardly afford them, even though they just came out. Also, I remembered reading the preview for Saga and being intrigued but not enough to rush out and buy it and we all know how that turned out. So this was supposed to be a sure shot right, decent writer though maybe this book just isn't my cup of tea, decent artwork, Image which is always a plus these days, limited print run. Perfect conditions for speculation right. So I go to the LCS, pick up like 3 copies ( WOW, they're still in stock even though they came out like today! ) feeling like I've got a sure bet here. I read one, not terribly impressed but I'm pretty harsh on new stuff. I call my friend Clutch to tease him about it and clue him in to this ultra rare book. Clutch is like dude, the print run is high and the book is highly anticipated, and by the way I bought 3 copies of the regular cover when I should be buying 3 copies of variants A, B, C which are apparently ultra rare. Needless to say, I'm like man why did I rush out and buy this book in triplicate that I'm really not that impressed with only to find that its not rare and I didn't buy the right variants anyway. So of course I do some data mining ( Ebay ) and see where people have already listed the regular cover copy in addition to the variants for like triple the actual cover value on the day the book was released which is today. I mine even further and find that even though cats are charging like triple the cover price they're actually selling them. People are buying at triple the cover price on the day of release when they could just walk into the LCS like anybody else. But who knows, maybe these people live in Alaska or don't have legs, or legs that work. Now I really feel stupid but more like stupid and confused? Clutch is like dude, you gotta check the flypapers ( chat boards ) to see whats sticking. I check the boards and find that proper speculative etiquette is to now buy 10 copies not 3, and 10 copies of each variant if you really want to call yourself a speculator. I guess what has got me so turned around is if I'm not mistaken, what makes this book worth so much in the first place? It seems like it was worth something before it even came out. I feel like we're getting ahead of ourselves don't you think. I'm not trying to be the voice of doom but its starting to look a lot like the 90's. New titles every month, multiple variants of each book, instant vintage status right off the stand, rare but maybe not really. I look back at all the boxes of tin foil, tri-fold, die cast, glow in the dark, books that I bought in the 90's and it seems like de ja vu all over again. I feel like at some point we're going to look around and realize we've missed our exit and end up holding the bag on a bunch of books that may or may not be worth anything. Now I know your probably thinking, " but you just bought into it yourself ", and your right, and FU for telling by the way ( but like in a friendly way ). Yeah, I speculate too and sometimes I'm wrong, and sometimes I'm very wrong. But I did buy a copy of 6th Gun # 1 off the shelf for cover price and find out the next week its selling for a couple hundred bucks. Now if some insufficiently_thoughtful_person wants to buy it from me for like a couple hundred bucks by all means have it. Introduce me to the people you hang with. Or maybe not, maybe I'll be the insufficiently_thoughtful_person for selling it cause next month it'll be a thousand bucks or more. Who knows, but I feel like I'm starting to see some writing on the wall thats looking very familiar to the boom and bust of the 1990's. Maybe the best thing to do is speculate and buy " hot " books now and dump them before people come to their senses. I don't know if I'll participate any further. Gotta have good vision! - Spexx - To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Or maybe its Days of Future Passed all over again: Rise of the Lead Age Just a couple of things that I wanted to share my thoughts on. First, what is the deal with CGC, they do some things that don't seem to make any sense! Now I been collecting comics for a long time and I've seen a lot of comics and even I can only grade silver and modern age books with a relative skill. I'm no CGC grader but I can grade a book as a 9.4 or 9.6 with relative skill, 9.8's not so much. That being said, I believe somebody out there with " special eyes " can tell the difference between a 9.6 and 9.8 consistently. But riddle me this, who can consistently tell the difference between a 9.8 and a 9.9, or better yet a 9.9 and a 10. Lets get real, 10's don't really exist, there just a gimmick CGC throws out there every now and then to keep us all ourselves looking for. I mean come on, people press 9.8's and there still not 9.9 or 10's. I understand that 10 is the max but realistically there shouldn't be any. Even my wife agrees and she could care less about Captain Skywalker or Voldemort. Second, why does CGC still comment on white pages on books that come out nowadays. I've got a friend who submits books that just came out and he's like " Oh my Peter Panzerfaust #000b Variant A is 9.8 with white pages ". I'm like, well its less than 24 months old and its printed on glossy " Vogue Magazine " paper. When will these newer books ever fade or degrade. New books are made with such greater quality that they should last forever. I know its not a popular idea but I feel like for books made on glossy paper or magazine quality they should skip the page quality. I've never seen a Lead Age book with off white or cream colored pages. Third, I spoke with a friend of mine regarding getting books slabbed and he opened my eyes to whats really going on. I was of the old school mindset where you dug through boxes at mutiple physical and online locations until you found good clean copies of what you wanted. Hell every now and again you'd find something that you weren't necessarily looking for that becomes a target of opportunity. Now, I hear its like who cares about " high grade " just find a copy thats not too bad ( no bad defects ) and get it pressed up then slabbed. I don't know how to feel about this. I mean its good for me in that I've got literally several hundred books that I wouldn't mind going up a grade or too. You know , I've got a couple 8.5's that I wouldn't mind being 9.0's more than a few 9.2 & 9.4's that I wouldn't mind being 9.6 and 9.8's. I must admit that I feel a little disingenuous though, I mean I don't think of pressing as restoration but there's something weird about buying something thats not that good and turning it into something better than it was originally. I mean, I don't have to find a 9.8 anymore, I just need to find a 9.6 with good defects and press the hell out of it. Overtime, as pressing becomes more popular, won't higher grade books proliferate and thus bring down the overall value of a 9.8 except for the truly rarest of the rare. Don't get me wrong, I've got a couple of books that are relatively good but if they go up from an 8.5 or 9.0 to a 9.2 or 9.4 it'll change the value by a couple of hundred bucks or more. My friend informs that he doesn't get anything slabbed unless he's absolutely sure its a 9.8, otherwise its gets pressed first. Latly, I stopped collecting new comics over 10-15 years ago for monetary reasons. What happened though was that I ended up getting stuck in the time period that I grew up reading and have lost the ability to palate much else. Books from the 70's - 90's remind me of my childhood, its all about the storytelling and nostalgia. I like musty, cream page colored, powdery silver, modern, and bronze age books. I've thought about getting back into see what newer books are all about but they all seem so foreign. Half the characters I don't recognize the other half I would recognize but I'm not sure what universe we're in. I mean all the characters I remember are now either gay ( which is OK ), hispanic ( which is OK ), or exist in so many different incarnations that I just get exhausted ie. savage Wolverine, slobbering Wolverine, hand clappin Wolverine or now there are 6 different Venom's and Venomses. What I feel is not OK is making a character gay to generate excitement around a stale character or making a character hispanic or black to generate artificial intrigue. How about making the character gay, hispanic, black, or otherwise because it enriches the character not the other way around. Also, a friend of mine told me to buy a copy of Sixth Gun cause apparently there's a TV show in the making. So I go to LCS and tell them this story and they point me to the appropriate box. I buy a copy of issue #1, and yes its pages are white ( who knew ), for cover price like 4-6 weeks ago. Now 4-6 weeks later people are buying issue # 1 on Ebay for like close to $350. Go figure. I'll probably press and slab it then sell it for some ridiculous price then go out and get something OLD. Sixth Gun will not make me happy over the long term, first appearance of Thanos will though. Although Sixth Gun is a good read its still junk food. Below are a couple of pressing candidates with good defects from the archives. If the images appear upside down do not adjust your screens, this is just a test. - Spexx - To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.