Off Panel

I have experienced that type of danger myself!

Sweet cracker sandwich! Congratulations, Barton!! Only four of these demonic bad boys in 9.8 until you unearthed this one! Superlative work, my friend. (Now if you could just dig up a couple more...)

Gorgeous books, @WernerVonDoom!

I also added the follow-up to ASM 106. (I mean, I had to know what happened next, right?) When I first started working on this run, I intentionally steered clear of this issue. Back in those days, I seemed to see them everywhere and they were fairly cheap. My thought process was that I would focus on the more expensive, harder-to-find books first and then just pick up a 107 at my leisure. While it's true that there are a lot more high grade copies of this book than the issues around it (there are 49 copies of 107 in 9.8, compared to 15 copies of 106), I've found that the market isn't exactly flooded with them. GPA recorded two sales last year, and two the year before. 2021 was the high-water mark, with four whole sales! Of course, that was the height of the comic boom, and books were coming out of the woodwork. And, because it was 2021, sale prices ranged from $725 to $5,040! All of that is to say, that by the time I got around to buying my 107, I had to work for it a little bit. Even so, this book brings me another step closer to a full run of the ASM Picture Frames. I now only need two more issues. Maybe I'll finish this year. If not, surely in 2025...

I took the opportunity to upgrade my ASM 106 recently. I've always been a sucker for this book. I don't know if it's the DC-style "how will our hero get out of this one?" cover, the John Romita Spidey contortionism, or that weird purple frame, but I have a really hard time passing on copies of this book. I mean, I'm not @ThothAmon , but I get ThothAmon. My original copy (which I still love, because it's a Spidey 106): And it's new sibling:

Since 2023 was an odd-numbered year, I followed my pattern and worked on filling runs. My biggest run project right now is putting together ASM 100 through 130 in 9.8 with white pages. These were my three favorite books I picked up this year toward that end: ASM 110 - First appearance of the Gibbon, or as Stan called him, "The Newest Marvel Super-Star!" (cough, cough). ASM 113 - First appearance of Hammerhead, Gerry Conway's first original Spidey villain. Maybe not the best Spidey villain, but he's better than the Gibbon. ASM 101 - First appearance of Morbius, Roy Thomas' first original Spidey villain. Maybe not the best Spidey villain, but he's better than Hammerhead. I'm especially happy to have gotten that 101. I had been trying to pick up a good copy of this book for four years, but the announcement of the Morbius movie pushed prices into the stratosphere and the continuous delays kept them there. Luckily, the movie was true to its vampire theme and sucked, so I was finally able to pick one up. The cherry on top? It's a double cover.

Asking to understand: Are you saying that Anime (or I guess Manga in the context of comic books) is more successful because they are actually putting in the work to advertise their products? (Something that Marvel could and should do also.) Or are you saying that Manga can advertise their products because they are having such success? (Something that Marvel may or may not be well-positioned to do right now, depending on who you listen to.) Just want to make sure I'm taking away the message you intend.

It would be nice for the comic book industry if I were immortal and could keep spending my money with them indefinitely. Since my killjoy doctor says that's unlikely, they're going to have to replace me with a new reader at some point.

I'm 56, and first started reading comics when I was eight. I collect everything from Silver Age up, and have been on a big Bronze kick for the last decade or so. I also still read new comics -- Marvel and the very rare DC. I have a litany of "old man" complaints* about today's comics, but I also realize that comics weren't perfect when I was a kid**, either. One complaint that I will push back on is that today's writing and art aren't any good. Ironically, I feel like this belief is held most strongly by those who don't read comics anymore and I'm always curious about how they come to that opinion. "Today's writing is utter garbage -- and I should know! I haven't picked up a comic since ASM 441!" I'm catching up on some new comics reading today (I'm a few months behind) and I read two books back to back this morning that I would hold up as fine examples: Spider-man #9 (Legacy 165) written by Dan Slott and Avengers Beyond #3 written by Derek Landy. Both books were plenty entertaining, and both gave me a twist that I wasn't expecting that made me smile or got me more invested in the story. If you haven't picked up a comic lately, I would recommend either as a nice dip back in the comic book pool. If you have no intention of picking up a new comic, I'll give you a quick plot summary of each in the spoiler box: Whereas I love, love, love Silver and Bronze Age comics, books today on average are probably written better. Having said that, there were both masterpieces and stinkers back then and that is still 100% true today. * Old man complaints about today's comics: Another re-number? Can't we string together more than six issues before flipping the table on the numbering scheme? Trying to find issue number 3 of ANY series on eBay brings back seven different candidates! Did Marvel treat all its writers to a seminar on En Media Rez? If I read one more book that jumps forward six months and starts in the middle of the story, I'll snap. $4.99? What is this book printed on -- the Magna Carta? I don't want another poster on the front cover. I want a glimpse of what's happening in the story. When I look at this book a year from now, I'll have no idea what it's about. I'm so glad this interesting story I've been reading will now be interrupted by a two-issue tie-in to Secret Civil Wars, Marvel's new 64-issue cross-company event about something. **Comics also weren't perfect when I was a kid" That thing that happened on the cover didn't come close to happening in the actual book. What the hey? "Still only 25¢."? Oh sugar! Another price hike is comin'... Apparently that story was a dream, a hoax, AND an imaginary tale! I can't find Captain America #99 or Incredible Hulk #101 -- It's like they don't exist!

I'm glad to have a relative youngster around, comicginger. (The 1789 at the end of your name led me to believe you were much, much, much older.) Not only do I appreciate you as a thirty-something collector, I appreciate how active you are on the boards. I've read a ton of your posts over the years. What's it going to take to bring your peers into this awesome hobby of ours?

Awesome book, namisgr! I won this on eBay during the same time period (so I know I’m off-topic). I just felt like these two books needed to be side-by-side.

My wife and I were out walking on Atlanta's Beltline tonight when we saw a new piece of art painted on an underpass. Thought you guys might enjoy it. As the kids like to say, Atlanta's graffiti game is "straight fire" right now.

Good eye, grendelbo. I bought the book in a Heritage auction and that's the Heritage photo. And it was certainly weird just now. I pulled up the auction and saw the book and thought, "That looks familiar..."

I can tell you for a lead-pipe fact that this auction is a scam. How do I know? The book in the photo he posted is the same book I'm holding in my hands right now. I have reported this to eBay.

Thanks for sharing that. I was beginning to think you had built a time machine! Once every couple of years or so, I’ll buy a 9.4 Silver Age Spidey in a Voldemort slab and crack it out for my raw collection. I get a really nice book that I know isn’t restored, and it’s good practice for opening those stupid clamshell cases that Home Depot loves so much.

Right? Those are gorgeous, namisgr. What is your secret?

Although I've collected Captain America and the Falcon for many years, I've never added a CGC-graded book for that title until now. Of course it's a picture frame. I really couldn't pass this book up. That cover just punches you in the face with burning questions that MUST. BE. ANSWERED. HOW does Cap swivel his body like that? 500 sit-ups a day plus the genius of John Romita -- that's how! As strong as Cap is, JR always lets you know he's powerful like a gymnast, not bulky and stiff like a bodybuilder. WHO is the mysterious figure watching Cap storm the Hydra base on his big screen TV? Of course, you know he's a baddy thanks to the oh-so-subtle skull motif worked into his hyper-ergonomic chair! WHO are the enigmatic Femme Force? Bad-azz women or not-very-masculine men? Open the book and see for yourselves, dear readers! (Oh. Weird. This one seems to be encapsulated in some sort of hard plastic shell and doesn't really open... Guess we'll never know.)

I saw the new 9.6 in your sales thread, Barton, and thought, "There's going to be a cool new addition in Infinite Picture Frames..." That's a really nice book!

Stan was too rough with that book when he signed it, Addy.

@Get Marwood & I

BANFF!

Glad to hear it was amicable and I hope you are able to stay in each other's lives. Keep yourself open to all possibilities. This is a reset for you, even though it isn't one that you wanted. What new opportunities does this present and what will you do with them?

Really cool, Joel! Lots of books I'd love to have in my collection.

I've been working toward this exact goal for 15 years now: collecting ASM 100-150 in 9.8 with white pages. At this point I have 31 of the 51 issues. I've got all the big keys, and was fortunate to front-load most of those, so they were expensive but not stupid-expensive. The hardest part has been picking up issues from the first part of the run where there are often 15 or fewer copies on the census (104, 106, 109, etc.), and of course all of those don't have white pages. I'm four books away from having the run from 100 to 130. I'm telling myself that 131 to 150 will be easier (but I only see 14 copies of 143 on the census, so we'll see...).

DISCLAIMER: I am not a flipper. Much to my wife's chagrin, no comic book coming into our house has ever left. Having said that, your statement is the best business argument for CGC to change their ways. If more grader's notes resulted in more re-submits, it would only make sense to include grader's notes on every book.