PatrickG

Just a side note but if Marvel is going to do this (and they have with Ditko, Lee, and McFarlane), I sure as heck hope ACTION COMICS #1000 does a better job with the same premise since ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #600 and SUPERMAN #400 managed to get cover-worthy pin-ups from almost everybody. Between those two and the 90s Superman Special #1, you've got largely cover-worthy images by: McGuinness Ramos Campbell J.H. Williams III Leinil Yu J.G. Jones Carlos Pacheco Chris Bachalo John Cassaday Jack Kirby Will Eisner Steve Ditko Mike Grell Moebius Walt Simonson Frank Miller Curt Swan Todd McFarlane And I'd wager most people have never seen any of these images.

Moderns with a print run of 500 or fewer copies Off the top of my head, recent likely candidates include: Pretty much any 1:1000 variant. (Ie. McFarlane Venom, Jim Lee X-Men Gold). A fair number of 1:100 variants (ie. Ms. Marvel #1, Art Adams sketch, etc.) America #2 1:50. You don't tend to see many 1:50s in this range, I think. Amazing Spider-man #23 Comicxposure Edition C (Gold Virgin). The IDW G.I.Joe Marvel #1 reprint with the toon variant, possibly. I can't think of any DC candidates for this aside from maybe the KFC giveaways (Colonel of Two Worlds and Colonel Corps), as these were primarily given away digitally with very limited con releases. Maybe the Young Animal promo booklet from SDCC although this was apparently reprinted without any identifying marks to id it as a second printing. There's probably about a chance with some Kickstarter comics. I've financed via Kickstarter myself and while I have done the whole 200 copy "variant" run thing as a high tier reward, that's not the norm. I have a much higher run than 500 on my biggest seller even though I only needed a bit less than that for the campaign. It's cheaper in many cases to order bigger runs and most folks I talk to are sitting on anywhere from several hundred to several thousand copies in overstock.

I must have missed that. Yeah. The Batman trade dress seems likely based on how Trinity was handled though. They have occasionally used variants but I'd be surprised if they used that one. That said, I FULLY expect German and Mexican editions to use the rarest cover art they can get their hands on. DC Mexico ran that Adam Hughes Legion Supergirl cover a few months ago for a New 52 issue. Panini (I think?) used the DRS Superman/Batman cover and RRP Hush cover. The foreign licensees/offices know they can get more sales by using the rarer variants, attracting US buyers into their markets. I THINK the Walmart editions are handled by the custom comics editor internally at DC. Maybe Jim Chadwick's group of editors? Alex Antone, probably. I doubt the book's credits reflect that though. If it was handled by a licensee/franchisee/foreign office, they'd almost certainly copy the rarest and most expensive variant. If it's someone at DC proper, they'd definitely try to respect the exclusivity.

I've done a fair amount of looking into the other Wal-Mart editions. Here is what I expect: The art will be the Joker classroom cover. No Ivy or Catwoman. Kirkham cover. This is the 4th Kirkham variant we haven't seen yet. The Super-Sons logo will not be on the book. The Batman series logo WILL. At the top, above Rebirth, and in the inside indica, it will read "Batman: Super Sons" and "Batman: Super Sons #1". Listed publishing date will probably be June 2017. It will slab as "Reprints Super Sons #1. Available at Wal-mart in a multipack."

If you're going to do that, get him to write out a "212" or "QS 5:51" by his name. Not approving of the message but, just saying, his autograph WITH one of the offending references, SS'ed would probably break four digits on eBay.

Incidentally, the corner box variant looks like a great candidate for a signature series.

As an aside, I can see, longterm, where 1st print variants might see a higher value because they have controversial content with scarce covers. The standard edition, though? It hasn't been pulped or anything as far as I know. And if it did get pulled at this point, it would still be many times more common than the variants.

What's dumb is that, looking at sold listings, it's outselling the variants -- which have the same controversial content inside.

That's the big thing I see. You'd be looking at discussion of maybe 1-2 books a year, tops, if you looked outside the variant/exclusive/convention/promotional market. You might see, for instance, cereal pack-in comics heat up or fast food giveaway comics heat up. Reboots have become too common and major change or narrative has become too difficult. Much of the focus these days is on writing versus art and the writers are running around following editorial edicts. The "hot" super-hero books in that context would be... Kamala Khan, Amadeus Cho, Damian Wayne, or Jon Kent key issues. Maybe the odd Spider-man or Batman issue. But in an age when you have writers saying things like "Spider-man can't be married" and "Superman worked better as part of a couple with Lois and the movies convinced the comics division to follow" then there's very little sense that the stories drive the business enough to matter. There are fantastically talented artists but I don't think we're in a superstar age of artists. Going purely on creative merits, books aren't likely to top $25. That doesn't make for very dramatic investor talk and, frankly, I'm not sure how there's a market for CGCing books at that level. If you're interested in slabbing books, you need books to discuss that have a sales potential of at least around $50. Without that, unless you have a side business selling UV proof frames or slab protectors, you're not generating a high enough investment return to cover storage and gas to the post office. That assumes you're buying books new. If you're buying books that have already started to heat up, you need $80, $100, $150, $300 books. And you probably need some $300 books to subsidize the duds. Variant covers are the only thing capable of generating that kind of buzz at Marvel or DC. At Image, it takes a TV deal. And probably even then a variant cover.

These are selling RAW at these prices. I wouldn't bother with CGCing unless you plan to go for signature series. Buy cheap, sell raw on these. I picked one up for $25 last week and I'm getting interest in a raw copy for $250. If it sells at that price, fantastic. If not, I have a batch of books I'm getting signed by Adams soon anyway.

I do suspect the Campbell, Ron Lim, and Jim Lee variants will see a spike from this since they have rarity AND controversy on their side. On the subject of rarity, the Art Adams 1:50 America #2 is going for $150 on eBay with 3 days left to go. Given my guesstiates of the book's sales and the dip #2's get, a 1:50 is probably quite rare. Maybe fewer than 500 copies. Full disclosure: while the one selling isn't mine, I do have one and am considering getting it Signature Series.

I didn't think it was trimmed but I was concerned either about a fake slab or the possibility of a facsimile cover being applied to a standard edition of the issue. I've never seen pages stick up above a cover like that although the possibility occurred to me that a low print run book for a retailer summit might have an unusual production flow. I'd like to think the seller was acting in good faith but I see a lot of wear. Granted, I'm new to grading and a bit of a stickler. Probably 70-80% of the books I've submitted have been a 9.8. The others, I knew would grade lower but they were rare enough books that I thought it was worth it. The possibility exists I don't know what a 9.2 looks like.

Here's a picture from the listing. I'd say in person it looks slightly rougher. Notice the purple bar from the interior at the very top where the interior pages are trimmed bigger than the cover.

Superman Batman #1 DRS/"RRP" Cover Misaligned? Hello, I recently picked up a Superman/Batman DRS edition on eBay. It's slabbed at 9.2 and the slab is sealed but 9.2 seems very, very generous on close inspection. I'd give it more like an 8.2. There are noticable dings and scratch marks at the spine and on the edges. What worries me is that the cover seems trimmed a little shorter than the book itself. Is a fraud possible? How would you deal with that?

Mispost.

This is very silly. There are different quantity thresholds that make one service or the other more expensive. The speeds will vary based on which grader you pick. I've noticed some people (who probably want a certain level of speed for a certain number of books) insist one is faster or cheaper than the other. If you're doing 10+ books a year, the price and speed difference is minimal. I think the main bases for comparison are grading (which is subjective, ANY service might give you a different score on resubmission), holder quality (pros and cons both ways), and service (and CGC has been very good to me on that front). I just bought a book off eBay that looks substantially overgraded to me. That said, it is a very limited run book and I know they rate a book against its peers to make sure they aren't being too rough based on printing errors. Even a computerized grading system at present can't account for the grade curving within a print run. In theory, a first and second print issued the same year could be held to different standards if one run has printing defects.

Favorite Golden-Age Reprints, Facsimiles, and Replicas I recently finally got my hands on a Superman #1 replica from the Masterpiece Edition boxed set from 1999. The main "tell" is that it uses three staples. Otherwise a full reprint with ads, original dimensions. I'm also fond of the recent Loot Crate Action #1 as a reading book because of the newsprint and inclusion of the ads, even though it's modern dimensions. The best copy I could get pressed and graded was a 9.6 though. There's only one 9.8 on the census but that will be a tall order with it being thin cover stock, newsprint, etc. It looked like most copies on eBay have visible spine tears from a shipping or manufacturing issue. I noticed some nice Classics Illustrated replicas at Meltdown Comics the last time I was in L.A. I'm not a fan of how most reprints have borders around the cover. (Ie. Millennium Edition/Silver Age Classic/various Marvel reprints.) The Famous First Editions are nice but a little too big for my tastes and the external cover on those (like the USPS Action's) get in the way of display value. So I've started getting into international reprints, for slabbing and eventual display behind UV glass at least. The originals at a decent grade are well out of my budget unfortunately. I have a couple of All-Star #3's, an All-Star #8, and a Detective #27 (all fairly recent international reprints) getting graded right now. They're in QC at the moment. Also have a Whiz Comics #2 reprint from a smaller publisher getting slabbed since that one slipped into public domain. I may update with pictures as they come in! I've also considered slabbing those DC Replicas from the early 2000s of the 80 page giants but, honestly, none of those are really keys and the originals aren't nearly as unattainable. Anyway, what are your favorite reprints/replicas/facsimiles for the books that escape you?

Either that's fake or a very newly graded book. The certification number doesn't pull up any results.

That is tone deaf, increasing the print run. That said, I like the retro B Editions and all I was getting were the two packs. I think if I'd ordered a 3 pack, I'd cancel and stick with the 2 pack. The main appeal of the 3rd cover for me was the low print run. The retro covers would tempt me at any print run although I'd pay less if the print run were substantially higher.

I collect international books and while I haven't bought one yet, I think last month's Mexican issue of Superman had a variant that recycled that Adam Hughes "Supergirl riding a meteor, pin-up style" from SUPERGIRL & THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES cover that goes for hundreds of dollars in the U.S. I doubt anyone buys that issue for anything that happens inside. They buy it for the Supergirl pinup. And the Mexican issue, even imported, is a lot cheaper than the SG&TLSH issue in equal condition. DC Mexico also has a bunch of exclusive Lego Batman variants, DC characters as cartoon skeletons for Day of the Dead, and a line of store exclusives reprinting Golden/Silver Age milestones (interior Spanish but original English covers, unlike past Mexican/German/Italian reprints which translated covers). The same parent company manages Marvel Mexico (not uncommon in a market where translations are niche) and they also tend to release hard to find variant art that's several years old on their moderns.

I recently picked up Grant Morrison's first published Superman story (also his first DC work) online for around $5, hardcover in VG condition. Waid's first Action Comics and Slott's first Spider-man story (in Ren and Stimpy) are similarly cheap but not something I see at most shops or convention booths. If I ran a shop that was going to be at SDCC, I'd probably have some of those things in limited bulk quantities. I guess there's not a strong market for first character/creator pairings. But I can see the demand for that being created.

Having seen these in person, I think something Marvel Zombies and Bombshells had that these don't was familiar iconography, whether WWII or famous covers. I think they should have had these be Venomized versions of famous covers. As-is, I couldn't recognize most of the characters I saw on these covers.

I'm sending off my first batch that hasn't gone through someone else. I think, for me, most of what I'm submitting will sell even at a lower grade because it's almost all stuff like 1:50 variants, con variants, international editions, or comics you wouldn't see in the wild. I'd rather sell for $5 below my cost than spend $5 to leave a book unslabbed. Granted, it would be different if I were submitting typical monthly books I could go back and get another copy of. A lot of what I'm submitting doesn't exist in the registry and so, by default, is the highest graded copy. It may sound counterintuitive but my approach is this: For widely available modern books, get them cleaned and pressed and submitted by your presser. If it's not worth cleaning and pressing for a widely available book, it's not worth submitting yet; keep in a 4 mil mylar or a toploader. For rarer books, you'd be better off selling $5 below your cost (make sure you budget in ALL your costs, shipping, acquisition costs, etc.) than pay to leave it unslabbed. You might still be better off with cleaning and pressing but, in particular, I can't see the value in pressing cardstock or chromium. If it wouldn't sell at $5 below your cost at the lowest grade you can foresee, it's not worth submitting yet; keep it in a 4 mil mylar bag or a toploader.

Rancor from the 90s Guardians of the Galaxy probably also qualifies as a prototype. And if you want to hurt your head, the first two Killer Frosts are probably prototypes of the Caitlin Snow version and the original Yondu is probably a prototype of the movie/ Star-Lord #1 version since movie Yondu and Caitlin Snow seem to be the breakout versions, not unlike how Kara Zor-El was the breakout Supergirl and The Thing was the breakout dino-hide/rock-skin Kirby character.

As a sidebar on the Gweedo frames, he's the only one I know who does UV glass but he doesn't do multi frames in the new holder size yet. Probably get the double sized old style frame and go to Home Depot for a custom cut 1/16" or so backing if the new frames are loose. (The old Giant Size holders are 5/8" and the new holders are typically 9/16". Pretty close. So I figure they'll either fit or fit with a backing board that's slightly under 1/16".) I have to imagine some of you collecting SS variants are wanting to display some graded ones. Be curious to hear about your display setups.