Lofwyr

There were some pretty serious drops in the modern art market when the economy went south. People were dumping works by trendy artists left and right. Stuff that used to sell for millions was being sold for a quarter of its worth almost overnight. Of course this was stuff mostly done by modern artists where people buy works based on aesthetic and trend. REAL classics by what I term "dead" artists hardly ever depreciate like that.

When you "old" timers talk about stuff like this it brings a tear to my eye. Sometimes I think I got into this hobby in the wrong era. I got into collecting when I was around 12 years old in 1990. Hulk #181 had already began its gradual price guide ascent back then and I just didn't have the money or connections to buy up HG copies of it. I believe even battered copies were selling for $150+ in my area at the time which was still astronomical. On the otherhand (hypothetically speaking) if I was a teen collecting in the 80's i'm certain I would have probably snatched up a lot of those bronze/silver back issues everyone spends a grip of cash on now. Hell, even during the 90's as a kid I was a pretty tenacious at finding some of those cheaper bronze backissues. Sigh.

A few things that have created upward trends for this book in the past year.. 1) The x-men movies 2) Constant crossover of Wolverine. Even more than the early 90's era. 3) Renewed interest in the comic market via CGC.

Hulk 181 is also one of the most commonly flipped books. I see speculators buying it up, slabbing it, and reflipping it. Then another collector will come along buy it wait a few months then flip it again. I've been watching 181 sales for at least a couple years now and i've seen the same books relisted by different sellers. Personally, i'll be happy to wait a few more years to see how much the book grows. Hulk 181 is still no amazing fantasy 15, there are way more high grade copies of hulk 181 out there. I'm not sure how long the demand will keep going for this book. A lot of "new" collectors won't be retroactively seeking hulk 181.

I don't have my tapes properly catalogued yet mostly just a couple shelves of tapes. I have a few vale tudo tapes from Brazil, Japanese competitions, and old Gracie videos. Quite a few local California amateur BJJ grappling tapes but i'd have to dig them all out to see what I have specifically. My "amateur" taped footage is pretty small but i've been trying to get more lately. I guess the Gracie tapes are the ones with the most reknown fighters. Lately i've been trying to get more NAGA, Thailand (stadium muay thai competitions), and Brazil stuff.

I collect mixed martial arts competition tapes . I'm a huge Pride fighting, K-1, and UFC fan and practitioner. I also collect fairly rare Chaosium Call of Cthulhu roleplaying supplements. It's a bizarre esoteric mix of collecting hobbies. People look at me weird when I talk about what I like to do on my spare time. Basically fight and read comic books.

Stan Lee was definitely the man and injected a human idealism that was lacking in comics at the time. The problem with Lee's work is if you try to read his stuff as an adult. It comes across as goofy most of the time but it was certainly groundbreaking..like the biplane or Model-T. Some writers are timeless though, I can pick up an 80's run of Swamp thing and be utterly amazed at Moore's insight into the human mind. Just like I can pick up an old literary classic by Tolstoy, Shakespeare, or Dostoevesky and be amazed at their work. True genius is timeless. Stan's concepts, basic emotions, and characters are timeless but his writing isn't.

I also agree with Frank Miller and Chris Claremont but the reason I didn't list them was because they are both inconsistent. Claremont's quality ebbs and flows, he was brilliant in the early Uncanny era for quite a few years but his work became more and more convoluted near the end. His writing since his return to an X-title has been OK at best. He is still THE X-men in my mind but not without flaws and inconsistencies. Miller is the same way..good in the beginning and middle but getting worse near the end. Dark knight returns was... mediocre. Edit: Oh btw, I meant the sequel to dark knight returns. Not the original..

Anyone tired of these yet? I guess this would be more relevant than "worst comic writers" since the bad ones far outnumber the good ones. Who would you consider "best" not just for innovation but consistency? Probably common, but here are my picks: 1) Alan Moore (This man is truly gifted in so many ways. I don't think I can say much about him that hasn't been said already. He can write ANY character no matter how ludicrous. It's amazing how he took Liefeld's cheesy superman knockoff and made it into something readable and fascinating. That's the mark of a great writer..when you can spin a great story off anything.) 2) Neil gaimen (Moore's protege. Sandman never dragged for me so it was always great. There isn't much Gaimen has written that I can't sit down and read without becoming the least bit awed) 3) Brian Azzarello (Gritty, fascinating,and realistic character portrayels. He's still a legend in the making I think. For a young guy like me his characterizations and dialogue are VERY up to date. It doesn't suffer from contriveditis where writers invent their own slang because of unfamiliarity with today's urban environment. I have little doubt that Brian grew up near the hood in one way or another.) 4) Peter David (Humorous tales that never become dull or obselete over time. I believe he's got the gift of gab more than a stroke of literary "genius" like Moore. He's still a remarkably entertaining writer. I can read most of the stuff he writes without becoming bored.) 5) Jim Shooter (Created a fantastic universe..and the universe ended without him. Shooter took a handful of gold key characters and revitalized a pantheon that rivaled marvel or DC at the time. If he ONLY managed to keep valiant together I truly believe it would have been the start of something grand.)

Frank Frazetta, once again I love this guy too but I wish he did more actual comic work instead of just covers. Al Williamson, Al's work was absolutely gorgeous in Weird Fantasy. True classics. Jim Lee, I must profess a strong admiration of this guy's work. At times he's guilty of over stylization common to modern artists but when he's at the top of his game his work is awesome. Uncanny X-men #268. 'nuff said. Some people don't like his new batman stuff but I do.

They haven't gotten bullish yet on comics, so you bulls out there might be safe for now. However, they are currently raging bulls on Southern California real estate prices...look for California to fall into the Pacific Ocean in the not-too-distant future. Slightly off topic but: Your parents are no different than a lot of other investors. They only look to invest when they hear something is already "hot" which is always a mistake. My cousin invested hundreds of thousands into socal real estate back around '99-00 before the dot com bubble really burst. Let me just say this..it's a horrendous time to start investing in california real estate. It's already high, so your parents would be buying high and selling low later when interest rates (and house prices) go down a bit. A lot of people are speculating right now so property is ultra-hot. Realtors (and people like my cousin) are having a ball with this and making a bundle but I really don't think it will last more than a year or two. The market is already prohibitively expensive for most families and soon supply/demand will collide and adjust itself as more people start selling to make a profit.