n2wdw's Tales of the Comic Book Room 15 15

[n2wdw]

The First Appearance of Jaka

I have the original art for only 1 entire comic, and it's a big one for me.  Cerebus #6, which is the first appearance of Jaka.  To this day, it is still the most I have spent on any comic related purchase.  Here is one of my favorite pages from the comic -- the first conversation between Cerebus and Jaka.  It has one of the all time great romantic dialogues in comics: "If you wished, Cerebus would kill you a Yak for your supper."  I mean, that's right up there with:

Leia: I love you.

Han. I know.

I've tried for years to get a 9.8 copy of the comic.  There are only 10 copies.  First I tried grading my own copy.  It came back 9.4.  Then I found a 9.6 copy on eBay so I bought it out of impatience (and maybe desperation).  I lost out on an eBay auction.  Finally another one was offered for sale on eBay a couple of weeks ago.  I placed a ridiculous high bid on Bidnapper.  And I won it!  (Fortunately for less than my high bid.)

I've thought about selling my undercopies, but I've decided to keep them.  In fact, now, I may try to get 9.0 and 9.2 copies to complete my 9.x set. 

There is one signature 10.0.  I've never seen it, but I assume it is signed by the Dave himself.  If you're the owner and are open to a ridiculous offer, please PM me.

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by n2wdw

[n2wdw]

Greece Cruise (Pre-Cruise Post #1)

 

We are very much looking forward to our first trip out of the country since covid (not counting Mexico). We leave on Wednesday. We will be in Athens for 2 days, and then a Seabourn cruise around Greece for a week (our itinerary is in the pic).

 

One of the things we like about Seabourn is the caviar. They give you caviar whenever you want, and from order to delivery is less than 20 minutes (better than Door Dash). The caviar is not Beluga, but via some sleuthing I figured out it was Ossetra caviar which is available on Amazon for $100 a tin (see the pic). Our goal is to feast on caviar on the cruise to offset the cruise cost.

Edited September 18, 2021 by n2wdw

[n2wdw]

It's been a while since I've posted.  With covid, my wife and I have been in our forever home, and I've been busy doing inside and outside chores.  I'm still very active with comics, but mostly with finishing runs.  Not many Bakers, but I've gotten to the point where the Bakers I still need are not often for sale.  My wine and Bourbon collections are still going - I traded a Screaming Eagle for a Pappy 15 year last year -- I'll eventually write about that (it tastes ... f***ing amazing).  I'm still working, but mostly from home.  Every now and then, I'll go to the office, mostly because some wine places will ship to my office but not my home.   That's what I've done today (though I miss my wife and my dogs).  Typically I'll stay overnight and and go to a nice restaurant for dinner.  Nowadays though, I'm all about Door Dash.  I've been vaccinated and booster (and don't understand the resistance), but I don't want to get sick because in a week my wife and I go on a cruise and they won't let you board if you have covid (even if asymptomatic) -- which I agree with, but still it would suck to get to the gangway and then not be allowed into paradise.  Anyway, assuming my wife and I are go to go for the cruise, I'll post some pics.

[n2wdw]

Hello all - It's been a year and a half since I last posted.  Since that time, in my comics life, I've been mostly working on completing runs. 

For larger titles, some times I pick a starting and/or ending point, instead of the complete run.  So for Journey Into Mystery I started with #83 (the 1st Thor) and then went to the end.

For Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, I just picked arbitrary issues to start with, 25 and 50, and then went to the end.

Earlier in life, I wanted every issue, like for Amazing Spider-man, Avengers, Fantastic Four.  But I'm 61 now and I don't have the energy (and often, the money) to do that anymore.  And practically anyway, it's impossible to get every issue of titles like Action or Detective (for Action I went #300 to the end, and for Detective it was 325 to the end, although I have a scattering of earlier issues).

Also when I get close to finishing a run I'm willing to pay more just to get it done.  Like, for Liberty Meadows, I splurged on a CGC 9.8 copy for #1 since it was the last issue I needed.  I did the same with Iron Fist 14, getting a decent CGC 5.0 copy.

Anyway, here are the titles I've completed since my last post in Feb 2022:

• 80 Page Giant Magazine 1-15

• DC 100 Page Super Spectacular 4-22

• DC Special Series 1-27

• Elfquest (Vol. 2) 1-33 + Summer Special 1-2

• Inhumans 1-12

• Iron Fist 1-15

• Journey Into Mystery 83 (1st app Thor) - 125 + Annual 1

• Liberty Meadows 1-37

• Machine Man 1-19

• Queen & Country 1-3

• Red Sonja (Vol. 1) 1-15

• Sandman (1989) 1-75 & SE 1

• Spectre (1st Series) 1-10

• Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do 1-6

• Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane 25-137

• Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen 50-163
• Tales of Suspense 39 (1st Iron Man) - 99

• Very Best of Dennis the Menace 1-3
• 

[Taxmick1]

On 7/6/2023 at 1:07 PM, n2wdw said:

Hello all - It's been a year and a half since I last posted.  Since that time, in my comics life, I've been mostly working on completing runs. 

For larger titles, some times I pick a starting and/or ending point, instead of the complete run.  So for Journey Into Mystery I started with #83 (the 1st Thor) and then went to the end.

For Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, I just picked arbitrary issues to start with, 25 and 50, and then went to the end.

Earlier in life, I wanted every issue, like for Amazing Spider-man, Avengers, Fantastic Four.  But I'm 61 now and I don't have the energy (and often, the money) to do that anymore.  And practically anyway, it's impossible to get every issue of titles like Action or Detective (for Action I went #300 to the end, and for Detective it was 325 to the end, although I have a scattering of earlier issues).

Also when I get close to finishing a run I'm willing to pay more just to get it done.  Like, for Liberty Meadows, I splurged on a CGC 9.8 copy for #1 since it was the last issue I needed.  I did the same with Iron Fist 14, getting a decent CGC 5.0 copy.

Anyway, here are the titles I've completed since my last post in Feb 2022:

• 80 Page Giant Magazine 1-15

   

• DC 100 Page Super Spectacular 4-22

   

• DC Special Series 1-27

   

• Elfquest (Vol. 2) 1-33 + Summer Special 1-2

   

• Inhumans 1-12

   

• Iron Fist 1-15

   

• Journey Into Mystery 83 (1st app Thor) - 125 + Annual 1

   

• Liberty Meadows 1-37

   

• Machine Man 1-19

   

• Queen & Country 1-3

   

• Red Sonja (Vol. 1) 1-15

   

• Sandman (1989) 1-75 & SE 1

   

• Spectre (1st Series) 1-10

   

• Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do 1-6

   

• Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane 25-137

   

• Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen 50-163
• Tales of Suspense 39 (1st Iron Man) - 99

   

• Very Best of Dennis the Menace 1-3
• 

   

Nice to see your post Mike - I've been reading your blog for many years now and I always enjoy reading about the books that you've purchased and your travel adventures!  

[n2wdw]

On 7/6/2023 at 12:41 PM, Taxmick1 said:

Nice to see your post Mike - I've been reading your blog for many years now and I always enjoy reading about the books that you've purchased and your travel adventures!  

Nice to see your post!  I’m still chasing after those Dave Stevens covers.  Not as good as you as unearthing those rare ones.

[n2wdw]

My new baby is a pizza oven.  This thing gets to 750 degrees and can cook a pizza in 90 seconds.  But it’s also great for steaks, potatoes and veggies.  And it’s fun cooking outdoors, even in the winter.

[thehumantorch]

On 7/7/2023 at 12:01 PM, n2wdw said:

My new baby is a pizza oven.  This thing gets to 750 degrees and can cook a pizza in 90 seconds.  But it’s also great for steaks, potatoes and veggies.  And it’s fun cooking outdoors, even in the winter.

That’s cool

[jimjum12]

How's about some shots of a juicy tomahawk rib and some of that $300 a bottle whiskey ?  GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[n2wdw]

My Collection Is Complete!

I finally joined the AF 15 club!  I just got it via Ebay.  I never thought I'd own a copy.  For years I focused on completing my other Marvel titles (ASM, Avengers, FF, etc.) and figured I'd eventually get a copy. Then when I finally started looking, the cost of AF 15 spiked to places I figured out of my reach.

Now, as I'm about 3.5 years to retirement, I decided to splurge because -- you know -- I've worked like a dog all my life.  I set a maximum price though and I knew I'd have to get a restored copy, but for this copy the restoration doesn't bother me (I mostly do not like water damage and trimming). 

Anyway, my collection is not quite complete.  I'm still trying to complete my Matt Baker covers collection.  There are 298 Matt Baker covers on my list, and I'm still missing 67 of them.  Most of which you rarely see for sale.  So not sure if I'll ever complete that collection, but I'm still working on it.

 

[Silver Surfer]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:42 AM, jimjum12 said:

How's about some shots of a juicy tomahawk rib and some of that $300 a bottle whiskey ?  GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Jimbo you need to throw a cigar in there too.

[thehumantorch]

On 7/7/2023 at 12:34 PM, thehumantorch said:

On 7/7/2023 at 12:01 PM, n2wdw said:

My new baby is a pizza oven.  This thing gets to 750 degrees and can cook a pizza in 90 seconds.  But it’s also great for steaks, potatoes and veggies.  And it’s fun cooking outdoors, even in the winter.

Expand  

That’s cool

Wait a darn minute, that's hot

[n2wdw]

I haven't posted a lot lately, but here are a few books I've gotten the last year.

[Hepcat]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:32 PM, n2wdw said:

Now, as I'm about 3.5 years to retirement, I decided to splurge because -- you know -- I've worked like a dog all my life. 

On 2/22/2022 at 7:49 PM, n2wdw said:

I'm still working, but mostly from home.  

What do you do for a living?

Edited March 31 by Hepcat

[sfcityduck]

On 7/7/2023 at 11:01 AM, n2wdw said:

My new baby is a pizza oven.  This thing gets to 750 degrees and can cook a pizza in 90 seconds.  But it’s also great for steaks, potatoes and veggies.  And it’s fun cooking outdoors, even in the winter.

I do pizza on my Big Green Egg.  Different technique, but you can get very very high heat.