Wednesday Open Forum

Wednesday
 
Wednesday, the best day of the week, new comic book day. It is like your birthday in the middle of each week (well, one where you buy your own presents.)
We open things up to hear from you. A free for all.
The 159th edition of the open forum!
So who saw Thor 3? How did you like it?
As always we also want to hear about your weekly pickups.
So, What were your pick ups?
What had disappeared off the shelves?
What was sitting on the shelves?
What back issue deals did you grab?

70 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Forum”

  1. So i just won an eBay auction for WW Rebirth 1-25 Cover Bs for the majority of the issues. 8/10/21/22 are Cover As for 9.99 plus 15 shipping. I’m so excited about this haha. I’ve been trying to find all those Frison and Cho covers the past few months and have most. But to get most of them for that price is a steal for me. I need to go find Cover B to 8/10 and the Artgerm Variant for 1 as well. Woohoooooooo anyhow I’ll add my pull stuff tomorrow.

  2. RIP Roy ‘Doc’ Halladay. A true gentleman in every sense of the word. One of the all time great MLB aces.

        1. Well, he’s likely on the ballot for the HOF next round, don’t they lift the 5 year wait after retirement upon ones death?
          Still sucks, I enjoyed watching him pitch when I did watch baseball.

      1. Yeah, it was sad news. I have a ticket from his perfect game framed on my wall. Easily my favourite pitcher ever.
        And Jay, I agree he should make the HOF, but it isn’t a sure thing at all. It really depends on if the voters are ‘woke’ to the fact that overall wins is a meaningless statistic. The only pither in the HOF since WWII with less wins is Sandy Koufax……
        There are probably a dozen or more other pitchers with similar numbers as Doc that didn’t make the HOF….
        I suspect the tragic nature of his passing may induce a few extra first round votes though.
        Fingers crossed.

        1. See, I hate how they look at overall numbers. If you look at Halladay’s numbers, he is definitely HOF material. He had what.. 200 wins in 16 seasons and only 100 losses.. to me, getting 300 wins in a career is nice number but he also didn’t pitch as long as most of those guys.. the guy retired in his mid 30s and still put up damn good numbers. To hell if he didn’t reach those sportwriters “milestone” numbers.. if he doesn’t get in the HOF, then phooey on those guys that vote.. 🙂

      2. Poyo, he’s eligible in the next round anyways. He retired in 2013 so he’s good to go for 2018.

        1. Oh… I thought it was after 5 years… So one is eligible on the 6th year of retirement. Hmmm….

      3. Halladay, imo, is a first ballot lock for HOF. There is already talk amongst MLB about having him inducted in the 2018 season, 1 year before his eligibility, posthumously. There are special rules in place if a player dies before his eligibility. Doc will be a HOF in 2018. You heard it here first.

      4. HOF isnt always about stats (although Docs are pretty impressive). Doc was a leader in the clubhouse and a better person than he was a ball player. Roy Halladay was your favourite players favourite player. And that is why he will inducted early, 1st ballot.

      5. Jay, the posthumous eligibility is six months. Unless they change the rules, he will have to wait. The 2018 inductees are announced in January unless I’m mistaken.
        As much as we’d both like it, Doc isn’t a sure thing for the HOF at all.

      6. Jay, can you post a link about the MLB inducting him early? Can’t find any reference to it at all.
        Are you sure you don’t mean he’s a lock for the 2018 Phillies wall of Fame??

      7. @brennan. I heard the early chatter this morning on the fan. They stated that the Baseball writers of America are already talking about getting him eligible for the 2018 HOF class. They said there is a 6 month grace period but if it happens soon, the 6 months will pass before the 2018 nominees are announced. Therefore making Doc eligible. They said they used the same process after Roberto Clemente died 3 months after his retirement and was inducted the next year. Everyone loved Doc. That reason, and his phenomenal stats (better win % than Koufax…I think his win % is 19th best all time, playing on some horrible non contending jays teams), will be the reason he is inducted 1st ballot. Doc is a lock for HOF. Dusty Baker, who has been around baseball forever, said that Docs No-No in the playoffs was the best game ha had ever seen pitched. Docs work ethic and gamesmanship is second to none. The consummate professional. 1st ballot lock.

      8. Thanks Jay, I didn’t listen to the sports talk this am.
        I read a similar article from bleacher report arguing his case for the HOF and they said basically the same stuff but wasn’t as eager to declare it a ‘lock’.
        I hope he does though.

      9. A little known fact/Stat about Halladay. He holds the record for highest, ERA for a SP in a season, among eligle players (I think it’s at least 15 starts). His ERA for the 2000 season was 10.64. He was sent down to Single A The next year, completely changed his delivery and came back at the end of the 2001 season and never looked back. He threw 4 pitches all out of the same slot, All with late movement and was always around the zone. Great fastball. Killer slider and nasty 12-6 curve coupled with a good working understanding of his change up. A hitters nightmare.

      10. He still won’t be inducted in 2018. That’s on January 18th. Only two months after he died. As for Clemente, the six month rule was created for him.

      11. I believe the MLB 2018 HOF induction ceremony is the weekend of Saturday, July 29th, 2018. That is 8-9 months away. I suppose we will see in the not to distant future how it will shake down. Regardless, As a tenured MLB/Jays fan, I believe he is a lock for HOF, and perhaps with some justified optimism, a 1st ballot lock.

      12. @brennan…as far as Clemente. Yes, the rule was put in place because of his untimely death, but, as I stated, the same process was used for him. Clemente retired in Oct.72. Died on Dec.31 1972 (3 months after he retired). And was inducted into the HOF in July of ‘73 ( 7 months after his death). Using Clementes scenario as a template, Docs situation clearly falls into the same category as Clemente. Docs passing is 2 months earlier in the Calender year than Clemente’s. Clemente was inducted 7 months after he died. Halladay has 8-9 months before the 2018 MLB HOF induction ceremony. To me, that’s shows that Docs induction in 2018 is a viable reality. As a big fan of Halladays, I have my fingers crossed that his family will see him enshrined in Cooperstown ASAP.

      13. I see what you’re saying, I just don’t agree that dying should fast track him in. His career is HOF worthy in my (biased) opinion, it’s just not 1st ballot. If he lived, it would likely have taken a few years on the ballot before they let him in. On the other hand, if he’s likely to get in anyways, it would be a nice gesture to put him in for 2018.
        It’s nice to (sort of) know another Canadian who actually likes and knows them some baseball.

        1. I think if they’re already HOF worthy… I like the fast tracking them in… Its a great way to honor them. 🙂

      14. I strongly disagree with your assessment. I am biased as well, but I believe he is 1st ballot. He is arguably the best pitcher of his generation ( 2002-2011, in the heavy hitting AL East, during a hitters era, on a bad team) For a decade he was the model of what you wanted for your stud SP. he had a 19 win season on a team that won 79 games, and another 17 wins for a team that won 74 games. He made 8 all stars, finished top 5 on Cy Young voting 5x and won it 2x. He was a workhorse who pitched a shit ton of innings every year and usually had 2x as many CGs as Amy other pitching on any particular year, during his dominance. Like I said, I’m biased too, but even if you look at his career as a whole , unbiased,he is 1st ballot material. IMO, he may of been 2nd ballot. But there is a snowballs chance in hell that the Writers would have let him sit on the ballot for a couple years, even if this tragedy didn’t occur.

      15. I agree, Poyo. Fast tracking someone who is undoubtedly deserved of the honour, posthumously is honourable. Why let the memory fade even more. Get on that shit, MLB.

      16. *correction. Doc finished top 5 in Cy Young voting 7x in his 10 years as the best pitcher in baseball, not 5x.

      17. So, using similarity scores, of the ten pitchers closest to doc, four are still active and of the remaining six, only one of those has made the hall. Being one of, if not the, best pitchers of your time, doesn’t mean you’re making the HOF. There are only 50 or so starting pitchers in the HOF, only one of them since the 40’s has low total wins like doc, and 33 of then have made more starts than doc.
        If you look at halladay in isolation, it seems good, but once you start comparing him to actual HOFers, he doesn’t look nearly as good and most certainly not a first ballot inductee.
        So we will just have to agree to disagree and hope you are correct.

    1. I’m a Phillies fan, and while we only had him for four years I feel this loss just as much. He was an amazing pitcher and,from all accounts, an even better person. Up until last year I had his Jersey hanging on the wall of my Classroom (replaced by Hamels).
      Thx for the memories, Doc.

      1. I got a Phillies spring training shirt on today in honour of Doc. I always see a Phillies spring training game when I go to Dunedin to see my Jays. I wore my Philly instead of Toronto because if he makes the holidays, I bet it will be as a Philly due to the no-no and perfect game.

      2. Docs HOF bust will be sporting a Blue Jays Cap. That’s why he signed a one day contract with Toronto and retired as a Blue Jay.

      3. His heart was in Toronto. We drafted him. The only reason he left Toronto was because we couldn’t win for him. That’s why he asked to be traded, and that’s why Toronto, as a team and city, were not mad at him when he asked to leave. We all knew he deserved better than what our team, at the time, could offer. If Toronto had a competitive team, Doc would of been a 1 team player.

      4. You know, I completely forgot about that “retiring as a Blue Jay” stunt. Good call Jay!

  3. There’s a 2nd print of Venom #155 our today. I believe it is a non lenticular Mattina Venom cover. May catch some heat. Heads up.

    1. Maybe not? From MyComicShop – 2nd Printing. Lethal Protector: Part 1 of 4 – Written by Mike Costa. Art and Cover by Mark Bagley. – Something sinister is lingering in the darkest depths of New York and no one is safe! But even the monsters have something to fear when the world’s deadliest hunter Kraven makes them their prey. Their only hope is Venom, a lethal protector who can make the hunter…the hunted. PLUS: Includes 3 bonus MARVEL PRIMER PAGES! Story by Robbie Thompson and art by Mark Bagley! 28 pages, full color. Rated T+ Cover price $3.99.

      1. When I bought mine this morning, another customer said he thought it was Bagley too. It’s definitely not Bagleys artwork.

      1. They were at 2 of the 5 shops I visit on Wednesday mornings. It’s going to be a rare Mattina cover me thinks.

      2. I picked up 3 copies this morning and just called one shop and they are pulling 2 more copies for me. ?

  4. Probably not picking up anything this week. If I were to pick something up, it would be Gotham City Garage 3 Rafael Grampa cover. He is in my top 10 favorite comic artists list.
    If anyone is in the Portland, Oregon area, the Frankenstein Comic Swap is this Saturday. I’ll have a table there. If you stop by and say you follow CHU, I’ll cut you a deal. I’ll be wearing my Swamp Thing 9 cover shirt. Keys, sets, and $1 books.

  5. Looks like my list is back to a more manageable size this week. As much as I like collecting the lenticular covers, they added to my list far too much this past month.
    Today I will be picking up:
    Action Comics 991 – Lenticular
    Batman Lost 1
    Birthright 28
    Despicable Deadpool 289
    Detective Comics 968
    Flash 34
    Iron Maiden Legacy of the Beast
    Mister Miracle 4
    Pestilence 5
    Royals 10
    Spiderman/Deadpool 23
    Star Wars 38
    Supergirl 15 – Artgerm Variant

  6. What did everyone (who had a chance) think of Ragnarok??
    Personally, I loved it! I feel like it was the best or at least one of the best, marvel movies yet!
    It was so fun!
    I did feel Thor was portrayed a little sillier thajnorevies moves, more like he was portrayed in the team Thor promo videos, but it totally worked.
    Plus the comment about the hammer by korg (you know the one) was a major highlight for me.

  7. My pick ups for the day:
    Batman: Lost #1 (Metal)
    Mister Miracle #4
    Coyotes #1
    Port of Earth #1
    Rock Candy Mountain #5 (new story arc)
    Slots #1 (2nd Printing)
    Slots #2
    Grass Kings #9
    Pestilence #5

  8. Every week that I hope is small always runs into $100+ day. Oi. Here’s my pick ups this week.
    Watchmen #3, nov. 1986 NM $12
    Star Wars #38 reg & 40th
    Action #991 Lenticular
    Venom #155 2nd print
    Venom #157
    X-Men Gold #15
    Detective #968
    JLA #18
    Spidey/Deadpool #23, for great cover
    Kong on Planet of the Apes #1
    Batman: Lost #1
    She-Hulk #159 (a local artist who frequents an LCS if mine is doing the interiors for this title, Jahnoy Lindsay. He’s pretty good, IMO, you should check out the title)
    Port of Earth #1
    1985 Black Hole Repo #1, A&B
    Harley #31B
    Supergirl #15B
    Mighty Thor #1 2017 Comicfest

  9. Fallen Suns was hard to come by. Out of two shops, 1 shop had 1 copy I was able to snag.
    1985 Black Hole Repo was hard as well but same shop had about 8 copies or so.
    The same shop had just a handful of Port of Earth Cover As.. which I found odd, plenty of Cover Bs. If this heats up, like always, Cover A is the way to go.
    Same shop had only 3 copies of Iron Maiden.
    I’m happy though, 3 sci-fi books, all Indie for the most part. I love me some Sci-Fi….

  10. So Disney looks close to purchasing FOX studios. All the Marvel characters will be one universe then. Exciting stuff for Xmen, Deadpool, F4, Surfer and Galactus fans!

    1. This is BAD news. I hate Disney. Ever since they merged with Marvel and Lucas Films, they have been nothing but money and power hungry. Yes maybe the movie quality will be better, but I will keep my low budget movie as long as Disney isn’t involved.

  11. Forgot to post last week, the list hasn’t gotten much shorter, though. Missed out on a couple of books but got most of what I had on the pull list. Also ordered the Neal Adams and Declan Shalvey sig books from Midtown, so thanks to Anthony for mentioning those. Not thrilled to hear that Bendis is moving to DC.
    The list:
    ACTION COMICS #991 A, B & LENTICULAR ED
    BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #16 VAR ED
    BATMAN LOST #1 (METAL)
    DETECTIVE COMICS #968 A & VAR ED
    FLASH #34 VAR ED
    GOTHAM CITY GARAGE #3
    HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #32 METAL
    HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #32 VAR ED METAL
    HARLEY QUINN #31 VAR ED
    JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #18 VAR ED
    MISTER MIRACLE #4 (OF 12)
    MISTER MIRACLE #4 (OF 12) VAR ED
    RAGMAN #2 (OF 6) $2.99
    RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #16 VAR ED
    SCOOBY APOCALYPSE #19 VAR ED
    SUICIDE SQUAD #29 VAR ED
    SUPERGIRL #15 VAR ED
    SUPERWOMAN #16 VAR ED
    TITANS #17 VAR ED
    WILDSTORM MICHAEL CRAY #2 VAR ED
    WONDER WOMAN #34 VAR ED
    PORT OF EARTH #1
    ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN #5
    DIVIDED STATES OF HYSTERIA #6
    KINGSMAN RED DIAMOND #3 (OF 6) CVR A GREENE
    REDLANDS #4
    ROYAL CITY #7 CVR A LEMIRE
    SCALES & SCOUNDRELS #3
    SLOTS #2
    OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #31 (cover price now $3.99 – blah)
    MOON KNIGHT #188
    SPIDER-MAN DEADPOOL #23
    MASTER OF KUNG FU #126
    STAR WARS #38
    VENOM #157
    NORMALS #6

  12. LCS
    Harley Quinn 31 reg cvr
    Coyotes 1
    Online
    All-Star Batman #14 Cover C Variant Sebastian Fiumara Cover
    Archies #1 Cover A Regular Joe Eisma Cover
    Astonishing X-Men Vol 4 #4 Cover A Regular Carlos Pacheco Cover
    Batman White Knight #1 Cover A Regular Sean Murphy Cover
    Beautiful Canvas #4
    Cannibal #8
    Centipede #3 Cover A Regular Francesco Francavilla Cover
    Comic Shop News #1587
    Darth Vader Vol 2 #6
    Deadman Vol 5 #1 Cover D Regular Neal Adams Glow-In-The-Dark Cover Signed By Neal Adams (Limit 1 Per Customer) @ Midtown
    Eleanor & The Egret #4
    Eugenic #1 Cover B Variant Robbi Rodriguez Subscription Cover
    Evolution #1 NEXT WEEK
    Giant Days #31
    Grass Kings #7 Cover B Regular Matt Kindt Cover
    Hawkeye Vol 5 #11 Cover A Regular Julian Totino Tedesco Cover
    Journey To Star Wars The Last Jedi Captain Phasma #3 Cover A Regular Paul Renaud Cover
    Old Man Logan Vol 2 #29
    Paper Girls #16
    Postal #23 Cover C Variant Linda Sejic Walking Dead 51 Tribute Black & White Cover
    Regression #5 Cover C Variant Danny Luckert & Marie Enger Walking Dead 145 Tribute Black & White Cover
    Savage Things #8
    Shadow Batman #1 Cover C Variant Alex Ross Cover
    Spider-Man Deadpool #22
    Spider-Man Vol 2 #21
    Star Wars Vol 4 #37 Cover B Variant Greg Smallwood Star Wars 40th Anniversary Cover
    Stray Bullets Sunshine And Roses #28
    Sugar Boogarz #1 Cover A Regular Michael Duron Cover NEXT WEEK
    Superman Vol 5 #32 Cover B Variant Jonboy Meyers Cover
    Tick Vol 2 #1 Cover A Regular Douglas Paskiewicz Cover
    Venomverse #5 Cover B Variant Clayton Crain Connecting Cover
    Couldn’t find Sink #2.
    Probably going to Thor this weekend.

  13. Down here in Houston we are having Jim Lee sign his justice league day books for free when they’re released for Houston strong. They’re will be a houston only cover with what looks like the old Astros rainbow on the cover. Go ‘Stros

  14. LCS –
    Moon Knight 188 A + Lenticular
    Ragman 2
    Wonder Woman 34 C
    Spidey-Deadpool Lenticular
    Batman Lost Metal
    Superman 34 C
    Filled in some gaps with:
    Uncanny X-men 321 and X-Men 40 (Legion Quest story line)
    X-Factor 26 + 27 (Messiah Complex story line)
    Cable 2008 series 20, 23, and 25 (Hope Summers story line)
    Online
    Venom 155 2nd print Mattina x3

  15. Harbinger Renegade 0
    Slots 1 2nd Print – This cover is so cool…
    Moon Knight 188 A
    Star Wars 38
    and
    IRON MAIDEN LEGACY OF THE BEAST 1

  16. My pick-ups this week included…
    Action JL cvr
    Batman Lost
    Detective A
    Flash B
    Hal Jordan A
    Harley Quinn B
    Red Hood B
    Supergirl B
    Wonder Woman A
    Daredevil 1:25 variant
    Moon Knight lenticular, trading card variant & 1:25 variant
    Star Wars 1:25 variant
    Birthright
    Redlands
    Port of Earth B
    Sink A & B
    Kid Lobotomy #1 corrected gold foil
    Kid Lobotomy #2 blue foil
    Harbinger Renegade B & 1:50 variant
    Also, I saw Thor Ragnarok last weekend…brought the family…loved it. Just a really fun movie with a great cast. If you are on the fence, I highly recommend it.

  17. Agreed. Agree to disagree. I’ll certainly will remind you next July when we all get to witness his induction. ? I am sticking to my convictions as I have felt this way about Halladay since he retired. One last stat I’m going to throw out there is this: Roy Halladay is ranked 41st all time in WAR for SPs. Ahead of many hall of famers. 28 of the 40 ahead of him are in the hall.

  18. My LCS is having a Doomsday Clock midnight release sale on 11/21 that will include some pretty nice savings. One item that caught my eye was 75% off the vintage books that are currently 50% off. Not sure if this means an additional 75% off the 50%-off price or simply 75% off instead of 50%, but regardless, sounds like a good chance to scoop up some older books.

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