Poyo's Spec and Drek for Dec. 13th 2017

Oh look at that snappy new title? Because I don’t only spec now, I tell you what to not buy, well, at least don’t buy to possibly flip or make profit later on.
A shout out to our regular visitor Vann for the suggestion. I liked it so much, I’m sending him a signed Eric Powell Spongebob #73 comic book.

So what has potential this week? Last week I think the clear winner was Batman White Knight Cover B. We won’t really know until the masses start consuming books, seeking out the ones they desire, creating demand. On with the picks we shall go..
DC/Vertigo Pick
Batman Who Laughs #1 2nd Print. Yeah, sure, there’s a new Artgerm Supergirl but as much as I enjoy his artwork, the spec on these now is dead. Buy one or two for personal collection to sell later as a set. But don’t expect much heat on this book.
As for Batman Who Laughs? I think this new character is the hottest thing DC has going right now.
I think people like the coolness factor of this new character. The costume is pretty cool if you ask me. My only question is, how does he see with the spiked collar around his eyes? Or am I missing something obvious.
Anyway, this book is a 2nd print and if it’s a smaller print run from the first print, could be sought after for those collector completists. So nab one to hold, if it does heat up, it won’t be immediately but could turn into that long term gamble. At the time of this writing I have yet to confirm if it’s the same cover with different colors or an entirely new cover (which only sweetens the deal and spec).
Marvel Pick
Venom Inc. Part 2, Amazing Spider-Man #792, with a new character? Yeah, this is the only thing spec worthy to me in the Marvel Universe this week.
Pick up the All-New Wolverine Torque regular cover as well, this Wolverine series has been pretty enjoyable to read (it’s one of the few pulls I still have) and it’s Torque artwork, for a regular cover.
But the potential goes to Venom Inc. Part 2 in Amazing Spider-Man #792.
We’re approaching issue #800 and I’m sure this series is building up to something big. You know how are minds operate with numbers and patterns. We humans are so easily amused and predictable. Regardless of Slott writing this series and Amazing Spider-Man, it’s still worthy of checking out and paying attention to for new characters or stories that affect our Spidey Universe.
Indie Pick
Like Anthony mentioned in his Spec Video for this week’s releases, I have to go with Under Scourge of the Sewer #1 from Titan Comics Statix Press. I was also blessed with an advanced copy of this to review and it meets Poyo’s standards of a great Indie book.
Cover A’s artwork reminds me of the more recent Godzilla style art, which I adore. There’s a pretty rad BW Virgin cover as well.
If popular though and having a $5.99 price tag, these could be under ordered by most shops so don’t expect the print run to be high and plentiful for this book.
From the Description:

Some people bury their secrets underground. In Megalopolis, the dirt flows into the sewers. LT Wilson Jericho, disgraced from his position above ground and now an officer in the sewer police, thinks he knows everything there is to know about what lies beneath. But scientist Sandra Yeatman is determined to discover the truth behind the legends, and something is threatening to crawl out and rip the city apart…

Small Publisher Pick
Aliens Dead Orbit #4 is this weeks Small Publisher pick. This has been a great read, the best in quite some time for me at least for the Aliens franchise.
This issue concludes James Stokoe’s mini-series and take on Aliens. You gotta love the artwork too with his very noticeable style.
From the description:

With one last gambit aboard the space station, Wascylewski finds himself ambushed by two more deadly xenomorphs that will stop at nothing until he’s dead. The conclusion to Orc Stain creator James Stokoe’s thrilling and claustrophobic Aliens story!


Now on with the dreaded “avoid” pick, every writer and artist worst nightmare when it comes to selling their hard work.
This weeks avoid list is an entire series. It’s the Phoenix Tribute covers. Yeah yeah, Phoenix is cool, she has her fans but these are cover price. I anticipate just like the Venom covers they won’t heat up nor should have any spec value. So do not waste your money on these, unless you really have to have them for the personal collection.
Honestly I’ve had a hard time moving some of my Venom covers, even the ones that introduced new characters. I think the only one that contained it’s heat or spec has been Rob!’s Gwenom from Guardians of Knowhere, which is a much better Gwenom than the one they came up in the regular Spider-Gwen series. So, avoid if you can.

12 thoughts on “Poyo's Spec and Drek for Dec. 13th 2017”

  1. Love the title! Love the article! I agree on the Phoenix covers—most of the them really aren’t that good either. Appreciate the shout out as well as the signed book–thank you kindly sir!!

    1. Yeah… If Amazon ever delivers me more printer ink I can then print the label to ship. Sigh…. Pay for Prime to get quick shipping, was suppose to arrive yesterday, now its today but no delivery yet so its not looking so good.

      1. HA! Like I said, no rush! Did you at least manage to acquire a few extra copies of the variant cover to Batman White Knight #3???

        1. I was only able to snag 2. One shop limits to 3 and I nabbed 3 total, wanted regular cover as well. Went to the other shop nearby and they seemed to have yanked all the Harley covers.. shame on them if they did. They had stack fulls of Cover A.. none of Cover B.

        1. Yeah, I could have picked up more regular covers but I was kind of upset to find Austin Books had none of Cover B available (I didn’t ask but I’m pretty sure they yanked them as I got there shortly after opening).

      2. That’s pretty crappy for a store to do that—seems like that practice has become more commonplace lately. There are a few outfits here in town that engage in all sorts of stuff like that including doubling the price on “hot” books Wednesday morning.

        1. Yeah, I’m all for comic shops hiking their prices on hot books a day or two later so they can join in on the profits but on release day, there should be guidelines in place that do not allow them to sell over cover price for those books that cost them cover price.

    2. Oh so get this.. I go to just cancel my Amazon order for printer ink, I’m gonna be at the local shop, there’s an Office Depot near it. Planned to just pick up ink there. Amazon replies to my complaint with, “Your ink cartridge was time sensitive so I have created a replacement at no additional charge to you and upgraded the shipping to One-Day shipping, again at no charge to you.”
      Wait, what? One day shipping, I’m not being charged for it? Ummm.. I placed my order on Dec 10th. Telling me it will be delivered on the 13th is still 3 day shipping. There’s no other way of looking at it, that’s 3 days.. not one day. You can get it to me in an hour, but it’s still 3 days after the day you said you were gonna deliver it. Sigh.
      I feel bad for the customer service rep though. They really are nice and I know it’s not their fault. But poor choice of wording.

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