Poyo's Spec and Drek for March 7th, 2018

This year has been exciting so far. Lots of specs (and lots of drek), lots of heat and surprisingly Marvel has been the big winners this year so far, even with a few surprise hits (Prelude book.. who would have thought a prelude book would heat up).

So what’s it going to be this week? Anything could happen as no one can truly predict the markets. I will tell you one prediction, I won’t be visiting the local shops this week as I’ll be hitting the ski slopes in New Mexico during the kids Spring Break (yes, my kids school gets two weeks of Spring Break, it’s both a blessing and curse).

DC/Vertigo Pick
Not a whole lot going on for me in DC but you can’t go wrong with a really nice Poison Ivy cover.
That means this weeks pick is Batman #42 to the artist Anthony still can’t seem to pronounce.
Coipel is another cover artist that hasn’t reached his full rank potential yet if you ask me but we shall soon see if he starts gaining ranks with his great art.
The regular cover is also a great looking cover but if I had to pick between the two, Cover Killer B is the clear winner. But who am I kidding, I’m getting both covers for the PC.

Marvel Pick
This is it, this is where it’s all been building up to.
Do we finally see the first full appearance of the Red Goblin. Perhaps it’s a last page cameo. We’ll just have to wait and see I suppose but this weeks Marvel pick goes to Amazing Spider-Man 797 (available on eBay) .
Regardless, pick up a few copies and hold them but don’t go too heavy on these. The hype has been pushed to the brink for this book and I think there’s going to be millions of copies available, plenty of store variant exclusives available. There will just be so many to choose from. SO MANY COVERS!
But in the long run and when the day comes that this book ever becomes valuable, it will be Cover A that will be the real winner.
The real countdown has begun. Dan Slott’s days are coming to an end for Amazing Spider-Man. Oh how that day we no longer see “Slott” on the cover will be a glorious day indeed.

Indie Pick
Rick and Morty is just a hot commodity. Who would have thought a comic that debuted after the TV series was already airing would have heated up like it did.
With that in mind, this weeks Indie pick goes to their new Quarterly One-Shots of all the other characters we have all grown to love in the Rick and Morty Universe.
So if you love Rick and Morty, pick up a few copies of Rick and Morty Presents The Vindicators (available on eBay) .
I don’t expect this to heat up quickly (it could if there’s some first appearances) but could be a long term hold gamble. You people still read comics right? There’s more to them than just slipping them into a bag with backer board and staring at them. You can open them up and read them. There’s even pictures.. I swear!
Another honorable mention goes out to Call of the Suicide Forest #2 (available on eBay) from Amigo Comics. #1 heated up a bit and we all know there’s that dip in orders for #2 books. So grab’em if you see them, especially if you are reading it. It could be hard to find. I’m not going to spec hard on this book though as I don’t think it will heat up like #1 did.

Small Publisher Pick
You can’t go wrong with Jeff Lemire. He’s one of the few writers that rarely disappoint I think.
His new book Gideon Falls #1 is my small publisher pick for this week.
I actually read a preview copy I obtained and really enjoyed it. It’s going to be that slow build up type of book and story. So if you’re expecting a whole lot to happen in this first issue, don’t.
But do expect some great writing and some pretty decent artwork.

Now on with the dreaded “avoid” pick, every writer and artist worst nightmare when it comes to selling their hard work.
You probably already saw me ragging on this book on a post a week or so ago but this weeks avoid goes out to Oblivion Song from famed Walking Dead creator and writer, Robert Kirkman.
Okay, so buy a copy or two but don’t buy more than that. Get the reader copy, get the gamble copy and that’s it. When Image announces they’ll be overprinting a book to avoid second prints, well, you can just say right then and there the heat died on this book. Also to create statues before even building a fan base with an exclusive variant cover goes to show this could be a huge flop for Image if it doesn’t take off like they’re anticipating. We all know Image can flop well, wink wink.. 25th Anniversary Boxes…
It’s Kirkman though right? We can likely expect a new #1 of this book at every major Convention this summer. So if you do somehow miss out on this book, don’t worry, you’ll certainly find that $10 convention copy sooner or later.
I’ve read it already and I thought it was just meh. It’s too predictable. The sparkly glowing goo and monsters reminded me of Enormous. It’s really not that special or ground breaking. The only reason we’re even talking about this book is because of Kirkman’s name from his golden one-hit wonder Walking Dead.