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 189th edition of the open forum!
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?
 
 

89 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Forum”

  1. Sad day when you and your 7 year old can recite the National Athem and God Bless America and the President can’t remember the words.

      1. No.
        No we can’t.
        A lack of political knowledge and discussion is what led to this mess in the first place. A lack of political involvement is why it continues.
        Americans should be out in the streets protesting but instead they’re burying their heads in the sand hoping that everything will just work itself out.
        It won’t.
        Get out there.
        Get your voice heard.
        Get your votes in when you get the chance.
        Americans made this mess, now only Americans can clean it up!

    1. If we’re gonna debate anything it ought to be how, “God Bless America,” is a much better song than our National Anthem–“The Star-Spangled Banner,” which of course actually draws from a British Sea Shanty and is a pain to remember the lyrics of. “God Bless America,” should in fact be our National Anthem I and other people will argue.
      Oh, and some random trivia for you. “God Bless America,” was written by Irving Berlin, the man who also wrote, “White Christmas.”

      1. I think…. “Where is my mind?” from the Pixies would make a great national anthem for the U.S. nowadays…..

    2. Best post ever, Alana…and BRENNAN WINS EVERY ARGUMENT FROM HERE TO ETERNITY WITH HIS EXCELLENT RESPONSE!!!!…….yes, I’m shouting the last part trying desperately to make my voice heard and count among the rhetoric…..embarrassed for our history.

  2. I have been getting a lot of those Rick and Morty Braintrust / Nerdstore variants for real cheap. The prices have really dropped on those. As for tomorrow, I don’t know.

    1. Before I say what Im going to say, please be aware that this is my opinion and you should research anything I say for yourself, but, I was reading about some douche bag who is a founder of Brain Trust or is a part of them somehow, and it described him as a real dirt bag. A few weeks ago he was caught impersonating a wounded military vet, and forging documents in order to save baggage check fees for his comic books on a flight he was taking, by forging documents that claimed he was part of the Wounded Warrior Project. He was bragging about it on facebook and got called out. It was disgusting what the guy did and what he has done in the past. Craig Oscarson, according to posts on his facebook page that were deleted, is his name if you want to research him for yourself. I believe the fall in those variants is because this guy has been exposed as real scammer and an all around dirt bag. You can find a discussion with evidence in the Google+ FACTS group moderated by Brian S., who visits this site every now and then. Brian was sharing the info and exposing this guy for the creep he seems to be, as were many other comic groups and forums.

      1. I should also state that Oscarson has totally admitted to what he did, and tried to apologize and weasel his way out, so Im not naming this douche on hearsay. He has admitted to it publicly.

        1. I’m happy to say I’ve never bought one of these Braintrust variants. Always felt something was off with them, being super exclusive and the only way to get a copy was to overpay on eBay it seemed.

      2. Yeah, heard about this a few weeks ago. He’s been losing sponsors…joke or no joke, he’s getting hammered for his stunt…as he should.

        1. Everyone should dump these books and make sure asshats like this guy are kicked out of the business for good.

      3. I would say many of the members were duped but were not all scammers. I know Craig ran the group with an iron fist kicking out people who disagreed with him, including all price bottoms and such.

        1. Im not too familiar with Brain Trust, but I knew Craig had something to do with them. My statement is in no way condemning anyone else other than Craig. Thank you for clarifying that distinction, Tony. ?

      4. I heard about some members getting kicked out and usually for some strange reason—it always seems a bit cultish to me.

      5. One of the shops I frequent has some Brain Trust variants on consignment from a customer, I’m going to have to tell the owner of the shop what’s up since he does a lot of volunteer work with veteran groups

      6. That’s a pretty crappy move, inpersonating a Vet. I hope he goes out of business. His comics were way over priced, At least I can fill some holes in the PC for cheap.

  3. Last week, supposed plot leaks for the next Spider-Man movie popped out on Reddit. Whether they’re legit or not, is now a good time to start picking up Marvel Spotlight #32?

    1. yes indeed. a year ago was a better time, wished i’d bought a few then rather than selling my only copy.
      even if rumors don’t pan out, first appearances of any female marvel heroes are worth picking up now and for the foreseeable future (e.g. ms. america, moon girl, riri williams, etc)

  4. What I’m After This Week:
    Aberrant #1–Looked good in Previews, so I shall read it.
    Curse of Brimstone #3–A DC Comic that is more horror than super-hero. I dig it!
    Deadpool #1–Might as well give it a shot, right?
    Deathstroke #32–Writer Christopher Priest is amazing.
    Doctor Star and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows #4–Anything in the world of, “Black Hammer,” is great.
    Igloo Barbecue: Global Warming Party–Looked funny.
    Immortal Hulk #1–I really want this to be good, I like Al Ewing’s work a lot.
    Lookers: Ember #8 (Luscious Nude Cover)–One of the most cheesecakey and raunchy comics from Boundless you’ll ever read that also is weirdly clever and smart.
    Vagrant Queen #1–Vault’s books are hot lately.
    I picked-up some old Moon Knight comics the other day too, that made me happy. The shop had an old run bundled together for a fair price and I bought it without a moment’s hesitation.
    Also, I”m probably going to work at unloading all of my Brandon Graham books as learning he is a serial harasser and the rude and moronic way he responded to accusations of being a creep just have turned me off his work completely. I can separate authors from their work sometimes, but when they reveal themselves to be as toxic as Graham appears to be, I just am disgusted. For anyone who hasn’t heard about what I’m referring to,I shall now shamelessly link to my site, although others have discussed this too:
    http://www.thenewestrant.com/2018/06/brandon-graham-is-apparently-creep-and.html

    1. Im with you on wanting the new Hulk book to be good. Please, please, please. I wasnt going to read Deadpool but my local shop is offering a free Hulk #1 if you buy a Deadpool #1. I was planning on buying the Hulk book, so, I guess Im buying Deadpool instead/too. I gave all the DC new heroes a shot and probably liked Brimstone the best, but none of them really captured me, and I am sadly dropping them all but keeping the issues as all the book seem to be full of 1st appearances. I am buying Aberrant, if I see one, based on the cover alone, cover A that is. Cover B is pretty funny though.

    2. Oh thanks for the info on Brandon Graham. Looks like a real creeper for sure.
      Like you also stated, I stopped reading Dilbert long ago as well, when Adams kind of went into the deep end himself.

        1. Yup. And to be honest I dont read Brian Wood as much anymore either. The crap he pulled is always in the back of mynmind when deciding to pick up a comic of his.

    3. I can only attest to my interactions with Brandon at the cons and signings I’ve been to. He is a quiet, introspective, respectful artist who has been nothing but kind to my daughter and me. He talked to my daughter genuinely as a person who shared a common interest in manga and as a fellow artist, not as a fan to be endured as is too often the case with other artists.

      1. I’ve never met him or interacted with him myself but I’ve also met a few Wolves dressed in Sheep’s clothing though as well. So yes, some first impressions and meetings are positive ones but unless you’ve seen the other side of a person first hand, you have to take the accusers at heart when you see the person they’re accusing or wrong doing react the way they did as well. His reaction alone tells me what type of person he is at this point, I can’t support someone like that and it’s a shame, he’s a talented artist.

  5. Picking up:
    Strangers in Paradise XXV #4
    Isola 3
    Picked up:
    Famous Fantastic Mysteries June 1952: a pulp magazine with a hidden skull. These are super-inexpensive. I picked up a copy for about $3 + shipping.

  6. Dust off those Edge of Spider-Verse #2. Spider-Gwen confirmed in the Into the Spider-Verse animated movie.

    1. Bought a nice copy a year ago for an OK price. Figured it would get more love one day. We’ll see.

  7. UPS sent my main LCS’s books somewhere else, not to a neighboring shop but over 1,000 miles away! Not like there’s anything I absolutely gotta have that comes out today but I had a busy weekend of hunting and here’s what I turned up at a small show:
    Spawn #1 (x4) – $5 ea. Flipped to for $20 ea, the other 2 are on their way to CGC
    AF #15 1st Cho $20 – also on it’s way for slabbing
    Black Panther #2 1st Shuri -$2
    X-Men 450, 451, 451 Legends variant – $2 ea
    Gotham Girls #3 – $10
    X-Force Megazine – $1
    Capt America #155 – $5 (I’m always grabbing clean copies of the 1950’s Psycho Cap issues)
    New Gods #3 (x2) 1st Black racer – $3 ea
    Mister Miracle #6 & #7 – $3 ea
    ASM #568 & 570 variants – $2 ea
    Power Girl #4 variant – $15
    ANMNPO 1st print – $10
    Batman Beyond Six Flags Promo – $15
    Iron Man #219- $10
    Batman New 52 #1 1st print – $5
    The Sentry #1 Rosen variant – $30
    My last CGC order is on it’s way via UPS and did alright.
    My Avenging Spider-Man #9 got a 9.6 (was a dollar bin find), both X-Force 11’s got 9.8s, New Mutants 99 got a 9.8 and 9.6, Disappointed that my ASM 799 got a 9.6 but I probably sent in the copy that I read and not one of my stash copies, Oh well

      1. There was a comic store owner that was retired here that passed away a few years back he use to buy comic stores whole inventory when they would go out of business and had a chain of stores himself. He once held a bonfire with what he said was 10,000 copies of Spawn #1 from all the different comic stores inventory he bought over the years.

  8. For the first time since I got back into collecting comics, I skipped on picking up a Walking Dead. Ironically, Walking Dead is what got me back into comics back in 2013 that made me stumble upon this website.
    I did skim the book though at the shop. It’s what I expected, long drawn out boring story and dialogue. It might not be ending anytime soon but I’m ending my run on it for good now.

      1. Yeah, I’ve sold most of my pre 100 books now but now I’m seeing a huge drop in price from 101 and up. I sold a complete 115-126 run for $12.50… TWELVE FIFTY!!!! 12 books.. $1 and some pennies each. Even with the discount I got on these pre-ordering I’m now losing money on them. Sigh!

      2. Sign of the times .. people are just losing interest .. it’s not like a Super Hero Universe .. I suppose Kirkman could try and breath some life in it by doing a re-boot with 20 different covers .. 😉

  9. Hope everyone is doing well!
    Nothing new going on this week so I’ll just post my pickups.
    This week:
    Batman #48
    Nightwing vs Hush
    Deadpool #1
    Deathstroke #32
    Infinity countdown #4
    Justice League #1
    Nightwing #45
    Star Wars #49
    Man of Steel #2
    The Unexpected #1
    The Walking Dead #180
    Aaaand bonus gallery!
    https://imgur.com/a/IWOUwcn

  10. If you live near Portland, OR, the next Frankenstein Comic Swap is this Saturday 12-6, 11 early bird. I have a table and if you mention you are from CHU, I’ll give you a discount. It is also Donald Duck Day. I’ll have some pretty nice books available like my 9.8 NYX 3.

    1. They also have a promo going for list anything and pay no more than $5 seller fees so good time to sell things that are worth big $$$$$

      1. Say word? I don’t think I was offered that promo and I”m selling a variety of stuff thanks to a trip back to my folk’s place spent with a lot of digging-up old comics.

      2. i couldn’t find a key that I wanted that was listed, so I bought 100 mylite 2s and full backs. Paid for $100 not much more than I normally pay for 50!

      1. Good week for pickups:
        Go Go Power Rangers (Yellow Ranger variant)
        Moon Girl #31 (smoking issue X 2)
        Death or Glory (Virgin cover)
        Star Wars #49 (action figure variant)
        Dazzler #1 (Sienkiewicz variant)
        Walking Dead (Sienkiewicz variant)
        Light week for spec pick ups:
        Isola #1 Cover B for cover
        Nightwing #44 JR Cover B for cover
        Analog #1 Cover A X 3 for cover
        GL #48 Cover B was nowhere to be found for 5 stores. Based on this and the BG #23 Middleton, can I ask a question? For over a year now, all the action on DC new releases tends to be on Cover B variants, with the possible exception of TT #12 Batman Who Laughs (sorry Poyo!). Aren’t these open orders for stores? The fact that these are not incentives (like Marvel) would tell me that there should be more being ordered or out there, correct?

      2. They are open orders up until about a month before release. Most shops I don’t think get how much better the B covers are, and they could be pulling in more revenue if they ordered more…I think they just order them upon request plus 1 or 2 copies. I know one shop that tends to order an equal number of Bs as As and I have good success there. Didn’t stop buy today though. It’s a 30 minute drive and I’d have to take time off work. Tried a few local shops instead…struck out. Oh well.

      3. You are correct Eric. DC cover B’s are open order books–there are no qualifying stats at all for ordering, but here’s the crux; Not all cover B’s are “Killer”—-meaning that most will still be in the dollar bin in a relatively short period of time. On top of that DC has had some significant problems with the quality of their print runs on the Cover B’s—most have been pretty beat up when they arrive at the retailer. I’m sure Uncle Willie (and others) have commented on this, but the retailer’s 1st goal is to sell out of any books that they order—it sure is nice to have a huge stock of sold out books….but if any retailer has those, I absolutely guarantee that they also have 3-4x more books in the nobody wants pile.

      4. In addition, Diamond does not do the greatest job in getting a preview of the cover art out on DC / B covers in a timely fashion .. thus, it’s very difficult at times to know what the cover will look like .. I like the B covers, I like that they are open order items .. but it’s very rare that I take a chance on speculating on Store Stock based just on a cover .. for every one win, there can be ten losers ..

    1. Only one listing on eBay currently for $11.99. Don’t think this cover will hold value like BG 23B though if it does. If you ask me, it’s not as good either. But that’s my opinion, I just don’t really like the style, looks too computer animated or me..

    1. You were slain by Thanos, for the good of the Universe.
      That makes sense, Thanos knows a real threat when he sees one. 🙂

  11. Konungar War of Crowns #1 by Titan has already sold out at Midtown and TFAW. Looks really good. Hopefully I can find it locally.

  12. Swamp Thing vol. 1 #3 VF
    Eternals #1,2,3 VF+
    Mister Miracle #4 2 copies both Fine
    New Mutants #2-30 VF
    Swamp Thing vol.2 #44-45, 47, 50, 55-57, 59, 60, 62-64 VF
    Star Wars #49 VF
    Harbinger #2 VF+ w/coupon
    Harbinger #3 VF+ w/coupon
    Harbinger #4 NM- w/coupon
    Rai #0 CGC 9.6

  13. Got my ASM shatters variant and Mayhew covers today. Both with the binding issue. I wonder if the graded 9.8 copies will have the binding splits at the ends since it’s so common (haven’t seen one without it yet…)

  14. Is something going on with Omega The Unknown? Every dealer at the show I went to had the prices of issue #1 jacked up
    One of my all time favorite series and I’d be ecstatic if Gunn put him in GOTG3 or there was a return of Omega to the comics

    1. I don’t know about what’s going on with it, but I will say it’s one of the most intriguing comics Marvel has ever published .. especially the initial, unfinished 1976 run .. Steve Gerber was great .. All Hail “Howard the Duck” and “Man-Thing” .. 🙂

  15. howard the duck is the man. loved him in that movie.the movie was great it was ahead of it’s time for 1986.man thing went to dvd . the immortal hulk #1 is one of the best hulk books in years. play the lonely man song from the bill bixby show when reading it . if the rumors are true snaping up all the amazing spiderman auunal @19s might be a good idea spider slayers . love you guys blind adam out

  16. Caught up again with my pulls, at least until I fall behind again 🙂 This is two weeks worth:
    ANE CONQUEST #11 (OF 12)
    GREEN ARROW ANNUAL #2
    GREEN LANTERNS ANNUAL #1
    JUSTICE LEAGUE NO JUSTICE #4 (OF 4)
    DOOMSDAY CLOCK #5 (OF 12)
    DOOMSDAY CLOCK #5 (OF 12) VAR ED
    REALM #6 CVR A HAUN & FILARDI
    ROYAL CITY #11
    KILL OR BE KILLED #19
    VS #4 CVR A RIBIC
    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #800 LEG
    MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #6 LEG
    TRUE BELIEVERS WOLVERINE EVOLUTION #1
    TRUE BELIEVERS WOLVERINE EXILES #1
    INFINITY COUNTDOWN CAPTAIN MARVEL #1
    STAR WARS LANDO DOUBLE OR NOTHING #1 (OF 5)
    BATMAN PRELUDE TO THE WEDDING NIGHTWING VS HUSH #1
    UNEXPECTED #1
    BATMAN #48
    BATMAN #48 VAR ED
    CURSE OF BRIMSTONE #3
    DEATHSTROKE #32 VAR ED
    GREEN LANTERNS #48 VAR ED
    HARLEY QUINN #43 VAR ED
    INJUSTICE 2 #27
    MAN OF STEEL #2 (OF 6)
    NIGHTWING #45 VAR ED
    JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
    JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 VAR ED
    BLACK SCIENCE #36 CVR A SCALERA & DINISIO
    ISOLA #3 CVR A KERSCHEL
    WALKING DEAD #180 CVR A ADLARD & STEWART
    IMMORTAL HULK #1
    INFINITY COUNTDOWN #4 (OF 5)
    STAR WARS #49
    STAR WARS LAST JEDI ADAPTATION #3 (OF 6)
    TRUE BELIEVERS ANT-MAN & WASP BIRTH GIANT-MAN #1
    PESTILENCE STORY OF SATAN #1

Leave a Reply to Vann Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *