Things I Like And Don’t Like For The 4th Of July Week

America is getting older this week and new comic book day falls on July 4th, so now you have two reasons to celebrate this Wednesday.

What’s there to like and not like this week? I’ll tell you one thing I don’t like, getting older. I slept on my neck wrong the other night and when you think it’s getting better through out the day with stretching and such, I somehow pull a muscle in the general area that feels like a charlie horse going through your neck, now I’ve been in pain for the past 2 days with limited movement on my upper shoulder and neck.

Enough of the chicken problems..

Options Options Options

I’m loving all these recent media options. Sure some may never make it to the screen for our viewing pleasures but for flipping comics, it’s a wondrous thing.

We’ve seen Gideon Falls get optioned and explode into a $20-$30 book overnight with it’s regular cover and particularly the Jock variant that seems to be selling well.

Animosity (AfterShock) got their option from Legendary Entertainment so now those books are climbing back up the value ladder (this book started off hot, then cooled off).

And of course we’ve mentioned Silk already getting her own movie (which is the most likely one to make it our screens out of the more recent announcements).

So dig out all those extra copies you got and sell, sell, sell. Maybe hold a copy or two for the long term gamble but now’s the time to make money off the extras, to pay for the other extras. You all know what I mean..   I hope!

Crowded

You know what I dislike, books that get optioned and are announced before they even hit the store shelves, well before the final order cutoff date.

Okay, congratulations to the creators on getting their book optioned before the book is even publicly released, proper reviews are made, etc. That’s great the creators make some extra money outside of just selling comics through the publisher. But when publishers announce their books are optioned weeks or months in advance, this gives retailers the incentive to go load up on the book. But talk about a spec killer for the speculator and secondary market.

For all we know, this is just marketing baloney to get more initial pre-sales out of the book perhaps due to poor sales already. I mean unless they want to disclose a few of the legal contracts, we just have to take their word for it. Because we all should know by now that “option” doesn’t mean it will ever be made.

There is a huge long process to go from paper to screen. My wife bored me once explaining how it works. Now I know how she feels when I start talking computer tech with her and her eyes begin to gloss over about 2 minutes into it..

Easy Flips

Not sure about the rest of you all but I love the busy weeks when there are a few winner books that result into easy flips.

Sure some might say buying a book for $4 and selling it for $10 is a waste of time but I’ll swap a $5 for a $10 any day of the week.

We saw some easy flips this past week. Moon Girl Devil Dinosaur #32 with Princess Fisk first appearance. The Batgirl Middleton Killer B cover was an easy fip for most (I missed out, my shops never seem to have the cover Bs that heat up ahead of release date anymore).

Teen Titans Special #1 was an easy flip but it seems this was more plentiful than some of the other books that had heat already. I think DC is pushing this too much with marketing so it’s going to kill the potential it could have had.

Venom #3 saw some heat as well but honestly, Poyo is holding his copies he obtained. With Donny Cates writing at least up to issue 30 or so as he said he wants to do around 5 – 6 arcs with this series, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the new Symbiote God Krull. He could turn into a more popular character over time and if that happens, we all know what happens with issues 1 -3 of this new Venom volume.

For all you in the Austin area, Donny Cates is signing at both Dragon’s Lair and Austin Books on July 4th. Grab your Venom and Cosmic Ghost Rider books to get signed.

Morbius Who?

Jared Leto was announced as cast for Morbius the Living Vampire this past week. As this isn’t a huge like for me, what I actually dislike is they making an actual Morbius spin-off movie.

I might offend some Morbius fans out there but Morbius is a C rate character to me. He’s great for the occasional appearances or story arcs but he’s getting his own movie? Maybe I’m just tired of Vampires, it’s nothing new, whatever angle you stab at. It’ll just be another vampire movie for most as I can only imagine there’s a lot of movie goers out there that have never heard of this character.

I’m sure this is being done by Sony as well. We all know Sony makes great Netflix movies that one can fall asleep to on a late Saturday night.

I’m just not digging it. I smell a flop if this actually makes it to our screens. The only hope this would have is if Marvel Studios was producing it and even then I don’t think it would take off like most of their movies do.

That’s all the love and hate this week. Happy 4th of July to all you people in America. For all of you outside America..  Have an awesome week!

43 thoughts on “Things I Like And Don’t Like For The 4th Of July Week”

      1. Nope…. I’m taking advantage of them now. Can’t pass up $2.99 book for easy flip money. Already sold one for $29.99.

    1. Yeah, he’s definitely more worthy of villain in movie rather than be star of movie.

  3. Hwy Poyo, I have to disagree with you bud on Morbius.

    Vampires have always been cool. They always were well done in the movies, so a Morbius film isn’t really a shocker.

    And about Morbius being a C lister… well so was Ant-Man, the Guardians of the galaxy and to a certain degree Dr. Strange and look how those turned out.

    Let’s wait and see. A Morbius horror like movie could be really good.
    Add a blade post credit scene and now you’re cooking.

    1. Yeah but we’re talking Marvel Studios compared to Sony. Sure Ant-Man and a few others were probably C rated characters but how they tied them all in together with the Avengers and such, they made characters we’d thought we’d never see headline their own movies into great movies.

      I just don’t think Sony is going to pull it off. Their track record is not the greatest so I’m not very optimistic about Morbius headlining his own movie by Sony.

      Of course I’m usually wrong but I’m willing to bet this tanks at the box office.

      And yes, vampires are cool but are done way too often. You have to have something really special to make a vampire movie stand out.

      1. Can’t say that Antman is a C rated character he’s one of Marvel’s first characters.

        1. First doesn’t mean best or A in my opinion. Over time he’s lost his appeal I think for some readers from his early days only now to regain popularity due to the latest movies. I guess on a good day he’s maybe a B+ character, on a bad day he can be a D character. 🙂

      2. Morbius does have a decent origin we could get the 6arm doppelgänger as a villain who knows.

        1. The red flags for me is still….. Sony Studios.. They need to stick to making Playstation games, not movies. 🙂

  4. I’m with you on Venom #3. I picked up 3 copies so far, will pick up more if I see them, every store I went to had more copies of #1 and #2 than #3.

    1. With all the easy flipping in the past 2 weeks, the Venom #3 I’ve picked up were basically given to me. 🙂

  5. I like Bushmaster Luke Cage does a great job with its villains. New update for Marvel Future Fight for Antman And Wasp has Black Goliath this might mean he is part of the film as giant man and not just a civilian.

    1. Oooh, I might have to try some of that next time. My muscles are feeling a bit better now after limiting myself today and just keeping it stretched and loose.

  7. What I don’t like is when Tony is more busy flipping than uploading his spec video 🙂

  8. I don’t like the NYTimes spoiling Batman 50 and stealing Anthony’s thunder for Tuesday night.

    1. Yeah but were you surprised at all? Batman will never be married… It’s not his style. Oops… Did I say that out loud? 😉

  9. Getting back to your original thoughts of things you like and don’t like: I really don’t like receiving damaged books from TFAW and Midtown. It’s usually 50/50 as to whether or not they’ll arrive in decent shape. I ordered 5 copies of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #32. Four of the five had corner damage from rough handling during shipment. I’m beginning to think it’s just not worth ordering from them.

    1. I haven’t been ordering as much online lately but have noticed Midtown’s packing is getting worse. It’s like they hired lazy packers. The key to books not being damaged is first cushion and second, don’t let the books move freely within the box of mailer. I’ve gotten lucky a few times but I did have a recent package come with damaged books. The strange thing is, when I contacted them, they gave me the choice of replacements or 25% off the damaged books. Ummm.. send replacements. Why would I want to keep damaged books for 25% off when they’re worthless now. I just found it odd they didn’t also just offer refund since they could have sold the others for retail price. So with replacement option and me not having to return the damaged books, they lose more money instead of just offering a refund as well. Just thought it was an odd way of handling damaged books. Usually they ask you send them back as well.

      1. Midtown offered you replacements without having to return them? I asked them for replacements and they refused until I sent them detailed photos, and that was on top of me having to send them back. So I was sending them back anyway but we danced around for two weeks about them insisting on pics. Bastards.

        1. I sent them detailed pics about an hour after opening my package. Even showed them the blows on the box that lined up with damage on comics. Cant blame them for wanting pics, I’m sure they get a lot of potential fraud cases people trying to get something for nothing.

      2. You made out better than me. I was only offered 10% off the price I paid…which was pennies as I ordered them through previews. And they were sold out so I also had to pay 2x cover to get replacements from a local shop. I gave up on midtown except they were the only shop that had teen titans special #1 available. Just got it yesterday (two. Copies)

      3. Not sure if its the same problem but I have 2 subscriptions through marvel, which goes through midtown. These are the single, polybagged books, with a simple medium duty backing. Alot of these were damaged, though I think it was my postal service more than midtown/marvels fault (with the exception of the crappy packaging in the first place). When ever I complain they have always replaced without needing me to send the item back but they have asked for pictures. ,

  10. I think the thing to keep in mind with Sony Studios is, “Venom” will be their entry into a new phase, where “Venom” lays the groundwork for an interconnection Series .. Black Cat and Silver Sable .. Nightwatch .. Morbius ..

    I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out .. “Venom” will be a good indicator ..

    1. After watching the Venom trailer a few times, sadly I’m not really digging that movie either. I like Tom Hardy as an actor but his voice and accent used bugs me in the clips. Plus Venom looks like a Jello Mold…. I guess we’ll see how it unfolds though…. Im keeping my skeptic hat on since its Sony.

      1. My main hope is the same as always .. that this series expands the market .. after all, it’s not as if Marvel Studios has consistently batted 1000 .. 😉

  11. What I dislike this week is, the old LCS that I used to do business with has over 15 copies of ASM #4. Back when I used to do business with this LCS, I was always asking for copies of ASM #4 but they never had them. Once the media option was out, BAM!!!! 15 copies appear and they are sending them to get CGC. What a sh@!$$* way to do business. And this LCS hates speculators but yet they speculate and do a lot of sales on eBay.

    1. As a shop owner for about 40 years, I don’t condone the practice but I will sell you any book 2 months after release for Market Value, but if an owner wants to stash a quantity of books they believe have upside potential, it’s their call .. most all shop owners hate speculator customers .. because, the only time you see them is when they are on the hunt for the next score ..

      You must know someone at this Shop in order to have this inside info ..

      1. If I owned a shop, I’d probably pull 1 or 2 copies on books I think might go up later on but I agree that it’s pretty shady practice for a shop to condone such practices.

        I need a Uncle Willie Shop in my area, you would get all my comic related business.. 🙂

      4. The truth is, there are times I look back and wish I had a Crystal Ball at the time .. I’ve never done a good job keeping up with pricing .. I remember the time after GOTG came out and I sold 4 Hulk 271 for $3.00 each because that’s what I had them priced at and my policy has always been to not screw a customer around .. they were probably a 9.6 to boot .. there have been other times the same thing has happened, to numerous to mention ..

        Just today, I had a guy I never saw before come in and comb thru the Dollar Bins, taking out 6 NM copies of Thor 339 for a buck each .. that’s life .. I got old, I’m not on top of it like I used to be ..

        Back in 1988 or so, at the old Capital City Distributor Convention, I took 40 Amazing Spider-Man 300’s in a briefcase and had Stan sign them .. which, back in those days, he did for free .. I sold them over a years time for around $10.00 each .. I could go on .. pre-Internet / pre-eBay .. it’s just the way it was ..

      5. Uncle Willie, I understand your point of view. I also have gotten ripped off. But a LCS that says they don’t have a book and then come out with this post, I mean come on…

    2. There is always the chance that he didn’t really have any left but later bought up in the market anticipated the option. Trust me – some LCS operates like this. I got cleaned for a recent optioned comic 2 weeks before the news came out. Luckily – I managed to restock before then 🙂

      1. I’ve never been ripped off .. unless you count myself ripping myself off because I don’t keep track of prices .. I generally sell books at cover for 60 days .. after that, I’ll check the market, and they will either remain at cover or they will be priced based on the market at that moment .. eventually, they either go into back issue bins or dollar bins ..

        I don’t see that a shop that stockpiles books because they think they have future potential as being shady .. although I don’t do it myself, this is America and a shop owner is a Merchant attempting to stay in business .. no one ever talks about the piles of books sold at a loss because they bombed and the Retailer was left holding the bag ..

  12. Just went back to check the post that the LCS put, they have a total of 52 copies.

    1. 52 copies of ASM 4?! And they refused to sell one to you (didn’t even make you an offer)?

    2. Not saying it isn’t shady but it is possible they have been specking as well and picking up copies on eBay or other places (and who knows what they paid for them). I can’t fault them for wanting to make some money but yeah it sucks when they don’t throw a long term customer a bone for something they’ve been asking for a while..

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