24 thoughts on “Things I Like and Dislike for the Week of November 21st, 2018”

1. THANK YOU for The Bill Maher dis, Poyo. Like You, I did not agree with everything Stan did in his life, but there is no questioning his importance and legacy, and the good things he brought to this industry, hobby, and this world. What Maher did was incredibly disrespectful, and just another thing in a ling line of things the man has done just to get attention or a reaction. Pay no mind to that one.

   1. Sadly I usually enjoy Bill Maher (I never watch but I’ve seen some of his video clips) but yeah, he crossed the line. It’s too soon to be dissing on someone’s death and clearly Maher doesn’t understand the other things comic books bring forth in our lives. It’s more than just hero’s beating up bad guys..

      1. He’s right to an opinion, just as we are. Just because we don’t agree with it, move on, don’t pay attention or give any to it and let it be. We complain when the political correctness police call us out on things, but then we are party to it from a standpoint that doesn’t agree with ours….like the old saying goes, Opinions are like….and everyone has one (and should be allowed to have one.)

2. bill murr is a peace of human trash. I saw his stan lee post and got sick to my stomach.bill murr is a a&&&hole the same a&&hole that made rude remarks right after Americas worst tradigy in history I would love to punch bill murr in the face #testify love you guys happy thanksgiving blind adam out

   1. I’d love to punch Bill Murr in the face too!!! He’s a jerk!! Bill Murr from Brooklyn, right??
      Calm down, Adam. Have your feelings and opinions and voice them but getting angry at someone for having their own makes no sense since this is America and it’s what makes us who we are. Freedom of Speech used to be a pillar in our democracy….there are WAYYYYYY worse people in the world than Bill Maher, that’s for sure! They deserve your anger and outrage, as well….not just the flavor of the week!

      1. I whole heartedly agree.

3. Maher famously blew $1MIL on the democrats 2016 losing Senate campaign and he makes fun of comic books. He should’ve bought a Tec 27 instead.

4. Bill Maher fails to connect with people. He thinks he’s smarter than he really is and I’m saying this as a fan of his show. Seems like he’s blaming comic book fans (ridiculous) for the election of Trump, who I agree with Maher is the worst thing to happen to America since Richard Nixon in terms of a President but what Bill needs to realize is that it is his (Bill’s) own failure to connect with Americans and Hillary Clinton’s failure to connect with Americans in 2016 that led to her loss in 2016 (along with Machiavellian Realist and ex-KGB agent Putin) and the election of a possible traitor to the nation’s highest office (Russia’s revenge for its’ humiliation for losing the Cold War and Putin’s revenge on Hillary for interfering in his re-election in Russia). Trump keeps it simple so it’s easy for him to connect despite him being the exact opposite of the very definition of what it means to be a hard working self-built American. Trump was born with a Silver Spoon in his mouth and never had a hard life. His daddy gave him everything, he deferred from service in Vietnam, and has been observed by the Russians since he married his Czech wife, the daughter of a Soviet agent since the late 80’s. How regular, hard-working, middle-class Americans can ever think Trump knows what it’s like to be one of them I will never know, maybe it’s being a celebrity that people feel they can relate to him, maybe we’re just brainwashed by the bread and circus of the modern world. But Trump is nothing like anyone of us who work our tails off everyday to feed our families and to pay our bills. To think otherwise is lying to yourself and is the essence of stubborn childish intellect. The Dems took back the House in striking fashion and are returning to talking about the “kitchen table” issues while embracing the diversity of this nation. That will win them elections going forward. Bill should focus on those same issues instead of his ultra-liberal ideologies that only drive a wedge between us.
   To attack Stan Lee in such a manner without taking a deeper thought about the man’s impact on a handful of generations of Americans only shows that Bill is smoking too much weed, reacting emotionally rather than rationally. It shows Bill’s own childish petulance and puts him on the same level as Trump. I guess it’s a celebrity thing. Ego gets the best of us all if we let it.
   Stan Lee is an American Legend and will be remembered as one of the nation’s greatest writers through the ages. Historians will discuss the impact he had on American Literature and American Culture for centuries. Shame on Bill Maher.

   1. I know everyone loves Stan Lee but keep in mind the majority of all characters created by Stan Lee are co creations. He took over Marvel and literally ran it into the ground over a couple decades and had to sell the company which is why we have such great movies today.

      1. I wouldn’t put that on Stan Lee but rather the Capital Investment Firm, MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated which was owned by Ron Perelman in 1989. Perelman took Marvel public, focused on making the stock rise quickly and then sold off a bunch of junk bonds. He then split that money among his other companies. Perelman is blamed by a good number of old school comic shops and dealers for creating a speculative boom in comics that began in the mid to late 80s.
         I wouldn’t blame Stan Lee for Marvel’s bankruptcy as I don’t think he ever had that type of financial control over the company. Corporate execs made those decisions and when you have greedy Wall Street people in control, a company, its’ employees, and its’ customers suffer the consequences.
         Further I’d say the majority of comics are co-creations. It is pretty rare to have a single creator on a title. That in no way should take away from Stan Lee’s resume of work

      2. Yeah, Perelman is the guy to thank for creating the 90s speculative boom and for all those Foil-embossed and die-cut and enhanced covers that we clean our car windows with today. Lol. He drove sales up thus spiking the price of the stock and then dumped it. The guy is a brilliant corporate raider but he did a number on Marvel.
         I don’t remember if it was Bob Layton and a group of comic people who tried to outbid Perelman but they didn’t have a chance. Perelman’s bank roll was too deep.
         It’s an interesting history. I think Stan Lee is like the Queen of England, the country’s public figurehead but no real power.
         Not sure it’s fair to blame him for what happened to Marvel in the 90s.

      3. Correction – it wasn’t Bob Layton it was Jim Shooter who tried to outbid Perelman.

   2. Preach on!! Even though I disagree with a few things you say (None of the Trump stuff, by the way), I respect your time and effort in determining a rational point of view. Well versed in the subject doesn’t hurt either!! You are now my favorite writer on this site (except Anthony) and I look forward to more of your opinions!!

   3. @Krypt. For the most part, I whole heartedly agree with the 1st paragraph in your initial post. Well said, good sir.

   4. Thanks for the kind words. I generally do not like getting political as everyone is entitled to their opinions and this is a forum for comic books but I couldn’t help myself.
      I will say that the First Amendment only protects your speech from the government not from a social media site like Twitter or Facebook or even CHU. These are businesses and they can uphold any type of policy they like. If you love your country you understand its’ laws. Apologies if I’m stating the obvious…
      I do not think Maher should be censored or anything like that but I do think people have a right to disagree with his statements as much as he has a right to state them.
      I’d much rather prefer to discuss the history of comic books. I love speaking with comic shop owners in particular when I go to an LCS. We have a ton of them out in Chicagoland and a number of them have been around since the late 70s and the 80s. They’ve been through the ups and downs and have tons of insights into the market.
      I was at a shop looking at Silver and Bronze Age keys and the owner and I started discussing the comic boom throughout the 80s, the spec boom in the 90s and the current market. Fascinating conversation and perspective from a guy who has been running a shop since ’77. He’s the one who informed me about Perelman and the bidding war for Marvel with Shooter and how the result of that led to the mass production of comic books and eventually Marvel’s bankruptcy.
      I also asked him what he thought about the Ebay market and he thinks it’s a great thing. He finds it gives people much more access to the books they’ve always sought after, especially if you live in part of the country with minimal LCS locations.
      So I asked him what he thought would cause another crash as economics is cyclical after all. He stated he thinks the Grading Companies will be the culprits. His main reasoning is that the Grading Companies like CGC see what people are sending in to have graded and can manipulate the market by either buying up copies themselves, such as their employees which dries up supply and drives up price as well as informing their friends in the industry what the current hot books are. What he meant by that was vendors who have friends within a CGC would get that “insider” info and start to buy up and/or mark up prices ahead of the consumers and speculators. I’m not sure I exactly agree with him but I definitely consider the possibility.
      I will say Wizard World Chicago 2018 was TERRIBLE for the buyer/consumer/speculator. Vendors were selling raw books at estimated CGC prices and more. For me that kills the joy of the hunt. It kills my incentive to buy. There is simply not enough profit in it for me to take such a financial risk in terms of the flip and/or grade and flip. The costs were just too high. Not sure how the other shows are around the country, I hear good things about Baltimore, but if a similar trend is happening I can see this affecting the market in the mid to long term. I’d love to hear peoples experiences at shows across the country. I’ve seen some LCSs starting to do this as well (especially the chain stores like Graham Cracker Comics) and it’s false inflation. Something that creates a bubble and bubbles eventually burst.
      One last thing, I’m curious, do people disagree with me about Stan Lee? Is there some info I’m missing about him from a business aspect that leads people to have a poorer opinion of him than others?

5. U read the first few issues of Black Hammer and I liked it. I stopped reading it but kept buying it and have every issue from all the series so far.

   1. I meant “I” read……

   2. I bought the issues. I read issues 1 – 3 but then waited for the Trades to read it in it’s entirety (first volume that is). It’s definitely a great read and even better when you read it from start to finish.
      I need to pick up the other spin-off trades when they’re available to read those now.

6. Anyways, who the hell is Bill Maher? 3:)

   1. Just a guy who has an HBO show.. anyways, ya’ll see Daniel’s shout out to CHU? That was the best thing to happen. 🙂

7. I knew Stan Lee personally since the late 1980’s .. he would not have had a problem with Maher’s commentary .. Mr. Lee was always and forever a proponent of Free Speech and the 1st Amendment ..

8. Once our land wasn’t on my radar but it is now! Thanks for highlighting it!

9. Poyo, I don’t know how you find the time to write all these articles, but please don’t stop. They are entertaining and informative.

   1. Thanks. 🙂

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