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 223rd 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?

125 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Forum”

  1. Also you may notice that the Wednesday Forum is a sticky so it should stay on top to keep the new comic book day conversations continued through new comic book day. 🙂

  2. Aside from my regular readers I ordered Actual roger, X-men 3d, Wyrd, Journey into Unknown Worlds cvr C and Shadowplay.

  4. Amazing Spider-Man 252 is getting a facsimile now…why are they picking comics that are abundant? So many better choices out there to make a facsimile of….

    1. They are doing the 252 facsimile to promote the ASM Symbiote series that is coming out. The symbiote series is supposed to be telling the lost tales of Peter while he wore the original black suit, pre Venom.

    2. $$$. I imagine that nearly every collector will get an Incredible Hulk 181 facsimile for example. Marvel makes $0 on aftermarket books.

        1. Wait until you guys see the next facsimile edition then….I believe it’s going to be Dazzler # 1….mycomicshop has one listed but in pre-production….

  5. Poyo, how did you make out on your White Widow auctions? Mine ended last night. I got $41 shipped for a set of A and B. Mind you, I did sell a few sets for $56 shipped the Wednesday evening of its release day.

    1. $23 and the other just ended tonight at $16. Seems the heat is fizzling on these. But I’m not complaining, I got mine for cover. Trading $8 for $39 I’ll take every day of the week. 😉

      1. I read through the book quickly. It was not very good, imo. Looked nice, but read like a brick wall.

        1. Thats the big issue with flipping moderns, when you buy online, Dax. You always run the risk if the book losing its heat while you wait for delivery.

  6. Peace Fam.
    A great week so far. Here it is.

    Pull:
    Captain America 7

    On The Shelf:
    Daredevil 609
    Batgirl 14B, 16B, 21B (completing my Middleton run)

    Get Off My Jock:
    Green Arrow Year One 1-6 $18
    All-Star Batman 1-4, 6, 9 (signed) $30

    IMO there is an inevitable push back happening against the fine art driven covers of the last five years (ie 85% of the 2018 DC Killer Bs) Traditionalists and purists will see a great run over the next several years as more animated series and movies are developed. The Mattina situation doesn’t help either. You can see it already in the January releases from this year. And the market is responding in kind—Harley 57, WW 63.. Less realism, more traditional. As a multi disciplined artist I am particularly inspired by the elevated art approaches offered by artists such as Frisson, Jock, Middleton, Daughterman, Noto, Hans, Pope, Dell Otto, Maleev, Sienkiewicz (the GOAT) and others on popular titles by the big 2 labels. I think the fine art will be once again relegated to indie books. It’s unfortunate, but great for spec (Dread 1). Thankfully, Alex Ross will continue to be the “Goldilocks” artist who brings the two worlds together. Hence, the success of his current Immortal Hulk run. Don’t sleep on Captain America either, he’s doing great work over there too. Just my thoughts.

    Enjoy a great week everyone. 1

    1. Absolutely preposterous that the success of Immortal Hulk is tied to Ross’ covers. Ridiculous statement. The story is driving this 100%

      1. I agree. If Ross is driving the success of Immortal Hulk, why didn’t we see the same success with all the recent Avengers covers he’s done and the run he did for Amazing Spider-Man as well? As much as I like Ross and his artwork is just top notch, Immortal Hulk’s success is due to everyone jumping on board with the story, not the covers.

        1. He’s not driving it, but his A covers are more sought after than the other open order variant covers…and even more than the incentive covers in some cases!

          2. I agree with you on some level about Ross. It was his covers that brought me back to the book. However I will say cover B of #12 (the Guardians variant) is hot right now. Books going for 3X +.

        2. Peace Poyo. Much respect my bro. Avengers are much more popular in MCU than in the books. If Ross couldn’t get love on that run, no one could. I don’t think anyone could make that pop right now. The facsimile covers probably move more. Amazing Spider-Man was a successful Ross run, no?

          1. Any book that heated up for ASM that had a Ross cover likely didnt heat up due to such Ross cover. Any success was the fact it was just ASM. But if I recall correctly, that volume lost more readers than it gained. It certainly lost me as I gave up and Slotts writing and storyline was really awful. It wasnt until the end of his run when they went back to legacy numbering and introducing new characters (Maniac, Red Goblin) this series saw some love. Yes the Ross covers were great but that wasnt the driving force behind the heat and demand.

      2. Preposterous is a bit strong, but it’s cool. Great stories are part of it, sure. However when a good story has a Ross cover, it will get a bump. If not now, then eventually. I think the market is looking for consistency and a clear leader. The amount of variety in styles amount the current artists is great, but the field is crowded. Ross is solid and doesn’t push the boundaries beyond most people’s comfort. He does so much A work that he’s taken for granted at this point. Time will tell.

        1. Very good point—Ross is taken for granted and he is one heck of a workhorse. His volume of work is staggering and almost all of it is excellent. My previous point was that unless there is some outstanding cover art that appeals to the masses (think Catwoman and Wonder Woman Hughes books—there is basically nothing happening throughout those entire runs), books are driven by content. If that wasn’t the case, you wouldn’t see Immortal Hulk #12 “Conan” variant selling for more than $1…it’s at $10. A pretty serious argument could be made that it is the worst cover of the year so far.

          2. Point well made and received. I’ll mention in closing that after not collecting since the 90’s, the art is what drew me back in. At that point my education in fine art had significant influence on my tastes and I found the work of Ross (along with some the others I mentioned earlier) particularly interesting and fulfilling. Stories certainly matter, and they account for a lot of the heavy lifting, but art is a considerable factor for many collectors. My own story can attest. When both art and story are great, they become impossible to separate and legendary runs like the current Immortal Hulk are born. Thanks for your thoughts and insight.

    2. Just realized I’m missing issue 16 of my BG Middleton run…and I saw one this past week on c
      Vans and passed in it, thinking it was a cover A. Doh!

      Also added to my supergirl run of Middleton this week too. Those you can still find cheap (cover or less). Same with his Catwoman run.

  7. The Ross Cap covers have been beautiful.
    I would like to see the B covers go back to trade dress. I despise these semi virgin/virgin covers. Im buying a comic book, not OA. If I wanted OA, Id buy OA. I know im in the minority here.

      1. Thanks. I fell in love with BRB a few weeks ago. I had to add this book to my PC. Paid in full from flipping White Widow #1s. ?

  10. Anyone know what to expect from this title/team?

    “Kieron Gillen (The Wicked + the Divine) teams up with powerhouse artist Caspar Wijngaard (Doctor Aphra) as he returns to the superhero genre with a dark, humorous and relentless love song to the genre.

    Well, “Love Song” in a Leonard Cohen Love Song kind of way. Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt: saving a world he hates.”

    That left-field Leonard Cohen reference leads me to wonder if this could be any good; I love a reluctant cynnical hero.

  11. For me so far:

    Spawn 293C x 3 (2 sold, holding 1 to see what happens)
    Wonder Woman 63 Shirahama x 2 (we’ll see if the other LCS honors my hold request from last week for another 2)
    Unit 44 x 2
    Justice League Annual 1 x 1
    Immortal Hulk 12 x 2 (apparently my LCS got me 2 more copies… although the heat has seems to have died down so I dunno what I’m gonna do with these…)

      1. $10 shipped or + shipping? At $10 shipped I’m basically even, according to my eBay sales spreadsheet at least lol.

          1. Ah, yeah makes sense. I would be happy with that… I’m always happy to turn one comic into two 😀

              1. That’s my goal… I keep transferring costs to my bank account and leaving profits in paypal hoping to buy a big book with it eventually. Can’t wait to see what you got, I need the inspiration.

                1. Although I may be using my profits too often to buy other spec books in the hopes of making more on the re-investment… if I didn’t re-invest anything, my profit this month would be over $200. That’s about halfway towards the book I want…

      2. I’ve got a full run of Immortal Hulk 1-12, would you hold and build a set or sell before it wraps up (whenever that may be)?

        1. I believe a full run of Immortal would be a good hold. But, if you want to sell, selling the 12 issue run as is, now, would be an easy sale for good profit.

                1. Beautiful book. Great colours on the cover. I cant wait for the 181 facsimile. Im very much looking forward to reading/seeing those early Wolvie appearances.

  13. In looking at the DC previews I noticed that every listed book had images of both A & B covers this time. That is atypical isn’t it?…usually we are left waiting. Middleton back with another Aquaman & Batgirl.

    1. DC has made a point to make sure that all cover art, going forward, is to be made available before the FOC. I believe Marvel is following suit too. Good for shops, not so good for speculating.

      1. Well, if you think about it. That’s smart on DC and Marvel’s part. If consumers are buying them for the art and cover, you can sell a whole lot more by providing the final art before the cut off date so they can send to the printers. This makes the initial orders go up so the publishers make more money. Leave retailers and consumers hanging, you sell less. Could you imagine going to a car dealership and you don’t know what the car looks like until after you bought it? No one would buy it.. at least in their right mind. 😉

  14. Picking up this week:
    Rick & Morty vs. D&D 4 (Again, Patrick Rothfuss is the writer and his Name of the Wind books are being turned into a TV show, movies, and a video game which will contain music written by Lin Manuel Miranda. I believe this is a long term hold.)
    R&M 46
    Zim 39

    Notes:
    I’m surprised the Jock cover of Reborn 1 isn’t doing as well as cover A. I guess I may have to start listening to Poyo about always hedging on cover A.

    With the Frankenstein Comic Swap coming up again 2/9 in Portland, I’ve finally decided to break up sets and runs, pricing the keys and dumping the rest in the $1 boxes. I hate breaking up sets, but want to move the books. Unless the run is priced below the cost of the trade, people don’t want to shell out for a run.

    Kurtis Wiebe is now off of Rat Queens, announced on his FB page. It will have a new writer and artist and Wiebe is starting his own company. It will be interesting to see how this affects the books moving forward. There is still a large built-in fan base. I recently saw a group that will be live-streaming a Rat-Queens cosplay/role-play D&D-type adventure game.

    1. Jock’s Reborn Cover B has much less to do with the story than Cover A – or the others. Anyone who reads the book would have more interest in A or the others than B IMO.

      2. I recall him mentioning that at Mondo Con back in 2016 when I got those covers signed. I think he mentioned he only knew the story was about the after life and transformed something a violent death into artwork depicting the afterlife, etc. At least that’s what I got from it.

        But yes, he had no info on interiors or what main character looked like to my knowledge when he was tapped for the cover.

  15. Spawn 293C was extremely under-ordered. My regular LCS had just one out that I grabbed, and my secondary LCS didn’t order any “because it was black & white”. At least one guy came in asking about it after me. Going to try one more shop when it opens in 20 mins but it’s small so I don’t expect to find one. I feel like this has the markings of a Batman Damned level event, so if you can’t find any in shops, consider ordering the cheapest one you can find online. As the west coast wakes up to no 293C’s on shelves, it will heat up even more on ebay with it being the only option for most

    1. Errors and misprints happen almost every week. This Spawn error will not come close to the the level that Damned #1 got. No one will be talking about this book in 2 weeks time. This error is in every copy of Cover C and the issue is not being recalled. I do not think this has legs.

      1. Errors and Misprints do not happen almost every week. More like every month or longer.

        This book has quite a few things going for it:

        – error. replacement copies should only drive up these
        – first appearance of Godsend. remember Spawn 174 ?
        – McFarlane cover that wasnt solicited. No crappy Mattina here.
        – Cover C. some retailers order less covers after cover A

          1. Umm.. Saga #41, Walking Dead #35, Spawn #1.. those are off top of my head. Errors aren’t frequent but i wouldn’t necessarily call them “rare”.

        2. This book also has the return of Gabrielle (who we haven’t seen since the very early issues & Todd specifically pointed out in a video today as “important”)….one more cool thing about this issue.

        3. The Spawn error wasn’t recalled. The ‘replacements’ will effectively double the print run.

          1. Everyone knows it wasn’t recalled. Print run size doesn’t matter. If all you do is worry about print size, you’d be reading and collecting terrible indies. All that matters is what I’ve stated above and that there is demand for this error book.

            1. Print size does matter. It matters Quite a bit. In fact, it is one half of the only equation that drives this market; supply vs demand. With the former being the print run. Print runs are the 2nd most important thing to remember/know/consider when flipping comic books. Imo.

        4. A few weeks ago, there was a book (i cant remember specifically which one) that had misprinted the variant cover artist, in the credits of the book. Similarly to this Spawn book, that ‘error’ was in every issue. Now, I would argue that a misprint like that, a wrong name or spelling, happens on almost a weekly basis. But, these errors arent noticed by the general public (i fully understand that my argument can not be proven one way or another, w/o a shit ton of weekly research). A full print run of a certain cover of any given book that contains said ‘error’, doesnt constitute an error. Imo. And true error book collectors are the exception, not the rule.

          2. Jay is not that extreme in his position about errors. I read Spawn regularly. I will give a prize to the first person to find the grammatical error in each issue #289-292. I went to the effort of hand writing three letters to Todd, kindly bringing the grammar errors to their attention. My wise LCS veteran said it best….McFarlane doesn’t give a shit. For many grammar might not be that high on the list as errors are concerned…

            1. @Chandler…Where did you get grammar from that conversation? I gave a real life example of a recent error. I thought the point was quite clear. But you somehow didnt quite understand the simple message with a real world, recent example. Can you explain how you read my post about an error involving the printing of a wrong name, and concluded it was about grammar? That is just mind boggling how you made that leap.
              PS. Next time you find yourself writing hand written letters, to anyone, make sure you let them know that I say ‘hi’. ?

              1. Hi Jay. Perhaps, I need to rephrase for you. I was defending your point with real examples…errors in grammar. Seriously McFarlane needs an editor for Spawn.

                1. Hey, Chandler. No worries. We do not need to agree in order to have a civil banter back and forth. However, using ‘errors in grammar’ isnt a tangible example. You would need to cite a specific reference, for the example you gave, in order for it to be tangible. Having said that, I am a big fan of McFarlanes artwork, but, I do agree with you that he has never been known or praised for his story writing abilities.

        5. There are approx 4 weeks per month. ‘Almost every week’ is pretty damn close to ‘once a month’. 25% of time is quite often. Not to parse words, but, Errors are frequent.

  16. picked up-

    Detective Comics 997B
    Invader Zim 39A
    Spawn 293B
    Spawn 293C

    Midtown sold out of Spawn 293C right after doors at 8 AM.

  17. Nice thing is, retailers aren’t in the wrong selling the “recalled” version of Spawn 293C, because it wasn’t actually recalled. Book is being reprinted and rush shipped and retailers are not obligated to destroy them (like they were with Dead Rabbit and others).

    “Dear Diamond Customer:

    Due to a printing error that caused the issue to be published with some color pages despite being solicited in black-&-white, Image Comics will reprint Spawn #293 Cover C (DEC188887), which arrives in stores this week.

    You will receive your replacement copies of the issue in quantities matching your FOC order with product on sale February 13. You are not required to destroy any copies you receive of the misprinted issues.

    We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. If you have additional questions regarding this advisory, please contact your Diamond Retailer Services Representative. Thank you. “

    1. So the end result will be a few “extras” of 293 out there, with double the FOC orders of 293C being printed. Half the error version and half the corrected.

      1. I doubt either version heats up too much long term but if 1 does I’d argue it’ll be the corrected version. How many people will rush out to get a b&w version of a book they just bought in color a few weeks before?

        1. 1st appearance and a McFarlane cover, thats why. Error books with a significance always win

          1. I agree that the book has a 1st and a Toddfather cover, and the 1st could bring heat to the book long term, but the error book, I think, will not be the book to own necessarily. Most likely cover A for any future potential. imo.

  18. TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1, first appearance of “JOYSTICK”. This is a lower print run book being an annual/$4.99 price point. JOYSTICK is an already established cool character from the TT GO! universe, and the cover art is sick. I’m not sure why nobody has mentioned this anywhere but there ya GO! (heh heh, pun intended) This was really under ordered in my area. Have a good day everyone, good luck..

    2. Or out of the 280k printed, they bought 20k of them and poor Snyder can’t write for a month but that’s okay, Midtown probably paid him a months salary to rid of their huge inventory stock of BWL #1. 🙂

      1. Scott goes into Midtown Comics all the time when’s he in Manhattan for workshops or meetings, if he has time to kill he will start signing all his books.

  20. Weather had stuff going on the shelves late today. Anyway it kind of worked in my favor except for Spawn which they only had like 2 or 3 with no B/W which I find odd considering some of the higher orders they’ve had for the last few issues. Anyway I managed to pick up:

    Wonder Woman 63 Shirahama
    Immortal Hulk 12 Guardians variant (not a fan of themed variants but this cover is surprisingly heating up pretty good)
    Babyteeth 14

    I did pick up a Silver Surfer annual 6, thanks to CHU, and a handful of Punisher, Spawn, and ASM $1 books. But the highlight for me was because we were waiting for books to be put out I was going through some $1 boxes and I came across the half off comics which only is about 2 long boxes which apparently no one goes through. Pulled a Immortal Hulk #2 for $2. It does have a small crease along the top but have been wanting this for the PC.

    2. Tried to find some info but all I could find was the whole feud between Venom fans and Ted Bundy fans with Cates chiming in. Weird. Bunn does some good stuff but Cates has been doing a great job and would like to see him stay.

      1. Lmao. I need to read that conversation. I can not, for the life of me, think of any beef that Bundy ‘fans’ (wtf) and Venom fans could possibly have between them. 1st world debate Ill bet. Too funny.

      1. He has stated he is on for about 50 issues on Twitter, and is only off of 13 and possibly 14 because they are “War of the Realms” tie-ins, where his main narrative doesn’t matter. Also, he and Stegman were just in NYC meeting with Marvel planning a mega event possibly starting Venom.

        1. Ah yes, I saw it was going to be a war of realms tie in…definitely skipping those. Not a fan of mega events.

          I wonder if the venom mega event will involve carnage…I see another web of venom carnage one shot is coming out in April…they’re building up to something there.

  22. I ended up a bit out of my way today and ended up walking by a Pawn Shop that had some comic books in the window display. Long story short, I pulled this out of there. Its not in great shape, but i think its a neat book to have in my McFarlane collection.

      1. It’s a real pain to find a decent condition one mines in its original packaging with the toy and it’s still beat to hell even though it’s never been open.

        1. Weird. How do you think that happened? It must have been damaged when it was put in the box at the manufacturer back in ‘93-‘94.

          1. The plastic on the early Spawn toys packaging isn’t the greatest and the way it’s packaged is what causes all those spine ticks and creases down the cover.

              1. Yeah, there’s also a “Spawn Mobile”, “Violator”, “Overtkill”, “Cosmic Clown”, “Medieval Spawn”, “Spawn Alley” “Tremor”, and “Violator Monster Rig”…the only ones that are harder to find but not impossible are the “Monster Rig” and Spawn Alley” ones as they came with play sets and weren’t as heavily produced.

      2. The book has the ‘instructions’ for the toy on the back cover. And it says there is a Violater preveiw book, similar to this Spawn book, that came with the OG Violator toy.

  23. Pick ups for today:

    Immortal hulk 12 (last weeks pull)
    Batman 63A (last weeks pull)
    Silver Surfer 14 facsimile
    Detective 997B
    Moon Girl 39
    Batman Beyond 28A

    Did not find a WW63B anywhere (3 shops) but I went after work…so long gone if they were there. Same with Spawn 293C.

    Will hit some shops tomorrow I hope…maybe I’ll get lucky. But the places I hit today are usually where I have the best luck.

    I see the Harlet 58B cover is already sold out at midtown…will keep an eye on that one this week…

  24. Went to 4 shops and only one had WW#63 B. They had 4 copies but were only letting customers take one each. I grabbed a beautiful 9.8 plus the Spawn #293 C issue as there was only 1 one the shelf.

    1. Really light week in terms of new books as the weather stopped me from getting out yesterday.

      New pick ups:
      Wonder Woman #63 (variant cover)
      Doctor Aphra #28

      Great week of spec pick ups:
      Batman Beyond #1 (barcode) $20 NM
      Black Panther #1 (J Scott Campbell Shuri variant in VF for $8)
      Spiderman #1 (Miles Morales 2016) $5 in NM
      Black Adam #1 (Alex Ross variant) $10

      One of the best spec hauls I’ve had in quite a while.

      Good hunting everyone!

  25. I would love to see the weekly comments section stay at the top of CHU through Friday. It’s one of the best sections here. I can’t always comment on Wed., and I think it would encourage more feedback as some folks don’t visit their shops as early as others.

    With that said, my pickups this week included…

    Action A
    Batgirl B x2
    Batman Beyond A
    Detective A
    Flash B
    Heroes in Crisis B
    JL Odyssey A
    JL Annual
    Old Lady Harley
    Teen Titans Annual
    Wonder Woman B x3
    Amazing Spidey A
    Captain America A
    Dead Man Logan A
    Guardians of the Galaxy (Ribic variant) – from last week
    Journey Into Unknown Worlds B
    Man Without Fear (Zaffino variant)
    Doc Aphra
    Weapon H
    Star Wars Adventures C
    Ice Cream Man B
    Spawn B

    I only hit 2 shops on Wed. and the Wonder Woman B’s were in short supply and going fast. Even the Batgirl B’s (great image of Babs) were sparse. I could have gotten a Spawn C if I had asked for it ahead of the crowd, but I didn’t give it enough forethought…my LSC only had one copy, marked it up to $10 and it sold b/f I got there. I considered the Age of XMan Alpha (Rahzzah variant), but passed on the $15 price tag. The Dead Man Logan (1:25 variant) I saw had a small tear in one of the pages so I sadly declined that one. And my LCS did not get the Solo Adaptation (1:25 variant) this month even though they got last month’s variant, so I was disppointed about that. The Quesada variant for Doctor Strange was a ghost in my area…I called around for it but no luck anywhere…I think retailers had to order a certain volume to get it.

    On a positive note, I did pick up 2 of the DC Primal Age 100-page Giants at Target tonight. I just happened upon a display in one of the toy section endcaps. I wasn’t even aware this was coming out. There were about 10 copies in total. Looks to be all new material…could be considered 1st appearances of “primal” characters…? Ebay prices are all over the place.

    I have yet to find some of the Walmart giants…namely Batman 4 and Superman 7…but still hunting. Walmarts in my area are inconsistent about stocking these…and it’s possible all the “hot” ones are being bought up.

    1. That’s a tough call. I left it as a sticky all Wednesday into Thursday. I didn’t want people coming in to the site cold to miss the new content. I think I can juggle the start time on the post to make it appear higher though.

  26. Came out of hibernation to fetch my pull. The tables seemed pretty full so I doubt that many comic buyers have been in the store the past couple of days given the weather. This week’s pull:

    Action Comics #1007 (Cover B Patrick Gleason)
    Batgirl #31 (Cover B Stanley Artgerm Lau)
    Batman Beyond #28 (Cover B Chris Stevens)
    Detective Comics #997 (Cover A Doug Mahnke)
    Detective Comics #997 (Cover B Brian Stelfreeze)
    Flash #63 (Cover B Howard Chaykin)
    Flash Annual #2
    Heroes In Crisis #5 (Of 9)(Cover A Trevor Hairsine)
    Heroes In Crisis #5 (Of 9)(Cover B Ryan Sook)
    Justice League Annual #1
    Justice League Odyssey #5 (Cover B Toni Infante)
    Old Lady Harley #4 (Of 5)
    Raven Daughter Of Darkness #12 (Of 12)*
    Silencer #13
    Teen Titans Annual #1
    Terrifics #12
    Wonder Woman #63 (Cover B Karmome Shirahama)
    Ice Cream Man #9 (Cover A Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran)
    Dead Man Logan #3 (Of 12)(Cover A Declan Shalvey)
    Journey Into Unknown Worlds #1 (Cover A Mike McKone)
    Solo A Star Wars Story Adaptation #4 (Of 7)(Cover A Phil Noto)
    Star Wars Doctor Aphra #28 (Cover A Ashley Witter)
    True Believers Conan Resurrection #1
    True Believers What If Conan The Barbarian Walked The Earth Today #1
    Weapon H #12
    Star Trek The Q Conflict #1 (Of 6)(Cover A David Messina)

Comments are closed.