Things I Like and Don’t Like for the Week of June 26th, 2019

48 thoughts on “Things I Like and Don’t Like for the Week of June 26th, 2019”

1. I found a Naomi cover A first print in a dollar bin. The box was marked “damaged books”… but so far seems to only be a light spine tick. Will need to scan it over some more later because I still can’t believe it was sitting there for months without a bag or board….

   I guess no one goes through those boxes but me. I few months back I found an avengers 682 secret variant and I sent it in to cgc as it only needed a quick press to maybe get it to 9.8!

   but that’s a big LIKE for me this week.

   1. What store was it at? I mean, the odds of us being in even the same state are low, but had to ask lol.

      1. Double Midnight Comics, Manchester NH.

         I was up that way for a family reunion this weekend. Was passing through. They have a decent selection of new releases and a few back issues. If a recent comic goes hot they don’t seem to get hit by the FOMO wave. Last time I picked u several copies of Die #1 and Thanos 15 3rd print for cover. Was in there looking for Silver Surfer Black #1 2nd prt and Venom #3 3rd prt. No luck. I did score a couple more Pearl #1s…actually left a few on the rack.

         The best is Black Friday weekend where they have 50% off all comics except wall books and current weeks releases. Made out like a bandit as I was in town that weekend the last couple years.

   2. There’s probably more out there in other stores. When Naomi #1 came out it wasn’t up in price. Damaged books get reported and come back with paperwork to destroy them but even though they refund the cost of the book, the shipping cost isn’t reimbursed so stores tend to slip damaged books into the cheap boxes to offset the shipping costs they’re out of (Not to mention the lost sales from a title if no copies exist to replace them with).

2. There’s only one “Great One”, right JClue?

   Hint: It ain’t Tom Brady.

   1. Cal Ripken Jr. is the true Great One. The real life Iron Man.. nobody could do what he did.. I know most said nobody would break Lou Gehrig’s record but I seriously doubt we’ll see anyone at least in our lifetime break Cal’s record.

      1. OMG! Are you kidding me?

         Yes, CRJr. Is “Iron Man.” I will give you
         That.

         But I doubt he’s referred to the title of “great one” outside of Oriole circles.

         1. It’s all opinion.. Tom Brady Sucks and so does Wayne Gretzky.. Cal Ripken is the true “Great One”.. 😛

            1. Cal Ripkens nickname, in all circles is ‘Iron Man’. He may be a ‘great one’ in your eyes, Poyo. But nobody, besides you, calls him that.
               So, we have now had discussions mentioning Billy Ripken and Cal Ripken, within one week, on CHU. But, with Cal being known as ‘Iron Man’, and Billy having his classic trading card homaged, we manages to keep both within the realm of comics. Lol

               1. LeBron and the Media call LeBron the “Chosen One” but that doesn’t mean he is the Chosen One. Nicknames are just that, nicknames. At the end of the day, they mean squat and are actually meaningless.. 😉

                  1. They are meaningless in the sense that they dont necessarily reflect anything about the person with said nickname. But, they are a great way of paying tribute to athletes, and other figured in history. I love nicknames. My favourite nickname in sports was Vinnie Johnson.
                     They called Vinnie Johnson the “Microwave” back in his days as the Detroit Pistons’ sixth man because of his ability to spring from the bench and quickly heat up the action. Vinnie ‘Microwave’ Johnson heats up quickly. That name, and what it implies, is just awesomeness in my eyes.

                     1. Ed “Too Tall” Jones was pretty tall I heard.. 😉

               2. And for the record, I was just teasing about the “Great One” nickname for Cal Ripken.. you saw my other response, nicknames are just nicknames, nothing more or less.

                  1. I know, Poyo. All good. ?

                     1. I suppose I should cancel the poster I was making to send you.. It was a pic of Cal Ripken Jr with the caption “The True Great One”… 😉

            2. Dont make me break out Cals stats. The only thing he was ‘great’ at, was staying on field. ?
               (Joking aside, Cal was a fav of mine growing up, despite him being an Oriole…booo Orioles)

               1. More to the game than offensive stats. Ripken had a crap ton of Gold Gloves too.

                  What Tyson Chandler did for the Mavs when they won the title, you look at his stats and they don’t come off as that special but boy did the rest of the team give him a huge amount of credit, if he wasn’t on the team, they likely wouldn’t have netted that ring that year, which is solid proof since Cuban was dumb and let him go without paying him to potentially win it again the next year.

   2. Indeed, Drog. Gretzky earned that title.

      Gretzky set records in both regular season and post-season play, holding the record for most career regular season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857) and hat-tricks (50).

      Gretztky is the all time career points leader in the NHL. Gretzky had 1963 assists in his career. Jagr is 2nd all time w/ 1888 pts. So, Gretzky has more career assists than Jagr has total points. Gretzky literally almost laps 2nd place for career pts. Thats how good he was. The one and only ‘Great one’. Go to where the puck will be, Wayne.

      1. Trivia time;

         Gretzkys 1st year in the NHL, he did not qualify for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year), as he played 1 pro season with Edmonton in the WHL before he was in the NHL. What player won rookie of the year in Waynes inaugural NHL season?

         1. Ray Borque. And I had to look it up.

            The only one who had a legitimate, albeit long, shot at catching Wayne was Lemieux. He was a beast. Unfortunately back problems and cancer stole some of his best years on the ice from him and likely cut it short.

            1. We have a winner! Yes, it was #7, Ray Bourque (Bourque wore #7 for the first year or so of his career before switching to #77). Bourque is a pretty good player to have taken Gretzkys Calder Trophy.
               And I agree. Lemieux was the most skilled player to ever play in the NHL.
               Fun Fact. Lemieuxs first shift, in his first game, he scored by putting the puck through Bourques legs at the blue line, he then continues to dance around Bourque, pick up the puck that is now behind Bourque, and puts it past the goalie. A definite sign if the things that were to come for #66, the Magnificent One.

               1. https://youtu.be/zeGKVWwaKQg

3. This whole “carnage-ized” thing is ridiculous. At least “Venomized” sounded like a real word or adjective…Marvel already over does it with themed variant covers each month that make no sense…now this. Who buys this crap? That’s the only reason it stick around.

   1. It’s very very rare for me to pick up themed variants. There’s only been a few I’ve picked up just because of first appearances that the comic masses created demand for.. (Gwenpool anyone?)

      1. The only carngeized cover worth buying is that Mark Brooks Black Cat 2…

         That thing is AWESOME!

   2. Both sets of the Venom-ized covers sold really well. People picked them up trying to get all of them. The current Battle Line one’s had people subscribe to “All” of them as well and others cherry picked covers they liked. I’m not hearing any buzz back so far on the Carnage-ized ones and I’ve been promoting them each week on FOC. They may surprise me and sell better than expected but I think it’s going to take the movie coming out to get people’s interest up or at least seeing them on the shelf surrounded by the MASSIVE amount of Absolute Carnage titles coming in August many with multiple levels of QTY/Ratio Variants.
      ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #1 (OF 4) AC
      MARVEL COMICS
      (W) Donny Cates (A/CA) Ryan Stegman
      After turning Venom’s world upside down a year ago, DONNY CATES and RYAN STEGMAN are about to put the Sinister Symbiote through hell again, only this time CARNAGE has come calling, and everyone who’s ever worn a symbiote is dead in his sights! He’s skirted the periphery of the Marvel Universe for months, but Cletus Kasady at last stands poised to make his grand return to New York in a blistering 60-PAGE story… and he wants to paint the town red!
      ———————
      ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #2 (OF 4) AC
      MARVEL COMICS
      (W) Donny Cates (A/CA) Ryan Stegman
      • After the terrifying conclusion of ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #1, a new player is on the board, and it’s NOT who you’d expect!
      • Barely able to escape with their lives, SPIDER-MAN and VENOM have no choice but to drag a slew of other heroes into Carnage’s crosshairs.
      • Worse yet, Carnage’s rampage through New York City claims an unexpected piece of collateral damage…and there’s NOTHING Venom or anyone can do to stop it!
      Rated T+
      ————————-
      VENOM #17 AC
      MARVEL COMICS
      (W) Donny Cates (A) Iban Coello (CA) Kyle Hotz
      With CARNAGE on the loose, VENOM must protect his son Dylan – at all costs! But as longtime Venomaniacs know, VENOM AND CARNAGE aren’t the only symbiotes loose in New York!
      ——————————
      ABSOLUTE CARNAGE VS DEADPOOL #1 (OF 3) AC
      MARVEL COMICS
      (W) Matthew Rosenberg (A) Marcelo Ferreira (CA) Tyler Kirkham
      At long last, Deadpool is ready to get his head straight and checks himself into Ravencroft Institute. Unfortunately, there’s another new arrival: CARNAGE! But I don’t think he’s here for a group therapy session… Madness and mayhem abound in the can’t-miss showdown of the year!
      ——————————
      ABSOLUTE CARNAGE LETHAL PROTECTORS #1 (OF 3) AC
      MARVEL COMICS
      (W) Frank Tieri (A) Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque (CA) Bengal
      THE CULT OF CARNAGE COMES TO NEW YORK CITY! When he was last seen, John Jameson was being recovered from the scene of a massacre in Doverton, Colorado, by Misty Knight. Since then, they’ve both been MIA. So how, then, are they the only two people poised to prevent chaos as a mysterious foe of Spider-Man’s is RESURRECTED in the basements of RAVENCROFT INSTITUTE FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE?!
      ———————-
      ABSOLUTE CARNAGE MILES MORALES #1 (OF 3) AC
      MARVEL COMICS
      (W) Saladin Ahmed (A) Federico Vincentini (CA) Clayton Crain
      TARGET: SCORPION! It’s business as usual for Miles Morales as he finds himself squaring off with Mac Gargan, A.K.A. THE SCORPION! But as a cult of Carnage’s bloodthirsty acolytes swarms New York, Miles will learn the hard way that Scorpion has a history with Venom and the other symbiotes of the Marvel Universe! If he can survive this issue, that is.
      —————————–
      ABSOLUTE CARNAGE SCREAM #1 (OF 3) AC
      MARVEL COMICS
      (W) Cullen Bunn (A/CA) Gerardo Sandoval
      THE RETURN OF A CLASSIC SYMBIOTE… AND IT’LL BE A SCREAM! Years ago, Patricia Robertson was unwillingly bonded to the clone of Venom that eventually became Mania, and she’s been living in fear of symbiotes ever since. But she’s also been living with a secret, and with the coming of Carnage, Patricia must take a stand – and will have no choice but to confront her demons head-on!
      ———————-
      ABSOLUTE CARNAGE SEPARATION ANXIETY #1 AC
      MARVEL COMICS
      (W) Clay Chapman (A) Brian Level (CA) Philip Tan
      HELLISH HORROR IN THE MIGHTY MARVEL MANNER! Since the conclusion of DEADPOOL VS. CARNAGE, four of the five LIFE FOUNDATION SYMBIOTES – Riot, Phage, Agony and Lasher – have been bonded to a stray dog, wandering the Midwest. But as Carnage descends on New York, its siblings will find it impossible to resist the siren song of KNULL…

      1. 52 covers for those titles alone (JUN190761 to JUN190813) and that doesn’t count any they toss on closer to FOC or any of the Carnage-ized theme of the month books leading into it.

         1. Or the endless shop variants as well, I assume.

            Carnage isn’t even a main stream character. This Carnage overload is going to bomb marvel. Glad you’re not getting suckered in BJ, hopefully most shops are avoiding as well.

            If that’s the case maybe one or two covers become short term flip potential because they are over the top and have small print run or long term due to a new character.

            Otherwise I don’t think even a movie focused on Carnage will make any of these relevant.

            Hopefully the main title/Donny Cates series is a good read. I actually really like the cover As so far.

            1. I just sent the Excel sheet with the June initial order off to Diamond just now. I’ve got $200 Presales on the Absolute Carnage #1 bundles but I’m not chasing the 500 without enough smaller bundles to justify it and nothing for Marvel Comics 1000 other than the exact number of standard copies needed to qualify for the extra discount and a couple Scottie Young covers for my Scottie fans. I talked myself into bumping the Absolute Carnage Deadpool series to 25 to get the one Ratio but I’m not even considering the 100 QTY ratio or any of the others without presales to cover them. HOX and POX issues 2 and 3 I bumped enough to get the extra discount but that’s all except for gambling on some POX #2 and #3 Weaver New Character Reveal covers. Taking a chance on Future Foundation also but with the extra discount I only had to bump a little higher to get a 25 TY ratio. I wish I knew what it looks like.

               The Miles Morales is irritating me. As a series he almost never sells even a single cover a month but that Black Cat cover looks like an easy sell and that secret cover is like putting crack on the table in front of a junkie. I just gambled on the same feeling with Silver Surfer Black Second Printing and sold out at stupid high prices. I’m thrilled I cancelled off all the shelf copies of the standard cover and swapped them for seconds. Now if I’d just had the sense to double the order at the same time!!!!!!

               I didn’t even mention all the Carnage accessories coming. It appears the Marvel Select is coming back out, carnage comic book boxes and $150 statue as well. The Marvel Gallery Figure arrives tomorrow!!!!

      2. You copy and paste too much from Previews.. just chat like a human without all the extra stuff we can go lookup ourselves.. 😉

         1. Marvel comics 1000 the same month $9.99 Cover Price with 22 Covers.
            Spawn 300 the same month with $7.99 Cover Price with 12 Covers only ONE actually viewable prior to orders being due.

         2. Now that you don’t have to leave here to look them up elsewhere, which of those other than the Absolute Carnage main series do you think is most worth chasing the variants on? The Deadpool one is the most obvious to me since Deadpool at times can be a market all by himself and the Deadpool vs Carnage mini series was my best selling Deadpool series so far.

            I’ve got people ordering the Spawn’s blindly which doesn’t seem right.

            The Miles Morales has a great looking Black Cat Ratio cover and the Classified Young Guns Cover sounds like it may be a Spec worthy order.

            Marvel Comics 1000 is just sickening and I can’t imagine all those covers getting ordered heavy.

            HOX and POX will have Character reveal covers which may be 1st Cover appearances for new heroes.

            So little money, too many choices.

            1. Let them order blindly.. you’re in business to sell comics right? Who cares why people order what they order I say..

               1. I’ve got one guy who preordered 2 of each plus the 25 and 50 qty ratios and another guy who I know wants all 10 plus both ratio’s, another who ordered A thru H. The problem is it’s a $7.99 comic with no discount incentives like Absolute Carnage. Without the images for the other 11 covers everyone else seems to be waiting to order so I had to add on more than I wanted of the assortment for shelf stock to make sure I got to 100 minimum to get the second Spawn 50 qty. It’s looking like the bill for Spawn 300 issues is going to be higher than the bill for Absolute Carnage #1. I didn’t even check yet to see if they’re shipping the same week or not. watch them arrive together and really jack up the one check to Diamond. Might be time to start asking about Net 14 terms. You’d think it would be an automatic thing after over a year of Net 7 without a hitch but I bet they want the whole application thing all over again.

                  1. The transition from Net 7 to Net 14 is actually very smooth and your credit analyst can just give it to you after a year of Net 7. It’s the transition to Net 21 that is incredibly difficult, as they want audited financials going back three years. And they will question everything.

4. DC Unites All Publishing Under Single Banner

   On June 21, DC Entertainment announced that beginning in 2020, all of its publishing content will be organized and marketed under the DC brand, creating three age-specific labels – DC Kids, DC and DC Black Label – that would absorb all of its existing imprints and focus DC’s publishing content around characters and stories that evolve and mature along with the awareness and sensibilities of DC’s readers. As a result of this new labeling strategy, DC will sunset the Vertigo publishing imprint at the end of the year.
   The new segmentation, featuring the new age rating system, will launch in January 2020. Books currently being published under the recently launched DC Zoom and DC Ink imprints, which are focused on the middle grade and young adult segments, respectively, will be assigned to the DC Kids and DC labels depending on the content and intended audiences.
   “We’re returning to a singular presentation of the DC brand that was present throughout most of our history until 1993 when we launched Vertigo to provide an outlet for edgier material,” said DC Publisher Dan DiDio. “That kind of material is now mainstream across all genres, so we thought it was the right time to bring greater clarity to the DC brand and reinforce our commitment to storytelling for all of our fans in every age group. This new system will replace the age ratings we currently use on our material.”
   The three labels will be structured as follows:
   -DC Kids will focus on readers ages 8-12 and offer content created specifically for the middle-grade reader

   -DC, focusing on ages 13+, will primarily be the current DC universe of characters

   -DC Black Label will focus on content appropriate for readers 17 and older

   “What we’ve done here is apply an ages and stages organizing philosophy that will strengthen what we’re already doing well, whether that is our move into the young adult and middle grade audience or our long track record of success with creator-driven pop-up lines,” said DC Publisher and Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee. “We will also continue to publish creator-owned projects, and will evaluate and assign to the appropriate label to help our fans find the best books for their interests. These new labels not only bring greater consistency and focus to our characters, but they also open up a wealth of new opportunities for the talent working on our books.”

   1. That’s the official version for why Vertigo is gone.

      More interesting to me is if under this new 3 tier system of rating, if they’re going to move e for Everyone titles like Scooby, TTGO and Looney Tunes under the DC KIDS umbrella or are they still going to come out as DC with a rating added.

      It would be nice to not have to worry about trying to explain T and T+ differences.

      1. I need a meme with the quote “Liefeld was right!”

         It needs to be a really goofy pick of Rob, though.

         1. All pics of Liefeld are goofy looking..

            1. I need the one good that rules them all…

               1. *goof*….damn auto correct!

5. Speaking of CARNAGE….DC please dont drop American Carnage. Oliver cover art with a catchy story by Hill. Dabbled with Goddess Mode, High Level and Hex Wives….not bad. Was ready for Second Coming but we know that probably landed better at AHOY. I like edgy comics and hope the DC label system does not cut its nose off.

   1. Well, the whole fiasco behind Batman Damned #2 after the Batwang in Batman Damned #1, they’ve already proven that Black Label is not “Mature” but more like “PG-13” rated..

6. Vertigo died the day Walking Dead debuted at Image.

   Prior to that, every great edgy writer wanted to be at Vertigo, getting his turn on Hellblazer or following in the footsteps of Preacher, Sandman, 100 Bullets, Transmet, etc. But Walking Dead made so much money for Kirkman and Image that it completely transformed both companies. Image stopped being the publisher of buxom babes, giant guns, and dumb stories and became the place where you could make money writing sci-fi, fantasy, horror, crime, etc. Why would anyone bring Ice Cream Man or Regression or Saga or Wicked and Divine or Redneck to Vertigo when Image is happy to support that content AND allow you to retain your rights?

   Black Label “should” be a fine option for darker, grittier tales that still take place in the DCU. But after the intrusive editing/re-editing/censorship that we’ve already seen, I can’t imagine writers and artists ever trusting DC again with that kind of material. Had they truly allowed it to run, and given us the original version of Batman Damned 2, maybe there was hope. But it’s going to go the way of Marvel’s MAX line.

   I just hope DC is smart enough to keep the original Vertigo stuff in print. Evergreen catalog sales are literally printing money.

   1. Y: Last Man I would consider edgy that lasted up until 2008.

      American Vampire was a great series as well from Snyder under Vertigo.

      Scalped was a good series as well.

      I wouldn’t necessarily say they completely died in 2003, Walking Dead didn’t really take off until the show got super popular around 2011, once the second season kicked in and started picking up a lot more viewers.

      Image did likely pick up more indie writers to the table with better offering of retaining rights but sadly, most of the stuff they push out is complete garbage, at least nowadays.

7. Agreed AP…I think most of Image is garbagio…with some exceptions obviously. Had to try a lot to find some that have held. Ghost Tree is good….congrats IDW now get two titles worth buying!!! Boom’s Faithless is more than just erotic variants if anyone is interested in some hardcore psycho sexy surrealness.

   1. I picked up the first issue of Faithless but haven’t read it yet.

      I wish more Image titles were better to be honest. But it does seem like 1 out of every 50 books they put out actually end up being ongoing or worthy of reading from beginning to end. The other issue with Image is if a book doesn’t sell enough, they are super quick to yank it on a moments notice without any warning.

      I think we have to give some small publishers credit for putting out quality over quantity. At times it seems like Image chooses quantity over quality.

   2. Oh and C.Chandler, you’re goodies are on the way. 🙂

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