Poyo’s Spec and Drek for October 16th, 2019

Welcome once again to my spec and my drek. I pick what I think will be winners, not only if you make money by flipping but winners as in either a great read or just awesome art.

Then there’s the pesky drek, the comic you should avoid altogether or not fall into the buying every variant trap.

DC Picks

Tales From The Dark Multiverse Batman Knightfall #1 is my top pick. I loved the old Knightfall story line along with Kelley Jones artwork in most of the Batman and Detective Comics issues.

Midtown has these listed as available but TFAW and a few other online retailers are showing this out of stock, some don’t even pull it up (which I’m assuming makes it out of stock).

There’s some nice variants out there as well, which I believe are store variants. The Mattina variant is pretty cool, I’m still not a huge supporter of that guy since you know, he steals others work to incorporate into his own.

The honorable mention goes to Teen Titans #35 which just has a really cool cover.

I’m a sucker for skulls and this one sort of reminds me of the GNR Appetite for Destruction album cover as well.

Pick it up for the art but I don’t see this one heating up, unless there’s some hidden surprise in the story.

 

Marvel Picks

This first pick is just my bias pick for my love of Ghost Rider. Did you all know I love Ghost Rider? I bet you guys didn’t know that did you? Anyways, it’s a glorified reprinting of the older stuff and if you got the extra dollars to spend on it, then do so.

Marvel Tales Ghost Rider #1

Johnny Blaze, the flaming-skulled Ghost Rider, roars into action as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the House of Ideas with the era-spanning MARVEL TALES!

This anthology series shines a spotlight on fan-favorite characters, features timeless stories and highlights some of our most impressive talent from the past eight decades.

First, legendary scribe Roger Stern explores the curse of Johnny Blaze – and the adrenaline-fueled origin of Ghost Rider – in GHOST RIDER (1973) #68! Next, Spider-Man has one of his most hair-raising team-ups of all, joining Ghost Rider in action against the eye-watering villain called the Orb, in MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #15! Then, ask yourself ‘What if Ghost Rider were separated from Johnny Blaze?’ in a thought-provoking tale from the classic alternate reality series, WHAT IF? (1977) #28! Let’s ride! Rated T

This one also has the ratio virgin variant. Not a lot of stores buy enough of these to qualify for the ratio’d variants so finding it cheap is always a challenge as most retailers are gonna start it at the $100 range. But some of these have doubled their value on the secondary market so if you find one, check eBay, even at retail prices you could score profit if you intend to flip. At time of writing, only one listed on eBay that I could find with bidding starting at $55 and a BIN of $120.

It is also done by InHyuk Lee who just does some beautiful artwork. This could be a “ghost” variant..

Now that HOX and POX have concluded, we venture into the new ongoing X-Men titles to carry these mutants forward from the mind of Hickman.

X-Men #1 Dawn of X hits shelves this week and some retailers are already showing the regular cover price books and variants as out of stock.

This title and some of the others should not be overlooked as we should anticipate more changes and story lines coming out from these mutant squads. Marvel has executed this well, I think the grand plan of canceling all other titles to relaunch the X-Men was a good idea now, making them more relevant in the Marvel Universe.

Indie and Small Publisher Picks

Not a whole lot going on in the indie and small publisher sector this week. There’s a few though we should check out or keep an eye on.

First up is this new Image book. It’s a first but depending on the story and art, I don’t see it heating up.

Marked #1 (Cover A – Haberlin & Van Dyke)

SERIES PREMIERE DOUBLE-SIZED FOR SINGLE PRICE! THEIR MAGIC IS CHANNELED THROUGH THEIR TATTOOS!

The Marked may look like cool young influencers, but beneath the designer clothes, their bodies are tattooed with the magical glyphs of an ancient order that secretly protects the world against evil forces. With no new occult threats, The Marked use their tattooed powers solely for the pursuit of pleasure until a young woman called Liza creates a dangerous new form of Hybrid Sorcery.

The party is over for The Marked. You’ll believe in magic-terrifying, soul-destroying magic.

The other pick goes to a Francavilla homage cover and since it’s getting close to halloween, figured why not right? Already sold out at Midtown, you can still find it available at TFAW though. I don’t expect this one to heat up but ya never know…

Cult Classic Creature Feature #1 (Cover B – Tim Daniel)

Eons ago, visitors from outer space buried an item of unimaginable power in the primordial swamps that would one day become King Lake-a quaint little basin on the edge of Whisper, USA. Millions of years later, a comet’s radioactive waves awaken the monster slumbering beneath the lake.

As the beast feeds on America’s sweet, delicious youth, brain-slugs infect the quiet town, causing victims to vomit up their kill-hungry, zombified skeletons. But for seventeen-year-old Jarrod Parker, none of that stuff matters much. For him, this isn’t about the Apocalypse. It’s about payback. Nothing-not his friends, not the undead, not even the end of the world-will keep him from vengeance.

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Now on with the dreaded “avoid” pick, every writer and artist worst nightmare when it comes to selling their hard work.

Marked #1 has an Incentive Giveaway Variant Cover that Midtown has listed for $170. If you’re local shop has these and have jacked up the price, do not pay over cover for this variant on an unproven book that just hit the market. If you truly want to throw your money away, just send to me, I’ll put it to much better use…