To CGC or Not to CGC?

This is always a hot topic among collectors and dealers alike. Now, I have resisted writing this column because of the heat that goes along with the debate. Nowadays it seems very difficult to have a serious debate about anything, because of the highly charged state of political correctness. But what the heck, here goes.
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Marvel Now, Continuity, and What If?

However, the more I think about Marvel Now the more I feel that success (or lack thereof) is mostly owed to these unique interpretations. When I talk with fans at conventions or comic book shops they either love or hate what is going on in Marvel Now. And I think that is primarily due to the fact that the concepts behind Marvel Now are all or nothing; you either love them or or hate them because they are What If? stories.
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Bill Speed

John Stables (most often signing his work Jon St. Ables) has always been amongst the most appreciated of the WECA artists and his name is consistently placed at the head of lists of those artists best representative of the excellent, professional quality of Canadian war-time comic art whenever the artistic output of the Canadian Whites is brought into question. He was inducted into the Shuster Hall of Fame in 2006 and the write up with the induction by Robert Pincombe and Peter Hansen supplies you with the necessary details of his life and career.
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The Kindness of Strangers

I have found, throughout my years of being a comic book lover, there is something very strange about the way comic book fans treat each other. When one comic book fan meets another, there is a back and forth quiz that happens. “What do you read?” “What is your favourite comic?” “Who is your favourite writer/artist/character?” Instead of just being excited to meet another comic lover, we have to make sure they are worthy, but mostly, we make sure we know more than they do.
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Maple Leaf Checklist

Of all the WECA books, those produced by Maple Leaf Publishing out on the west coast of Canada are in the most demand and are the hardest to find. In this post I want to initiate the question of the number and dates of all the Maple Leaf issues… especially that murky last year—1946.
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Between Nuance and Bombast

I was having a conversation with some friends the other day and we were discussing, of all things, Golden Age Romance comics. The ones that were created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Leonard Starr and Matt Baker. Titles like Young Love and My Date and Young Romance. These were huge in their day and were showcases for some of the best sequential storytelling to grace the pages of four colour comics!
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