Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
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.
It’s time for another update from BIFF SOCKO, TWO-FISTED NEWSHOUND. Biff Socko covers Comic Book News like zits on the A-V Club. Faster than Perry White! Stronger than J. Jonah Jameson! Hotter than Cat Grant. He is…BIFF SOCKO!
The early 1990s were all about lenticular covers, bagged promos, and rampant speculation. But they were also about trading cards. Upper Deck reigned supreme and we finally said goodbye to buying cards with super hard chewing gum. Traditionally we had purchased sports cards, but Marvel Comics had given us another option by issuing a series of collectible cards featuring their spandex clad characters.
But isn't that implicitly what Marvel and DC state by having a shared universe for their stories? If all their stories are great and if they all have the same heroes who live in the same world then wouldn't I want to buy every book they produce? I decided to get out the Previews Guide and a calculator to answer this rhetorical question. I used the January 2014 Previews as a proxy for the entire year on the assumption that some months will have fewer books and some months will have more but overall it will probably average out. I didn't include books not in the shared universe and I didn't include collected editions.
Anthony Falcone touched on this in his last column, and it is a topic I've been thinking about more and more lately - The return of Peter Parker.
Happy New Year to all our readers! Last year was a powerhouse in comic books, but with 2013 a distant image in our rear view mirrors I now turn to 2014. Specifically those things in 2014 that have me awake at night with anticipation.
Here's the first official Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer.
It’s time for another update from BIFF SOCKO, TWO-FISTED NEWSHOUND. Biff Socko covers Comic Book News like zits on the A-V Club. Faster than Perry White! Stronger than J. Jonah Jameson! Hotter than Cat Grant. He is…BIFF SOCKO!
A funny thing happened when I opened the package from Robert Bell containing the comic bags I ordered. There was a new updated price list from the one I received about 3 months earlier. Amazing Spider-Man #1 was now $40! It had doubled in value since the last list.
Auction Highlights #80, Comic Link October Focused Auction The Silver/Bronze portion of the October Comic Link Focused Auction has just ended. All results below ended Tuesday October 22nd. I know I sound like a broken record but boy was this…
In Tales from The Comicdenn I am going to share some of the interesting adventures I have had in this great hobby and hopefully a few nuggets of wisdom as it pertains to collecting, along the way.
Strange Tales #115, Marvel Comics, December 1963 This is about as safe a bet as there is. Strange Tales #115 has long been a staple of the Silver Age. All one has to do is look this issue up in…
Some comments on one of Scott’s articles got me thinking about an old maxim of mine: I have frequently told fans to drop a book if they don’t like and voice their disdain with buying power. I’ve followed this rule…
If twitter had existed in 1971 I can only assume that we would have seen tweets like this: What? Spider-Man doesn’t have six arms! Thanks for ruining this book @roythomas! Or if it had existed in 1984 this would be…
Marvel Team-Up Annual #1, Marvel Comics, (December 1976) Here we have the 1st new X-Men team appearance outside the X-Men title. Better yet they make this appearance in a great little title called Marvel Team-Up, a Spider-Man title. Correct me…
We all have our favourite television show, right? It might be Game of Thrones, or The Simpsons, or Golden Girls and it most likely airs once per week. That is sort of the rule of television in that you get…
There was a lot of concern among readers of DC comics when the company announced a total revamp of its iconic characters in the “New 52.” Even long-running Superman, Action Comics, Detective and Batman were going to begin again at…
Last week Leigh Hart wrote a column about Antiheroes in comic books. She had some great characters on her list. And yes, everybody loves a hero who walks that tightrope of right and wrong. In the comments section Laura wrote…
It’s time for another update from BIFF SOCKO, TWO-FISTED NEWSHOUND. Biff Socko covers Comic Book News like zits on the A-V Club. Faster than Perry White! Stronger than J. Jonah Jameson! He is…BIFF SOCKO! DATELINE: NEW YORK – The next…
There have been very few titles that have caused as much of a stir as Superior Spider-Man. I wanted to wait a bit before writing this review so that it wasn’t necessary to plaster spoiler alerts every second sentence, but…