comic noize

Some of you may recall hearing about how, not even a week ago, Batman edged out Superman in the battle for comic price supremacy. Definitely an incredible feat and an incredible price. In the spirit of that, here are a couple auctions for some old time Bat-issues that, while obviously not about to end anywhere near a cool million, still should command some high prices.

Now, Batman #4 may not be a Detective Comics #27 or an Action Comics #1, but I’m still surprised to see that, as of this writing, this auction is only at an “affordable” 360 bucks and change. That’s not so incredible.

Still, with 8 days to go, it’s safe to say that the price will climb much higher. Obviously it’s not going to hit anywhere near the million mark, but it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.

3 days to go, and (as of this writing) only one bid. I’m guessing that $600.00 start price pretty effectively neutered most interest. But I think we’ll still see this climb in the last day or so. I mean, come on, it’s Batman with an old timey machine gun.

I repeat.

Batman.

With an old timey machine gun.

Get into it.

Dear Diary,

I can’t believe I still live in Smallville. 

The people here stink! I can’t even meet any nice girls, dagnabbit! Oh no, here come’s Ma! GTG…

Bob’s Red Tornado post reminded me of something. That something being just how good DC’s mid 80’s advertisements for their comics were. They had a great technique of taking an impactful image and putting the most cryptic possible text with it.

The Killing Joke? A Brian Bolland drawn image of the Joker at his most depraved and maniacal, pouring out sweat with a thousand HA HA HA’s behind him. Great ad.

The Shadow Strikes? Just a stark image of the creepiest looking Shadow ever, drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz. Great ad.

Wasteland? Wild Dog? Suicide Squad? Great ads, all of them.
(I wish I could find scans online to prove my point, but no luck.)

Which leads us to The Weird. The ad for The Weird was actually just the cover of issue # 1:

The text was different, but still. Tell me that’s not an intriguing image. The Justice League shielding their eyes from the glow of a decaying glowing flying guy. And it’s called The Weird. And it’s drawn by horror comic legend Bernie Wrightson. That sets expectations pretty high, if you ask me.

Alas, as you can see from the other covers, The Weird just turned out to be some energy alien who took a human body and dressed up in a ninja suit to save Earth from other energy aliens. The usual run of the mill DC alien hero fare. Total disappointment. Still, you did get a Wrightson drawn Justice League out of the deal.

The Weird blew up at the end of the series, but he was brought back in 2006’s Mystery In Space and then promptly forgotten about. Hey, what do you want, it’s comics.

The earliest part of the 90’s was a peak of my interest in comic books. 

In 1990-1992, I bought every Marvel book that came out. And at the time, for the most part, I enjoyed all of them. During this period there was some expansion, as Marvel stretched out and launched four books at once. Quasar, Namor, Guardians of the Galaxy and New Warriors. Two solo books and two team books. I was beyond excited. I had previously been teased by a luke warm Moon Knight series (a personal favorite for no real reason) but was excited, particularly for this futuristic, space odyssey. 

Maybe it was my father’s love for Star Trek and hard sci paperbacks, or my love for Star Wars, but the galactic realm was always one I dug when it was done right. And while I wouldn’t say there was a faithful sci-fi approach to the Guardians of the Galaxy series of the early 90’s, it was a fun romp. 

As an excited 11 year old, I also was very wrapped up in the world of Marvel’s Merry Mutants. Anything with an “X” on it meant gold to me. Marvel must’ve thought you spelled money like “XXXXX” at that point. With some perspective, Guardians were most likely suffering a bit of a slump or at the least a quick jump-in point for anyone who was familiar with Wolverine but not necessarily Martinex. 

Enter… Rancor. You know, Wolverine’s descendent on a planet of Mutants. Cover by Rob Liefeld to boot!!

A three issue series that actually was at least somewhat successful. The story bled into the next, and was revisited about 10-15 issues later. Another image defector, like Liefeld, Jim Valentino was actually a pretty big gear on the GOTG boat in this era. The back story was fast and loose, but for cheap fun, these three issues were unstoppable. A fun, futuristic, Earth-691 take on what would become of the Marvel Mutantverse. 

Oh! And who woulda thunk it, a future Phoenix! Honestly, a great read and you can get all three issues here on the cheap. Definitely pick these up for a fun alternaverse look. Definitely better than X-Men 2099.

Avengers #277

“The Price of Victory”

Roger Stern, John Buscema. I professed my love of this era, and this issue before, but I wanted to expand upon that, and center in on one of the issues that made me love comic books.

Absolutely, no questions asked one of the best single issues of any comic book series I’ve ever read. It has it all. Some action, some defeat, some destructive villains and a little bit of humanity. And by humanity, I mean Captain America crying.

A little background…

Basically the Masters of Evil had taken over the Avengers Mansion. At this period the Avengers had been going through some Atlantis drama, Namor, Attuma, etc.. and returned to some major issues. But this wasn’t your run of the mill Masters of Evil. Throw in Moonstone, Blackout, Goliath, Tiger Shark, Hyde, The Absorbing Man, and the Wrecking Crew, along with a out-of-his-mind-and-perfect Baron Zemo and wham – what amounts to the best Avengers’ conflict of the decade. A real great mix of second tier villains that had been thinned, but somewhat victorious by the beginning of this issue. Which brings us to an unbelievable mix that makes me think Roger Stern should be a part of this Avengers renaissance that’s currently going down. 

The Avengers get their second wind and overcome the bad guys, culminating in a great Zemo / Cap confrontation. Cap takes the victory, but then the watershed moment at the end as he cries over a ripped photo of his mother, his only one. This specific issue in the auction claims a 9.4 grading, which at the paltry $2.24 means it’s not an actual grading. Regardless, this issue is priceless and a MUST READ for any fan of super hero comics. Nuff Said.

We’ve posted some really top tier original art. But with that top tier comes top tier prices.

What’s out there for people on a budget? 

It’s not as grim as it may seem. You just need to scour a little bit. Dig. And decide what’s important to you – is it the artist? Is it the specific piece? Is it the characters involved? Depending on your answer, you can really narrow it down and find some bargains therein. And so, to that, an example or two. 

A lot to like about this piece. Cool panel layout, really clear shot of Doctor Octopus in full action, and then an iconic Spidey shot with Doc Ock in the corner. All in all, great page. Now why is it starting at $19.99 with no bids? A few reasons. The artist is Kevin West, who despite having worked on some definite name titles, doesn’t particularly strike wonder into the casual reader. To be honest, I am not familiar with the name though I have read books he’s worked on. Second, and more importantly, this is from WHAT IF? #42, so an out of continuity piece that doesn’t necessarily have any sort of “relevance” in the grand scheme of things. However, if you just dig Doc Ock and want a cool piece, this seems like a steal to me. 

I have to say that this is a GREAT piece. Iconic artist Joe Staton (though far from a household name) was a staple artist of the DCU of the late 70’s into the early 80’s. This page is from a 1981 issue of Green Lantern and is at a relatively affordable $199 buy it now… however I bet a solid “or best offer” would get this one. This isn’t a splash page and doesn’t have a ton of action, but damn if it isn’t cool and have a couple of good looks at ol’ Hal Jordan. 

And so here we drop into the big spender category. Big name artist, big name characters, high profile project, cover page. That’s like a red bull mixed with a five hour energy drink with a handful of ginseng tablets as a chaser. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. The Marc Silvestri cover for the X-Men Messiah Complex one shot. You get one of the biggest name artists in comic history drawing a cover for not only one of the biggest comic teams in history, but the one he became a legend on. So… when you ask yourself, “why is this $4000?!?”… well So do I. But those are some reasons that I will accept, and just acknowledge there’s a lot of people with much more disposable income than I.

Considering this movie produced an onslaught of mediocre to bad follow ups, I argue this. 

The original was just that good. Charlton Heston at (near) his best, and pretty good adaptation for the time period. Sci-fi fans and comic nerds alike should rejoice on this classic. 

The novel upon which the movie is based, not, as the description details, the “tie in” to the movie. 

Krull, aka the hardest, aka the wisdom. Love this dude. 

P.S. – “WHO LET THE APES OUT?” 

Thanos. Adam Warlock. Gamora. Nebula. Silver Surfer.

And one of my favorite Captain America scenes. 

That’s right woodchuck chuckers – it’s the Infinity Gauntlet. Unlike it’s sequel and trequel… this miniseries ruled. It was the first major stand alone series post Secret Wars, as crossover events such as Inferno and Acts of Vengeance didn’t have any stand alone issues. The ‘Gauntlet jumped off the stands at me from the first issue, the cover just a magnificent and dark piece that made me go… wha??

And it just so happens here’s a banger of a poster that replicates that very cover. So cool. Up until this point in my life, I didn’t know what the infinity gems were. Life has been made THAT much better because of this knowledge. Thanks, Jim Starlin and George Perez.

This seller has a whole lot of original artwork up right now. Definitely worth checking out.

These are the two I’d choose to bid on, had I the money.

A 1983 Jack Kirby redesign(?) of every one’s favorite Darkseid flunky Desaad, and an awesome Bill Sienkiewicz Black Widow sketch.

I’ve always been someone who roots for the underdog. 

Honestly, that’s why I liked Marvel over DC. The characters, even the top tier, were flawed. What’s wrong with Superman? Some dumb rock? C’mon. 

But under that first tier of DC characters is where it actually gets interesting. The Super-Powers post below is a great reflection of that – so many characters that the average person doesn’t know. And one of my favorites was always Red Tornado.

Long story short, he’s an android / robot… sorta. Anyways, the mid-80’s series is great. I wish I could find some better images of the covers (one below, but all of them are sweet), but this is a pretty cool ad. Remember seeing it and being drawn in. 

I loved a miniseries that starts with a cover of Superman dressing down this dude with the rest of the JLA in the background. I can’t speak for the most recent series, but I’ve heard good things. And it’s cheap…

And, even though I am partial to the old Kenner Super Powers collection, this DCU Classic Wave figure is pretty hot. DC, while I’ve got your attention, I want a life size bust of Guy Gardner with the bowl cut. Guaranteed seller.