Chris and Walt get optimistic about the coming year. The boys make recommendations on how you can go out and do your part to make 2021 a winner for the comic book collecting community.
Please let us know what you thought of the show and please feel free to add to any of the topics we discussed.
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Thanks so much for mentioning the unsung writers of comics. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who are incredibly interested in the fact that I am involved in comics, and then their eyes glaze over when they find out I am “only the writer.” Well, folks, there wouldn’t be much for your favourite artist to do if there weren’t a story to base their pictures on, would there?
In T-shirts, I have had the time of my life over the last couple of years getting one of a kind Ts made for me. I have covers of Nelvana and Fantastic Four #55 (I actually finally noticed that Ben Grimm has four fingers and a thumb on his right hand on this cover!?) to wear proudly around town. I have also done a number of Ts that include my own work such as the cover of Bootleg Comics and Stories #1, a lovely last page (by R.G.Taylor) from a story I wrote about Andy Brast of Carry On Comics that portrays his storefront (now for sale at the store) and you can also buy one of my T-shirts with my character Eddie the Fly, available through Studiocomix Press. Hope you don’t mind the shameless plug.
I’ve really been enjoying the new (and improved?) Comic Culture. Thanks for all the fun and insight!
cheers, mel
Chris: Do you have a giant sized man-thing?
Walter: yes i do but I keep it at home
Comedy gold right there folks!!!!
Well…another good show… I listened to it twice! I know that lust for a comic as well… but I will say I more often bide my time and pounce when the gettings good and have picked up some of my favorites at affordable prices! Yes to migrating to a title or genre that gives pleasure of the hunt and thrill in the catch but also… does NOT break the budget! I don’t even need to give my opinion on displaying, love it and keeps me both engaged with my collection, keeps my looking for more … I don’t have just a bunch of boxes with prized catches! Where my failing is, is the sojourn to my favorite comic stores as its a 2-2.5 round trip excursion. Yes… the end game… my wife is definitely not listening to THAT segment or it might be tomorrow! Keep healthy!
Gerald, I always share my excel spreadsheet containing the collection with my wife and make sure she knows ‘this is what WE paid, not what they are worth’…she knows exactly what to do when I go 🙂
I also find using the term ‘we’ and ‘our’ when discussing the collection has assisted in a smooth marital environment.
I just finished discussing 2 beautiful comics I just bought from Walter with her…I think her anticipation to read about Black Cats’ developing relationship with Spider-man is…..tepid at best
Very happy that CC is back. Great for me as I really haven’t had the opportunity to get into these kinds of discussions at any LCS.
I don’t really care for the completist circles etc. However I am entirely on board with a strain – and mine is now covers that I really dig below the price point of a few bucks a book. This was brought on by the cover exercise of 2019-20 – there are so many fantastic and affordable covers from the 1980s on, and if I dig and dig and dig and buy and dig and dig and buy, it isn’t going to add up to the price of one “big” book from the other side of the collection.
However – unfortunately to go against the “positives” theme – I just hit on this desire at the end of 2019, and was really looking forward to going to some cons and doing this digging. Doing this online just doesn’t work for two and a half reasons. The half reason is that it really isn’t as much fun. The others are 1) it’s really hard to tell condition of raw books if you aren’t holding them, 2) the shipping costs really add up. I’ve seen a lot of books that I would pay the price for – but not with $5 shipping. I’m not going to fight that $1 you talked about, but I’m not paying $5 shipping for a $3 book.
The discussion on this site about whether it is even worth setting up at cons in the future is more cold water on my collecting strain. I was really looking forward to heading to Baltimore in particular. So far they are forging ahead with Baltimore for this autumn, so all of my fingers are crossed. I am cautiously optimistic – I think the stratospheric prices for the slabbed books might reinvigorate the lower end if the collecting community can keep growing.
My t-shirt: Strange Tales #89.
Here’s another Mercer Star Wars homage I dug up:
https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?ItemID=51247737
Mel, we’ll keep singing the praises of writers, you keep amassing those cool t-shirts! Say hi to Andy for me next time you’re at Carry-On, great shop.
Spider, Chris and I are alchemists, we turn beer into gold.
Gerald, please don’t tell anyone you listened to us twice, its for your own protection.
Chris, I love that cover to #89, is the t-shirt white? Also, I think you should find good one day local shows when things open back up. We have a good one in Toronto, just comic book dealers, maybe 30 of us and the table prices allow us to bring out $2 bins and $5 bins. We’ll be doing those shows for sure.
Oh yes… you covered so much… about other comic sites… I will try Reddit Chris. I have gone to other sites in the past but found a couple where the younger contributors seem to spend most of their time talking how the Silver age was the worst age and serious comics didn’t start until the 70’s. I also went to a site that they discussed DC’s possible demise in the publishing arena and everyone was saying it was polarized American politics and leftist leanings by writers ( no one even mentioned the Direct Market and the fact comics must be bought exclusively at specialty stores)So I was a bit turned off by all that… but I’ll try Reddit… even if it means getting and app. I don’t have a cover t-shirt but I do have an House that Archie Built in house vintage splash page t-shirt… does that count?
Great show and topics.
If you are looking for alternates, let’s say to early Stan Lee, then try Black Rider 8. Cool gunslinger cover. And it is 70 + years old and a fraction of the price of a Cap 3.
Cool comics I have found included a stop at an antique store in Hattiesburg, Ms. I found a Pep Comics 67, it felt thin, yes, no centerfold. The cover with Betty and Veronica sold me, Archie, Jughead and Reggie also appear. And there was a sixth character on the cover which turned out to be the artist Al Fagaly. Best $10 I spent.
Writing…….you are so right. I recall in the early 1970s there was a push to honour the neglected movie writers. All agreed back then and 50 years later you have reignited the writing issue. The problem is we don’t read much more than what we are told is great, such as Fantastic Four 48-50, which came out in 1966. However if we believe this we may miss out on other great written comics from 1966 such as Herbie or Daredevil. Your Dreadstar comment was bang on.
Yes, I made a list of the best written comic titles by year. The best written comic of all time by number of great issues per year is Marvel Comics Presents #68-96 from 1991. Only issues 72 and 73 would cost more than nominal. Happy reading and call your comic store and ask for these issues. Chances are the price is right.
Walt
I was just thinking of your “collecting strains” concept and my mind wandered to a time when I was getting a bit bored with collecting, and my wife suggested I should look into some of the other creators who were also featured in Caliber Presents back in the day when I too was contributing to the title. Seemed like a reasonable suggestion at the time until I realized that Callber was like the farm team for many of the comics of the ’90s and beyond. I suddenly had a list of names that included (believe it or not) Vince Locke, Tim Vigil, James O’Barr, Guy Davis, Phil Hester, Stuart Immonen, Patrick Zircher, Ed Brubaker, Dave Cooper, Jason Lutes, Matt Howarth, David Mack, Brian Michael Bendis Michael Gaydos and Michael Lark, to name but a few! Suddenly a huge collecting strain has fallen into my lap and it looks like this will keep me going for a while…AND! Most of these books are under five bucks!
cheers, mel