Ethan Kaye’s Discount Discoveries!

January 27, 2009 on 11:38 am | In Comics, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Hi, Wizard blog readers. This is Ethan Kaye from over at Feed Me A Kitten, one of Wizard’s other popular blogs. At least I think it’s popular. Please read it, won’t you? Anyway, I want to weigh in on one of my favorite aspects of comic book conventions, be it Wizard World, Comic Con, or even the little con in the local Holiday Inn where large men argue over which Wolverine issue was better inked (and they will argue about this for hours and then ruin their friendship over it): discount comics.

See, originally, the cons were about the books. Dealers would set up with some boxes full of old stuff and if you normally couldn’t find a copy of Spectacular Spider-Man #18, well, now you could. Now a lot of those books are being sold in pretty good condition for next to nothing at cons all over the world, and you can get in on the action! All you need is money, a list of books you want, and something to carry them all in (bookbags = awesome, suitcases = not as awesome, tote bags = ha ha ha).

I go to cons with a good idea of what I’m looking for and willing to accept in not so great condition. For example, I’m not going to spend my time and money tracking down a VF condition Moon Knight vol. 1 #9, because honestly? Who cares? I’m not a perfectionist, I’m a completionist, and having that issue finishes the run for me. So I’m willing to flip through a box of back issues, keep my eye out for an issue number, and then determine if it’s worth my 50 cents. For instance, if the cover looks like someone used it to roll cigars, I won’t get that one. But a ding in the spine? Sure, it fills the hole in my collection.

I’ll admit, I keep a book. It’s a little pocket thing that lets me know what issues I still need of a certain title. It’s helped me out more times than I can count, and it’s helped me get complete runs of some dynamite stuff. You don’t have to have a list, but then you run the risk of getting doubles of something, which means you just blew your dollar.

I was able to get the entire 1980’s Manhunter series for a dollar an issue at cons. I’ve put together entire runs of Mister Miracle (the 80’s relaunch), the first run of Moon Knight (minus issue #1, that’s a little more than a dollar, I think I paid $5 for mine), the 1991 Ragman series, The Dreaming, Books of Magic, and the entire 252-issue run of the Flash (the Wally West series). A dollar each, sometimes less, occasionally more depending on the issue. They’re just sitting there, waiting to be liquidated by dealers who don’t want the stock taking up shelf space.

Currently my want list is small, although I scored big time at the Big Apple Comic Con by finding a box full of Bronze Age Detective Comics for $1 each. And you can too! My advice is pick a series that is good but doesn’t get a ton of revivals or press (for instance, you won’t find every issue of Watchmen or Flex Mentallo in a quarter bin unless the condition is low), and see what prices are. A lot of 1980’s and 1990’s DC and Marvel books end up in the graveyard of discount bins, but you also have to realize that a lot of that stuff isn’t good. There were a lot of mediocre comics back in the day, as everyone will admit to now.

So go out and find some treasures! For discount prices I’m sure you can get the majority of Justice League International/Europe, 90’s X-Force, Checkmate, Suicide Squad, any Venom miniseries, House of Secrets, Action Comics, Morbius (hell, any of the “Midnight Sons” books), or 80’s/90’s Punisher! Go ahead! Spend a few bucks!

Discount Discoveries: X-Force #15-25

January 16, 2009 on 12:18 pm | In Comics, Uncategorized | No Comments

I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy sitting on a gummy floor for hours on end, sifting through unbagged and randomly assorted comics in various stages of use, wear and tear. I seriously cannot resist a bargain, especially when I see literal metric tons (I DO carry a scale with me at all times, you know) of brightly colored newspaper and staples sitting in cardboard boxes marked “$0.25 each.” There is no sight more glorious! And since I know you’re a comic fan as well (why else would you have surfed to the outer rim of wizarduniverse.com?), I know you like getting your fingers dirtied by newsprint as much as I do. So here I am, giving you a little bit of advice on one particular run of comics that you could complete for a mere $2.75 (if you are shopping in the cardboard box that I described above).

X-FORCE #15-25
by FABIAN NICIEZA & GREG CAPULLO

I get hassled a lot for my love of the ’90s X-Force series, but the love is a genuine one for stories that are a lot better than people remember and definitely a lot better than the circumstances they came out of. I mean, series co-creator Rob Liefeld has a lot of strong suits but serious plots with solid characterization…kinda not as important as big guns. With issue #15, Fabian Nicieza first teamed-up with Greg Capullo and effectively began transitioning the team out of Liefeld-land and into something a bit more complex. Well, they started before being derailed by Big Crossover 1992.
Man, I could spend a whole ‘nother blog just writing why “X-Cutioner’s Song” rules, but that IS a whole ‘nother blog. Anyway, Nicieza somehow managed to make his team’s contribution one that really commented on the main theme of the series: the struggle for independence. The issue leading right out of the “Song” is the best issue of X-Force ever and easily one of the best comics of the ’90s, period.

With this issue, X-Force strikes out on their own without Cable, Professor X, or any adult to guide them. This is what X-Force should have been from the start, a series about teenagers struggling to turn into the adults they want to be instead of the adults their parents want them to be. Plus, Capullo redesigned the team’s uniforms in this issue.

Yeah, those are pretty much my favorite uniforms ever.

X-Force was still X-Force, though, just with a new layer of characterization and the superb storytelling of Capullo tossed on top. Yes, Shatterstar DID fight War Machine. And it was way awesome. But what was even more awesome were the dynamics that Nicieza started to work in. Cannonball became an extremely competent and confident leader while Shatterstar, Sunspot and Rictor all formed a bond similar to the 3 Stooges (they thought it was a great idea to dump an immortal villain into the ocean).

There were really no missteps in this run and Capullo didn’t have a single fill-in. He only managed to do eleven issues, but those eleven issues tell a pretty complete story full of character arcs (and lots of fighting, it IS X-Force). Since his run was mainly characterized by the team’s flying solo status, it only fits that Capullo’s last issue featured the mandatory return of Cable.

Nicieza wisely matured Cable, making him less of a gun-toting sociopath who was way okay with murdering villains after they surrendered and more of a gun-toting father figure. The last issue of this duo’s run is pretty great, managing to comment on both their history as a team and as the New Mutants and give fans the Magneto vs. Cable brawl they never knew they wanted.

If you see any of these issues in the discount bargain bins, snatch them up. They’re well worth it and still not collected in trade paperback, no matter HOW many letters I’ve hand-written to Marvel.

-Brett