So I bet you’re wondering where the Official William Shatner Website Forum stands on the whole gay superhero thing. Well, wonder no more, effendi:
“A gay Superman and other annoyances”
“Jay Leno mentioned in his monologue tonite that in the upcoming “Superman Returns” that our new Superman comes across as gay. Just what the world needs today, a gay Superman.”
“Why can’t gay folks create their own heros? This is not an attack, but a genuine question. I am sure that there are plenty of historical role models who were gay. Why not choose one of them to immortalize in the comics?”
“From what I read, it’s not that they made Superman gay (unlike Batwoman who’s history they’re rewriting to make her a lesbian) but rather bad acting and writing makes him SEEM gay.”
“I thought Superman was already gay.
Just look at his choice of outfit.”“It’s axiomatic that a guy with the power of flight is going to be light in the loafers but I’ll wait to watch the DVD before I pass judgement.”
I believe this person is trying to make a point of some kind:
“I’m trying really hard to be gay cuz I think it’ll be really cool and fun. I like girls, but I think they’ll understand if I decide to be brokeback for a while. I can’t wait! This will be the thrill of a lifetime!”
The James Randi Educational Foundation Forum has some thoughts on the matter as well:
“Twenty plus years of Vertigo, the Watchmen, Maus, Strangers in Paradise, and the rest, but somehow this the mainstream media waits for this very tepid bit to make a big deal about?”
“I think you’re missing one crucial piece of the puzzle:
“‘Originally Posted by CNN.com article:
(DC Comics, like CNN, is a division of Time Warner.)'”
So the whole “gay Batwoman” thing has inspired some related lines of inquiry:
“Should Lois become a Lesbian?”
“Let’s face it, if Lesbians are this trendy, maybe DC’s most endurung female character should take the plunge. People have been complaining for years about how ‘stale’ the marrage is, this is one way to really perk it up. You would’nt have to to worry about the Clark, Lois, Superman triangle, because you could have the Superman, Lois, Wonder Woman Triangle or the Lois, Lana, Lori triangle to add a bit of seafood. Let’s face it, Lois has always been pretty butch so the transition should be easy. I say, strike while the iron is hot, or whatever.”
“HELL NO!!!!!!! why does everyone want gay charactors.Im not against them but I dont think everyone needs to go gay,just my opinion,”
“I hear they’re gonna do a Vicki Vale, Catwoman, and Julie Madison triangle first.
If enough people don’t retch, they may actually consider doing something similar with the Super-Family.”“That would pretty much be the dumbest idea yet. Seems like DC couldn’t have made a bigger mistake by turning characters gay. Now all we have is talk about what characters should be next. Whatever happened to discussing stories?”
“i hear lois will be a lesbo in ‘Singerman Returns.’ This is an ‘issues’ movie after all, and her kid was artificially inseminated.”
“Well I guess some of you have finally figured out what DC’s next big crossover event is going to be, Sexual Identity Crisis. When the Rainbow Raider and Trickster get together for a little fun something goes wrong, terribly wrong and before they know it 99% of the people on Earth have changed their sexual preference.”
“I say make every one gay in the DCU for a year and all of the gay/lesbian characters straight and make all of the white characters black and the black/brown//yellow characters white and the green characters red and the blue characters orange.”
“f they go the Batwoman route, then they should bring in “Lois Lane” as a totally new character–no relation to the other Lois Lane and all the previous continuity instantly becomes defunct. This character then has a relationship with Maggie Sawyer. Sawyer dies, and Lois becomes Superwoman to avenge Maggie’s death.”
“I think it would be dumb to maker a lesbian. Better to make her a polyamorous bi-sexual.”
“Yes Lois should become a lesbian.She should then have an affair with Lana Lang and then Wonder Woman and then have one big lesbian orgy with the previously mentioned and Selina Kyle,Supergirl,Powergirl and of course Renne Montoya & Kate Kane…hell why stop there,why not make it an orgy with every female in the DC Universe invited.
My sarcasm amuses me…”“If people really want to read about DC characters gettin down n’ dirty with each other then there are PLENTY of fan fiction sites on the net.”
“Always kinda pondered on this paticular thought of should our Bats ever be forced to have no choice but to face off for the sake of ALL humanity (just say all his other commrades including Kal, Kara, Diana, Kara Zor-L… ect are down for the count by this stage on the DCU’s earth) against the almighty demonic Kryptonian smarts and might of ol’ Zod HIMSELF exactly how would y’all here possibly see the only logical outcome of this here dire situation playing out as?”
“wouldn’t happen
DC wouldn’t let Batman face this kind of enemy. […] But Zod would win”“I wouldn’t write off Batman just yet. Zod has one major obvious flaw, his colossal arrogance. Still, if it comes down to these two, I agree Earth is pretty much screwed.”
“…Batman will never fall to ANY character, let alone a wimp like ZOD!”
“Zod trying to get the batsmear of his boots would take longer then the actuall fight.”
“It’s Zod. Why does he even care about Batman? why try and find him and fight him up close and personal-like? Why not just throw one of Jupiter’s moons at Gotham City… and then another at Metropolis… maybe a third into New York City… Halley’s Comet into Paris… Phobos at Tokyo…
That should take care of the Batman pretty well, along with pretty much all other life on Earth as well.
I’m sure Batman has plans somewhere for how he can use just the right leverage and tautness on his grapple to save the Earth from a bombardment of astronomical objects… but can he do it without setting himself up for a long-range heat vision sniper shot?”“Actually you can’t disregard kryptonite bullets.”
“Ah, but you’re forgetting that Batman, being a complete wuss, absolutely refuses to kill.”
OH NO YOU DIDN’T:
“Does anyone else think Gil Kane was a hack?”
“I mean he takes Alan Scott, adds some air force fighter pilot Cold War propaganda, and then does a bunch of crappy and poorly drawn panels. Its an insult to the creators before and since who actually put thought into their work.”
Someone apparently waited ’til now to get pissed about the Silver Age revamp of the Green Lantern concept (though most likely it’s just someone purposefully flame-baiting). Most of the responding commenters deliver Kane-style roundhouse punches to the very idea.
“The funny thing about it is that [the poster] may have united most of the GL fans on this board for once…against him!”
On Saturday I took a look at a few oddities on the eBay, including a Silver Surfer hologram from the first Marvel Universe set that didn’t sell for its minimum bid of $0.01. As I noted, that was quite the comedown for an item that, as I recall, once had a large consumer demand.
I thought that for today, I’d take a brief glance at a few other items that did or did not sell on the eBay for one measly penny for whatever reason (beyond some of the more…optimistic shipping charges some of these items have):
“10 plastic comic book bags. Excellent condition, but slightly used. Fits current standard comic size.
Pictures available on request.”
With a “Buy It Now” price of $10.00, and a $10.00 shipping fee. There’s “balls,” and then there’s “BALLS.”
“1 Cent WIZARD COMICS MAGAZINE 150th Rare As New SH$1.99” – You know, if you’re a store, and you ever have any Wizard Magazines left over when the next issue arrives, you’re gonna be stuck with them, pretty much.
“GOLD KEY 1966 Gomer Pyle Issue #2!” – Okay, it’s not in mint shape, by any means, but it’s a ’60s TV comic, with a photo cover, and the shipping is reasonable ($2.50, running my zip code through the shipping calculator)…wonder why nobody snapped it up?
“Cathy (Comic Strip) Coffee Mug” – There’s no mystery why this didn’t sell for a penny…IT’S CATHY.
“Uncanny X-Men 305-314 books Magneto HOT MOVIE” – Even the promise of a HOT MOVIE can’t seem to move these vastly overprinted mutant books. Part of it might be the shipping costs (a run through the shipping calculator indicates $11.00 for priority, or $8.66 parcel post…these would easily fit in a $4.05 flat rate priority envelope (for example), and even the flat rate priority box is only $8.10.)
“MAXX 1-4 SAM KIETH IMAGE” – I honestly don’t get this. On one hand, I realize that there are probably more copies of the first four issues of The Maxx in the world than there are of, say, copies of The Bible. But, on the other hand, at least at our shop, The Maxx is still an enormous back issue seller. Not a week goes by when I don’t have to restock our depleted Maxx section. It’s possible it’s just a local market condition, but I still find myself baffled by the non-sale of this particular auction.
“BUGS BUNNY COMIC BOOK ANTIQUE ISSUE #2 RARE HARD 2 FIND”
“HERE YOU WILL FIND A FASTINATING BIT OF COMIC HISTORY, I HAVE FOR YOUR CONCIDERATION AND BID, A # 2 ISSUE OF ( THE BEST OF BUG’S BUNNY ), THE COMIC IS IN GOOD READABLE SHAPE AND WOULD MAKE A WOUNDERFUL CONVERSATION PIECE TO ANY HOME.”
“Droids #1 Star/Marvel 1986 VF/NM C3PO R2D2 No Res” – Believe it or not, there was once a time when even these Droids comics were in huge demand, as some of the “rarest” Star Wars funnybook tie-ins.
“Batman Silver Laser Engraved Dog Tag Keychain Plate D11”
“These engraved pendants are the hottest items in malls and kiosks. Each pendant is created using impact metal engraving. This technology creates dazzling image reproduction. View the pictures and note how detailed the images are.”
“MAD MAGAZINE 217 1980 Alfred Neuman for President Comic” – Mads seem to be hard sells on the eBay, unless they’re really early issues in very nice condition. I did want to link to this one since it has one of my all-time favorite Mad covers.
“Robin II #1 Hologram Comic (1991) -Joker!!- Ships Cheap” – DC’s insane “each issue will have multiple covers, and we’ll sell all the variations together in one package, and the number of variants will decrease as the series continues” publishing strategy on this series had this end result: too many copies of this mini-series running around, clogging up collections and store backrooms. No wonder this auction didn’t sell for a penny.
“Taboo #8 Kitchen Sink Press trade paperback” – Not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but we sold one of these a while back for a few bucks, while this one didn’t sell for anything. Don’t see any reason why, beyond having the good timing of putting up a Taboo #8 at the same time someone was looking for one.
“1979 DC Comics Inc. Superman Nutcracker collectible” – This would have been worth a penny just for the nightmare fuel alone:
“SWORDS OF CEREBUS VOL.1” – Used to be that I’d be able to sell the Swords of Cerebus volumes for $5 to $10 apiece fairly consistently…then all of a sudden demand dropped off, and I ended up with a few Swords auctions ending without bids. We must have hit the eBay’s Swords of Cerebus saturation point.
“SPIDER-MAN BLACK CAT EVIL.MEN DO 1-6 comic lot full st” – Wasn’t this a hot series at one point? I know we were moving copies pretty consistently, even during the two-year publishing gap in the middle of the series. Even with the $8.95 shipping, that still works out to only $1.50 an issue, or half cover price. Not bad.
“UNCANNY X MEN#277 gAmBiT VS. w0lVeRiNeeeeeeeeeeee” – You know, the only way you’re gonna grab the people using the eBay search function to find their favorite character “ww0lVeRiNeeeeeeeeeeee” is by making sure “w0lVeRiNeeeeeeeeeeee” appears somewhere in the title or auction text. (But hey, he got his penny, who am I to judge?)
“Wilbur #47 1953 NR” – the “NR” stands for “No reserve price,” in case you were wondering. Anyway, getting this early Wilbur for a penny is a score, even with the $7.05 shipping fees.
“Phantom Skull Ring (Metal) *SEALED*” – Okay, this is pretty cool. “Very Rare to find brand new and never opened! Don’t worry if you lose the bid, I got over 100 of them:)” Fantastic.
“Nevermind” – I like the cat picture.
Tom Spurgeon has a good overview of the man’s importance to the comics medium.
So, Saturday at the store, we laughed at a customer because he had cancer.
…
Perhaps I should explain that.
Customer Rob was talking to Employee Aaron about his enjoyment of the current Jonah Hex series. At one point in the conversation, Rob asked if Aaron had read the previous Vertigo Jonah Hex series. Aaron replied in the negative, and Rob mentioned that one of his favorite parts of those series was Hex’s flippant replies to questions about his hideously-scarred face:
“Jonah, what happened to your face?”
“Cut myself shaving.”
Or:
“Jonah, how’d you get your scars?”
“Bit my lip.”
You know, like that.
Anyway, after saying that, Rob pulled up his shirt slightly, revealing a long operation scar, and stated that he should use responses similar to Hex’s when people inquire about his scar.
Aaron then asked, “So, how did you get that scar?”
Rob: “Cancer operation.”
Aaron (thinking that was a Hex-esque response): “Oh…ha ha!”
Rob: “Um…no, really, it was a cancer operation.”
Aaron: “…”
And of course me, being Mr. Sensitive, immediately jumped in and made things worse for my minion by exclaiming in mock shock: “Aaron! You didn’t just laugh at a customer for having cancer, did you?” There was then much merriment had by all, poking fun at Aaron’s mortification, and Rob was laughing harder than any of us.
Anyway, I should emphasize that 1) Rob has been a good customer of ours for many years, 2) he wasn’t offended by this incident in the slightest, 3) he’s been thankfully cancer-free since his operation, and 4) he reads this site, and gave permission to relate this story. (In fact, if anything he gives me grief for not mentioning him more often…so there you go, Rob, a whole entry just about you!)
WHO…
…said that these History Channel “Digging for Truth” comics were “recalled?” A quick Google search didn’t turn anything up on it, and given we still have about one gazillion of these at the store, clearly word of any recall never reached us. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, just that it was news to me.
However, that’s not the reason I’m pointing out this auction. The reason is that this seller managed to get $1.99 for it. That’s quite tempting. Quite tempting, indeed.
WHAT…
…the hell?
“Here is a 1 ounce .999 PURE silver ingot picturing Garfield. Proof condition.”
WHEN…
…will these Marvel trading card holograms ever be in demand again? Heck, when will Marvel trading cards period be in demand again? It’s hard to believe, but we used to be able to sell sealed box after sealed box of Marvel cards. People used to think nothing of buying a whole box of, say, “Marvel Masterpieces” as an impulse buy, along with that week’s comics. And chase cards like the Silver Surfer hologram I linked to were red hot…if I told people then that years from now, these cards wouldn’t sell for a penny, they’d think I was nuts.
Nowadays my primary business with Marvel cards usually involves people trying to sell their complete sets to us, rather than us moving any sets out.
WHERE…
…in the world is the first printing of Countdown to Infinite Crisis considered “rare?” Because I’ve got a number of copies left I’d love to sell there.
WHY…
…would anyone want to own a Patrick Stewart “Life Mask?”
“It is life-size, realistic and heavy. It has been mounted with a hook to be hung for display. […] It was hung in my nephew’s room but it freaked him out at night so was stored until this auction. The detail is so life-like, especially with the proper lighting. It looks as though he is getting ready for a Psioninc mental attack!”
Geez, could you blame the nephew?
HOW…
…in God’s name did Star Wars: Legacy #0, currently selling for a quarter in every comic book store across the country, manage to sell for $19.31 in this auction? Was it just panic-buying before the comic’s actual release? Did the bidder think he/she was getting something else? Did the bidder think that he/she had to pay for using all the desktop pictures that 90% of the auction text links to?
So for some reason, I had a bit of a weblogging malaise over the last couple of days. I’d sit there, the blank Blogger text box staring at me, and I’d just not feel the urge to write. Part of it may be attributable to the recent “absorption” of some group ‘blogs by larger comic news sites. Several posts a day, on several topics, by many good writers…all the news and all the reviews you could possibly want, with large audiences fed into them by their respective host sites. I certainly hope this doesn’t come across as any sort of ill will against Comics Should Be Good at Comic Book Resources or Blog@Newsarama (formerly “The Great Curve”), both of which provide fine and entertaining reading. I just…well, even though I know I really shouldn’t have felt this way, I couldn’t help but feel that my site was just a tad on the redundant side. I mean, what can my site offer that these sites don’t already provide?
And then, just like that, my malaise vanished, as I realized what it was that my site has that those other sites don’t.
My site has me.
Well, duh. And I don’t mean “my site has me” in an “I’m the greatest, yay me” kind of way. I mean that in a “well, I think my point of view is still worth something, and it’s not exactly duplicated by anyone else…so maybe my site isn’t that redundant after all.”
And I’m getting a few thousand people visiting my site every day, and they can’t all be Google hits from people looking for nekkid pictures of Smallville actresses, so there’s at least a few of you out there who still enjoying my goofy ramblings.
So, thank you for reading, and thank you for putting up with my occasional moody spells. I don’t plan on going anywhere. Well, unless some much larger site decides to buy me out. (C’mon, Dietcoke.com…surely you guys need a comic ‘blog!)
(And if you don’t like me or my weblog, there’s always this site for your Mike-disliking needs.)
Enough weepy whining…let’s whip into a couple of the new books that came out this week:
Wonder Woman #1 – The much ballyhooed, though strangely mysterious (given the lack of info we had about it ahead of time) debut of the Amazon’s newest series is finally out, and…well, it’s certainly a gorgeous looking book. Terry and Rachel Dodson draw a mean comic, but the story, by Allan Heinberg…don’t get me wrong, it was fine, it sets up the new storyline well, but the book just felt like it took about two minutes to read. Maybe it’s just a result of my normal fast-paced reading, but when I got to the last page my immediate thought was “that’s it?”
Punisher #34 – This cover has me looking forward to this situation: kids grabbing the comic off the shelf to see just what is being censored, and giggling when they find out that it’s a word that they’ve heard plenty of times on TV and from their parents, only now it’s funny because they’re seeing it in a comic book. Ah, just kiddin’, sorta. It’s hard to top throwing a “CENSORED” on the cover to get people’s attention, though.
Tag #1 – Honestly, the last thing in the world I want to see is yet another zombie comic. I mean, what’s wrong with having a mummy comic once in a while? When will it be the Mummy’s time to shine? Well, ignore all that, since Boom! Studios, along with Keith Giffen and Kody Chamberlain, has released the first issue of Tag, which, believe it or not, finds another tack to take with the zombie genre. The hero, Mitch, gets “tagged” by a horribly-decomposed zombie, and in short order, discovers that he too is now dead and beginning to rot. A nice twist is having Mitch’s only ally in his search to discover what happened to him be the girlfriend with whom he was in the process of breaking up. It’s a nightmarish situation, competently and breezily conveyed by Chamberlain’s moody art and Giffen’s natural and witty dialogue. A particularly disturbing element is…well, have you ever become “aware” of your breathing? Something that’s normally an automatic function, and then all of a sudden you’re aware of the effort you’re putting into your breathing, and then, for a few brief moments, you feel like you have to put a conscious effort into filling your lungs. That comes into play in this comic, and it’s made even more horrifying in that while in the real world, that feeling eventually goes away. For someone on his way to becoming a zombie…well, it’s a slightly more disturbing story….
Star Wars: Legacy #0 – All of Dark Horse Comics’ other 25-cent “#0” comics have been actual comics…panels, word balloons, gutters, the works. We fully expected Star Wars: Legacy #0 to be the same…in fact, there’s nothing in the original solicitation info to indicate that would be anything otherwise. Guess what? It ain’t. It’s several pages of images of characters, weapons, buildings and the like, accompanied by brief text descriptions. It’s a handbook, not a comic. Luckily, Star Wars fans generally like this sort of thing, so hasn’t really impacted sales so far, but as someone who was intrigued by the series’ premise (taking place over a century after the events of Return of the Jedi), I was disappointed to not get any actual story in this book. But what the heck, it’s only a quarter. I’ll live.
Superman Returns #1: Krypton to Earth – We’ve already sold out of this, and we thought we ordered high. As a comic…well, it expands a bit on the Krypton sequences from Superman: The Movie, but doesn’t really give us anything too new or surprising.
Annihilation Silver Surfer #3 – I’m not reading this, but I did flip through this issue and spotted what Dave would call a “F@*K YEAH!” moment, as the end of the book features a pretty kick-ass return to a previous status quo for a particular character who may or may not be the titular star of the book. Yeah, I’m real subtle. Believe you me, it was a hard decision to not put a huge image of the page in question right here in place of this semi-vague description.
Luba’s Comics & Stories #8 – You know how lucky you are that you’re getting comics on a regular basis from Gilbert Hernandez? Maybe it’s a bit of a steep learning curve trying to untangle all the characters’ relations to each other, but it’s worth the trouble. Fine cartooning, finer writing.
Action Philosophers V. 1: Giant Sized Thing trade paperback – That “Plato SMASH!” on the cover busts me up. Funny comic, to boot.
Power Girl trade paperback – Almost tempted to buy this, just to get the three issue Showcase story from the ’70s on paper that isn’t entirely lousy.
Superman/Doomsday Omnibus trade paperback – This thing is huge, it’s in color, and it’s only $19.99. I’d like to see DC’s Showcase books in this format, though it’s my guess the recoloring process would be cost-prohibitive. Oh, well. Maybe we’ll get more modern comics in this format (like the Our Worlds at War that also came out this week, for $5 more). My primary fear was that the pages on these books would be exactly one micron thick, but the paper stock is…well, not top drawer, but good enough. Feels sturdy, holds color…that’s plenty.
A couple random recent store things:
Me: “If you buy the bags singly, they’re 6 cents each. If you buy them in packages of 100, they’re a penny cheaper per bag, for a total of $5.00.”
Customer: “You’re making that up.”
Well, yes, I suppose that’s technically true…we had to make up the retail prices at some point, I suppose. But the accusation was that I just made up that price on the spot, just for her…because no one had ever offered quantity discounts before, I guess.
We have that Wonder Woman movie looming on the horizon, and I haven’t been following any of the discussion on this project, aside from the occasional “this actress isn’t playing Wonder Woman” news story. As such, I don’t know if anyone has brought up this particular topic:
On the other hand, it’s probably one of the most recognizable superhero costumes in the world…people will most likely cut it some slack, just out of familiarity. To be sure, people would be disappointed if the costume didn’t appear.
The Wonder Woman comics lately have been pretty good about giving us costume variations that don’t look like patriotic swimsuits, while still evoking the original outfit, so maybe that’s what we’ll get in the film, presuming it actually happens.
I would say that whatever they cook up, it can’t be any worse than this costume, but I’d rather not tempt fate.
Anyway, as long as I’m on the topic, and as a reward for slogging through this longwinded post of mine, here’s a fantastic Wonder Woman compilation video I stole from pal Dorian (who in turn stole it from Center of Gravitas). Enjoy, won’t you?
This arrived in the mail today, addressed to Employee Nathan:
Donations in my memory are welcome…feel free to send your PayPal payments to my e-mail address.
