When in doubt…SWAMP THING POST.

§ May 28th, 2012 § Filed under retailing, swamp thing § 14 Comments

 

  • So, Yahoo Answers, what do you have for me today?


    And the sole, and entirely gracious, response:


    By “Knightfall #11” they’re of course referring to Batman #497 from 1993, where, as the first person says, more or less, Batman is taken out by Bane and we get months and months and months of repercussions and crossovers and eventually The Dark Knight Rises. It was quite the hot item at the time, and I do still get the occasional request for it, and the three trade paperbacks reprinting that whole hoohar have been consistent sellers. Or, rather, they were before the third volume suddenly became unavailable for reorders recently, just in time for the aforementioned Bane-enriched Dark Knight Rises to be released in theatres, so you can imagine how thrilled I am about that.

    As a result of its popularity during its initial release, we’ve got plenty of copies of Batman #497. It’s relatively common, and I still see them in collections brought into the shop for sale all the time. But the New 52 Swamp Thing #1…in that New 52 first issue-buying frenzy, nearly all the first issues sold out for us, and most (if not all) of the those first issues went to second printings (and in the case of Justice League, an eighth printing). And we still have demand for first printings of those initial issues from the majority of those series.

    In other words, if someone came in, and the only two comics they had for sale were Batman #497 and Swamp Thing (New 52 version) #1, and I could only buy one, for whatever reason, I would pay handsomely for the latter, and decline the former, and that someone doing the selling would walk away with one shiny American nickel in his pocket following the transaction.

    So right now, I have more demand for Swamp Thing. Yeah, yeah, I know, “of course you do.” But I mean that in the “people want those New 52 #1s” sense, not in the “people love Swamp Thing because he’s the best” sense, which is true nonetheless, but not my argument here, exactly.

    Now, the specific question is which will be worth more in “a few years,” to which my answer to that kind of question usually is “come back in a few years and I’ll tell you.” In terms of strict scarcity, there’s probably only a fraction of the Swamp Thing #1s in print (maybe tens of thousands) compared to that issue of Batman (maybe hundreds of thousands), so all other things being equal that first Swampy should be worth a million dollars at least. But, people do like the Batman, so I suppose I’ll give that the edge in eventual value, if I have to. And if you wait long enough, after all the trees finally die off, all paper products will be extremely valuable, because I assure you no one’s gonna want to go back to using corncobs for…well, you know.

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  • “‘The Swamp Thing’ Goofy But Strong” – a very brief review of Wes Craven’s 1982 cinematic masterpiece Swamp Thing…the reviewer accidentally writes “something less than a classic” when I’m sure he meant “totally the textbook definition of a classic,” but I’ll overlook the error.
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  • You are completely not ready to gaze upon this Swamp Thing costume. You really aren’t.

    Okay, tough guy, you think you’re ready? Then click here if you dare.

    Yeah, I thought you weren’t ready. Anyway, here’s a pic of the costume from a slightly less disturbing distance, and then there’s this photo recreating that famous Emma Frost/Swamp Thing team-up of years ago. Remember that comic? That was awesome.

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  • Here’s that crazy-ass Animal Man/Swamp Thing diptych that’ll grace the twelfth issue of both series, courtesy Steve Pugh and Yanick Paquette.
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  • So someone keeps going on in my comments about the supposed fate of this current Swamp Thing series, though Googling hasn’t turned up any news on the subject. It has been selling very well for us, and I’m pretty sure it’s not just because I, Swamp Thing’s Best Friend, work here…I think it’s selling reasonably well overall. If someone thinks he’s got information otherwise, then let’s see it, rather than just bemoaning the comic’s alleged demise at me. (The subscription shenanigans don’t count, I think, since that seems to be just DC penny-pinching processing costs rather than a precursor to impending cancellations.)

14 Responses to “When in doubt…SWAMP THING POST.”

  • Joe Gualtieri says:

    Mike,

    DC took the three “Knightfall” TPBs OOP because they’re in process of replacing them with new, improved, but still not quite right TPBs.

    -Instead of two trades collecting the 19 parts of Knightfall itself, they’re all in one TPB, along with the Vengeance of Bane (the three appearances of Ben inbetween VoB and KFpt1, still not collected).

    -Knightsquest: the Crusade has been collected for the first time as Knightfall v2: Knightquest. This came out last week.

    -Knightsend is still Knightfall V3, but with more issues included than the old edition. Unfortunately, this isn’t due out until September fifth.

    Connoisseurs of 90s-Bat comics may not that I did not mention Knightquest: the Search AKA the story where Bruce Wayne regains the ability to work. That’s because DC’s still not putting that out in trade. Because people in 2012 apparently care more about Jean Paul Valley than Bruce Wayne…

  • Joe Gualtieri says:

    By “Ben,” I of course mean “Bane.”

  • Mikester says:

    Joe – DC still picked a lousy time to revamp these books! They couldn’t have waited ’til after the movie sales bump, or (even better) done it earlier? Ah, well.

    I’d forgotten that they rejiggered the contents in these new editions…thanks for the overview!

  • Joe Gualtieri says:

    They really should have started the process earlier; I would guess they were waiting for the old stock to sell out first.

  • swamp mark says:

    Thank-you very much for the Swampy post.I am sated.I followed every link but one.I don’t need to know about corncobs!As to Swampy getting cancelled,I’m not worrying about that until they replace Snyder with a much less popular writer.I’m assuming he’s the one bringing in new readers and hopefully love for the character will keep them coming back.I will feel some relief when Swampy reaches issue 30 though because the twenties are historically a bad time for the big green lug.

  • Robert in New Orleans says:

    Swamp Thing and Animal Man are both on my pull list. I can tell my LCS sells both titles fairly well by how many shelf copies they stock when I pick up my books on Wednesdays. I have been feeling a bit of fatigue on both books very recently which I chalk up to the extended build up to the crossover. I also am not as fond of Animal Man’s new artist (yet). I’m defintely buying both books through the finale of the crossover and I’m going to make some decision at thst point. Right now, I’m leaning towards dropping Animal Man as I feel that’s the one that’s really been spinning it’s wheels storywise.

  • Chance says:

    I wasn’t ready.

  • White Lantern Alec Holland says:

    I think it’s a shame with all the speculation.
    I’d prefer back issues to end up in the hands of actual readers, not hoarded by all those damn greedy stupid speculators on ebay who can’t even sell them.

  • White Lantern Alec Holland says:

    Spoilers for ST #5-9 would be appreciated.
    Has Snyder actually done anything with the series yet?
    Where’s Tefe during all this?

  • Anonymous says:

    When is the Animal Man Annual out?
    That’s the start of the big ST-AM crossover.

  • swamp mark says:

    I got this,Mike.Snyder is getting his ducks in a row and hopefully all this build-up pays off.No sign of Tefe but hopes are high.Animal Man Annual came out today.I think that Swampy magazine with the little statue came out today too but haven’t been to the store yet.

  • Snark Shark says:

    “By “Ben,” I of course mean “Bane.””

    I dunno… if there were a comic titled “Vengeance of Ben”, I MIGHT buy it.

    BEWARE OF THE MIGHTY BEN!!!

  • White Lantern Alec Holland says:

    If Tefe hasn’t appeared or even been mentioned by Snyder by now, then she’s not going to show up, or even exist at all, in the New 52 DCnU. We’ll probably never see her again, not until Morrison brings back the original DCU, if only briefly, in Multiversity.

    Strange how the Last Man Standing of the 75-year old original continuity is the DC-owned Hellblazer over at Vertigo. It all began with Doctor Occult and will likely end with Constantine’s 300th final issue.

    I still think DC’s “New 52” 2011 Universe is a lot better than Marvel’s “Brand New Day” 2008 Universe, of course…

  • bird says:

    on 4/20 i saw a man in a full body marijuana costume in boulder, co. with a little modification it would make a great swamp thing. yes, i was sober at the time!

    i brought this up to friends and fellow activists, we were protesting the campus police closing off a public campus, they didn’t give a crap.

    you should give me your phone number so i can call anytime i see local swamp thing news in colorado =)