BREAKING NEWS.

§ January 15th, 2025 § Filed under real world stuff, retailing § 21 Comments

So I know I was going to start my 2024 prediction review today, but some stuff has turned up that takes some precedence, I think.

First off, Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In short, that’s allowing Diamond to reorganize and sell off assets to stabilize its business. Those assets include Alliance, the gaming distribution company, and Diamond UK.

And, as noted in the press release quoted at that link, their “main comic, toy, and collectible distribution lines” are also up for sale. Which sounds a whole lot like the company trying to keep things going until they can sell off everything and close its doors.

Or maybe they’ll get their act together and go back to business as usual. I have no idea.

Now, when there was a major collapse of comic distributors in the 1980s, a number of publishers were left being owed payments by said distributors. I imagine if Diamond goes away, the same may happen now, hurting especially the smaller publishers and possibly taking them down with them. Which is the main reason I’m hoping Diamond pulls through, not leaving those vendors holding the bag.

According to Diamond, business will continue as usual while they’re going through this process, including the weekly shipments, reorders, damage replacements, etc. Amusingly they emphasized the fact that yes, retailers with Diamond accounts are expected to keep paying their invoices, in case anyone thought they didn’t need to keep exchanging money for goods from a company in Chapter 11.

Diamond also informed retailers that they’re still supporting Free Comic Book Day for the year, at least as far as things look now. That leaves me to wondering, of course, who would take over the FCBD event should Diamond eschew the responsibility.

And that leads me to wondering just how Diamond can survive, and what may rise up in its place. I’m picturing a much pared down Diamond, carrying only comics, supplies, and maybe some comic related merchandise. No nudie books, no Japanese schoolgirl statues, no tchotchkes that have nothing to do with comics. Catalogs are 32 pages long, shipments all come from a single warehouse. It all depends on whatever comic publishers are left over, and if they get enough orders to keep Diamond’s doors open even at this minimal level. I feel like Dynamite and its multiple covers for everything would be doing the heavy lifting here.

If the comic distribution end does get sold to another company, then I guess I’d have to apply for an account there if the old accounts simply don’t transfer over. Would there be a gap in shipments caused by this? Possibly. The most convenient solution would be for one of the other existing distributors to the Direct Market (Lunar or Penguin Random House) were to take over the comics end of Diamond.

Otherwise, if Diamond just closes up shop, leaving publishers high and dry, then…well, I’m picturing the ’80s again, with a half-dozen distributors all carrying their own selection of items. Which is fine, if increasing the “paperwork” (or computer work, rather) at my end.

The very small press books are the ones that’ll be hardest hit, as a weird one-off book that’s easy for me to say “yes” to as a line item with everything else in the Diamond catalog, may get missed or overlooked entirely if they’re only available from some tiny distributor with not enough for me to bother opening an account.

Ideally, whatever happens my customers don’t see any problems from their end, that the comics continue coming out, regardless from where I get them. We’ll see how things shake out over the next few month.

Now, I’ve long ago transferred as much of my business as I could away from Diamond to other distributors. Diamond had just too many problems over the years…poor packing resulting in damaged comics, items being shorted entirely and not having the stock to replace them, getting a single copy of Comic Shop News instead of the full bundle (the most baffling shipping error). Getting alternative distributors was an outright relief, where (aside from a disastrous damage-ridden initial shipment from Penguin Random House) my shipments have been relatively damage-and-shortage free.

Since the advent of distribution competition, Diamond actually fixed most of these problems. Too little too late, I’m afraid. The vast bulk of my orders come from the other two distributors, with Diamond’s shipments being only a fraction of the size they used to be. The weekly payments to Diamond are so much smaller now than before, and I’d wonder “if everyone’s invoices shrunk this much, I wonder how Diamond is able to survive?” And, well…I guess I have that answer.

This is just a smattering of thoughts I’ve had on the topic. I’m sure I’ll throw more at you when I’ve had more time to process the situation, and as we experince the continuing ramifications.

• • •

The other big news of the week is this article (may be paywalled, but you can find other articles covering its contents) with its in-depth look at the sexual assault claims against Neil Gaiman. WARNING: the descriptions therein are very explicit and upsetting, so you may be better off finding someone else’s summary.

This situation is very disappointing and disillusioning, to hear that such a talented force admired by so many is an alleged creep credibly accused by multiple victims. And it doesn’t help that Gaiman’s own statement, posted on his official site just yesterday, smacks of the same meaningless platitudes that Warren Ellis threw out there when he was outed as a sex pest.

“Innocent until proven guilty,” I know, and Gaiman claims his relationships with all these women were consensual. But…man, this doesn’t look good for him. Even Scott McCloud, who had a longtime friendly relationship with the man, is like “hoo boy.”

I’ve written before about the possible impact on the comics publishing end, which now seems like an inevitability. DC’s challenge is divorcing the Sandman franchise from its creator, and Marvel’s challenge of wrapping up Miracleman, while on a much smaller and less impactful scale, is still one they have to face.

But like I said then, this is the least of the issues at stake here. It’s an ugly situation, leaving some very hurt women in its wake, and one hopes some justice may be found here.

My apologies…

§ January 13th, 2025 § Filed under low content mode § 3 Comments

…but if you’re seeing this message, then your pal Mike decided that he was too beat after a two-day sidewalk sale at his store to put together a proper post.

The first part of our look back at the 2024 comic industry predictions, originally planned for today, will be up on Wednesday.

Thanks as always for reading.

Wolverine Back Issue Talk, Part Eight: Okay, Grownups. It’s Beer O’Clock.

§ January 10th, 2025 § Filed under wolverine § 15 Comments

Okay, finally wrapping up what was going to be a two-part series with part eight, because if it’s one thing your pal Mike knows how to do, it’s run off at the mouth keyboard.

First, let’s go back to the comment that inspired this Final Chapter, from Mike Loughlin:

“…I’m curious if the painted Mark Texiera covers on the first Sabretooth mini drive back issue sales. Ditto the BWS or Sam Kieth Marvel Comics Presents covers.”

Well, well, well, Sabretooth:


…the series I kept buying out of collections until I realized its sales heyday was a couple of decades back and nobody is looking for it anymore, at least in these parts. I mean, they sell occasionally, but my clientele just isn’t Sabretooth-crazy (judging by my sales on the most recent issue).

I will sau, at least the die-cut gimmick on this cover is less obnoxious than the one on Wolverine #50. Using the ol’ “Three Claws” ranking system, as seen in the New York Times and as used by movie reviewers across the nation, I’ll give this Sabretooth mini One Claw…not a big seller, mostly forgotten by God and man.

As for Marvel Comics Presents, the long-running anthology title…well, Sam Kieth covers definitely moved the books during that period when he was a “hot” artist. My particular favorites are the front and back covers for #100 from 1992:


Don’t worry, folks, Wolverine is going to be okay, thanks to his adamantium-laced bones and his mutant healing factor!

Now, I still do get demand for both 1) Marvel Comics Presents issues, and 2) Sam Kieth art, but oddly not specifically Marvel Comics Presents covers by Sam Kieth. Which is a little weird. That said, they do still sell…much more slowly than they used to, and not for much, but folks seem happy when they spot them. One Claw, bordering on Two, for this ranking.

Now as for the Barry Windsor-Smith issues:


…which reveals a heretofore unseen chapter in Wolverine’s history, is always in demand, and I suspect always will be, so long as Wolverine remains a popular character amongst you funnybook fans. Even folks just poking through the back issue bins and come across these covers, knowing nothing of the story within, are compelled to buy these. The cover I posted above is one that’s particularly popular.

They are not as in-demand as they were when we were closer in time to their release, but they remain consistent sellers. I’d give this the coveted Three Claw ranking.

There are a couple other oddball things, like Iron Fist #15 from 1977, cover art by Dave Cockrum:


…featuring Wolverine in Sabretooth’s costume, you’ll notice. This issue (and the issue previous, with Sabretooth’s first appearance) are in huge demand, and probably will continue to be. Three Claws it is!

And here’s this sorta awkward Wolverine cover from Daredevil #196 (1983) by Klaus Janson:


Used to be quite the hot ticket, but, I don’t know, maybe local demand’s been saturated? They don’t sell like they used to. May a Two Claw ranking?

And just because they need to be noted, the very definition of Three Claw rankers in my ridiculous scale that I used in all these posts and will likely never use again…Wolverine’s first full-length appearance in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #181:


…with brief appearances in both #180 and #182. Art on the cover by Wolverine’s creators Herb Trimpe and John Romita Sr., written by the other creator of Wolverine, Len Wein, inside.

Then from 1988, one of the most iconic Wolverine images of all time, from Incredible Hulk #340, art by Todd McFarlane:


I mean, just look at that pic. Clearly McFarlane peaked with this and never did anything else of note.

And, that’s that for Wolverine Back Issue Talk. Look, I know I left out a whole bunch of stuff…there are a couple of prime covers on Uncanny X-Men I probably could have noted, but right now there’s enormous demand for any Uncanny X-Men pre-multiple reboots. Pointing out a Wolverine-centric issue or cover from that series as a “good seller” doesn’t really make any sense when they’re all good sellers right now.

So anyway, philfromgermany, I hope that answers your question.

• • •

Next week, I’m starting in on your 2024 comic industry predictions, and I’ll see how we all did! Plus, get in those predictions for 2025…we’re almost halfway through January, what’cha waitin’ for?

Wolverine Back Issue Talk, Part Seven: It’s Your Play, Hero. I’m Waitin’.

§ January 8th, 2025 § Filed under wolverine § 8 Comments

Here we are, the next-to-last (honest!) installment of “Which o’them Wolvie back issues are still sought out now, and possibly in the future?” Again, I may not cover every issue of Wolverine that you think may be of note, and if you think of any others, feel free to drop ’em in the comments.

So anyway, let’s start up with Wolverine #145, an extree-sized 25th anniversary issue with a cover by Leinil Yu
and Dexter Vines:


…with foil-enhanced claws on the cover of the “deluxe” edition. The big event in this issue is the restoration of the adamantium stripped out of his skeleton way back in 1993. Wow, you know, I don’t think I ever really thought about the fact that the “bone claw” version of Wolverine lasted six years. Huh.

As such, this is an expanded issue, it’s got a cool gimmick on the cover, it’s a Big Change (or rather, reverting a change0 for the character…all incentives for boosting interest and sales in this issue. I’d say it’s a Three Claw rank, using my nigh-infallible method of ranking these Wolverine comics, with “One Claw” being your typical box filler, and “Three Claws” being books that fly out of the door, now and possibly for the rest of time.

Now, these next two issues are interesting, featuring covers and interior art by Mr. Robert Liefeld, Esq. — issues #154 and #155 from the far-flung future year of 2000:


The initial reason these were in high demand, at least for us, was that Liefeld factor. Doing a couple of X-books in his post-Youngblood phase grabbed the attention of fans, making these comics popular sellers both new off the rack and out of the back issue bins.

Now, as the years have worn on — 25 of those years, in fact — Liefeld’s presence on these comics has become less of a sales motivator vs. the fact that Deadpool is in these stories. But, for whatever reason, sell they do, and at somewhat of a premium to boot. Again, I’m going with the Three Claws ranking for these two, though sales in the future will depend on whether Deadpool retains his allure or folks burn out on him again.

Here’s bit of an oddball one, #160 from 2001, art by J.H. Williams III and Mick Gray:


I mean, I suppose there are J.H. Williams III completists out there, snapping up copies of these. But look, I’ve been selling comic books for a long time, and I know when folks are pickin’ up specific issues because of the ladies on the covers. Nothing wrong with that, not yucking anyone’s yum, it’s perfectly okay to want to see Wolverine fight a couple of attractive hitwomen or whatever. And that is an eyecatching cover.

Those characters’ names, by the way? T & A. …Oh, come on.

Anyhoo, this comic is a pretty consistent seller…not a top tier back issue, nobody’s busting down my doors demanding it, but it’ll sell when it’s spotted. Gonna give this one the rank of Two Claws — you heard it here first.

For the finale of our little Walk Down Wolverine Lane (at least for the Wolverine series itself), here’s #165 (2001), cover art by Sean Chen and Norm Rapmund:


That’s definitely an eye-catcher! I seem to recall at the time there was some…apprehension in regards to the cover and to the violent content of this specific issue. Strangely enough, the event presented on the cover is less explicit inside, happening in shadow:


The mild controversy of course attracted sales, and this was in pretty good demand for some time, but I think that’s all forgotten now. When it sells today, it’s probably more for the “whoa, that cover” feeling. A defnite Two-Claw book.

That’s that…those have been the issues of the original Wolverine ongoing series that attract back issue sales now, and may (or may not) continue to get them in the future. Like I said above, I’m sure this wasn’t everything, and if you think I missed a big one from this run of books, leave it in the comments. Despite all my talk about wrapping this topic up, I can always return to it for some addendums later. I’m not proud.

Tune in Friday for the end of this (current) run of posts, as I look at few Wolverine appearances in other comics and what that did for current/back issue sales!

Wolverine Back Issue Talk, Part Six: Am I Supposed to Be Impressed?

§ January 6th, 2025 § Filed under wolverine § 4 Comments

Okay, I’m really hoping to finish Wolverine Back Issue Talk this week, since next week I’m going to start on covering the 2024 comic industry predictions you made a year ago. Which reminds me, get your predictions in for this year soon, before too much of this year slips by!

So, on to this new batch of Wolvie issues…just click on the “Wolverine” category link to see more, since I’ve been too lazy to create a tag just for these Back Issue Talk posts.

Note: since this is wrapping up this week, I’m skipping a few here and there (like those post-adamantium-removal stories right after #75), most of which are solid sellers, more so than some of the other issues in the run. “Two Claw” rankers, using my system here. If I miss any you think are notable, feel free to say so in the comments!

First up is Wolverine #88 from 1994, cover by Adam Kubert:


Chris V in the comments beat me to it, but yes, I was definitely going to mention this issue in regards to its early Deadpool appearance.

This had a sudden bump in demand, going from “forgotten filler back issue of Wolverine to Hot Commodity in very short order. Yes, I’ve had copies of these relatively recently. And yes, they just fly out the door. I forget now what I had ’em priced at…probably closer to $50 than $100, using Chris V’s price range, but given how fast they sell maybe I should start nudging those numbers slightly upward.

Anyway, using the trademarked/patented/copyright-ened Three Claws system for Wolverine Back Issue Hotness, I’ll give this the mighty Three Claws rank. Always in high demand. always sells. At least as long as Deadpool is a hot character and/or supplies of this issue remain relatively difficult to come by.

Now here’s an interesting one…Wolverine #90 (1995) with a wraparound cover by Adam Kubert and the Hildebrandt Brothers:


This was the last issue of the series prior to it being replaced in the schedule for four months by the Age of Apocalypse alternate-timeline event mini-series Weapon X.

The wraparound cover is obviously a big selling point, as is the Wolverine/Sabretooth battle. Of particular note is the cliffhanger ending, where the story leaves off with Wolverine apparently springing one of his claws through Sabretooth’s head. And, like I said, this story was interrupted for a few months, feeding into fan curiosity and demand, leaving folks wondering just what the repercussions of this battle were going to be.

Now, thirty years later, that several month gap is no longer a factor, as anyone interested can just pick up the following issues out of the bins, no waiting, no fuss, no muss. Regardless, this issue remains in high demand, and likely will for the foreseeable future. Another Three Claw-er, sez me.

The final issue for today is issue #100 from 1996, with art by that Adam Kubert guy again, with inks by John Dell:


Yes, it came in a couple of flavors, with that hologram cover above, and sans hologram below:


It’s one of those extra-sized Big Round Number anniversary comics, always a plus in back issue demand, and the large splashy hologram certainly helps it move. The cover lacking the hologram also sells well, so lacking the cover gimmick doesn’t hurt its potential.

This is a status-quo-changing story, featuring Apocalypse (another popular X-Men villain) mucking about with Wolvie, resulting in him becoming a more savage and bestial creature for the next few issues, so as the beginning of sorts of a new storyline, that probably helped fan interest, too. Nowadays, though, it’s the double-whammy of being issue #100 and sometimes having the hologram that pushes sales. And sell it does…I’m calling this another Three-Claw Classic.

• • •

So, like I said, I do want to wrap this up this week, so next time I might cover a few more issues in the main Wolverine series proper, then touch on some other Wolverine-adjacent comics that always sell, or used to at any rate. Yes, I’ll probably mention those Hulk issues.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you folks on Wednesday.

What, him worry?

§ January 3rd, 2025 § Filed under idiots, mad magazine, video games § 17 Comments

So a few decades back, I started to participate in the local computer bulletin board (or BBS) scene. This is what we had before general qccess to the internet, and an alternative to larger commercial enterprises like Prodigy, Compuserve, and AOL. Hobbyists would set up BBS software on their own computers, and with a dedicated phone line or two allow users to dial in with their own computers and modems to participate in message boards, play games, download the “warez,” what have you.

It was a fun activity and a creative outlet, and on at least one of these BBSes I ran a dedicated section for comics discussion. This was very early in my comics retail career (or “career”) and several folks on these BBSes were, in fact, customers of mine. It was usually a fun, friendly endeavor and I’m still friends with a number of people from then to this day.

And I say “usually” because there was this one guy — isn’t there always — who was a real fly in the ointment. Going by the appropriate name of “Bozo” (appropriate not in the Larry Harmon way, but in the more derogatory sense), this person would rant and cajole and insult with misspelled screeds and usually unwarranted venom. Hostile and homophobic, it was a wonder to me why he spent his time doing this in paces where folks were just trying to have a little fun and relax. (It was also a wonder to me, in retrospect, why he wasn’t immediately kicked off these BBSes…perhaps he was from some, but he certainly seemed to be around a lot.) I tangled with him once or twice, and quickly realized both the futility of this and that this was exactly what he wanted, so I stopped.

This outsized toxic personality had me wondering…just who was this guy? And it wasn’t like today, where some jerk can pop up out of nowhere and he’s, like, on the other side of the world from you. This was probably someone at least relatively nearby, calling into the boards to wreak his havoc. I pictured some cranky dude in his 40s (I was in my 20s at the time) in his stained t-shirt banging at his keyboard surrounded by empty cans of whatever his poison of choice may have been, smoker’s-cough laughing at his latest bon mots.

One thing about these being local BBSes is that there would occasionally be in-person gatherings, at a park or bowling alley or places like that, where we meet face-to-face instead of just typing words at each other. And it was at one of these gatherings that “Bozo” turned up.

And what surprised me was that…he was about my age, possibly younger. A handsome guy, appeared to be completely congenial in person, even perhaps a little sheepish to stand revealed as “that guy.” Though I was a relative newcomer to the BBS scene compared to many of the others at these gathering, and they seemed to be familiar if not friendly with the fella. As if it were necessary to have a “troll” on the BBSes and this was they guy who happened to take up the job, and, y’know, no hard feelings.

I never did get any actual insight into what “Bozo” thought he was doing, whether this was some form of extended performance art or if he actually bought into all the madness he was spouting. Anyway, it didn’t matter because by the mid-late-ish ’90s the local BBS scene had largely collapse, as the internet began to expand access and lured users away. And “Bozo” because an artifact of the past, a weird memory from a mostly positive pastime.

But then I was on the internet, where there were plenty more “Bozos” to be had.

I was not a Usenet guy, the message exchange system that primarily dominated early internet usage before the advent of the World Wide Web, but yes, I know trolling was a problem there too. And of course there were all the dedicated message boards on the Web, with their own problematic trolls, but I mostly avoided those as well. But I didn’t really peronally encounter trolling again until blogs began to really be a thing. Especially after I started my own blog.

To be fair, I haven’t had to deal with many over the couple of decades of doing this site. There are the occasional drive-by commenters, who only turn up once to say something insulting to me because they disagreed with whatever. I had a couple of recurring trolls (one of which followed me over from the old Fanboy Rampage blog) who would shout nonsense in my comments sections ’til they tired of it, or I blocked them. I still have one dude who pops up whenever I suggest that maybe people who aren’t white and straight should be treated as humans, to tell me the error of my ways.

But “jerks is jerks,” I guess, and running a site that allows public commenting is alas opening a door for people to do this sort of thing, and that’s just the price paid.

And, hoo boy, there’s social media of course, which is just a madhouse filled with confirmed social deviants just itching to pile abuse onto someone who made the mistake of being, say, a woman. Little different from “Bozo,” they just cast out their hooks and see who they can catch.

A slight variation I’ve encountered more recently on the usual trolling is “the super fan,” someone who is extremely possessive of their specific obsession. So much so, that someone else discussing that obsession in a way they don’t personally approve of is to be attacked and diminished in favor of their superior perspective.

One example that continually amuses me is when blogging brother Andrew and I were on Xwitter discussing (WARNING: old people video game references incoming) Coleco’s game releases for the Atari 2600. We’d referenced the fact that many of these games were ports from the more advanced Colecovision, and by pure necessity had to be downgraded to be able to perform on the 2600’s older hardware.

We weren’t denigrating Coleco for this, we weren’t cast aspersions on the people who made these games…we were simply acknowledging the literally undeniable fact that the 2600 games had to less complex than their Colecovision counterparts. The hardware and memory differences demanded it.

Well, well, well, the world’s #1 Colecovision fan somehow found our discussion and injected himself right in there, outraged that we would call these games incompetent trash (we didn’t) and that we’d insult the programmers’ knowhow (we also didn’t). The point of object seemed to be the word “downgraded,” which we meant entirely dispassionately and he thought was an offense of the highest order.

Andrew just blocked the guy right away, which was the wise move, though I think it was my years in retail that made me attempt to reason with the guy and get him to see what we were saying. Because I’m talking about it here, you can probably guess that didn’t work out, even to the point where the guy actually tried to tattle on us to some old former Coleco programmer who also happened to be on Xwitter. (I never saw that programmer make a comment, presumably because he probably rolled his eyes and thought “ugh, this guy again.”)

Since I’ve abandoned Xwitter and moved to Bluesky, I haven’t had to deal with too many problem people, and those that turn up are very easily dismissed with Bluesky’s very solid blocking option. However, there was one case just the other week, one that inspired this very post.

On the occasion of President Jimmy Carter’s passing, I posted this MAD cover, dated March 1978:


Along with it, I included the caption “This was as defining an image of Jimmy Carter for me in my childhood as just about anything else. RIP.” You can see the post right here for yourself.

This wasn’t intended as an overtly political post (even if posting about a former President at all is inherently political). It was simply a comment on the fact that, as a child at the time, my primary interaction with politics on that scale was via entertainment aimed at me (or not necessarily at me, but seen by me anyway, such as Dan Aykroyd’s impression of Carter on Saturday Night Live). To this day, this drawing (by Jack Rickard) exists in my brain as the primary picture in my mind of the man. I mean, they don’t call these the “formative years” for nothing.

I figured, if I were to get any objection to this post at all, it’d be from someone who was annoying that I didn’t discuss Carter’s full legacy, good and/or ill, or that I reduced him to this goofy image. And I was ready to argue, if I had to, with, well, what I said in the previous paragraph.

What I got instead was this, a straight up objection to me even using MAD at all. You can see my immediate response, and his, um, whatever that is in the image, too:


Not shown is my second response, where I told him 1) I’ve discussed MAD plenty of times on my comics blog, with its own category, and 2) I carry MAD in my store, both new issues and old. And as you can see by his second response, he did see that post and it did nuttin’ a’tall to mollify the guy. So, to Blocktown he went.

Digging a little deeper into the fella, I discovered he was on several Bluesky “blocklists” (lists which, if you follow, block everyone on that list) which tells me this isn’t unusual behavior for him. And a fellow blogger has told me he’s turned up in their comments whenever he uses images from MAD for the same reasons “Alfred” gives above…not liking comic book guys who talk about his favorite magazine.

It’s…amazing that someone puts this much vitriol into complaining about something that, let’s face it, isn’t real. Or at least aimed at the wrong people, to give him the barest benefit of a doubt. As online pal ThisIsBrian said, “That sure is a lot of worrying for a guy who’s using the name of the most famous non-worrier there is.”

Compared to the abuse some folks get online, this is nothing. Some trolls out there can be real dangers, with threats and massive online pile-ons of their victims and showing intentions of (and following through with) real world crimes. The guys I’ve mentioned here are just minor annoyances, bemusing at best, and easily dealt with. They aren’t much different from the “Bozos” of yore, spitting out anger and insults, just more specific about their particular triggers. I’m betting that in person, they’re also just like “Bozo,” unassuming and bearing sheepish grins when outed for their behavior, their rage curtailed in fear of actual consequences.

Take us with you, Buck!

§ January 1st, 2025 § Filed under happy new year § 12 Comments


Happy New Year to those who celebrate, and let’s hope (really hope) that 2025 turns out better than we’re expecting. Be good to each other.

Wolverine Back Issue Talk, Part Five: What I Do Best Isn’t Very Nice.

§ December 30th, 2024 § Filed under wolverine § 8 Comments

First, get your 2025 comic industry predictions in! Come back in January 2026 to see how you did! …Well, I mean, keep reading my site ’til then, of course.

Next, to Mike Loughlin, I can get to those Wolverine-adjacent titles as an addendum to this series. I certainly have something to say about those comics.

And lastly, I’m sure I’ll miss some Wolverine issue or ‘nother in my overview here. You can bring ’em up in the comments, but I may or may not get to them. Nothing personal, but I only intended this to be, like, two installments, and here we are on five! Ah well, What Can You Do™?

So we move on with our discussion of Wolverine that still attract (or had attracted) interest in the back issue market, and their possibility of continuing to do so in the future.

First up is Wolverine #59 (1992), featuring the artwork of Darick Robertson and Joe Rubenstein:


I suspect the reasons for interest in this issue are self-evident, going back to, as Andrew said, reasons solely related to the cover. This Terminator-esque look for our favorite furball is a consistent eyecatcher, but not necessarily one that always results in a sale from the back issue bins. But it does sell, so I’ll give it the middling Two Claws rating…still gets attention and will likely receive attention in the years to come, but not a book that’s an insta-grab for your typical back issue hound.

Next up is Wolverine #67 (1993), art by Mark Texeira:


Texeira had a little run of Wolverine comics around this time, but this is probably the cover of the bunch. Certainly the most (here comes that word again) iconic. Now there was a bit of time some years ago when Texeira art had this measure of, well, “hotness” about it, goading sales along of any comics that featured it. That’s not quite the case now (Mike Loughlin, this probably answers one of your questions), which isn’t a comment on Texeira’s art or anything, which is certainly dynamic and attention-grabbing.

I would also give this issue the Two Claws ranking, as it does sell at a higher frequency than the issues around it, and I think as time wears on, it’ll continue as a consistent, if not high demand, item.

And here we are, the first Wolverine cover with a hologram glued to it…#75 from 1993, with art by Adam Kubert and Mark Farmer:


This is part of a storyline in which Wolverine loses the adamantium bonded to his bones. Specifically, Magneto uses his powers to pull out the adamantium, an event that happens in the previous chapter of this crossover story, the similarly hologrammed X-Men #25.

Of the X-comics that comprised this storyline, dubbed “Fatal Attractions,” it was (and still is) X-Men #25 that commands the most attention. That had been because of the events within, and maybe still because of them, but now mostly sell because of the demand for back issues for this X-Men series. (The Uncanny X-Men issue of this crossover sells at a high rate too, also because of demand for thos back issues.)

Yes yes, but what of Wolverine #75? I’m going to be a tad wishy washy on this, by giving this the most marginal of a Three Claws rating. Yes, it certainly sells, but sometimes…it takes a bit. It’s not an immediate grab ‘n’ slab (ugh, I’m sorry) for most folks diving into the old comics bins, like other Three Claw rankers. It’s definitely not in as much demand as X-Men #25. I don’t get calls from people desperately looking for it or anything. I think orders on this issue were particularly high, and it’s fairly common. But, priced right and put in front of the proper customer, it’ll move. And that hologram will continue to grab eyeballs in the future, making it stand apart from its non-gimmicked brethren.

On a related note, here’s a post I wrote long ago about just how these “Fatal Attractions” comics were shipped to us, and what the printer did to protect those precious hologram.

• • •

That’s probably it for Wolverine talk for this week…unless I’m stuck for a topic on Friday and I dive back in. Thanks for reading, pals, and I hope everyone has a safe New Year celebration!

Sometimes I wonder about the first three demoncats.

§ December 27th, 2024 § Filed under question time, swamp thing § 19 Comments

It’s that weird time between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when all crime is legal, so I’m gonna hold off on Wolverine Talk for a tiny bit. Do I have more to say about Wolverine comics? Oh yes indeedy I do.

I also wanted to remind everyone that I’m looking for your comics industry predictions for 2025! I haven’t been hitting the reminders too hard either here or on social media, so I don’t have much of a turnout yet. Hopefully I’ll get a few more submissions, especially once I start reviewing the predictions from last year…that always seems to goose the numbers.

Now let’s go ahead and wrap up the last couple of inquiries from the most recent Question Time post:

Bob Stec goes this way with

“What is Swamp Thing’s middle name?”

Leonard. Or Bernard. Or both. “Swamp Leonard Bernard Thing, Esq.” So sayeth me, Michael Ricardo Anatoly Sterling!

• • •

And wrapping up that Question Time post is demoncat_4, with another Swamp Thing question

“if dc ever finaly mostly as a tie in to james gunn future swamp thing film finaly publishes the infamous swamp thing meets jesus issue swamp thing 88 how many issues will you order for your store and how many for your self.”

That…is an interesting question, actually. The art, by the late Michael Zulli, is pretty much done (judging by some photocopies I may or may not have seen, I admit nothing). And given some of the shenanigans DC has published in the interim (including Preacher, where the main antagonist is, well, God), the relatively reverent Swamp Thing meets Jesus story would hardly cause a ripple now, I think.

At the time the comic was supposed to be published, in the late ’80s, the industry was in the midst of getting more attention from the general public, laying the groundwork for the ’90s boom. That meant more sales and more presence in “real world” media…both good and bad. And DC, with a Bat-movie in hand and possibly more on the way, and with plenty of zealots and blame-placers ready to find simple reasons for their kids being assholes, comics became a real target.

Not saying it doesn’t happen now, but with your comic readership being, on average, about equal to the number of people who read my grocery lists (and stop doing that, you weirdos), the Usual Suspects have moved on to new targets that will get them more publicity. And this planned cover for the issue might have raised an eyebrow or two from the naysayers then:


…I suspect it would fly more under the radar now. (If the story gets mixed in with other reprints in a trade paperback, it’ll definitely slide on by, but let’s contiue assuming a single-issue release.)

Let’s say DC said “okay, the time is nigh for us to finally publish this comic” and they put out a “facsimile” of a comic that never was, Swamp Thing #87, The Tale Too Hot for TV. Who would buy this now, about 35 years on.

Well, if they go with this cover:


…I suspect they’d fly off the shelves, and not just into the hands of elderly Swamp Thing fans, such as myself. So, yeah, I’d probably order a pretty good number of these for the shop.

And speaking of me, as I so rarely do here…how many would I buy? Well, one of each cover, natch…the regular cover, the foil cover, the 1 in 25 variant cover. That would suffice.

• • •

And that’s that! I’ll be back to Wolverine Talk next week, probably, and in the meantime…give me more predictions!

Merry Claws-mas…

§ December 25th, 2024 § Filed under Christmas § 4 Comments


…for those who celebrate it!

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