Redartz: Greetings and salutations, everyone! Won't keep you long today, I know you're busy with your New Year's Eve celebrations. And, perhaps, busy making a list of resolutions to achieve within the coming year. Of course, here at BitBA we are curious what you plan to accomplish comic-wise during 2017. Is there some story you've been wanting to read, but haven't so far? A comic or trade you hope to acquire, perhaps? Maybe you aspire to attend a convention. Let us all know what's in store for you...
As for me: a two-part resolution. I hope to continue the selloff of some of my comics , reducing the size of my collection to a more manageable level. But I also hope to acquire some other comics or trades I've never read; chief among them: "Panther's Rage". And, I hope to train our new puppy not to chew on those comics (or my hands)...
Ok, your task: share your comic goals, and then embark upon a safe, happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. Be well, and thanks for your attentions these past months. And now, 2017...
17 comments:
Just get more reading done across the board - by that I also mean 'real' books and not just comics. 2016 was a crappy year in so many ways, and one of them for me personally is that from about March/April onward I did get nearly as much reading in as I usually do. Some stuff I specifically want to finally get to this coming year includes a few really big volumes that have been sitting on my shelf neglected for too long now: the Orion and Warlord of Mars omnibuses, the complete Bone, the complete Starhawks by Goulet and Kane, etc.
Otherwise, best wishes in the new year to you two, Redartz and Martinex, and everyone else who frequents this site.
I read Panthers Rage this year and was completely underwhelmed by it. It wasnt anywhere near what I was thinking after all the years of hype about it.
Happy New Year everyone.
Yoyo
I'm coming into the new year a little bogged down in Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man issues. The soap opera aspects are quite compelling but the villains are mediocre (I'm up to #33). Once I get through this run I will read my Daredevil comics (most of the original run) and this should take me through the rest of 2017.
Time, space and money dictate that I won't be picking up any comics in the coming year. Well, apart from My Little Pony for my daughter of course.
I did hear Roy Thomas say a while ago that he was writing a biography of Stan Lee. I would pay good money for that. Stan's huckster ways have undermined his reputation over the years and I would love to hear Roy mount the case for the defence in the coming year.
And a very happy new year to Redartz and Martinex1. And Doug and Karen. And everyone who posts and passes through. Thank you for keeping the Bronze Age alive.
Redartz how are you reducing your collection if I may ask? I'm in the same situation. Plan to finally read various golden age comics I've accumulated over the years on eBay. I typically have just opened them, checked for any damage like missing pages or writing inside that wasn't disclosed at purchase (roughly 5-10 percent!) and planned to read "later." This year is "later!" Finally... I hope.. Maybe... Happy 2017!
Charlie Horse 47- Over the past couple of years I have been going through longbox especially, pulling many comics of less than great interest. I accumulated many such; between my former "pull lists" at the lcs, and the box lots I've picked up at yard sales and such.
I also have pulled some of my pricier books. I've been selling them on ebay, and overall have done pretty well. I then take a little of the resultant funds and buy a collected volume, and still have usable funds left. For instance, I sold my Fantastic Four 45 ( 1st Inhumans), bought the Fantastic Four Omnibus and thus had extra money. Plus I could still read the story, as well as all the others in the Omnibus.
So far I've eliminated about 2 longboxes.
Incidentally- you really have 5-10 percent undisclosed flaws? Wow.
Happy New Year everyone!!!
As many others around here I have amassed several TPB and hardcover collected editions over the years, but I have found the time to only read a fraction of them. (I just got "Man of Steel vol. 9" from Amazon this week, which is the last volume of John Byrne's run on the title). So, I will endeavor this year to try actually read and enjoy some of them.
I received two Omnibus collections this Christmas! FF Omnibus #3, which has the Lee-Kirby issues of 61-93, along with some annuals and the letters pages and more bullpen goodness! The other is the John Byrne Marvel Universe Omnibus, with his smaller runs on Champions, Incredible Hulk and more. I got a few toys and Disney related pins, DVDs and books, too.
In the feeling of 'til better to give ... I enjoyed seeing the faces of my 12-year-old twin niece and nephew when giving comics related heroclix and other toys. My older nephew got some Thor socks with the capes and some Doctor Strange socks and various Doc Strange figures - he's 28. My 25 year old niece got a Geeky Cookbook from me and she spent 3 days ogling it's gorgeous pictures. All in all, a very fun Christmas.
William, I've only read a few of the Byrne Superman issues. I am curious what you think once you've completed it. In fact, now that I think of it I haven't read much of Byrne's DC at all (Wonder Woman, Doom Patrol, Generations, Jack Kirby's Fourth World, as mentioned earlier Demon, etc). I may have to look into some of that this year - maybe share a post or two. I think Byrne is an underrated plotter; he's not horrible at it. But like I said, his DC work fell after my peak in collecting. Recommendations?
I hope to do more reading and writing this year. There are a few novels I want to read; I've been sitting on "Pym" by Mat Johnson. It is a satirical follow-up to "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym..." by Edgar Allen Poe. May have to crack into that this weekend. And I want to go to a comic con somewhere this year.
Cheers all. Happy New Year. Be safe tonight. And tune in tomorrow if you want a little BITBA preview for the year and some other notes.
Thanks for reply! Can you recommend in hints or www sites to climb the learning curve for eBay selling? Craig's list, Nextdoor.com produce no results... Probably closer to 5 percent. The sellers have 99.9 percent approval, always apologize, give total refund, and always claim 100 ignorance of flaw. It may be a fun blog in a perverse way to ask all about the ways they've been burned buying old comics on eBay, conventions, etc?
Happy New Year, everyone. Thanks to Redartz and Martinex for this space, which is a wonderful respite from life's "junk". Hopefully I can find some optimism from a national/international perspective moving forward. While personal life is great, many aspects of 2016 were pretty rough and distracting.
On to comics:
Like Edo, I've long wanted to read Bone: The Complete Collection. I purchased that book at 35% off from my LCS's pre-Christmas sale and am through the "Out From Boneville" and "The Great Cow Race" arcs. It is so much fun -- really happy to have bought it.
For Christmas I received the Deadly Hands of Kung fu Omnibus and the 3rd volume of Burne Hogarth's Tarzan strips (Tarzan and the Nazis). On my first leaf-through of the Deadly Hands book (which weighs about 5 pounds!), I was a bit disappointed in the quality of the art. I'm not at all knocking Starlin, Perez, Gulacy, et al... instead, I noticed that the B&W effects are not as rich/lush as work I've seen from Savage Sword, Vampire Tales, or Planet of the Apes. There seems to be less wash and zipatone. Maybe I'll change my opinion once I'm really into it. For those not aware, the Omnibus reprints the magazine's entire 18-issue run, complete with comics stories and articles. It is a phenomenal time capsule of that time when everyone was kung fu fighting!
In the realm of "real" books, I am halfway through Tony Bramwell's Magical Mystery Tours: My Life With the Beatles. Love it. Anecdote after anecdote from that British Invasion era. To say there are names dropped would be an understatement. What a time to have been alive and fully involved in! After that, I have Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts on my reading radar.
Echoing a comment Redartz made above, I have turned much of the proceeds from my own comics/collectibles sales into other resources. Just last night I ordered the first two trade collections of DC's Bombshells series, based on the recommendation of a Twitter acquaintance. Got 'em both for around $20. In the same vein, I am about to burst waiting for the publication of the Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four Artist Edition, due in January (which really means March... fool me once, you know).
Again, all the best in the New Year to everyone. Be healthy and safe!
Doug
Oh, couple of things I forgot:
Yoyo -- I, too, was underwhelmed with Panther's Rage. I found it a slog, honestly.
Charlie Horse 47 -- I have sold everything via eBay. Overall I've had a good experience. In the situations you mention, I have been guilty of missing a flaw here and there, and dealt with it as you said. I never took a return -- usually a partial refund ended any dispute, and all disputes were amicable. I really have had an overall nice experience. I think honesty and courtesy are paramount. Not everyone feels that way, but it's the way I've operated.
Doug
Happy New Year (although it's still almost 12 hours away here). I don't usually bother with resolutions, since I know I'd never keep them :) But this year's a bit different; I'm starting my own blog (thanks to Doug, Karen, and everyone else here for the inspiration/training), and it's a comics (and TV) review blog, so I'll definitely be reading more comics this year!
I guess my resolution is to stick with the blog and not lose focus (something I'm notorious for). I guess I could also resolve something else, like "become a published writer", but a lot of that is out of my control, so maybe I'll just resolve to keep trying :)
Mike Wilson
Since this coming year is the centennial of birth of the late great Jack "King" Kirby I'm planning on spending a lot of time with his stuff. I end doing that anyway, but this year I'm on a mission to take a closer look at the Fourth World stuff in addition to the Tales of Asgard material and the Captain Victory stuff from Pacific Comics. A Forever People Art Edition is due out this spring and should be beautiful. Also I've been meaning to gather up some of those early Epic Collections, the ones brimming with Lee and Kirby magic. The Avengers and the X-Men volumes in particular look handsome.
Rip Off
I purchased approx. 264 new comic in 2016, that is newly released comics. I don't have a count on back issues yet. The year before the number was 149. Clearly, my goal for 2017 is to bring that number back down AT LEAST below 200.
I do want to complete my run of X-Men this year as well (not a full run, just a run that is equivalent to my prime reading years (approx. '79 to 88). I am about 10 issues short.
I didn't get any superhero comics for X-Mas (except for X-Men #129 from a pal, which I mentioned couple of weeks ago), but I did get the Complete Peanuts 1950 to 1954.
Oh, and I had a review of the latest volume of Black Panther published in the Los Angeles Review of Books! Woo! The big time! I am with everyone on the Panther's Rage, btw. I hope to write about it eventually.
Mike W.- best of luck with your blog! It does give your brain, and your typing fingers, plenty of exercise.
Dr. O- those are some impressive numbers; your LCS probably loves you dearly. And that Peanuts volume - I'm envious!
Oh, and congrats on your published review!
Happy New Year everyone. I sincerely hope that 2017 turns out better than we have any reason to think it will! All things considered, I'd rather focus on comics and Star Trek...
Congrats to Dr. O on his LARB review -kind of a big deal! And a congrats to Redartz and Martinex for getting through the first few months of this new endeavor so capably!
I finished up the Showcase: Great Disasters volume I was reading and I had a lot of fun with it -at least the Atomic Knights stories. The Hercules Unbound stories (which is why I bought it in the first place) were fairly bland stuff though. But all of it was new to me, and I enjoyed it. I now have a number of books waiting:
- The Master of Kung Fu Omnibus, volume one: as much as I want to read this, I have discovered that these large, heavy omnibus books are not a good format for me. But eventually I will get to this.
- Hellboy and the BPRD 1953: A gift to myself. I've been wanting to read more Hellboy since I reviewed Frankenstein Underground, my last review for BAB. I'll probably start this in the next week.
- Young Avengers: Ultimate Collection: Got this for Christmas. I have these individual issues but it's nice to have them all in one book. This series surprised me with how good it was, despite having characters named 'Hulking' and 'Wiccan'.
I'd like to grab some Legion of Super-Hero archives to replace my torn and frayed issues. But those archive editions are hard to find now.
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