Hack Slash: My First Maniac S/N HC
Image Comics
ISBN: 9781607063391
Suggested retail = $29.99
This is a fun one because I can recommend it whole heartedly on all levels. This series is a great read, and this property does really nice business in the secondary market, where an ever-growing cult following chases down an ever dwindling supply.
The move to Image has also been good for Hack Slash on every level. The audience is larger, Tim Seeley is paid with money instead of office space, and the product is distributed better. Back in the Devil's Due era the game was to wait for a Hack Slash trade to hit and buy a half dozen, wait a couple months for the supply to dry up - then collect your earnings. They did go back to press on occasion, but not quickly enough to meet demand.
At Image, the product seems to be flowing much more freely, especially those Omnibus editions, and that's just smart business. Bad for whores like me trying to game the market, but good for comics, so I don't mind. Then Image found a way to appease everybody and released the My First Maniac mini as an incredibly affordable TPB and a collector friendly limited hardcover.
I called my shot on this one back when it was first solicited, not that you'd need a degree in economics to see it coming. While Image may go back to press on that trade multiple times, there will only be one press of the limited edition hardcover, signed by Seeley. That's the one the hard core are going to want, and the hard core Hack Slash group gets bigger by the month.
As well it should. The book satisfies on a number of levels. It's a love letter to horror films, comics, and nerds. It's got a healthy respect for both T and A, it's a "buddy cop" book, and often legitimately creepy and hilarious in the same issue. Hack Slash is about seven leagues more clever than you think it is, and it's Seeley's baby, not a paycheck. I've gotten my money's worth out of every issue, and I think that My First Maniac # 1 might be the best issue Seeley's written so far.
The bottom line is that the window is closing quickly on buying this hardcover for less than $100. As I type this, it's still available at Instocktrades for $18.59, which is completely absurd. Right this second Amazon min for the book is $80, and that's because I just undercut everybody by about $20. Do yourself a favor and a grad yourself a My First Maniac trade to read and a hardcover to flip. I fully endorse buying at the SRP of $29.99 as well. You want to be at 3:1 ideally, and since Hack Slash has such a strong history, I don't think it's unreasonable to see this trading at $100+ in the very near future. And for less than $20...back up the truck!
- Ryan
7 comments:
Done! Thanks for the tip!
I'm selling about a book every day and a half. Booyah! Thank Odin for Market Spotlight!
It's great, isn't it? Market Spotlight not only pads your bank account in dodgy financial times, but it contains riboflavin. Not everyone knows that...
Huh. Riboflavin smells like musty bleach?
Riboflavin = Pool Water Smell.
Or like LaMere's pillow.
Get a room you two - enough flirtatious banter!
Picked up a copy of the book at my LCS tonight and they were happy for the sale of their one and only copy of it. I also have a crateload of it on order with amazon.ca-ca at a nice discount ... of course I will probably never see them since they were one week delivery kind of thing which is amazon code for 'we hope to get it to you one day...'
Sadly, our lustful inclinations must remain unrealized. We are seperated by several thousand miles of land mass. Even with Swain's endowment in full effect, we would still be too far apart to consumate the relationship.
Anyway, LaMere gets very jealous. I simply cannot compete.
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