Market Spotlight!

Some stuff I've tripped over lately....

Orc Stain
ISBN:  160706295X
SRP:     $17.99
Amazon Min:  $75+

James Stokoe is a special talent, and Orc Stain is a special book.  It's really hard to pin down exactly what this book is "about", but mostly its an examination of orc culture as created by Stokoe from mostly whole cloth.  Obviously there are influences, from Tolkein to....I don't know, Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China?  But mostly this is James Stokoe running wild with a very potent imagination.  Orcs don't have names, and spend a good portion of their day collecting orc penises, seeing as how that's the prevailing currency.  That kind of imagination.

More importantly, Orc Stain contains some of the most singularly stunning images in the medium.  I don't know anything about art, and I can see that.  If you did know something about art, Orc Stain might melt your face off.  You could profitably spend an afternoon just picking out all the little details. It's crazy.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I can really see this pulling in some long term interest and developing a legitimate cult following.  Stokoe might go back to press at any moment, but I don't really see that happening immediately.  I don't know if the book actually trades at the $75 mark, but it is exceptionally difficult to find, and I can see a segment of the population that simply HAS to have this book.  It's a winner.  Easy decision to buy whatever you find, even at full retail.

52 Volume 4
ISBN:  140121486X
SRP:  $19.99
Amazon Min:  $20/$50

This was kind of a surprise for me.  I considered it a weird thing to dry up, but then again, it's about 6 years old now, and does anybody really want to go back to this stuff now that it's largely old news?

Apparently somebody wants this stuff, because it's trading at pretty lofty levels, and it's pretty tough to find.  I looked for it at four comic shops this week and couldn't scare up a copy.  Matter of fact, of the four volumes I found zero copies of the first volume, one copy of the second, three of the third volume, and no copies of volume four.  If you look on Amazon right now, even volume one is about set to dry up.  The whole series is primed to blow.

It's an interesting phenomenon on price, though, and I'm seeing this more and more.  Back in the day, trades retailed for $10-$15, and I would wait for the books to hit $30 and worst I was 2:1.  That's not the case any more.  I'm still selling most of my books in that $25-$40 sweet spot....but the newer books are now retailing at $18-$30.  And now you've got a situation where the best you're looking at is 2:1, where before that was the bare minimum.  Bigger risks for smaller returns....yechh.

Of course there are other ways to get books than to pay full retail.  I do it every day.  But the game....she's getting tougher.  C'est la vie.

Gotham City Sirens Vol 1:  Union
ISBN:  1401225713
SRP:    $17.99
Amazon Min:   $44/$27  (no, that's not a typo...you can get a new copy for less than a used one currently)

This just in, folks - Harley Quinn is the real deal.  Harley Quinn is DCs version of Deadpool in terms of hardcore obsessive interest, only she's better.  She's better because she isn't nearly as overexposed, and because she does better with the ladies than she does with the men. 

Ms. Quinn is a member of the Sirens, of course, and I can't prove this scientifically, but that's why this is popping.  The HC version of Union made it to the audio podcast Market Spotlight ages ago, and is still doing quite well.  Better now then when I first recommended it, actually.

Now the softcover trade is climbing toward profitability as well.  If you can snap up a copy at less than retail, it's already profitable.  And yeah, eventually I expect DC will go back to press and ruin this party.  But before that, I expect this book to continue to climb.  Cuz Harley Quinn is the real deal.

Suicide Squad # 6
SRP:  $2.99


Hey, remember that Harley Quinn chick?  Suicide Squad # 6 begins the New 52 retelling of her origin story, and it was severely under-ordered.  A second print is coming down the pipe, but collectors are going to want the first print, and I really like the short term on this comic, and sorta like the long term.  If Wizard was still doing their thing, this would have made the Top 10 hot books, that's for sure.

It's not trading at crazy levels yet, ($6-$10) and may never do so.  But if you've got copies available at your LCS, I would grab a couple and wait for the fireworks. 

Chronic Review: Swamp Thing # 1

Swamp Thing # 1

DC Comics

Script:     Scott Snyder

Pencils:   Yanick Paquette

22 pages for $2.99

Let's open with the stock of the soup: the new Swamp Thing is more keenly interested in Alec Holland than it has been since "The Anatomy Lesson", and that's going back about 30 years.  The man and the creature are separate, at least for now.  There is a Swamp Thing, it isn't Alec Holland, (at least for now) and he claims he never was Swamp Thing.  If we're going with the Alan Moore revamp, (and we certainly appear to be) that's all correct and expected.

In the New 52 edition, Alec Holland woke up six weeks ago cold and alone in a swamp six weeks ago.  He's currently doing construction work, which is a curious choice for a botanist. These are tough times, though, and Holland appears eager to let his past go.  Sort of.  The past has a way of creeping up on you, and while Alec might prefer in some part of his brain to leave everything behind, he's got a bottle of his completed bio-restorative formula, and he's left with odd reverberations of an attraction to a white-haired woman he's never met.  Plus, his Swamp Thing connection makes him important enough to earn a meeting with Superman.  Membership to Club Weird has its perks.

Here's some things I loved about the new Swamp Thing:

Plants Are Dicks

It's the little things that count.  Snyder has Holland describe the quietly violent nature of plants.  They choke out other plants.  The invade, they take over, and they pillage just as aggressively as any animal.  They simply do it with a lot less noise, so it tends to go unnoticed. 

These are the tiny gifts that Scott Snyder offers up in all of his work, and it pays off on two levels.  Directly, as you read it, it makes the book more interesting.  Does it work to strap cabbage to an arthritic knee?  Hell if I know.  But I bet it's at least plausible, and it's the kind of thing a botanist might think of that I would not.  It's called world-building, and it's called establishing voice, and that gets me to the second benefit.

When a writer takes the time to do a little research and then applies it to the story in an organic fashion, it heightens the ability of the reader to fall in.  Ultimately, comics ask a lot of its victims.  We are required to take some astonishing leaps in order to invest in these wildly improbable situations and characters.  What we need to get over that believability hump is to have faith that there is a conductor at the wheel, a skilled driver with an objective in mind and the goods to get you there.  Neil Gaiman is the best I've ever seen at presenting the presence of a skilled conductor.  Nick Spencer has some of that in him.  Scott Snyder's even better than Spencer, though.

Plants are dicks.  We know this because Alec Holland teaches it, in his thoughts and actions, and it's seeping through the tone of the book, which is in point of fact, quite dark.

This Is A Moore-Inspired Horror Book

Swamp Thing resides in the DCU proper now, but make no mistake - this is a Vertigo horror title.  It's a horror book, and a worthy successor to what Alan Moore laid down before in terms of tone and sophistication, and style.

The comic opens with expository captions that cut to the tone of the action, not the plot.  There's a malevolent wave of foreboding tension throughout, where Swamp Thing stands as a tiny buffer/conduit plugging a massive dyke of vegetative ass whup.  Snyder even apes Moore's old technique of mirrored transitions.  A red maelstrom inexplicably picks up a mastodon skeleton as the captions read "no good".  A panel later, Alec Holland pitches a piece of timber while declaring it "no good."

  Like Animal Man, Swamp Thing knows exactly where its legend was born.  Back when Alan Moore was changing the way modern mainstream comics were written, Swamp Thing wore the crown "Sophisticated Suspense!" on its brow.  That's what Snyder is aiming for with this title. 

Yanick Paquette Makes Everything Beautiful

I generally don't comment on the art, because I don't feel qualified.  So really all I can tell you is that I found everything between these covers to be....beautiful.  Strikingly so.  Even the ugly stuff is beautiful.

Some of the facial storytelling is eerily life-like.  I don't know if Paquette is using photo reference or not, maybe his imagination is photo-reference quality.  The people in these panels feel "real", for lack of a better word, with the exception of the Superman bits in the middle of the book.  I do know that Paquette is knocking out these visuals on a Cintiq, though.  How do I know that?  Because like all self-respecting comic book aficionados, I listened to him explain his process on episode # 162 of Where Monsters Dwell.  But I digress.

Swamp Thing is smart, creepy, and lavishly illustrated.  The first issue made plants interesting, for God's sake.  I want to know why animals are dropping dead in clumps, I want to know why supernatural forces are interested in mastodon skeletons and torturing scientist at the dig.  I'm interested in the new relationship between Alec Holland, Swamp Thing, and where the heck Abby might be.  How can I ask for more than that?

- Ryan 

Chronic Review: Green Lantern # 1!

Green Lantern # 1

DC Comics

Script:      Geoff Johns

Pencils:     Doug Mahnke

22 pages for $2.99

Where to start with these?  I've got a lot of muddled thoughts about the New 52 books, almost all of them are positive, which causes me some consternation.  Partly because I'm never comfortable being comfortable, and partly because it sometimes feels to me that I'm letting some things slide for DC that I'm not for Marvel.  Perhaps it's best to just talk about the book at hand and then bring in the background noise as it seems warranted.

Truth is I loved Green Lantern #1, warts and all.  I brought some baggage with me as a previous reader of the Old Green Lantern book, and some of it got in the way, but none of it was deal-breaking for me.  Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

Carol Ferris Has Done An Abrupt About Face

During Blackest Night and the Green Lantern War that followed, I was really impressed with the way Johns was portraying Carol.  Yes, she was in that ridiculously revealing Sapphire suit, but inside...she was evolving into quite the badass.  When Hal would make whiny little overtures at her, she would tell him to take a cold shower.  While everyone else was riddled with doubt and whinging about what to do about all these damn Black Lanterns and power battery entities, Carol Ferris took charge, took command of her corps, and generally positioned herself as the character most worthy of respect in the title.  That was then.

This is now, and this is Carol Ferris claiming she hasn't slipped the ring on her finger since returning to earth, and doesn't plan to.  And this is Carol Ferris getting over-emotional on dinner dates because Hal asked her for a co-sign on a car loan instead of her hand in marriage.  That's not just different...that's a character arc diametrically opposed to her path just 30 days ago.  It's probably a less interesting path, too.  I liked Bad Ass Carol.  A lot.

So what to do about it?  I guess the question is: what is the social contract we signed off on?  What did DC promise us, and have they fulfilled said promises?  My understanding is that DCs offer was a new beginning with a limited offer on prior continuity.  The base contract was:  overhaul.  We're starting a new ground floor, and letting everybody in.  As a bone to the rather tweaky and inbred established audiences, they promised that certain old elements would remain in canon.  In particular, Green Lantern was cited as a book that would maintain much of its continuity, including Blackest Night and such.

So if an established reader wants to feel betrayed by this overtly contradictory character portrayal, I honestly couldn't fight them on it.  If it feels to you like the contract has been broken, you have a legitimate case.  I like to read reviews over at the Savage Critics, and for most of the new DC books you can just feel the pain of Brian Hibbs peeling off the screen.  "Waitaminute - you said you were keeping these stories intact!  How the hell does this work?"

So I understand the sentiment, even if I don't share it.  And I don't share it.  I rationalize it like so - to me, the main thrust of the new contract between DC and its readership was a fresh start.  They spun a story of kept continuity so as not set an already irascible pack of miscreants over the top with rage.  I'm sure some elements of the old continuity are still in place, but frankly, I don't give a damn if they are or not.

The Difference Between Marvel and DC
Here's the critical difference between my perception of DCs continuity "gaffes" and Marvel's:  intent.  I think Geoff Johns pulled a switcheroo on Carol Ferris because this was the place to make a fresh break, it was a place intended to serve as an introduction to new readers, and I believe those changes were made to make a more compelling/traditional romance between Hal and Carol.  Now,  I may not be in love with that change, but maybe Johns is correct.  Maybe it's more interesting for that new audience to see a Carol Ferris that still isn't a complete pushover, but it is obviously pining for the guy.  It's more of a Moonlighting vibe than what we were getting before, which was a Carol Ferris who really didn't appear interested.

When I see DC making changes now, I interpret them as making a clean break in an attempt to reach new people, and I am all in on that.  When I see Marvel send Wolverine to hell and none of the 13 other books he appears in each month seem to acknowledge that, I see it as a group of editorially lazy fucks who know they can get away with it.  Perhaps I'm naive about all of this, but that's my perception.  Rationally, I recognize that much of DCs promises regarding kept continuity were empty, counter-productive spin.  But emotionally, I don't feel betrayed because idea was, duh, this is a New 52, and sometimes Carol Ferris is going to act in a blatantly contradictory manner so we can play a more traditional "will they/won't they" romance game.  Here's what I'm looking for out of the New 52 books - are they interesting?

And Green Lantern surely is.  Hal's been de-ringed by the Guardians for conduct unbecoming, (never mind that his conduct saved everyone's asses) and he's doing even worse back home.  Ferris can't insure him so he's out of a job, the bills are piling up, and it's not easy to gear down to Coast City cruising speeds when you've been in space protecting sector 2814.

Hal simply doesn't fit in anywhere any more, as evidenced by Hal's very heroic dive from a 7th story window to save a damsel in distress.  The damsel being a paid actress, of course.  Hal didn't save anybody, he just cost a film crew their take.  I think it's appropriate to look at a scene like that and say "Aw, C'MON, MAN!"  There is suspension of disbelief, and then there's this.  But you know what?  It's incredibly unlikely, but it was also fun.  The point was to demonstrate how Hal's Space Cop instincts just don't serve him well as a regular Joe.  Mission accomplished.

While Hal Jordan is getting drummed out of the corps, Sinestro is being shoe-horned back in.  He's essentially forced to recite the oath on a plank, and sent back to his home sector to regulate.  What he finds is that his Yellow Lantern cronies have been subjugating his people, not providing order.  This will simply not do.

So what we're left with is a new playing field where Hal is in pariah mode, and Sinestro is in similar straights, and the only people who can really relate is each other.  And Sinestro's got a plan (of course he does) to put both of them back on top, if Hal will play ball.  He almost certainly will, and because of that, I'm instantly excited about not just Green Lantern # 2, but probably the next six months.  This is fun.  This is what comics are supposed to be.

Notice that the juice doesn't lie in a banner across the top of the book, or a character death, or a ridiculous resurrection, or tying into other titles, or some manufactured eventy type villain.  The juice, as always, lies inside the natural repercussions of story action.  When you've got two enemies disgraced and marginalized by the same group of bureaucratic ass hats, sometimes they put aside their differences to fuck shit up together.  Now that's a story. 

- Ryan

Market Spotlight!

You're not getting $22.50 for this

OK, let's see what money-making goodies are currently crossing my mind's eye.  I think we'll start with:

What To Do With The New 52?

DC has certainly hit the beast with a cattle prod, haven't they?  Titles are selling out, disappearing, and hitting the secondary market for some occasionally attractive numbers.  And not just the big guns, either - I don't think it's out of bounds to say that the books carrying the most buzz right now are Animal Man and Batgirl, at least in terms of under-ordering and market activity.

We have to be a bit careful here, though.  I don't recommend looking at the Bleeding Cool charts and backing up the truck for a metric ton of Animal Man books.  That book did close at $22.50....once.  It was an isolated moment of some poor bastard's madness, or perhaps a toddler got hold of the keyboard for a moment.  I can't explain why that happened, but I know it isn't consistent.  Can you reasonably expect to sell some of these books for $8-$10 at the moment?  Yes, Virginia, you can.

But again, I would caution any kind of major exposure, because I'm not in love with the long term values on any of them.  Is it conceivable that history will look fondly on something like Action Comics # 1?  Certainly.  But will we perceive it more fondly, than say, Grant's JLA # 1 from 1997?  Is it a bigger deal than say, the John Byrne revamp from 1987?  I think the answer to both questions is "no", and I can pick up perfect copies of JLA # 1 for less than $10, and I can score all the John Byrne Superman # 1s I want in mint condition for about a buck.  There's too many copies available to achieve any kind of critical mass in my opinion.

Having said that...if you put a gun to my head and said "pick one investment opportunity out the bunch", I would instantly choose the Justice League # 1 digital combo pack.  The print run on Justice League # 1 is going to be sitting pretty close to 300,000 copies before all is said and done.  Estimated copies of the first print combo pack?  15,000.  That's relatively scarce, and what's more than that, it represents the first ever example of "same day digital" from DC comics.  That makes it scarce and historically significant, and that sounds like a reasonable investment opportunity to me.  It's a no-brainer at the $4.99 suggested retail, and I honestly wouldn't be opposed to paying the current going rate of $15 for a copy.

Long story longer, if you want to try and find one of those Green Lantern error copies at your LCS and buy 1 for cover price, knock yourself out.  But I wouldn't sink a ton of money into buying multiple copies of New 52 books, the risk/reward just isn't there.  These are for reading, I think, and huzzah for that.

Elephantmen: War Toys - No Surrender
Image Comics
ISBN:  1582409803
SRP:     $9.99

What a delicious little morsel this book is!  It's got all the makings: a cult hit with a strong niche following, a fairly consistent shipping schedule on the monthly book to drive interest in the collections, and a dirt cheap entry point should you find one hanging about your local comic shop.

It takes $45-$50 to buy a copy of this book on Amazon in any condition right now.  Even with no discounts, you're looking at a minimum of 4-5X on your investment, which is exceptionally nice.  I haven't found one, so I can't vouch for how quickly to expect a turnaround.  But Starking's work on Elephantmen is widely acclaimed, so I don't see the material going out of style, nor do I expect it to go back to press immediately.  Perfect.

Ion Vol 2 - Dying Flame
DC Comics
ISBN:     1401215513
SRP:       $14.99

There are actually quite a few books featuring Kyle Rayner that do very well in the secondary market.  If I were to name the most underrated champions of the secondary trade market, I would give you Dick Grayson and Kyle Rayner.  So it really didn't shock me to recently discover that the second volume of the Ion series was commanding close to $40 in used condition, and $50+ in new.

The place you want to be as a trade flipper is that 3X or better factor, and with the SRP at $15, we're sitting in a very comfortable spot with Dying Flame.  I think this one is an insta-buy, because the track record here is very comforting.   

Happy Hunting!

-Ryan