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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 6, 2018 10:49:06 GMT -5
One time my LCS gave me a blank Savage Dragon cover in my pull bag. I returned it for one with actual artwork. I don't really go for the frazzle dazzle. Mine would occasionally show me the variants on a particular comic that I had ordered and I would just pick one. Never went in for the multiples. In my opinion, the worst was X-Men 1, with the segmented cover. They solicited each one as having different pages, which were nothing but pin-ups and they still did the multi-gatefold, with the full image. I just picked up that one. I did pick up the multiple Team Titans #1, with the different origins in each one and was so ticked off at myself, as the story wasn't that great and the rest of the comic was the same in each copy. I never did anything like that again and soon dropped that book after having enough of its mediocrity.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2018 12:14:20 GMT -5
One time my LCS gave me a blank Savage Dragon cover in my pull bag. I returned it for one with actual artwork. I don't really go for the frazzle dazzle. See I like the blanks, because if you have a sketch commissioned on it, you truly have a one of a kind item that no one else has. It's more unique than any other other item you can have. I mean even if you had an Action #1, it's not unique, other collector's have it, but that sketch cover is one of a kind and no one else has that one in their collection and it defines a "collection" as yours. It's not mass produced like the regular cover. I don't really care about collecting comics any more, but I do like collecting unique art pieces, which is what those blank sketch covers can become. -M
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 6, 2018 12:17:47 GMT -5
One time my LCS gave me a blank Savage Dragon cover in my pull bag. I returned it for one with actual artwork. I don't really go for the frazzle dazzle. See I liek the blanks, because if you have a sketch commissioned on it, you truly have a one of a kind item that no one else has. It's more unique than any other other item you can have. I mean even if you had an Action #1, it's not unique, other collector's have it, but that sketch cover is one of a kind and no one else has that one in their collection and it defines a "collection" as yours. It's not mass produced like the regular cover. I don't really care about collecting comics any more, but I do like collecting unique art pieces, which is what those blank sketch covers can become. -M I can see that if you're in a position to have a sketch done...especially by someone with some connection to the book. I would have little to no opportunity to do that given that there ain't any comics pros coming to podunk Idaho.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2018 12:44:06 GMT -5
See I liek the blanks, because if you have a sketch commissioned on it, you truly have a one of a kind item that no one else has. It's more unique than any other other item you can have. I mean even if you had an Action #1, it's not unique, other collector's have it, but that sketch cover is one of a kind and no one else has that one in their collection and it defines a "collection" as yours. It's not mass produced like the regular cover. I don't really care about collecting comics any more, but I do like collecting unique art pieces, which is what those blank sketch covers can become. -M I can see that if you're in a position to have a sketch done...especially by someone with some connection to the book. I would have little to no opportunity to do that given that there ain't any comics pros coming to podunk Idaho. Yeah, I get that they're not for everyone, and situations vary. I will say though, in the age of social media, it is possible to get into contact with artists to do commissions on those covers even if you don't have a chance to meet them in person. It can be more expensive for sure, but it is possible. -M
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Jun 7, 2018 2:35:08 GMT -5
I know variant covers are a controversial thing anyway, but irrespective I loathe having a Thor variant month copy of Daredevil with no relevance to DD at all(as an example because I will never buy one of these). I really dont mind variants, will just buy the issue with the cover I like most(tho paying the extra for the variants pisses me off), and I figure its only the completists of us out there who suffer. These themed month bollocks things though are just utterly nonsensical IMHO and should be banished to CBR readers. It’s easy to solve. Don’t buy it and it won’t be around to bother you. Hmmm, thought I was clear on the subject, wont buy cos I think theyre moronic. Still get to be offended by their existence though, bless this hobby. I know variant covers are a controversial thing anyway, but irrespective I loathe having a Thor variant month copy of Daredevil with no relevance to DD at all(as an example because I will never buy one of these). I really dont mind variants, will just buy the issue with the cover I like most(tho paying the extra for the variants pisses me off), and I figure its only the completists of us out there who suffer. These themed month bollocks things though are just utterly nonsensical IMHO and should be banished to CBR readers. All depends on the theme. I for one adored the Darwyn Cooke month DC did and have most of those covers framed and hanging in my office/studio now. If the variant cover is a piece of art I like and want, then I consider the price. Would I pay that much for a color print of that size (and most prints run a minimum of $5 regardless of size so a standard comics cover price is actually a reasonable price for a print)? If the answer is yes, then I will buy it as a piece of art, again regardless whether I want to read the book or not. If it is a 1 in 25, 1 in 50, 1 in 100, etc. variant that costs more, then I need to decide if it is still a price I will pay. If am buying it as a book to read, I just get whichever cover I prefer, and will only double dip if there is a blank variant I want to commission a sketch on. So I don't mind variants as an art piece, I do however dislike the reliance on variants to prop up sales numbers by publishers and feel sorry for retailers who have to sort out how to order it all and not leave money tied up on the shelf in unsold copies of books. I do like what has been done recently with the order in policy on variants where retailers can order however many of whatever cover they want and customers can preorder certain covers to allow retailer sot have a sense how to order them. DC did that with Action #1000 for example, and I was able to tell my show owner I wanted the Steranko cover and the blank variant. They are doing it on the Sandman Universe Special as well and I was able to tell them I just wanted the Dave McKean cover variant. So I don;t think variants themselves are the issue, it is the ordering policies publishers use with the variants that has been the problem with the impact variants have had on the industry. From a slightly different POV, more variants means more paying work for comic artists and cover rates are higher than page rates, so it's more creators able to earn money for themselves, which is a good thing. And as Slam said, if you don;t like it, don't buy that variant. -M Now a Darwyn Cooke buncha covers would be just dandy by me, presuming he drawed a superman pic for a superman book, as opposed to a series of covers OF Darwyn Cooke adorning DCs books for a month(which would fall into the category of moronic ideas as expressed above).
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,083
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Post by Confessor on Jun 7, 2018 5:03:11 GMT -5
I can see that if you're in a position to have a sketch done...especially by someone with some connection to the book. I would have little to no opportunity to do that given that there ain't any comics pros coming to podunk Idaho. This is more or less how I feel about the blank varients too. I can see that if you're able to get to a decent US convention and get one of your favourite artists to personalise it with a sketch, then it's a really cool collectible. However, if you live in the UK, where the only guests you're likely to meet at the second rate comic conventions we have here would be an obscure Dr. Who assistant, one of the Red Dwarf guys, and the geezer who played Greedo from Star Wars, blank variants are pointless.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 7, 2018 5:56:52 GMT -5
Well Confessor, you make me feel guilty for having access to conventions with popular creators. But that being said, I've reached the age where I absolutely hate waiting on lines for more than 5 minutes. At the cons that I've attended the hot creators had hour long lines so I'm not liable to be part of. But I will say that I do go to the tables that have the not so popular creators and it's a blast shooting the bull with the likes of Shooter, Starlin ( before Thanos became a household name)and Erik Larsen.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 7, 2018 6:55:00 GMT -5
I can see that if you're in a position to have a sketch done...especially by someone with some connection to the book. I would have little to no opportunity to do that given that there ain't any comics pros coming to podunk Idaho. This is more or less how I feel about the blank varients too. I can see that if you're able to get to a decent US convention and get one of your favourite artists to personalise it with a sketch, then it's a really cool collectible. However, if you live in the UK, where the only guests you're likely to meet at the second rate comic conventions we have here would be an obscure Dr. Who assistant, one of the Red Dwarf guys, and the geezer who played Greedo from Star Wars, blank variants are pointless. Love this take! Pittsburgh used to have a great comic book convention (Pittsburgh Comicon) that attracted high-level guests. It was there that I met folks like George Perez, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Steranko, and Herb Trimpe and got books signed by them, along with artists like Ron Frenz and Greg Horn. Then money got in the way, Wizard World bought the rights, ran two or three rubbish shows, then cut bait and ran, leaving us with no major show. We have a local guy who runs a "pop culture con" three times annually, but it's mostly toys and washed-up celebrities, like Stargate actors, the cast of "A Christmas Story" and the guy who played the third Ugnaught from the left in "The Empire Strikes Back."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2018 9:25:55 GMT -5
I've reached the age where I absolutely hate waiting on lines for more than 5 minutes. At the cons that I've attended the hot creators had hour long lines so I'm not liable to be part of. I've stopped attending these functions around 1999; from 2000 on -- I've haven't attended not one Con including Emerald City (I'm from Seattle) Comic Con at all. It's too crowded, noisy, and most of the people are rushing from one table to another and I've just don't have the gall to do this anymore. I hate long lines more than ever before.
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Post by brutalis on Jun 7, 2018 10:13:43 GMT -5
Well Confessor , you make me feel guilty for having access to conventions with popular creators. But that being said, I've reached the age where I absolutely hate waiting on lines for more than 5 minutes. At the cons that I've attended the hot creators had hour long lines so I'm not liable to be part of. But I will say that I do go to the tables that have the not so popular creators and it's a blast shooting the bull with the likes of Shooter, Starlin ( before Thanos became a household name)and Erik Larsen. Line waiting for more than 5 minutes is mostly a waste of time to me. And like Icc some of my best and most treasured moments at con's these last 7 years are those times I spent with comic book writers and artists I grew up with and allowing me to meet and speak with them at length and thanking them for all the joys they provided me while growing up because they are no longer considered to be "hot/popular" to current fans. What truly saddens me most of all is that so many of these con's are promoted as "Comic" but very little is really comic book related except for having an artist alley anymore. The last 2 years here there have been NO PANELS for meeting and talking with comic book creators. They all have a table in artist alley but none of them have panels discussing their work and experiences/etc. Don't know if the blame for this falls on the Con scheduler's for not asking or trying to get them into panel's or if it is the creator's not wanting to? I just miss being able to watch and listen to them. Some will make time to talk with you at their tables but many it feels like they are disinterested and only there to sell and make some dollars. This year the Phoenix Comic-Fest was a much more comfortable and enjoyable experience. It is their 1st year trying to "compete" as a BIG CON and they bumped up the daily and full prices and went with lots of expensive private/specialty/photo/meets so the sales/attendance was down not only for attendee's but also for vendors. So the floors were much less congested and the aisles a bit wider allowing for a better time for all. They also made a ban on cosplayer's that have ridiculously large/restrictive costumes and would NOT allow them on the vendor floor because those types of cosplay either create traffic problems as they try to maneuver in tight spaces or they blocked traffic flow with their posing for pictures from all the visitors.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 7, 2018 10:59:46 GMT -5
This is more or less how I feel about the blank varients too. I can see that if you're able to get to a decent US convention and get one of your favourite artists to personalise it with a sketch, then it's a really cool collectible. However, if you live in the UK, where the only guests you're likely to meet at the second rate comic conventions we have here would be an obscure Dr. Who assistant, one of the Red Dwarf guys, and the geezer who played Greedo from Star Wars, blank variants are pointless. Love this take! Pittsburgh used to have a great comic book convention (Pittsburgh Comicon) that attracted high-level guests. It was there that I met folks like George Perez, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Steranko, and Herb Trimpe and got books signed by them, along with artists like Ron Frenz and Greg Horn. Then money got in the way, Wizard World bought the rights, ran two or three rubbish shows, then cut bait and ran, leaving us with no major show. We have a local guy who runs a "pop culture con" three times annually, but it's mostly toys and washed-up celebrities, like Stargate actors, the cast of "A Christmas Story" and the guy who played the third Ugnaught from the left in "The Empire Strikes Back." My first convention was in Augusta, GA., in 1989. The only name pro there was Tom Lyle, who was working on Starman, at that point. The show itself was in a small venue, about the size of your average small town VFW hall. I did get to speak to him a bit, about his work for Eclipse (Sky Wolf and Strike!) and got a sketch of Sgt. Strike (the Captain America character, whose power harness is discovered by a kid, in the present, in Strike!). My next was a couple of years later, at the Atlanta Fantasy Fair. There I spent time talking to Joe Staton (and got a sketch of Captain Marvel) and Wayne Vansant (The Nam, Battlegroup Peiper). That was the first where I saw the "washed up celebrities" as they had Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster) and someone from Twin Peaks. They also had Marina Sirtis (who looked damn hot, in a little black mini-dress) and Marc Singer, of V and Beastmaster fame. Sirtis was the big draw, and Singer also had a sizeable autograph line, after his talk to a crowd. I did get in his line to get a still signed for my sister's birthday (she loved him in that film and her birthday was in a week). It was far easier to talk to the comic pros than the celebrities. I've been cursed to live in areas that seem to be off the beaten path fr comics people and celebrities, necessitating long trips for bigger cons. While I was stationed in Charleston, SC, there was only one convention, during my last year there, with only a couple of no-name artists, who put out "bad girl" indie comics (that fad was just getting going). It's a decent sized town; so, you'd think it was perfect for a Con; but, with only two major comic shops (and a couple of used bookstore/comic places), no one wanted to organize one. Springfield, IL was too far for anyone; but, they tried it for a couple of years and got some talent from Chicago in, including Doug Rice and Len Strazewski. Tom Artis lived in Springfield; but, hadn't worked for a major company in a few years. Both years I spent significant time talking to Doug Rice and the first year to Clarke Hawbaker. The second year I did get to spend some time chatting with Steve Lieber, who was doing Hawkman, at the time. That fizzled out after that. It was years before I went to another, just outside St Louis, because Mike Grell was going to be there and he was the one artist I had always wanted to meet. Spent quite a while talking to him, Mike Gold and John Ostrander, getting the lowdown on First Comics and DC, including how Gold fired Elliot Maggin from DC (and got sucker-punched). The biggest I have been to was HeroesCon, in Charlotte, NC, which draws a big crowd of pros, because of the family atmosphere (usually done over Father's Day weekend). Both DC and Marvel had a big presence and there were a ton of pros. I got Gil Kane to sign a THUNDER Agents cover, at that one. It also had a few celebs. The closest I have been to what modern ones seem to be was a Gen Con, in Milwaukee, back when it was owned by TSR. I went with co-workers and friends. The comic book pros and programming was minimal (Peter David was the biggest name, with Kim Yale and William Messner-Loebs also there) and there was a bit of sci-fi (Timothy Zahn was signing, one day); but, the bulk was RPG and that is not my wheelhouse. Tons of cosplayers, including a trio of Klingons, with the triangle noisemaker that were so obnoxious I wanted to grab a replica sword and start bludgeoning them. Most of the dealers were RPG-oriented and there was little comic merch. I did find one booth that had a bunch of indie stuff and loaded up on Lethargic Lad Weakly and Hepcats. I went to a panel with friends, about writing for TSR, which consisted of the Catch-22 that you had to be a published writer to write for them and they weren't really looking for anyone. Most pointless exercise I had been to since my Urban Economics classes, in college. I sat in on the lone comic panel, about comic writing, with David, Messner Loebs and sat next to Kim Yale, who was a hoot. There were also a few lower echelon Star Trek actors around (red shirt types, mostly).
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Post by rberman on Jun 7, 2018 11:09:51 GMT -5
I've reached the age where I absolutely hate waiting on lines for more than 5 minutes. At the cons that I've attended the hot creators had hour long lines so I'm not liable to be part of. I've stopped attending these functions around 1999; from 2000 on -- I've haven't attended not one Con including Emerald City (I'm from Seattle) Comic Con at all. It's too crowded, noisy, and most of the people are rushing from one table to another and I've just don't have the gall to do this anymore. I hate long lines more than ever before. I was musing whether to try to make a pilgrimage to a Con somewhere, maybe even San Diego Comic Con. But as I looked over the list of special guests from last year, it seemed kind of skimpy for the size of con, which I assume means long lines. That makes sense from a promoter standpoint; they win when lots of people are willing to pay to wait in long lines to see a few celebrities (including comics creators), so why pay for 2-3 times as many creators to come? I guess the industry is just too mature (the industry, not the people in it) to expect these well known creators to be more available.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 7, 2018 13:26:18 GMT -5
I've stopped attending these functions around 1999; from 2000 on -- I've haven't attended not one Con including Emerald City (I'm from Seattle) Comic Con at all. It's too crowded, noisy, and most of the people are rushing from one table to another and I've just don't have the gall to do this anymore. I hate long lines more than ever before. I was musing whether to try to make a pilgrimage to a Con somewhere, maybe even San Diego Comic Con. But as I looked over the list of special guests from last year, it seemed kind of skimpy for the size of con, which I assume means long lines. That makes sense from a promoter standpoint; they win when lots of people are willing to pay to wait in long lines to see a few celebrities (including comics creators), so why pay for 2-3 times as many creators to come? I guess the industry is just too mature (the industry, not the people in it) to expect these well known creators to be more available. Over the years, I have read snippets from pros about which cons they attend. Bad experiences mark of some, while many, like George Perez and Peter David, made it a point to attend Heroes Con because it was kept focused on comics, promoted a family atmosphere, and treated everyone who was appearing like family. They would pass up bigger offers to attend. Shelton Drum, who runs (ran? Haven't kept up), who owned the Heroes Aren't Hard to Find stores, really made it a nice experience. The one I attended was in 91 and George Perez was a featured guest and was auctioning off original art from the aborted JLA/Avengers crossover (the original 80s one, not the later one). DC had the entire Legion crew there (Kieth Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, Stuart Immomen, etc), Julie Schwartz, Gil Kane and several others, while Marvel had a big booth, too. I met Dave Dorman there and talked to him about the Kubert School (I had just been accepted; but, ended up not being able to raise the cash), picked up Exciting Comics #9 (first appearance of the Black Terror), and a few other goodies. I got to talk to quite a few people there. They did the big signings away from the artist/dealer area, so you could interact more. That was a 3 hour trip, from Charleston (I used to make it about once a month, to shop for back issues at the Heroes store). Drum also used to have a warehouse sale, where he would open up his storage warehouse (an older store that he converted) and you could find all kinds of goodies tucked away. I bought a big stack of treasury editions and the Comics Journal issue with the Bill Watterson interview. That was also the only place I ever saw Tim Truman's Dixie Pistols album, with the Scout wedding comic in it.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 9, 2018 10:36:02 GMT -5
Whoever had the idea of renaming Rachel Summers “Prestige” should be told that it was a bad one.
There! I said it.
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Post by String on Jun 9, 2018 11:38:03 GMT -5
Speaking of blank covers for sketches, don't they do both front and back covers as such in those copies? When I saw Simonson awhile back, I think one guy in line had such an issue for he had gotten a Thor head sketch on the front cover and was allowed back in line to get a Beta Ray Bill head sketch on the back cover. (I don't recall what issue specifically it was and Simonson okayed their letting this guy back in line for the additional free sketch).
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