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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2020 0:50:14 GMT -5
I had a Hulk 181 with the value stamp missing.
I've heard a cut-out that affects the story can bring a comic down to 2.5, or 3.0 if it's on a non-story page. At least to those who grade comics and want value for what they're paying for.
Never cut out a value stamp. Did worse in cutting out splash pages or full page poster images. Also cutting out figures to use as the poor man's action figures & to create shadow boxes. Always issues that were read to death falling apart & ready for throwing by mom out or if I had a duplicate issue.
That's ok dude. You use the scissors on a book, and I'll use the scissors on someone who comes near my book with doritos-stained fingers. We can still get along.
Maybe if we consider that comics were for kids as an enjoyable pastime instead of a bearer bond for the future, we could accept these indiscretions . Cut them up in the 50-60's ? Yes. In the present day? Horrors.
Oh I can accept any discretion from any period...kids cut out coupons, pin-up pages, filled in puzzles, wrote on the covers, penned in naughty-bits...just let me know about up front so I can decide if I still want it. They still make great, cheap reading copies.
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Post by Icctrombone on May 31, 2020 5:55:55 GMT -5
I was looking all over the net for scans of this with no success, so I pulled out my copies of Dreadstar from the Bravura imprint of Malibu comics from the 90's. This was their version of Stamps. You would detach them from their various books and when you collected them all it would be glued onto the page that is in the scan below. Quick story- I actually did this and completed the stamp page and sent it in to Bravura comics. They were supposed to send you various comics including Bravura # 0. Well, this line of comics went out of business when Marvel purchased Malibu for their printing equipment. I sent 7.95 for shipping and figured it was a loss. About 6 months later I received a package from Marvel comics that contained Malibu variants that included gold copies of Dreadstar, and other books from their line, all gold or special covers that they had. They also threw in Deep Space Nine gold and Silver editions. I must have gotten over 10 books. It was a pleasant surprise. This is the gold edition of Dreadstar #1 next to the copy I bought myself.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 31, 2020 8:47:35 GMT -5
^I still find it incredibly offensive what Marvel did to Malibu
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Post by Icctrombone on May 31, 2020 8:53:49 GMT -5
I did like some of the Ultraverse titles but I guess the books weren't selling. Or Maybe Marvel made an offer they couldn't refuse.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 31, 2020 9:47:17 GMT -5
Marvel bought Malibu to keep DC from buying it. Tom Mason, of Malibu (and the comic Dinosaurs for Hire) provided details... Here..........and here.......Basically, DC was after Malibu's market share; which, thanks to the Image launch and Ultraverse, made it the Number 3 company in the industry. By scooping up their titles, DC could greatly increase their market share and be an even greater challenge to Marvel. Marvel got in there quickly and bought it out and then buried it before the breath had even left it. The coloring system wasn't a reason. In fact, the coloring system was a bit of a cash drain, as it had to be kept working to absorb the costs of running it and that was hard to do, without continually creating more and more work for it. The situation was similar to the reasoning behind both Western Printing and Charlton getting into comics, in the first place: they were a cheap way to keep their printing presses rolling when not producing their core products (puzzles and books, for Western, magazines for Charlton). Malibu was starting to have issues. They launched Ultraverse with the cash influx they got from the Image launch. However, they spent a Quantum F#$% Ton of money on marketing, with sales pretty much only reflective of normal speculator patterns for a new title (nothing to sneeze at; but achievable without MTV spots and bus stop benches) Then, sales settled down to normal levels and Malibu spent money on top talent, but wasn't getting top sales. They were bleeding money, like most of the indies in that period (and DC and Marvel, truth be told). Scott Rosenberg was looking to turn a fast buck and sell, which led to talks with Paul Levitz, before Marvel got there. Rosenberg had a long history of shady business practices and flipping companies and running from debt, going back to his distribution days (which is what led to starting the companies that made up Malibu). I covered some of the details in my Other Guys thread, starting here....
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Post by Icctrombone on May 31, 2020 10:43:51 GMT -5
It's a dog eat dog world...
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Post by tarkintino on May 31, 2020 11:04:11 GMT -5
Yes, beccabear67 , they did do them on the backs of various tabloids! ...like the back of Batman Treasury Edition #C-25 (1974) with the Adams diorama. As much as I loved the work, I could not bring myself to cut up that great, fun tabloid.
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Post by Trevor on May 31, 2020 12:00:57 GMT -5
I’ve shared this story before, but in light of the current conversation, I’ll share it again. Don’t know why, and would never dream of it now, but at one point when I was about 8 I got rid of all my comics. But before I did, I cut out all the humor and gag pages from those mostly DC horror books. I basically created Plop! issue zero, and for a short time it was my only book. I still own that comic, and maybe someday I’ll commission a sketch cover for it.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2020 15:59:07 GMT -5
I’ve shared this story before, but in light of the current conversation, I’ll share it again. Don’t know why, and would never dream of it now, but at one point when I was about 8 I got rid of all my comics. But before I did, I cut out all the humor and gag pages from those mostly DC horror books. I basically created Plop! issue zero, and for a short time it was my only book. I still own that comic, and maybe someday I’ll commission a sketch cover for it.
I wanna see, have any pics?
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Post by Icctrombone on May 31, 2020 17:45:32 GMT -5
I’ve shared this story before, but in light of the current conversation, I’ll share it again. Don’t know why, and would never dream of it now, but at one point when I was about 8 I got rid of all my comics. But before I did, I cut out all the humor and gag pages from those mostly DC horror books. I basically created Plop! issue zero, and for a short time it was my only book. I still own that comic, and maybe someday I’ll commission a sketch cover for it.
I wanna see, have any pics?
Hmmmm, sounds like you think his pants are on fire.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 31, 2020 19:05:30 GMT -5
I did like some of the Ultraverse titles but I guess the books weren't selling. Or Maybe Marvel made an offer they couldn't refuse. The main problem with the Ultraverse was that every single published issue was apart of one long continuing story. Not so sure if that was a good idea in the long run
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Post by Icctrombone on May 31, 2020 19:16:42 GMT -5
I did like some of the Ultraverse titles but I guess the books weren't selling. Or Maybe Marvel made an offer they couldn't refuse. The main problem with the Ultraverse was that every single published issue was apart of one long continuing story. Not so sure if that was a good idea in the long run I think the main weakness of the Ultraverse was that many books had poor artwork. Hardcase, Prototype and Exiles, their first three books had artists not quite ready for pro work. The storylines were okay. I did enjoy Prime, Mantra( that had a young Terry Dodson) and The Strangers.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 31, 2020 19:29:54 GMT -5
The main problem with the Ultraverse was that every single published issue was apart of one long continuing story. Not so sure if that was a good idea in the long run I think the main weakness of the Ultraverse was that many books had poor artwork. Hardcase, Prototype and Exiles, their first three books had artists not quite ready for pro work. The storylines were okay. I did enjoy Prime, Mantra( that had a young Terry Dodson) and The Strangers. I really liked Prototype, The Solution, and Nightman. The latter mostly due to the syndicated Glen A. Larson show from the 90's Mantra was interesting, I appreciated what Hardcase tried to accomplish by setting up the Ultraverse (I've also read that he was kind of a homage to Golden Age Superman), and while I enjoyed Prime, the child molestation stuff got real old real fast
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Post by Icctrombone on May 31, 2020 19:42:57 GMT -5
Prototype was kind of interesting but had really bad art. I remember the Solution being okay but Nightman was forgettable.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 31, 2020 19:55:17 GMT -5
Prototype was kind of interesting but had really bad art. I remember the Solution being okay but Nightman was forgettable. Nightman was batshit, let's just leave it at that. Johnny's whole power about not needing sleep and being able to hear evil thoughts because of a piece of shrapnel in his head? Laughable but interesting
I talked to Englehart about it via email and Nightman was heavily inspired by his run on Batman
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