Comic Scalpers Make Me Feel Sick

I feel like it's 1999, rather than 2009.

From Newsarama:

"As we noted on Wednesday, the Amazing Spider-Man “Obama issue” frenzy escalated quickly on that home of quick escalations: eBay. Surveying the scene today, we see that there are presently approximately 1,117 listings for Amazing Spider-Man #583.

After you get past some of the insanely inflated Buy It Now listings, which includes a $10,000 listing for a SpidermanObama domain name, you’ll see that bidding seems to be topping out at around $86 for a single, ungraded, unsigned, variant copy. One can find signed copies fetching over $125, or cleverly pre-sold packages of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd variant printings together for more. It seems that while the number of high-priced Buy It Nows have grown, they aren’t moving for, say, $500 a pop. At this point, the $80 to $90 seems to be the top end.

The top sales prices will probably cool off by next week, as people who just want any copy as a “historical document” of sorts will likely just be happy to own a 2nd or 3rd printing. The speculators have already been in, and, based on Buy It Nows, a number of them will seemingly just be holding the bag. Let’s hope they won’t need a bailout."

I urge everyone out there who wants this as a collectors item to wait for additional printings that you will be able to pick up for around $2.99.

I got nothing against First Printings. In fact I love them. Like when I found a first printing of The Killing Joke at Secret Headquarters a few weeks back. But for me it's the idea of having a copy of the original comic. One that hit the shelves the first week it was available back in the 1980's and traveled who knows where to find a cherished spot in my comic collection.

But the fact that people are actually convincing themselves that they need to spend $90 a pop for a comic that just came out this week (and for one that I hear isn't really very good, much like more or less the last decade of Spider-Man books that took place in continuity) is actually quite baffling. The fact that people looking to turn $2.99 into $90, people who NEVER set foot into a comic shop unless they know they can somehow turn a certain issue into a frenzy that will pad their pocket, people that want to take advantage of the fact that this nation (and the world) are actually excited about the political climate in America for the first time in eight years...it's just, well, fucked up.

People- channel your inner Palin and say "Thanks but no thanks" to this false hype. Save your $90 and put it under your mattress or put it towards something that you actually need during these bleak financial times.

That's all.

- TFM

Y?!

From Sci Fi Wire:

"Yorick's sister, Hero, is in the script at this point, but she is not as much of a character as she was in the first draft," Caruso said. "Right now, she's sprinkled throughout, but she's not a major, major character."

Caruso added: "The 711 character is in it, and she's insane. She does teach [Yorick] a life lesson or two in a very interesting way. It's a comedic, yet horrifying, scene. She's very cool."

As for rumors that singer-turned-actress Alicia Keys is up for the key role of Agent 355? "It's too early to talk about who we're going to cast, and it's nice that the fanboys and fans are talking about it, but we haven't talked to her about it yet," Caruso said. "If we don't get Alicia Keys, though, I'm sure I'll make a pretty good choice."

*Sigh*.

- TFM

Biggest Disappointments of the Summer, Part 1: Secret Invasion

The Bendis penned Avengers titles have been hit or miss with me, but I think he's definitely had some really solid moments that have kept me interested in reading further. Secret Invasion is another story entirely. Here we have one of the biggest comics events of the summer and issue 5 has me not caring in the slightest as to what happens in the final three installments.

I've been pretty patient up until now, but a few things happen in the latest chapter that made me cringe:

1. The splash page where the Skrulls use celebrities, politicians and superheroes/villains as their mouthpieces to tell the human race about the current invasion. Stephen Colbert, Paris Hilton, Barack Obama, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Steve Jobs, John McCain, Oprah, Dr. Doom, Simon Cowell are all included. Ugh.

2. The back and forth between Maria Hill and Skrull Jarvis where it's revealed that the Maria standing in front of the Skrulls on the Helicarrier is in fact a robotic decoy and that when "this is all over I'm going to make myself a T-Shirt...It'll say Nick Fury was right". Hmmmmmm....

3. The over-the-top last page where Ronin screams "THIS DOESN"T END TILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM DIES! YOU HEAR ME?! EVERY @#$%ING LAST ONE OF THEM!" *groan*

The real bummer here is the fact that the overall plot sketch for this story looks really good on paper, but seems to be flailing in it's actual delivery like a third world country on the balance beam during the Olympics.

If you're not reading this, pat yourself on the back and continue to steer clear. However, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, he's been doing some all right things on both New and Mighty Avengers. As far as Secret Invasion stories go, spend your money smartly and buy some of those instead.

- TFM