Friday Fish Fry

December 15th, 2023 by

As a collector, the rule was always “the time to buy is when the opportunity presents itself.” If I were searching for a certain issue, and I was at a comic book convention, a dealer has the issue I am seeking, I should buy it. The real trick was in negotiation of the price. I was never really good at negotiation. I passed up on a few grails that I wanted because I did not have the money on me to buy them.

Then the internet came along and really changed things. eBay made rare items not so rare. Since everyone and their family members suddenly had rare comics in their closets or attics or basements. This flattened the whole market, but did not cure the real issue with some people. The issue being condition.

Novices in any collecting hobby tend to not grade correctly. With comics, many collectors can be very picky. If you claim the comic is 9.8 condition, I can guarantee you, someone will debate you and tell you it is a 9.4 in order to get a lower price. Grading was even considered subjective, though Overstreet price guide had a system outlined for grading.

Then along came CGC, some cheered the idea of having a third party intervene, grade the book, then seal it in plastic. Slabbing by many comic book purists was considered horrible. Well, as soon as someone handles that 9.8 copy of Sub Mariner #1 a little roughly, you now have a 9.6 or 9.4. With slabbing, the 9.8 remains 9.8 until someone wrecks the case. There is no dispute.

Once CGC entered the market, the costs of certain comics skyrocketed. A 9.8 was the near mint, most perfect a comic could receive. Thus you look at 9.8 graded comics are always close to double 9.6, which is considered a common grade for modern comics.

Lately the comic book market is now declining. The pandemic had injected some new enthusiasm into the hobby, because people could do the collecting solitarily, with minimum interaction. That enthusiasm has waned, but it has also inflated the market. Some books will still hold value, and be unaffordable to new collectors or collectors with smaller budgets. Others become artificially inflated whenever a movie or television show is announced.

Savage She-Hulk #1 was a grail of mine, I wanted a slabbed copy in 9.8. I felt $500 was a very fair price. When Disney announced the show She Hulk on there streaming service. The price was about $1200 for a slabbed 9.8 comic. Out of my budget. I looked at purchasing lower grades, but did not. I knew the price would go down if the show bombed. The show was terrible. The comic dropped in price. I was able to get a slabbed Savage She Hulk #1 in 9.8 grade for $480.

The comic was one I read back when I was a child of 12. It was a very good story. Jennifer Walters was an attorney. Her cousin was Bruce Banner, the Hulk. Jessica was in an accident, which required a peer to peer blood transfusion. Bruce matched her blood type and he performed the transfusion. Jennifer gained the powers of the Hulk in female form. She also could control her transformation. Great origin story, and the art was done by John Buscema and Chuck Stone. I enjoyed the comic, but gave away my copy as a child. This was before I became a comic book collector.

Unfortunately I have done that too often as a collector. Sold something, then wanted to reaquire something, when it was more expensive. But, you can’t keep everything forever and hope it becomes valuable.



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Friday Fish Fry

October 13th, 2023 by

Going through old files on my backup harddrive, I found a ton of work I previously have done. Some of it good, some of it not so good. I also began piecing together my history with webcomics. Information I had forgotten, thoughts written by me while working on other ideas. Memories are very fungible, so this breadcrumb trail through my own past is interesting.

When I started my website in 2006, it was to promote my artwork, and story ideas. I tried various formats, and concepts, but nothing worked well. I finally produced a webcomic, Bagboy, in 2008. The standard newspaper comic format lended itself to above the fold, quick readablity to potential readers. The comic lasted until 2010. I actually typed into a text file that I was going to post in my blog part about why I was taking down the webcomic. Buy then I was posting four comics a week, and burning out. I was also running out of ideas and becoming stressed out trying to draw comics for four times a week. Then scanning, coloring, lettering, everything involved was being done in a weekend. It was more like work, and less like fun.

Interestingly enough, it is much easier to produce a video than produce a comic. For all the steps outlined in the previous paragraph, producing a comic takes three to four times more time than a video. For that very reason I stopped producing my Kid Spider/Teen Spider comic. Even at the leisurely pace of once a week, it became tedious to produce a comic.

After Bagboy was down, I launched a comic called Shots. It was a once a week production, and to be honest the artwork was much more beautiful and concise than Bagboy. After Shots was stopped. I posted a webcomic called “Real Fans”. The idea was everyone in the future were cosplayers and went to conventions most of the time. They were lucky they worked a few hours a day at a job, and lived a Jetsons type life.

Then there is some of my original comic work. It is fun to find all the old files. I am debating about posting more files and comics on my website. I will sort it out, and maybe work out a schedule like I have for my videos.

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Meet The Alternatives

November 7th, 2021 by

The Alternatives was a concept I was working on for a while. This group was going to be formed in a dimension that did not have super beings, but had discovered inter-dimensional travel. If the heroes died, they would be replaced with analogs from other dimensions or new heroes entirely. There were also neuances in regards to dimensional travel that I wanted to explore as well. Technology, philosphy, and biology evolve differently in other dimensions, which is one part I have brought up and bring up in this story arc. I will update appropriate pages with more in depth information, and post here.

There is also a new video today, since it is Sunday. Might be earlier than normal, since it is daylight savings time. We fall back. Yippie. This concept throws me off for a few days.

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It’s Been Over A Year

October 25th, 2020 by

I started the Universe Zero story line over a year ago. Comic Number 53 was published today. It has been an interesting and long year. A lot has happened. I went back a reread the strips, it did not take long, about an hour. I feel I have developed the characters and conflict well. Gorilla Fish takes center stage at this point. Teen Spider (formerly Kid Spider) has been an aimless character in need of guidance. The next story I am working on will begin his journey into gaining skill and purpose.
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Teen Spider Adventures Universe Comic 50

October 4th, 2020 by

This is the fiftieth comic in the Universe Zero story line. Since I have been posting only once a week, it means Barstool Entertainment is two weeks away from continuing a story line for a full year. Universe Zero will end in about 20 more weeks, and then on to a new chapter.

One thing I have forgotten to do is post to this website new YouTube videos. I post on my YouTube channel twice a week, and forget to promote those videos on my site. So starting this week, I am going to do my best to remember to post videos to this site.