davidh777

Thanks for the story. I was a big fan of the Defenders back in the day.

Giantrobo

Yeah thanks JasonF.

dadaluholla

Quick question... Is #15 the most recent issue of Astonishing X-Men that has come out?

Chew

I'm pretty sure that's the most recent one. Midtowncomics states it came out 06/21. I don't remember a new one since then.

dadaluholla

Yeah I was just browsing the release lists (to see what I've missed in my two month absense from the comic shop) and I didn't see any mention of a #16. I didn't know if it was on a two month schedule or just delayed.

Patman

52 - Week 14:
Montoya and the Question make their way to Black Adam's country, and don't find it all that hospitable. John Henry Irons is still distraught by his daughter falling in with Lex Luthor. Doc Magnus's pal Dr. Morrow leaves him a gift that has implications for his Metal Men. And we also get a quickie 2-page origin of Metamorpho.

Superman 655:
Clark makes his way across the pond to cover an old girlfriend's press conference and finds Subjekt-17 making a mess of things. We get a peek into Clark and Lana's present day status of being "friends". Arion somehow figures into this 2-part story (or longer), even though he is viewing the events from over 300 years in the past.

Squadron Supreme 6:
The team returns and gets a bit of sanctioned leave/personal time off. Blur visits his home, and tries to recruit Nighthawk. Nighthawk dishes out more of his vision of justice in his neighborhood. Emil (Smarty pants) is offered a deal by the NSA to figure out how to handle members of the squadron should they present a danger to the US. Mark gets an unexpected visitor during a photo op, which leads into the next issue.

Also picked Fables and She-Hulk.

bishop2knight

For those interested, I'm finally selling all of my recent moderns. If any of you are looking for some books, I'll be posting what I have on my blog. I'd rather sell to some of you, cheap, then put 'em on eBay. I have runs of Batman, Detective Comics, Captain America, Birds of Prey, X-Men, Y: The Last Man, Catwoman, etc. If it doesn't have Cho or Hughes on the cover, I'm selling.

MovieExchange

I found this week's 52 to be a very "meh" issue. Sort of a "yeah, the book's still here" type of story.

Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2 was a real letdown this week. While I've accepted that there are differences in the Ultimate Universe characters and their mainstream Marvel Universe counterparts (especially in X-Men), I have hated the way Jean DeWolffe has been handled in USM. I guess I have sort of a special attraction to the character because the "Death of Jean DeWolffe" story in Spectacular Spider-Man was one of my first comics as a collector.

Patman

It's true, this week's 52 was more of a setup issue, but the flipside is that it only takes a week to get to the next bit of the plot.

Liquid Death

I'd almost certainly have to double dip if they released Absolute Transmet or Preacher...

Giantrobo

2 things need to happen in the Comic industry. Either make monthly books longer or switch to weekly format like "52".

I'm getting tired of the "leave them wanting more but make them wait till next month" and "month long teazing" mentality/format of the industry. I'm also tired of reading good issues only to have it end abruptly with a "NEXT ISSUE" or "SEE YOU NEXT MONTH" splash.

Rogue588

Yeah, I remember the good 'ol days of Action Comics Weekly.

Gotta say...i'm diggin' 52. A LOT. Especially the team of Montoya and the Question.

Batwoman's big rack doesn't hurt either..

fujishig

To me, this is more of a problem that came about because of the "write for the inevitable trade release" mentality. The single issue chunks for most Marvel series, for instance, just don't do it for me... they read fine when eventually collected, but are very unsatisfying when read month to month. Most of the time, not a lot happens in a single issue. Even some of the trade collections, I feel like I can breeze through in the fraction of the time it takes for me to read a similarly sized collection from, say, the 80's. (I guess you could also blame the Image founders and their love of splash pages).

Manga is like this as well (a quick read), but that's mainly because it was originally released in an anthology format, with smaller chunks that come out weekly. I'd love for there to be a good weekly anthology book, but it's been tried many times before and failed...

Rocketdog2000

Seconded, on all counts!

Chew

I'm hoping the people who have experience selling comics on eBay can provide some advice.

I've been collecting comics for at least 20 years now and easily have 20 long boxes. They take up a lot of space.

So, I think it's time to join b2k on a liquidation blowout.

Here's my questions:

Exactly how do you ship? Bubble wrap and a envelope? A box?
Is there a site to tell me the exact issues of storylines? (so I can sell a group at a time rather than a single issue)
I've never paid much attention to grading levels. If it's a fairly new one, read once, and in great shape: can you call that NM?

Any tips and tricks?

Chew

I only had four comics (and two trades) shipped to me this week and I think my reaction to them was what prompted my previous post.

52 #14: I'm not digging the title. It's a nice little story with sparse action. That's not what I was expecting.

Superman #656: I starting reading both Superman titles again when the new creative teams were announced. They haven't done anything to keep me around and I'll be dropping this and Action. I'll stick to the All-Star version for my Supes fix.

Escapists #2: An interesting way of doing a super-hero title, but not enough that I need to keep buying it.

Squadron Supreme #6: Has this title gone anywhere yet? I can appreciate a deliberate pace, but we're about 18 issues in between both volumes and I couldn't tell you a summary of what's happened.

It's weeks like this that make me question the whole point of spending this kind of cash.

I did get excited about the DC Nation news on the return of Brave and the Bold with Mark Waid and George Perez, however.

Giantrobo

Dammit. A new Batwoman and now in Bird's of Prey someone's running around in kicking asses in Classic Batgirl garb....

What gives with the Bat-Bitches? Why all the revivals?

Patman

Well, ever since Babs Gordon found out she could wiggle her toes, it was only time that Batgirl showed up again. I recently just read about 25 issues of Birds of Prey and it was a good read for most of the issues, and I do like the dialogue and character interaction, plus Lady Shiva cracks me up at times.

boredsilly

Even though the story is losing me a little bit, I really dig the hell out of the weekly format. The next issue comes around so fast that you don't even realize you missed the title. But to tell you the truth I would just be happy if all titles came out regularly on a monthy schedule. Books like Planetary, Superman/Batman (before the creative team change), Ultimates (I haven't read one issue of v2 yet - waiting until it's done), and Astonishing X-men (even though it's a bi-monthly title) frustrate the hell out of me. Especially when the current issue relies so heavily on what has come before.

This is why All-Star Superman is so awesome. There is an over arching story, but each issue reads great on its own.

Patman

Is the new Wonder Woman title (Heinberg and Dodson) a bi-monthly book or is it late?

Giantrobo

Yeah but, I doubt this "Batgirl" is really Babs. Wasn't that toe thing just some big tease/letdown thrown in for shits and giggles? I don't know if she would hold something like that, being BG again, from the rest of the Birds and I say that because they all seem pretty close. But who knows, it's a comic universe so anything is possible....

I also like the addition of Gypsy to the group. I realize the curent Manhunter will fall inot oblivion once her series ends but I wouldn't mind seeing her with BOP or at least added to the JL.

dadaluholla

I agree. I have been on the fence for a long time now about dropping Squadron Supreme/Supreme Power. I just kept thinking "surely, something is going to happen soon". But here we are, years into the story and it still feels like a neverending prelude. I really think I may finally yank the plug and take it off my pull list at the store.

Patman

I'll probably stay on Squadron Supreme since Ultimate Power will tie in with it.

fujishig

Speaking of Squadron Supreme...
finally got around to reading Supreme Power: Hyperion. I liked it the best out of the three miniseries, since it actually seemed to have an overall affect on the main title. Is the Squadron Supreme book building off of the premise shown in this mini-series, or has that been abandoned? I haven't picked up SS since issue 1...

Patman

I haven't read the SS mini's yet, so I can't really comment on any continuation from the mini's to the regular SS title...yet.

I did read all 31 issues of Ultimate FF this weekend. Overall, not bad, I think I like the soon-to-be-ending Millar-Land run the best, but some of the early issues were pretty light-weight (purposefully so, I suppose), with some issues full of simply splash pages which took all of 2 minutes to read at times (some of the later Warren Ellis issues).