The First Comics of 2024
This was pretty sparse, but that’s OK. I will say some of these stories I’m going to need to go over them again once they are complete to figure out what went on. I’m currently trying to figure out if I should drop some titles just because I’m not liking the stories as much. This happens and unfortunately I have learned that I decide to stop and then some massive things happens… Like Captain America gets shot and killed.
I’ve also noticed that I am not a “serious” collector. While I have cataloged my collection and am working on getting everything bagged and boarded, I’m not going for every variant, or even going for the exclusive variants. I guess having lived through Cabbage Patch Kids, Beanie Babies, and the “Death” of Superman I’m not looking at these as my retirement investment. The community that goes with the app I currently use has people talking about “pressing” their comics to get a better grade on them. Most comics they have are slabbed for protection, so they can’t be read. In 2022 I had the opportunity to see Howard Chaykin (American Flagg and lots, lots more) talk about his career and the basics of laying out a comic page. He was pretty adamant about his feeling when it came to “serious collectors.” He felt comics should be read and shared. You preserve them so they can be read and shared. His table had listed prices for signing comics- Star Wars stuff was one price, his other titles were another price, and if you expressed an interest to have it graded, signature certified and slabbed, it was a third (astronomical) price. In my collection I have maybe 8 comics slabbed, and that’s because when it first came about I thought I would try the process out. Most were comics that I knew had value or potential and I wouldn’t miss because the stories had been reprinted so many times I could read the story. Now the big thing is reprinting key issues so people can read them… collectors are clamoring for the reprints and the variant covers! I guess more commentary on that later.
Oh, to continue with the variant rant… this week’s top comic (Gargoyles #11) had 18 variant covers… really?!?!
Batman #141 – More Zur-En Arrh! If you have no idea who or what I’m talking about… I wish i could help you. It all started with Failsafe. A robotic version of Batman built to take Batman down if he ever broke the one golden rule- “Don’t Kill.” Well, he didn’t really kill anyone, but somehow the robot got activated and then Batman’s alter ego/other personality took over and it’s been a mess. So now as we get to the (hopefully) penultimate issue in this arc Batman is fighting against himself. Will he just throw in the towel and retire, get married have kids… and let a robot batman take over? Oh, did I mention that Zur-En-Arrh has gathered all the other Sur-En Arrh permutations from all the other multiple universes (c’mon multi-universes are what all the cool, hip comics are doing…) to help him. So In Detective Comics Batman is fighting for Gotham against dome ancient family blood feud, and here he’s fighting against himself. In both cases he’s getting himself beaten up. One thing that I come back to when it comes to Batman retiring… I recalll in one issue of “Trinity” I believe Wonder Woman used her lasso of truth to get everyone to divulge who they were as a sign of trust… Superman, said “Clark Kent” Batman said “Batman.” Hmmm…
Quested The Four Henches Adventure – If you’ve read any of the Quested comics it’s basically a D&D adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously. In this case there is an auction for a cursed book and our main character “Jinx” decides he’ll get it from there “Influencer” who out bid him. Hijinks ensues with a Twist of an ending.
Amazing Spider-Man #41 – Still Gang War – ’nuff Said
Captain America #5 – We relive pre super soldier Steve Rogers going against the American Nazis in pre WWII in New York. While Cap is also fighting similar issues in the present time all brought about by a really powerful demon. Guest Starring the head of a Dr. Strange doll.
The Space Between #3 – So, you’re on a generation ship heading to a new world… You’d think things would be fine… Politics, class issues, and other problems- the ship is heading off course and with no one on the ruling council who understands that a one degree off course compounds into never finding the place you intended to reach some people take matters into their own hands… only time will tell if they made a difference and if it was worth the cost.
Love Everlasting #11 – Yup! I’m into romance comics… OK this isn’t a normal Romance Comic. It follows Joan through various incarnations in which she never finds true love…All the loose ends are starting to tie together as we discover the identity of the msyterious cowboy who’s been stalking her through time.
Star Trek Picard’s Academy #4 – It’s Star Trek, c’mon. We know Jean Luc Picard was driven and now we get to see how driven as we following him through his years at the Academy. In this issue it’s the final big test and things have (predictably) gone wrong. Jean Luc is learning a valuable lesson about trusting people as he fights HOLO-Romulans!