| November 4, 2003 | CBG's Retroview: Crisis |
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From COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE #1565 (14 Dec 2003)
COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE #1565 (14 Dec 2003)
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RETROVIEW: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS
written by Jim Johnson
published in COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE #1565 (14 Dec 2003)
website: www.comicsbuyersguide.com
DC editors bestowed four-color godhood upon Marv Wolfman, when they OK'd his proposal to revamp the company's incomprehensible 50-year history in the early 1980s. and, like an angry deity come judgment day, Wolfman waved his hand and wiped countless redundant universes from existence, making the DC universe a more accessible place for new readers.
Of course, fandom would have settled for no one other than George Pérez to illustrate such an epic, and Pérez superceded all expectations by turning in one of the finest efforts of his career.
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CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1 (Apr 85)
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Wolfman wastes no time getting started, beginning the culling of the multiverse on the second page. With the ironically heroic demise of Earth-3's Crime Syndicate immediately thereafter, Wolfman also kicks off the first of many emotionally intense and beautifully constructed death sequences.
It's a bit unfortunate that the remainder of the issue is little more than exposition for the rest of the series, but riding along while various heroes and villains from different Earths and eras are brought together is, nonetheless, a fanboy's delight.
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CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #2 (May 85)
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It's another fairly slow issue, action-wise. But that's barely noticed amid the excitement generated from the intermingling of such characters from different Earths and time periods as Kamandi and Earth-2's Superman, for example.
Amazingly, among the dozen of characters utilized (so far), Wolfman still manages to squeeze in panel time for individual characters, like The Flash and Psycho Pirate, who eventually play important roles. And, as if that weren't enough, he jams a few intriguing plot developments into an already-packed issue. Astonishing.
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CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #3 (Jun 85)
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It would be easy to criticize the fact that all Wolfman does here is fill another issue with unlikely, ragtag alliances plopped into random time periods.
Except it's just too doggone cool not to like, and this is what we all paid 75˘ to see, after all.
This is fun, plain and simple. But it's obviously none are having as much fun as Wolfman and Pérez themselves, who are making the most of the limited playtime allotted to them In comicdom's biggest sandbox.
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[ Read more CBG's Retroview: Crisis ]
| August 15, 2002 |
SCCB: Sachs & Violens |
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From Vu
The book is called THE STANDARD CATALOG OF COMIC BOOKS (ISBN 0-87341-916-2), and is written by the same people who edits and publishes COMIC BUYERS GUIDE. It is a little expensive at $34.95, but it's worth it if you're a collector as it is a good price guide and checklist, and for the fact that it's 1237 pages long.
Although, in most guides, they do tend to miss certain variant comics and/or just plain inaccurate. I just checked the 31st Edition to OVERSTREET'S COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE, which is the latest version, and it still lists DARK HORSE #50 as having a Pérez story (see "Settlements").
Anyway, in addition to a summary of some titles, SCCB also list, in some cases, Diamond Preorder numbers and Capital City's order numbers. What I found very interesting is that THE NEW TEEN TITANS: THE JUDAS CONTRACT TP is quite rare! According to this book, Capital City only received and shipped 2,500 copies (note this number does not include Diamond Distribution).
Compare this number to some other, like ACTION COMICS #643 (Capital City: 35,100), BATMAN #400 (Capital City: 27,650), THE NEW TITANS #50 (Capital City: 18,750), PRIME #15 (Capital City: 14,450), CRISIS #3 (Capital City: 42,050),
CRIMSON PLAGUE #2 (Diamond Predorders: 23,680), and
WONDER WOMAN #168 (Diamond Preorders: 27,185).
I am saving the last bit for AVENGERS #1 (vol 3), which they listed the following:
AVENGERS #1 (vol 3)
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AVENGERS #1 (vol 3)
Circulation Statement: 166,903
Diamond Preorders: 194,439
Statement, filed 10/1/97,; avg print run 209,391; avg sales 163,342; avg subs 2,704; avg total paid 166,046; samples 270; office use 125; max existent 166,441; 21% of run returned
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The book was actually designed as a price guide, but I mostly find the circulation statements more interesting than the actual list value.
Personally, I always think a value of a comic book is based on the buyer's wants and needs (not dictated by a book). I disagree with some of the prices on the catalogue - just like you'd find WIZARD's pricing ridiculous.
The induction of Comics Guaranty LLC (CGC) in the price guide, I find a little annoying. I don't believe in CGC and I find the people buying them at extraordinary prices a little crazy. For about $600 for a perfect "10"
SPAWN #1, you can get a pretty cool three figures unique George Pérez artwork, or heck, get yourself a new digital camera. Basically, the guide lists how many comics were CGC'ed and what the highest number it got. For instance, INHUMANS #1 there were 32 sent in to be graded and the best of the lot is a grade of 9.6.
According to this guide, we're supposed to multiply 7 to its worth (which is valued at $8), so a CGC 9.6 INHUMANS #1 should fetch about $56.
As always, opinions expressed here are strictly my own. Buy this book, it's worth it!
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