Recent Ebay-Fueled Comic Book Splurge:
Most of the time I'm a hardcover collection kind of guy and when the hardcover's out of print I'll go for the trade paperback but I very rarely purchase singles unless they're special issues or covers I'd like to own separate from the collected editions. But my mom bought me a big stack of bags and boards along with a short-box for my birthday, so I decided it was time to expand my singles collection! I hopped on over to ebay and bid on a crapload of auctions and in the end came out with over eighty new floppies. LET'S CHECK THEM OUT, SHALL WE:
This is probably the one I was most excited about winning: a complete set of the Thunderstrike solo series, #1-24! AND IN NEAR MINT CONDITION, NO LESS. Growing up I'd owned a couple of issues starring Thunderstrike in them like two parts of the Avengers Terminatrix mini, two parts of the Thor Corps mini, plus one part of his Secret Defenders two-parter and thought he was a cool character in all of them. He's like a more relateable Thor! Considering the only issue of the actual solo series I'd ever read was issue #2, this could potentially be a crap buy, but I've got a feeling I'm going to like it.
There's no real reason behind why I purchased nine issues of this series (#1-8 & #16) other than IT'S FREAKING DOCTOR DOOM. IN THE FUTURE. What's not to love? For real though, I've never heard of the writer it's from the flippin' 2099 line, it's probably going to suck, and I'm glad I only paid five dollars even if I still think it's cool to own the issues.
Weapon X is almost exactly the same as Doom 2099 for me except I think this one might actually be good! Marvel Comics Presents #72-84 collecting the original story introducing Weapon X and whole crapload of other stories. I'm hoping either the Weapon X story will be good or I'll find some hidden gem in the other stories. It's also cool seeing some artists I'm familiar with do the back-cover stories. And if all else fails front the covers are pretty freaking awesome as well.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Fucking X-Force. Nobody likes old X-Force anymore, especially the early shit with Liefeld. But I bought it anyway. And not only did I buy IT I bought multiple issues and multiple copies of those issues. This crap's too much for me to list so I'm cheating and copying the stuff from the auction: "Included in this lot are #1 (seven copies), #2 (two copies), #3 (two copies), #4 (two copies), #5, #6 (two copies), #7 (four copies), #8, #9, #10, #14, #17, #26, and Annual #2." Yeah, I bought seven copies of the first issue of X-Force. On one hand all of these comics might suck, on the other I got them all for just five bucks. At least issue two's got Deadpool on it.
Never heard of Devil Dinosaur? Oh, you have? Well I hadn't before I won this auction. "Included in this $.20 to $.35 cover lot are Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan #2 (special origin issue), Tarzan #3 (two copies), Amazing Adventures #39 (War Of The Worlds, Killraven), Astonishing Tales #10 (Ka-Zar) & #26 (Deathlok The Demolisher), Devil Dinosaur #2 and The Mighty Marvel Western #17 (featuring The Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt & Two-Gun Kid)." Yeah, I don't know what I was looking for here, but I must say the Devil Dinosaur and Astonishing Tales #26 with Deathlok cover are well worth the $3.26 I paid.
Just imagine the covers above colored differently and with "FANTASY MASTERPIECES STARRING" plastered at the top and you can get an idea as to what the issues I bought look like. Granted, being reprints they're pretty much worthless, but I'd say four issues for four bucks isn't bad at all considering I get these epic Buscema covers and good ol' over-the-top Stan Lee writing on the inside.
This is probably the one I was most excited about winning: a complete set of the Thunderstrike solo series, #1-24! AND IN NEAR MINT CONDITION, NO LESS. Growing up I'd owned a couple of issues starring Thunderstrike in them like two parts of the Avengers Terminatrix mini, two parts of the Thor Corps mini, plus one part of his Secret Defenders two-parter and thought he was a cool character in all of them. He's like a more relateable Thor! Considering the only issue of the actual solo series I'd ever read was issue #2, this could potentially be a crap buy, but I've got a feeling I'm going to like it.
There's no real reason behind why I purchased nine issues of this series (#1-8 & #16) other than IT'S FREAKING DOCTOR DOOM. IN THE FUTURE. What's not to love? For real though, I've never heard of the writer it's from the flippin' 2099 line, it's probably going to suck, and I'm glad I only paid five dollars even if I still think it's cool to own the issues.
Weapon X is almost exactly the same as Doom 2099 for me except I think this one might actually be good! Marvel Comics Presents #72-84 collecting the original story introducing Weapon X and whole crapload of other stories. I'm hoping either the Weapon X story will be good or I'll find some hidden gem in the other stories. It's also cool seeing some artists I'm familiar with do the back-cover stories. And if all else fails front the covers are pretty freaking awesome as well.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Fucking X-Force. Nobody likes old X-Force anymore, especially the early shit with Liefeld. But I bought it anyway. And not only did I buy IT I bought multiple issues and multiple copies of those issues. This crap's too much for me to list so I'm cheating and copying the stuff from the auction: "Included in this lot are #1 (seven copies), #2 (two copies), #3 (two copies), #4 (two copies), #5, #6 (two copies), #7 (four copies), #8, #9, #10, #14, #17, #26, and Annual #2." Yeah, I bought seven copies of the first issue of X-Force. On one hand all of these comics might suck, on the other I got them all for just five bucks. At least issue two's got Deadpool on it.
Never heard of Devil Dinosaur? Oh, you have? Well I hadn't before I won this auction. "Included in this $.20 to $.35 cover lot are Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan #2 (special origin issue), Tarzan #3 (two copies), Amazing Adventures #39 (War Of The Worlds, Killraven), Astonishing Tales #10 (Ka-Zar) & #26 (Deathlok The Demolisher), Devil Dinosaur #2 and The Mighty Marvel Western #17 (featuring The Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt & Two-Gun Kid)." Yeah, I don't know what I was looking for here, but I must say the Devil Dinosaur and Astonishing Tales #26 with Deathlok cover are well worth the $3.26 I paid.
Just imagine the covers above colored differently and with "FANTASY MASTERPIECES STARRING" plastered at the top and you can get an idea as to what the issues I bought look like. Granted, being reprints they're pretty much worthless, but I'd say four issues for four bucks isn't bad at all considering I get these epic Buscema covers and good ol' over-the-top Stan Lee writing on the inside.