"I...Vampire" is a really good read, thought it took me ages to find all the issues, especially with the beautiful Kaluta covers. Andrew Bennett's return in Justice League Dark was welcome but I wish DC had done more with him. Perhaps the other important element when 6 year old John traded a comic for that Human Torch #7 is that he saw a grown-up who read comics, thus a step in legitimising the medium as not just for kids. This happened to me in a different way: as a young teenager I would talk to businessmen who bought their comics from the same place I did and I realised that successful adults still enjoyed comics, they weren't something to leave behind when you "grew up". Thanks for reading out my letter guys, and for reading my Ebay/email buddy Alan The Gold Key Kid's letter.

Growing up in Toledo, we were one of the five test market cities in 1977 that got those 35 cent variants on our newsstands. I still have a bunch of them, some my original copies (at 9 yrs old, I wasn’t actually COLLECTING, so they have reading wear, of course), and some were upgraded I bought from another collector in 1986 to upgrade my lower grade originals. Sadly I traded/sold off the lower grade copies somewhere. Even in 1994, when I upgraded all five lower grade issues of Marvel Team-Up with 30 cent editions and traded the 35 centers to a trading card store, it wasn’t exactly common knowledge how rare they were. Even in the late 90s, I recall seeing a 35 cent Star Wars 2 at a shop in Toledo for under $20 and passed it up. Dont even remember when the news got out that these variants were only 10% of the entire print runs. (And I do recall seeing the early Star Wars issues on the spinner racks that summer but passed them up. Who knew???)

All four of the main characters from Young Justice are, indeed, still around and in those same identities. Bendis brought most of them back in that last version of the series. Cassie Sandsmark and Yara Flor share the Wonder Girl name. Although technically Flor doesn't consider herself "Wonder Girl".

. Great show as always. There were two 1990's gimmick covers that really worked for me. That Ghost rider 15 and the 1991 Silver Surfer 50.

Loved Kirby's 2001 series. I think it holds up the best of his '70s Marvel titles. It really suited his 'out there' state of mind at the time.

I went to an exhibition of Kirby's 2001 original artwork in a NYC gallery a few years ago - In the gallery they explained what happened Marvel got the licensed for 2001 movie for a large size treasury edition Kirby had just come back to Marvel and really wanted to draw the 2001 movie adaptation Marvel said and yes and to everyone 's surprise the treasury edition was very very successful . Naturally Marvel decided to create an ongoing series. Marvel asked Kirby to do it with the explicit direction to not deviate from 2001 characters because MGM own the underlying IP and would own any new characters created . Kirby being Kirby let his imagination lead him and Machine Man was born. Machine Man proved to be a hit with readers so Marvel had to go to MGM and negotiated the purchase of the character for Marvel. Which according to Kirby's son they did . I would reach out to Kirby Museum to verify this story.

The Machine Man situation seems really similar to what Marvel did with Red Sonja and they don't have the rights to her any longer.

Glad you both are giving CBCS another chance. They have come a long way in the last few years and I think you will both be pleasantly surprised. Can't wait to see your comics when they get back! I have a submission currently in the pressing room at CBCS myself and can't wait to get those back too!

Can't wait to hear about this. X51/Machine Man is one of my favourites. Loved those Bronze Age Hulk battle issues.

I just submitted to CBCS this month. It was right at the beginning and it was about 2 - 2.5 weeks to come back. I submitted 6 modern comics and was pleased with the results. I submitted 6 comics to CGC about a week before Christmas and got those 6 back about a month later. I ended up receiving both submissions 2 days apart. I was happy with CGC as well. Good luck with your submission but I've had no problems with them.

I think the name of the book you were looking for was Marvel Meow. I picked up a copy and enjoyed it. It's similar to the recent Alligator Loki and Jeff the Land Shark issues that came out over the past year (in fact those two characters made appearances in Marvel Meow). The humor is targeted towards kids, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the heck out of it. I love pantomime humor! Tell me a story without using words and I am truly entertained. My introduction to this craft was the legendary Sergio Aragonés, who can tell a full story with plot twists and a surprise ending in just a few pictures (or even sometimes one picture). I am glad to see the art is not dead.

@Nf7mate

5 ай бұрын

If you enjoyed the Marvel Meow issue, you should absolutely pick up this week's issue of Power Girl (issue 5). It's a wonderful story told from the perspective of Streaky the Cat.

I bought the Machine Man run in paperback form. It was about $40. It can get pricey now since it is out of print. I thought it was cool when it came out but I don't think there is any depth at all to the character. But this is true of so many comic book characters.

When, if ever, will we see Robert Downey Jr come back to round out the Sherlock Holmes trilogy? He nailed the character.

I’ve been sending all my previously signed books to cbcs and I gotta tell you I have been more than pleased with the stuff I’ve received back. They’re grading has improved dramatically, they’re turn around times are lightning speed and the new cases are beautiful and much more secure than cgc. I was out on them after the lost book controversy but I gave them a chance with my signature books and I can’t recommend them more highly now.

Young Justice did appear in Dark Crisis with their own sub-plot mini series, not being hugely invested in the characters I enjoyed the update & wrap up of their story. I did think that we were going to see a reboot at some point but to date we haven’t seen any further ongoing interest in the team by the powers that be (not that I’m aware of). I think Titans has definitely superseded Young Justice.

Love Kirby's art in 2001. Love Machine Man!!

Love the show guys! Zatanna has fish net stockings on in my copy of Cat Woman 72. They are white, so maybe the reflection of the slab case was obscuring them?

I have always wanted to read "Department of Truth" and one day I hope to read (if it meets expectations) and own it!

Good afternoon John and Richard Thanks for reading the missive, Please do not watch The fourth Doctor Who Special, I wish I had left it as I had planned, and like you, bowed out very content with finish of the third. This is the end of the Good Doctor. Nothing wrong with the casting. it was a good direct to take, but for goodness sake what dross! Keep up the great work gentlemen Cheers Al Thegoldkeyfourcolorkidownunda

I really liked the fourth Who special, but do see how a generation of Who fans could happily bookend the entire 2000s reboot (if not Who in general) with that third special. But after hate watching Who since Matt Smith, I need to know that there’s life in the old girl yet & I think Russell T Davies & Ncuti Gatwa are the folks to do it. ⏳

Prefer the PCGS labels, Don't particularly care for the CBCS labels, Even the new ones.

The fourth Doctor Who special is as good as the first three. But now they have Disney money, they are setting up to be able to crank out tons of Who content, whatever Doctor you prefer.

Regarding CBCS and their consistently fumbling every opportunity CGC drops in their laps. I used to think it was incompetence. CBCS should be on social media attacking CGC and replaying the Immaculate Videos on a loop, but the truth is CBCS simply doesn’t have the investment or infrastructure to grow in any meaningful way to challenge CGC. I suspect if they grew submissions by 25% the entire company would implode. Beckett, their parent company has dropped to 4th place in number of cards graded after being kings of the industry for 20 years. These companies are teetering on the brink of insolvency. CBCS will need to be acquired by a real company that can put real investment into growth (maybe to PSA) before it could ever dream of challenging CGC for market share.

Best 'Show-n-Smell' episode ever...lol. "Kitty.......NOOOOOO!" 🐱💩