Ugly American # 24 – Market

I just did one of these a month ago, and I don’t want to go to the whip too much on Market, because some people really despise it. But a bunch of interesting (to me, at any rate) things are brewing in the secondary market, so let’s dive in!

Rachel Rising

The Hollywood Reporter broke news that Terry Moore has sold the Rachel Rising television rights to a fledgling outfit called Alcon Television Group. In fact, Rachel is their first project…you always remember your first time. Rachel will be theirs.

Now, they haven’t even hired a show runner yet, much less cut a pilot, much less had the pilot green lit. This has not stopped the secondary market from absolutely losing their shit over the comic book back issues, particularly # 1, which has closed for as much as $200 recently.

The book is legitimately scarce, and legitimately good. If for some reason your LCS has a copy of # 1 lying around for cover price, I recommend you snap that up with all due haste. Should you sell right now, though? That’s the real question, and it’s difficult to answer because there are several different flavours to the “spike on option news” game.

Is Rachel likely to act like Sixth Gun, which spiked and continued to climb, (I recently watched a CGC 9.8 copy of # 1 clear almost $900) pulling issues other than the # 1 up with it in an increasing fervor? Will she act like Mind MGMT, which crested extremely high for a couple of days and then settled in at much lower rates? There are other, more cautionary tales to be had if you dig back a little further. It wasn’t that long ago that ABC actually put Human Target on the air, starring Agent Dunham’s dead boyfriend. I can buy a copy of Human Target # 1 for $1. Not that exciting, and that show got much further than any of the aforementioned properties.

Which is sort of a long way of saying that if I could find a buyer on my copy of Rachel Rising # 1 for $200…I’d take it with a smile. Yes, there is a very small chance that you’re passing up on the next Walking Dead # 1 a little early. As I said, Rachel Rising is a legitimately scarce comic book. That kind of formula can lead to spectacular results. More likely, though, the end result is something like Global Frequency. GF had a magnificent pilot that went nowhere, and the comic material is fantastic reading but not terribly exciting in terms of dollar value. When these super-spikes hit, it nearly always makes sense to cash in.

Just in case you were wondering, I’ve been reading Rachel Rising from the beginning and it’s not just a pretty Terry Moore face. It’s straight mystery/horror, character driven, and features a really creepy little girl. That’s a little redundant, I know. But she’s creepy. Also, there’s Aunt Johnny. Moore is handling everything but the finances, it comes out on time with a high degree of quality, and I hope he got a bijillion dollars from Alcon because he deserves it.

East of West

East of West # 1 debuted at #35 on the Diamond top 300 for an astonishing 49,518 units. It’s difficult to imagine how strong that result is. That destroyed what Saga opened for, as an example, and THAT was an astonishing result.

I think what’s happening here is that Image has produced enough championship thoroughbreds that the secondary market is beginning to catch up and speculators are inflating these orders. Some of you are thinking that this is just the reality of Jonathan Hickman, but if you look further down the list at # 125 you’ll find Manhattan Projects selling 17,000 copies. Does Nick Dragotta make up the 33,000 copy difference? (He almost does, that East of West art was AWESOME) No, it just doesn’t add up. I would expect a steeper than normal decline on issue # 2, when the speculative riff-raff will have largely disappeared. Ironically, that’s when you should really start to speculate.

Currently, East of West # 1 is trading for $8-$10 a copy. It still might be a good buy at that price, although I might be more inclined to lay a wager with Five Ghosts # 1 if I were betting a tenner. The art on Five Ghosts is also preternaturally good, and it debuted waaaaaay down the list at # 152 and around 13,000 copies.

Marvel NOW!

In case you missed it, Marvel is just eating DCs lunch these days. Doesn’t matter if you count by units, dollars, general enthusiasm, whitest smile, Marvel is winning.

People say that the stories have largely been enjoyable and inspired new interest in these characters. I can’t vouch for this personally, because they mostly cost $4 a pop so I don’t buy them. But all I need to verify this is to look at how many of these issues are going to second and third prints. I don’t get impressed with the sales results of Uncanny Avengers # 1 or Guardians of the Galaxy # 1. It looks like nosebleed territory, but really all that boils down to is bullshit variant covers. Doesn’t impress me.

What does impress me is a second print. Big first orders might be sitting in the quarter box at your LCS. In order to score that second print, two significant achievements have to occur. One, you have to sell the issues you ordered. Two, enough people have to care about what’s happening via word-of-mouth to express an interest in ordering more comics. Most people do not give a rat’s wet arse about anything to the point that they will trouble themselves with placing an order and then waiting weeks for it to arrive. Easier just to say “hell with it.” So those second prints speak volumes to me, and Marvel NOW! books are loaded with second and third prints.

I think it likely that several of these will end up being better-than-average investments. At the top of the list I put Thor: God of Thunder # 4 and most of the early All New X-Men issues. I’ve heard more than one source tout the Jason Aaron Thor book as the finest comic Marvel is producing. Again, can’t verify that, but it certainly doesn’t surprise me.

Some will question the value of collecting such mainstream, high end material but bear in mind that Uncanny X-Force # 4 currently trades for $40-$50 a pop, and it’s an easy sell at that level. Even something like Superior Spider-Man # 1 is trading well above cover price ($10-$15) and that was hardly scarce.

The pundits get it wrong on several levels, actually. They’ll tell you that today’s comics aren’t scarce, and they’re mostly wrong. There are exceptions, but generally speaking today’s comics have the lowest print runs in the medium’s history. The pundits will also tell you that a comic with a higher print run can’t earn a profit, and that’s mostly true. The real key to the game is simple supply-and-demand. If more people want a thing than can have it, prices rise. Listen, DC printed an ASSLOAD of Batman # 1 for the New 52 reboolaunch. I’ll be conservative and guess that the actual number is quarter of a million copies. Doesn’t matter. More than a quarter million people want that book. You can sell your NM Batman # 1 for $40+, and I don’t mean you can slap the price sticker on it and watch it collect dust. A dozen people will be tripping over themselves to purchase it at that price. Unfortunately for DC, Batman is about all they produce that has that effect.

Finally, the pundits like to tell you that everything modern is mint. They’re kinda sorta right about that. After 1980, it certainly gets much easier to find yourself a 9.2 of most any book compared to the Silver/Golden age. Those CGC 9.8s are tough to come by, though, especially now when everybody is going away from the cardstock covers. Take a look at the racks on new comic day…it’s hard to find something NM/MT, and next to impossible to keep it that way, even for just the car ride home. Today’s books are dainty little flowers. But I digest.

I think the point I was getting to was that a lot of people are desperately in love with All New X-Men. Say what you want about Bendis, and I often will, people have responded with overwhelming affection for that title, and each issue continues to go for multiple printings. You can’t bullshit your way into that. The public has to embrace and demand the product for that to happen. I’m sure the Stuart Immonen art isn’t hurting anything, either.

Maybe part of the equation is the fact that All New X-Men comes out every 12 minutes? Whatever the case, finding first prints of anything for # 3-7 is difficult. If you see the red banner on the bottom for early All New X-Men, I think those are insta-buys.

Jupiter’s Legacy

I’m closing with Jupiter’s Legacy, because there is a metric ton of hype surrounding that book. (which one would expect from a Mark Millar production) This time the crazy Scottish git has enlisted Frank Quitely to handle the pencils, so it’s difficult to think of a book currently being published with bigger marquee names.

From a speculation standpoint, though, this one feels like a dud. I’m already hearing tales of 150K pre-orders on the title, so scarcity is out the window. We’ve already covered the fact that demand could still outstrip supply, but I think that would be odd here. Iconic properties like Spider-Man and Batman can withstand big orders, because the established fan base is so large. As a new property, I find it exceedingly difficult to believe that a new property can do that. Every now and again you can briefly catch lightning in a bottle, (see: Chasers, Battle) but in order to achieve long-term success in the secondary market, a new property needs scarcity.

And that’s my story. Somebody tell me how much they like the Marvel NOW! books. And tell me if you like the new hardcovers Marvel is putting out without dust jackets. You can comment below!

Ugly American # 22: Ug-Ah-Lay Uh-Mary-Cahn

Captain Marvel
Once upon a time I read Captain Marvel # 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and was lukewarm about it. I was not a huge fan of Dexter Soy’s art, but I appreciated the novelty, which pretty much made me Soy’s biggest fan. I’ll never forget perennial Pollyanna over at iFanboy Ron Richards calling it a “shit show”. People were not into Dexter Soy. The script as I recall was solid. I could see potential, but wasn’t quite sure what it was going to be about, other than an ethereal sense of womeny women gazing awestruck into space. Then I felt a small amount of bitter vomit in the back of my throat and thought – what’s that about? Oh yeah… pretense. I promised myself I was giving it at least three issues, because I loved Deconnick’s Osborn a great deal, but I just didn’t care enough about this to get past the one issue.

Fast forward to last week, when I read a testimonial extolling the virtues of Captain Marvel and decided it was time to fulfill my promise and give the book a shot again. So I did a little digging and discovered that Kelly Sue got herself a new artist called Filipe Andrade and a new direction with Captain Marvel # 9. So I bought that one, plus #10-11 and got current.

And you know what? Captain Marvel is a pretty darned good comic book. First thing I noticed about the current Captain Marvel run is that it is far more unabashedly a superhero comic. Carol punches dinosaurs, pulls several tons of train out of the ground, and brushes elbows with Tony Stark, and Captain America, and Jessica Drew. She’s got a rivalry with Death Bird, and there’s a mystery villain behind her pulling strings and doing some moustache twirling. The “A” plot right now revolves around a lesion inside of Carol’s brain that gets aggravated when she uses her flight powers. Doctors tell her that it probably won’t be lethal, what with the healing factor and all. But the process of regenerating that piece of her brain would probably wipe everything that makes her “Carol” clean. It’s a nice homage to the old terminal illness bit that Starlin did back in the day with a more psychological modern twist. Flying has been established as a key piece of her character, so the stakes are very high. The story has all of the elements of a good bronze age romp, and doesn’t seem to be winking at you or ashamed about it.

While it’s doing the page-turney potboiler stuff, Captain Marvel is shockingly character-driven and intimate. It’s actually quite a bit like Hawkeye. If you enjoy Hawkeye, I really don’t see how you’d avoid liking Captain Marvel. It’s essentially the same formula. The blueprints are so similar that you’ll notice an unusual amount of attention paid to apartment dwelling neighbours in the superstructure, and characters playfully misconstruing the main character’s name. (Hawkguy, Cap-Eee-Tahn Uh-Mary-Ca) Not sure who’s copying who, really. Captain Marvel # 1 predates Hawkeye # 1 by a month, although the Captain Marvel I just read is fundamentally different as regards tone and pacing. I guess it doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s good.

And it is good. Character moments abound, and not just for Carol. There are no “bit” parts in Captain Marvel, and very little if any wasted space or momentum. Reading Captain Marvel is getting to know Carol Danvers, and the crazy old lady eternally affixed to the park bench knitting her a hat, and Chewie the cat, and the cab driver that Carol dupes into taking said cat to the vet so she can go save the city from rampaging dinosaurs. One thing I’ll promise you – you will not feel cheated out of your $2.99 if you buy Captain Marvel. Deconnick is writing a really efficient machine that is dense with story and emotion.

There are some issues. Sometimes the book feels overly precious, and you can catch it in the act of being entirely too pleased with itself. To be fair, each issue comes equipped with a line or four that you will desperately wish you’d thought of. But not every vendor handing over danishes needs to be a silver-tongued quipster. It tends to put cracks in the world investment. (See: Bendis, Brian Michael) Captain Marvel is a bit of a Bunny Book, but isn’t overly obnoxious about it, at least not the three issues I read. One of the sub-plots involves a group recruiting Carol to fly humanitarian aid to some underprivileged something-or-other. I don’t have any problem with people helping people, but when these little excursions are opposed by papier mache Evil Rich White Guys, I’m just warning you that I’m going to throw the comic at the wall.

Hard. It’s going to happen.

And then there’s the art. Andrade’s work is not exactly from the Neal Adams illustrative school, which is fine. It reminds me of what Mike Huddleston was doing on Butcher Baker more than anything. So if you liked that, you should feel right at home here. It’s not a deal-breaker for me, because Andrade seems to be deftly capturing emotions and a sense of action…but it’s not super appealing to my tastes, either. When I look at the cover to #9 and see that gorgeous Jamie McElvie stuff, I kinda wish the whole book looked like that. But I’m admittedly a bit of an art neanderthal.

I recognize that Captain Marvel is a different kind of a book, and I like the idea of some experimentation in style. But on the other hand… what’s wrong with just putting a Tom Grummett on the book? Nobody really talks about that guy, I think he’s great. That stuff looks attractive, and I always know what I’m looking at. Tom Grummett would probably quit drawing if he knew I was on his side, though. “What? That asshole thinks I’m good? That’s it, I’m done.” Sorry, Tom.

So. Captain Marvel. Old school high-impact super heroics laced with DeConnicky character goodness, and each $2.99 issue is stuffed to capacity. That’s a pretty good package.

I used up more space on Captain Marvel than I intended, so let me very quickly get to a few other items worthy of your attention:

The Private Eye
Did you know that Bryan K Vaughan and Marcos Martin are self-publishing a digital comic called The Private Eye? Well, they did. They put it up on something called panel syndicate, and here’s where it gets really crazy – you pay whatever you want. The comic is available without DRM entanglements, at whatever price you deem fair. If you think you should get it for free, you just enter $0.00 and download away. I’ve always thought that $1 was about right for digital books. Since the first issue of The Private Eye was 32 pages and nearly double-sized, I pitched them $2.

It’s a noir detective story fused with a dystopian future in which our social media-driven culture eventually hits critical mass. When the dam finally breaks, Newton’s Law tears the internet down, and most folks walk around in their daily lives with masks to hide their identities. Privacy is one of my 21st century pet issues, so I was extremely pleased to hear about a Vaughan comic tackling the subject, and wasn’t disappointed by what I found in the first issue. Lots of landscape panels and beautiful art from Mr. Martin, but you probably guessed that.

I’m deadly curious to know how much they’ll take in for the issue, but I doubt we’ll ever know. Trent Reznor and Louis C.K. have had success with this kind of business model. My guess is that Vaughan and Martin can drive 8-12K to his book, and I’m guessing that average donation settles around $1.50, which would mean, what? $12,000 - $18,000? My figures are pure fantasy, of course, but if I’m right that’s enough to keep the book going. They don’t have to share that money with a publisher, and they don’t have to wait a year down the road on a trade collection to get in the black. It could be the future, at least for name talent. It helps to be Bryan K Vaughan.

Incidentally, I had issues with the download. I got the comic just fine, and in PDF form. Ordinarily when I download anything I can teach the computer to put it on my desktop for later reference. Couldn’t do that with The Private Eye. The good news is, I was able to just go back to the website and “repurchase” the book for free when I wanted to reference it again later. If they go with a pay only model later, that would really irritate me, though. I’m sure the issue is with the user, not the comic. I’m not particularly tech savvy. If any of you have similar issues, I’d be curious to hear about them. I’d also be curious to know what you decided to pay for the comic.

East of West
Holy balls, Mr. Hickman! Jonathan Hickman is the king of Implied Depth, nobody thinks bigger. Maybe Grant Morrison? It’s Grant, or nobody.

So check this out – Hickman’s new Image book is a sci-fi, futuristic, supernatural, alternative history western. You’ve got the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, one of whom has gone rogue. America develops differently than history remembers, splitting into seven different factions. Revivalist preachers and Indian shamans independently and spontaneously script apocalyptic prophecy. I’m sure novels could be written about any little piece of any little piece of that. I’d love to read the text of those prophecies, or a history of the formation of the Endless Nation, or the mythology of the Horsemen. The story is impossibly big.

What you get in issue # 1 though, is just a sliver. It’s mostly set in 2064, and there’s a lot of fantastic old-timey gunslinger talk, and the Nick Dragotta art is Next Level. Gorgeously illustrated, and I love the colors. There’s just no way that we’ll get to see even .02% of what’s being set before us….but if Hickman can sell us on the idea that we’re getting 10%, it’s going to be one for the ages.

I’m not ready to declare this a Hall of Famer yet. Let’s give it a good six issues before we can even guess about where this is going and how satisfied we feel about the payoff. I’ll say this – the first issue was satisfying in what it offered on its own, and East of West is the most ambitious sonovabitch you’ve ever met.