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Bleeding Cool - Real Comic Book News!
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jack
The Legendary Troll King
Rare Superman comic sells for record $3.25 million
One of the few copies of the comic book that introduced Superman to the world has sold for a super-sized, record-setting price.
The issue of Action Comics #1 went for $3.25 million in a private sale, ComicConnect.com, an online auction and consignment company, announced Tuesday.
It narrowly bested the previous record for the comic, set in the auction of another copy in 2014 for slightly over $3.2 million.
The comic, published in 1938, “really is the beginning of the superhero genre,” said ComicConnect.com COO Vincent Zurzolo, who brokered the sale.
It told readers about the origins of Superman, how he came to Earth from another planet and went by Clark Kent.
The seller of this particular issue bought the comic in 2018 for slightly more than $2 million.
Zurzolo said that while there were hundreds of thousands of copies initially published, it’s estimated only about 100 exist today, and in varying conditions. He said this copy is among the best-kept ones.
“There’s no comic book that you could value higher in terms of a comic book than Action Comics #1,” he said.
- The issue of Action Comics #1 went for $3.25 million in a private sale, ComicConnect.com, an online auction and consignment company, announced Tuesday.
- It narrowly bested the previous record for the comic, set in the auction of another copy in 2014 for slightly over $3.2 million.
One of the few copies of the comic book that introduced Superman to the world has sold for a super-sized, record-setting price.
The issue of Action Comics #1 went for $3.25 million in a private sale, ComicConnect.com, an online auction and consignment company, announced Tuesday.
It narrowly bested the previous record for the comic, set in the auction of another copy in 2014 for slightly over $3.2 million.
The comic, published in 1938, “really is the beginning of the superhero genre,” said ComicConnect.com COO Vincent Zurzolo, who brokered the sale.
It told readers about the origins of Superman, how he came to Earth from another planet and went by Clark Kent.
The seller of this particular issue bought the comic in 2018 for slightly more than $2 million.
Zurzolo said that while there were hundreds of thousands of copies initially published, it’s estimated only about 100 exist today, and in varying conditions. He said this copy is among the best-kept ones.
“There’s no comic book that you could value higher in terms of a comic book than Action Comics #1,” he said.
jack
The Legendary Troll King
Doctor Strange: Hasbro Unveils Eye of Agamotto From MCU Infinity Saga
The Eye of Agamotto, otherwise known as the housing for the Time Stone aka, one of the six all-powerful Infinity Stones was crushed into bits by the Mad Titan, Thanos at the end of 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. Before that, it was worn around the neck of Dr. Stephen Strange, sorcerer and master of the mystic arts.
The Time Stone, prior to it's being reduced to atoms in Avengers: Endgame could be used to control the flow of time, speed up events and reverse time on specific objects and people. However, as MCU fans know, Thanos came knocking in his quest to assemble all six stones to fully realize his devastating plans.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS
Hasbro has officially unveiled its Eye of Agamotto replica. Complete with light-up features, a screen-accurate pedestal, and a removable time stone, this item joins the toy maker's other MCU replica products like Captain America's shield and Iron Man's helmet. Have a closer look at the toy below, which is available for pre-order now.
The Eye of Agamotto, otherwise known as the housing for the Time Stone aka, one of the six all-powerful Infinity Stones was crushed into bits by the Mad Titan, Thanos at the end of 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. Before that, it was worn around the neck of Dr. Stephen Strange, sorcerer and master of the mystic arts.
The Time Stone, prior to it's being reduced to atoms in Avengers: Endgame could be used to control the flow of time, speed up events and reverse time on specific objects and people. However, as MCU fans know, Thanos came knocking in his quest to assemble all six stones to fully realize his devastating plans.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS
Hasbro has officially unveiled its Eye of Agamotto replica. Complete with light-up features, a screen-accurate pedestal, and a removable time stone, this item joins the toy maker's other MCU replica products like Captain America's shield and Iron Man's helmet. Have a closer look at the toy below, which is available for pre-order now.
jack
The Legendary Troll King
I swear this isn't a column pining for the good old days of 40-cent comics and spinner racks. Really, it's not.
I won't lie, though: I sure do miss the time when a buck got you two comics and change. But I get how inflation works and how rising paper costs can't be ignored. I'm also quite aware that the higher cover prices of today's market have led to creators being able to make a decent living while entertaining us. That benefits the fans, who get to enjoy the great stories that spring from their imaginations.
However, there does come a point where comic books can simply become too expensive for many fans, forcing readers to drop titles not because they don't like reading them, but because they simply can't afford to anymore.
We may be approaching that point.
One of the Big Two publishers, DC Comics, is bumping the price up on some of its monthly titles to $5.99 for a 40-page issue. In its solicitations for June releases, several ongoing series, The Joker #4, Superman Red & Blue #3, Wonder Woman: Black White and Gold #1, and one of the company's flagship books, Batman #109, are all listed with $5.99 cover prices. Think about that for a moment. If someone wanted to read all four of those titles, it would cost about $24 (before tax) to do so. Four comics, $24. That's a big financial hit.
Yes, I'm aware that these comics are 40 pages, but that just means you're getting about 30 pages of actual story. Also, it's not one story. Each of these issues has at least one backup story, which is fine, but I'm sure I'm not the only fan who buys books as much for certain creative teams as for the character. As a Batman fan, I don't want or need a backup story. I personally have never been much for backup stories in ongoing series. If I want an anthology book, I'll buy one of several out on the market, such as the aforementioned WW: Black White and Gold comic.
Consider this...
Both DC and Marvel Comics have almost completely eliminated the $2.99 cover-priced comic. DC has a couple of Scooby-Doo titles at that price, which is a smart move since they target a younger audience. But almost every other comic from the two biggest publishers starts at $3.99. In fact, June solicitations for both DC and Marvel show a bunch of books listed at $4.99, including some that I'm dying to read, like a bunch of the titles around the Heroes Reborn event. I love everything Jason Aaron writes, but everyone has a budget. And that's too many $4.99 comics for me to buy in one month. (For the record, with the exception of a few special releases and some advance PDFs, I do not get free comics.) It's why I skipped King in Black, despite my great interest in that event. There are just too many books to pay for at $4.99 and $5.99 price points. So that means I skip the floppies and wait for the trade.
I'm fortunate to at least be able to make the choice to wait and buy the collected editions. Many others likely can't. That's a shame, as well as a real loss for the industry. As comic book cover prices keep rising, it's not just pricing out those fans who have limited budgets to spend on single issues. It's also going to force fans to stop sampling new product simply because they can't afford it. How in the world can you expect a customer to throw down five or six bucks on a brand new title? Faith and some good advance press can certainly be helpful, but there comes a price point that some fans simply can't afford to meet, and that means taking a risk on an unproven book will become unfeasible.
Who suffers most in that scenario? The creators launching new comics. The economics of creator-owned books are different than the work-for-hire done for publishers such as Marvel and DC. By the nature of the business model of a place like Image Comics, the industry leader in creator-owned comics, the creators keep the bulk of revenues — but continuing to raise the cover price won't necessarily increase your profit if fewer people are buying it.
One of the more anticipated books of 2021 may be Spawn's Universe #1, which kicks off Todd McFarlane's expansion of the universe surrounding his long-running character. That one-shot will be priced at $5.99 for a 52-page comic, which will include a main story and two side tales that will set up future Spawn companion titles. When I talked with him recently, McFarlane pointed out that when his three ongoing spinoff series debut, two of them — The Scorched and King Spawn — will be priced at $2.99, the same as the original Spawn title. The third, Gunslinger Spawn, may be priced at $3.99 due to a higher page count, as it may incorporate a monthly backup story. But McFarlane said holding the line at $2.99 with his other books was imperative.
For a long time, Spawn as well as Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' Saga have been the only Image books holding their cover price at $2.99. For the Image Comics co-founder McFarlane, that's a decision made with the customer in mind. To him, the price of a comic is an essential and often overlooked factor in whether or not a book breaks out in a very crowded field.
"I don't think people realize how important [pricing is] is in terms of having a successful book," McFarlane says. "I'm going to assume that not everyone has a ton of disposable income. So every time they decide to spend their money, it's a choice. I'm hoping to make it easy for people who are curious to see what is going to happen here with some of these new books, or maybe they're a lapsed Spawn collector or something like that. And they want to maybe try and get back in and sample some of these issues."
To McFarlane, the $2.99 price means a customer can buy one of his titles if they're excited to see the new developments in his flagship character's world, along with at least one other comic for less than $10. "It doesn't cost them a lot, so they can [try] it and decide whether it's for them or not," he says. "I think it matters. I think you have a way higher chance of people picking it up out of curiosity or sampling it if you make the entry point reasonable.”
Not everyone will be negatively impacted by higher prices, of course.
Superstar creators with passionate fanbases can still launch new projects to great success. Donny Cates did it with Crossover (co-created with Geoff Shaw, Dee Cunniffe, and John J. Hill), as did James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds with The Department of Truth. Both those titles are in the Top 10 of sales orders in March, according to the industry site Comichron.
But what about other promising creator-owned comics with less-pedigreed talent involved? As prices continue to rise, how many sales will those books lose simply because fans can't afford to take a chance on a new series?
I don't pretend to have the answers to this dilemma, and I know there isn't any magical, one-size-fits-all solution. Comics is a tough business under the best of circumstances, and the past year has been anything but ideal. But the people who handle the business side of comics need to understand something that Eisner Award-winning artist David Aja wrote about on Twitter.
The point being, yes, you can try to Band-Aid the problem by simply tacking another dollar on to the cover price. There will always be some fans devoted enough who are financially able to keep buying it. But what's the point of creating art that only a select few can afford to buy? That's not what comics is about, or at least it shouldn't be.
I won't lie, though: I sure do miss the time when a buck got you two comics and change. But I get how inflation works and how rising paper costs can't be ignored. I'm also quite aware that the higher cover prices of today's market have led to creators being able to make a decent living while entertaining us. That benefits the fans, who get to enjoy the great stories that spring from their imaginations.
However, there does come a point where comic books can simply become too expensive for many fans, forcing readers to drop titles not because they don't like reading them, but because they simply can't afford to anymore.
We may be approaching that point.
One of the Big Two publishers, DC Comics, is bumping the price up on some of its monthly titles to $5.99 for a 40-page issue. In its solicitations for June releases, several ongoing series, The Joker #4, Superman Red & Blue #3, Wonder Woman: Black White and Gold #1, and one of the company's flagship books, Batman #109, are all listed with $5.99 cover prices. Think about that for a moment. If someone wanted to read all four of those titles, it would cost about $24 (before tax) to do so. Four comics, $24. That's a big financial hit.
Yes, I'm aware that these comics are 40 pages, but that just means you're getting about 30 pages of actual story. Also, it's not one story. Each of these issues has at least one backup story, which is fine, but I'm sure I'm not the only fan who buys books as much for certain creative teams as for the character. As a Batman fan, I don't want or need a backup story. I personally have never been much for backup stories in ongoing series. If I want an anthology book, I'll buy one of several out on the market, such as the aforementioned WW: Black White and Gold comic.
Consider this...
Both DC and Marvel Comics have almost completely eliminated the $2.99 cover-priced comic. DC has a couple of Scooby-Doo titles at that price, which is a smart move since they target a younger audience. But almost every other comic from the two biggest publishers starts at $3.99. In fact, June solicitations for both DC and Marvel show a bunch of books listed at $4.99, including some that I'm dying to read, like a bunch of the titles around the Heroes Reborn event. I love everything Jason Aaron writes, but everyone has a budget. And that's too many $4.99 comics for me to buy in one month. (For the record, with the exception of a few special releases and some advance PDFs, I do not get free comics.) It's why I skipped King in Black, despite my great interest in that event. There are just too many books to pay for at $4.99 and $5.99 price points. So that means I skip the floppies and wait for the trade.
I'm fortunate to at least be able to make the choice to wait and buy the collected editions. Many others likely can't. That's a shame, as well as a real loss for the industry. As comic book cover prices keep rising, it's not just pricing out those fans who have limited budgets to spend on single issues. It's also going to force fans to stop sampling new product simply because they can't afford it. How in the world can you expect a customer to throw down five or six bucks on a brand new title? Faith and some good advance press can certainly be helpful, but there comes a price point that some fans simply can't afford to meet, and that means taking a risk on an unproven book will become unfeasible.
Who suffers most in that scenario? The creators launching new comics. The economics of creator-owned books are different than the work-for-hire done for publishers such as Marvel and DC. By the nature of the business model of a place like Image Comics, the industry leader in creator-owned comics, the creators keep the bulk of revenues — but continuing to raise the cover price won't necessarily increase your profit if fewer people are buying it.
One of the more anticipated books of 2021 may be Spawn's Universe #1, which kicks off Todd McFarlane's expansion of the universe surrounding his long-running character. That one-shot will be priced at $5.99 for a 52-page comic, which will include a main story and two side tales that will set up future Spawn companion titles. When I talked with him recently, McFarlane pointed out that when his three ongoing spinoff series debut, two of them — The Scorched and King Spawn — will be priced at $2.99, the same as the original Spawn title. The third, Gunslinger Spawn, may be priced at $3.99 due to a higher page count, as it may incorporate a monthly backup story. But McFarlane said holding the line at $2.99 with his other books was imperative.
For a long time, Spawn as well as Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' Saga have been the only Image books holding their cover price at $2.99. For the Image Comics co-founder McFarlane, that's a decision made with the customer in mind. To him, the price of a comic is an essential and often overlooked factor in whether or not a book breaks out in a very crowded field.
"I don't think people realize how important [pricing is] is in terms of having a successful book," McFarlane says. "I'm going to assume that not everyone has a ton of disposable income. So every time they decide to spend their money, it's a choice. I'm hoping to make it easy for people who are curious to see what is going to happen here with some of these new books, or maybe they're a lapsed Spawn collector or something like that. And they want to maybe try and get back in and sample some of these issues."
To McFarlane, the $2.99 price means a customer can buy one of his titles if they're excited to see the new developments in his flagship character's world, along with at least one other comic for less than $10. "It doesn't cost them a lot, so they can [try] it and decide whether it's for them or not," he says. "I think it matters. I think you have a way higher chance of people picking it up out of curiosity or sampling it if you make the entry point reasonable.”
Not everyone will be negatively impacted by higher prices, of course.
Superstar creators with passionate fanbases can still launch new projects to great success. Donny Cates did it with Crossover (co-created with Geoff Shaw, Dee Cunniffe, and John J. Hill), as did James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds with The Department of Truth. Both those titles are in the Top 10 of sales orders in March, according to the industry site Comichron.
But what about other promising creator-owned comics with less-pedigreed talent involved? As prices continue to rise, how many sales will those books lose simply because fans can't afford to take a chance on a new series?
I don't pretend to have the answers to this dilemma, and I know there isn't any magical, one-size-fits-all solution. Comics is a tough business under the best of circumstances, and the past year has been anything but ideal. But the people who handle the business side of comics need to understand something that Eisner Award-winning artist David Aja wrote about on Twitter.
The point being, yes, you can try to Band-Aid the problem by simply tacking another dollar on to the cover price. There will always be some fans devoted enough who are financially able to keep buying it. But what's the point of creating art that only a select few can afford to buy? That's not what comics is about, or at least it shouldn't be.
jack
The Legendary Troll King
Darkhawk's Armor Makes Iron Man Look Like an Amateur
The Darkhawk armor is one of the most mysterious suits of armor in the Marvel Universe, and in the one-shot Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk, readers are reminded of just how powerful it is as well, capable of rivaling even Iron Man’s armor.
Darkhawk first appeared in 1991’s Darhawk #1 and was created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Mike Manley. His secret identity is teenager Chris Powell, who found an amulet in an abandoned amusement park that switched his body with that of an android in an alternate dimension, which Chris could control. Initially fighting street-level crime, Darkhawk eventually found himself caught up in Marvel’s cosmic scene; in addition, Chris learned over time Darkhawks’ origin was much more complicated—that his amulet was actually from Null Space, and that he was part of a race of warriors called “Raptors.” Eventually Chris and the Darkhawk armor merged into one, giving him even more fantastic powers. In Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk, a special one-shot released to commemorate Darkhawk's 30thanniversary, fans get to see him in action one more time.
The Darkhawk armor is one of the most mysterious suits of armor in the Marvel Universe, and in the one-shot Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk, readers are reminded of just how powerful it is as well, capable of rivaling even Iron Man’s armor.
Darkhawk first appeared in 1991’s Darhawk #1 and was created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Mike Manley. His secret identity is teenager Chris Powell, who found an amulet in an abandoned amusement park that switched his body with that of an android in an alternate dimension, which Chris could control. Initially fighting street-level crime, Darkhawk eventually found himself caught up in Marvel’s cosmic scene; in addition, Chris learned over time Darkhawks’ origin was much more complicated—that his amulet was actually from Null Space, and that he was part of a race of warriors called “Raptors.” Eventually Chris and the Darkhawk armor merged into one, giving him even more fantastic powers. In Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk, a special one-shot released to commemorate Darkhawk's 30thanniversary, fans get to see him in action one more time.
jack
The Legendary Troll King
Madefire Shutdown Renders BOOM!, Archie Comic Apps Dead
The Madefire digital comics platform is shutting down support to the platform, which will shut down apps from comic companies based on the platform.
Madefire, a browser-based digital publishing platform and app that was created by Ben Wolstenholme, Liam Sharp and Eugene Walden, has entered a bankruptcy-like situation that will leave the app no longer updated or supported, which is a problem for the comic book companies that rely on the platform for its own comic book apps.
Archie Unlimited, Archie Comics' app that launched in 2015, shut down yesterday due to this news and readers have until the end of this month (in other words, tomorrow) to make sure to secure any of the digital collections that they purchased on Madefire from companies like BOOM! and Scout.
Here is the notice on Madefire's website:
The Madefire digital comics platform is shutting down support to the platform, which will shut down apps from comic companies based on the platform.
Madefire, a browser-based digital publishing platform and app that was created by Ben Wolstenholme, Liam Sharp and Eugene Walden, has entered a bankruptcy-like situation that will leave the app no longer updated or supported, which is a problem for the comic book companies that rely on the platform for its own comic book apps.
Archie Unlimited, Archie Comics' app that launched in 2015, shut down yesterday due to this news and readers have until the end of this month (in other words, tomorrow) to make sure to secure any of the digital collections that they purchased on Madefire from companies like BOOM! and Scout.
Here is the notice on Madefire's website:
jack
The Legendary Troll King
‘Watchmen’ Creator Alan Moore Signs Publishing Deal For Fantasy Series ‘Long London’
Click here to read the full article.
Alan Moore has signed a publishing agreement for Long London, a five-volume series of epic fantasy novels chronicling a fictionalized version of the titular city.
The Watchmen and V For Vendetta creator has inked the deal with UK publisher Bloomsbury, which will publish the books in 2024. The agreement also covers a collection of short stories, Illuminations, which will be published in 2022.
Click here to read the full article.
Alan Moore has signed a publishing agreement for Long London, a five-volume series of epic fantasy novels chronicling a fictionalized version of the titular city.
The Watchmen and V For Vendetta creator has inked the deal with UK publisher Bloomsbury, which will publish the books in 2024. The agreement also covers a collection of short stories, Illuminations, which will be published in 2022.
jack
The Legendary Troll King
Batman teams up with fine art star David Choe
David Choe is returning to comic books - but unfortunately, it's not for long. Choe has painted two Batman pieces that'll be used as variant covers to this week's Batman #108.
But you're going to have to run, proverbially, to get them.
New paintings by David Choe are always a special occasion, so the opportunity to have not one, but two variant covers by him is definitely something to celebrate," says art dealer Kwan Chang, who is selling these Batman #108 covers as 'retailer exclusive' variants in partnership with DC.
David Choe is returning to comic books - but unfortunately, it's not for long. Choe has painted two Batman pieces that'll be used as variant covers to this week's Batman #108.
But you're going to have to run, proverbially, to get them.
New paintings by David Choe are always a special occasion, so the opportunity to have not one, but two variant covers by him is definitely something to celebrate," says art dealer Kwan Chang, who is selling these Batman #108 covers as 'retailer exclusive' variants in partnership with DC.
