Minimate Spotlight #51 Thor Movie

May 7, 2011

Minimate Spotlight #51 Thor Movie

Filed under: Minimate Spotlight — Donny B @ 2:01 am

Action figures have long been a perfect compliment to comic books, since every kid (or kid at heart) has that natural desire to act out adventures with their favorite heroes off the drawn page. Every so often, a unique style of figure comes along that breaks the mold, so to speak. Each Saturday, Donny B will be showcasing various offerings from Art Asylum’s take on the ‘block figure’, with a weekly spotlight on Minimates.

Check it out – one year ago, I began my weekly Minimate Spotlight articles here at Cyberspace Comics!

I kicked off that first entry with a photo showcasing the two lead characters from Iron Man 2, which happened to have its theatrical release that weekend. As it would happen, coinciding with the one year anniversary of Minimate Spotlight is the release of Marvel’s Thor movie. So to commemorate both of those events, I decided to pay homage to myself (because I’m just that awesome, apparently) and ‘duplicate’ the format of that first photo.

Behind the Image:

I love macro mode and utilizing lighting/shadows. I’ll be the first to admit that I know very little about the professional side of photography, but using what little I do know makes photography loads of fun.
Again, this photo required no photoshop work aside from cleaning up little specs of dust and the like.

On Ebay: Thor
On AtomicAvenue: Thor

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May 6, 2011

Guide to Marvel Comics Presents #7

Filed under: Guide to Marvel Comics Presents — Doorman @ 7:49 am

Marvel Comics Presents launched in 1988 as an ad-free anthology showcasing four eight-page features, stuffed inside a wrap-around cover. This guide will tell you everything you wanted to know about the series – and more!

Cover Date: Late November 1988 | Cover Price: $1.25 | Cover Artist: Bob Layton

Wolverine in “Save the Tiger” part 7
written by Chris Claremont
art by John Buscema with Klaus Janson

Wolverine and the Tyger miraculously survive the explosion that nearly killed them at the end of last issue’s episode. There’s an interesting moment as Logan and Jess contemplate the future. Roche is clearly evil and Logan wants to take him down but, if Jess replaces Roche as the new crimelord – she runs the risk of being just like him. In which case, Logan will be after her next. Later, Logan and Jess stop Roche’s punkboys from attacking Madame Joy’s brothel. The leader reveals that Roche thinks he knows who the Tyger is! Roche suspects that the Tyger is O’Donnell (from the Princess Bar). As the episode draws to a close, we discover that the crimelord has captured O’Donnell and subjected him to the torments of the Inquisitor.

Man-Thing in “Elements of Terror” part 7
written by Steve Gerber
art by Tom Sutton

In Washington, the investigation into Jody Choate‘s mismanagement of government programs continues – linking Latverian arms sales with the Anti-Drug initiative, Freedom Science Studies Institute’s experiments and more. Meanwhile, armed gunmen have been sent to dispatch the loose cannon, Marea. Her companion, the mutated Man-Thing, gets caught in the crossfire.

Master of Kung Fu in “Crossing Lines” part 7
written by Doug Moench
art by Tom Grindberg with Dave Cockrum

Shang-Chi, the Cat, Black Jack Tarr and Reston fly off to Argus’ Terrorist Base in Sardinia, where Leiko Wu is being held captive. And, as the others fight through the terrorist forces, Shang-Chi makes his way into the fortress to confront Argus, himself (who’s claiming to have just killed Leiko Wu).

Sub-Mariner in “From Sea To Deadly Sea”
written by Steve Ditko with Hollis Bright
art by Steve Ditko

Namor, the deposed monarch of Atlantis, discovers a cell of Atlantean pirates who have set up camp in a Dead Zone area, surrouned by noxious undersea gases. But, these aren’t just pirates. Oh no! They’ve got loftier goals – goals of using the weapons they’re stealing to establish themselves as the new rules of Atlantis. Unfortunately for them, Namor defeats their leaders, Ruthar and the mutated Zoga. With the strongest of them defeated, the rest of the Atlantean pirates disband and Namor destroys their stronghold so that it can’t be used against Atlantis again.

The Sub-Mariner story is quite bland but it does illustrate Namor’s great love for Atlantis. Even though he was cast out by his people, Namor still cares enough to ensure their safety.

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May 5, 2011

Famous Fanmail #57 Ty Templeton

Filed under: Famous Fanmail — Doorman @ 10:12 am

You may not be surprised to learn that most people in the comic business grew up reading comic books. However, you might be interested in knowing what they were reading. Here’s a look at “Famous Fanmail”!

Ty Templeton is a comic writer/artist who’s worked on nearly everything! His credits include Batman, Superman, Howard the Duck, Justice League, She-Hulk, the Simpsons, Star Trek and much, much more (including his creator-owned, cult classic Stig’s Inferno). He got a letter printed in Wasteland #7 (cover date – June 1988), praising its ingenuity. And, in issue #11, he got to illustrate one of the Wasteland stories.

Wasteland letters page with Ty Templeton

On Ebay: Wasteland | Ty Templeton
On AtomicAvenue: Wasteland

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May 4, 2011

Cyberspace Comics Market Report #9 May 2011

Filed under: Cyberspace Comics Market Report — Doorman @ 11:01 am

I’ve been selling comics in my sparetime since 2002 but I only recently started selling them on a full-time basis. March 2010 was my first full month of full-time comic sales. It’s been a fun ride and it’s allowed me to continue to maintain this daily comics blog. Here’s a look back at the previous month.

Number of listings in eBay’s “comics” section: 1,539,685 (1.31% increase from last month)
Number of those that are Cyberspace Comics listings: 7,005 (1.60% decrease)
My “market share” of comic listings on eBay: .45496% (2.87% decrease)

Number of eBay comic listings that are auctions: 83,882
Percentage of eBay comic listings up for auction: 5.45%

My current eBay feedback (unique): 11,480
My current eBay feedback (total): 23,817
My positive eBay feedback score: 100%

Position	Dollar Sales	# of Current Listings
First	Bad Girls (↑)	Bad Girls (844 listings)
Second	TPBs (↑)	Marvel Comics (702 listings)
Third	Underground (↓)	Image Comics (608 listings)
Fourth	Marvel Comics	Other Indies (507 listings)
Fifth	Image Comics	DC Comics (509 listings)

Number of listings on Atomic Avenue: 1,341,278 (1.6251% increase from last month)
Number of those that are in the Cyberspace Comics Store on Atomic Avenue: 29,625 (5.19% increase)
My “market share” of comic listings on AtomicAvenue: 2.2087% (3.51% increase)
My estimated “market share” of AtomicAvenue orders: 6.75%

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May 3, 2011

Comic Book Cover Swipes #57 New Warriors

Filed under: Swiped: Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed! — Doorman @ 9:52 am

After looking at hundreds of comic book covers, it becomes quickly apparent that not every cover is 100% original. Whether done intentionally or even underhandedly, there’s something about uncovering these “swipes” that adds a new element of fun to reading and collecting comics.

DonnyB pointed this swipe out to me last week. The first issue was a momentous occasion in Marvel Boy/Justice’s life.

the New Warriors #20
February 1992
Mark Bagley

the New Warriors #48
June 1994
Darick Robertson

On Ebay: New Warriors
On AtomicAvenue: New Warriors

Comments (3)

May 2, 2011

One-Shot At Greatness #57 Beta Ray Bill – the Green of Eden

Filed under: One-Shot At Greatness — Doorman @ 2:35 pm

Because publishers want you to buy their product every month, comics are typically serial in nature. However, occasionally (and more often nowadays than ever before) publishers launch a comic title that is only meant to last for one issue. While ongoing series often have multiple chances to hook in new readers, the comics highlighted in this ongoing investigations only had One-Shot At Greatness!

Secret Invasion Aftermath: Beta Ray Bill - the Green of Eden #1 Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 2009
Cover Price: $3.99
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Dan Brereton

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

A sect of an alien race of beings has renounced their god-figure and decided that they would create a new religion. They deemed Beta Ray Bill their new deity and were cast out of ther society by those who clung to the established religion. Now that they’re being pursued and persecuted, by the rest of their race, they turn to Beta Ray Bill to save them. Soon after defeating the religious persecutors, our hero will have to determine if he’s comfortable with his new status as their god.

Gillen uses a cosmic super hero story to pose some interesting concepts and questions about religion. It’s also just a cool Beta Ray Bill story, which I can always appreciate (especially since Beta stories seem so few and far between these days – and are usually pretty nifty [especially that Godhunter mini series]). I was excited to see Brereton‘s name on the cover because I can always count on him for very unique and wonderful painted art. However, I was a bit let down to discover that this story featured his pencils, instead – which don’t nearly live up to the quality of his painted art. On the other hand, the Marko Djurdjevic cover is sure nice to look at.