6 months..progress?

I thought it would be interesting (for me) to assess how many comics, books and trades I've read compared to what I've bought as we reach the halfway point in the year

The numbers;

New back-issues purchased      26
New trade collections                 9
New copies of Masterworks       7

Back-issues read                       44
Trades read                                 7
Books (novels)                            2 (and 100 pages of my current Robin Hobb)

AND: Movies watched at the cinema    3

OK, the Robin Hobbs I've read this year are @700 pages each and been pretty meaty but most books are these days, but it looks to me like I'm buying more than I'm reading.

Looking at my budget I'm planning on purchasing 2-3 trades or masterworks each month for the rest of the year, I need to get a bit quicker or make more more time for my reading to at least break-even.

To be fair though I am catching up with my masterwork collecting and my back-issue list is fairly small these days so, with a big effort, I hope by the end of the year I will be reading more than I'm buying.

Looking forward to getting the following in the next few months

Morning Glories Vol 3
Fatale by Brubaker
Iron Man Vol 9
Star Wars Agent of Empire
Tomb of Dracula Vol 1
Thor Masterworks vols 10 and 11
Cap America Masterworks Vol 2
Iron Man Masterworks Vol 2
Rex Mundi Omnibus Vol 1

Added to My Collection...Team-Up and Dracula!

Three back-issues, great condition and amazingly cheap from Ebay with combined postage all from the same seller. Dracula 99p and the two Team-Ups bought as a lot for £1.50. The Dracula is one from my wants list but I couldn't resist the Team-Ups.

A nice surprise was that No. 140 was a Tom DeFalco/ Ron Frenz collaboration. They are a favourite partnership when it comes to Spidey.

Criminal by Brubaker and Phillips

This week I've read two Criminal trades. Vol 5 The Sinners and Vol 6. The Last of the Innocent.

Really enjoyed both. The Criminal series of books has been consistantly good. Now looking forward to "Fatale " which is due out mid-July.

Next to read: Robin Hobb "Fools Fate"

Added to my collection...Defenders!

Wow. A whole bunch of Defenders back-issues have arrived today and yesterday. No. 4 featuring the return of Valkyrie is written by Steve Englehart and was picked up in VG+ condition for approx £2.50 which was pretty good. The later issues are all Steve Gerber and are FN/VFN for £1.77 each. Some nice copies and I'm looking forward to reading those sometime.

Not too many Defenders issues to get now. I've noticed #10 with it's classic cover and Avengers x-over going for a fair price (£40+!!) so I'll probably not bother with that one but others I will continue to pic up cheap. The priority issues are No. 30 and 38 which are need to fill two conspicious gaps.

Wants Lists

I keep posting comics that I've added to my collection but I thought it would be worthwhile posting actual Marvel wants list as per today's date for posterity!

Hulk	153
Hulk	159
Hulk	180
Hulk	182
Hulk	190
Hulk	257
Iron Man	46
Iron Man	47
Captain America	177
Captain America	178
Captain America	179
Marvel Team-Up	8
Marvel Team-Up	11
Marvel Team-Up	37
Marvel Team-Up	38
Marvel Team-Up	73
Tomb of Dracula	10
Tomb of Dracula	21
Tomb of Dracula	30
Tomb of Dracula	33
Tomb of Dracula	64
Tomb of Dracula	66
Tomb of Dracula	67
Tomb of Dracula	68
Tomb of Dracula	69
Defenders	30
Defenders	34
Defenders	35
Defenders	36
Defenders	37
Defenders	38
Defenders	39
Defenders	40

Added To My Collection

Two comics arrived in the post today as my recent EBay purchases continue to arrive in dribs and drabs.

I'm pleased with Daredevil #99 as it's a cross-over with Avengers #111. In fact it's even reprinted in the Essential Avengers volume. I got it for £1.99 + £1.50 post. It was only the only week when a £3.50 bid of mine for this issue was out-bid so it was nice to pick it up so soon afterwards at half the cost.

The Iron Man #44 is a bit ropey. VG- probably. I took a bit of a gamble with it but it's a bit watersoaked although still readable.

Added to my collection...(part 2)

I should have blogged that I received these during the week. Ooops!

Captain America 173 is a hard to find and usually expensive ND issue but I managed to acquire this from EBay at £3.99 so I was very happy. This completes the Secret Empire storyline (issues 169-176) which I was collecting.

The FF Masterworks vol 7 reprints issues 61 to 71 plus the annual. I'd originally had some of the original issues from this time but I've sold them on EBay for approx £35 and bought the reprint from Amazon for £12.15. The profits have gone towards getting the Cap issue above as well as Defenders issues etc. which I discribed yesterday.

Added to my collection...

I've received these comics this week. All from various Ebay sellers and all at 99p except for the Hulk where somebody had the cheek to also bid on on the item taking it to £2.04!!

I've mentioned before that I'm collecting early Defenders issues when I can find them cheap, the Hulk #264 fills a gap which just leaves # 257 to get and the Marvel Two-In-One Annual comes recommended after being voted the 2nd best Thing story of tall time on Comics Should Be Good.

UPDATE:  I actually sat down and read the 2 in 1 annual before storing it in the longbox. Now that doesn't happen very often! It was a fun read but I wouldn't have put it in my top 10 Thing stories.

Incredible Hulk 200

I've carried on with the Incredible Hulk back issue reading this week (in between the Euro 2012 footie) and really enjoyed Len Wein's and Sal Buscema's run. These issue's slowly build on the plot to restore Betty's then husband Glenn Talbot's mind. The way that Doc Samson managed it, by sending a miniturised Banner/Hulk into Talbot's wiped brain was totally ridiculous. But as they say..."That's comics!".

Terrible cover to issue 199 but the rest are really nice.

Time for a change....so up next, Ed Brubaker's "Criminal"

The Incredbible Hulk Back-issues

I've read Hulk issues 194 &195 by Len Wein and Sal Buscema. Issue 194 is Sal's first issue of what is an extraordinary long run. Sal's Hulk is definitely the one I can relate to most. I remember reading the British reprints of these issues back in the late 1970s.

Really enjoyavle issues. Onwards to issue 200....

Prometheus - Pretty but disappointing

I saw this film last week and I'm still disappointed by it.

The plot holes and motives really distracted from what was a great film to look at.

I can live with the sketchy "man wants to meet his maker" premise. I don't like it but it's there and is a reason for the whole expedition so lets move on. But there's quite a list of what I didn't like.

1. I didn't like the fact that it's set less than 100 years in to the future. Way too soon. I don't know if Alien or Aliens actually state a year but I always assummed that they were set 200+ years in to the future.

2. Was that Engineer in the opening sequence on Earth or the planet Prometheus visits? I would have liked to know.

3. How on earth did the Biologist and Geologist get lost on the way back to the ship and end up getting stuck overnight? The Geologist had control of the mapping drones for goodness sake. Surely he had a map? Yet the others managed to make it back to the ship in 15 mins to avoid the storm.

4. What were the Engineers running from in those old video sequences? Was some of their bio weapon that had escaped from those containers - the centipede type creatures?

5. What was David's plan? Was it part of Leland's plan to bring something back or did he "hate" humans? Leland seemed to want to meet his maker and find a way to live longer. Taking an Alien virus back to Earth didn't fit. And I didn't like the way it affected Shaws partner but made her "pregnant". Character motivations and decisions seemed flawed and illogical.

6. BUT WORST OF ALL. I thought that the film had been inspired by the space jockey which was only glimpsed in Alien. However, the surviving space jockey...sorry Engineer actually died on the Prometheus life pod, not sitting in at his gun turret! WTF? So what happened there?

So...was the ship that crashed in Prometheus the one that Ripley and crew discovered in Alien? I am sure you meant to think it was...

You should come out of a film having enjoyed the story and spectacle. Not pick holes in a swiss cheese plot.

Since this rant I've found this site which tries to explain it all. They say it's a different planet...but how do we know???

 

New Purchases - Defenders Back-issues

Received today from EBay 3 issues of the Defenders. No.s 31,32 and 33.

All £1.05 each so nice and cheap and actually paid for using money gained from selling my Magic Online collection. The Defenders is one of those series where it is possible to pick up lower grade issues cheap on EBay as they were distributed in the UK back in the 1970s. 

I've read only a few issues but the series is constantly praised on Bronze Age Babies so I've decided to collect up to issue 39 which I think is the last Steve Gerber story and the end of the Headmen storyline.

Bank Holiday reading

 It's a double Jubilee Bank-Holiday which has given me more time to read my Incredible Hulk back-issues. All of these are from 1975 and by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe.

I love the cover to No. 189 and it's an issue I've been waiting years to read have seen the cover on adverts for superhero merchendise in comics from the late 1970s.

It was a good issue too. The highlight of these particularly 6 issues.

I'm missing issue 190 but it seems to be a rare one  as I've not seen it on EBay very often and when it is, it's not cheap.

Some great Bonze Age covers here.

 

Issue 193 featuring Doc Samson is the last one of Herb Trimpe's long stint on the title. I've got to say the quality of the art varied considerably. Herb was certainly a decent storyteller but sometimes the pictures weren't too pretty. However, he finished on a high as Joe Staton's inks worked well.  Onwards to a new era..the great Sal Buscema!

                                                     

This weeks reading

I've read a few more Incredible Hulks from 1975. Written by Len Wein they are fairly typical Hulk stories from this period. Herb Trimpe on the art is inking himself though and it's not a good look. Herb needs a strong inker in my opinion and the poor art is quite distracting at times.

I've also read Catwoman Vol 1 by Darwyn Cooke and Ed Brubaker. I've had to sit around in hospital for a few hours a couple of times in the last week and this certainly helped pass the time. I actually think this is my first exposure to Cooke's work and I was mightly impressed. Brubaker takes over the writing for the 2nd half of the book and, whilst probably not as strong as his Captain America or Criminal work, the crime stories were certainly entertaining.

Going to push on with some more Hulks this Bank Holiday weekend. I'm aiming to get to issue 200 before switching to something different again.