A Few Words On A Friday

Hopefully some of you have been watching the episodes of Comic Book Palace?  It, like many others on You Tube now, show the real state of comics and what comic readers think rather than the industry and dealer hyping Comic Book Men, which tends to show everything wrong with comics today...as being good.  But come on, the biggest industry mouthpiece (Kevin Smith)  runs the show and if you have ever heard one of his podcasts and have not vomited after five minutes of his utter arse-licking, sycophantic crap then you have strong guts!!

I loved, in Comic Book Palace, the sarcastic call-out "Hold the front page -we have a one dollar book!" You see the true value of comics shown and discussed and not slick staging of scenes. Believe it or not, there are fair comic shop owners out there.  Not met any in the UK yet but I have seen and heard the evidence from the United States.

The exposing of Free Comic Book Day being an Ebayers paradise. Remember, the store owners do not get given these books -they have to pay for them.  The scum go from store to store grabbing their freebies and get home and...you need to do this on the next FCBD...that day you'll see all the FCBD issues for sale -a little like San Diego Comic Con freebies turn up the same day on Ebay at inflated prices.  Stamp your shop name on the covers: you paid for the books and are giving them away so remind anyone who does get interested in comics where they got that intro!

"Give me $17 credit for the book?"

"Why would I give you $17 credit on a book worth $12?"

I was waiting for the "It's got the Black Panther in it -there's a movie!"

That would probably have gotten a very interesting response!!  Oh, and you may well pay $100-$200 for a copy of the character Mantis' first appearance in comics -you'll be paying that for a, in very good condition, $20 comic.  Mantis in the comics is NOT the movie Mantis just like the Guardians of the Galaxy of the movies is not the original comic version (and I'm still laughing at people who paid up to $300 for that original comic appearance and have found it really worth $20-25 (mine cost £5 so about $6.30 last year).

Greedy melon farmers.

Avengers volume 1 (the only real volume of Marvel's Avengers) #100.  UK prices £35.00 -£100+ ($45-127).  Bought that issue plus #101 for £31 including shipping from the US.  Feck you UK comic dealers you are crooks.

But it isn't just comics.  People in Wargaming and fantasy role playing games in the UK also get ripped off with prices...well, an example.  Dinah Soar Hero Clix figure.  In the US you can get for 15-35 cents.  UK: £5.00 to £11.00 -that's $6-$14 BEFORE postage.

Gaming, crafting, whatever, the UK gets hit harder with prices and that was before Brexit so offer that excuse -FU. We used to buy from the US but then, like other postal services, the US Postal Service hiked up prices that put a lot of small traders out of business.  Why pay $6.00 for something from the US, that in the UK will cost $20-30, if the postage on top of that $6 is $45 (and some traders are cheating by adding to that postage price)?

In the past there would have been a united response to this, and to the monopoly in comic distribution in the UK: boycott until things are sorted out.  Fairer prices and monopolies broken. Today? No one gives a shit so long as they get what they want.  "A fair deal for everyone not just one" is a thing of the past.  Thatcher's legacy lives on.

Comic events would sooner go out of business than rock the boat and lower table prices for dealers and actually change guest lists so the same old same old are not always there.

You get the country you deserve and UK voters have shown what they want and these are the same people bleating about...well, you should know.  The time to change comics and other forms of fun such as gaming went a long time ago.

I'm old.  I'm near homeless. Ignore me.