I have been hearing from friends who are excited about getting to this year’s C2E2 convention! It has reminded me of a couple of years back when I attended that con myself and found myself surprised by a DC book that took off!
HEY, I’M VALUABLE
The interesting surprise that greeted me that weekend was how important and valuable the various editions of DC’s recently released Batman #21 were. I mean, every version was tough to come by, and what ones I could find were double, triple the cost, and even more expensive! This was particularly true of what was being called the “tinfoil” cover. The lenticular versions (with Batman and Flash appearing and disappearing depending on how one held the cover) took some digging around, but one dealer told me, “You can’t go wrong buying this comic!”
I have to say that a lot of people seemed to be very surprised at this development. I had the chance to read the issue, and it was terrific! I’ll never spoil the amazing contents of that book, but I will point out that it was the first of a four-part crossover with The Flash, and there’s a little happy-face button that we’ve seen previously, back in Rebirth #1.
I have some friends who like to guess what’s going to be the “next big thing,” and this book was nowhere on their radar. I didn’t see it coming either. But I like it when things like this surprise me.
I hear some stores were desperately trying to get more copies to sell, and the more expensive ones were going up in price daily.
DC did reprint this issue in a hardcover version, which I did pick up!
HEY, I’M NOT SO VALUABLE
I was also surprised to discover that on the other end of the spectrum was Marvel’s Secret Empire #0, the debut issue of the House of Ideas’ latest company-wide event at the time. There were to be nine issues after this one, so that made it a ten-issue event. I was sure it would be the book of the week!
What I heard people saying about this event was that they aren’t very happy with the story, that some expect that it will be a major flop, and that the event’s writer might be held responsible for it. Of course, others loved it and didn’t understand people who didn’t “get it.”
Given all that, I saw many copies of it around the convention floor. Some dealers were wishing more people would buy them since they brought a bunch of them. Time will tell just what will become of this event. But it wasn’t as sought-after as Batman #21 was, that I can tell you.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE
I often like to tell the story of J. K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. She was so poor she couldn’t afford to have her initial manuscript of the series copied, so she had to manually retype it so it could be submitted.
Now she’s one of the – if not THE – richest women in the world! I’ve read many of her books, and I feel that’s completely justified.
I’ll admit that I haven’t been as big a fan of the Tom King Batman run as I have been of the Scott Snyder Bat-books. But many reviewers on the Internet gave #21 a five-out-of-five-star rating. And I had to agree with that assessment. It made my jaw hit the ground!
Who knew that would be so big? I certainly didn’t! And I do love it when I’m surprised like this! I love finding something great when I didn’t expect it!
About Author
