Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 83, where we take a nostalgic look at comic books I currently own, and in some sad cases, ones that I let get away.

For each of the comic books I include in this blog, I list the current secondary market value. This is according to the listings at the website www.comicbookrealm.com. They list out the near mint prices, which are on the comic book grading scale of 9.4. If you go to the website to look up any in your collection, you can click on the price and see the value at different grades. Not all of my comics are 9.4. Some are probably better, and some are worse. But to simplify it, that’s the grading price I use here. And remember, a comic book is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Have you considered being a guest host for Cool Comics? You can do a theme or just pick any of your comics for inclusion (this blog is for all ages, so please keep that in mind), with a maximum of seven issues. Repeat guest hosts are permitted and encouraged. Send your completed blog to edgosney62@gmail.com.

If you have any questions or comments, please scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says, “Leave a reply.” I hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I do writing about them. And now, Episode 83…

Cool Comics News!

This marks week 4 of Walmart Variant Madness, putting us at the halfway mark! Although the majority of the 8 Variants that came with this recent set of 3-packs are Rebirth comics, the Variant I’m covering this week is from a comic that came out four years ago. Also, if you missed my talk with Hank Garner on the Author Stories podcast, which focused quite a bit on comic books, you can listen to it here: http://hankgarner.com/episode-177-ed-gosney-interview/

Cool comics in my collection #422: Injustice: Gods Among Us #1 (Walmart Variant), April 2017.

DC’s first Injustice series (Gods Among Us) came out four years ago, but that didn’t stop them from putting out a Variant via Walmart of this popular series. The original comic this is a variant of sells for about $35 on the secondary market, and because I don’t regularly purchase new comics, it is a welcome addition to my collection. Or it least it was until I read it! Based on a video game, this alternative look at the DC Universe provides the reader with some shocks, especially at the end. Now I know it’s fiction, and none of these characters really exist, but if you are the kind of reader who removes yourself from reality and “lives” in the story, you may just find yourself in a knot of emotions by the time you set it down. I’m definitely not telling you to ignore this if you haven’t read it before, but just warning you that it packs an emotional wallop. Last week my son gifted me a code to get a collection of the first six issues of this series on comiXology, so I guess I’ll have to break out the tissues and soldier on through it at some point in the future, then give you my feedback under my “Recently Read Digital Comics” section below. The cover price of the original Injustice: Gods Among Us #1 is $3.99, while the current value of this variant is $5.

Cool comics in my collection #423: Beware the Batman #2, January 2014.

When I started my third phase of comic collecting in the early 90s, The Batman Adventures comic came out, and while I didn’t watch the cartoon, I tried a couple issues on for size. I didn’t much care for the animated look, and ended up selling the two I had bought—7 and 8—at a garage sale a few years ago. If I’d stuck with the comic just four more months, I would have bought issue 12, which is the first appearance of Harley Quinn in comics. And I probably would have sold it at my garage sale also, because it wasn’t until I started writing my blog this week that I discovered that issue #12 is worth several hundred dollars. So, in a way, I’m glad I didn’t buy it, or I’d be upset with myself right now for basically giving it away at my garage sale. Anyway, Beware the Batman is another comic book based on a cartoon, and this time, probably because I’m older and more nostalgic, I enjoyed the art and story. I’m not going to run to my local comic shop and hunt for back issues, but I appreciated the comic for what it is. By the way, this comic is part of one of my recent Walmart 3-pack purchases, and with it not being a variant, I had no idea it was part of the package. I’ve been enjoying the fun of discovering what lurks beneath the Variant covers, and for the most part the stories and art have been good. The cover price of Beware the Batman #2 is $2.99, while the current value is $3.

Cool comics in my collection #424: Green Lantern Corps: Future’s End, November 2014.

This is the first comic that came with the Walmart 3-packs that I didn’t enjoy as much. I like the concept of the “Futures End” series that DC did, in which we get a look at what the universe is like in five years, but this particular comic was not a good jumping on point for me. I’ve read Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps comics in the past, but none of that background helped me to have a good feel for what was going on here. And I’m okay with that, because we aren’t always going to like everything we read. This story focused on Green Lantern John Stewart, and I don’t have much of a background with him, nor was I familiar with other Green Lanterns and some of the aliens in this issue. The cover price of Green Lantern Corps: Futures End #1 is $2.99, while the current value is $3.

Recently Read Digital Comics

Even though I separate my digital comic reading from my “Cool Comics” that I list above, this is my favorite comic of the week. I bought this collection for just $5.99 via Amazon, and it’s currently selling for $19.99 on comiXology. The story collects the following comics: Superman Vol. 3, #51-52; Action Comics Vol. 2, #51-52; Batman / Superman #31-32, and Superman / Wonder Woman #28-29. Superman: The Final Days of Superman, is exactly what the title implies. If you aren’t familiar with this story, you may think back to the 1992 Death of Superman and all the spin-offs that resulted from that, but this time around things are different, as the events take us from the New 52 period to the cusp of Rebirth. You’ll notice on the cover that it states, “Road to Rebirth,” which is an appropriate label. If you’ve been reading my blog for the last few months, you know I’ve been singing the praises of the Rebirth titles that I’ve read as Walmart Variants, along with these “Road to Rebirth” digital collections. You can’t go wrong with these comics.