The Four Color Media Monitor

ComicBook tells of one of the market's classic cliches in motion, now applied to at least 2 of the most significant series based on licensed merchandise, GI Joe and Transformers, and here, it's more recent issues from Skybound, which the current licensee:

#10: DUKE #1 – ASHCAN – 2023 NYCC – ENERGON PANEL GIVEAWAY | IMAGE | 2023 | *SPOILERS* | Skybound has been busy heavily promoting the titles within their new Energon universe. That trend continues into NYCC, where this exclusive was handed out to those who attended the Energon panel (while supplies lasted). In that panel, it was announced that Duke will appear in TRANSFORMERS #2 and that the Energon Universe occurs before the G.I. Joe and Cobra organizations have been formed. This is not a prequel, and the Energon Universe is chronological. According to Skybound, this is like the MCU before the Avengers assembled. In this continuity, G.I. Joe and Cobra don't exist yet, and we get to explore how they came to be. This shared universe has reinvigorated swaths of the community, and this book is the epitome of that excitement. We tracked it at a high sale of $100 for a raw copy and a current raw NM FMV of $87.

#9: TRANSFORMERS #1 – IAN BERTRAM – FOIL (1:100) | IMAGE | 2023 | *SPOILERS* | As Transformers heat continues, the new solo title from Image and Skybound debuted recently with a slew of fantastic variants from SDCC and NYCC. The crossover universe of Transformers and later GI Joe that began in Void Rivals is taking the community by storm. Many opt to secure the highest ratio variants possible, including this 1:100 foil. The first graded copies are hitting the market and fetching a tidy sum, but raw copies can still be cheaper to obtain. With the brutal death of Bumble Bee going down and this cover sporting his decapitated head, it's no wonder fans were after it! We tracked it at a high sale of $380 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current raw NM FMV of $177.

Wow, they expect people to pay hefty sums for this? Whatever they have in store for GI Joe doesn't sound particularly appealing, any more than the art I'd recently noticed for Transformers, and in this day and age, I realize you can't go into these ventures with high expectations any more. That aside, what makes this such a big deal they'd want anybody to pay nearly $400 for a copy of a mere pamphlet? And why no emphasis and paperbacks and hardcovers? I'm sorry, but what I'm seeing here inspires no confidence or feeling of being impressed at all. Even VOA's been reporting on million dollar sales at NYCC, because that's all we need, and it only continues to make a joke of the medium. The list provided also highlights the sums expected for an older publication like the original Omega Men's 3rd issue, featuring the debut of Lobo in his original incarnation as a Velorpian mercenary crook:

#3: THE OMEGA MEN #3 | DC | 1983 | This book was popping up when rumors initially floated around that Jason Mamoa would appear as Lobo in Superman: Legacy. Nothing was confirmed (and still technically hasn't), but the market is again zeroing in on this book as the rumors begin to rage. The troubles behind Aquaman 2, the confirmation no DCEU actors would return for their roles in the DCU, and the most recent information circulating that the official casting of Jason Mamoa as Lobo will occur in early 2024. Cue the run on the first appearance of Lobo, leading us to track it at a high sale of $395 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a raw NM FMV of $83.

At that time, Lobo was presented as an actual criminal, and to retcon him as they did into an absurd parody of superheroes - one who was established as having annihilated his entire own race (retconned to Czarnians) in the mid-90s - was tasteless and humiliated the DCU in the long run. If WB is adapting Lobo to the silver screen, and they intend to follow the 90s rendition, I won't be wasting my money. Then again, I'd rather not see any more WB movies based on where they've been going with wokeness these days. The Aquaman sequel with Momoa may not be looking bright in prospects already as it is, and this news is decidedly no improvement. I do think the original Omega Men is recommended reading, since it was written at a time when merit was better, and Lobo's rendition there is preferable to what came later, but why pay so much? Even $83 is asking a considerable amount for so little. What we should really be seeing is reprints in trade paperbacks, and along with the original direct-sales series printed on Baxter paper, I think there's also a precursor short story from the Witching Hour anthology from 1971, along with their debuts in Marv Wolfman and Joe Staton's Green Lantern run the following decade, a few more guest appearances in New Teen Titans and Superman, and there may have been a few anthology appearances that came after the original series' cancellation too. Why must we be hearing about big sales for a mere pamphlet, but not demand for full reprints of an underrated space adventure from 1983-86?

The farce of the speculator market sadly continues as usual, and no one in comicdom's mainstream has any interest in taking a critical approach to how even the most brand new pamphlet issues see special editions being sold for ludicrous prices, while no objective view on the importance of story merit is ever provided.

Labels: dc comics, golden calf of death, history, indie publishers, licensed products, marvel comics, msm propaganda, sales