Infinity Wars Ups the Ante & Unknown Soldier Joins the Fun!

Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 150, where we take a look at various comic books I own (and in some cases ones that I let get away), both new and old, often with a nostalgic leaning for those feelings of yesteryear.

For each of the comic books I include in this blog (except for digital issues), 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 150…

Cool Comics News!

Lots of cool comics have come out the last couple weeks, and it got me to thinking…if you could only buy three ongoing titles (some come out twice a month, so I don’t want to go monthly), which would they be? I’d love to see your lists, so please include them in the comments section below.

Cool Comics Battle of the Week!

Your Cool Comics Battle of the Week is Batgirl versus Hawkeye! What do you think would happen if they faced each other in a titanic tussle, and how do you see the winner achieving victory? Let us know in the comments section below.

Cool Comics in My Collection

 #714 — Infinity Wars #1, Marvel Comics, October 2018.

Infinity Wars is hitting readers with all kinds of surprises. First, in Infinity Wars: Prime #1, which released July 25, we see a certain character from the Marvel Universe shockingly killed by a mysterious person. In Infinity Wars #1, which came out August 1, the killer, calling herself Requiem, runs her blade through the chest of another popular Marvel character. In case you haven’t read these yet and plan to, I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but wow! The question is, will this stay as the status quo, or will someone use an Infinity Stone (such as the Time Stone) to erase these deaths? And if they do that, why not resurrect Spider-Man’s poor old Uncle Ben? Writer Gary Duggan is raising the stakes in this series, while Mike Deodato, Jr., is bringing the scenes to life on the page. If you’ve been enjoying the Marvel movies but haven’t tried the comic books yet, you may want to give this mini-series a try. The cover price of Infinity Wars #1 is $5.99, while the current value is $6.

#715 — Batgirl #1, DC Comics, September 2016.

As a guy in his fifties, I’m not going to claim Batgirl as one of my favorite characters. We just don’t have that much in common. But then again, what do I really have in common with most superheroes? So why do I have a Batgirl comic featured here at Cool Comics? First of all, in my opinion, DC hit a homerun with Rebirth. I’ve enjoyed almost every Rebirth title I’ve read. So when I saw a handful of Batgirl Rebirth comic books in the quarter bin at my local shop, it was a no-brainer to add them to my collection. I grabbed all eight issues that I found, because for $2, how could I go wrong? Batgirl has a long history in my superhero fan life. My first real awareness came through the Batman TV show back in the Sixties, and I have to admit that little Ed had a little crush on Barbara Gordon when she came on the show. And good memories are reason enough, right? The cover price of Batgirl #1 is $2.99, while the current value is $3.

Cool Comics Done Dirt Cheap

#716 — Hawkeye #2, Marvel Comics, February 1994.

This is another beaten up comic from my legendary longbox. The cover is loose, wrinkled, and torn, but the issue is completely readable. I don’t at all remember this coming out back in 1994, but it was okay to have such a cheap copy to read and get a flavor for this four issue limited series. Hawkeye has never been one of my favorite characters, but he was actually pretty cool in this issue. Possibly the most interesting thing is that the Secret Empire is involved in shenanigans in this series, so anyone trying to collect appearances prior to the big series last year may want to try to hunt this down. The cover price of Hawkeye #2 is $1.75, while the current value is $5.

FCBD the Cool Comics Way (Week 14)

#717 — Overwatch & Black Hammer, Dark Horse Comics, May 2018.

It’s been a few episodes since I’ve really liked the weekly Free Comic Book Day issue as much as this one. Though my budget won’t permit me to run out and purchase either the Overwatch series or Black Hammer, they were the types of stories I prefer when it comes to comic books…superhero sci-fi action and adventure. Not that I don’t have an appreciation for other comic book genres (I read all the Archie horror lines and the trade editions of the ongoing “modernized” Archie comic), but life is short, so why not commit most of my reading time to titles I’ll most likely enjoy, right? Another thing I liked about these two stories was that I could actually follow along with what was happening, which is helpful when you are giving comics away in an attempt to gain new readership. The cover price of Overwatch & Black Hammer is free, while the current value is $0.

Cool Comics Classics

#718 — Unknown Soldier #248, DC Comics, February 1981.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I knew nothing about the Unknown Soldier when I recently picked up this copy in a quarter box at my local comic shop (yes, I’m sure you are plenty envious that my shop has multiple quarter boxes stuffed with goodness waiting to be discovered each week when I walk through those hallowed doors!). I’ve mentioned here in the past that my military comic collection has always been pretty sparse (I had a couple issues of Charlton’s Fightin’ Marines and #3 of DC’s Blitzkrieg during my first comic book heyday in the Seventies, and that was about it until I started getting a few back issues a couple years ago), and that’s a situation I’ve slowly been rectifying. As a veteran and former Army journalist, I have an appreciation for military comics that I didn’t have way back when. Anyway, the Unknown Soldier was a fun read, and this particular issue had his origin, so I appreciated getting to read it. The cover price of Unknown Soldier #248 is 50¢, while the current value is $20.

Recently Read Digital Comics

When digital comics are on sale for just 99 cents, I often jump on those deals (especially when you can get them though Amazon and you have Amazon gift cards), and I typically buy collections to really get my money’s worth. Back in Episode 148 I talked about having read the Secret Empire limited series, and this week I’ve finished a couple related collections that I picked up at the same time. Secret Empire: United We Stand, contains three standalone Secret Empire comics, consisting of Uprising, Underground, and United (all with “Secret Empire:” in front), along with Uncanny Avengers #24 and 25, and All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1. While none of these stories were great (in my opinion), none were terrible, either. But they weren’t as good as the “parent” story.

Secret Empire: Brave New World gives us five issues all with this same name, starting off with a segment called “Sanctuary” that takes place in Atlantis, featuring Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and a couple of his World War II buddies, the original Human Torch and Toro. That was probably my favorite in the bunch, but even still, I could have lived without having read it. The same with the rest of the Brave New World issues. I didn’t care much for them. Maybe you read them and loved them. We all have different tastes, right? Again, I’m always very glad to get digital comics at such deep discounts, and especially so when the stories aren’t for me and I don’t feel like I lost out on much money.

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