Defenders Preview: Jessica Jones

Hello Crimefighters!

With the Defenders coming soon on Netflix, it's a good time to run back through some of the amazing and astonishing characters that make up the team! Today's post is about Jessica Jones AKA Jewel AKA the Pulse AKA Jessica Campbell Jones Cage (with of Luke Cage in the Marvel universe).

Jessica Jones is a really great character, as she brings a special realness to what it might be like to be a super-powered hero. Having attended school with young Peter Parker, Jones received her powers through an accident -- radio active chemicals being hauled by the military got on her when her father ran collided with the convoy -- and this was just the first of many crazy experiences for her.

After donning a costume and going by the name Jewel, she is for a brief period the mental slave to Purple Man, an evil-as-evil-can-be villain in the comics. Part of this period is recalled in the Netflix series found at this link.

Jessica Jones #1 (2015)

Read the comic, also featuring Daredevil (another member of the Defenders!)

There are many great stories featuring Jessica Jones, so I've linked a handful of pages and Marvel Unlimited issues below. Be sure to enjoy this series before the Defenders starts in August.

• Marvel Search (find other issues)
• New Avengers (2010 Series)
• The Pulse (Jessica Jones as a journalist!)
• Alias (2001 series, the original series for sale on Amazon as books from the MAX imprint are not on Marvel Unlimited)

You'll love the peculiar adventures of this not-so-typical "hero" -- check out the comics and the Netflix series today.  

Until next time, 
Excelsior!!!

Back from a LONG Break

Greetings Heroes,

After a longer-than-expected hiatus, we're back and ready to share great reading lists, links to Marvel Unlimited issues and arcs, astonishing products and amazing deals for shoppers!



We've rebuilt many of the old pages, adding content and shifting to a diverse set of affiliate sponsors including Amazon, eBay and Google. These affiliate links pay for the writers so thank you to all who visit the site without ad blockers. We do not penalize anyone who uses an ad blocker so you can still see the site regardless, but we appreciate it when you don't.

With these affiliate links, all content is free and we can get back to adding value to your visits with the latest insider information from Marvel and, for the first time, we'll be expanding our vision to include many other publishers. You no longer have to exit the site to get the latest on DC's Rebirth, for example, and when popular TV series come back for the fall season (or the Netflix binge season), you no longer have to go to our other blogs like Netflixins' to read the latest story summaries.

Finally, you have our commitment to add more new content each week on all of the blogs in this family, including our Apple-focused site, our technology blog and more!

As always, your visits are appreciated. Feel free to comment or send a message requesting coverage of a particular Marvel arc and we'll add it to our priority list. We're building new content for all of Marvel's recent crossover events right now and should have links for the entire Civil War II arc shortly after bringing you the original Civil War in all its writing glory in the coming week.

Until next time, Excelsior!!!

Shopping Online - the Bad Sellers List

Greetings Heroes - From time to time we run across bad sellers, sometimes on eBay, others on Facebook and in rare cases on Amazon. It’s great to know which people to avoid because of bad practices, so please feel free to leave a comment to help us add to the list. It is with sadness that I create this list, but it is important for people to be aware of sellers who do things like:

• Misrepresent their items’ conditions
• Overcharge for shipping, especially when they list one rate for combined orders but refuse to honor it
• Claim that an item is “lost” after an auction closes at a price they think is too low - these people refund your money, but they don’t get penalized by eBay for the bad service

Sometimes on eBay the sellers will honor their refund policy (which they hope you are too lazy to follow), but then they block you from bidding. In the process of refunding your money, you lose the ability to leave the negative feedback they deserve. People like this continue to operate, scamming people on items they claim are NM but hiding defects cleverly in their pictures.
First on the list: tuners36

This seller sold me a handful of comics - and every single book’s grade was misrepresented. Beware this con artist eBay seller at all costs! Some people might see the 99.9% and think the person is a good person to deal with, but if someone misrepresents items one time, chances are many of the positive reviews are from people who don’t realize they got ripped off!

Check out the seller’s feedback:
Be careful out there comic fans! Always remember to hold your sellers to a high standard! Until next time, Excelsior!!!

Daredevil Returns to Netflix

Hey heroes!

Check out this link: Daredevil has returned to Netflix! This season promises a lot of action with the first appearance of some long-time Daredevil-related characters, so buckle up and binge the series. There are tons of great stories about Daredevil and these other characters, The Punisher and Elektra.

Look forward to lists of arcs for these characters, detailed with reading order lists, in the coming year, along with the other Marvel Cinematic Universe on Netflix characters’ best arcs.

For now, here are some great Marvel Unlimited starting points:

• Amazing Spider-Man #129 - First appearance of The Punisher, continues on into the next issue.
• Daredevil: End of Days (Mini-Series) - This story by Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack, Klaus Janson, and Bill Sienkiewicz picks up in the near future of Hell’s Kitchen after Daredevil has been murdered. After a lengthy fight, Bullseye kills the Man Without Fear; Ben Urich takes the challenge of writing Matt Murdock’s story but gets side tracked when he stumbles onto the mystery of DD’s last word: “Mapone.”
• Typhoid Mary - Beginning in Daredevil #255, Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr. introduce one of Daredevil’s most lethal foes. A femme fatale suffering from dissociative personality disorder, sweet and innocent “Mary “ captures Matt Murdock’s heart while “Typhoid,” a psychopath who possesses psychokinetic powers, works to break DD as a perfect weapon for the Kingpin.
• Purple Children - From the new Daredevil (2014) series, issue #8, Zebediah Killgrave has returned—and he’s not alone. The assembled children of the Purple Man use their father’s own advice and turn against him. The kids then decide to see the city and start running amok all over San Francisco. The Man Without Fear gets wind of this and has no choice but to take them down.
• Death of Elektra - Daredevil #181 follows Bullseye as he escapes from prison only to plot his revenge against Daredevil. The villain figures out DD’s secret identity and goes after what he cares about most: Elektra. The tragic ending sees Bullseye killing Elektra with her own weapon and would shake the Marvel Universe for years to come.
• Decalogue - In Daredevil volume 2 #71, Bendis and Alex Maleev focus on a support group that meets in the basement of a local Hell’s Kitchen church, all who have been affected by Daredevil in some shape or form. The story takes place after Wilson Fisk’s fall and DD’s evolution into the new Kingpin. As each individual’s story gets shared, they soon realize they might be more connected than they all knew.
• Shadowland - Set after the events of Dark Reign, Daredevil returns to Hell’s Kitchen a changed man and looking to utilize the Hand as a force of justice. His first order of business: kill Bullseye. Many heroes join his quest but soon begin to question his new methods. Could something be not quite right with ol’ Horn Head?

Enjoy the reads. These are amazing arcs, and certainly will keep you entertained.

Check back again soon for more Daredevil stories!

Check out the links below if you’d like to buy collected editions at discounted prices.

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

How to Save on Comic Book Buying!

Hey gang -

You definitely want to read this article if you are a fan of buying comic books, especially if you want great prices for them.

First, let’s go over a few places to save on books:

1. Facebook groups, like COMIC BOOK COLLECTING BUY SELL TRADE, as they are places where better than your typical online shop prices can be obtained. For example, when New Mutants #98 was first rising up to $300+ raw, it would be found (usually only for a short period of hours until someone bought!) regularly for $150-$200 in Facebook group listings.
2. Flea markets, as they don’t have the same detail of research as the typical LCS or online shop. Dollar bins at flea markets are known to have plenty of gems hidden away, with people regularly reporting (with photographic evidence) such high value books as Batman Adventures #12. Flea markets are well-suited to more recent books like that one, as they don’t have the appearance (or date) of a “vintage” book so a less-informed seller isn’t as likely to check online for price values. Many vintage book and comic book dealers at flea markets will use an older copy of Overstreet to price books, and this is where unusually hot books like BA #12 and Nyx #3 won’t be shown with high prices. Instead, some hot books will have almost no value at the time. Don’t know where flea markets are near you? Use Google to search for phrases like “flea markets” and the name of your town to get the best results.
3. eBay is a great place to find deals, even though you will have to search through many bad listings. Be patient, take advantage of automated searches (even using the emailed updates when matches are found), and you will have great success.
4. Midtown Comics (and other online retailers) offer specials from time to time. Midtown even has a newsletter that you can signup for and get codes each week. Sometimes the codes offer as much as 50% off the regular prices on specific books. Midtown’s blog also regularly includes discount offers.
5. Follow this blog! I list deals from my own store and for specific online retailers from time to time.
6. Watch Craigslist in your local area for listings. While there are some “pro” sellers there, it is just as likely you will find someone just trying to get money fast, making it possible for you to negotiate a great deal. Since dealerships might only pay pennies on the dollar for collections, you can pay 50% or less of the value by grade stated in Overstreet for books when people need the money in a hurry. Anyone who says they need the money but also wants top dollar doesn’t want the money that badly. Never pay more than 50% of the value in those cases, so you’d have the ability to sell at a profit and still sell for less than the stated guide vape.
7. Get a pull list or otherwise negotiate a deal with your LCS. Many shops discount regulars, and even smaller online sellers like me give 15% off cover for regular covers with almost no notice. With advance notice, you can save 25% (with me) and as much as 40% with several online shops. Remember to factor in shipping costs if you go outside of your local shop, as some of the online stores charge way too much for shipping. This is something I really notice because I know what it costs me to ship via Priority Mail in a well-packaged (and protected) box.

So, you can get great books and pay great prices if you want! There’s no reason to overpay for most books!

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

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Amazon Deals Below!

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Anniversary - The Constitution of the Confederate States of America??? NO - MARVEL CIVIL WAR !!

HERO TIME in the Civil War!!

Hey folks, did you know that today, March 11th, is the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America? Well, if you are like me (and I know you are) you aren’t celebrating this event, but it is of historical importance.

HOWEVER, the Civil War in Marvel Comics is another thing completely — and now it is the basis for the next Captain America movie! By the way, the list below is based on Marvel’s reading order list, but there is another great list over at Comic Book Herald available courtesy of that amazing and great website called Guide Part 7 (Civil War).

The official Marvel page about Civil War is called CIVIL WAR: THE COMPLETE EVENT.

Later I’ll post a great summary of the stories, but here’s a quick reading list order for you, containing 98 separate issues. As mentioned above, Dave’s list at Comic Book Herald includes some additional books that are not direct tie-ins but are good stories that contribute to or derive from the Civil War major event.

Marvel Civil War Official Reading Order

1. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #529
2. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #530
3. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #531
4. Fantastic Four (1998) #536
5. Fantastic Four (1998) #537
6. New Avengers: Illuminati (2006)
7. Civil War (2006) #1
8. She-Hulk (2005) #8
9. Wolverine (2003) #42
10. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #532
11. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #1
12. Civil War (2006) #2
13. Thunderbolts (2006) #103
14. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #2
15. X-Factor (2005) #8
16. New Avengers (2004) #21
17. Wolverine (2003) #43
18. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #533
19. Fantastic Four (1998) #538
20. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #3
21. Thunderbolts (2006) #104
22. Civil War: X-Men (2006) #1
23. Civil War (2006) #3
24. Cable & Deadpool (2004) #30
25. Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways (2006) #1
26. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #4
27. X-Factor (2005) #9
28. New Avengers (2004) #22
29. Wolverine (2003) #44
30. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #534
31. Fantastic Four (1998) #539
32. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #5
33. Ms. Marvel (2006) #6
34. Civil War: X-Men (2009) #2
35. Heroes for Hire (2006) #1
36. New Avengers (2004) #23
37. Wolverine (2003) #45
38. Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways (2006) #2
39. Cable & Deadpool (2004) #31
40. Ms. Marvel (2006) #7
41. Civil War: X-Men (2006) #3
42. Civil War (2006) #4
43. Wolverine (2003) #46
44. Heroes for Hire (2006) #2
45. Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways (2006) #3
46. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #6
47. Captain America (2004) #22
48. Cable & Deadpool (2004) #32
49. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #535
50. Civil War: Choosing Sides (2006)
51. Fantastic Four (1998) #540
52. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #7
53. Civil War: X-Men (2006) #4
54. Ms. Marvel (2006) #8
55. Wolverine (2003) #47
56. Heroes for Hire (2006) #3
57. Captain America (2004) #23
58. New Avengers (2004) #24
59. Civil War (2006) #5
60. Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways (2006) #4
61. Iron Man (2004) #13
62. New Avengers (2004) #25
63. Punisher War Journal (2006) #1
64. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #8
65. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #536
66. Black Panther (2005) #22
67. Captain America (2004) #24
68. Civil War: War Crimes (2006) #1
69. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #9
70. Iron Man (2004) #14
71. Fantastic Four (1998) #541
72. Black Panther (2005) #23
73. Punisher War Journal (2006) #2
74. Civil War (2006) #6
75. Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War (2006) #1
76. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #10
77. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #537
78. Fantastic Four (1998) #542
79. Civil War: The Return (2007) #1
80. Punisher War Journal (2006) #3
81. Black Panther (2005) #24
82. Civil War (2006) #7
83. Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #538
84. Civil War: Front Line (2006) #11
85. Black Panther (2005) #25
86. Civil War: The Initiative (2007) #1
87. Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2007) #15
88. Mighty Avengers (2007) #1
89. Captain America (2004) #25
90. Civil War: The Confession (2007) #1
91. Civil War: Fallen Son - The Death of Captain America (2007) #1
92. Civil War: Fallen Son - The Death of Captain America (2007) #2
93. Civil War: Fallen Son - The Death of Captain America (2007) #3
94. Civil War: Fallen Son - The Death of Captain America (2007) #4
95. Civil War: Fallen Son - The Death of Captain America (2007) #5
96. Fantastic Four (1998) #543
97. Fantastic Four (1998) #544
98. Avengers: The Initiative (2007) #1

Check out the links below if you’d like to buy collected editions at discounted prices.

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

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Amazon Deals Below!

 

Free Issues in Marvel Unlimited - Jessica Jones, Captain Marvel, Daredevil and More!

Hey heroes!

Now is a great time to check out Marvel Unlimited thanks to lots of free issues to try out!

There are tons of other great free books to read and Marvel Unlimited subscriptions provide more than 17,000 books that you can read on your desktop, phone or tablet. You can even take them on-the-go with offline downloads (limited to a fixed amount at a time) on your mobile devices!

Get started with Marvel FREE issues!

Check out the links below if you’d like to buy collected editions at discounted prices.

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

Marvel Secret Wars 2015 - A Reading List

Greetings Crimefighters -
Marvel tried to do a massive event in 2015, Secret Wars, and while I found it to be an amazing read, there were quite a few critics who didn’t. The series was troubled with slow deliveries (making the “all new all different” Marvel come out before the end of the Secret Wars story that actually defined the new series). The story itself and the artwork is on target. If you put aside preconceived notions, you’ll like the story. This post covers the primary story, but you can look forward to additional posts that cover the tie-ins and cross-over titles. First, the basic series was a miniseries that began with the characters of all Marvel universes appearing in a new world!
From Wikipedia:

The storyline involves the Marvel Universe combining with various other alternate universes (including those seen in the Ultimate Marvel and Marvel 2099 imprints, the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline, the Marvel 1602 universe, and the "House of M" storyline) into Battleworld, a planet whose domains exhibit the aspects of the various universes. The planet itself is divided in many territories that are mostly self-contained and where a "pocket universe" composed of a specific storyline or universe reside and evolve. Various versions of individual Marvel characters can be present multiple times on the Battleworld. For example, there is a Tony Stark present in many of the territories where the Kingdom of Manhattan has both the Earth-1610 and the Earth-616 versions. The stories depicted in the miniseries about each domains where characters have powers and personal histories vastly different than the one portrayed in the main Marvel universe(s).
The core limited series was originally to be eight issues long, but was later decided to extend to a ninth, which ran, due to several delays, for nine months. The mini series are in three categories, which are Battleworld, Warzones, and Last Days. One of the core miniseries is Ultimate End which ends the Ultimate Marvel imprint after 15 years. Ultimate End is written by Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley, the team that began the Ultimate Marvel universe with Ultimate Spider-Man.

In Secret Wars #1, the story is set in motion. The Marvel Universe collides with the Ultimate Universe and so much gets going!
Issues - Hyperlinks go to Marvel Unlimited where members can read for free; however, because of the delays in publishing, at the time of this posting only issues 1-5 are available in Marvel Unlimited.

1. Secret Wars #1
2. Secret Wars #2
3. Secret Wars #3
4. Secret Wars #4
5. Secret Wars #5
6. Secret Wars #6
7. Secret Wars #7
8. Secret Wars #8

Like variant covers? Check out this other blog post featuring Secret Wars variant covers, most of which we have in stock - use the contact form to inquire about ordering!

Check out the links below if you’d like to buy collected editions at discounted prices.
Until next time,
Excelsior!!!

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Support the Blog - Buy Amazon

Greetings heroes -
Help support the blog and reading order lists, special news on Marvel variants and more by shopping through the Amazon listings provided.
Remember, you pay nothing extra for buying through the Amazon portal provided, but your purchases do help keep the blog alive!
Thanks!

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Marvel Secret Wars 2015 - Cool Variant Cover Art!

This post contains covers from a number of Secret Wars variants!

Types of Variants include Action Figure, Sketch, Skottie Young, J Scott Campbell and So MUCH MORE! Most of these variants are available at the 20Zen store (currently offline for a great new rebuild as of March 2016, due to arrive in time for the summer cons in June!), so just use the contact form to inquire and order. We stock almost all Skottie Young, Action Figure and Black (sketch) variants for all Marvel titles. Shipping is done extremely professionally and satisfaction is guaranteed. Check out our Facebook page and click like by visiting this 20Zen Store link.

Enjoy!

Secret Wars - 1984 - The Original Reading List on Marvel Unlimited!

Greetings Superfriends!

Thanks for making this blog another stop on your regular web circuit! I will continue to add new reading arcs for you frequently as 2016 proceeds, so check back often for new reading arcs, links to cool products and even expansion to DC and indy publishers.

This post is about the original Secret Wars miniseries, still a classic story that impacts the entire Marvel Universe. Working with Mattel, Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter developed a series that would have a tie-in with action figures, and the writing ended up being significant for a handful of great additions to the Marvel Universe history, like the black suit of Spider-Man’s that later become… Okay, I know it is too late for spoilers, but we’ll pretend to avoid spoilers anyway!

You can see all of the Secret Wars Miniseries at a glance on Marvel Unlimited here.

1. Secret Wars (1984) #1 - Heroes and villains alike are transported across the universe by a mysterious being known as the Beyonder.
2. Secret Wars (1984) #2 - The first battle between heroes and villains begins as Galactus watches.
3. Secret Wars (1984) #3 - Doom creates new villains!!
4. Secret Wars (1984) #4 - Molecule Man drops a mountain on the heroes??
5. Secret Wars (1984) #5 - X-Men strike back!
6. Secret Wars (1984) #6 - Spider-Woman?
7. Secret Wars (1984) #7 - First full appearance new Spider-Woman
8. Secret Wars (1984) #8 - Spider-Man uses the wrong machine to rebuild his costume and ends up with the black costume!
9. Secret Wars (1984) #9 - The fight against Galactus to prevent world devouring is on!
10. Secret Wars (1984) #10 - Death to the Beyonder!
11. Secret Wars (1984) #11 - Doom kills the heroes (but they are resurrected next issue!)
12. Secret Wars (1984) #12 - The end of the miniseries, Thing stays behind because he can change into human form.

Some of the covers have been used in homages over the years since, and the black suit continues to impact Marvel stories on a monthly basis. This year-long event ran from May 1984 to April 1985 back at a time when there were not many long events, crossovers or anything like that.

As this was before decompression, the content in one regular book might exceed the story in two or three books today. Overall, a worthwhile series to check out on MU!

Check out the links below if you’d like to buy collected editions at discounted prices.

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

Amazon has the trade paperback editions for low prices as shown below.

 

Back to the Reading Lists, Spider-Man: Blue

Greetings Heroes,

Welcome back to the Marvel Unlimited blog, where story arcs available on Marvel.com are covered in detail with direct links to books for viewing in your browser, along with plot information and links to buying collected copies of the stories where possible. This blog post is about the Spider-Man: Blue series, one of the amazing stories by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale in the Marvel color series that also includes Daredevil: Yellow, Hulk: Gray and Captain America: White (Captain America available after 3/8/2016).

Crafted almost as an alternative perspective to stories from The Amazing Spider-Man #40-48 and #63, this mini-series tells the story of our hero’s love triangle with Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson, after the fact. While Gwen is gone by the time of the book’s story, Peter Parker (Spider-Man) recounts the development of his relationship with Gwen and the burden of that loss. Read more about the Spider-Man: Blue mini-series over at Wikipedia, but SPOILER WARNING, Wikipedia does often reveal major plot points. This is a fun series to read straight through.

Note: You can also buy this series in comic book format for $22.99 delivered from my store (20Zen). Contact me using the contact form to order!

Links to the individual issues on Marvel Unlimited:

Spider-Man: Blue #1

Spider-Man: Blue #2

Spider-Man: Blue #3

Spider-Man: Blue #4

Spider-Man: Blue #5

Spider-Man: Blue #6

Again, this is a great story for Spidey fans and worth the read. You can’t go wrong buying the book from Amazon as a trade paperback, but for you digital copy fans, it is available on Kindle to own or Marvel Unlimited to read. If you aren’t already a member of Marvel Unlimited, there are now more than 15,000 books available and you can even download issues for offline reading on your tablet or phone.

Are you on Facebook? Check out the COMIC BOOK COLLECTING group - it's in the side bar at right!

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

 

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To buy any of the mentioned titles on Amazon, please click through the links below!

20Zen.com Store Overhaul

 

Due to a number of awesome system updates, including upcoming support for our growing subscription (pull list) customers, the 20Zen.com store is currently offline. Please feel free to contact us directly through the contact form of the blog for special orders, including our incredibly large variant selection.

The volume of changes coming is stunning and thanks to streamlined workflow, prices are better than ever in spite of the added costs for shipping since the latest United States Postal Service rate increases mid-January 2016.

Remember, I want you to save money on your orders. If you can’t find what you want from me, or you want trade paperbacks (which I rarely have new at the best prices), check other sources. I hesitate to recommend large online retailers because of inconsistent service quality and the cost to ship, but if you find quality sellers in the COMIC BOOK COLLECTING BUY SELL TRADE Facebook group or on eBay, stick with them! Also check the Amazon search below, as you’ll find great deals there and a referral credit is shared with my site for orders that come from my pages. Note: you don’t pay a penny more for this, it’s just a way Amazon rewards referrals!

Thanks for your patronage and referrals to other comic book fans — you’ve made this two year adventure fun and profitable, and it’s a joy to pass along the benefits of volume ordering to customers!

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

 

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Marvel Unlimited Rocks On!

Greetings heroes!

Lots of great new titles being added to Marvel Unlimited every day, so go check out the official Marvel blog for the releases on Marvel Unlimited this week. You can revisit the page in the future and see what’s current for the week, look at previous weeks or even view by month! This is a great way to get the most out of your Marvel Unlimited subscription.

By the way, this same part of Marvel’s website will show you the current weekly releases too!

 

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

Great Skottie Young Books on eBay!

Greetings heroes!

Many of you are huge fans of Skottie Young’s work (like I am!!!) so you’ll appreciate that there are easy ways to get back issues of his covers that are no longer available at the average online comic book retailer!
Check out my eBay page to see many of these items here: 20Zen on eBay.



For a wider assortment of Skottie Young books, check out all of eBay below.



Until next time,
Excelsior!!!

Announcing - 20Zen.com !!!

Greetings heroes!

I am proud to announce the beta phase of the online store 20Zen.com, a place for comic books with a focus on variants and other special books including, keys, signed books and prints and even CBCS/CGC slabs!

The site is LIVE but products are being slowly turned on, so please check back if you don't see what you are looking for today. 

Check the latest releases and items new (or returning) to inventory here: http://20zen.com/index.php/new-products.

You can get to the homepage here: http://20zen.com/index.php/

Variants are here: http://20zen.com/index.php/variants.html

Skottie Young Variants are here: http://20zen.com/index.php/variants/skottie-young.html

Looking for MARVEL series only? Check this link: http://20zen.com/index.php/comic-books-56/marvel.html

Many items will be added to the inventory but will not show as "new" as they are not actually new to the store. Only new releases each week and items returning to inventory from the past will be flagged as such. 

There are still some more discounts coming, even on the harder to get variants - PM if you are looking at an item and want a "best price" quote! 

 

Thanks for your patience as the site slowly gets completed! 

Are you on Facebook? Check out the COMIC BOOK COLLECTING group - it's in the side bar at right!

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

How to Store Comic Books Safely and Cheaply!

PLEASE SEE ALL PICTURES TO SEE HOW BOOKS ARE LOADED

Found a cheap way to store books safely - and I'll post pictures later once I have some organized in this manner.

The trick = legal-sized bankers boxes from Sam's. They are $18.90/10 and hold comic books in 2 rows easily. They are durable, yet lightweight (even with books in them) and work well with classic L-shaped bookends.

I'm sure many of you already know about this, but based on the books I've loaded in so far, I'd say they are about half the price of the lowest-priced short boxes I've found locally (and even less via online because of shipping).

01 Bankers Box - 10 Pack

02 Bankers Box - flat before assembly

03 Bankers Box - what they look like from top flat

04 Bankers Box - expanding to open is all you have to do!

05 Bankers Box - final step is fold down the side piece

...to keep the box stable and strong 01

06 Bankers Box - final step is fold down the side piece

...to keep the box stable and strong 02

07 Bankers Box - final step is fold down the side piece

...to keep the box stable and strong 03 (finished)

08 Bankers Box - lid before assembly

09 Bankers Box - lid assembly process 01

10 Bankers Box - lid assembly process 02 complete

11 Bankers Box - constructed with lid on

12 Bankers Box partially loaded showing 113

...(75 in one column, 38 other)

A regular short box is supposedly able to hold 150-175 books, but I use thick boards and strong bags. I moved this group of 138 books from a *completely* full BCW short box. Notice that there's probably room for another 5 books on the left side and 42 on the right.

I highly recommend you cut a long piece of cardboard (maybe a large priority mail box) to put between the columns.

This is an *incredibly* affordable alternative solution for storing books. At just under $2/box (including tax), you're saving at least 50% over the lowest average price for 10 or less boxes, and a little more if you do 10 short boxes from Amazon like this set at $51.11:

http://www.amazon.com/BCW-Short-Comic-Book-Sto…/…/B001668F9A

I'd LOVE your feedback on this - feel free to share your critical observations (politely please) as well. As a community, that's how we can learn!!

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

s

Shipping Comic Books - SAVE

Greetings heroes,
As many of you readers know, after getting back into comic books, I started selling them. It’s really about the most awesome experience a fan can have: making money while enjoying the hobby you are passionate about!
Barcode Scanners:


Anyway, there are some great tools-of-the-trade that I highly recommend to people who sell comics. For that matter, if you simply trade comic books, this is the best practice for shipping.

Messiah War - MU Reading Order List

Greetings heroes!

This entry details a tiny but significant crossover arc called “Messiah War” starring X-Force with Hope Summers and a great villain in Apocalypse.
After Cyclops sends X-Force into the time stream in pursuit of Cable and Hope, with characters ending up in different times and tons of interesting side adventures along the way. Rather than ruin the fun for you, here are the issues involved. If you have Marvel Unlimited, click the hyperlinks to go straight to the issues and READ!

Prologue: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop #1 #2 #3
Chapter 1: X-Force/Cable: Messiah War One-Shot
Chapter 2: Cable #13
Chapter 3: X-Force #14
Chapter 4: Cable #14
Chapter 5: X-Force #15
Chapter 6: Cable #15
Chapter 7: X-Force #16

Hopefully you dig this reading order list — I’ll continue posting them and now you can search for them using the hashtag #LarkLists


Are you on Facebook? Check out the COMIC BOOK COLLECTING group - this entry is also published on that group here.

Until next time,
Excelsior!!!

Days of Future Present Reading Order List

Days of Future Present (Fantastic Four/X-Men Crossover Sequel) Reading Order List

Days of Future Present is the 1990 followup to the groundbreaking 1981 two issue side story arc “Days of Future Past” from Uncanny X-Men 141 and 142 (although technically the name change of the book to “Uncanny X-Men” happened in 142). I call it a side story arc because there is another arc ongoing through the issues, the story of an assassination attempt by the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants being led by Mystique with classic X-Men foe Blob, and new characters Destiny, Pyro, and Avalanche rounding out the group.

The Brotherhood wanted to kill Senator Robert Kelly (Wikia - first appearance X-Men #133 - MU link). His death would’ve brought about a future where Sentinels ran most of the world, controlling both mutants and human sympathizers alike.

In this sequel, the Fantastic Four return home to Four Freedoms Plaza and it is replaced by their previous headquarters, the Baxter Building. There is an alternate timeline version of the FF in the HQ and … (Read synopsis here)…

These issues are NOT available digitally, please contact Marvel and request they be made so!

1. Fantastic Four Annual #23
2. X-Factor Annual #5 (this is chronologically part 3, and part 3 is part 2)
3. New Mutants Annual #6
4. Uncanny X-Men Annual #14
   • While it’s not a “fifth” story, pages 10-11 of this book tell a backup story called “The Fundamental Things” which is commonly thought of as part 4.1

You can buy the collected issues on Amazon, Days of Future Present.

 

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!