It’s kind of a tradition among YouTube comic book people to make a video of the top ten comics that you are looking to buy in the coming year. Being that I almost never buy back issues I haven’t ever made one of these lists but this year I decided to. I feel like being forward looking. That’s my only reason for doing it. Sometimes it’s good to look forward in time and imagine nice things. My list of stuff is also fairly easy to get. I don’t have big expensive comics on the list except for two. I threw them on just for fun. I doubt I’ll get those two but who knows? I can at least look forward to getting them. Most of my list is multiple issue runs. Stuff I want to fill in. Inexpensive stuff so I’ll count it all as one list entry.
1) “Delphine” by Richard Sala issues 3 and 4. This is an oversized series that came out almost ten years ago. I bought the first two issues and then, since the issues came out annually, I lost track of it. I’ve always meant to track down the final two issues but never have. They’re not easy to find but not particularly expensive either.
2) “Bone” by Jeff Smith issues 28-38. I was late to buying “Bone”. I remember getting the Image comics printings of issues 1-27 off of Ebay for a song years ago and then I started buying it off the rack with issue number 39. Somehow I never went back and bought issues 28-38. I’ll have to find them. I can probably get them for a song too since everybody wants the collected editions of “Bone” these days.
3) “Palookaville” by Seth Issues 1 and 2. These two issues are not easy to find. I first started buying the series with issue number 3 way back in the 1990s and I’ve never seen the first two issues. I have an undersized 10th anniversary edition of issue number 1 but that’s it. These two issues have self contained stories in them so I never bothered looking hard for them. The continuing stories started with issue 3.
4) “Mage: The Hero Discovered” by Matt Wagner issues 2-11. I bought “Mage” number 1 off the rack but then went off to college and missed most of the rest of the series. I found issues 12-15 in the bargain bin and then bought collected editions of the earlier issues. So I’ve had the whole series since the late 1980s but don’t have the individual issues. I think I’d like to get them. The don’t go for a lot especially since I already have number 1.
5) “Strangers In Paradise” by Terry Moore issues 2-3, 6-16, 18-19. Another series that I bought the first issue of but then I didn’t put it on my pull list. I bought an issue here and there until I decided to put it on my pull with issues number 20. I think it would be cool to get the rest of them.
6) “Birthright” numbers 1-4. This is an easy one. The series is only a few years old. I didn’t start picking it up until issue 5 and then it went on my pull list. I have the first four issues in a collected edition but why not go back and get them as individual issues?
7) Crossgen: “The First”, “Mystic”, and “Sigil”. I used to buy a few Crossgen series in the early 2000s and I enjoyed them a lot. I couldn’t afford them all so I missed out on a few series. I think these three all have 37 issues a piece and then aren’t very expensive. I’ve always meant to pick them up but it’s really been a matter of finding space for them. That’s a 120 issues or so and I’d have to get rid of that many comics to fit them. I’m planning on getting rid of a bunch of stuff this year so maybe I’ll finally finish off my Crossgen collection. I still need some things besides these three series though.
8) Marvel Team-Up #68. This is one of my favorite issues from my childhood. It teams up Spider-Man and the Man-Thing. I still have my original issue (I even made a video about it a while ago) but I think I want a mint condition copy of it. Just because that’s how I remember it. Not old and battered like my childhood copy. I did this for a few childhood favorites a decade ago and the pristine copies are fun to see. Of course I read the battered ones.
9) Wonder Woman #108. This one is on the list just for fun. That and it has a cover I really like by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. WW 108 is a recent want of mine. I never knew it existed before a couple of years ago. I was looking at someone’s list of favorite Wonder Woman covers and this one was on it. It stood out to me and I made a mental note to get one one day. Since it’s from the late 1950s and runs a good hundred dollars I’m not sure I ever will but I’ll put it on the list anyway. It’s a wish list after all.
10) Frontline Combat #3. This is one that went on the list because I decided I should have an EC comic on the list. There are plenty of good EC comics to chose from with lots of great covers but this one stands out to me. It’s drawn by Harvey Kurtzman and there is something about him referencing the Battleship Missouri that resonates with me. It makes history come alive. This is another expensive comic but I think there is also a facsimile reprint of it. I might have to get that version of it.
11) Shade the Changing Man 1-8 by Steve Ditko. Only in the last two weeks have I finally gotten around to reading this 1970s Steve Ditko series. If I had known it was this good I would have read it years ago. I have in the Ditko Omnibus but I would like the original issues too.
So there you go. My top eleven wish list for 2017. I don’t know if I’ll ever make another one but this one was fun.
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