When eBay went to almost 10% in fees - (about 8% in listing and closing fees plus the near 3% in Paypal fees), I had a minor conniption fit and have been on a bit of a quiet ban of the site. Craigslist has become the classifieds of choice for most, and you can find just about anything there, including comics. There was a bit of the same kind of mentality I've been finding in garage sales - "It's old therefore it is valuable." But if you look around you can find some deals and if you employ the art of haggling, I bet you could even get a better deal. In this time of economic crisis, I hate to sound like a vulture, but you can get some screaming deals if you take the time to research lots and keep your eye on what gets listed. I usually find that the good deals don't last long, so be ready to strike.

The typical Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware - applies here. Be careful taking lots of cash, inspect before you buy, don't rush into it, and be sure you let someone know you where you are going. Keep it safe and you could easily find some great items for your collection.

I've always looked up to Stan Lee. As a Marvel Zombie growing up I loved the characters he co-created and brought to life. Even with some of the tarnishing that he's gone through, the Kirby fans upset that Lee got more credit, suing Marvel, and his own media company going belly up, I've still liked his vivacious spirit and steal the show attitude.

One of the things I've liked about Netflix is that I get to watch a bunch of stuff I probably wouldn't have otherwise. I saw that two of Stan Lee's POW Entertainment properties had come on board, The Condor and Mosaic. I just got into The Condor and here were my impressions.

The artwork and basic premise of The Condor seemed more geared towards a youth market, like 12 and under. The content however, seemed more geared towards an older 13 plus audience. It was a wierd thing to see a very cartoony looking character act with such violence or adult themes. So far it has been a bit of a letdown. I think I would have been fine if the art matched the adult story or vice versa, it just didn't seem to fit well with each other. It was cool to see Marv Wolfman as the writer, and I just wished there would have been a bit more money put into this project.

If you're looking for some time to kill, then give it a try. Since time is such a precious commodity for me right now, I don't know if I'll ever get around to finishing it. Kinda makes me sad.

I was hopping around the internet highways and biways and one thing led to another and I landed at Platinum Studios again. The question that usually goes through my mind is, "Are they dead yet?" They have had a lot of negative publicity in the past, but have been quite dormant for awhile, at least in the scope of comic news sites. It seems though, that their goal of leveraging comics into movie and TV properties would see to be coming true. They have Dead of Night coming soon, Cowboys and Aliens slated as the next John Favreau Project, Gunplay optioned for Fox TV, and a few others to boot.

I hope Jorge Vega sees some scratch for Gunplay, I got to meet him briefly at the Emerald City Comic-Con, and he seemed like a nice guy. I hope all the creators associated with Platinum are taken care of, as I'm sure most fans are as well. Hopefully this is the start of a new era for Platinum and they are able to take care of the creators associated with WOWIO, their contests, and all the properties they now own.

I finally got around to seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Having two kids will do that to you. There was a lot that I enjoyed, but probably more that I disliked. This made me think of another comic book movie I saw via Netflix recently - The Specials. It was weird that I had never heard of it. There were a lot of known actors in it - Rob Lowe, Jamie Kennedy, and Thomas Haden Church. After watching it, I found out why. Super low budget effects and an overall blah storyline made this a movie that kind of wished I had not seen.

Its always funny to see who jumps on the superhero bandwagon. We dog on those celebrities that come out with comics, but at least they are putting something out there to add to the comicverse. It still may not be any good, but I think its better than some of the groups out there looking to cash in on the popularity of comics. I'm just hoping some of these endeavors won't contribute to the popularity of comics being extinguished in this fickle thing called pop-culture.