Rob Liefeld Has Been Making an Ass of Himself, As Per Usual

The other day I was talking with someone about the OG Image series and which ones were still around. The subject came up in regard to, "The Savage Dragon," and, "Spawn." We mentioned how there was also Rob Liefeld with his, "Youngblood," comic which had given us a bunch of mini-series and random reprints. I said, "Well, would we expect less from Liefeld?" and my friend said in a joking manner, "Yes, please, he should do less!" Liefeld is known by many for being a jerk. He loves to take credit for anything he had major or minor involvement in and feuds with anyone who denies his immense genius. It seems every ten years or so a new generation of comic-book readers discovers that Rob Liefeld is an asshole, as illustrated by a story about him being a total egotistical dick on a Whatnot stream the other day.

Liefeld was on the popular platform that focuses on live shows for various collectibles. He was selling the latest relaunch of, "Youngblood," and became positively infuriated when a fan suggested he draw an, "Absolute Batman," cover sometime. Liefeld said he would only do such a thing for an astronomical sum of money because he'd rather do creator-owned work than stuff for Marvel or DC. Liefeld then proceeded to ban the fan from the stream when they informed him, "Just wanted to see your art on it dude," with Liefeld enraged at being called, "Dude." As with many things involving Liefeld, there is a nugget of truth/wisdom amongst all the self-aggrandizement. DC and Marvel often are pretty terrible towards the people who make their comics; that is accurate! However, going off on somebody simply because they're a fan who told you how they'd love your take on another character is...quite a choice. There are creators where I like their work but they are apparently awful in real-life. There are creators whose work I just don't vibe with, but I hear they are genuinely wonderful folks. Then, you get a comic creator who has art many struggle to vibe with and a personality that sounds abhorrent. Well, Liefeld being self-centered and unpleasant for all these years at least shows he's consistent about some things, if not getting many of his promised projects out on time--"Brigade," anyone?

"Heavy Metal," Magazine Seems to Have Ended

"Heavy Metal," magazine started being published in 1977 and as of 2023 seems to be dead. The long-running publication drew inspiration from a foreign publication, "Métal Hurlant," and contained all kinds of cool and edgy stories geared toward adults. It wasn't outright pornographic like underground comix could at times be, it was instead alternative, strange, and thoughtful...with some nudity thrown in for good measure. Issue 320 was going to be the final entry of volume 1 (it came out in April 2023) but then a relaunch was due to happen with Whatnot's publishing division. That plan fell apart and we've arrived at--as RM Rhodes' put it on Comicsbeat--"The Uncertain Death of Heavy Metal Magazine." It's been a strange road indeed.

"Heavy Metal," as a publication has had a lot of ups and downs. The last era one could consider, "Good," would probably be when Grant Morrison served as Editor-in-Chief for twelve glorious issues between 2016 and 2018. Things were rough at times before that, but after their reign, it all went downhill fast due to poor management and horrible business moves (NFTs, lack of order fulfillment, and more). The reason I and everyone else are pointing out this end isn't for sure would be that, "Heavy Metal," itself has not confirmed it is dead. Without a new publishing partner, it would appear the magazine has concluded, but the company remains silent. Barring some unforeseen rising from the ashes of failure like a mythical phoenix I would say, "Heavy Metal," is done.

Oni Lion Forge Press Seems to Be Rebuilding and Recovering From Past Concerns

It's been a rough time for a lot of comic-book publishers. I'm worried about IDW based on their money issues, AfterShock is going through bankruptcy, and Heavy Metal was acquired by Whatnot's publishing division or else it might have folded. Oni Lion Forge seemed to be laying off a ton of people and there were rumblings about if that publisher was in danger of closing up shop. However, it seems to be recovering and rebuilding, interestingly enough. 

There was the merger some years ago between Oni Press and Lion Forge which caused some drama, and then 2022 had essentially a total staff change. However, in December of 2022, Hunter Gorinson joined as President and now it was announced today that Sierra Hahn will be the Editor-in-Chief. Hahn's been in comics for over a decade in various important roles and is a great addition to any comic company. I don't think Oni Lion Forge would be adding some cool folks if it were truly a sinking ship as opposed to one trying to adjust course. My sympathy extends to everyone who was impacted by the massive lay-offs Oni Press Lion Forge had and I hope Oni Press Lion Forge itself can continue to grow and succeed,

Interesting News From NYCC 2022

I said I'd probably have a post on the interesting news from the 2022 New York Comic-Con, and here we are. There were some intriguing tidbits so let's cover them!

NYCC 2022 Tidbits

• DC Comics is going to introduce a new digital subscription tier that allows subscribers to read comics just a month after they've come out. DC is aware this might upset comic shops and is attempting some damage control.
• Marvel laid out a bunch of upcoming events with a number of them involving the X-Men in some capacity. It is quite different from those years when the X-Men were shuffled to the side and an attempt was made to heavily promote the Inhumans. Clearly, having the film rights to mutants back has made Disney/Marvel quite bullish on the franchise. Blade's newly-introduced teenage daughter is getting a mini-series as well. I like Blade so I hope it is a good read.
• The publisher Heavy Metal has been having a lot of trouble lately, and Whatnot is going to partner with them and do all the actual publishing. An embattled company teaming up with the live-selling app's publishing venture sounds quite random. It could work or go down in flames. I'm 50-50 on it. Either way, I still enjoy the Whatnot app itself.
• "The Super Mario Bros." movie had a trailer debut. The internet had thoughts about Chris Pratt voicing Mario.
• The, "Wednesday," show that focuses on the titular character from The Adams Family had a trailer too. This upcoming Netflix show received a seemingly more excited response than Mario got.
• In terms of the news that surprised me the most; Joe Quesada spent decades at Marvel as a bigwig but left at the start of the Summer while indicating he wasn't done with comics. DC announced he'll be doing some variant covers and possibly other projects for DC in the future. It is just wild to see Quesada doing DC work after so long at Marvel.
• Overall, it seems a lot of fun was had and that this year's NYCC delivered plenty of entertainment and cool news.

The Comic, "Variant," Mess That C2E2 Wrought

The Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo just happened and the event itself was a good time, by all accounts. That's not what everyone in the comic-sphere is discussing at the moment. A company by the name of Black Flag had an old, "Ultimate Fallout," #4 reprint (the first appearance of Miles Morales) variant laying around so they stapled a new acetate cover to it. Then they got this bootleg cover of sorts graded by CGC as an official thing and solid it at C2E2 to a bunch of vendors and popular, "Influencers," in bulk. This made it hard for other folks to get the thing and a perfect storm of controversy erupted. The talking points are...

1. Black Flag basically mutilated their original comic by stapling on a plastic cover that makes the whole thing ugly and has a grammar typo (it reads, "In God We In Trust,") yet CGC graded it with a universal label as if it is its own unique comic.

2. Marvel did not approve the alterations to the comic beyond the initial variant cover so it is essentially counterfeit in the eyes of Marvel, is being reported by folks as not legitimate on eBay, yet got graded as if it were legitimate.

3. Some folks were claiming that influencers and vendors were cutting the line for copies of the comic and the popular app Whatnot actually was involved in getting them access. I actually have a friend who wishes to remain anonymous and they attended C2E2. They filled me in on what they witnessed of this debacle. They say those people had pre-paid for the comics and were picking up their bulk orders, but were not skipping the line according to what my friend witnessed. Also, Whatnot itself had nothing to do with it, it was just some sellers who are popular on Whatnot that took the initiative to order a bunch of copies in advance. Apparently, the Whatnot app staff/owners were as caught off guard by all of this as anyone else.

4. Black Flag raised the price on the comic once people started flooding the booth trying to get it, hearing it was, "Hot," from those vendors and influencers on Instagram/Whatnot/etc. They started charging even more because everyone suddenly wanted this controversial comic and it sold out quickly because--as mentioned--a bunch of people had bought copies in bulk.

5. Black Flag has said they are going to do this whole stapled-on-acetate-cover again at an upcoming convention and has outright announced they will have two lines. A line for people they deem big enough, "Influencers," who can buy 10 copies of their new comic at once to then resell, and a line where normal folks can buy a single comic. This has rubbed people the wrong way that Black Flag is outright selling stuff to resellers for the purpose of reselling as some folks view comic reselling and speculation as a plague upon the industry. I like to buy and sell comics for fun as the ones I, "Flip," help pay for my personal collection, so my feeling on speculation and reselling are not that negative, but intentionally playing to speculators is just a losing game that results in a bubble waiting to pop--look at the comic crash of the 1990s.

Fans are pissed, CGC is embarrassed, Marvel is upset, Black Flag is unrepentant, and things are probably only going to get crazier at this rate.

Whatnot Has Added an Arts and Crafts Category, Which is Quite Neat!

I have discussed how I enjoy buying items on Whatnot from comics to old VHS tapes, vintage toys, clothes, and so forth. They've got some cool categories. I also have a great time selling on Whatnot (I generally just sell comics). I was intrigued to see Whatnot sent a text about how they have now added the arts and crafts category to make it even easier for people to sell homemade items. Observe:

Now, I'm sure Whatnot has to officially say this has nothing to do with what any competitors are doing. Whatnot would say they just want to let people who make cool craft products sell their wares on their app. Unofficially, the timing is absolutely perfect for Whatnot to do this, however, as everyone is really, really mad at a certain site/app. This site/app has been known as the place for homemade and vintage items. Yeah, I'm talking about Etsy.

Etsy has continuously upset sellers over recent years. They pushed for sellers to offer free shipping as long as folks spent a certain amount--whether sellers liked that idea or not. They raised fees in 2018 too. Now in 2022, they plan to raise fees even more and sellers are ready to basically strike in response. It's been a bad look for Etsy and I wouldn't be surprised if folks consider Whatnot an attractive option to sell their goods. I'm a huge fan of Whatnot and I'd welcome more sellers and buyers for sure. It's going to be a long week for Etsy as sellers go on vacation mode/strike from the 11th-18th. We'll see if Whatnot sees a surge of users during that time--users who could very well stick around for the foreseeable future!

More Thoughts on Whatnot Now That I've Been Using it Awhile

As readers of my blog know, I offered my thoughts on the Whatnot app when I started using it to buy collectibles (specifically comics). Then, I got approved to sell on Whatnot and had a good first show. Since then I've used it a lot for watching shows (mostly comic ones as that's what I know best) and I've used it to sell comics too. Now that I have used it for a while I will say I like it quite a lot.

Whatnot is an app that anyone can buy on but you have to be approved to sell with. Often sellers are folks who have physical stores, did online shows on other apps, or are, "influencers," whatever that exactly means. I got approved thanks to my great selling history on sites like eBay and having this blog that I suppose makes me an important and respected media figure--at least, that's what I whisper at night while I snuggle the award for great writing I made myself out of glue and macaroni. 

The way Whatnot itself works is people in various categories of neat collectibles (they can vary quite a lot from my beloved comics to Funko Pops, vintage clothes, and more) do live shows where they have stuff for sale that others can bid on or sometimes buy it outright. It's a bit like if eBay and Home Shopping Network had a baby what with the auctions and interesting personalities that sell stuff (myself included). I have found all kinds of cool comics for super great deals on Whatnot and love buying on it. The fact sellers get vetted before they sell ensures my comics are always packed with expert care--unlike when I've bought something from a random person on a website and it's shipped horribly or not at all like its description (too many times a comic in, "Amazing shape!" looks like a dog ripped into it). What about selling, though, if you are curious about that aspect? I can tell you what I think when it comes to selling comics at least.

I was excited to be approved as I usually have cool comics laying around (I'm always buying/selling/trading). Since my approval, I've generally done shows on Monday that I call my, "Monday Mayhem," shows although I did do a Superb Saturday once and a Terrific Tuesday recently. I usually like doing shows Monday around 11:00 AM Central as there aren't too many other comic shows around then and I avoid getting overshadowed by really popular sellers who draw lots of eyes on weekends or such. I find the Whatnot app is really easy to use to sell whether you're doing auctions in live shows or listing some items as a buy it now. I've used eBay/Mercari/etc. a lot less as oftentimes it makes more sense to put something neat I have on one of my Whatnot shows--even more lately as I've gained regular viewers who like the stuff I generally have. 

I do find that when it comes to the comic-book community that my Whatnot viewers are usually after newer stuff or things that are popular thanks to movie/television options. My older comics do generally sell better on sites like eBay (which have more older users, I'd wager), but any, "Key," issues I have from the Bronze age or more recent are generally a hit. It's good fun chatting with folks as they type comments whilst I do shows and my friend Anthony from Comics Heating Up has been doing shows around when I do mine so that we can cross-promote each other. He's a cool guy. Oh, and once stuff is sold it is really easy to weigh it and have Whatnot do all the work of making the label I print out. Then, after the comic is delivered I get paid. Easy as pie. It's quite straightforward and I like that. Whatnot is a really handy and fun app, I'd recommend checking it out.

Thanks to Everyone Who Tuned in for my First Whatnot Show!

I just want to thank everyone who had a chance to check out my show on Whatnot today. It had a great number of viewers and I made some sweet deals with everyone! I hope to do more shows in the future with cool comics so if you have Whatnot keep your eyes peeled for the next time I schedule going live (I'll alert people on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook too, of course).

It's Happening! I'll Be Selling on Whatnot

First off, thank you to my readers for helping follow me on Whatnot. As I got some more followers and submitted some funny videos showing off my cool comics I have now been approved to sell on Whatnot. They were impressed with my blog's popularity and how I have an exemplary selling history on sites like eBay, so here we are. I actually made a little video to promote my first show:

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A post shared by David Bitterbaum (@thenewestrant)

That's right, this coming Monday, October 11th, 2021 at 11AM Central I will be doing my first show. There are going to be all kinds of neat and hot comics from my collection and I have one awesome book given to me by my friends at Altered State Comics (shout-out to them), but that won't be revealed until later.  you were debating what time to take your lunch break Monday do it then. If you were going to sleep in absurdly late, wake up at that time. If you're spending time with loved ones tell them to hush up for an hour or so and tune in, etc. Even if you don't buy anything my sheer absurdity and general eccentric nature should entertain you.

Attention Readers: I Need Your Help so I Can Sell on Whatnot Sooner Rather Than Later!

Asking a Favor

Hello, my dear readers! I'm good to you, aren't I? I always compliment how smart and good-looking you all are, after all. I sometimes do giveaways, I entertain you, all that jazz. Might I ask some of you for a favor? Yes? Wonderful!

You all may recall I wrote previously about enjoying using the Whatnot app. Well, I have the opportunity to sell on it but have been placed on a waitlist as tons of people apply. If I can show I have a strong following I can be approved a bit faster to sell. This would allow me to do weird little live shows where I can sell my cool comics and crack awful jokes in the most awkward manner possible. I have 10 people following me on Whatnot and need 100 or more. This is where you all come in.

"David, get to the point!" I can hear you yelling at your computer/phone. Well, if you don't have Whatnot, I would recommend trying it out. If you do, you can follow these simple steps to assist me in getting approved by following me. Plus, if you do that you'll be alerted when I'm, "Live," and such (if you want) once I am allowed to do shows. Anyways:

Steps to Follow Me on Whatnot

1.Log into your Whatnot app. It should look like the above picture for the most part. Click the search button.

2. In the search box you type, "thenewestrant," and then make sure you click, "Users," to see me.

3. Once you see my handsome mug click on me.

4. Upon going to my profile instead of the, "Share," button I see you will see that you can, "Follow," me. Smash that button down and you'll have done me a solid, dear reader!

Thanks!

Let's get me approved for Whatnot and I can guarantee my shows will be off-kilter and strange along with having cool comics that you'll probably want for great prices as I'm always buying/selling/trading!

The Whatnot App is Quite Interesting

I always like examining new social media or item-selling apps. Some start strong and then fade away--remember Ello? Others have been around and are pretty popular still--folks love Twitch and now are allowed to be good-looking on it too if they can't help appearing sexy. TikTok is a juggernaut in the social media space as well and I need to try and make more little videos for it. Well, now there is a newer streaming platform called Whatnot, and it is pretty snazzy. I would describe Whatnot as if Facebook Live or another live-streaming app had a baby with eBay. It is earlier in its existence to you have to apply and be approved to stream, but anyone can tune in to shows. If you've got payment information entered you can take part in auctions or, "Buy it now," items. 

The app right now has a heavy focus on collectibles such as Funko Pops, Pokemon cards, sports cards, and a smaller (but enjoyable) comic-book presence. Sellers are rated like on eBay and I've bought some cheaper comics that have arrived in the condition promised. With auctions, people sometimes seem to have a tendency to overbid, so something you'd hope to get cheap goes for a lot more--that's great for sellers but bad for you if you're after a collectible for a cheaper price! I've still been able to get some neat things for stellar prices by tuning into the right steam at the time--I got a first printing set of some issues from, "The Department of Truth," for well below the current trending price for those issues.

As someone who enjoys selling stuff on various sites, I would love to be able to stream on Whatnot and have in fact applied to be a streamer. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy watching streams as many of the people doing shows are pretty cool and fun to watch even if you aren't buying anything. Should you be into collectibles or just like checking out new social media apps, I'd recommend giving Whatnot a viewing on the smart device of your choice.