CBG Price Guide: threat or menace (part 3)? =/
Jol Silversmith
What follows is what has become a semi-regular posting of errors I
have pointed out to CBG Price Guide which remain uncorrected.
I've previously expounded on my thoughts on the decline of CBG
and when that decline began; I think I'll now just let the uncorrected
errors speak for themselves. (My subject line was inspired,
however, by the recent editorial by Maggie Thompson on accusations
that she was aloof. I think my position is clear, given that I've
invested/wasted the time to create this list, and even items that are
simply typos haven't been corrected...)
H.A.R.D. Corps: Why is this title in lower-case?
Hot Stuff Digest: What happened to issue #2?
Icon Devil: What happened to volume 2, issue #1?
Iczer-One: What happened to issue #2?
The Jaguar: What happened to issue #11?
Jughead: Several Jughead titles have improbable numbers or sets of
numbers listed.
Jurassic Park: Why is the DC adaptation listed in the middle of the
Topps issues?
Justice League of America Index: Although published by Eclipse, it
had the indica - as did all of the indexes Eclipse published - of the
"Independent Comics Group." Cat Yronwode explained that this was
done intentionally, in order to prevent confusion in regard to what
company, Eclipse or DC, published the titles being indexed. I
pointed this out to CBG more than five years ago, in the long-ago
days when the price guide was last run in CBG.
The Led Zeppelin Experience: Why is this specially noted as a "Five
issue series"?
Legion of Super-Heroes Index: See Justice League of America
Index.
Lux and Alby Sign On and Save the Universe: Why is this specially
noted as a "9 issue series"?
Mad: Why are two non-contiguous issues of its "Super Special"
series listed? Why are only certain recent Mad specials listed?
Maison Ikkoku: Why are two of the four series listed as "b&w" and
two not when (to the best of my knowledge) all were published in
black and white?
The Mark: Why is only an issue #4 listed for the 1994 series?
Mickey Mouse: Why is issue #249 listed twice, at very different
prices?
MICRA: The guide notes that it moved to Apple, but no such issues
are listed. Why?
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: What happened to issues #1-6, 8-10, and
12?
Murcielaga the She-Rat: Why are no annotations made about its
change in publishers?
Music Comics: What happened to issue #1?
The New Humans: What happened to issues #2-3?
New Mutants: I think you mean "New Humans."
NFL ProAction Vol. II: What happened to issues #1-2? What
happened to volume I?
Ninja High School Featuring Speed Racer: Your listings are
incorrect and incomplete. Two issues were published under this
title, and two under the title "Speed Racer Featuring Ninja High
School." I don't have my copies handy, but I believe they were
numbered 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b.
Numidian Force: What happened to issues #1-3?
Official Crisis Index , Official Crisis Crossover Index, Official
Doom Patrol Index, Official Hawkman Index, and Official Justice
League of America Index: As noted previously, these should be
listed as having been published by the "Independent Comics Group."
Outbreed 999: What happened to issues #2-4?
Palestine: What happened to issue #6?
Patrick Rabbit: Was issue #7 really published by "Cartoonists
Across Averica"? Why do you not note that it was previously
published by Fragments West?
Phantom of Fear City: What happened to issue #7?
Planet of the Apes: Forbidden Zone: What happened to issues #1-2?
Poison Elves: What happened to issues #9-10?
Post Brothers: Why do you fail to note that when this title was
published by Vortex, it was titled "Those Annoying Post Brothers"?
Power Plays: Your chronology is wrong. The issues published by
AC were released well before 1990, the date after which you claim
it moved from Extrava-Gandt.
Prime Cuts: What happened to issue #7?
Profolio: Why are there two series listed, yet with one being
volume 3?
Psi-Lords: What happened to issues #4-7?
Puma Blues: Was it published by "Aardvark One" or "Aardvark-
One"?
Re-Animator: Dawn of the Re-animator: What happened to issue
#3?
Real Stuff: What happened to issue #18?
The Realm: What happened to issue #13? Who published it?
Rhudiprrt, Prince of Fur: What happened to issues #4-6?
Richie Rich Big Book: What happened to issue #1?
Rip Off Comix: What happened to issue #13?
Robotech Genesis: What happened to issues #2-3? Why are issues
#4-5 listed with a subtitle?
The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine: Why is an unconventional
format used for noting the change in publisher?
Roger Rabbit: What happened to issue #1?
Sabrina's Halloween Spectacular: Why is an unconventional format
used for noting the change in title?
Sabrina's Halloween Spook-tacular: Why is its change in title not
noted?
Sabrina's Holiday Spectacular: What happened to issue #1?
The Savage Dragon: What happened to issue #14?
SB Ninja High School: Why is the title change from Small Bodied
Ninja High School not noted?
Scavengers (Fleetway/Quality): Why is issue #3 listed twice?
Scooby-Doo Giant Size: What happened to issue #1?
Scorpion Corps: What happened to issues #1-2?
Second Life of Doctor Mirage: What happened to issues #12 and 14-
16?
Secret Weapons: What happened to issues #15-19?
Secrets of the Valiant Universe: What happened to issue #1?
Sentai: What happened to issue #4?
Shadow Empires: Faith Conquers: What happened to issue #1?
Shadowhawk: What happened to issues #5-12?
Shanda the Panda: What happened to issue #6?
Solar: Man of the Atom: What happened to issue #39?
Sonic the Hedgehog: What happened to issue #19?
Southern Knights: Why are issues #35-36 listed separately?
Space Patrol: What happened to issue #1?
The Spirit: What happened to issues #1-16?
Spoof Comics: What happened to issues #1-5 and 9-11?
Sports Comics: What happened to issues #1-2?
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: What happened to issue #15?
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine/Star Trek: The Next Generation: What
happened to the other Malibu issue?
Steven: What happened to issue #5?
Stormwatch: What happened to issues #7-8 and 16?
Striker: The Armored Warrior: What happened to issues #1-2?
Strippers and Sex Queens of the Exotic World: What happened to
issues #1-3?
Stygmata: What happened to issue #2?
Sun Runners: Why is its change in name when moving to Sirius not
noted, and vice versa?
Superman and Batman Magazine: Why are issues #1-4 listed
separately?
Supreme: What happened to issues #13 and 19?
Surf Crazed: What happened to issues #1-2? Why is its change in
publishers not annotated?
Survivors: Only one of its several changes of publishers is noted.
Why?
Swiftsure: What happened to issue #10?
Tales of the Kung Fu Warriors: What happened to issues #2-9?
Tantalizing Stories: What happened to issues #1-5?
Team Youngblood: What happened to issue #13?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: What happened to issue #35?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics Digest: What happened to
issues #1-6?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Giant Size Special: What happened to
issues #1-9?
Terminal Point: What happened to issue #1?
Tigers of Terra: What happened to issues #4-8 and 10? Who
published #10?
Torchy: What happened to issues #1 and 6-8?
Trailer Trash: What happened to issues #2-3?
Trial Run: What happened to issues #8-13?
Trouble with Girls: Why are the origins and destiny of the Comico
series not indicated?
Turok Dinosaur Hunter: What happened to issues #18-21?
Uncle Scrooge: Why is issue #22 but no other issue before #210
listed? What happened to issue #222? (Or have I just answered my
own question?)
Uncle Scrooge Adventures: What happened to issue #28?
Valeria the She-Bat: What happened to issues #2-4?
The Venus Wars II: What happened to issues #1-3?
Visions: R. G. Taylor: What happened to issues #1-2?
Vlad the Impaler: What happened to issues #1-2?
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories: What happened to issues #519,
575, and 579? Why is no annotation made about the first change in
publishers?
War Dancer: What happened to issue #4?
Warner Bros. Presents Bugs Bunny & the Looney Tunes: What
happened to issues #1-18?
Warstrike: What happened to issue #1?
Way Out Strips: Why is issue #2 of volume 3 floating off alone by
itself? Why are only two series listed if the title reached a third
volume? Why do neither of the other two listings have a volume
designation?
Weird Fantasy: What happened to issue #1?
Whisper: Why does the reference to its previous publisher appear
with the special, but not the regular series? What happened to issues
#10-12?
WILDC.A.T.S.: Covert Action Teams: What happened to issue #7-
8?
Wildman: If it was formerly a Megaton title, why does no such
listing exist?
World of Archie: What happened to issues #1-10?
X-O Manowar: What happened to issue #32?
X-Thieves Graphic Album: What happened to issues #1-2?
Youngblood Strikefile: What happened to issue #7?
Yummy Fur: What happened to issue #24? Who published it?
Zen Intergalactic Ninja: What happened to issues #2-3 and 5-6?
Zen Intergalactic Ninja Starquest: What happened to issue #3?
Zippy Quarterly: What happened to issue #6?
Format errors also abound. The terms "volume 2," "volume II,"
and "second series" - or even "starting over" - seem to be used
interchangeably; in some cases I know that they don't reflect the
indica. Sometimes years of publication are also noted; sometimes
they aren't. When a title switches from publisher X to publisher Y,
the guide sometimes notes under publisher Y that it "was X title"
and sometimes that it is a "former X title." Under publisher X, the
guide sometimes notes "becomes Y title" and sometimes "moves to
Y," or even "see Y." Some titles are noted as "mini-series," or even
given more extensive such labels [as for "The Elvis Presley
Experience.] But mini-series are not generally labeled as
such in the price guide; why have a selected few so been?
Finally, many Image titles have a "free-floating" issue #25 because
of the "Images of Tomorrow" promotion; not every title notes this,
however, possibly confusing readers (as well as being yet another
indicator of why this guide needs serious editing).
Plus new errors have been introduced. The Ninja High School
listing fails to note any of the six or so issues published by Antarctic
since it resumed publication of the title on a regular basis. Issue #10
of Psi-Lords is listed separately from the rest of the series, and #9 is
skipped altogether.
--
Jolyon "Jol" Silversmith ______________________________ jsil...@nyx.cs.du.edu
http://nyx10.cs.du.edu:8001/~jsilvers/home.html _______ silv...@vax.lse.ac.uk
____________ I have a firm grip on reality. Now I can strangle it. ___________
Shawn Dawson
>
>Valeria the She-Bat: What happened to issues #2-4?
Jol,
This is the only one I can answer off the top of my head.
They don't exist. Continuity only released Issues 1 and 5.
If I remember correctly, #5 was released 1st. Then #1 came out.
That was it.
It may have had something to do with the Valeria/Shadowhawk (or was it Spawn)
x-over which fell through.
-Shawn Dawson
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- "Tradition, my friend ... like fratricide and regicide ...
- and switching sides to save your own skin" - Zula -
-
- Shawn Dawson (sda...@netcom.com) Keeper of the Cimmerian Flame
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patman
>jsil...@nyx.cs.du.edu (Jol Silversmith) writes
>>Valeria the She-Bat: What happened to issues #2-4?
>This is the only one I can answer off the top of my head.
>They don't exist. Continuity only released Issues 1 and 5.
>If I remember correctly, #5 was released 1st. Then #1 came out.
>That was it.
Well, during the summer of 1993, Continuity came out with the
glow-in-the-dark acetate cover edition of Valeria #1. They
also were hawking the white cover limited edition at the
retailer trade shows. I can't remember if they put out a normal
edition of Valeria #1.
Oh, now I remember...based on the orders of other Continuity books,
you would get a certain amount of Valeria #1's and #2's. Continuity
thought Neal Adams "drawing power would make the retailers go nuts
in ordering all those other Continuity comics that couldn't maintain
a schedule if their lives depended on it.
This didn't sit well with retailers at the time, and now there's
a ton of the Continuity comics from this time period still out there.
This was just one of the many contributors to the glut of '93...
>It may have had something to do with the Valeria/Shadowhawk (or was it Spawn)
>x-over which fell through.
Then there was the much hyped and ballyhooed crossover between Valeria
and Spawn. Supposedly Neal Adams had a verbal agreement with Todd
McFarlane for Spawn to appear in Valeria #3 and #4. Todd decided to
pull Spawn out at the last minute since he was also in the discussion
phase of the Spawn/Batman crossover, and he was concerned about
the over-exposure of having a Valeria/Spawn crossover too. Whatever.
The Spawn/Valeria crossover would've have infused some major cashflow
into Continuity, but supposedly Neal Adams dragged his feet (hands?) on
the project and never got more than 4-6 pages drawn when McFarlane
pulled the rug out from under Adams.
The last hurrah for Continuity was Valeria #5 which shipped in the fall
of 1993 (I think) since the already solicited #3's and #4's would never
see the light of day. Maybe McFarlane learned something from that stunt...
Just recently Acclaim put out a reprint of Valeria #1 and finally published
#2 which concluded the story(?) started from #1.
That's about all I can remember about Valeria. I should wipe my memory
clean after this.
--
"Comics are a visual medium. You don't have to read."
- John Byrne, at Dragon Con 1995.
RF
: It may have had something to do with the Valeria/Shadowhawk (or was it Spawn)
: x-over which fell through.
: -Shawn Dawson
It was Spawn.
--Arif
Juricich
I don't particularly care, I guess, and I suppose I must applaud you for
your efforts in locating them all. You must have a LOT of comics.
Part of me wonders why you bothered digging through to get all this stuff
straightened out...but we're all comics fans with an anal edge to us so I
shouldn't be surprised...
erik
Christopher L. Tumber
Erik wrote:
>BiTcH aNd MoAn, Do YoU hAvE aNyThInG bEtTeR tO dO?
Mark Thompson
a few others, but hey - it's a start...
jsil...@nyx.cs.du.edu (Jol Silversmith) writes:
>
>Murcielaga the She-Rat: Why are no annotations made about its
>change in publishers?
"She-Bat", by the way. By change in publishers, I presume you mean
the "switch" from Heroic to Studio G?
>Ninja High School Featuring Speed Racer: Your listings are
>incorrect and incomplete. Two issues were published under this
>title, and two under the title "Speed Racer Featuring Ninja High
>School." I don't have my copies handy, but I believe they were
>numbered 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b.
I also don't have copies handy, but I seem to recall they were "1, 2, 1b, 2b"
I know it doesn't make sense, but I'm fairly sure...
>Power Plays: Your chronology is wrong. The issues published by
>AC were released well before 1990, the date after which you claim
>it moved from Extrava-Gandt.
I don't have the CBG Price Guide handy, but are you sure about your dates?
It seems to me the Extrava-Gandt issue (only 1 ever made it) came out in
the mid-80's (86 or 87?), and AC published two issues around 1990.
It may have been 1989, but it couldn't have been before Fall 1988.
>SB Ninja High School: Why is the title change from Small Bodied
>Ninja High School not noted?
Did the title officially change? I thought it remained "Small Bodied"
even though the cover satrted saying "SB".
>Scorpion Corps: What happened to issues #1-2?
They got expensive momentarily. :-)
Seriously, I have some further comments below:
>Valeria the She-Bat: What happened to issues #2-4?
The only one I can confirm (as noted elsewhere) is true - there are no 2-4 of
this series. #1 came out as a special "buy 20 get this free" premium during
the start of DeathWatch 2000. #2 was never issued (though it was also supposed
to be a premium). #3-4 never came out due to the failed Spawn crossover...
Quick Trivia Question: Where will you find the only publication of that
doomed Valeria/Spawn crossover? A few pages *were* published...
And Valeria #5 came out some months after this whole mess - almost a year after
#1, as I recall...
>Plus new errors have been introduced. The Ninja High School
>listing fails to note any of the six or so issues published by Antarctic
>since it resumed publication of the title on a regular basis. Issue #10
>of Psi-Lords is listed separately from the rest of the series, and #9 is
>skipped altogether.
As I recall, CBG builds this price guide based on their enormous files
of published comics. When a publisher prints comics, they are "supposed"
to send a copy to CBG for their records - they're attempting to be a sort
of repository of info on "what was published", and they apparently refuse to
err on the side of overlisting - they will list something *only* if they actually
have a copy.
The downside of this is that, of course, they don't list books which don't
make it to their files, for whatever reason. I recall a number of years ago
(1992 or so) they complained notably about certain publishers, one of whom
was Viz, who either didn't send copies to them or sent them in huge,
unorganized batches which oftentimes missed things. Don in particular
railed about this, since he only reviewed books he had copies of. The occasional
time he would review something where he was missing some issues, he would note
that fact, and mention that publishers should send stuff consistently.
Viz in particular was bad - there was an editorial where they mentioned that
they would not get anything from them for over a year, then WHAM! A giant
box full of random issues of stuff would arrive. They dig it out and sort it,
only to find that all they had were, say, issues 7 and 11 of Mobile Suit
Gundam. So, that's all they would review/list.
I'd say the bulk of the "missing issue" stuff you've listed is not typos
on their part so much as their refusal to list anything on someone else's
say-so. It makes their guide less useable in some respects, but it makes
it the most authoritative in one - if it's listed in CBG, it *does* exist.
You can't say that about any other guide on the market, period.
Still, it would be nice if some publishers got their act together and got
copies of some of this to them so they could clean things up. And of course,
I'm sure a number of them are CBG's typos or misfilings in their system.
Mark
Cold Cut
Patman
>jsil...@nyx.cs.du.edu (Jol Silversmith) writes:
>>Valeria the She-Bat: What happened to issues #2-4?
>The only one I can confirm (as noted elsewhere) is true - there are no 2-4 of
>this series. #1 came out as a special "buy 20 get this free" premium during
>the start of DeathWatch 2000. #2 was never issued (though it was also supposed
>to be a premium). #3-4 never came out due to the failed Spawn crossover...
>Quick Trivia Question: Where will you find the only publication of that
> doomed Valeria/Spawn crossover? A few pages *were* published...
Oh, that's an easy one: Comics Debut
If I remember correctly, it was just an up-and-coming attractions rag in
a comic book format for some cheapo price of $0.99.
>And Valeria #5 came out some months after this whole mess - almost a year after
>#1, as I recall...
Yeah, it had that funky "Rise of Magic" crossover embossed cover.
--
"Your momma's so fat, she stepped on a rainbow and made Skittles."
Pitcher-o-beer-winning Team Trivia Name, August 3, 1995
Paul T. Riddell
another, so it really doesn't affect me. Nyarlathotep help me, I just
read comics for the fun of it, and seeing as how I don't care when my
local comics shop proprietor gives me funny stares when I have both
"Instant Piano" and "Guy Gardner" in my bag in a given week (yes, "Guy"
is one of my guilty pleasures), I'm much more worried about whether my
comics are worth rereading than whether I'll be able to rip off some
third-grader at a Dallas Fantasy Fair.
Jol Silversmith
Juricich <juri...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>Part of me wonders why you bothered digging through to get all this stuff
>straightened out...
Mostly because I'm stupid, as I noted. =/ Actually, I originally just noted
the errors that immediately came to mind. Only after I discovered that CBG
apparently didn't care (and that I had a bunch of free time) did I decide
to try to set the record straight. (And I don't have all the comics - in
some/many cases I used other guides as a comparison, although I know CBG
has to do first-hand research, or assumed the obvious, such as that Valiant
doesn't skip issue numbers (which I know is not a safe assumption for
Image, Continuity, etc...)
Was it worth it? I don't know. As I noted, many/most errors endure. CBG still
doesn't seem to care, and I'm sure there are many more errors besides. But
since I did this work last year, I figure I should at least post it so
someone other than the editors at CBG, who apparently don't care, will
be able to make use of it (and so that readers of the rec.arts.comics.*
hierarchy will know that the editors of CBG apparently don't care...)