Help me identify this comic book

December 30, 2021 7:10 AM

I accidently spilled a drink on one of my partner's comic books, and I am trying to identify the book so I can replace it. He has demurred from telling me what the book was, and I don't remember. So I'm hoping folks here can assist in identifying it.

I consistently put my drinks on the floor beside the sofa, steadfast in my belief that I am aware of them and will not knock them over, and yet I frequently knock them over. After doing it 3 times in a row recently, my partner mentioned offhand that I had once knocked a drink onto a "$50 comic book." I would really like to replace it for him. He does not want to tell me what the book it, and I think regrets mentioning it.

What I know:

• This was "about a year ago" so probably released in the last 18 months-ish. My partner reads comics as they are released and then puts them away and/or sells them after that. There are no vintage comics laying around.
• When I pressed about why it would be $50, he mentioned that it involves a group of characters coming together for the first time, and caveated that whether it really is worth anything depends on whether an adaptation for a movie/tv show/video game comes to fruition. I got the vibe it was planned but not certain, or maybe that it had happened or was in the works but may or may not be good/appreciated by fans.
• His stack of recently- and to-be-read books includes Daredevil, Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, some Star Wars books, X-Men, and Dark Blood. So lots of superhero stuff but also indie stuff.

I realize this is almost no information, but I would love any ideas anyone has about what this could be!

A note about us, because I've been on AskMeFi a long time and I know how these things sometimes go - this is truly not a big deal and he is not mad at me in any way. This is a fun way for me to show that I care and surprise him.

posted by jeoc to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

It's sweet, but no brand-new comic book is worth $50. That's into special-edition hardcover art release territory. He may have been exaggerating a weeeeeee tiny bit.
posted by praemunire at 7:22 AM on December 30, 2021 [6 favorites]

It's not very likely. Long ago, I purchased Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (Eastman and Laird) off the rack, and it took a couple of years before it (to my surprise) was priced to collectors at $20. I won't say it's impossible (comic companies are getting into NFTs now, so who knows), but I'd invite your partner to offer evidence of this offense.
posted by SPrintF at 7:35 AM on December 30, 2021

If AskMe can't identify the book, maybe you could give your partner a $50 gift certificate to his favorite Friendly Local Comic Store.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:41 AM on December 30, 2021 [19 favorites]

I don’t believe it ever happened. You would surely have been aware of it and would remember. I think it’s just something untrue or gravely exaggerated that he said off the cuff when he was feeling crabby, and can’t now retract. Why wouldn’t he tell you what it was? Let it go.
posted by Phanx at 8:03 AM on December 30, 2021 [5 favorites]

He might be talking about a special variant cover version of a regular single-issue comic. I've gone to purchase those sometimes and been surprised by how much they were marked up.

I second the suggestion of giving him a gift certificate, if you want to do a nice gesture.

Maybe he won't say which one it was because it's a mildly embarrassing one like Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose! :)
posted by cadge at 8:35 AM on December 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

Comics haven't been worth anything since they became a hot collectible in the 80s. I used to work at a comic book shop and every single week some guy (yes, always a guy) would come in and tell me about how he had all the comics that are so valuable now, and then his mom threw them out because he never took responsibility for packing his own stuff up when he moved out - those old comics are valuable because no one saved them, and since people started saving and taking good care of their comics thinking they'd be valuable later - they're not. So there's not a single issue of a regular comic that was released in the last two years that's worth $50. There might be a special issue of something, but we'd probably be talking about a fancy hardcover version of something and not a normal single issue. I think that Faint of Butt is right that the best solution, if you want to do something, is just to get him a gift card for his comic purveyor of choice.
posted by bile and syntax at 8:43 AM on December 30, 2021

I'm guessing he regrets mentioning it and doesn't want to tell you what comic it was because he blurted out a hugely exaggerated value for it, later realized what an exaggeration it was, and would be embarrassed to have you go buy a replacement and see how much less than that it's really worth. He probably feels bad about making such a big deal out of it and making you feel guiltier than you needed to but can't quite bring himself to admit that the $50 figure was complete bullshit. If that's the case, giving him a $50 gift certificate will just make it worse. If you want to do something nice to make it up to him, just make a special dinner or something. Or stop putting your drinks on the floor.
posted by Redstart at 9:00 AM on December 30, 2021 [5 favorites]

I agree with the other posters. Additionally, (if he'd already finished it when this happened) it doesn't sound like he generally re-reads the comic books so perhaps he wouldn't really care to have it replaced? I think a gift certificate is a nice gesture but I think it might also make him feel worse abut bringing it up.

(It sounds like the gift he really wants is for you to stop putting your drinkware on the floor.)
posted by sm1tten at 9:02 AM on December 30, 2021 [14 favorites]

So there's not a single issue of a regular comic that was released in the last two years that's worth $50

He might be talking about a special variant cover version of a regular single-issue comic.

I see some variants at my LCS going for around $20 but I wouldn't be surprised if there were rarer ones going for more. The only regular issue I can think of being worth that much may be the first issue featuring Punchline (a new Joker sidekick) which was Batman #89 that came out in Feb 2020.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 10:47 AM on December 30, 2021

If your partner buys his comics at a bricks-&-mortar store, why not stop in there and ask the owner if he can suggest which comic this might have been? He may even know your partner (at least by sight) and recall any special purchases he's recently made there. At the very least, you should be able to see what particular comics that store has on sale at anything like the $50 mark and get some sort of lead that way.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:38 PM on December 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

Just a thought, but just in case... is there any chance it could have been some sort of Kickstarter or similar crowd-funded title? Those often run a bit more than seems typical.
posted by stormyteal at 1:06 PM on December 30, 2021

I'm wondering if he was talking about a graphic novel and just used comic as short hand? That could account for the price.

He could not want to say what book because he had finished it and wasn't planning on re-reading it. I vote the gift card route.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 1:39 PM on December 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

Also, if I leave my comics on the floor than I'm assuming the risk of something happening to them. I've got kids and cats so there's a lot of potential somethings for me to worry about and when I'm done reading my comics and haven't properly put them away then I'll put them on top of books high up on my bookshelf. So it's kind of a lesson learned for the both of you. You: don't leave your drinks on the floor. Him: don't leave your comics somewhere they can be easily damaged.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:24 PM on December 30, 2021 [3 favorites]

By vintage do you mean comics that have that vintage look like this?

Because comics from the 90's early 00's can sometimes be valuable and still look like modern comics.
posted by ljesse at 2:53 PM on December 30, 2021

I agree that neither attempting to replace the comic not giving him a $50 gift certificate are the way to go.

I would go to the comics store, tell the proprietor what kind of comics your partner likes, and have them suggest some new releases based on those preferences. ALSO, have the proprietor put your new purchases into the plastic slipcovers in which people store comics long term.

Then present your gift of new comics to your partner, telling him you’ve pre-waterproofed them. :)
posted by ejs at 4:04 PM on December 30, 2021

Contigo Auto-Seal,good for hot or cold drinks
posted by kschang at 7:15 PM on December 30, 2021 [1 favorite]