Ssalefish GSO First Look #244 for 1.5.22
Before we get to the tradition of recapping the keys we’ve had the good fortune of shepherding to their forever homes this year, I want to remind you that our schedule will NOT change on Friday for New Year’s Eve or Saturday for New Year’s Day! We’ll be open 11 AM - 7 PM both days as usual.
Not to bemoan the new books on the shelf that we live Wednesday to Wednesday for just as much as many of you, but it’s the x-factor of never knowing what could walk in the door when you get to work on any given day that brings a real thrill to our job. This year we definitely had some once-in-a-lifetime titles come through, like the Spider-Man #1 Platinum Edition, of which one copy was sent to each store as a thank you when Todd McFarlane’s landmark debut hit in 1990, and Space Ghost #1 from Gold Key.
Absent from the list and photos were some of the rarest and hottest indie books of the year like a full runs of every variant and every printing of Something is Killing the Children, Bitter Root, and Monstress because sometimes even I don’t personally fully grasp the significance or because the industry has reached a point where it moves so quickly that things are here and gone before we know it!
Amazing Spider-Man #129 CGC 7.5 - first appearance of the Punisher.
Amazing Spider-Man #194 - first appearance of Black Cat. x2.
Amazing Spider-Man #238 - first appearance of Hobgoblin. Newsstand & CGC 9.4.
Amazing Spider-Man #252 - first appearance of the symbiote costume. Direct Market & CGC 9.4 Newsstand.
Amazing Spider-Man #298 - first appearance of Eddie Brock.
Amazing Spider-Man #299 - first cameo appearance of Venom.
Amazing Spider-Man #300 - first appearance of Venom. Direct Market & CGC 8.0 Newsstand.
Amazing Spider-Man #316 - first cover appearance of Venom. Direct Market & Newsstand.
Amazing Spider-Man #361 - first appearance of Carnage. Direct Market & Newsstand x2.
Amazing Spider-Man #4 - first appearance of Silk. x3.
Amazing Spider-Man #4 1:25 Variant - first appearance of Silk.
Avengers #10 - first appearance of Immortus a.k.a. Kang.
Avengers #48 - first appearance of Dane Whitman Black Knight.
Avengers Annual #10 - first appearance of Rogue.
Batman #181 - first appearance of Poison Ivy.
Batman #357 - first appearance of Jason Todd.
Batman #635 - first appearance of Red Hood.
Batman #655 1:10 Variant - first appearance of Damian Wayne Robin.
Batman Vengeance of Batman #1 - first appearance of Bane.
Captain Marvel #14 - first appearance of Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel. CGC 9.8.
Catwoman #51 - iconic Adam Hughes cover.
DC Comics Presents #26 - first appearance of Raven, Starfire & Cyborg.
DCU Heroes Secret Files #1 - first cameo appearance of Stargirl. CGC 9.8.
Detective Comics #300 - first appearance of Polka Dot Man.
Detective Comics #411 - first appearance of Talia al Ghul.
Doom Patrol #99 - first appearance of Beast Boy.
Edge of Spider-Verse #2 - first appearance of Spider-Gwen. Raw x3 & CGC 9.8.
Fantastic Four #48 - first appearance of Silver Surfer & Galactus.
Fantastic Four #52 - first appearance of Black Panther.
Giant-Size Chillers #1 - first appearance of Lilith.
Green Lantern/ Green Arrow #76 - iconic Neal Adams cover.
Green Lantern/ Green Arrow #85 - infamous drug issue.
Incredible Hulk #181 - first appearance of Wolverine. CGC 9.2.
Invincible Iron Man #17 - first appearance of Madame Masque.
Invincible Iron Man #9 - first appearance of Riri Williams Ironheart. CGC 9.8.
Iron Fist #14 - first appearance of Sabretooth.
Iron Man #282 - first appearance of War Machine.
Legends of the Dark Knights #1 1:25 Variant - first appearance of Robin King.
Marvel Super-Heroes #12 - first appearance of Mar-Vell Captain Marvel.
New Mutants #87 - first appearance of Cable.
New Teen Titans #2 - first appearance of Deathstroke. CGC 9.0.
Sandman #1 - first appearance of Morpheus.
Savage She-Hulk #1 - first appearance of She-Hulk.
Secret Wars #8 - origin of the symbiote costume. Direct Market x2, Newsstand & CGC 9.6 Newsstand.
Sentry #1 SDCC Exclusive Variant - first appearance of the Sentry. CGC 9.8.
Space Ghost #1 - first appearance of Space Ghost.
Spider-Man #1 Platinum Edition - one per store retailer incentive. CGC 9.6.
Star Wars #1 - first appearance of Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, & Darth Vader.
Star Wars Darth Vader #3 - first appearance of Doctor Aphra.
Star Wars Jedi Mace Windu #1 - first appearance of Mace Windu.
Strange Tales #205 - first appearance of Deadman.
Tales of Suspense #94 - first appearance of M.O.D.O.K.
Teen Titans #44 - first appearance of Nightwing.
Thanos #13 - first appearance of Cosmic Ghost Rider.
Thor #1 signed by Jason Aaron - first appearance of Jane Foster Thor.
Ultimate Fallout #4 - first appearance of Miles Morales. Raw, CGC 9.4 & CGC 9.6.
Ultimate Fallout #4 2nd Printing - first appearance of Miles Morales. Raw & CGC 9.2.
Uncanny X-Men #129 - first appearance of Kitty Pryde & Emma Frost.
Uncanny X-Men #266 - first appearance of Gambit. Newsstand x2 & CGC 9.2.
Walking Dead #19 - first appearance of Michonne.
Venom #3 - first appearance of Knull. Raw & CGC 9.8.
Werewolf by Night #32 - first appearance of Moon Knight. CGC 9.8.
Y the Last Man #1 - first appearance of Yorick Brown. CGC 9.8.
Young Avengers #1 Wizard World Los Angeles - first appearance of Kate Bishop Hawkeye, Hulkling, Wiccan, and Patriot. CGC 9.8.
The following titles are scheduled to ship on Wednesday, January 5th (Tuesday, January 4th for DC) excluding some re-orders and providing nothing changes by the time the final invoice arrives on Monday:
Amazing Spider-Man #84
Arkham City Order of the World #4 - cardstock Jen Bartel variant available for premium cover price.
Avengers by Jason Aaron TP vol. 9
Basilisk #6
Batman #119 - cardstock Francesco Mattina & Dan Hipp variants available.
Be More Loki TP
Black Cat TP vol. 6
Black Widow #13
Blade Runner 2029 #11
Blubber HC
Boruto TP vol. 13
Buckhead #2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #33
Bylines in Blood #1
Captain America/ Iron Man #2
Captain Marvel #35
Crush & Lobo #8 - final issue with a cardstock Jen Bartel variant available for premium cover price.
Dark Knights of Steel #3 - cardstock Joshua Middleton variant available for premium cover price.
Darkhold Omega #1
Dejah Thoris vs. John Carter of Mars #6
Demon Slayer Water & Flame Stories TP
Detective Comics #1047 - cardstock Lee Bermejo variant available for premium cover price.
Dirtbag Rapture #4
Dragon Ball Super TP vol. 15
Elektra Black White & Blood #1
Elvira Meets Vincent Price #4
Evil Ernie #2
Fourth Man #1
Frontiersman #4
Grrl Scouts Stone Ghost #2
Hellcop #3
Hero Life of a Self-Proclaimed Demon TP vol. 1
Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation #4
Inferno #4 - final issue.
Jennifer Blood #4
Joker Presents A Puzzlebox #6 - cardstock Miguel Mendonca variant available for premium cover price.
Justice League Incarnate #3 - cardstock Jorge Fornes variant available for premium cover price.
Justice League Infinity #7 - final issue.
Magic Order 2 #3
Marjorie Finnegan Temporal Criminal #8
Marvel-Verse Morbius TP
Marvels #7
Mighty Marvel Masterworks Fantastic Four TP vol. 2
Mighty Morphin TP vol. 3
Monkey Meat #1
My isekai Life TP vol. 1
Naomi Season One TP
Nita Hawe’s Nightmare Blog #3
Nocterra Special #1
Non-Stop Spider-Man Big Brain Play TP
Not All Robots #5
Omega #1
One-Star Squadron #2
Ordinary Gods #6
Pantha #1
Red Sonja #5
Shang-Chi #7
Soul Plumber #4 - cardstock Yanick Paquette variant available for premium cover price.
Spawn #325
Star Trek Mirror War #3
Star Wars Doctor Aphra #17
Star Wars High Republic Fallen Star HC - the first phase of the High Republic comes to a close!
Suicide Squad #11 - cardstock Kevn Maguire variant available for premium cover price.
Superman Son of Kal-El #6 - cardstock In-Hyuk Lee variant available for premium cover price.
Thing Called Truth #3
Thor #20
Two Moons #8
Walking Dead Deluxe #30
Warhammer 40K Sisters of Battle #5
Wastelanders Doom #1
World of Krypton #2 - cardstock Darick Robertson variant available for premium cover price.
X-Men #6