"I was thinking if this comic book managing thing doesn't work out for me, like to see if I can make my, uh, mark as a man in black." "You talking about the movie." "Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, what..." "Men In Black?" "I want to show up where weird and strange events have happened, like, investigate it and then fade away." "Oh, okay." "Well, that's..." "[Laughter]" "Not too high of a goal to shoot for." "Why?" "You think that's too lofty?" "First, they don't even acknowledge that it exists, so you couldn't go in there and be like, "I'd like to apply to be a man in black."" "Well, you know, maybe... maybe they need a new young buck, and he just... you know, he dresses a little bit more casual, you know, maybe some little track pants." "Yeah, leather jacket maybe." " Yeah, yeah..." " So wait." "You're the young buck who dresses like you're in the mafia?" "[Laughter]" "I don't think this is the career for you, dude." "Yeah." "[Heroic music]" "[Laughs]" "Hello, and welcome to another episode of Comic Book Men, the only show that's not afraid to put the word "green" in front of "arrow."" "I'm your host, Kevin Smith." " Bryan Johnson." " Walt Flanagan." " Mike Zapcic." " Ming Chen." "Okay, man, I need to know what happened in the store this week." "I know it's easy to forget, you know, but I'm kind of a straitlaced guy." "So, Robert, you acquire anything of note this week?" "Just picked up a load of 83 Return Of The Jedi tri-logos..." "Palitoy, which was the U.K. Version." "Where'd you find 'em?" " Found 'em at the market." " What's your secret?" "Like, how come when I go to the market," "I don't find all these gems but you do?" "Well, you know, the rule of thumb is, if the sun up, you're already late." " Okay, yeah, okay." " You get into a table, you got to start checking people." "I've heard rumblings down at the market." "People won't even sell to you anymore" " 'cause they just can't stand you." " That's true." "It's true." "[Laughter]" " Hi, guys." " Hello." "So I have a comic that I'm interested in selling." " And it's definitely different." " Okay, what is it?" "This is a Robert crumb 1973 comic, and it's a little risque." "[Inhales sharply]- Ooh, I don't..." "I-I bet you it is a little risque." "Um, I've heard this is what you call an underground comic, Robert?" "Yes, that would be underground comic." "You're looking to sell it, huh?" "I am;" "I actually used to have, uh, quite a bit of a collection of Robert crumb stuff." "And this is actually one of the last pieces that I have, so instead of it collecting dust," "I figured maybe it could find a good home." "Oh, I don't know about here, though." "I mean, we don't really deal in underground comics." "You know, I mean, uh, my mom would only buy me, you know, wholesome, comic code-approved comics, and, um... got to love Robert Crumb, though." "I mean, he was a man who loved a woman with some big legs and a big behind." "[Laughter]" "I like this guy..." "Uh, yeah." "Uh, just even looking at the back," "I just don't even think..." "I don't think this book is for me, guys." "Um, I'm out." "All right, guys?" " You're offended by that?" " I'm not offended by it." "I just know I'm not interested in it, though." " Look how uncomfortable he is." " I know." "That's how it is." "I'm a comics code guy, man." " Comics code..." " I-i understand." "Get out of here... [chuckles]" "Square." "[Laughter]" "Since the time I started reading comics," "I've led a code-approved life." "Right, I mean..." "I mean..." "I'm only laughing 'cause I thought about it for a split second." "I was like, "he did." "He has."" "That explains everything." "[Laughter]" "The comics code laid down a Foundation of Dos and Don'ts that I still follow to this day." "Not all of 'em, though." "One of 'em was, "you can't say the word 'zombie.'"" "I heard him say "zombie."" "I hear you say "zombie" all the time." "How did you get into the, uh, underground comic scene?" "I'm originally from Vegas, so, like, those types of, you know, "genres,"" "that was natural for us." "That was, like, definitely a normal thing." "But, like, Robert crumb, I mean, he draws women that look like me, and nobody in comics does that, you know?" "I'm sorry, I didn't even know it was legal to raise kids in Vegas." "[Laughter]" "So why are you looking to sell this today?" "I had a collection of these that I collected with my ex-boyfriend." "And at this point, it's kind of a bad memory, and I don't want to see it anymore." "I got to be honest with you." "Like, I don't think the store would be really interested in this." " Okay." " I mean, for one reason only." "It's, like, adults only." "Maybe you'd be interested in this." " I mean..." " Definitely." "What's the price on it?" "I mean, that's... price is everything." "[Sighs] I've been lookin' online." "And I don't know, maybe, like, 50 bucks." "50 bucks." "Uh, there are a lot of crumb books that go for money." "The thing with underground comic books is their printings." "This, I could tell you right now, is not an early printing." "This was published after probably '89." "Could have very well been published in 2004." "They're still publishing this book." "Um, that being the case, you could probably go online and buy it for $10." " Well..." " What do you think?" "We can take it off her hands, maybe get this bad memory..." "I-I'd give you ten bucks for it." "I-I have a few of these." "I don't have this particular issue just 'cause it's so new." "As long as you promise me it's gonna go to a good home..." " Absolutely, 100%." " I'm good with that." " $10?" " I'm good with that, yeah." " Awesome." " He doesn't even have it." "Probably doesn't have it." "[Laughter]" " $10 bill." " Excellent." "Thanks." "Have a good day." "All right, Robert, now get that out of here before you taint the reputation of the store." "Hey, guys." " Mr. Adams." " Good to see you." "How are you?" "Mr. Neal Adams, Walt." "Oh, it's an honor." " I'm a gigantic fan." " It's a pleasure." "Let's load up on the crisis identity." "Okay." "Uh, Green Lanterns." " All the 52s, yeah." " Got ya." " Hey, guys." " Hey, how are you?" "Talkin' about Green Lantern." "Good thing." " Mr. Adams." " Good to see you." "How are you?" "Mr. Neal Adams, Walt." "Oh, it's an honor." " I'm a gigantic fan." " It's a pleasure." "Neal Adams... if there's a mount rushmore of comic book creators," "Neal Adams is probably up there, man." "He's a total living legend and has forgotten more about this medium than most folks will ever know." "I've had him on the podcast fat man on Batman a couple times." "Absolutely this is one of those perks about working in a comic book store to have someone of Neal Adams' caliber to come in." "I mean, every piece of work he's done, it seems like, is an iconic piece of, uh, comic book history." "The guy created, uh, big pieces of comic book history." "The guy lived big chunks of comic book history." "I thought maybe you could help me." "I just got an assignment from DC Comics, and I find myself a little bit lost, because I'm doing a Superman:" "New Gods." "Oh, cool." "But, uh, I don't have a lot of reference of Jack Kirby's New Gods." "So maybe you got some Kirby stuff..." " Uh..." " Some new God stuff." "Yeah, I know we do." "In the back, there's shipments." "Yeah, let me go, uh..." "let me go grab it for you." "Okay." "He was there for some reference material about Superman and Jack Kirby's New Gods." "The New Gods were a creation of the great Jack "king" Kirby himself." "He'd been at Marvel forever, came over to DC, and created characters with, like, almost shakespearean, almost Marvel-type backstories." "It's not only Marvel-like." "It's biblical-like." "Very much, yeah, straight out the Bible kind of." "Well, hence New Gods." "[Laughter]" "They even sensed it back in the day." " I am dying to ask you a question." " Okay." "Could you give us just a... just a glimpse, an... an insight, into what it was like..." " Back in the day?" " Back in the days?" "I can." "In fact, I can show you some of the artwork." " Ooh." " Hold on a second." "Okay?" "Okay." "What do you got?" " This is a reprint..." " Oh, yeah." "Of Superman versus Muhammad Ali." " You remember..." " I remember it well." "That it had all of these people..." "President of the United States." "That was supposed to be Telly Savalas, but, uh, I turned it into Luthor because he didn't want to be on the cover, so I took a lollipop out of his hand, and I marked it to be Luthor." "Did you pick who you got to put on here?" "I picked, but what happened was, the lawyers had to write the people to get their permission." "And then some of them said no." "So John Wayne, for example, said no, so I put a mustache on him." "[Laughter]" "That's a easy way to get around that." "That's right." "I have to say one of my most iconic memories." "I remember where I was the day saw it..." "Was Batman with a hairy chest and nipples." "You know, I'd never seen that in comics before." "In fact, as far as I know, there were no hairy chests and nipples." "You-you brought such a sense of realism." "And it was just... it was amazing." "Well, the... the comic books were kind of cartoony in those days." "Yet for me, drawing hair on the chest of a man seemed to be the most obvious thing in the world." "Suddenly, here was our guy coming along, drawing reality the way it is in a comic book, and that shook everybody up." "Pecs and a hairy chest, it's so weird." "That's always captured your imagination." "For as many years as I've known you, you've always been like," ""one time, they took Batman's shirt off, and that was real."" "Yeah, I've never forgotten that panel, because it was like..." "It was like Batman finally looked like a human being." "I mean, he just, he knew how to make dynamic covers that made you want to open up the book to get inside, and once you were inside, his storytelling was flawless." "And his art was very realistic." "He made you believe in Batman." "Oh, yeah." "I happen to have some of the artwork in my portfolio." "Okay, let's take a look at it." "You can see what fills this stupid thing up." " Wow." " Wow." "This is, uh, of course, the Batman Joker that Denny O'Neil and I did, and I think you'd have to say that it led to, uh, the movie." "Yeah, definitely." "And this, that is the worst drawn cover" "I've ever done." "How so?" "I had to stretch his leg to go around the lettering." " Ah." " [Chuckles]" "It's badly done, but everybody loves it." "I cannot stand that cover. [Shudders]" "Just gives me the trembly-wemblies." " [Laughing]" " But there you go." " That they like it." " What about this one?" "This one is just..." " It's shocking." " It's jarring." "It's still jarring even to this to this day." "It is." "It is." "If it seemed like hair on a guy's chest was life-changing, what was this?" "Uh, it made... it put me on the straight and narrow." "I have never touched drugs." "That is a brilliant cover... the hard-traveling heroes saga, uh, in which speedy, the Green Arrow's young sidekick, who's caught using heroin... for the first time in comic books, superheroes dealt with some real issues." "These are absolute masterworks." "Guys, I can't thank you enough." "I appreciate the Jack Kirby stuff." "You have no idea." "I promise to do the best job I can, and I hope you guys are happy with what I do." "And I appreciate it very, very much." " Thank you so much." " Thank you." " Oh, my God." " Thank you." " Thank you." " It was an honor." "I have these 1966 Batman Nite-Lites." "Whoa." "They're on card." "I have some cool 1970 Matchbox cars that I thought you'd be interested in." "Oh, wow." "Joining us at the table, one of the greatest American writers there ever was," " Denny O'Neil!" " Yeah." " [Applause]" " Um, I wanted to ask you, those amazing Green Lantern books you did with Neal Adams, did you have any idea that they would still be relevant today?" "We kind of knew we were pushing the envelope, and we were getting a lot of attention." "But after all, I was getting the same $15 a page." "15 bucks a page to write hard-traveling heroes?" "That's amazing." "I could not have conceived that those stories would appear in a $75 hardcover and I would be asked to speak at the library of congress." " Oh." " Even if you don't like them, comics have become part of the fabric of America." "They are part of our common experience." "Yeah, no doubt." "The amazing Denny O'Neil, gentlemen." "[Applause]" " How you doing?" " Hey, guys." " How are you?" " Good." "Um, I have these 1966 Batman Snapit Nite-Lites that I thought you might be interested in." " Really?" " Yes." "Whoa." "They're on card." "Yes." "Unbelievable." "Look at the shape of the card." "It looks like it just came out of the box in 1966." "Where did you get these?" "I got them at a yard sale." "Wow." "This is an awesome piece." "I mean, what is the first thing you think of when you see this?" "That 25,000 hours have probably passed." "They don't work." "I don't know, 'cause that's a lot of hours." "Actually, I've tested a few, because I have some extras, and they do still work." " Oh, yeah?" " Really?" "The first thing I think of is, this just screams a different era." "I don't know why." "Yeah." "There's just something about the design that just says," ""made in America."" "[Chuckling]" "And it do oh!" " Is it?" "Oh, yeah." " Look at that." " What up?" " I called it." "[Laughter]" "Wait a second." "Is it a Batman's head with wings next to it?" " Yes." " Cowl?" " That was my night" " Light growing up, man, and I still have it today." "And if you plug it in the wall, it still works." " The original bulb?" " Original bulb." "Isn't that crazy?" "That's astonishing." "That's when they made..." " They made stuff to last." " Made stuff to last." "How much was it originally sold for?" " 79¢." " Really?" "It's just so weird to know that that thing I've had all my life, my parents spent 79¢ for it." "It's probably the thing that has lasted the longest." "That may have been the best 79¢ your parents ever..." "Yeah, I think you're right." " Put down for, right?" " You may be absolutely right." "I can't think of anything except maybe food." " Just medicine." " Yeah, medicine." "[Laughter]" " Did you have a night" " Light when you were a kid?" " I have vague memories of having a night" " Light for my three-, four-year-old stage." "Once I got into kindergarten, though, I was like, "no way." "I cannot have a night-light." "I'm way too old."" ""If this gets out, I'm finished."" "Yes." "What about you?" "Did you have a night-light?" " Yeah, I had a little night" " Light with, uh, Mickey mouse on it." " Still use it?" " Uh, not for myself." "They're for my kids, you know, but, you know..." "I mean, who better, when like, if you're a young kid, you know, you're a little scared of the dark, what's underneath the bed, wouldn't you want the dark knight right by your nightstand," "safeguarding you through the night while you slept?" "If I'm such a simpleton that I think he's gonna protect me from anything," "I need all of these." "[Laughter]" " I'm 44, and I still night" " Light it." "You know, we all have smartphones that have lights built into 'em." "What is that if not a night-light?" "But do you leave it on all night?" "[Laughter]" "It's definitely a night-light." "Good point, good point." "Do you panic when it's not on?" "No." "Good point." "I'm not like, "Jen, turn on my night-light."" "[Laughter]" "So why you lookin' to sell it today?" "Well, I'm moving, and I have a very large collection." "And I..." "I'm looking to downsize a little bit." "What are you lookin' to get for 'em?" "I'd like to get $1,000." "$1,000, huh?" "It's a very rare piece, fully intact." "Would you take $600 for it?" "That's a little bit too low." "Ah, how about $850?" "I love it, though, man." "It really is cool." "You won't find another set like this." "You really won't." "I got a feeling you're right." "And there may not be 100 of these in the worldwide." "How about $700?" "I'm thinking $800." "Thinking $800?" "How about you meet me in the middle?" "How about $750?" "Yeah, okay." "Deal." "All right, $750." "There you go." "Both:" "Thank you so much." " You have a great day, guys." " Thank you." "Both:" "Thank you." "Oh, wow, Matchbox cars." "Remember Matchbox cars?" "I remember them well." "I think I had this one." "What are you lookin' to get for 'em today?" "How about, uh..." " Enjoy." " Thank you." " Have a good day." " Yeah." " How you doing?" " Hey, how are you?" "Good." "I have some cool 1970 Matchbox cars that I thought you'd be interested in." " Oh, wow, Matchbox cars." " Yeah." " You remember Matchbox cars?" " I remember them well." "Take a look at 'em." "They're really unique." " Yeah, what do you got here?" " Take a look." " What do you got?" " Some really good ones." "That's like a dune buggy." "Got a Volkswagen van, one of my favorites, the dump truck, and the double-Decker bus." "I remember this one, I think I had this one." "This is an interesting choice for a kid." "It you know, as opposed to, like, a race car, it's like, "all right, we're gonna go on tour around swinging London."" " Yeah." " Right, right." "Why is the dump truck your favorite?" "Well, I mean, what kid doesn't like growing up and playing with a dump truck?" " I mean..." " Work construction?" " Nah." " No." "Just because I'm Italian doesn't mean I work construction." "I thought, you know, maybe a no-show." " I don't know." " Yeah, yeah." "[Laughter]" "That's a good one." "That's a good one." "[Laughter]" "Did you have a favorite Matchbox car growing up?" "No, Matchboxes weren't my thing." "I had 'em." "I played with them, you know." "But I... usually I got bored doing this." "[Laughs]" "I'd be like, "that's it?" "That's all it does?"" "It just didn't do anything for me." ""Ooh, I'm an intellectual." "Look at me." "I need stimulation."" "[Laughter]" "Growing up, man, the Matchbox was always the Pepsi of toy cars." "You know, the coke..." "the creme de la creme... was hot wheels." "Oh, really?" "There was one more sought after than the other?" "Absolutely." "Hot wheels was all flash." "It redefined it and made it an art form, made it sexy." "Matchbox always sold you... like, "here's a horse and buggy." ""Here's... here's something your dad once went on a date on."" "All right, but wasn't Matchbox preparing young kids, though, for more reality of driving a vehicle than... than... than hot wheels may have been?" "Absolutely, but who wants to play with a real toy?" "Like, no, when you're playing, you want to be like, "vrrah, rrah, vroom,"" "not like, "this is a safe, affordable car."" ""This car's good on gas."" "[Laughter]" "They're in very good condition." " Did you play with them a lot?" " I did play with them, yeah." "Did you... did you keep 'em in this box all the time?" "Yes, and if you look, there's still the original paperwork that the box came in, so it's an original and a really unique piece, I think." "Yeah, my mom wouldn't buy me the vinyl box." "Like, she would buy me the cars but not the box." "Not only that." "I was..." "I was very protective of them." "I didn't want 'em to get dented." "I didn't want any of the paint to get flaked off." "So what'd you keep your cars in?" " I" " I used a tissue box." "[Laughter]" "The saddest carrying case of all, the Howard Hughes carrying case... you're shuffling around." "Did you save your urine as well?" "Uh, no." "I wanted that thing when I was a kid." "My mom thought it was a waste of money." "She's like, "you already got the cars already."" "So I would take the tissues from the box and wrap them in the tissue paper and keeping 'em in pristine condition." "This is something out of dickens, man." "Like, that's adorable and sad at the same time." "And funny." "[Laughter]" "Why on earth are you selling a piece of your childhood?" "Well, I have two girls." "They're ten and six." "So my house is starting to become engrossed in more and more princess stuff, and I need to make some room." "I mean, that's why I want look to make a deal today." "Have never really stocked a Matchbox or a hot wheels at the stash, have we?" "No, but I think they're definitely collectible, though." "So what are you looking to get for 'em today?" "Uh, reasonably..." "I mean, I've done some homework..." "I think in the area around $150 with the... with the case and the paperwork." "I think that's a fair amount." "$150, huh?" "I mean, and that's how many cars?" " We're looking at 12 cars." " 12 cars." "Is anybody really gonna buy these little things for... for 20 bucks, 15 bucks even?" "These are like loose action figures." "I don't know." "Uh..." "Would you take 50 bucks for it?" "Ah, $50 is too low." "How about, uh, buck and a quarter?" "I'd love to get it for less than $100." "I really would." "Come on." "The case alone is probably worth at least $25, $30." "He even told you he carried his in a... in a tissue box." "He's pathetic, though." "We all know that." " That's not it." " That's no example to go by." "[Laughter]" "$90." "$90, cash." " Let's do it, 90 bucks." " 90 bucks?" "All right." " Yeah, sounds good." " All right." "Thank you." "Thanks a lot." "All right, man, have a great day." "Have a great day." "That case is old enough where I know... you can't walk in at any store and be like," ""oh, I want to buy that old Matchbox case,"" "so when you see it, especially if it's in a decent condition and it's filled with some cars, take a shot." "You already sold it to Ming for $700." "[Laughter]" "I finally got it."