This morning I started taking pictures of the voting place very near my home. This series of pictures was taken at Stop 11 and 5 points on the southeast side of Indianapolis.

At 11:00, the line was substantially shorter, with only about 20 people outside the building. The inside line includes 25 to 30 people. So this is the shortest line of the day at about 50 people.

At 10:00, the line still extended most of the way down the sidewalk.


At 9:00, the line was thinning but still wrapped out the front door and down the sidewalk.

At 8:00, the line was virtually the same as 7 am

At 7:00 cars were parked everywhere. The line was ran the full length of the building.

Chuck and some help for the Heroes plot...please!

Monday night typically involves me watching Chuck while looking for geek items. In Chuck’s room have you noticed the “Y the last man standing poster”? Or the San Diego Comic Con poster? I haven’t seen any statues yet. If you have, please let me know.

Then we watch Heroes and especially Hiro. He always seems to say something that I can relate to in his quest to be a hero. This season I’m a little disappointed with the plot. Why are they making all the heroes into villains and the villains into heroes? If you try that one time, I get it. It’s interesting, it adds depth to your character and it’s unexpected. If you make every hero a villain, what’s the point? Doesn’t it get old?

A tortured hero or a hero with flaws is a classic move to help the audience relate. Heroes turning into villains is fine sometimes but this season has too much of it. Everyone has a secret alliance, a secondary motive, a possible switch to the dark side and the plot is becoming confusing. Clean it up some. I’m not suggesting that you make it black and white just that you clean it up a little.

Recently, I bought a comic book collection that had some great issues in it. The first appearance of the Teen Titans in Brave and the Bold. This is a VF to NM copy not some folded, torn piece of junk. Batman comics from the late 40's and early 50's in beautiful condition. There are stacks of Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, Star Trek photocovers and so much more. There are pictures on my site HERE I'm currently selling them on eBay if you're interested.

There is another collection that I'm looking at that has some potential too. This lady has asked around and I'm the highest bidder. The problem is this woman's mindset. She needs a certain amount of money to pay off a debt and that's how much she wants for the comics, even though they're not worth that much.

It's a very strange thing. I'm trying to convince her that value isn't affected by her debt but she keeps trying. Whenever you buy a comic book collection from someone you can never tell what will happen.
Ron

Buying Comic Books
Late last week I bought another comic book collection. This collection was small, 1 box but everything was 60's and 70's era superhero stuff. Daredevil, Spider-man, Thor, Avengers, Batman, Superman, Action, Teen Titans, etc.

The weird thing about buying a comic book collection is that it typically involves someone's death. Seriously. It's kind of creepy. I've spoken to 4 separate people in the last 2 weeks about buying comics and all 4 were from the dearly departed collector. I would happily buy a collection from a living collector if I could find one.

An entire comic book collection is difficult to get rid of though. When I was out of the hobby for 5 years or so, I tried to sell my collection 1 time. I walked into a comic shop with 5 boxes of comics. Amazing spiderman starting at issue 11, Batman's from 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. Those two titles made up 3 of the 5 boxes. Can you guess how much the guy offered me????

$50.00/box and he acted like he was doing me a favor. I was disgusted. Later on from various other friends I learned that guy was commonly known as the toy nazi. He sold toys and comics but he was so mean that his store only lasted a year or two. Thank God for that.

I understand that the buyer has to make money but ripping someone off is just wrong. With my recent purchases going well, I've decided to bring my book about buying/selling comics out of retirement. In the next couple of weeks, I'll start selling that book again on my site http://www.comicbookgeeks.com/

Batman Movie - The Dark Knight
I'd seen the 6 minute Bank heist clip, every preview, felt the hype, so me and Jim decided on a late night at the theatre to catch the Dark Knight. Beginning at 12:01 and being taken off the wild ride at 2:45 AM. We started looking for tickets on Thursday and the theatre had 3 screens for the midnight showing. By midnight there were 8 screens showing Batman, wasn't Mama Mia premiering too?

As I walked into the theatre a young guy was passing out Gotham Times newspapers. I went out of my way to get one. Before I got seated they were out of them and people were coming up to me asking about it. The newspaper is filled with minor references to the current movie and the previous movie so it's a nice souvenir

Overall this is a really good movie, long, but still really good. Heath Ledger played Joker perfectly. I'm not saying that because he's deceased, I'm saying it because it's true. He nailed CrAzY, Jack Nicholson looked like a clown compared to the dark, tormented, lunatic that Heath portrayed. It's worth dropping $10 just to see his unbelievable chaos inducing Joker.

If you don't know Batman history then the second villain that's introduced will be a surprise to you. You will enjoy this movie.

You can read more about all the Batman movies on my website http://www.comicbookgeeks.com/

Still Sleepy,
Ron

On my site, www.comicbookgeeks.com, I've written 6 articles about how to spend the last week before the Dark Knight. You don't have to read all 6 though. I planned out your week based on which previous movie you liked best.

If you like the 1966 Batman movie best this is your article http://www.comicbookgeeks.com/7days66.htm

If you liked the 1989 Batman movie best this is your article
http://www.comicbookgeeks.com/7days89.htm

If you liked the 2005 Batman Begins movie best this is your article
http://www.comicbookgeeks.com/7days05.htm

You get the point.

I just bought my tickets for Friday's premiere of the Dark Knight and it's selling out fast. One theatre was already out of presale tickets. They'll out more screens but I'd suggest getting your tickets earlier. This movie is getting fantastic reviews thus far on www.RottenTomatoes.com

Ron

Over the weekend I went to see Hancock. This was a movie that I was looking forward to with some expectations. Will Smith played a street bum of a superhero with a heavy drinking habit and no memory. From the first time you see Hancock meet Charlize Theron you know something is going on, but what? As the story progresses you find out in a big bad way what the deal is and it's good. The action scenes are great with realistic flight scenes.

I recommend seeing this movie but it's not without faults. There is quite a bit of language in this movie especially the one word that everyone calls Hancock.


*****Spoiler alert*******



*****I'm serious******


When the big revelation happens and you find out that she is a superhero too. You wonder why she is with the average guy who's a dreamer. Why isn't she doing something with her power? Wouldn't someone who's lived 2000 years be a little jaded? Would a modern day dreamer really impress her after she meet Atila the hun?

Don't let that stop you from seeing the movie.

Over the weekend I went to Wizard World Chicago on a whim. Seriously at 7.30am on Friday I decided to go to the convention. I took my daughters, Olivia and Mallory who were very keen on OWLY and Tiny Titans. They got to meet the artists for both books and got sketches. To the right is the talented artist for Owly, Andy Runton, and my adorable daughter, Mallory.

I found a great looking Bowen Captain America statue for a good price. Captain America stuff right now has the real potential to go up in value. The mistake most people make is waiting too late to sell. For example, if you were trying to get top dollar for a Captain America item, sell it 5 to 6 months before the movie. (speculators) Instead of trying to sell it 1 or 2 WEEKS before the premier when the market is flooded.

We met a gentleman and his son who attend every Wizard World convention across the US. He tries to pay for his trips by selling exclusives. Interesting guy with a great strategy.

You've got to check out my new statue area on ComicBookGeeks.com. I'm completely stoked about it. You can see a picture, learn the facts, get pricing, and see live eBay auctions for that item. It's extremely easy to see if a particular auction is a good deal or a ripoff. So far you can see these statues.
Batman Black & White Statues
Marvel Zombie Statues
DC Women of the DC Universe
Bowen Full Size Statues

As I continue to expand this area on ComicBookGeeks.com please let me know if you want me to add one of your favorite statues. Well, I'm off to see if Incredible Hulk is as good as Iron Man.