Comic Book Men s06e13 Episode Script
Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Stash
1 If you were to give yourself a nickname, like, you know, we're the 1930 gangsters, like Scarface, Muggsy Malone, what would your gangster nickname be? Apnea Mike Zapcic, 'cause I'll kill ya in your sleep.
First off, a lot of these guys are, you know- they're street-smart.
They may not know what sleep apnea is.
I thought you were just gonna put them to sleep.
He's like, "I go in there.
I tell 'em a story.
Next thing you know, they're catchin' some Zs.
" How 'bout Mikey NyQuil? I love Mikey NyQuil.
That's awesome.
Perfect.
All right, that's the new one.
He's writin' 'em all down.
I have to choose one, so Just go with your real name, Mikey Z, 'cause you're so boring.
Comic Book Men SO6E13 Hello, and welcome to another episode of "Comic Book Men," the only show that went to Marvel's proctology office to see Doctor Strange so he could check out our brown Eye of Agamotto.
I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
All right, how's tricks? Still for kids, or what? There are a couple toys that, uh, get elevated to the icon status.
Americana.
This is not somethin' you see every day comin' into the Stash.
- Hey, guys.
- What's goin' on? Anybody interested in fighting robots from outer space? Oh, wow.
I haven't seen these in years.
This is the one toy that eluded me as a child.
For some reason, it just was never under the Christmas tree.
I had this as a child, and I went up in my attic to get it back, and my mom said, "I gave it away.
" - Ooh.
- So I was like, "What? You gave away my favorite toy?" - No way.
- So I reacquired it on - on the Internet.
Is this a first generation? I believe it's a first generation.
The later generations came in a flatter box.
You wanna take a look at it? - Oh, my God.
- Ohh Oh, look at that.
- This is a beautiful set.
- That's awesome.
- It's in, like - It looks awesome.
- Really mint condition, and it works well.
- This is Americana, right? - Yeah.
- I mean, this is apple pie, dumplings, and Baseball.
- Baseball.
- Yeah.
Why robots? Why not humans? - Can you make the head pop? - Yeah, sure.
Humans don't do that.
They don't.
Shoulder to shoulder with Life, Clue, and Trouble, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots is about as American as it gets.
Truly a toy that, um, will probably be here long after we're gone.
And it is somethin' that's passed down from generation to generation.
Like, I didn't get mine from Toys "R" Us.
We got it from a garage sale.
So it was always missin' one of the robot's arms, so one robot was always at a loss.
But if you could win with the one-arm robot, you were the master of the universe.
- I mean, it's kinda therapeutic too, right? You know, if you're having, uh, some differences with a sibling.
Did that work out for you? 'Cause in my experience, that wasn't the case, and it wasn't a sibling.
It was my father.
And now you say this is a good workin' condition? Yeah.
You can try it out, if you guys wanna try it now.
- Absolutely.
- Let's do a couple rounds? - I mean-against you, though? - Yeah, sure.
- Hold on.
Let me just get a couple punches here.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Ming, come on.
Be-be my coach.
- Okay.
Got any strategy for me? Aim for the head? Stick and move? - Body blows are no good in this - in this match.
- No.
- No.
Aim for the face.
Knock his block off.
Okay, so one, two, three.
And then we start.
- Come on.
Stick and move, all right? That was a Tyson.
It was like that's gotta be the- the quickest match in- in Rock 'Em Sock 'Em history.
- You got me.
You got me.
- Two out of three, right? - Yeah, two out of three.
- Two out of three, all right.
both: One, two, three.
Uh-oh, come on.
Jab, jab, jab.
Uppercut, uppercut, uppercut.
I'm going to take up the fighting game, man.
That morning when I woke up, I didn't expect to be in a ring, you know? Nobody knows they're gonna get in a fight.
You know, except paid professionals.
So you know, I was definitely caught with my drawers down, but help- thankfully, Ming stepped in, gave me a few pointers.
I was able to, uh, take the belt, as they would say.
Were you givin' him advice as a game player or as a robot yourself? "Here's how to defeat him, Walt.
" All right, how much you want for it? I was thinking $175.
- Oh, man, now that- now that I got the- I got the skills - And I know I - I'm a contender, I want it so bad now.
- You're like - your adrenaline's going.
You're roided out, almost.
$175? You gonna sell it or keep it? I think I'm gonna keep it.
I could do a little bit better.
How about $75? Uh $150? $100.
And you're gonna keep it for yourself? - Not gonna resell it.
- All right.
It's yours for $100.
- $100? - Yep.
- Got it.
All right.
All right, thanks.
Have a great day.
- Hey, hey, you-you- you fought well, man.
All right, guys.
Take care.
Have a good day.
Oh, man.
A few little Superman belt buckles.
- Ooh.
I don't think we've had belt buckles at the Stash.
I got a piece of original art here.
Think you may be interested.
Sal Buscema, "Too Many Jokers!" - Exact change, thank you.
- Thanks a lot.
Enjoy.
- Have a good one.
- All right.
- Hey, how are you? - Good.
I just had a few things that I wanted to share with you guys today.
A few little Superman belt buckles.
- Ooh.
- This one here.
It's a Pyramid, I believe, from the '70s.
This here, which is Kellogg's, about '55.
This little Pioneer buckle, also from the '70s.
And then this one is pretty cool.
It's Lee Company.
Belt buckles.
I don't think we've had belt buckles at the Stash.
I mean, superhero belt buckles, that is.
This one you're saying is how old? - '55, I believe.
- It's older than us.
- That's what's so cool to me.
- Yeah.
And this one this one is unique because it's it's actually still on the belt.
Yeah.
Now what era do you put this belt at? '70s.
I know it says "44" stamped on the back, but I-I don't think that's correct.
See how it says "DC Comics Inc.
"? If this had actually been manufactured in the '40s, it would say National Periodicals - and not DC Comics.
- Oh.
Now, this one right here this one, so '70s.
This looks exactly like he did at the end of the opening of "Super Friends.
" - Pretty cool.
- Now, this one this one's interesting.
How small is the belt that's goin' on? Are you wearin' a belt right now? - I'm wearin' a belt, yeah.
- Let me see- Yeah, let's, uh, you know, like Let's see what it would look like on there.
Like if I had it on there.
You know.
Perfect.
It's perfect.
Not many people would notice it.
Never could understand if a belt buckle was jewelry or clothing, 'cause a belt is useful.
Belt buckle is kinda bling, so it was more like jewelry, and that was the kinda jewelry you wore when you were a kid in the '70s to say who you were, like, "This is my Hulk belt buckle.
" And if you had a character belt buckle, it said that your parents just loved you that much more.
'Cause it's not like belts didn't come with buckles, so your parents could be like, "What's wrong with the one that's on there?" - I heard that quite often.
Whenever I wanted, like, "Can I get a Star Wars belt buckle?" They're like, "Your belt has a buckle.
" You want a belt buckle? Well, here it is.
That was also the '70s.
How do you happen to have four belt buckles? Estate sale.
I love going out to flea markets, yard sales, auctions, that kind of stuff.
I'm a little bit of a Superman fan myself, and, like, how could I pass 'em by? Kevin and I used to work at estate sales, and we would go into homes and clean stuff up that the relatives came in- they would get what they wanted and leave.
The amount of stuff left behind- like, this lady who had amassed a huge collection of these little, like, tiny but ornate teacups.
We're like- Throwin' 'em into the dumpster.
Everything right in the garbage.
That's heartbreaking.
That's like this one.
You had to mail away to get it, right? It's a Kellogg's mail away.
Can you imagine this six-year-old who begged his mom for the quarter to cut this out, send it, and then get it back? And it's made it to me.
I could imagine him dying and me throwing his stuff in a dumpster.
Oh, my God.
You want to talk about life perspective? There were photo albums, and you'd flip the photo on the back.
It would have the kind of summation of what was going on.
Remember? Like, "A good time was had by all.
" Boom.
Oh, that haunts me to this day.
Why are you sellin' 'em? As much as I like Superman, I would really love to take the money and invest it in "Batman Adventures" 12.
Ooh, first Harley, huh? Yeah.
What do you want for 'em? Well, I would really like to get, for everything, about $175.
Wow.
I didn't think you were gonna come in that high.
Shoulda saved those teacups.
Maybe we coulda did a little trade.
Yeah, you into teacups? I love teacups.
Oh, too late.
How about $100? $150? Aww, no.
How about $110? Meet me at $125.
- All right, $125.
- Awesome.
All right.
$125.
- Awesome.
- Thank you.
- Thanks, guys.
- Thank you.
See you later.
- Have a good one.
- All right.
Sal Buscema.
- One of the greats.
There are too many Jokers on here.
That may be the record for the most Jokers on a page of art.
Can I see that copy of "Amazing Adventures" number 18? Absolutely.
First Killraven.
One of the most underrated series of all time.
Pick two robots, and they gotta fight, man.
Here's mine.
Brainiac versus HAL from "2001.
" It's not very physical, that battle.
Not at all.
It's a chess game.
More of a chess game approach.
I might go a little bit of midget wrestling.
I'm gonna go with R2-D2 and Tom Servo from "Mystery Science Theater.
" - Bet those got a little of a sarcastic, uh, twist to them.
But Servo's got the edge, 'cause we understand him.
The other guy's all, "Boop, boop, boo.
" Ming? Robot fight.
Go.
I'll go with BB-8 versus K9 from "Doctor Who.
" I'll watch that fight.
What do you got, Zap? I got Iron Giant versus all: Ooh.
The Megazord from "Power Rangers.
" Whoa.
- Yeah.
- Heart versus tech.
How do you know the name of the "Power Rangers" robots? What about you, Bry? Technically, I know he's a droid, but I'd go C-3PO versus that silver C-3PO guy - In the first "Star Wars" who was rude to him.
The one that walks by real quick? Yeah, and he's like, "How rude.
" Yeah.
Finally, he gets to take him on.
He's like, "I said you were rude.
" Yes, that that smallest slight now erupts into a battle.
Let's say we were a super team.
What would our name be? It's gotta sound badass, but we're a bunch of good guys, right? So we're - Yeah, of course.
Okay.
All right, all right.
Just making sure.
So I'm going with something like, The Nightmare Squadron.
That rolls right off the tongue.
It does roll what? Why do you want to be known as a nightmare? A nightmare to evil.
They're so scared that they don't want to commit crimes anymore.
- Okay, Nightmare Squadron.
- Yeah.
You got somethin' better? Like The Purveyors? Purveyors of what? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Comics, dreams.
Nightmares.
I don't know.
Mike's on the right trail, though.
Let's say we need a super team name for at we do in real life.
- How about this? Super Bry and the Garden-Variety Nobodies.
- Hey, how you doin'? - How you doin', man? I got a piece of original art here.
Think you may be interested.
All right, what do you got? Sal Buscema from the Underoos' mini comic book, "Too Many Jokers!" - Oh, wow.
- Wow, look at that.
There are too many Jokers on here.
There's, like, one, two, three, four, five, six eight Jokers on the page.
That may be the record for the most Jokers on a page of art.
Very cool, isn't it? It's awesome.
So where'd you get this? A friend of mine had a comic book store, and I used to go there every day, and a a guy walked in with this, and my eyes went, "Bing!" You know? And I'm like, "Hey, you don't want it, I can take it.
" And I had some issues he wanted, and I we traded off for it.
Nice.
It it's tiny, though, huh? Well, this was the, uh, mini comic book that came with the Underoos underwear.
The packaging was literally about that big.
Small package, Ming? All this Underoo talk takes you right back to that day when you were wearin' those Wonder Woman Underoos, right? Whoa.
No! Where's yours? I didn't mean to wear it on the outside.
Come on! I'm trying to forget that, thank you very much.
You think you could still slip into a pair? Maybe I could fit back into them.
I mean, that was a few years ago.
I've kind of gained some weight since then.
Really? I mean, you still look you still look very svelte.
Can we just drop the Underoo thing? Can we drop that, please? I love everything about the Underoos.
The square package, had the character on it and stuff.
Made you wanna wear underwear.
When I was a kid, I wasn't into that too much.
It chafed.
But this stuff I would wear, 'cause sometimes you could wear a shirt that made you look like your favorite character.
Batman had a bat symbol.
Boba Fett looked like his chest plate.
So it was like, Underoos was also an early form of cosplay.
So you think if you were wearin' Boba Fett Underoos, people would know you were cosplaying? Or what, just walkin' around in your underwear? Yeah, they're like, "Look at this.
This emperor has no clothes.
" "Boba Fett didn't have a muffin top.
" - So Sal Buscema.
- One of the greats.
I mean, really one of those guys that drew our childhood, basically.
Right, Mike? - Essentially, yeah.
He was doin', like, two or three books a month.
So why you sellin' this piece of artwork? Well, I'm getting into Mego dolls again, and a guy I know, uh, has a few of 'em that I wanna attain.
- Oh, yeah? And I want to sell to you so I can get them.
Do we know who inked this? Not safe to assume that he inked this as well? He's a pretty good inker.
It it very well may be inked by Sal as well.
We're just not sure.
- I can show you.
- Really? All right.
Hey, look.
"Sal Buscema.
Pencils & Inks.
" - "Pencils & Inks.
" - And inks, nice.
- Wow.
Nice, Ming.
After wowing me with knowing that it was Sal inks, I'm gonna ask you what you think finally.
Do you think this is somethin' that we should acquire, Ming? It's a one-of-a-kind Sal Buscema penciled and inked page.
Yes, absolutely.
- All right.
What do you want for it? I'm lookin' for $750.
I want to get Ming's input on this.
All right, for something that's not from a mainstream issue that everyone has read and, you know, maybe wants to own a piece of $750 is very high.
But I think the value is really in the multitude of the Jokers.
I agree with that.
That's cool.
And you and you have a Robin in here, which is also cool, but not Batman.
- Very, very well done.
- Thank you.
Why stop now? Throw out a counteroffer, my man.
I would probably go somewhere closer to $300.
$300, okay.
Where's the gun? And I'll turn my back around, because I feel like you're robbing me right now.
No, stop.
Stop.
Come on.
I'll go $600 because I like you, and you're probably wearin' your Wonder Woman Underoos right now.
That you know that's not in the bargain, right? Ming comes separately.
How about $500, and he'll and he'll send you some Polaroids of him in his Un in his Underoos.
- That's a deal.
- Oh! I'll take it.
That's great.
- All right.
- Wait, I didn't agree to this.
I'll text you my number.
- Thank you, man.
- Pleasure, thank you.
- All right.
- Ming, thank you.
- All right.
Enjoy.
- I'll be expecting those pictures very soon.
Yeah, I'll have those to you in a week.
Gentlemen, take care.
What happened to you, man? It's like all of a sudden a light switch has been turned on.
It's like you get it.
I'm I'm back, baby.
- Were you ever here? - "Back"? What a concept, right? Killraven leads the human resistance against Martians.
With leather thigh-high boots.
If you guys could take one element from the Star Trek universe and inject it into the Star Wars universe, which would it be? I'd want to take the Federation and put it in the Star Wars universe, 'cause you've got the Empire versus the Federation? I think it'd be a pretty cool match.
I I I like the way that sounds.
That sounds like a lot of Senate meetings.
A lot of, uh a lot of Federation and Senate hearings on that.
What do you got for what's what are you injecting from the Star Wars universe into the Star Trek universe? Uh, from Star Wars universe, I would like to see lightsabers in the Star Trek universe.
I think just those phasers are lame.
I would love Kirk trying to defend against a lightsaber.
Like, whoa, stop swinging that lightsaber at me.
Oh, that's good.
What do you got, Bry? I would take the entirety of the Star Wars universe and move it into the Star Trek universe.
And Star Trek sucks.
- How you doin'? - Good.
How are ya? Good.
Can I see that copy of "Amazing Adventures" number 18 ya got over there? - Absolutely.
Hey, Mike? - Yeah? Can you grab that "Amazing Adventures" 18? - Sure.
- First Killraven.
One of my favorite books.
I'm very impressed.
One of the most underrated series of all time.
How big a fan are you of H.
G.
Wells' "War of the Worlds"? - I loved it.
- Yeah.
One of my favorites when I was young.
Marvel got the idea to do a comic book based on the, uh, Martian invasion in "War of the Worlds," and this time, they come back.
They put humankind on the brink of extinction, and Killraven leads the last of the human resistance.
He becomes the leader of, uh of humans against Martians.
I mean, what a concept, right? Didn't really have any kind of special powers.
I'd consider him kind of a a futuristic Daredevil.
So he would fight in the arenas.
The Martians would make humans fight, and his arena name became Killraven, 'cause he was unbeatable.
He had never known a world that wasn't, uh, ruled by Martians, and he longed to, uh, free mankind.
Why do you think they always go after Martians? It's always like, "The Martians are out to get us.
" Why not just Moon men in general? Well, I think the the red planet, and it was the you know, named after the god of war.
And little green men.
I think that just captured America that was starving for science fiction, you know? There was no Star Wars back when, you know, H.
G.
Wells wrote "War of the Worlds," so that's why it became, like, the greatest science fiction novel of all time, probably.
That's so eloquent.
Just drop that Mic.
Well done.
So how'd you get into, uh, Killraven? The first time I saw the book was at the newsstand.
It was 1973, and the the cover immediately jumped out at me.
I mean, everybody was into Superman and Batman and Spider-Man at the time.
This was something different.
With leather thigh high boots.
That's a freaky-deaky costume, man.
That is weird.
- Well, you had to think.
They're like, "What would we be wearing "a hundred years from now? Probably thigh-high boots.
" Why is it always less? Like It was end of the '60s, high boots were in fashion in the 1960s.
- For women.
- Yeah, for girls.
I mean, dude, it's up to here.
I've seen prostitutes that would look at those boots and be like, "Too slutty.
" I think I love the C list characters like Killraven because the creators were allowed to do anything they really wanted.
Like, in a book like Spider-Man or Batman, you're kinda tied to, like, you know, Batman and Spider-Man, you have a certain, you know You're stuck in a web on Spider-Man.
But with Killraven, they're like, "Go nuts.
Nobody cares.
" Do you mind if I take a look at the inside of the book? Absolutely.
Hold on.
Here you go.
Wow.
I haven't flipped through this in over 40 years.
- Takes you right back, right? - Absolutely.
Take a whiff of that, man.
You don't smell that in today's comics.
Ooh, yeah.
- So what do you think? - Definitely.
Definitely gotta have this book.
What are ya askin' for it? Uh, $24.
95.
Sold.
Oh, I like a man who doesn't want to negotiate.
- Have a good day, guys.
- All right.
- Take it easy.
- See you later.
I think I know how Ben Kenobi felt when he was like, "Oh, I felt that disturbance in the Force.
" - Yeah.
- A non-negotiation? Somebody paying the sticker price? Oh, and just like them crazy kids in Kandor, we're off to hit the bottle.
For "Comic Book Men," I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
- Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
Remember, do not become addicted to water, kids.
It will take a hold of you, and you will resent its absence.
Good night.
First off, a lot of these guys are, you know- they're street-smart.
They may not know what sleep apnea is.
I thought you were just gonna put them to sleep.
He's like, "I go in there.
I tell 'em a story.
Next thing you know, they're catchin' some Zs.
" How 'bout Mikey NyQuil? I love Mikey NyQuil.
That's awesome.
Perfect.
All right, that's the new one.
He's writin' 'em all down.
I have to choose one, so Just go with your real name, Mikey Z, 'cause you're so boring.
Comic Book Men SO6E13 Hello, and welcome to another episode of "Comic Book Men," the only show that went to Marvel's proctology office to see Doctor Strange so he could check out our brown Eye of Agamotto.
I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
All right, how's tricks? Still for kids, or what? There are a couple toys that, uh, get elevated to the icon status.
Americana.
This is not somethin' you see every day comin' into the Stash.
- Hey, guys.
- What's goin' on? Anybody interested in fighting robots from outer space? Oh, wow.
I haven't seen these in years.
This is the one toy that eluded me as a child.
For some reason, it just was never under the Christmas tree.
I had this as a child, and I went up in my attic to get it back, and my mom said, "I gave it away.
" - Ooh.
- So I was like, "What? You gave away my favorite toy?" - No way.
- So I reacquired it on - on the Internet.
Is this a first generation? I believe it's a first generation.
The later generations came in a flatter box.
You wanna take a look at it? - Oh, my God.
- Ohh Oh, look at that.
- This is a beautiful set.
- That's awesome.
- It's in, like - It looks awesome.
- Really mint condition, and it works well.
- This is Americana, right? - Yeah.
- I mean, this is apple pie, dumplings, and Baseball.
- Baseball.
- Yeah.
Why robots? Why not humans? - Can you make the head pop? - Yeah, sure.
Humans don't do that.
They don't.
Shoulder to shoulder with Life, Clue, and Trouble, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots is about as American as it gets.
Truly a toy that, um, will probably be here long after we're gone.
And it is somethin' that's passed down from generation to generation.
Like, I didn't get mine from Toys "R" Us.
We got it from a garage sale.
So it was always missin' one of the robot's arms, so one robot was always at a loss.
But if you could win with the one-arm robot, you were the master of the universe.
- I mean, it's kinda therapeutic too, right? You know, if you're having, uh, some differences with a sibling.
Did that work out for you? 'Cause in my experience, that wasn't the case, and it wasn't a sibling.
It was my father.
And now you say this is a good workin' condition? Yeah.
You can try it out, if you guys wanna try it now.
- Absolutely.
- Let's do a couple rounds? - I mean-against you, though? - Yeah, sure.
- Hold on.
Let me just get a couple punches here.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Ming, come on.
Be-be my coach.
- Okay.
Got any strategy for me? Aim for the head? Stick and move? - Body blows are no good in this - in this match.
- No.
- No.
Aim for the face.
Knock his block off.
Okay, so one, two, three.
And then we start.
- Come on.
Stick and move, all right? That was a Tyson.
It was like that's gotta be the- the quickest match in- in Rock 'Em Sock 'Em history.
- You got me.
You got me.
- Two out of three, right? - Yeah, two out of three.
- Two out of three, all right.
both: One, two, three.
Uh-oh, come on.
Jab, jab, jab.
Uppercut, uppercut, uppercut.
I'm going to take up the fighting game, man.
That morning when I woke up, I didn't expect to be in a ring, you know? Nobody knows they're gonna get in a fight.
You know, except paid professionals.
So you know, I was definitely caught with my drawers down, but help- thankfully, Ming stepped in, gave me a few pointers.
I was able to, uh, take the belt, as they would say.
Were you givin' him advice as a game player or as a robot yourself? "Here's how to defeat him, Walt.
" All right, how much you want for it? I was thinking $175.
- Oh, man, now that- now that I got the- I got the skills - And I know I - I'm a contender, I want it so bad now.
- You're like - your adrenaline's going.
You're roided out, almost.
$175? You gonna sell it or keep it? I think I'm gonna keep it.
I could do a little bit better.
How about $75? Uh $150? $100.
And you're gonna keep it for yourself? - Not gonna resell it.
- All right.
It's yours for $100.
- $100? - Yep.
- Got it.
All right.
All right, thanks.
Have a great day.
- Hey, hey, you-you- you fought well, man.
All right, guys.
Take care.
Have a good day.
Oh, man.
A few little Superman belt buckles.
- Ooh.
I don't think we've had belt buckles at the Stash.
I got a piece of original art here.
Think you may be interested.
Sal Buscema, "Too Many Jokers!" - Exact change, thank you.
- Thanks a lot.
Enjoy.
- Have a good one.
- All right.
- Hey, how are you? - Good.
I just had a few things that I wanted to share with you guys today.
A few little Superman belt buckles.
- Ooh.
- This one here.
It's a Pyramid, I believe, from the '70s.
This here, which is Kellogg's, about '55.
This little Pioneer buckle, also from the '70s.
And then this one is pretty cool.
It's Lee Company.
Belt buckles.
I don't think we've had belt buckles at the Stash.
I mean, superhero belt buckles, that is.
This one you're saying is how old? - '55, I believe.
- It's older than us.
- That's what's so cool to me.
- Yeah.
And this one this one is unique because it's it's actually still on the belt.
Yeah.
Now what era do you put this belt at? '70s.
I know it says "44" stamped on the back, but I-I don't think that's correct.
See how it says "DC Comics Inc.
"? If this had actually been manufactured in the '40s, it would say National Periodicals - and not DC Comics.
- Oh.
Now, this one right here this one, so '70s.
This looks exactly like he did at the end of the opening of "Super Friends.
" - Pretty cool.
- Now, this one this one's interesting.
How small is the belt that's goin' on? Are you wearin' a belt right now? - I'm wearin' a belt, yeah.
- Let me see- Yeah, let's, uh, you know, like Let's see what it would look like on there.
Like if I had it on there.
You know.
Perfect.
It's perfect.
Not many people would notice it.
Never could understand if a belt buckle was jewelry or clothing, 'cause a belt is useful.
Belt buckle is kinda bling, so it was more like jewelry, and that was the kinda jewelry you wore when you were a kid in the '70s to say who you were, like, "This is my Hulk belt buckle.
" And if you had a character belt buckle, it said that your parents just loved you that much more.
'Cause it's not like belts didn't come with buckles, so your parents could be like, "What's wrong with the one that's on there?" - I heard that quite often.
Whenever I wanted, like, "Can I get a Star Wars belt buckle?" They're like, "Your belt has a buckle.
" You want a belt buckle? Well, here it is.
That was also the '70s.
How do you happen to have four belt buckles? Estate sale.
I love going out to flea markets, yard sales, auctions, that kind of stuff.
I'm a little bit of a Superman fan myself, and, like, how could I pass 'em by? Kevin and I used to work at estate sales, and we would go into homes and clean stuff up that the relatives came in- they would get what they wanted and leave.
The amount of stuff left behind- like, this lady who had amassed a huge collection of these little, like, tiny but ornate teacups.
We're like- Throwin' 'em into the dumpster.
Everything right in the garbage.
That's heartbreaking.
That's like this one.
You had to mail away to get it, right? It's a Kellogg's mail away.
Can you imagine this six-year-old who begged his mom for the quarter to cut this out, send it, and then get it back? And it's made it to me.
I could imagine him dying and me throwing his stuff in a dumpster.
Oh, my God.
You want to talk about life perspective? There were photo albums, and you'd flip the photo on the back.
It would have the kind of summation of what was going on.
Remember? Like, "A good time was had by all.
" Boom.
Oh, that haunts me to this day.
Why are you sellin' 'em? As much as I like Superman, I would really love to take the money and invest it in "Batman Adventures" 12.
Ooh, first Harley, huh? Yeah.
What do you want for 'em? Well, I would really like to get, for everything, about $175.
Wow.
I didn't think you were gonna come in that high.
Shoulda saved those teacups.
Maybe we coulda did a little trade.
Yeah, you into teacups? I love teacups.
Oh, too late.
How about $100? $150? Aww, no.
How about $110? Meet me at $125.
- All right, $125.
- Awesome.
All right.
$125.
- Awesome.
- Thank you.
- Thanks, guys.
- Thank you.
See you later.
- Have a good one.
- All right.
Sal Buscema.
- One of the greats.
There are too many Jokers on here.
That may be the record for the most Jokers on a page of art.
Can I see that copy of "Amazing Adventures" number 18? Absolutely.
First Killraven.
One of the most underrated series of all time.
Pick two robots, and they gotta fight, man.
Here's mine.
Brainiac versus HAL from "2001.
" It's not very physical, that battle.
Not at all.
It's a chess game.
More of a chess game approach.
I might go a little bit of midget wrestling.
I'm gonna go with R2-D2 and Tom Servo from "Mystery Science Theater.
" - Bet those got a little of a sarcastic, uh, twist to them.
But Servo's got the edge, 'cause we understand him.
The other guy's all, "Boop, boop, boo.
" Ming? Robot fight.
Go.
I'll go with BB-8 versus K9 from "Doctor Who.
" I'll watch that fight.
What do you got, Zap? I got Iron Giant versus all: Ooh.
The Megazord from "Power Rangers.
" Whoa.
- Yeah.
- Heart versus tech.
How do you know the name of the "Power Rangers" robots? What about you, Bry? Technically, I know he's a droid, but I'd go C-3PO versus that silver C-3PO guy - In the first "Star Wars" who was rude to him.
The one that walks by real quick? Yeah, and he's like, "How rude.
" Yeah.
Finally, he gets to take him on.
He's like, "I said you were rude.
" Yes, that that smallest slight now erupts into a battle.
Let's say we were a super team.
What would our name be? It's gotta sound badass, but we're a bunch of good guys, right? So we're - Yeah, of course.
Okay.
All right, all right.
Just making sure.
So I'm going with something like, The Nightmare Squadron.
That rolls right off the tongue.
It does roll what? Why do you want to be known as a nightmare? A nightmare to evil.
They're so scared that they don't want to commit crimes anymore.
- Okay, Nightmare Squadron.
- Yeah.
You got somethin' better? Like The Purveyors? Purveyors of what? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Comics, dreams.
Nightmares.
I don't know.
Mike's on the right trail, though.
Let's say we need a super team name for at we do in real life.
- How about this? Super Bry and the Garden-Variety Nobodies.
- Hey, how you doin'? - How you doin', man? I got a piece of original art here.
Think you may be interested.
All right, what do you got? Sal Buscema from the Underoos' mini comic book, "Too Many Jokers!" - Oh, wow.
- Wow, look at that.
There are too many Jokers on here.
There's, like, one, two, three, four, five, six eight Jokers on the page.
That may be the record for the most Jokers on a page of art.
Very cool, isn't it? It's awesome.
So where'd you get this? A friend of mine had a comic book store, and I used to go there every day, and a a guy walked in with this, and my eyes went, "Bing!" You know? And I'm like, "Hey, you don't want it, I can take it.
" And I had some issues he wanted, and I we traded off for it.
Nice.
It it's tiny, though, huh? Well, this was the, uh, mini comic book that came with the Underoos underwear.
The packaging was literally about that big.
Small package, Ming? All this Underoo talk takes you right back to that day when you were wearin' those Wonder Woman Underoos, right? Whoa.
No! Where's yours? I didn't mean to wear it on the outside.
Come on! I'm trying to forget that, thank you very much.
You think you could still slip into a pair? Maybe I could fit back into them.
I mean, that was a few years ago.
I've kind of gained some weight since then.
Really? I mean, you still look you still look very svelte.
Can we just drop the Underoo thing? Can we drop that, please? I love everything about the Underoos.
The square package, had the character on it and stuff.
Made you wanna wear underwear.
When I was a kid, I wasn't into that too much.
It chafed.
But this stuff I would wear, 'cause sometimes you could wear a shirt that made you look like your favorite character.
Batman had a bat symbol.
Boba Fett looked like his chest plate.
So it was like, Underoos was also an early form of cosplay.
So you think if you were wearin' Boba Fett Underoos, people would know you were cosplaying? Or what, just walkin' around in your underwear? Yeah, they're like, "Look at this.
This emperor has no clothes.
" "Boba Fett didn't have a muffin top.
" - So Sal Buscema.
- One of the greats.
I mean, really one of those guys that drew our childhood, basically.
Right, Mike? - Essentially, yeah.
He was doin', like, two or three books a month.
So why you sellin' this piece of artwork? Well, I'm getting into Mego dolls again, and a guy I know, uh, has a few of 'em that I wanna attain.
- Oh, yeah? And I want to sell to you so I can get them.
Do we know who inked this? Not safe to assume that he inked this as well? He's a pretty good inker.
It it very well may be inked by Sal as well.
We're just not sure.
- I can show you.
- Really? All right.
Hey, look.
"Sal Buscema.
Pencils & Inks.
" - "Pencils & Inks.
" - And inks, nice.
- Wow.
Nice, Ming.
After wowing me with knowing that it was Sal inks, I'm gonna ask you what you think finally.
Do you think this is somethin' that we should acquire, Ming? It's a one-of-a-kind Sal Buscema penciled and inked page.
Yes, absolutely.
- All right.
What do you want for it? I'm lookin' for $750.
I want to get Ming's input on this.
All right, for something that's not from a mainstream issue that everyone has read and, you know, maybe wants to own a piece of $750 is very high.
But I think the value is really in the multitude of the Jokers.
I agree with that.
That's cool.
And you and you have a Robin in here, which is also cool, but not Batman.
- Very, very well done.
- Thank you.
Why stop now? Throw out a counteroffer, my man.
I would probably go somewhere closer to $300.
$300, okay.
Where's the gun? And I'll turn my back around, because I feel like you're robbing me right now.
No, stop.
Stop.
Come on.
I'll go $600 because I like you, and you're probably wearin' your Wonder Woman Underoos right now.
That you know that's not in the bargain, right? Ming comes separately.
How about $500, and he'll and he'll send you some Polaroids of him in his Un in his Underoos.
- That's a deal.
- Oh! I'll take it.
That's great.
- All right.
- Wait, I didn't agree to this.
I'll text you my number.
- Thank you, man.
- Pleasure, thank you.
- All right.
- Ming, thank you.
- All right.
Enjoy.
- I'll be expecting those pictures very soon.
Yeah, I'll have those to you in a week.
Gentlemen, take care.
What happened to you, man? It's like all of a sudden a light switch has been turned on.
It's like you get it.
I'm I'm back, baby.
- Were you ever here? - "Back"? What a concept, right? Killraven leads the human resistance against Martians.
With leather thigh-high boots.
If you guys could take one element from the Star Trek universe and inject it into the Star Wars universe, which would it be? I'd want to take the Federation and put it in the Star Wars universe, 'cause you've got the Empire versus the Federation? I think it'd be a pretty cool match.
I I I like the way that sounds.
That sounds like a lot of Senate meetings.
A lot of, uh a lot of Federation and Senate hearings on that.
What do you got for what's what are you injecting from the Star Wars universe into the Star Trek universe? Uh, from Star Wars universe, I would like to see lightsabers in the Star Trek universe.
I think just those phasers are lame.
I would love Kirk trying to defend against a lightsaber.
Like, whoa, stop swinging that lightsaber at me.
Oh, that's good.
What do you got, Bry? I would take the entirety of the Star Wars universe and move it into the Star Trek universe.
And Star Trek sucks.
- How you doin'? - Good.
How are ya? Good.
Can I see that copy of "Amazing Adventures" number 18 ya got over there? - Absolutely.
Hey, Mike? - Yeah? Can you grab that "Amazing Adventures" 18? - Sure.
- First Killraven.
One of my favorite books.
I'm very impressed.
One of the most underrated series of all time.
How big a fan are you of H.
G.
Wells' "War of the Worlds"? - I loved it.
- Yeah.
One of my favorites when I was young.
Marvel got the idea to do a comic book based on the, uh, Martian invasion in "War of the Worlds," and this time, they come back.
They put humankind on the brink of extinction, and Killraven leads the last of the human resistance.
He becomes the leader of, uh of humans against Martians.
I mean, what a concept, right? Didn't really have any kind of special powers.
I'd consider him kind of a a futuristic Daredevil.
So he would fight in the arenas.
The Martians would make humans fight, and his arena name became Killraven, 'cause he was unbeatable.
He had never known a world that wasn't, uh, ruled by Martians, and he longed to, uh, free mankind.
Why do you think they always go after Martians? It's always like, "The Martians are out to get us.
" Why not just Moon men in general? Well, I think the the red planet, and it was the you know, named after the god of war.
And little green men.
I think that just captured America that was starving for science fiction, you know? There was no Star Wars back when, you know, H.
G.
Wells wrote "War of the Worlds," so that's why it became, like, the greatest science fiction novel of all time, probably.
That's so eloquent.
Just drop that Mic.
Well done.
So how'd you get into, uh, Killraven? The first time I saw the book was at the newsstand.
It was 1973, and the the cover immediately jumped out at me.
I mean, everybody was into Superman and Batman and Spider-Man at the time.
This was something different.
With leather thigh high boots.
That's a freaky-deaky costume, man.
That is weird.
- Well, you had to think.
They're like, "What would we be wearing "a hundred years from now? Probably thigh-high boots.
" Why is it always less? Like It was end of the '60s, high boots were in fashion in the 1960s.
- For women.
- Yeah, for girls.
I mean, dude, it's up to here.
I've seen prostitutes that would look at those boots and be like, "Too slutty.
" I think I love the C list characters like Killraven because the creators were allowed to do anything they really wanted.
Like, in a book like Spider-Man or Batman, you're kinda tied to, like, you know, Batman and Spider-Man, you have a certain, you know You're stuck in a web on Spider-Man.
But with Killraven, they're like, "Go nuts.
Nobody cares.
" Do you mind if I take a look at the inside of the book? Absolutely.
Hold on.
Here you go.
Wow.
I haven't flipped through this in over 40 years.
- Takes you right back, right? - Absolutely.
Take a whiff of that, man.
You don't smell that in today's comics.
Ooh, yeah.
- So what do you think? - Definitely.
Definitely gotta have this book.
What are ya askin' for it? Uh, $24.
95.
Sold.
Oh, I like a man who doesn't want to negotiate.
- Have a good day, guys.
- All right.
- Take it easy.
- See you later.
I think I know how Ben Kenobi felt when he was like, "Oh, I felt that disturbance in the Force.
" - Yeah.
- A non-negotiation? Somebody paying the sticker price? Oh, and just like them crazy kids in Kandor, we're off to hit the bottle.
For "Comic Book Men," I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
- Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
Remember, do not become addicted to water, kids.
It will take a hold of you, and you will resent its absence.
Good night.