Maximum Comics Warehouse Sale 2014

I think most nerds in the Las Vegas valley know about , the 3 stores and the enthusiastic Maximum Jay make it difficult to miss in the comic book scene, so when they want to rid a lot of their back stock from their warehouse location, deals and parties are how they do it.

This is the second time Maximum has done their now famous or infamous warehouse sale and since I missed the last one I was determined to make it last weekend. With no game plan, no idea of what to expect and no list of books to look for, I came into the sale with only one thing in mind, find something. Really, I just wanted to find something, something cool, something neat, something interesting, and something I possibly needed.

Maximum Comics warehouse sale 2014 is like a flea market mixed with a barbecue. Books in long boxes fill table after table, nothing bagged or boarded, nothing in alphabetical order, just every man and woman for themselves. It reminded me of Brodie from Mallrats adorning a Clerks hat and telling the person selling the comics to board them, the savages. This isn’t the time to find some lost expensive gem, the warehouse sale isn’t the place for that, it’s for finding the odds and ends of your collection, or simply buying the comics you didn’t want at cover price now for a crisp clean dollar.

Looking through long box after long box without any rhyme or reason didn’t look appealing at first, but alas, a comic geek can’t pass up a good deal and I ended up looking through every last box. Three hours later and hands full of dirty fingers I didn’t find XStatix #1, but I did manage to pick up some great stories, but mostly I just left with a bunch of strange additions like Kitty Pryde and Wolverine to my collection.

Those of us who consider themselves smart and not who weren’t immediately drawn to the dollar deals went to the few set boxes first. This proved advantageous since I got the Bendis and Maleev Spider-Woman set and the highly sought after Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers. I gotta get my Frog Thor fix.

Not so much a set but great stories in their own right, I found the complete Excalibur “Sword Soul Trilogy” and the Ka-Zar “Urban Jungle” storyline where he battles none other than Thanos himself, I know, crazy right? The man the whole Marvel movie universe is getting ready to do battle with, Ka-Zar scraps fisticuffs with. It’s a story by Waid and Kubert that’s just incredible and flies heavily under the radar, a great find for under $5.

The creepiest comic book winner goes to Obnoxio the Clown vs. The X-Men. If you think the cover is creepy just check out the inside of this forbidden book, it doesn’t get any better. People could argue all day who the most frightening  X-Men villain is, but Obnoxio the Clown just jumped to the top of my list.

Because Maximum Comics isn’t the only comic shop in Las Vegas, I spend most of my time at where Brian introduced me to one of my loves, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. I love these books, and for $1 a piece I’ll pick them up every time. The “Book of Weapons” was the best pick out of the lot. Ever wondered how Hobgoblin’s glider worked, how Ant-Man uses his helmet, how Hawkeye’s quiver holds so many cool arrows, or what’s up with Silver Surfer’s surfboard? Well, Silver Surfers board is really just a board, but at least you now know he rarely takes it above Mach 10.

Lastly because I’m a child born in the 80’s and rampaged through the comics of the 90’s, I picked up some of the nice foil covers people are so fond of. Which leads me to my favorite and most surprising find of the day, Sensational She-Hulk #50. The book is a lot of  fun, breaking the fourth wall with the fictional death of John Byrne has She-Hulk searching for a new look via other artists. The book has funny stories with amazing art from Adam Hughes, , Walter Simonson, Howard Chaykin, and even Frank Miller. It’s now one of my favorite books of my collection.

Maximum Comics Warehouse sale 2014 wasn’t a place to find deals and make a profit, it was more of the old adage, “another man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, and I found lots of treasures.