Imprinted Image: I Hate Blind Bags. Why Can’t I Buy ROM # 1?

Comics Link Roundup June 21

A couple of Wednesdays ago, Robert Kirkman and Skybound did what he likes to do most and surprised people. In the “blind bags” (imagine opening a trading card pack but with comics) for M.A.S.K. # 1, among variant covers and early copies of issue # 2, you could end up with a copy of ROM # 1, the surprise return of Rom, Space Knight. He’s another toy that was a fixture of 1980s Marvel comics before they lost the license and will now be a character in the growing Energon universe. That all sounds pretty cool, right?

WRONG. For one, ROM is not cool and I am being punished for liking such a dorky character. But two, and more importantly, right now the only way to get a copy of that issue is to gamble and hope the 1 in 6 chance goes your way (at $5 a pop) or spend upwards of $50 on a secondary market like eBay. I am hopeful that at some point the issue will be reprinted. But right now, it is absurd to me that there is a new comic that I would like to spend money to purchase and I cannot.

To me, this is potentially a worrying direction for the blind bag trend to head. I don’t understand the appeal of variant covers or of opening a random treat packet, but it mostly didn’t affect me. I’m primarily a reader, though I do in a certain sense collect comics too. As long as I could read the comics, I don’t see the problem with blind bags for the people hoping to get a cool variant cover. They are free to waste their money. But my alarm bells start going off when you disadvantage the reader in favor of the collector.

Comics have always been a mass medium. From their origins in newspapers to their adoption into pulp magazines, comics have thrived by being cheap, accessible, and prevalent. Collectors items are precisely the opposite. They need a tighter, artificial scarcity in order to drive up the price. They use gambling mechanics to get repeat buyers. This dialectic has been a tension within American comics since the ’90s, ebbing and flowing. I worry that continuing to lean into collectability will further silo comics into a niche for well-off hobbyists and away from the broad appeal they once had (that I hope they return to).

Anyways.

Welcome to Imprinted Image, my comics newsletter. If this is your first time, welcome! This is the best way to keep up with my comics blog. After links to my most recent writing, I’ll provide a roundup of comics industry links. This can be news, media, criticism, or anything that I personally found interesting.

Please don’t forget about the resources tab on this website. It’s a collection of reading guides, tutorials, and free legal resources like public domain image archives. I want this to be as useful as possible, so if you have any additions please send them my way.

I made a comic! It’s a two-page mini-zine, and you can read it for free here. But! If you would like a cool print version mailed you, there are two ways you can do that. Either support me on Patreon to get this and any future physical media I do, or buy it on Ko-fi for as low as $ 1.

I also have a behind the scenes video previewing the physical mini-comic, as well as some behind-the-scenes information on my inspiration.

https://youtu.be/C1938iMGzOc

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Comics Challenge YouTube

I designed and am participating in a comics challenge this year, alongside some friends in the My Marvelous Year community. I have picked 52 comics from 52 categories, shown below. I’d love for you to participate and comment along as you are reading! Note that on this list, categories that match with episodes from the Extra Issues podcast.

I decided to create a YouTube documenting my reading journey!

Manga “May” ended with the first volume of BUDDHA, a biography by the god of Manga, Tezuka Osamu. Then, I start a month of Adventure Comics by looking at one of the OG adventure comics, TINTIN.

https://youtu.be/sRrtOanM_tg?si=CBIl_R6D5QA-wbyd

https://youtu.be/b_8B2wBDnNs?si=_5zgR-sZjoLXav-P

I’ve also been doing little shorts where I poorly read a scene I liked from these comics. I guess shortform video gets juiced in the algorithm because they have been blowing up. You can check out the playlist of them here.

It would mean the world to me if, in addition to watching this video, you subscribed to my channel and gave the video a like. No one knows exactly how the black box of social media algorithms work, but I do know that if you interact with the video in different ways, YouTube might show it to more people who would be interested. The other easy way you can help is by sharing this video with a comic fan in your life!

Link Roundup

News:

This is just strange: USA Today is launching a digital service that includes a bunch of digital Marvel comics, including an exclusive Spider-Man digital comic written by Al Ewing and drawn by Todd Nauck.

Good news rarely makes the news, and that is apparent in many of this week’s headlines. Dark Horse is laying off staff, despite recognizing the new employee union.

Bad news Archie fans: after the publisher took out some loans and made deals with other production companies, the lender is taking them to court. Potentially at stake is a controlling stake in the company.

Heavy Metal Magazine is also going through some changes in an attempt to maintain profitability. The storied magazine returned only a year or two ago and is already having to cut back some.

Marvel Comics has allegedly not paid inker Jonathan Glapion for work he has already rendered.

The co-creator of Judge Dredd, John Wagner, has been appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by King Charles III.

The Comics Journal has a full biography of Marjane Satrapi, the recently deceased cartoonist behind PERSEPOLIS.

The Beat has a roundup of crowdfunding projects you may want to back.

Other News Roundups:

Comics Beat’s biweekly Digest: 6/5. 6/9. 6/12. 6/16. 6/19.
SKTCHD’s Comics Disassembled: 6/12. 6/19.
The Comics Journal’s This Week’s Links: 6/5. 6/12. 6/19.

Stats:

PranaDM’s Top 400 Comics sold: 5/26 – 6/1. 6/2 – 6/8 and all of May. 6/9 – 6/15.
Bleeding Cool’s Top Weekly Bestseller List: 6/6. 6/14. 6/20.
Bleeding Cool’s Most Anticipated Comics: 6/7. 6/16. 6/21.
Bleeding Cool’s Hottest Comics: 6/9. 6/16.
ICv2’s Top 50 Comics: May 2026.
ICv2’s Top 20 Bookstore Graphic Novels: May 2026 pt 1 and pt 2.

Scott Snyder says ABSOLUTE BATMAN # 20 sold over half a million copies.

SHE-SPAWN was the highest ordered Image comic title of May, and the link has the whole top 10.

Writing:

Comic Book Herald published a ’60s X-Men reading order.

SKTCHD posted an interview with cartoonist Lee Lai, author of STONE FRUIT and Eisner nominee and an interview with Leef Smith, owner of Mission: Comics and Art store in San Francisco. They also wrote about the balance between collectors and readers of comics

Shelfust has an article on SUPERGIRL # 285, the issue where she went public as a superhero. They also published a piece on SINK # 1, which has scared the article writer into never visiting Scotland.

ICv2 shares a retailer’s numbers on just how big of a business variant covers are.

My favorite video and podcasts:

Podcasts:

OFF PANEL had on Rob Guillory to discuss his new comic with his CHEW collaborator Jon Layman, GHOST BRAWLER and Che Grayson to talk about CATWOMAN # 1.

LET’S TALK COMICS had on Liam Sharp to talk STARHENGE and Seth Damoose to talk BADROCK.

MY MARVELOUS YEAR posted 2014 pt. 8, talking ROCKET RACCOON, ELECTRA, and DEATH OF WOLVERINE, and 2014 Variant E, discussing the SPIDER-NOIR TV show. Their sister podcast Extra Issues published pt. 5 of their Osamu Tezuka series, covering BLACK JACK and, for the patreon, an episode on CALVIN AND HOBBES.

YouTube:

SKTCHD chatted with Steve Morris, owner of Shelfdust and marketer for 2000 AD.

COMIC TROPES posted a video reflecting on his career thus far and a retrospective on the career of Norm Breyfogle.

COMICBOOK COUPLE’S COUNSELING continued season 2 of their miniseries “The Stacks,” where they have industry people select comics to talk about from the shelves of Third Eye Comics, like the Criterion Closet, with Andy MacDonald.

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DC Comics for June 24th, 2026

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://thegaminggang.com/comic-books/dc-comics-for-june-24th-2026

#datocurioso

¿Sabían que el primer Linterna Verde de los cómics no obtenía sus poderes de un anillo alienígena ni formaba parte de una corporación espacial?

Cuando el personaje fue creado en 1940 por Bill Finger y Martin Nodell para la editorial All-American Comics, su identidad civil era Alan Scott, un ingeniero ferroviario que sobrevivió a un sabotaje en un tren gracias a una misteriosa linterna de metal. La mitología original establecía que el artefacto estaba forjado a partir de un meteorito que cayó en la antigua China y que albergaba una llama verde mística de origen mágico. Para canalizar esta energía, Alan Scott fundió un trozo del metal y fabricó un anillo que debía recargar cada 24 horas exponiéndolo directamente a la luz de la linterna. A diferencia de las debilidades espaciales posteriores, el poder de este primer superhéroe no flaqueaba ante el color amarillo, sino que era completamente inútil contra cualquier objeto fabricado con madera. Toda la estructura de ciencia ficción, los Guardianes del Universo, el planeta Oa y los sectores espaciales llegaron casi 20 años después, en 1959, cuando el editor Julius Schwartz decidió reinventar por completo la franquicia para dar origen a Hal Jordan y la continuidad moderna del personaje.

— A. Eldritch, Periodista, Locutor, podcaster y bloger del fediverso

Alt text via @altbot y @TeLoDescribot

#GreenLantern #ComicBooks #DCComics #Historia #Cómics #Superhéroes

Black Canary & #Batman #poem #adults only #DcComics https://gerdesilets.wordpress.com/2021/12/07/black-canary-batman-poem-adults-only-dccomics/

Batman and Black Canary then had sex
in fact to be correct it was just oral sex
she perform it without touching his sex
she just use her Voice to tickle his sex
so by vibrations she surround his sex
after he say he never had a better sex

Batman et Black Canary ensemble ont eu du sexe
en fait pour être correct ce fut oral comme sexe
car alors elle l’exécuta sans lui toucher son sexe
elle utilisa juste sa Voix ...

Booster Gold può regalare al DC Universe una prima volta storica

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.galaxyaddicted.it/2026/06/booster-gold-serie-dc-universe/

3 Long-Missing DC Teams Get New Ongoing Series as Red Hood Leads 1 of Them

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.comingsoon.net/comics/news/2151063-teen-titans-doom-patrol-and-legion-of-super-heroes-return-in-dcs-next-level-line