What kind of comics do you get in a $6 grab bag at Ollie's? Let's find out

I made my first foray into Ollie's Bargain Outlet a few weeks ago. Ollie's is a confusing joint. It looks like Big Lots, it smells like Big Lots, but it isn't Big Lots. Or is it? Well, no, it's not. Actually it's pretty straightforward now that I think about it.

One of the items Ollie's carries is a grab bag of 10 comics for 6 bucks. You can see the front and back issues, but other than that it's a mystery unless you decide to be an ass and open the package. I figured, what they hey, it could be fun to see what's inside. The bags make a DC or a Marvel, and usually one of the older issues, visible in each package, but there is no guarantee of what else is in there. I got a mix of Bronze Age, Independent, Modern Age, DC, Marvel...a real grab bag, if you will. Here is the rundown:

1) Superman #372 (DC, 1982): For some reason, it amuses me that this one came bagged and boarded (the only one of the 10 with that distinction). This one takes me back to my childhood with the creative team of Cary Bates/Curt Swan. I had a ton of Superman comics at this time, but I don't think I ever had this one.

 

2) Kirby: Genesis Silver Star #2 (Dynamite, 2011): Other than the credit of "Art Direction and Story by Alex Ross" and the apparent Jack Kirby connection, this looks inessential.

3) Dead Letters #2 (Boom, 2014): I have no idea what this is about.  It looks gritty, and the art is...idiosyncratic. It won't be at the top of the pile, but I will keep an open mind.

 

 

4) What If? #1 Infinity Inhumans (Marvel, 2015): The one Marvel book in the bag. I am not a fan of the art, but I am glad this is a self-contained story (I think). Oh, how I wish it were one of the original What If? issues.

 

 

5) Sky Wolf #1 of 3 (Eclipse, 1988): Billed as an "Air Fighters Mini-Series," it has a cool enough cover. I laughed because as soon as I saw the publisher logo and title, I thought, well, must be a Chuck Dixon book.  It is!

 

 

6) Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters #1 (Eclipse, 1986): Nothing like a little black-and-white vintage Eclipse. I am actually amused to have this even though it looks amateurish. Isn't this one of the seminal Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ripoffs?

 

 

7) Medic #1 Flatline (Double Take, 2015): Co-written by Bill Jemas. It has a striking painted cover and good production values--maybe the best paper quality in the bag--but the interior art looks idiosync--no, awful. I'll just say that to me the art looks unappealing.

 

 

8) Time Twisters #1 (Quality, 1987): An anthology that reprints stories  from the British 2000 A.D. This issue features all Alan Moore stories. Artists include Alan Davis, Dave Gibbons, Paul Neary. I think this may be one of the more pleasant surprises of the grab bag.

 

 

9) Giant Size Red Sonja #2 (Dynamite, 2008): I am sorry to report that the first thing I thought when I saw this was, "Giant Size Thingies." This anthology has an interesting cast of writers, including Christos Gage and Roy Thomas; plus a story written and drawn by Frank Thorne that looks pretty cool.

 

 

10) The Twilight Zone #4 (Dynamite, 2014): The other visible title besides Superman, and it helped me choose this bag over the one with a cool vintage Marvel Team-Up because I was curious what a modern Zone comic would be like.  It's by J. Michael Strazynski and Guiu Vlanova (is that a pseudonym?).Unfortunately, this is 21 pages of story for the cover price of 3.99 and looks like a ripoff at 3.99. Perhaps I will get 60 cents of entertainment from it, though.

 

 

When I first opened this, I felt a little embarrassed that I impulse-bought it for 6 bucks. Even at 60 cents per issue, I was thinking I would be better off buying stuff from a 25-cent, 50-cent, or even a dollar bin somewhere. Yet it was a fun "lottery ticket" of sorts, and when I list all the comics like this,, I am satisfied even though I wouldn't have picked up any of these in a bin except for the Superman comic.