We FINALLY met Scott Snyder!

To celebrate Free Comic Book Day 2026, we’re doing something a little different. We’re currently stuck in a massive line at Comics Exchange. It is wrapped all the way around the building. The line is filled with fans just hoping to meet with Scott Snyder. But the big question of the day is: will we actually make it to the front, or are we just hanging out in a shady alley for nothing?

​Between dodging loud trucks and talking about our chaotic morning (shoutout to whoever set their alarm for PM instead of AM), we’re breaking down why Absolute Batman is the biggest thing in the industry right now. We dig into the reports that this one book is actually lifting sales for every other publisher out there and share exactly what we’ve got in our bags to get signed.

​Despite all the noise, this one really feels like it's just us hanging out in line with you guys.

​Check us out:
​Instagram: @Comic_Nation1776

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Hello everybody, my name is Paul.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

And I'm Clayton.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

And you are listening to Beyond the Pool this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

That's crazy. Where where are we at, Paul?

SPEAKER_02 0:14

So we are in we're behind a building. Outside.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

I bet people didn't expect that when they turned this podcast on today.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

We are in line right now to meet the amazing, absolutely amazing, Scott Snyder. We are in uh Comic Exchange in Knoxville, Tennessee, uh for free comic book day. So this episode's a little bit different. We are outside. There is other people in line, so you'll hear other people talking, you'll hear cars pass by. So excuse the background audio, because again, we are outside in an alleyway.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Um there's probably what, a hundred and fifty a hundred people in front of us? And there's probably thirty to forty behind us.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

I'd say there's thirty behind us, a hundred in front of us.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah, this is crazy, man. I we really didn't expect this. Now we were a little late because some people stayed overnight. Yeah, so so we were late.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

We so our plan this morning was to get here. We were supposed to leave uh uh where we are from. We're about an hour and a half out. So we were supposed to leave at 445 and get here around 6, but somebody put their alarm for PM instead of A.M.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

So I woke up exactly at the time I was supposed to be at Clayton's house, and then on the way to Clayton's house, I left my absolute Batman number one at home, so I had to drive all the way back and get it and then come all the way back. It was a crazy morning. It was an experience. It was an experience, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

This is gonna be an experience too.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

It is gonna be good. It is, and you know, we we wanted to do a little episode in line because I was like, this will just be fun. Yeah, you know, like this ain't not this ain't a normal episode. We're not gonna do our normal reviews or anything like that, but we're just doing a like screw it, we're just sitting in line talking.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

We're just gonna talk about what we'd normally talk about if we were sitting here, which is what we kind of do normally anyway. Yeah, is when we record the episodes, we just kind of normally talk about things we talk about, but this this this time it's got a microphone, right? So same thing here.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Yeah, and again, we are outside. Um I'm sure people are gonna look at us and be like, what are those idiots doing? Yeah. Um and you know, of course, you can hear the ASMR of all the loud trucks driving by. Um But uh we are gonna meet Scott Snyder. He's signing for five hours, so we're really hoping that he gets through the line and gets to us because otherwise we might miss him. But I don't think we will. I think we'll be okay. I think we'll be okay. And um because they are gonna do a line cut off at some point. Um, but again, we are wrapped around the building, so again, it's a it's a long line. I didn't expect it to be this long. Me neither.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

We'll do a follow-up if we don't get the meeting like Yeah. Man, yeah, this was all not worth it. Yeah, we're like, well, we we did this and it sucked, but um we wanted to talk a little bit about Absolute Batman today um because there's been some stuff that Robert Kirkman recently said on uh another podcast, and it's kind of been something that we were talking about on the car ride down here, and we're like, let's talk about it here too, and that's the fact that Absolute Batman supposedly has um boosted sales of all comics.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Everything, yes. It is uh so uh IDW, image, um, dynamite, yeah. Uh because of absolute Batman's success. Sorry, they got a they got their their uh their their exhaust off. Um because of absolute Batman's success, it has boosted up everything else in the industry, which is really crazy. Yeah, because like that's not happened before. No. So I know you know a while back we did our episode on like is the comic book industry about to crash? And like all these things are like are are these things about to happen, but I didn't see it, I didn't expect this book to bring a spike in everything.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

No, no, no. And and you know, Brad Walker commented, Brad Walker is an artist for DC, he's done several things uh for them, and he commented on our post and he said, While I do agree with what a lot of you guys have said, there is a lot of good things in the comic industry. You guys should talk about some of the good stuff. Yeah. And I'm like, well, I've I've posted like, hey, these comics are good. Check out these comics, you should do this, check, read this. Um but to hear that absolute Batman is boosting sales, like that's a great thing happening right now. And I was gonna be like, well, bat absolute Batman's also part of the problem. We have a hundred plus variants for Absolute 20, but we have 115 for Absolute 20 so far.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

Yeah, it's gone up uh 13 more covers.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Um but at the same time, if it's boosting sales, if it's boosting everybody's books.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Yeah. I mean, it it allows it allows for people to have their own customization, you know, like they can get what they want. Um it does bring problems, which we will talk about because there has been some problems uncovering, which we sort of briefly mentioned, but now we know that it was a problem. We didn't realize when we talked about it before with a variant.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

Um But it is it's really crazy. And because I've talked to a lot of comic book uh store, like comic book shop owners, and they're they're all saying, like, hey, you know, absolute Batman is bringing people in. They're coming in looking for absolute Batman, but then they're also seeing this, and they're also seeing this, and they're like, Well, what's this book, or what's this going on? And they're not just getting absolute Batman, they're getting multiple issues of all sorts of things. Right. Um I haven't heard that they're getting Marvel stuff. But maybe, maybe, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

But I'm sure you know, I think this is something that we kind of talked about. The movies is what Marvel is hoping to bring people in. Right. That's why they connect everything back to the MCU. Yeah. What DC's doing with Absolute Batman is they're wanting the comics to draw people in.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

And the movies can follow whatever, they don't really care, but they care about the comics. Yes. Let the let the comics pull people in. And I think that's exactly what's happening.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Yeah, and that's and that's that's great. You know, being f living in a century where like everything has been based on the movies for the last like twenty years. Well, uh like uh more like eight years, ten, fifteen years.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

I feel like it's been longer than that. Maybe like they've been doing that since like Iron Man One.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

You know, maybe yeah, no, I uh yeah, maybe since Iron Man One. But where we live in a world where everything has been based on the movies, it's it's the comics is the the that's the original story, right? That's the original spot of lore that you should be driving to. Right. And the fact that absolute Batman and well DC in general is allowing that to happen, that just That's a testament to their storytelling ability. Yeah, and it's a testament to their their pride in their comics and their pride to the industry. You know, like they they care about this that they're not gonna let it die. Right. Which I hope that would spread to other companies.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Yeah, hope so.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Um but yeah, that's really exciting.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Yeah, it's uh it's awesome to see. So, real quick, I'm gonna change the subject. What are you getting signed by Scott Snyder today?

SPEAKER_02 6:28

So I'm getting um I bought my copy of Absolute Batman number one. It's a first printing. I got I think I bought it at a good time because I got it for 135. Yeah. One just sold in an auction at a 9-8 for$400. So the price is going up. Yeah. Um, but so I got mine at a good time. I'm getting that signed. I'm getting my second print signed. I have uh or no, sorry, my um issue two third print. Okay. It's the excuse me. It's the really cool blue cover where he's holding the battle axe and he's got the smoke at his feet. I'm getting the DCKO signed, which is the what I would consider the first appearance of Absolute Batman.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

That's a debate.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Fun fact you said that. CGC um does not give absolute Batman number one, it does not label it a first appearance for of Absolute Batman. Really?

SPEAKER_00 7:13

They consider the DCKO the first appearance?

SPEAKER_02 7:15

I don't know. I've not seen a graded copy of it. Okay. But Absolute Batman does not have any text on the label stating it's a first appearance or anything. It just says story by uh Scott Snyder, uh artist by Nick Dragata, and that's it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Interesting. Yeah. Huh. How did you know that?

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Because I always like to check, because it's like if I ever get a book graded, I want to see what it's gonna say. Right. Because I have um complete side tangent. Um I have a cut uh the issue of venom that is like the second appearance of virus. Okay. And it actually the CGC slab for it, which is this is the reason why I bought it, it says uh first released appearance due to COVID 19 intended on second release.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Yeah, so like I I love those little things that they say. So I always look for those when I'm buying a CGC or I'm planning on getting something graded, and Absolute Batman doesn't have anything. So I think that kind of takes me away from getting it graded. Sure. But um but I'm getting the DCKO signed. I don't know if it says that I need to- I should check. And then I'm stuck between Absolute Batman 19, the really cool uh Scarecrow cover where he's got his bat blades out of his ears and you can see Scarecrow's reflection, and also um uh the uh the Ark M cover with the young Joker on it. Because I actually finally found a copy of it for like 10 bucks and I bought it and I'm like, that's one of my favorite stories. Yeah, it's a really cool because you don't know it's Joker until after you read it. So um I'm stuck on those. I might just get them both. Screw it. I just'm gonna wait in line for three hours to meet this guy, like I might as well just do it. Right, right. What are you getting signed?

SPEAKER_00 8:45

So I'm getting absolute Batman 14 signed.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

And that is one of my favorite stories, one of my favorite it single issues, probably ever. Like I'm Wow. That's one of the ones I read, and and I just thought about it like all day. Yeah. All day, all week, all month, all year.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

Just I can't stop thinking about it. Yeah. Your wife's going into labor and you're just like, that fight was so awesome. Batman dropped the building on Bane, it's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

I am also getting um DC Dark Knights Metal Um Last Stories of the Multiverse. Um you had actually bought me this cover when it came out. Uh yeah, The Last Stories of the DC Universe. Uh it's the Gary Frank cover.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

It's a beautiful cover, and I really I really want you want to get it signed because it's the memory of you. Did I buy that for you? You bought it.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

I must have short-term memory loss, dude.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Because I'm like, bruh. Yeah, you bought you bought this for me for my birthday when it came out. And um so I really awesome cover. Uh yeah. I really just wanted to kind of cherish it and and make it more mean even more to me that we get it signed together.

SPEAKER_03 9:47

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

And then I'm also gonna get DC Death Metal The Secret Origins. It is the return of Superboy Prime. Okay. So uh that's what I'll also get signed today. So um it was really cool. Um I I'd love to have all the creators from these books sign it, but uh one at a time, right? Hey, start with one.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Yeah, start with Scott Snyder. You're getting the big one off the list first. Just start with one. Just start with one, yeah. It's like a potato chip. You can't just have one, you know. But yeah, so I'm I'm really excited. I'm really excited to do this with you. This is gonna be fun. Even if we don't make it through, we're we're in line behind a building. Um I compared this to like a uh a drug dealing convention, is like because it's just we're in a shady alleyway, and it's just like you know, the bathroom's like right there by the dumpster.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Yeah, you're right. Uh but the but this is awesome for Comics Exchange to do this. This is really neat to meet um Scott Snyder, you know, because he he's we were talking about this just a moment ago. He might be we were really surprised because we're looking at the line and like he's not even that big, but then we're like, I don't know, he might be the biggest writer in comics right now.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

He has to be. I think because of the success of Absolute Batman, because also, you know, absolute Batman is really driving a lot of new fans. Right, you know, and new fans are gonna want to meet their their writer, right? You know what I mean? Like getting to meet a writer or an artist for the first time is one of the most amazing feelings because it's like, whoa, this is so cool.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

You know, I always have the problem every time we've met somebody big, it's like when you you're thinking about it the whole time, you're waiting in line, you're like, oh man, this is gonna be so awesome. What am I gonna say? Yeah, and then you finally get up there and you're like, hi.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

I I remember when I met Donnie Cates, I just started like vomiting guru on the I was just like, I love your books, like this is the best thing in the world. And he he talked to me a little bit, but when like when I met Todd McFarlane, I was just like, Thank you for venom. Yeah, that's all I said. And I wanted to ask him about like a show that he did a while back, but I I didn't because I was just I was just like oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

When I when I meet Scott Snyder, I'm gonna tell him that I'm I've got Hash Man Castro waiting in the car if he wants to come over and record an episode.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

We're we're you don't have a joint. You have to come with us. Please, Scott. Tell me tell me tell me where Joker's gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Um I do plan on asking him. Uh like um we we're gonna we're gonna ask him a question. The one question I want to ask him is like when are we gonna get to learn more about absolute joker? Yeah, um, because I'm I'm dying to know more about him. Right. Like I wanna like and we're supposed I what the next issue or the next two weeks. We're supposed to see something soon. Yeah, when we're they're supposed to meet for the first time. Yeah. So it's it's exciting, you know? Like, and this is weird. I'm not I've never been to a Batman signing before. Yeah. And you actually you asked me the question. You said, Do you think all these people are here for Scott Snyder or for Batman?

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

And that's a really that's a really good question. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

I I I don't know either, because Batman is a big I mean he's the biggest comic book character, right? Like I think everybody Yeah, he's definitely everybody instantly recognizes Batman. He may not be like my favorite or anything, but like I definitely think like I don't know, I think it it's kind of neat to see.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

If there was a if there was a Mount Rushmore of comic characters, Batman would be on it. He has to be on that. Yeah, he has to be on it. Yeah. Who would be the Mount Rushmore of comic characters? Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, and Green Lantern. Kidding.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

I don't know. Who would who would be? I've seen somebody I actually funny enough, I saw a post this morning that had to be. Captain America? It could be, but I don't feel like he's as recognizable as those those other three. Yeah. So um I feel like it I don't know. I saw a post earlier this morning that had Wonder Woman on it. She could be. Maybe, yeah. Um I don't know. I don't I really don't know though.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Who who would you say? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Superman, I'd say Superman, Spider-Man, Batman.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

For sure. If this was the early 2000s, I'd say Hulk.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

Hulk, Iron Man, maybe. Yeah. Because I remember Spider-Man, Hulk, and Iron Man were like the faces of Marvel for a while.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

And now it's Iron Man Thor in Captain America.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Really? Yeah, yeah, I guess so. For Marvel. You think they top Spider-Man?

SPEAKER_00 13:45

I I think, well, I would say I don't know. I would say Spider-Man's up there, but uh that's what Marvel tries to push as their face.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Uh as those big three.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Um especially in the MCU, particularly in the MCU.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Yeah, no, I get it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Uh I don't know who would be up there as well.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Um Leave a comment and tell us who you think would be the fourth one. Um Wolverine, maybe? Maybe. Maybe an X-Men, yeah. Uh I can see Wolverine. I I I'd say big wheel. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Or chair or whatever. Yeah, Al Ewing's favorite villain, chairman, from the Twinkies ad. Damn you, Al Ewing.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Um is this gonna turn into another Alan? No, no, no, I'm not gonna let it do that. I can't. I have to hold it back, hold it back.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

I already did it in the car almost all the way here. Yeah. Like I started reading you comments, I was like, stupid clicking jump, and I started tweaking in the back of the Gabriella's like scared of watching. She's like, oh my gosh. Um there was um uh I know kind of backtracking to a previous thing we were talking about, um, the variant covers for absolute bacon. So there was actually um remember a couple episodes we were talking about one of the variant covers dropping for like immediately for 400 to 600. Um, we know why. Okay. So the company who released that, now again, I could be wrong. This is just like, you know, um speculation. I heard, yeah, like, you know, he said that. You know, like you know, they say, you know, like they said that. Who's they? Them. You know, the them. Um so he um it came out that this book um was sold at retail. It retailed for$25 on the website, right? It sold, they they didn't list them all. There was like I think 2,000 copies of it. Okay. They listed maybe 50, 40, like 20 to 50 copies. They sold out immediately for retail. Okay. They didn't list any more. People started putting up like resales of them for like like hundreds of dollars, like hundred, two hundred dollars. Yeah. So what they did is they took the rest of them. I think they I don't even think they've released all of them. I think they've just released a a like a sp small pile of them.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

And they took them to whatnot and they started a bid war with them. So all of the issues that are out in the wild that are selling for so much is because they it became a bid war. So people went from paying twenty-five dollars to a hundred dollars to thousand like one sold for fifteen hundred dollars in a in a whatnot bid.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

And this isn't even like original art.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

No, this is just a variant cover that I mean it's a it's a cool cover, yeah. It's a great cover, but it like uh also um it gets a stamp. Yeah. The artist signs it and he would stamp it with like their website stamp. So I guess that's also, but they're considering it to be a luxury art piece rather than a comic book collectible item, which is it which is kind of sucky, you know, especially with a variant cover um that's not like an actual painted like if it's the real painting, sure, that's an art piece. Right, right, right. The fact that it's just a variant cover on a book, it's not. Right. So, you know, like I don't know, what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 16:44

I don't I don't know. I mean, if it was an ar so comics forever since Jack Kirby's been since Jack Kirby did comics, um the original art piece is what sells. Yeah, you know, for sure. And and so that's what makes the money, that's what goes for big, but not the comic.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

And so I'm not saying comics aren't a piece of art or anything like that, but I think it's a different type of art. Yeah. It's not even like the full original piece, it's just something that original that you're you're basically buying because of speculation, because of interest, you know. And and that's really all you're that's what's driving that sale, that market manipulation.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

It's it's not the fact that it it is a piece of art. It's yeah, it's I gotta have this. There's an there's an exclusive amount of these.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

I've gotta have this.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

It's limited edition. It's exclusive.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

That's yeah. Nobody else will have uh I'll be one of two thousand people who have this. And it's just that that club of exclusivity.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Uh more than anything like that. Yeah. More than anything of of uh actually caring.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

You know, it's like the it's like that person who sold the the banana with the duct tape. You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

You know, how much does that sell for an insane amount?

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Like two million, maybe? Yeah, yeah, it was a lot, but I can make the same art piece. Yeah, it's like the same thing though, yeah. You know, yeah. Um I don't know, it's it's just insane. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

It I don't know. I I heard I found out more about that and I was like, that's crazy. Because now like our comic book companies and comic book like websites, are they gonna start doing that stuff? Because the the problem is is that people still open their wallets for it. You know, they're still buying it, like they're not no one's stopping and going, wait, this is market manipulation, like we shouldn't be doing this. Because otherwise, like there's no I mean there's no reason to do it, right? There's no reason to collect if if it's they're just gonna release a set for you and they're gonna go, oh, we'll just bid the rest of them. So, you know, you if you want it, you've got to spend all this money because it's becoming an auction. Right. And you shouldn't do that with a a variant cover.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Right. Now it's one thing if you bought variant covers and you like collected your room with it or something. Yeah. You like you like decorated your room. Um I mean that's what what that's what I do still. I do it too. Um even though it's it's me and my wife's bedroom, it's right. I still have a comic wall. And so like that's that's one thing. But if you're gonna spend that much money, like at that point I think it would almost be better if you just bought like the cover. Like it was just the cover, not even like the inside or anything. I think it's just the cover.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

I think at that point that's a little bit different, and especially if it was like a bigger piece or something. Yeah. And at that point you're seeing I mean it's nice because I feel like artists probably really want their pieces to be recognized. Yeah. That's probably what to be rare. Yeah, and to be rare. That's probably what artists desire. So um that's probably nice for them, but is it going to affect the market for like the everyday consumer like you and me?

SPEAKER_02 19:39

For sure. And I wonder, I wonder, you know, like how is that gonna because now all you have is you have people like Logan Paul going for it, and you have people like them buying it, being like, I bought this thing, like, you know, now it's worth even more.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

He's supposedly getting into comics, isn't he?

SPEAKER_02 19:54

So he he bought a um he bought the first appearance of Goku because he he appeared in a manga comic. Okay. Um manga manga, yeah, mank, sorry. Manga. You can tell I'm from Tennessee, can't you?

SPEAKER_00 20:07

You might get beat up for that.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

Yeah, I probably will. It's okay. One time I was walking with my dog, and I remember there were these kids outside playing, and they stopped me and they went, Hey, do you say manga or manga? And I went, uh I th I say manga, but I'm pretty sure it's pronounced manga. And they're like, See, I told you. Then they just got back to their argument while I kept on walking my dog.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Just started beating each other. They just yeah, just their secret Viltermacha training.

SPEAKER_02 20:33

Um but but yeah, like uh, you know, um, but he bought the the the manga comic book and I think he CGC'd it got a nine nine point eight. Yeah. Or he bought a nine point eight CGC copy and now that's the big thing. Gotcha. I don't think that necessarily hits comic books, but it's it's coming. It could be a good thing. He's looking in our direction. Right. You know, because now, again, as I mentioned before, you can't get a book CGC graded without if it's not a nine eight, then it ain't worth anything, which really sucks. You know, it sucks that that's the way it is. Um, one really cool, exciting thing, um, they did post on at for our comic book store here that we are waiting in line for, they posted a picture of some of their s uh silver age comics. Yes. One of them being an amazing fantasy 15.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

That is the first appearance of Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

That is the first appearance of Spider-Man. I would love to own that, Clayton.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

I would too, but uh, I think if I came home and gave up all of my life savings for an Amazing Fantasy 15 and we're about to have a baby this month.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

Yeah. Um But Clayton, it's an investment. Your baby will thank you.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Yeah, but my wife will not. My baby cannot physically harm me. My wife can. That's true. That's true. She could, I guess. The fear of a pregnant woman outweighs the fear of all things.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Yeah, like scarecrow thinks he's scary.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

The only thing scarier than a pregnant woman is God.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Yeah, yeah. God, then pregnant woman, then like clowns. Um But yeah, like so, you know, um I don't know. Yeah, so I just I think it's it's a little crazy. Um unfortunately that's I guess gonna be a new thing because it it it it sold. You know, it turned it turned I think uh 70 like a I think it turned like a like a big profit to uh like a couple hundred thousand dollar profit for the artist. So it definitely doubled what that person was getting. So now they're gonna do hopefully other places don't do that because that's that's not cool.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

I I could see some places like um I'm not gonna call out any specific website where I've bought comics before um just for the sake of I would like to continue to buy and not be like banned from their website.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Yeah, you still want to buy their stuff.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

But there's some retail exclusive there's some specific vendors, I think, online um who sell specific variants that I could see doing that.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

I could see that. Yeah, no, I could see the same thing. And that's that's what that's what I'm afraid of, you know. Um again, not saying that they will, but it's it's an option now. It's a it's it's definitely a topic of conversation on their sales statement.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Right. Right why would you not look at something that is making people money and say, Oh I I'm not gonna do that when I could make the money too. I just wonder why people are biting, you know, like that consumer, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:24

Like like and I guess it's it's it's FOMO, you know, for sure. You know, I would know. Yeah, hi Gabriella.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

So so there's a running joke between Paul and my wife, Gabriella, that Paul has FOMO. He is terrified of missing out. Yeah. Uh and it has been a running gag between them for quite some time.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

You know, and it's funny because this morning I I called you guys and I was like, I last night before I went to bed, I was like, oh my gosh. Because me and Clayton, this was gonna be me and him could doing this, and she had asked if she could come along. Right. And of course, we're not gonna say no to that ever. But I I she was like, because we we were supposed to leave at like uh four in the morning, and um she was like, That's insane. You like that's literally crazy. Like his FOMO was that bad. And I was like, Well, you're the one who's wanting to go with us, so are you missing, are you afraid of missing out on our adventure?

SPEAKER_00 24:13

But she is not currently with us, she's gone to meet a friend, but um that's why she wanted to tag on. But today has been a weird day, and and you know, adding to that, the fact that a bird just landed probably four feet from your foot was kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah, yeah, considering because like did I did I tell you what all happened today?

SPEAKER_00 24:32

No, you've not said every you said that we were late getting cured. Oh my gosh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

So my alarm didn't go off, right? I I set it to P.M. rather than a.m. And when stuff like that happens, you know, I'm like I I'm a religious person, so I'm like, oh, okay, well, like God is probably helping me, and I just don't realize it, right? Like there's there's something I'm missing, and I'm hoping it's not the Scott Snyder sign. Right, right. Um that was the first thing that happened.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Because that's FOMO.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

Yeah, that's FOMO. I don't want to miss that on that. Then the second thing that happened was I got in the car and I left and I called Clayton and I was like, hey, like, does do you guys want coffee? I'll go pick up coffee. And I went to Starbucks, um, got coffee.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

You did mention that you forgot your absolute Batman too. Yeah, yeah, no, that hadn't happened yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

I got I went through the line and their card reader wasn't turned on and it was gonna take like 10 minutes to turn it on. So they're like, you just take the food. Just take it. There you go for free. And I was like, well, that's really cool. Yeah. And I'm like, this is a weird day. I'm late and I got free or I got free food for Gabriella. And then as I'm driving again, that's when I I pulled over on the side of the interstate. I was like, because I was like, did I bring that? I was like, I brought that. I had to have. And I was like, well, I need to check just in case because if I don't like turn back now, I'm gonna really like this. Like, it was my absolute Batman number one that I was afraid that I forgot, which I bought specifically for this signing. And I pulled over on the side of the interstate, I looked in my bag and I was like, oh my gosh. And um I turned around and drove back. Luckily, my girlfriend was still awake. Um, she actually um she was like, I'm I'm actually up. Um let me let me meet you halfway. So she met me and and gave it to me, and she hit a skunk, and her car smell like skunk. Um, and then I I I met you guys and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

So it was a weird morning for us too because we got up early and Gayrella said, Hey, will you fill up my water bottle? And I said, Sure. Well, I looked all around the apartment, couldn't find it. And finally, uh I'm like, Well, she left it in her car, so I go out to our garage and it's in the in her car, and I look up and it looks at me. There is a possum in our garage and it is staring at me and trying to sneak away. And and it was just, yeah, that's literally what I said, because we have a cat. And I was like, that's a weird-looking cat.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And it was like You're like, I'm gonna pet it. I'm gonna pick this up. Scott Snyder, will you sign my possum?

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Oh the possum has been freed.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Humanely. He ran back into the woods. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Because you you had told me on the phone you were like, yeah, I was really afraid you were gonna pull in while like Gabriella's dad is standing there with a gun, yeah, pointing it at the possum, and you're like, what is happening? Honestly, I'd probably be like, oh, whoa, whoa!

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Like, Clay, he's gonna kill me. But but no, uh how many people do you think has come back in line while we've been talking?

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Honestly, in we've been recording for 27 minutes. Um, we've probably had an additional 25 to 30, maybe 50 people.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

This is crazy, man.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

Just keep they they keep coming. People keep coming, they've got they've got chairs. There's people, the people who are in front of the store have tents. They stationed here. They a lot of people pulled up here to 4 o'clock yesterday.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

Um today is Saturday. So Saturday, free comic book day. Uh Friday at 4 p.m. So they've been here for over 12 hours. That's insane. Which is literally crazy.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Um there's actually that speaks to how good this book is. Yeah, that that speaks to the the you know again, like we've reiterated on the show before. If you are not reading any comics right now, the one comic you need to read is absolute Batman.

SPEAKER_02 27:52

Yes, it is, it is, you don't have to read any comics to you don't have to know anything about Batman to get into it. It is a you can just go in dry and you know, again, I'm not a big DC person. Right, right. And this is my favorite book of the last probably like long time. You know, like all the books that I have live liked in the past six years, this has trumped all of those. So, you know, like if you're not picking this book up, pick it up. Like, really, like, and if you don't like it, then then you know, get the trades. There they are reprinting it, there are constant reprints coming out. There are trades, they are reprinting the trades at high volumes because they are all selling. So um getting a first print is gonna be hard, it's gonna be expensive getting first prints. But if you want to just get a trade to read or you want to just get some second prints, do it. They're very easy to get a hold of, they're very they're not expensive. Um the the actual reprints are selling for um cover price. Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

So they're not going for the fours to six hundred dollars that we were talking about just now.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

Yeah, so if you don't want to be stupid like me and buy an absolute Batman number one for$135 now,$400, because that's what it's selling for, um, get your reprint. Yeah. Yeah. Even the reprints are selling. I actually uh the seventh printing, which was my first copy that I bought, yeah, I bought it just because it was high, it was getting big, and I was like, uh, I'll just get one and see if I like it.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

We were both like, buy it, buy it, buy it. You're like, ah, I just don't know, I'm not a big DC fan. I'm like, buy it, buy it. No, no, no, no, I bought this before that. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Yeah, I just I just that he had a copy behind the counter. I was like, let me get one. Yes, let me get it. And I just I never read it. I just got it just I guess to have. Right. And um that printing is like a$80 printing. Dang. It's great. It's weird. It's so weird. So like your printings could be worth something, but don't don't click unless, you know. Right. You know, if you're gonna if you're gonna collect for value, then just go ahead and get the first prints.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 29:32

Yeah. But well, yes, so we've got we've got what time is it, Clayton?

SPEAKER_00 29:36

It is 8 30, 8 40 in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 29:38

8 40 in the morning.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

So we've got the signing does not start till 10.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

Yeah, so we've got about an hour. About an hour and 20 minutes. So um hopefully I I I'd like to find me a spot to pee because I'm dying over here.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Well, hey, that dumpster. Hey! We'll climb inside. You'll have to climb inside this time.

SPEAKER_02 29:53

Let me bring the mic with me. Um thank you guys so much for listening to this short episode of uh Beyond the Pool list. You can find us on everywhere you we have podcasts and tune in.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Follow us on Instagram, that's Comic Nation1776.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

Yep. And um follow us on Instagram and um thank you for listening. You got anything you want to say else?

SPEAKER_00 30:09

That's all.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

All right.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

My name's Clayton.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

My name's Paul, and you've been listening to Beyond the Pool.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Beyond the Pool List.