In Which snell Gets Cranky Over A Comic Promotion He's Not Even Participating In

You know, they don't make mail-in offers they way they used to...

This is the "rules" half of the mail-in coupon in this week's Harbinger Renegade #1.

If you mail in the four coupons--one from each of the 1st four issues of Harbinger Renegade--you get a copy of Harbinger Wars 2 #0!! What a deal, right?

Hang on.

First of all, you have to mutilate your copies of the comics. OK, OK, it's on a separate insert that's bound to the staple. But, you know as well as I do that that folks grading the comics will be looking to see if that insert is intact, if you want to get a good grade on the book.

Still, minor detail, right? Just send in 4 coupons, get a free comic.

Not so fast.

They'll send you the comic, all right--for a $10 "shipping and handling" fee. TEN DOLLARS. And it's gotta be by snail mail, so no plastic--cash or check only!! (Kids, ask me, I can explain to you what "checks" are.)

Well, TEN DOLLARS is pretty ridiculous s & h fee. But the beauty part is, it won't ship until December 31, 2017. 

Assuming Renegades makes schedules, that means you're sending Valiant $10 in February...for a comics you won't get for at least 10 months. (They only guarantee that it will "ship by" 12/31/17...given 4th class mail and the holiday season, don't take any bets on when the comic actually arrives in your mailbox.) They'll sit on your money (and whatever feeble interest it might earn) for more than 3/4 of a year.

Still, it's an investment, right? Obviously, Harbinger Wars 2 #0 will have very limited quantities in circulation--a collectors item!! Big bucks!!

Sorry to stop you again.

But did you look at the fine print?? Despite the fact that you're giving Valiant TEN DOLLARS for "shipping and handling," they "assume no responsibility for damages or loss incurred in transit." Yup, you're paying TEN DOLLARS for shipping and handling, but hey, if it gets damaged in the shipping or handling, well, your loss.

To summarize: if you despoil 4 of your comics, and send in the coupons, and send them 10 bucks, Valiant will sit on your money for almost a year, and then mail you an "exclusive" comic (which will likely be reprinted for FCBD 2018 anyway!), which they won't even guarantee arrives in good condition.

Helluva deal there.