Lowered ExSPECtations

So it's going to come as a surprise to nobody that there are certain corners of the internet that are toxic dumpster fires of misinformation and this holds doubly true for comic speculation.  With a premium however placed on access to information, minutes and sometimes seconds can make the difference before you have to shift your mentality from being a buyer to a seller.  Making matters worse are when some typically reputable sites and apps get caught up in the game of baseless rumors in an attempt to be 'first to print".  Things are further obfuscated when podcasts then report that certain books are heating up thus further fanning the flames.  

In order to make an informed decision, it's helpful to reverse-engineer exactly from where said information originated.  And it doesn't take a detective (deSPECtive?) to figure out that when you see one of the following sites in the mix that there will be a sentence buried deep in the story (or sometimes even in the header 😂) releasing themselves of responsibility by stating their 'news' is a rumor first reported from one of the other sites.  This takes place on a daily basis and  usually centers around either a character due to appear in a comic movie or an actor being linked to a role.  In fact, while I was reading this article I was able to check Twitter and pull up a rumor that happened within the last day.

  

Here are some of the most egregious perpetrators of what I like to call the "Human Centipede Spec Effect":

• We Got This Covered
• Cosmic Book News (not to be confused with the slightly less click-baity Comic Book News)
• EpicStream
• Showbiz Cheatsheet
• Heroic Hollywood
• Screenrant

Another example below from an even more hilarious rumor that started with a photo on Twitter of Dan Stevens with the Eternals cast. (Stevens is filming another project in the London area.)

The point here is that if you don't get caught up in the FOMO of it all, a simple Google search can save you from paying jacked up prices for baseless rumors.  Or even better you can find yourself tucking away a tidy profit on a book that was languishing away in your own long boxes from someone who was too lazy to do even a cursory check.