Numb3rs (TV Series) Graphic (2007) User Reviews

The meaning of "ashcan"

[bobbuethe-29666 · 8/10 · 17 July 2020]

As a long time comic book fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and all the comic references it included.

In rebuttal to some of the other comments here, it was stated at the start of the episode that the stolen comic book was an "ashcan edition." An ashcan is an unfinished draft of a new comic book, printed in black and white, for the purpose of securing a trademark before the book is complete. Ashcan editions are printed in very small quantities (sometimes on a photocopier) and not sold to the public. They are among the rarest of collectibles. Some famous ashcans are Thrill Comics #1 from Fawcett, and Double Action Comics #1 and Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #1 & #2 from DC. Feel free to Google them.

That said, I do admit that I didn't understand the reason that the criminal drew multiple forgeries of the comic instead of drawing just one and making copies. Maybe I missed something.

I Thought It Was Fun

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 8 May 2021]

I enjoyed the episode, even though some of the stuff went by me. The whole effort to get Christopher Lloyd's comic back to him seemed awfully risky. People die and that's the kicker. That will not be forgotten. There were some "last minute" heroics that are the stuff of B movies but overall, it wasn't bad.

The original comic book

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 12 May 2010]

There is a market for comic books in America, and probably all over the world. The only catch is that many of these books are never read because keeping them in mint condition will guarantee a good price down the line when the owner decides to sell it to the highest bidder. In a way, one wonders if the story itself is worth reading when the real value is how the book has been kept for posterity.

This episode explores the world of the comic book fans. As the show starts we are taken to a convention being held where a rare book by Ross Moore is stolen by armed bandits. During the heist at a crowded exhibit area, one man in shot dead. The FBI enters the picture. Seth Marlowe, an artist and dealer, has a lot at stake because Moore is his idol. In fact, Seth has been practically supporting the impoverished Moore, providing he and his wife not only food, but his undivided attention.

Charlie figures a formula which he thinks will work as twelve copies of Ross Moore's masterpiece will come to auction. He knows the fakes, will go to fans with reasonable bids, but the original will elicit the big money. Charlie and some of his colleagues attend the auction and he is lucky to catch the man he suspected.

A good chapter in this amazing series. Written by the creators of "Numb3rs", Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci, and directed by John Behring, the show is fun as we are introduced to the comic book mania. Ben Feldman plays the unctuous Seth Marlowe, a young man that knows the value of the different books. Christopher LLoyd makes an appearance as Ross Moore, the artist whose work is coveted, but who unfortunately, can hardly make ends meet with his creation. The regulars do their good job under Mr. Behring's direction.

This is a review for the reviewers

[jefft-74489 · 10/10 · 16 July 2018]

1. People who hate on this episode. Are seriously nitpicking. To the person who said that rareity of the comic book is based on time. A 1960 comic book can be more rare than a 1930. If there a more 1930 comic books than 1960 comic books then the 1960 comic book is more rare. The 1930 comic is older. But not more rare.

2. Why are y'all hating on Wil Wheaton. He's an excellent actor. Sure Wesley Crusher wasn't the best but every movie or TV show since then has been great.

3. There are so many great actors in this episode not only Wil Wheaton. But Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) and Joe Morton(Eureka).

This Is very well one of my favorite episodes. Stop nitpicking.

Great episode except..

[wkozak221 · 8/10 · 23 September 2020]

This is one of my favorite episodes. I love seeing Christopher Lloyd. Nice to see him. I can't understand why the comic isn't in color. Why black and white? Also, I am not a Joe Morton fan. Hate the hair.

Poor excuse for a script

[Cards_fan · 1/10 · 20 March 2011]

Badly written episode. It logically failed on every level. First off, the writers seem to think that each comic book is the original art. They are not. They are far removed from the original art. The original art is copied, inked, photographed and shrunk down, colored and printed. There would be no reason to forge the artwork. If one wanted to create a forgery, one would scan the original and reprint it, not redraw it. Why would you need to redraw it?

A comic from 1962 is supposed to be the rarest and most valuable? WTF? The rarest comic books are going to be from the 1930s, not the 1960s. Why was there only one in existence? Since the stupid premise of this episode was that a comic had to be redrawn to be reprinted and there was only one copy in existence, how did the forger redraw it if he didn't have that sole copy? Did this not occur to any of the producers of the show or do they not care.

What was the point of placing the stolen original comic in the auction? I'm assuming it was to explain how the original was acquired which seems pretty thin to me. The simple action would have been to send the original to the artist's wife anonymously after the artist's death. No explanation required. Going along with the auction premise, the real stupidity was placing the original in the auction for them to buy. Why? They already had the original. Buy a forgery and later you could claim the original was the one you bought at the auction. Again, it makes zero sense. It's just embarrassingly bad.

Incredibly stupid episode and easily the worst episode of the series. It's just stunning that nobody seems to notice or care how badly written it was. My best guess is that an existing script dealing with art forgeries was lazily adapted and changed to comic books to make it more unique. A lot of the lapses in logic could then be explained away. Just awful!

For the record, I have never used the word 'stupid' more in a review than I did for this one.

c'mon will weaton

[sandcrab277 · 1/10 · 23 June 2018]

Really pathetic episode ... and the fbi is still using glocks that can't hit a target 5 feet away ... give them machine guns with unlimited ammo please .... give me one round at any distance ... this episode is all about collector series comic books but the ones they used were never collector items ... the whole episode is bogus