Sluggo Saturday #68.
THE SACK OF SLUGGO
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Here is what I found in my parking space behind the shop yesterday morning.
Not sure who did it…my name is spelled correctly, so that rules Employee Aaron out.
Also, minor correction to my headline here…this is actually the space to the left of my normal parking space, and you can see part of my truck on the right hand side of the picture, there.
…Yes, this is really what I’m posting today. Sorry, been a bit occupied with some some other things I need to deal with. Normal service should resume tomorrow, with any luck.
I’m joking about the “young man’s game” thing.
Neil the Horse is one of those series I’d been meaning to acquire for a while now, having somehow missed it during its original 1980s run. However, we never had more than a few issues at the shop, and didn’t feel like trying to track down the missing ones because I’m old and tired and back issue hunting is a young man’s game. But when a full run of Neil popped up on the eBay (and pictured above with the image from the actual auction) for an opening bid of ninety-nine cents…well, that was hard to resist. And I ended up winning the lot with that opening bid.
True, the shipping cost is seven and a half bucks, apparently for parcel post, which is…well, I’ll let this old post of mine explain, but even so that’s still a full run of Neil the Horse for under ten bucks, and therefore I won’t gripe too much.
There are other indie series from the early-to-mid ’80s that I missed that the store doesn’t have and I’m seriously thinking about picking up for cheap via the eBay, because clearly I don’t have enough comics already. And I’m still looking for the elusive Yummy Fur #9, which (if I recall correctly) was one of the issues of the series not carried by Diamond, making it a bit of a rare item. Well, sure, I at least have the lead story reprinted in one of the Ed the Happy Clown trade paperbacks, but the knowledge that I have issues #1 through #8 and #10 through #32 weighs upon me in a way that only fellow obsessive-compulsive funnybook readers can understand.
And by the way, I didn’t say anything about it at the time…but as only vaguely implied in that how to ship comics post, I’d bought a run of Minx on eBay, which is an eight issue series, and the seller wanted to charge me twelve bucks to ship ’em. Twelve. Dollars. That’s crazy talk, and I told him so. He eventually saw reason, but I guess that was my fault for not nailing down shipping ahead of my bidding.
Odds & Ends.
- To you folks out there who 1) visit my site directly instead of just pulling the RSS feed, and 2) use some form of Internet Explorer, I apologize for the font size problem yesterday. I had an HTML tag that I didn’t close, and I didn’t notice since I’m on Firefox and that seems to correct for display errors like that, but apparently the problem caused IE, at least in some cases, to go haywire.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure it’s fixed now.
- I was discussing late comics with some pals the other day, because that’s the kind of thing I do after I get a couple of drinks* in me, and the topic of Batman: Widening Gyre popped up. So I went through the records, and here are the dates of release (well, actually, the date the invoices were generated, with the comic coming out the following Wednesday):
#1 – 8/23
#2 – 9/26/09
#3 – 10/31/09
#4 – 1/9/10
#5 – 3/6/10
#6 – 7/24/10
So, eleven months or thereabouts, which averages out to about bimonthly, if one were to be charitable. Also noticed that this time around, I didn’t get the parade of complaints demanding the next issue during that extended delay between 5 and 6. Perhaps the reason is that, if one were again charitable, customers finally have learned to expect some comics to ship late.
Hmm. When Batman and Robin is only a week late, I never hear the end of it. Funny.
- So I was looking at Scott McCloud’s site, and he snapped a pic of some cosplayers he spotted while at the theatre to see Scott Pilgrim…and lo and behold, at the bottom center of the pic, with the green hair and baseball bat, is pal Dana, she of cookies, cakes, and holiday cards. I guess she’s dressed as, I don’t know, Matilda or something. Hey, I didn’t read this “Scoot Pogom” comic.
Anyway, our little pal Dana is moving away and going off to big person’s school up north at the end of the week, so she’s just going to have to mail us cookies and cupcakes from now on. She’s not getting away that easily. But good luck, Dana! We’ll miss having you around, but we’ll still be able to annoy you via the Internet! Thank God for technology!
- Reader JB sends along this link to a convention sketch of Swamp Thing by Bill Sienkiewicz. Pretty darn cool.
- I don’t even have the words for Andrew’s latest Nobody’s Favorites. It’s a little outside the realm of comics, but Andrew wouldn’t break the format if it wasn’t for good reason.
- Do nerds ruin everything? YOU MAKE THE CALL. (In this case, yes, but I’d totally buy one of these.)
- James Marsters is returning to Smallville for that show’s 200th episode, but not reprising his role as Brainiac. He’s coming back as Legion of Super-Heroes member Brainiac 5. This is…actually pretty clever, I think. Plus, maybe we’ll get him slathered in green body paint which, it goes without saying, is a fetish for someone, surely.
* Diet Cokes, mostly.
Oh, right, this is a comics blog.
This is the second week in a row where our weekly funnybook shipment from Diamond is smaller than normal, which means we’re probably due for a week sometime soon where Marvel releases three-quarters of their books. However, even with the smaller shipment, we’re still getting four different Avengers titles, which is, you know, something.
Also something is the release this week of Image United #3, only eight months after #2, and six months after the #0 special. This surprises no one, I’m sure, particularly given the number of different Image founder cats that are needed to be herded into providing art for the project. I have no idea if that actually is the reason for the delay, but I’d imagine that’s a pretty good guess.
Ending this week is Ex Machina with issue #50, which has been an interesting and enjoyable series, and, I don’t know, it sort of seems like after making a big splash when it first appeared (in part because it was one of the earliest examples of comics using the events of 9/11 in a compelling/alternate history/non-exploitative way), it remained flying under the radar ever since. Not a big seller, but a consistent one, and the trade collections go through spurts of movement at the shop. Even so, it’s still one of the few non-Authority Wildstorm properties to have any customer interest at our shop, and I’m sorry to see it go.
Another title ending this week, also at issue #50, is Star Wars: Legacy, the “future history” series taking place a century or so after all that Expanded Universe SW stuff with Old Luke, Old Han, Old Leia, etc. Now, I tried to give this series a chance, but my interest only piqued when references to and/or characters from Episodes IV-VI popped up, like the alleged Force ghost of Luke, or a certain droid of our acquaintance. I just couldn’t get interested in Cade Skywalker and his other space pals. Now, that shouldn’t be taken as a slam on the comic…it’s me, baby, not you, as my continuing interest in Star Wars seems mainly restricted to the ongoing adventures of, well, Old Luke et al. The comic remained a strong seller for us throughout its lifespan, as did the trades when, um, they were in print, and frankly I’m a little surprised it’s going away. Well, not entirely going away, since a new mini-series, with its new order-grabbing “#1,” is coming soon…but I’d have preferred the series continuing instead of giving current readers a convenient stopping point.
Also of note:
- Hellblazer #270 – Nearly 300 issues of this. Hard to believe. At last for us, this is one of DC’s low-range sellers…not quite to the point of the Red Circle material or Magog, but more along the lines of, say, R.E.B.E.L.S. Subsidized by trade paperback sales, I suppose, and the fact that this, and the Fables franchise, are now the flagship periodicals for the Vertigo line.
- Honey West #1 – Gonna be hard to top this cover, but seriously…this seems like an odd license to acquire, even though the team actually producing the book (Trina Robbins and Cynthia Martin) is a good one. Are there enough Honey West fans out there willing to buy the comic to justify the cost of the license, versus just putting Robbins and Martin on their own brand new female private detective series? Then again, “Honey West” is one of the greatest fictional character names of all time, so I can see the appeal.
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Director’s Cut #1 – In case you didn’t get your hands on the first four printings of the first issue.
- Tiny Titans #31 – So this kids’ book gets some grief in that some of the gags require specific continuity knowledge of the regular teen-and-adult-oriented DC Universe. My feeling on the topic, which I’m sure you’re dying to know, is this: 1) the sheer cuteness of the book helps sell the gags, even if the target audience doesn’t “get” the context, and 2) I remember, as a young Mikester, watching WWII-era Warner Brothers cartoons with gags specific to that period (“TURN OUT THAT LIGHT!”) and still thinking it was funny even if I didn’t fully understand why it was so important for that light to be out. Okay, maybe not the best analogy, but it’s fine if there are jokes that go over kids’ heads once in a while. Keeps them wondering. It’s good for ’em.
- Darkwing Duck #3 – Fully approved by fans of Darkwing Duck! Especially those two very excitable gals who come in every time a new issue is released and, prior to purchase, flip through the comic next to the register and loudly read to each other their favorite bits, giggling and laughing and generally carrying on and making a ruckus. THANKS IAN.
But honestly, congrats to pal Ian for the success he’s had writing Darkwing Duck. I’m teasing a bit above, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen people get quite that excited over a comic. I’m very proud of you, buddy.
- …But the best thing coming out this week:
YES.
What I did on Saturday.
Once again I was was one of the…objectives, I suppose, for the annual scavenger hunt held by local art studio Eighty Six.
In the packet each team of scavenging hunters received, along with, of course, the list of items they needed to seek out, or shenanigans they needed to record themselves doing, they received a copy of this grade school activity sheet:
And they needed to obtain a packet of precut photos, taken mostly from old metal magazines, to glue into the bus’s windows. A typical selection looked like this:
Okay, there was the occasional “ringer” in there, but frankly, Betty White is pretty metal in her own way.
Where I come in is how the hunters were supposed to obtain the pack. They were to come to our store, approach me, say “the secret password is ‘King Neil Diamond Dave Mustaine,'” and then wink at me. At that point I’d hand them the packet of pics.
Now, this sounds like it’d be a day full of interruptions and distractions, but it all went fairly smoothly, and frankly it was such a laugh that I didn’t mind losing a wee bit o’worktime over it. And one reason it was funny was that about half of the hunters who came into the store forgot the winking part, and I wasn’t going to give up the picture pack until they made with the winking. They’d say the password, and I’d just kinda stand there, looking at them expectantly, as the realization would dawn upon them that they did something wrong. They’d eventually figure it out, usually by immediately sticking their nose into their list and rereading the instructions to see what they missed, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t gain some amusement from their brief confusion and discomfort.
I’m a horrible human being, I realize.
And now, details from Jim Starlin’s cover to Marvel Universe: The End #1 (May, 2003).
“Hi! I’m Puck, from Alpha Flight! I’m really angry! GRRRR!”
“Hi, gang! It’s me, Hellcat! I’m way back here! Hello!”
“…”
“I’m Gladiator, from the Imperial Guard. I don’t know about this longhair in the goggles standing
in my way, here. Why he can’t have a nice, respectable space-mohawk, I have no idea.”
Mike is taking the day off…
…after going to the County Fair last night, and boy, are my arms tired…or, er, something like that. Anyway, pretty wiped out, and Mike no think good, so I’m taking a pass today.
But I did want to mention that one of things at our fair is a building filled with displayed collections. Disneyana, model railroad stuff, toy cars, even a Twilight display, and here’s half of the Doctor Who display:
My “favorite,” he said with a couple of sarcasti-quotes, is probably the collection that consisted entirely of about ten Mad magazines dating from the 1970s, kinda stacked up, kinda spread haphazardly across one shelf in a glass case. Best part: got a third place ribbon.
