Mike loses his mind, part #2084 in a series.

§ December 16th, 2007 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Mike loses his mind, part #2084 in a series.

  • Pal Dorian told me at the shop on Saturday that some of the chain bookstores he’s visited recently have plenty of copies of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier in stock, warming the shelves and marked down in price. Several were unshrinkwrapped, missing the 3-D glasses.

    In the meantime, we poor comick shoppes have to wait for the 2nd printing, due out after Christmas.

    Dor also told me he saw plenty of copies of the Stephen King’s Dark Tower collection floating around. Didn’t see any copies of the Heroes hardcover, though.

  • Uncle Scrooge #370 and Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #685 were the most recent issues released by Gemstone, on the stands back in late September. Three months on, there’s still no sign of the following issues (including a Christmas special). A quick Googling turns up this discussion on the matter (which also links to a Disney-specific comics board), where there are mentions of “printing problems” causing delays.

    I don’t remember reading anything official from Diamond on the matter, though it’s possible there was something in the weekly distributor newsletter and I just don’t recall seeing it. (Not surprising, since I invariably try to glance at it on New Comics Day, which isn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.)

    I also saw some discussion of Gemstone losing sales by not having inexpensive comics for kids to pick up, which ignores the facts that 1) Gemstone had inexpensive comics which kids didn’t want (or just plain couldn’t find, given the frequency of comic shops bothering to order Disney, coupled with the frequency of kids actually going into comic shops), and 2) Gemstone’s $6.99 (now $7.50) comics aren’t too expensive for kids, since they’re buying mass quantities of, say, Naruto at $7.95 a pop…if they wanted Disney comics, they’d buy ’em.

    Sadly, comics with the traditional Disney characters are primarily bought by guys my age or older, and the book kids did buy with the newest Disney characters (Disney Adventures) is cancelled.

    I’m speaking in general terms, of course…I know some kids somewhere bought Disney books. We sold a few Disneys to kids here and there, and I have a young lady currently buying back issues of Mickey Mouse at our shop. But, I fear for the most part that the final, miniscule storytelling aspects of Mickey, Donald, and the rest are fading away at last, forgotten by newer generations, and they’ll only be remembered as characters in video games and as corporate mascots.

    Well, in the U.S., at least. I understand the Disney books still do quite well internationally.

  • Does anyone out there like Ultimates 3 #1? None of my customers like it, and in my admittedly limited casting about the comics interwebs over the last few days, I don’ t see anyone out there liking it either. Even the online guys who bend over backwards to cut Marvel enormous amounts of slack don’t like it.

    I haven’t read it, myself. I looked inside the first issue, thought the art looked like someone spilled coffee on the pages, and put it back on the shelf. Oh, well. At least it’s only five issues long.

  • And, I swear, if Jeph Loeb manages to screw up a Hulk comic drawn by Ed McGuinness, I’m gonna be steamed. McGuinness drawing the Hulk = Good. Loeb typing the words = I’m not holding out much hope.

    Sorry, I’m being cranky. ‘Tis the season and all.

  • Hey, here’s stuff I liked recently:

    Popeye Vol. 2: Well Blow Me Down – an absolutely gorgeous reprinting of the classic E.C. Segar strips…it’s kinda sad when you reach the point former Thimble Theatre star Harold Hamgravy is shuffled off the strip into comics obscurity for all time, in favor of the one-eyed sailor man.

    Batlash #1 – Sergio Aragones (with Peter Brandvold) and John Severin on a Western? There’s no possible way this could have been bad.

    Green Lantern #25 – a rollicking round-up to the Sinestro Corps War storyline…I’ve always liked Green Lantern, Sinestro was always one of my favorite super-villains, and the set-up at the end of the book for future storylines has captured my interest. When this relaunched GL title began, I was sorta indifferent to it, but this storyline instilled the book with new life, turning it into one of my favorite superhero books.

    Captain Carrot and the Final Ark #3 – apparently the ending of this mini ticked off some people. I found it funny, sad, and intriguing all at once. The likelihood of this ever being followed up is nil, but it’s an interesting way to end the series.

    Fall of Cthulhu #8 – I tend to be a sucker for Lovecraftian stuff anyway, and most of Boom! Studios’ Cthulhu output has been entertaining. This current storyline, where the entities are taking more direct (if still covert) action in the “real” world, has been compelling reading.

  • I was packing up some mail order at the shop the other day, and I started singing to myself as I was doing it. In short order I’d created the beginnings of “Priority Mail: The Musical.” Employee Aaron suggested I needed pal Dorian as a counterpoint to me in the song, so it’d go something like this:

    “This will fit in the flat rate box.”

    “NO, IT WON’T FIT IN THE FLAT RATE BOX.”

    “I will ship for the flat rate fee.”

    “THERE’LL BE NO SUCH THING FOR THEE.”

    Boy, as a lyricist, I make a good comics blogger.

    Good God, I need a vacation.

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