That was more than one question, but I had joke answers so I’ll let it slide.
Let’s tackle another one of your questions! BRIAN, YOU’RE UP:
“1. What is your name?”
Michael Ricardo Anatoly Sterling.
“2. What is your quest?”
“3. What is your favorite color?”
“4. Probably something that you’ve discussed before, but I’ve missed it, but I’m curious how you go about sorting back issues in the age of constant reboots and New Number Ones (including volumes that slightly change the name on occasion and then change it back). Being a fellow child of age of long runs, where a title might have hundreds of issues to be put in the bin together, I’m curious how it’s done differently when major titles aren’t aiming at Major Anniversary Issues.”
I did go into some detail about this just under a year ago, when pal Cathy posed that question to me. The short answer is basically labeling new title dividers with names and dates to identify series (for example, “Venom [2018 series]”). That admittedly does make the back issue bins appear a bit cluttered, particularly since a lot of these series (especially at Marvel) tend to run short and get relaunched anyway, making for smaller sections, but that seems to be the best way to avoid confusion.
There are a handful of titles where I just haven’t separated out the newer series from the older series, partially from no huge demand (or simple lack of backstock) for a specific title, or not wanting to put yet another title divider on the table, or just sheer laziness. But on the whole, more information is better for customer awareness than less information, so I do try to properly I.D. everything.
Not everything gets its own title divider, of course. I do have, like, an “X-MEN MISC.” section for the piles of mutant mini-series or short-run titles…though sometimes something graduates to its own section. And sometimes if there’s a small run of something related to a longer running title, I might just put the smaller run in the back of the box of the main run…like putting Groo Chronicles in the back of the Groo the Wanderer section.
It can be a real…well, I don’t want to say “mess,” but it certainly is some work keeping on top of it.
ThomH dares to inquire
“I like it when you discuss old independent comics that I’ve never heard of (a la Jupiter most recently).
“Anything else you’ve read and enjoyed but maybe not talked up on the blog in a while (or at all)?
“I’d love to be pointed in the direction of something interesting, wacky, weird, or just plain awesome.
“Thanks!”
Oh, don’t thank me yet!
I suppose one old indie title I really liked that I’ve never really mentioned here is Ralph Snart Adventures by Marc Hansen.
It has a slightly convoluted publishing history involving multiple series…and going back to the previous question, at the previous place of employment I had them all filed in the same section with notations on the price tags as to which series was which. And, if you pulled up the title divider, I had written on body of the divider which issues comprised which volume of the series, as the price guides at the time had it all messed up. …Probably should’ve made sections for each series, but what can I tell you.
But the series itself…it’s kinda sorta an anthology title with our titular hero as the recurring character in a variety of wild, usually contradictory, adventures from issue to issue. The thread pulling everything together is that Snart has, well, been driven nuts by the pressures of life and is stuck in an asylum, while his brain generates strange and fantastic scenarios in which he may engage. The set-up is a little…well, the idea of “this guy is crazy and his crazy brain invents crazy stuff!” is perhaps not the most sensitive portrayal of mental health issues, but me describing it is probably worse than actually reading it in context. So blame me, not Mr. Hansen.
Anyway, the story functions on two levels…the internal fantasy life of Mr. Snart, and the “real world” shenanigans, mostly revolving around nefarious forces trying to harness the unusual imagination power of Snart’s brain…I seem to recall at least one cliffhanger where his brain has actually been removed from his body! Don’t worry, it gets put back (SPOILER).
If you can get around the set-up, the comics themselves are pretty funny, and Hansen has this great, lumpy cartooning style. It’s been a while since I’ve read ’em, and of course writing about it here makes me want to read them again. Like, you know, I have time. Ah, well, I still have them…didn’t give those up to my store when I opened it up!
If you do seek out Ralph Snart comics, keep in mind that there are some non-Hansen issues…The Lost Issues is all non-Hansen, so avoid. Also, the black and white Volume Two that ran 9 issues is reprinted in color in the first nine issues of the 26-issue long Volume Three. You can find previews of various issues here, along with some extensive descriptions that would probably give you a better idea about this series than my meandering typing here.
Okay, more questions answered next time, probably! Add more to the pile if you’d like!
I remember picking up random issues of Ralph Snart on the spinner rack back when NOW had a newsstand deal. Managed to buy the best issues, because I found when I (mostly) completed the run years later, it ran kind of hot and cold. But when it was good, it was golden.
The non-Hansen ones are awful, though.
By coincidence, I read your blog before I headed out to my local comic store, which had just set out a couple of longboxes with complete sets of old miniseries for $1…and I bought my first ever Ralph Snart comics thanks to your recommendation! (And I checked — they’re the real-deal Hansen ones, a three-issue series from NOW.)
Thanks for answering my question — and thanks for the recommendation!
…ditto!
Awww. I thought that was Berzerk at first glance.