"…And when I return, I shall be a Cabin Man!"

Just so nobody gets the wrong idea about this post from a couple days ago:


…Cabin Boy is one of my all-time favorite films. Sheer, unmitigated brilliance, beginning to end. To not love this movie is to not love life, your fellow human, the glorious creation of God Himself.

And Russ Tamblyn’s in it, too.


A conversation I had with a customer yesterday:

Customer: “Hey, do you have that Serenity graphic novel in stock?”

Me: “No, I’m sorry, it’s been unavailable to us for a while now.”

Customer: “It just came out, didn’t it?”

Me: “Yeah, but this publisher has a history of not being able to supply books to comic shops while they’re in demand. Sin City, Hellboy…couldn’t get ’em while the movies were out and people were clamoring for them. We’ll probably be able to get Serenity again once Borders and Barnes & Noble don’t need them anymore.”

Customer: “This is some interesting industry.”

Me: “Man, you don’t know the half of it.”


Speaking of customers, apparently I missed a fellow who dropped by the store Friday morning (I was at the bar post office) while making the drive down to this weekend’s Wizard World convention. He had a want list all made out for the show…and he ended up finding nearly everything on that list at our store. And we didn’t even charge him admission.


Found on the eBay…how to sell your copy of the Atlas/Seaboard Scorpion #2:


Or how not to sell it, that is, since it didn’t get any bids. In the auction listing itself, an actual picture of the comic is available, but it’s just not the default one that shows up in searches and so on.

Because I’m a jerk, I’m going to quote from that auction listing too:

“THIS COMIC IS HARD TO FIND, VERY RARE.

THESE ARE UNDERGROUND LIKE NO OTHER,

THIS IS FOR THE SERIOUS COLLECTER WHO WANTS COMICS NO-ONE ELSE HAS.

FROM A REALIABLE SELLER AS WELL…ME…:)”

Well said.


Boing Boing takes a stand against Marvel and DC’s ownership of the term “superhero” (or “super-hero”):

“Here’s a proposal: from now on, let’s never use the term ‘super-hero’ to describe a Marvel character. […] Let’s reserve the term ‘super-hero’ exclusively to describe the heros [sic] of comics published by companies that aren’t crooked word-thieves.”


Something about Jack Kirby’s unpublished ideas being released by Marvel makes me uneasy, particularly given what Kirby went through in his later years. I know it’s from Marvel’s “creator owned” imprint, but somehow that just adds insult to injury.

(Remember what I said about what the name of Marvel’s “Icon” imprint should be?)


Thoughts that cross my mind when dealing with the store’s backstock: is there some small element of irony to the fact that Tekworld was effectively a vehicle for William Shatner’s Mary Sue character, given that the concept of “Mary Sue” either comes from, or was at the very least popularized by, Star Trek fan fiction?


DOOM deigns to respond to a certain Mr. D. Wright (or at least an amazing simulacrum), and somehow manages to drag me into it as well.

Ooh, you just wait…Wildcat, Swamp Thing, Aquaman, and Vibe are going to team up and kick your metal butt, Doom! I’m working on the fan-fic right now!*

* No, I’m not.

The second greatest movie of all time.*

I know I’ve brought it up before, but suddenly Snakes on a Plane-fever is running rampant on the internet again, and I gotta be a part of it.

The trailer is here, at the bottom of the page…will automatically start playing, so make sure your volume is turned up really loud, especially if you’re at work. I mean, what’s the boss gonna do? It’s Snakes on a Freakin’ Plane, for God’s sake.

* After Cabin Boy, of course.

Wow.

Totally stolen from Comics Worth Reading…a comic publisher does his best to make sure no one ever wants to help him with publicity ever again.

“And, Nat, I have news for you, buddy…You are the reason I’m independent…so I don’t have to listen to or put up with know-it-all’s like you! Actually, like most know-it-all’s, you only think you know it all…you don’t. I’m not ‘looking to work with any editors’…or publishers or any dimwitted know-it-all’s either, pal. Especially ones that can’t read. I’m an independent, underground artist.”

A Conversation with One Guy on a Weblog OR A New Model of the Comicsblogiverse.


Okay, his, shall we say, unusual scientific theories aside, Neal Adams is clearly very important to the comics industry, particularly in relation to creator’s rights. Any opportunity to tell people who may not have already heard about Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s travails as the creators of Superman, as Mr. Adams did on Coast to Coast AM, is one that needs to be taken.

Listening for the first 45 minutes or so as Mr. Adams discussed comics history, and his own personal history, was actually fairly interesting. He’s got a good radio voice, and he’s a natural storyteller (Skateman notwithstanding)…but listening to his comic talk while knowing his “new world model” is coming is like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Though, now that he’s talking about his theory (as I am currently typing this)…I still don’t buy it in the slightest, but he sure has a way of making it sound interesting.

However, I could have done without Neal and George (the show’s host) talking about how old comics are worth lots of money. I’m going to get an influx of fortune-seekers with coverless copies of Youngblood in store over the next few days because of this, I’m sure.

Somebody please put me out of my misery.

Today at work:

Employee Nathan: “Hey, who would win in a fight…Goku or Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet?”

Me: “What if Thanos took the Infinity Gems on said Gauntlet and used them to power lightsabers?”

EN: “How many gems are there?”

Me: “Six, I believe.”

EN: “Okay, one gem can each go into one lightsaber, and, um, the six-armed Spider-Man can wield one in each hand!”

And then the discussion began of what each gem would do to each lightsaber, given the gems’ special abilities, and it was at that point that I decided we were too nerdy to live.

Every week, it’s another New Comics Day.

So a couple weeks ago we had some severe shortages on our comics order, which I had dutifully called in to Diamond in the hopes of receiving replacements. Well, I guess we can kiss the latest issue of Spider-Girl goodbye, since our shortage on that particular comic was put into the system as a normal reorder, and not as a priority shortage replacement…and since we didn’t find this out until yesterday, no copies are left to be had, apparently.

Also, I had placed an immediate reorder on the new Batman Annual, the one that explains the whole Jason Todd thing (and was also a stealth Infinite Crisis tie-in), as soon as that issue had come in. We were invoiced for that reorder this week…but the comics were shorted from our shipment. And, yes, as you may have heard, that Batman Annual has gone to a second printing…so because someone screwed up, we’re out our first printings of this funnybook.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…I hate comics.

With that in mind, let’s look at a few things that came in this week:

Infinite Crisis Secret Files 2006 – Unlike most in the Secret Files series, this comic is actually nearly all story, with only four pin-up/profile pages at the end. It’s effectively Infinite Crisis #…5 1/2? 4 1/2? God help us, #0? At any rate, if you’re enjoying IC, you’ll probably dig this comic, too…lots of nice art by Jerry Ordway and Dan Jurgens, and it’s good to see Marv Wolfman writing these characters again.

Dorothy #5 – Okay, it actually came out last week, but I’ve been lazy and didn’t get around to it ’til yesterday. I’ve been enjoying this dark take on the Oz-iverse quite a bit, and its only downside is the length of time between issues. This issue is a bit talky…mostly Dorothy arguing with the munchkins about wanting to go home and wanting nothing to do with the internal doings of Oz…but it’s as visually appealing as ever. It’s a rare example of a “fumetti”-type comic that is actually on par with a more traditionally-illustrated funnybook, and highly recommended. (See the official site for some samples…I’ve found that issue #4, the origin of the Scarecrow, really grabs new readers. If you want to try an issue out, I suggest that one.)

Planetary Brigade #2 – Okay, I know, it’s yet another example of “hey, it’s a fat guy, and he runs a comic book store, and he’s unappealing to women! Hoo hah!” But this particular fat guy is, in fact, the Brigade’s own Mr. Brilliant…a bit put-upon, a bit arrogant, a bit cowardly, and more of a fully fleshed-out, somewhat sympathetic character than the cliche he appears to be at first glance. His banter with his sexy teammate, Pussycat (whom he lets live rent-free in the apartment above the store), is amusing, and hints at a somewhat deeper friendship than either are willing to admit. But, as a fat guy who runs a comic book store, perhaps that’s just wishful thinking on my part. Anyway, the J.M. DeMatteis/Keith Giffen team successfully manage that balance between wacky humor, witty dialogue, and genuine emotion, as they did in the best of their ’80s Justice League run. Even though we all know the team’s tragic end (the superhero team, not DeMatteis/Giffen…see Hero Squared), it doesn’t color the enjoyment of their antics, which will hopefully continue for some time to come. The art, like in the first issue, is provided by a number of different contributors…and Fabio Moon’s work on the lead chapter is particularly exceptional. Humorous, highly detailed, and emotive…the rest of the book doesn’t look too shabby, either.

Okay, enough of the longer reviews none of you read anyway…let’s have some quickies:

Showcase Presents Superman Family Vol. 1 – Nearly 600 pages of Silver Age Jimmy Olsen stories…Heaven looks a little bit like this. There’s more imagination on one page of this book than you’d find in an entire issue of something like Red Sonja/Claw: Devil’s Hands.

Painkiller Jane #1 – “Hey, is this based on the Sci-Fi Channel movie?” No, nobody actually asked that…that would imply people saw the Sci-Fi Channel movie.

Spike Versus Dracula #1 – A vast improvement over the appalling Spike: Old Wounds…this comic looks like it was actually illustrated, rather than traced. Peter David brings us the origin of the Spike/Dracula conflict (explaining a throwaway gag from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series in the process). Fun stuff.

Flaming Carrot Comics Photo Comic Special #1 – Must be seen to be believed. So see it. Absolutely 100% fantastic.

Conan: Book of Thoth – Not a Conan fan, really, but was almost tempted by the Kelley Jones art. A nice looking book.

Aspen Swimsuit Special #1 – Isn’t this almost redundant?

Four #28 – I know this is supposed to be Marvel’s more “mature” Fantastic Four title, but it still seems a little strange to read a story about the Invisible Woman fighting domestic violence. There’s a weird disconnect between a Kirby character that fought monsters and aliens, and that same character addressing a serious real world issue. Not saying it shouldn’t be done, just saying…well, it’s odd, is all.

Back Issue #15 – Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez interview, unused ‘Mazing Man script (complete with “20 year reunion” sketch by Stephen DeStefano), Art Adams Werewolf cover, proposed Gorilla Grodd series…how many more things do I have to list before you buy this magazine, already?

Toyfare #105 – Employee Nathan was inordinately amused by the Care Bear on the cover declaring “I’m delicious!” I worry about that boy.


I know some of you may already spotted this on Mark Evanier’s site, but I know of at least one person who’s gonna want to know this: Neal Adams will be on Coast to Coast AM Thursday night discussing his “new model of the universe.” How this will be anything less than absolutely brilliant, I can’t imagine.