Slouching toward Free Comic Book Day.

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So unlike the last few years, where our shipments of Free Comic Book Day comics would be split up among two, three, or four weeks’ worth of Diamond Comics shipments, this year all the comics came at once in one giant special delivery. Thus did your pal Mike, along with a couple of employees (including formerly-former-now-at-the-shop-once-or-twice-a-week Employee Aaron and his lovely wife Kempo) spend a good chunk of Thursday opening up dozens upon dozens of shipping boxes and checking thousands of Free Comic Book Day comics against the invoice.

All the boxes were emblazoned with the sticker above, warning us not to “sell” (or, in this case, distribute…unless you’re one of those dudes already selling sets of these books on the eBay) these items ’til the actual Free Comic Book Day, which is, as per usual, the first Saturday after a May debut of a Marvel Comics movie.

I have a work set of the books put aside, to help me sort through and decide what goes in what age-group’s bag (explanation here), though I think this year I may depend less on the prebagged distribution strategy for the FCBD books and emphasize a more à la carte experience, giving away the majority of the books by letting customers pick what they want from an assortment laid out on our tables. I mean, we always let folks do that anyway, but previously we presented the choice as “HERE’S EVERYTHING IN THESE BAGS, or you can just get what you want from the tables,” whereas this year I’m going to try “PICK WHAT YOU WANT FROM THE TABLES, or if you prefer, you can just take these bags which contain everything.” A minor difference in presentation, but maybe that’ll stretch out the supplies a little bit longer this year.

Not that supplies will be in short…um, supply, this time around. Well, I think, anyway, since I think that every year, and every year we run through most of our stock. This year, I upped our orders even more on some of the FCBD selections, resulting in the previously-mentioned Warehouse-at-the-End-of-Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark-esque number of crates that showed up on our doorstep Thursday afternoon. Yes, that’s a lot of money to put out for this product (and every year, people are surprised to find out that retailers do have to pay money for the FCBD books, even if it’s only $0.20 to $0.40 a copy), but every year we easily make our money back and then some thanks to in-store sales and the sheer number of people passing through our doors that day. And here’s hoping we do this year, too. We’ve built up a pretty good reputation for our FCBD in-store sales, so I think we should do okay again this time around.

And as we usually do, we won’t be restricting the number of different books customers can take (aside from age-appropriateness restrictions, of course). If someone wants one of each of the 50+ different items being offered this year…hey, knock yourself out. We usually prefer that folks only take one copy of any particular title, but we’re not hardnosed about it if they want to get an extra copy or two of a certain issue for someone who couldn’t make it.

I realize that lack of restrictions is likely why we go through so many books each year…well, that and the fact the population of the entire county seems to drop by the shop for free comics…but we haven’t limited folks on their FCBD comics in the past, and we’re not going to start now.

Also, every year I hear about someone’s store making the comics free only “with purchase.” That’s terrible. I can almost understand not wanting to give every single person who walks in the door every FCBD comic that’s available, due to monetary and supply concerns, but to tie them to in-store purchases? C’mon, man, that’s not in the spirit of things.

Regarding the stack of books I set aside for sorting purposes…I haven’t had too much time to look at them yet, so I’ve not really formed a whole lot of opinions on them so far. I have flipped through a couple, though: the best bit of Marvel’s Infinity, previewing their next crossover event, is the back-up story reprinting a Thanos short from the 1970s. And DC’s Superman: Last Son of Krypton is sort of baffling, primarily concerned with promoting the pre-New 52 trade paperback featuring Superman fighting General Zod since that’s kinda sorta like the new movie, rather than pushing their current Superman titles (aside from a very brief interview with the folks behind the forthcoming Superman Unchained).

Some good books, just from my brief glance: The Smurfs (which also contains an Annoying Orange story, something I couldn’t care less about ’til I saw Mike “Captain Jack” Kazaleh did the story ‘n’ art); Judge Dredd Classics with Brian Bolland and Judge Death; Marble Season previewing Gilbert Hernandez’s new graphic novel; classic strip reprints Buck Rogers and Prince Valiant; and the Bongo freebie is great every year, with the always-entertaining Simpsons comics.

That’s all that stuck out so far, but I’m sure there’s more good stuff in the pile. Like I said, I haven’t had much chance to do more than take note of ’em as I was checking them off the invoice.

Anyway, in conclusion: Free Comic Book Day…that’s a whole lotta comics we have to find space for in the shop ’til May 4th.

I said “Kryptonian elements” because I think I’m funny.

filed under Categories pal casie, pal plugging, sir-links-a-lot, superman 6 Comments


Another swell drawing by pal Casie, who is, perhaps, speculating on the next revamp of the Batman movie franchise featuring those two lovable scamps. (To see other pics by Casie featured on this site, just click the newly-created “pal casie” tag! Or follow her on the Twitters to see ’em as she draws ’em!)

In other news:

  • There’s a new trailer for Man of Steel out, and it certainly looks promising, but we’ll see. It’s apparently sparked some debate about revisiting Superman’s origin yet again, but 1) from the trailers it looks like Supes’ origin, both the Smallville and Kryptonian elements, will be thematically important to the film as a whole and not just something to plow through to get to the action, and 2) it’s the first film in a potential franchise, not just for Superman but seemingly for DC heroes as a whole, so a little world-building from scratch is likely needed. Oh, and 3) it probably doesn’t hurt to remind folks who aren’t immersed in the mythology what the Superman story is all about.

    I seem to recall arguing before on this site, years ago, that you really didn’t need to retell Superman’s origin since everyone pretty much knew it, and getting plenty of arguments in the comments section against that position. Clearly it depends on the kind of story you’re trying to tell, in what context, and in the case of Man of Steel, where it’s the (hopeful) start of a new series, and it’s been a while since the last film (itself an odd cousin of the Christopher Reeve cycle of films), and the origin appears to be important to the overall plot, retelling that origin seems necessary. So, okay, I may have been wrong about the origin thing, in that post way back when. I’m allowed to be wrong about once or twice a decade.

    I also just joked on Twitter that they should go the super-decompressed route in retelling Superman’s origin, and devote the entire first movie to a science drama about Jor-El investigating Krypton-quakes, which just goes to show there’s no debate to which I can’t contribute nothing of any real use.

  • Pal Dorian is back to reviewin’ Doctor Who, as is pal Dave, and they’re both smart guys with intelligent things to say about a show I’m watching, and if you’re watching that show too, maybe check them out.

  • Hey, you guys remember Ken Lowery, right? The guy I allowed to help me with writing Write More Good by, you know, fetching me coffee and stuff? Well, that boy’s got himself one of those fancypants Kickstarters to help him and his pal Robert Wilson IV fund a new one-shot comic. I contributed to the cause, and maybe some of you can help my pal out, too.

  • Speaking of helping, I was more than happy to assist pal Andrew with his latest installment of Nobody’s Favorites, even if all I did was shove a comic into an envelope and let the gentle hands of the post office bear it aloft to Woburn.

  • Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull Who Has Been Rebooted into a Stuffed Little Bull, gives those “WTF Certified” covers from DC Comics the ol’ what-for and shows everyone what “WTF” really means.

  • And lastly, on a more serious note…my best wishes to the people of Boston.

Two bats and a con-job.

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I think what surprised me the most about this issue was despite the hoohar over Carrie Kelley (Robin from Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) making her first in-whatever-passes-for-DC-Universe-continuity appearance, there wasn’t an immediate rush on copies by folks looking to make a quick eBay buck. It’s selling…okay, like a normal issue of Batman and Robin, without the recent sales bumps fed by “Death of a Family” and the death of Robin follow-up issues. I suppose in a few months, if Carrie Kelley sticks around (and that linked article explains that is the intent) sales will pick up on this issue. It helps that the Kelley material in the book is actually the best part, compared to the very odd Batman/Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. crossover that makes up the rest of the story. Always nice to see Frankenstein again, even if pitted against what feels like a strangely out-of-character-even-if-grieving Batman. Interesting, even if it didn’t…feel right, you know?


This is the “DEMO” cover for the Mad Magazine variant for Batman #19 (even says “DEMO” up in the corner, there), provided one per comic shop to allow interested parties to see the fold-in in action without daring to damage their rare collectible item. …Well, I have to admit, decades of funnybook-sellin’ have instilled in me a deep resistance to deliberately folding creases into a comic book cover, even on comics explicitly intended for that purpose. I suppose if I had to, if someone insisted on it, I, with tears in my eyes and a trembling hand, would fold the cover over to reveal Mr. Jaffee’s hidden image. Or I could just take that scan and do a little area selection/dragging to do the same thing on the store computer.


Judging at least by our store’s sales, most of the people who read Constantine #1 came back for #2, either still in the “trying out the book” stage or, maybe, are attracted by the prospect of long-consigned to the Vertigo universe properties once again tied back into the DC Universe. The direction for the series seems to be tying itself together a little further…it’s a quest storyline, with John chasing down various pieces of a mystical artifact while running into a couple of old magical DC folks. It’s a stronger effort than the first issue, I think, presenting John trying to squeeze out of some tight spots with the gift of gab and a wee bit of magicking, which, you know, is pretty much what I want from a Constantine comic. And yes, I’m enjoying the novelty of the DCU tie-ins, too.

The Stars’ Warning to Batman – “Beware of WOMEN!”

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I haven’t mentioned pal Batfatty here in a while, but he’s in regular email contact, sending me odd pictures and crazy links, and this scan of an old copy of Screen Stories he had autographed at the recent Emerald City Comic Con by Best Batman, Adam West.

It’s a beautiful thing. I need to ask comrade Batfatty to send a scan of the article, because that blurb on the cover has me intrigued. Assuming it’s more than just “look out for that Catwoman, she’s nuthin’ but trouble!”

A few decades too early for all those Elseworlds comics, kid.

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A letter from DC Comics’ World’s Finest #192 published in March 1970, a few years before Marvel Comics put out What If? #1, cover-dated February 1977.

I’m trying to picture this issue of What If? with those other titles. “Conan…walking the Earth of today? IMAGINE THAT!” Or “What’s NOT Happening? Any more Conan comics from Marvel!” Or, you know, something like that.

I also like the implication in the editor’s reply that the only thing keeping them from publishing an ongoing Imaginary Stories series is the inability to decide on a title. “Gee, we’d like to, James C., but we here at 909 Third Avenue can’t settle on a name. Imagine That? No, no…. Wait, how ’bout…Just Imagine? …Nah, who’d buy that?”

That’s just what I needed…another book to read.

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So the few of you who are left from about four-and-a-half years ago may remember a series of posts discussing movie novelizations (1 2 3 – sorry for all the dead Haloscan links and minor formatting issues you’ll find there). Well, I have a new one to add to the collection, acquired just in the last week:


I had no idea there even was a novelization of Clue, that fine, underrated comedy from lo all those years ago (i.e. the mid 1980s). But here it is, staring us in our faces, daring us to believe in it.

A couple of notes:

1. Yes, like the movie, the book has multiple endings. However, the novelization has four endings, with Chapter Twenty presented four times as Versions A through D, whereas the film has only three endings. A quick skim through the endings shows that Version C is the one that isn’t in the film, and I’ll reveal in the comments later today who the culprit is and his/her eventual fate, if you’re curious.

2. The novel’s dedication reads “This book is dedicated to Those Who Got Away With It.”

3. When I first glanced at the cover, I briefly thought it said that the author was Malcolm McDowell. For that one very glorious moment, I believed I beheld the greatest book ever produced by human civilization. As it is…well, it’s pretty close.

4. Some comic book connections: the book was a Fawcett Gold Medal Book (published by Ballantine Books), Fawcett having been involved in comic book publishing to some minor extent.

And the film was produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber, who would later produce a superhero film of some note.

And some of the actors were probably in comic-related movies, too, but I’ll let you guys figure that out since I’m sure if I did it, I’ll forget something.

…

So anyway, that’s my neat acquisition for the week. Now to find time to actually read the thing.

• • •

In some site news, I have now disallowed further commenting on posts older than 90 days, and I’m thinking about reducing that amount of time to 60 days or even less. I’ve had a few too many drive-bys leaving rude or nonsensical comments on older posts, and while I like to encourage commenting here, I’m no longer in the mood to put up with folks causing problems. That hopefully will also cut down the amount of attempted spam comments I get, too.

Anyway, that’s that.

Carmine, George, and Roger.

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So whenever I think of Star Wars comics, just, you know, as a general concept, and not as something specific I’m staring at on a rack or processing for the back issue bins, this is the cover that I picture:


The Star Wars comics were young Mike’s first regular exposure to the work of Carmine Infantino, and though in the past I’ve poked a little fun here once or twice at the somewhat off-model stylings of the Star Warriors in that series, they still remain some of the most memorable of my youth…almost certainly because of the work of Mr. Infantino.

Of course, I would come to learn and love his work on the Flash, especially in this wonderful issue that I read so often since buying it off the stands that I ended up having to buy a replacement copy a couple of decades later:


…And of course there were his Batman comics, Detective Chimp, Adam Strange, Elongated Man, and much more than I can easily list here.

Carmine Infantino passed away yesterday at the age of 87. So long, Carmine, and thanks for all the swell comics.

• • •

Another notable comics passing is George Gladir, one of the industry’s hardest working writers, having worked for both Archie Comics (cocreating Sabrina with Dan DeCarlo) and Cracked. To be frank, his was not a name I immediately recognized, but boy, did I read a lot of Cracked when I was a kid in the ’70s (the Nineteen-Seventies, you wiseacres) so certainly I must have been exposed to plenty of his work. My condolences to his family, friends, and fans.

And I would be remiss if I did not note the passing of Roger Ebert. The loss of his great wit and intelligence is a sad one, but thankfully he left behind no small amount of writing that will continue to entertain and educate us for a long time to come. It was he and his longtime reviewing partner Gene Siskel that introduced Young Me to the idea that film criticism was even a thing, and perhaps, even more generally, the idea that one’s entertainment can be thoughtfully considered and not just passively absorbed.

He was also a supporter of the silliness my friends and I perpetrated on Twitter, and his agreement to write the introduction to our book is one we are still infinitely grateful for.

Thank you, Roger, for everything.

Do people ever actually tell other people who sent them?

filed under Categories this week's comics 7 Comments


So after my recent Great B.P.R.D. Reread Project (status: complete; next Great Reread Project yet to be decided) and the issue numbering concerns thereof, I thought I should mention that this new Abe Sapien #1, “An All New Ongoing Series” as it says there, is in fact, according to the inside front cover, #11 in the overall history of Abe Sapien solo series and / or one-shots. So:


Anyway, the series takes off from recent events in the B.P.R.D. comics, following the even-further mutated Abe as he eludes his former pals at the Bureau. I don’t know if this is really a good jumping-on point for new readers…dialogue-driven exposition for recent Hellboy-Universe-Events-That-Don’t-Really-Involve-Hellboy, in particular Abe’s recent changes, catches folks up, but it seems more like preaching to the converted rather than its own thing. This may just be symptomatic of the series’ origins in B.P.R.D. and the ongoing circumstances there, and it feels more like another B.P.R.D. mini rather than an Abe Sapien solo title. We’ll see what happens once the series begins to form its own identity a few issues down the road.


As I said on Twitter yesterday, I was bracing myself to read a Thanos story that didn’t involve Jim Starlin somehow, but so far Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi aren’t doing too bad a job telling the adventures of Li’l Thanos. It lacks the inherent weirdness of Starlin’s storytelling, and thus is a more conventional “here are the bad things that formed this bad guy” tale. Still, it’s a solid enough introduction to the character, and will likely make a nice trade paperback (or, more likely, hardcover) to sell to the curious once Marvel’s Phase Two films (presumably involving Thanos) start making more of an impact.


It’s Hulk versus Thor as drawn by Walt Simonson. If reading that sentence doesn’t make you immediately pull out your wallet and start throwing money at the computer screen, well, I don’t know that I can help you. But pick up that money and go throw it at Ye Olde Local Comic Booke Seller instead, because publishers getting Simonson to draw comics is a behavior I’d like to encourage. And things look like they really begin to pick up in Part the Second, so jump on now, he said like the funnybook salesman he is.


This is probably the first of the New 52 Swamp Thing comics to feel like an old Swamp Thing comic. In particular, like the Alan Moore or Rick Veitch issues where Swamp Thing would encounter some established bit of the DC Universe and we’re suddenly given a new and almost certainly creepy take on it. Well, that was then, this is now, and it’s hard to do a creepy take on a character like the Scarecrow when the trend lately in the Bat-books has been to make things especially weird and creepy in the first place. Instead, the fun here is in Swamp Thing’s reaction and interaction with the Scarecrow, rather than any kind of dramatic reinterpretation.

Also, new writer Charles Soule takes a few panels to explain the deal with Swamp Thing’s New 52 status quo, his relation to the previous Alec Holland-less Swamp Thing, recent events in the comic, and so on. Probably a good issue to sample if you’ve been tempted, but didn’t want to jump into the middle of the 300-part “Rotworld” crossover.


It’s Popeye and Barney Google! CRISIS OF GRANDPA’S INFINITE COMIC STRIPS! I actually didn’t get into this issue as much as past installments of this series…Barney Google isn’t a strip character for whom I have any particular affinity, and the horseracing gags weren’t really my thing. But, even an issue of Popeye that doesn’t quite butter my bread is still a whole lot better than just about anything else, so I ain’t complainin’. Plus, series writer Roger Langridge takes on the art chores yet again and everything looks flawless and beautiful…and Langridge even gives us a boxing back-up story starring Swee’pea, and it’s plenty cute.


And for the digital comic inclined, there’s Task Force Rad Squad. Click the link, pay what you want (or even nothing at all, but c’mon, give ’em a buck at least) and download in your choice of format. It reminds me of late ’80s/early ’90s crazy indie comics…I sort of get a Tank Girl vibe off it, but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, it’s lots of fun packed into 36 pages, and you get a sizable preview prior to throwing your money down. Go check it out, and tell ’em Mike sent you. If they ask “who’s Mike?” just say “you know, Mike” and that should do it.

The Adventure of the Lazy Links-Post Because Mike Has a Dentist’s Appointment Early Monday Morning.

filed under Categories sir-links-a-lot 2 Comments

So apparently that jam pic of Linus, Snoopy, Broom-Hilda, and the Demon that I posted way back when is making the rounds again, only this time it’s a pic of the original art from this auction site, and not a scan from the San Diego Comic Con ’74 program like my image was. The auction was back in 2008…I wonder what it sold for? Also, I’m amused by the link on the auction page that reads “I Have One of These to Sell,” like there’s two jam drawings by Charles Schulz, Jack Kirby, and Russell Myers. (Yes, yes, I know it’s just part of the page’s standard template, let me have my fun.)

Also, I see on my original post my addendum link to my comments section (for more info about the pic) is dead dead dead, thanks to my original third-party commenting system giving up the ghost a while back. Oh, the reliability of sorta-free technologies. Thank goodness I still have Google Reader to follow all my favorite websites!

In other news:

  • So have you seen what pal Andrew has wrought? ULTIMATE POWERS JAM, in which Andrew uses an old Marvel Comics role playing book to randomly generate a super character, and hands it off to his accomplices who then whip up an illustration and description for said character. Some pretty amazing and entertaining results so far…go check ’em out!

  • NOT COMICS: pal Dave’s Electronic Games Sunday, where Dave pokes through this archive of the Electronic Games magazine (which I myself read starting with issue #1 way back in ye olden days) and picks out items of note for our amusement and, usually, horror. If you’re old like me ‘n’ Dave, you’ll find this nostalgic. If you’re one of those punk kids that’s never known anything other than an X-Station or a DS-Boy, you’ll just pity us.

  • BEHOLD: GO-GO CHECKS

Sub-Mariner Saturday #3.

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THE SUB-MARINER:

MURDEROUS COQUETTE OF THE SEVEN SEAS

from All-Winners Comics #2 (Fall 1941)
– reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: All-Winners Comics Nos. 1-4 (2005)