Monthly Archive for August, 2008

The Week of August 25th

Published on August 25, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

***Quick reminder about Labor Day. Due to the lack of laboring by UPS and Diamond, comics will be delayed next week until September 4th… on Thursday.
We, however, will be laboring, or I should say Kyle will be (bwah-ha-ha). We’ll be open 8am to noon, because we care… about your money.

Now a quick run down on shop events this week and into next month. We’ve got our first attempt at Rock Band on Wednesday night starting at 7:00 and we’ll try again next Wednesday (the 3rd) as well.
Here’s the schedule for Movie Monday:
Tonight: Hellboy (extended and unrated version)
Tuesday Sept. 2nd: Batman Begins
Sept. 8th: Batman, The Animated Show (like five episodes or so)
Sept. 15th: Sin City

I was unsure what to write about to encourage you to spend your mon… I mean give knowledge and joy about comics this week. So, I fell back on an old favorite… Top Ten Lists.
It has been awhile since I did this and wanted to see if my list several months ago has changed.
Also I now have two even bigger nerds then me to help with these. (Granted, they only read DC and have limited brain cells, so… be kind to them for their choices. I get a grant from the government for looking after them.)
Here is Kyle’s:
1. Batman (tie)
Final Crisis
3. Action Comics
4. Justice Society
5. Green Lantern
6. Green Lantern Corps
7. Superman
8. Jack of Fables (they own a comic shop and only read Fables in trade. I don’t know what’s wrong with them either.)
9. Booster Gold
10. Crossed (New Garth Ennis book from Avatar)

Here is Curt’s:
1. Ambush Bug
2. Final Crisis
3. He says he hasn’t read a bad tie in yet.
4. Batman
5. Action Comics and Superman (he’s cheating)
6. Captain America
7. Green Lantern and GL Corps (more cheating)
8. Transhuman
9. Savage Dragon
10. Guardians of the Galaxy (and that is from a DC ZOMBIE!)

And now mine:
1. Fables and Jack of (I know, they are two books, but they count as one.)
2. Hellboy (Crooked Man – More Corben drawn books below)
3. The Goon
4. Captain America
5. BPRD
6. Storming Paradise
7. Batman
8. Usagi Yojimbo
9. Conan (The relaunch has really helped this book – oh, and it has had Corben art in it too.)
10. Terry Moore’s Echo

I have a couple honorable mentions (of course) in no real order are Guardians of the Galaxy and Daredevil from Marvel. Both are, for what they are, two of the best books that Marvel publishes. They also publish Haunt of Horror which has some of the best creepiest art I’ve seen from Richard Corben, one of my truly favorite artists.
A couple of Vertigo books I enjoy are DMZ and House of Mystery (though I still am not really sure what is going on in this book.)
I love Jeff Smith’s RASL, when it comes out and this goes double for Jonathan Hickman’s Pax Romana – though we will finally see issue 3 this Wednesday!
I’ve been disappointed in Ex Machina and Walking Dead of late, but still look forward to both.
AND, The brother’s DC are right about Final Crisis. It has been a hell of a good read. Curt has a good point about the tie ins. They have all been pretty good (though, that Legion thing last week had some continuity holes I could have driven a FREAK’N truck through. Come on!!)
We also all agree that if you are not, you need to be reading All Star Superman. A trade paperback of the first five issues comes out this week and all of us agree it may be some of the best Superman comics ever published… huh, Morrison… Batman, All Star Superman and Final Crisis. He’s good.

The Week of August 18th

Published on August 18, 2008 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

There is not going to be much to this post and you can blame Ronnie James Dio.  I’m off to Chicago to see Heaven and Hell (Dio’s Black Sabbath), Testament, Motorhead (HELL YEAH!!) and Judas Priest.  So, I’m swamped trying to get everything done before taking off… so, the blogging suffers.
However, I do have a couple things for you.
First, next week’s Monday Movie will be HELLBOY.  We will continue a superhero or comic related theme through the next couple weeks.  Movies start at 7:00 and here is the schedule:
August 25th – Hellboy
September 1st – Batman Begins
September 8th – Batman The Animated Series
September 15th – Sin City (not for the kiddies, so this might change.)

Also, a week from Wednesday we will FINALLY have our first Rock Band video game night.  At least for the first week, there will not be a charge, but there won’t be any prizes either.  We’ll figure out some kind of tournament when we find out how many people actually show up.  So, Wednesday August 27th at 7:00 and it is my understanding that Josh, who is bringing his set has a bunch of Who downloaded… COOL!

A few people have been inquiring about Zombiefest.  I’m not saying it’s happening this year, but there is a better chance today then there was yesterday.

and for one smidge of news… go to www.comicbookresources.com and read about the very real legal threat Fox is posing to Warner Brother’s Watchmen movie.  This is not a joke and if the WB doesn’t handle this quick, that movie isn’t coming out in March like they have planned.

There you go.  Off to my favorite town to see some of my favorite rockers and my favorite (and the only good) baseball team in the second city, THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX!!

The Week of August 11th

Published on August 11, 2008 in Comics, Movies, Reviews-comics and Uncategorized. 1 Comment

I wanted to point out a couple of books hitting stands this week.
First on the hit parade is Golly. This is a book written by Phil Hester and drawn by local boy Brook Turner. Golly is about a dimwitted foul mouthed carnival repairman who has been pegged by heaven to stop the leftovers of the canceled apocalypse. Though I have not been able to read it yet, I know I’m going to enjoy this. Phil has such a great style of writing (The Coffin, Darkness and any of his Desperado published stuff) and this is especially so when the tongue is placed firmly in cheek. I saw several pages of basic pencil art months ago, long before the book even had its current home at Image and I have to say Brook, who has been a customer of ours for years, has some damn good pencil work. The whole project is an Iowa collaboration as the cover artist, Andy Brase, is also a local. Andy’s fine line work on covers takes so long and looks so good. Andy rivals anyone in the industry. I hope to get everyone in the shop in September for a signing.
Secret Invasion Number five drops Wednesday a week after Final Crisis #3. I think I’m truly on the side of DC after last week’s issue. Kyle said he’s a afraid for the characters and can’t remember when a comic made him fear for superhero’s safety like this. I agree and, kind-of knowing what is coming, this is only the beginning. Damn good storytelling by Morrison, using some odd characters (Kirby’s New Gods) as the main players. So, what does this have to do with Secret Invasion? I need issue five to wow me. I need Bendis to hit a home run rather then laying down a bunt. Sure they can drive in a run, but you can still get out doing it. I don’t need to know how awesomely cleaver he was in writing this story over the last five years. Like in Monty Python, someone needs to stand up and yell “Get On With It!” However, I’ll still be reading it.
I suppose the same can be said for Batman #669 and this R.I.P. storyline that is running in the bat books, but the main Batman title is so damn good, I don’t care how long it takes.
Universal War number two arrives this week as well. In comparison to the first Soleil release Sky Doll it is a lot more serious and more “realistic” science fiction. In the midst of a latent civil war between the core planets and outlying planetary settlements, an immense wall has cut our solar system in two. The black wall absorbs all light and matter, and it’s up to a band of soldiers facing courts martial to investigate the phenomenon. I liked this book quite a bit and recommend it.
All of these great books and BPRD, Hellboy and The Goon… wow, a great week of reading. I think I’ll grab a six pack from Ethan next door at Fleur Wine and Ale, head home, bar the door to the basement (so I can’t be told to do/clean anything) and have a good Wednesday evening.
One last comment this week and it’s related to some stuff I was talking about earlier. Eric Powell did an interview with Comic Book Resources this week and had this to say about how to develop a storyline:
“Using an entire comic for setup for the next issues seems counterproductive to me,” Powell commented. “If your story is that big, then maybe you should just make it a graphic novel, or make it a double-sized issue or something. I always try to, with the single issues, tell a story. There definitely needs to be some kind of conflict, and some type of resolution to the conflict within the issue. I just feel kind of cheated when I don’t get that in a single issue.” If you want to read more from one of our industries true greats here’s a link www.comicbookresources.com
AND
Next week’s Monday Movie will be Raiders of the Lost Ark at 7:00pm.
The screen looks great and the sound is pretty damn good too.
We were testing the set up with a bad Godzilla movie – and some great ’80s metal playing over it – sounded great, seemed to work in a creepy sort-of way and was hilarious. We’ll have to do that one night too.

The Week of August 4th

Published on August 5, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

I was looking at a calendar the other day and noticed it was August.  This sort-of gave me pause and it made me sit back and think.
The reason this has any significance other then the damn State Fair is this week (don’t go, save your money and buy comics with it instead) is that it was six years ago we opened.
Some days it seems like it was just yesterday and others it feels like I’ve been doing this my entire life.  (My hair line and color support the second option.)
I am very grateful for the shop.  I’m very grateful we didn’t go the way of 80% of all small businesses in the first year and 80% of the remaining over the next five.  I’ve met some very good people (some I would consider my best friends and more then a couple girlfriends and now a future wife.)
I’m very grateful for getting into this as, I don’t know if I’d have made it in my old job.  I was a news producer and I hated it.  On the worst day (and I’ve had many) at the shop the overall stress is not what it was producing a news show for ungrateful drooling masses (if you read The Goon, think Peaches Valentine) and letting the brainless anchors get all the praise for a job they did nearly nothing on or fore.  Ahh, yes, corporate news… the “fond” memories.  It’s best I not to even start.
Six years ago, Jason Caskey, who I consider my first customer (he was the first hold customer anyway) came in.  That number has grown considerably (and Jason is still with us… and will never leave.)
I write this and just want to say thank you.  The comic side is actually and suprisingly very stable right now.  Comics are a VERY fluid industry.  With sales, publishing, writing, editing; they all ebb and flow, come and go.  Comic shops flow and go to.  You have kept us here for a lot longer then we probably deserved to be.  So, Seriously… Thank You for giving me a job for the last six years and hopefully a good many more.
Well, there has been a lot of changes in those six years too.  So many I barely recognize the shop some days.  One more big change to tell you about this week.  Curt and Kyle, who started getting books through the shop several years ago and rival anyone’s love of DC (at least any I’ve ever seen), are now part owners with me in this crazy adventure called Cup o’ Kryptonite.  They are good boys (I can call them that ’cause I’m MUCH older then them) and you will like talking comics with them.
They and I have had some good talks about the direction of the shop and I’ll be announcing crazy new things in the next few weeks and months.  I really think the next year will see some great new steps in the growth of shop and comics in Des Moines and they will be there with me to see it.
First off, we are going to start showing movies or TV shows or, hell, even wrestling at the shop.  We will not have an official schedule up for a couple weeks, but our first movie will be GHOSTBUSTERS next Monday (August 11th) at 7:00.  If you have recomendations let me know.  If you will come out to these showings, we will keep doing them.
Several months ago I mentioned we would try and do Guitar Hero nights.  We are going to do it once we get a game system (none of us have one) and the game and guitar and talent…  So, really… it is coming.  This will be accompanied by a retro video game night as well.  If I can get my (Very) old Intelevision fixed that will be an option as well as getting my friend Dan to bring down his Atari (no really, an actually working Atari – It’s probably older then most of you are) we’ll do that once a month or so.
We have added a bunch of new coffee options to the menu too, mostly iced stuff right now.  We have the desire to expand this even more as we get into the winter months, but the coffee aspect of the shop is growing since we got our legs knocked out from under us by our “friends” out on Fleur.  But we will see about them.  They haven’t exactly been doing so well as a company in the last year.  If you want to help with that, DON’T EVER SHOP THERE AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY NOT TO EITHER!
Sorry if this was real boring and you wanted a big crazy rant about how much I hated the Batman movie.  Consider this a State of the Shop address and I’ll be back next week with a more regular posting.
I actually haven’t seen the Batman movie yet.  I’m just not that jazzed to go.  Val Kilmer looks like crap in that horrible rubber suit and Tommy Lee Jones is a terrible choice for the Penguin.  Viva La Adam West, if you ask me.  Now, I did see Hancock.  That was FREAK’N AWESOME!!!