Monthly Archive for October, 2008

The Week of Rock-tober 27th

Published on October 27, 2008 in Comics, Cons, Reviews-comics and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

A veritable potpourri of information for you this week.  I’ll start with comic news:
A new Hellboy one shot reaches stands this Wednesday.  It’s Hellboy: In the Chapel of Moloch and it will be written and drawn by Mike Mignola alone!!  This is his first full length art chore since 2005 and will probably be his last for some time.  As you know, I am a HUGE Hellboy and Mignola fan.  I would easily say he is my favorite creator working today and consider any of the Hellboy or BPRD stuff top of the stack reads when they come out.  If you have never read any Hellboy, this would be a great place to start as it’s a standalone adventure.  If you like it, you should try the last issue (Four) of BPRD.  Probably the best the book has ever been and it has been very good for some time.  Mignola and John Arcudi are putting in some great stories and Guy Davis is really showing why he is one of the most overlooked and under appreciated of the industries great artists.  Highest of the High recommendations on both!

Also out this week is Spawn #185.  Remember this book?  I will say right now that I try not to, but Yes, I bought it when it was first coming out.  Hey, I was in high school, of course I did.  Well, the book is returning to its roots as Todd McFarlane is taking an active part in his creation again with this very issue.  McFarlane will be splitting the art chores (though doing the cover by his little lonesome) and contributing to the story as well.  Though I will hold my distain till I die for Rob Liefield and some of the early Image tools, I have great respect for Todd McFarlane.  His run, with Peter David, on the Incredible Hulk is one of my all time favorites and when he was working on Amazing Spiderman, he was easily at his best.  He has gone on to great financial success outside of comics and I tip my cap to him (and several hundred dollars for all the awesome sports figures he has put out and now sit all over my basement.)  Assisting on the art chores is no slouch either, Whilce Portacio.  So, this might be something to pick up.  I know I’ll at least be taking a peak.
So, what did you think of the head to head Secret Invasion vs. Final Crisis issues last week?  I have to say I was a might disappointed in both the quality of art and writing on Secret Invasion.  However, Final Crisis was a damn good book in every aspect.  Though the news that J.G. Jones will not finish it is disappointing (Doug Mahnke will have the art assignment on issue seven alone, making him the third artist on the book.)  I still feel the overall pull and feel of Crisis is what a big crossover should be.  I have concern for the characters and a true sense of “want to know what happens next.”  Sorry Marvel, better luck next time (and I’m sure you will be right on to the next time… grrrr.  Boo Bendis boo.)
Missing one of those crossover must have books?  Well kids, there’s a comic convention this coming weekend.  The Iowa Comic Book Collectors club is having their Mini-Con on Sunday November 2nd from nine to four at the Stoney Creek Point in Johnston.  Cost is only two dollars.  It should be a good time with plenty of good bargains to be had.  If nothing else, you can chat with the Brothers DC.
Now on to some shop business.  You might have noticed the lack of variants on the new wall.  It is because we have found it much more profitable to sell them on E-Bay.  However, because you are our loyal customers, I make this offer to you.  If there is a variant you can not live without, let us know and we will set it aside for you at “market value” or e-bay’s going price without the shipping charge.  We have done this in the past with several customers and it has worked well to every ones continued comic happiness.  However, we need to know in advance.  We put the stuff up on E-bay on Sundays and there is very little chance an auction would be killed to get it into your box (not saying we wouldn’t, just probably not.)  So, let us know if you need one, with a decent bit of healthy notice.
And lastly, this will be the last e-mail for a couple weeks.  I am getting married this weekend and will be out of the shop and state for two glorious weeks!  I will also NOT be checking e-mail as of Wednesday, sorry, but no shop means no shop and it also means a lack of internet.  If you need something I recommend stopping in and talking to Curt or Kyle (or any of the staff.)  The brothers DC will be dealing with the bulk of the workload for the next two weeks and I thank them for making this possible for me.  I don’t know what I would do without them, though I’m sure it would probably involve not arguing as much about the direction of DC Comics and Geoff John’s take on Superman… but I digress.
With this rather major change in my life I’ve been thinking a lot about my life.  I do want to reiterate how much I appreciate your business.  I’m not a rich man, nor will I ever be by selling comics and coffee, but your business allows me to do what I want to do… selling comics – and I guess making coffee on occasion.  It is stressful, yes, but it is what I want to do for the foreseeable future.  So, thank you for your continued support.
Good night… and good luck.

The Week of Rock-tober 20th, 2008

Published on October 20, 2008 in Comics. 1 Comment

There are some great books shipping this week.  Just a couple of which are the two big stories from Marvel and DC; Secret Invasion and Final Crisis.  We have to be getting down to the nitty gritty on Invasion, so this should be a pretty good issue.  It would be nice to know who “loves” us.
Daredevil and Captain America are also shipping and numbers on Cap are staggering.  It’s our highest selling non-miniseries right now.  This while we’ve never seen much of an increase or decrease on Daredevil in the entire time the shop has been open.  This kind of bothers me.  If you are reading any of Brubaker’s other books you should be reading this one too.  I had a chance to read this week’s copy early and it’s great.  The style he writes this book lends more to a crime novel then a superhero book.  We need to remember that Matt Murdock is a lawyer and Brubaker does just that.
Also shipping is Brubaker’s Criminal, a fantastic pulp crime book that I am sure is one of, if not the favorite book right now of our employee Nate (there are few people I know who read as many comics as Nate does.  So if he likes it, that is all it takes for me.)  You might think of giving any of these Brubaker books a try if you find yourself light this week.  I think you would be greatly pleased.
I want to remind you of two other great books I’ve enjoyed recently; RASL and Echo.  They are both such good character driven books and have some hellishly talented writer/artists behind them; Terry Moore and Jeff Smith.  The first trade for Echo is out and RASL’s third issue came out last week.  These are some of the highest recommendations I can give.
And finally on the review and recommendation market, Superman’s latest huge storyline ships this week (well, sort-of last week when Jimmy Olsen Special arrived.)  The New Krypton storyline, working around the idea that Superman has brought what I think is the bottle city of Kandor to earth and the city just expanded to normal, not bottle, size.  So, what does the world do when there are a bunch of Supermen “helping” out?  If you’ve been reading Action Comics you know there has been some big events happen of late.  Action’s writer Geoff Johns and Superman’s James Robinson have been shaking things up of late and though I’m still pretty critical on Johns’ rewriting of comic history on some of his books, there are probably no duo of higher writing quality working in tandem in comics today.  It should be worth a read at the very least.

The Week of October 13th

Published on October 13, 2008 in Chuck Grigsby, Comics, Shop Crap and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

News and Notes:
Everyone survived the outbreak on Saturday during Zombiefest.  We wanted to thank everyone who came out and helped protect the shop from the hordes of hungry undead.

We will not be open this Saturday evening.  We are closing for a private party starting at 5:30pm.

I’ve heard The Cup’s favorite cage fighter will be back in action next month.  Chuck Grigsby will be fighting in Des Moines on November 26th (the day before Thanksgiving.)  He’s going to kick the crap out of some poor guy and it’ll be awesome!  When tickets go on sale you will be able to get them here at the cup.  Buy them from us and you can have the privilege of sitting near us… near, not next too, let’s get that straight right now.
As a side note, if you read the Goon, you know that Eric Powell has been sponsoring a cage fighter (and a roller derby team, I’m going to have to get on that.)  I’m sure our cage fighter can beat his.  I’ll have to ask Chuck if he wants to go into the back woods of Kentucky and fight some guy for the honor of the shop.  Then, we start challenging all of our rivals.  Mwah-ha-ha!!

Next on the list today is a club that one of my customers has been working on for some time.  She is a current member of the Comic Book Club here in Des Moines, but is a much bigger fan of science fiction.  I have told her I would be happy to help get it started and they could certainly meet at The Cup.
One of the things she has asked is for me to present a questionnaire to you all.  Fill it out and bring it back to me or e-mail me back with it.  Your answers will help us set the best days of the week to have it and make it work.  Thank you in advance.

***Are you a Sci-Fi Junkie?
If you are, here is the group for you.  Cup o’ Kryptonite is prepared to sponsor a Sci-Fi Club to meet monthly, (or more often if there is an interest.)  You do not have to dress like a Klingon or know how to use a Light Saber to be a member.  The two main objectives of the group are: 1) To discuss the Sci-Fi medium, in books, movies, television, comics etc.  All forms of Sci-Fi will be discussed and topics will be chosen by polling the interests of Club members.  Topics for the meetings will be chosen in advance so that Club members can have time to consider the topic before it is discussed.  Meetings will be in an open forum design.

2) To support Iowa Public Television.  Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, before cable television, IPTV was one of the first stations in Iowa to show sci-fi programming and is still one of only three stations in the country that airs the original episodes of the BBC series Doctor Who. IPTV has also featured several other sci-fi shows like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Red Dwarf and Neverwhere in its programming schedule. Like Science Fiction, Public Television encourages it’s viewers to open their minds, to be more enlightened, more involved and more engaged in the worlds around them.  During the year members of the Club will have the opportunity to show their support of IPTV through activities that help raise awareness of and funding for the station.  Club members will not be required to make any monetary contributions to IPTV or forced under any other penalty to support it, but will be invited to participate in IPTV related activities throughout the year.

If you are interested in being a member of the Club please fill out the questionnaire below so that the Club’s fearless leaders will have some basic information to work with when doing the initial organization of the Club.

Name: ___________________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________________

Phone: _(________)_____________________

Email Address: ________________________________________

(*Note: If you would prefer not to give out some part of the info above just give us a phone number or email address where you can be reached.)

Day of the week that would be best for you to attend a meeting:
(Please circle two choices and note 1 or 2 next to them.  We will try to select a time and day when the majority of people can be there, but will need to work with The Cup’s schedule when selecting a meeting date and time.)

Sunday 2-4 pm
Monday 7- 9 pm
Tues  7-9 pm
Wed 7-9 pm
Thurs 7-9 pm
Friday 7-9 pm

Week of Month that is best for you attend a meeting?
(Please circle one.)
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four

Type/media of Science Fiction you are interested in?
(Circle all that apply.)
television
movies
books
comics
other: _______________________________

What, if any, specific Science Fiction interests you?  (i.e.: Star Wars, Neil Gaiman, Doctor Who, HG Wells, Firefly, Aldous Huxley, Star Trek, Isaac Asimov, Stargate, etc.)

Would you be interested in any of the following at meetings?
(Check all that apply.)

______ Guest Speakers
______ Book Discussions
______ Watching and Discussing a Movie (would need extended meeting time)

In an unspecified time in the future would you be interested in having a Sci-Fi Convention in the Des Moines area?
Yes           No

If such a convention was held would you be willing to work at it/help with it?
Yes           No

Would you be willing to help with a Sci-Fi Club event if one were held at Cup o’ Kryptonite?
Yes          No

Thank you.

The Week of Zombiefest 2008 (Oct. 8th)

Published on October 6, 2008 in Comics, Movies, Reviews-comics and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

It’s that time of year again.

The dead rise, we educate everyone as to what to do and what not to do… oh, and we show movies too.  This year inside and out, so, it’s kind of an all weather event.
Check out Cityview this week for a great article by Jared Curtis about the event.  This thing has really grown into something bigger then it probably ever should have been.  That is because of you people not leaving me alone about it.  You badger and hound… no really, the support has been there, so, why not one more time.
This event has always been our anniversary party thanking you all for your support and since this is what you want, this is what you get.
It’s also kind-of like a drive-in and dive-ins are cool.  If you’ve never been to a drive in, that is sad, so, (unless you go to Newton next summer) this is as close as you’ll get.
We will have zombie movies each night in the shop and then on the side of the building outside on Saturday, October 11th.
Your 2008 Zombiefest schedule:
Leading off and already retired by superior Dodger pitching…
Monday, October 6th: 28 Days Later
Now coming to the plate…
Tuesday, October 7th: The remake of Dawn of the Dead
Wednesday, October 8th: Return of the Living Dead
Thursday, October 9th: Day of the Dead
Friday, October 10th: Land of the Dead
Saturday, October 11th:
1. Fido
2. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead
3. Shawn of the Dead
Remember this is an all weather showing (unless it’s raining) come even if it’s cold.  I remember the first year we did it… man, that was frosty.
We will be running zombie movies inside the shop on Saturday night as well, but those are as yet undetermined… probably some really obscure stuff, that is where I’ll be slaving away making all of you coffee.
There’ll be a costume contest and other activities going on as well.
Come, learn and have fun…

…because it is not if, but when!!
Zombiefest… yeah, yeah.  So, what books are coming out this week comic guy?

Well, I’m glad you asked.  There are a couple I wanted to point out this week.  First is Marvel Zombies 3.  I am not a fan of the first two.  I do not like talking zombies.  Just stupid if you ask me.  However, this issue deals with the threat getting to the real Marvel Universe, so, it should be a little better.  It also isn’t written by Robert Kirkman, who I felt was joking around with the whole idea of “Marvel” zombies, someone took him serious and, shit, now I have to come up with an actual story.  I haven’t read this one, but will read it and review it honestly next week.

While we are on this subject of the walking dead… why not The Walking Dead.  Issue 53 ships this week (amazing timing on both of these books, that I had nothing to do with… or did I?)  I’ve been rather bored with the book over the last five or six months and two or three issues.  I feel like it has been treading water, not really going anywhere and not really sure, if it could, where it would go.
Until last issue, things started moving again.  I’m not giving anything away in case you read it in trade, which a goodly number of you do.  Now, Kirkman, who I also feel has done the same lackluster job on Invincible of late has come out and said he guarantees his books will ship on time in 2009 and that he is “totally committed” to his creator owned properties.
What do these guarantees mean?  Why the new change of heart?  I don’t know, maybe the little to no real success at Marvel.  Maybe he thinks this is what you are supposed to do when you help run the company you put your books out through (Kirkman recently was added to the board at Image.)  Either way, I personally never complained when the book was late, as long as it was good.  Putting out a comic on time, but just going through the writing motions to get $2.99 out of loyal customers… there is a special place in comic’s hell for writers like that and it does not have silly looking devils in underpants ready to make deals with your wife to save you either.  But let us forget such nasty things.  I still look forward to the book each month (or every other month) and recommend it.
The Goon #29 is also coming out and it has zombies in it too, but as my buddy Rod says, you already knew that.
Having nothing to do with zombies is Ender’s Game, or at least I don’t think there are any in it.  I have not read this book, but understand it is quite good.  Marvel is doing a comic adaptation, also written by Orson Scott Card.  I don’t have anything more then a notice, but if you are interested or know someone who might be, let me know, I did not order in the quantities of The Stand.  Just a warning.
Speaking of The Stand… Issue two is out this week.  No zombies, but a whole lot of people are going to die, that’s for sure.  Issue one was absolutely great and if you aren’t reading it, you really should.
That is it for this week.  See you Saturday.