Monthly Archive for June, 2010

The Week of June 28th

Published on June 28, 2010 in Comics, Events, Matt's stupid ramblings and Reviews-comics. 0 Comments

Hope all of you who made it to the Superman Birthday Party had a good time.  It was a very kid friendly event and I think everyone who made it enjoyed themselves.  This leads us straight into the next party, but this one will be a little different.

Merry X-Men Day…

X-Mas in July, with Mutants!  Thursday, July 8th 4:00 to 8:00.

We will have presents, contests, costumes, an X-Tree, Santa and his elf, FREE Beer, egg nog (maybe), 3XWrestlers including a Mad Dog, real dogs, discounts and some give aways.  Pretty much everything you could possibly want.  Here are some more specific details:

We are going to celebrate the holiday of giving by doing just that.  Animal Lifeline, the no kill shelter here on the South Side of Des Moines always could use some extra help.  Just recently they took in a few abused and neglected animals who are looking at a long, but what should be successful, recovery.  We are going to give presents to everyone who gives a donation to brings in supplies needed by Animal Lifeline.

Here is a list of supplies they always need:

laundry detergent

dish soap

clumping litter

tall kitchen trash bags

fancy feast wet cat food

milk bone dog biscuits

We are going to have some light fun with a few coloring contests and other activities.  I have been told to say costumes are encouraged.  Tia and a few others will be dressing up X-Men style and Santa, though slimmed down due to an extensive off season work out regiment, will be there with one of his elf workers.  We’ll have a drink special or two, some snacks, a bunch of discounts on merchandise and as always free beer.

What am I forgetting…. OH, Right, the reason we decided on this day.  There will also be a big book released that day, X-Men #1.  Not a whole lot is know about what will be in this, due to the fact that X-Men Second Coming is still going on… and with plotlines (and deaths of characters) not finished, Marvel has had to remain fairly light on details (but that isn’t new.)  I can tell you there will be Vampires in it, that’s good right?  and it makes for more of a festive feel anyway… or something.

July 4th Hours…

Comics are shipping late next week.  Due to the wacky July 4th falling on a Sunday, we won’t be getting the delivery until Thursday July 8th.  (See that is why the party is delayed from a more traditional Wednesday.)

Shop hours are messed up because of this too.  We are going to be open from 8am to 2pm on both Sunday (the 4th) and Monday (the 5th.)  IF we are busy at 2:00, we are going to stay open, but if no one is there… we are closing at 2:00.

Recent Writing Runs that have left us scratching our heads… Matt’s (REALLY MEAN) Rant of the week.

  1. It was announced Jeph Loeb is being “promoted” to VP Head of Television for Marvel.  Probably meaning a much reduced or end to his comic writing.
  2. The year plus run of Superman not on planet Earth and not in costume, let alone in character, has finally come to a merciful end with issue #700 being released last week.
  3. Powergirl’s sales dropped in half after Judd Winick came on the book last week replacing Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Grey writing.  Amanda Connor is no longer drawing it either.

I’m not an idiot (wait for it…) when we are talking comic books, but all three of the above “news headlines” just make me shake my head in several different ways.  (Some of what I’m about to say is pretty mean, so, I’m warning you… I’m in a fairly bad mood today.)

  1. Is that a collective cheer I just heard?  Oh, no that was just me.  I have HATED Loeb’s run on Hulk.  HATED IT!!!!  I had the big mystery of who was Red Hulk figured out since issue one.  The fact it was stretched out over two years is the true insult that, I think, it must have been intended to be.  He wrote this like it was supposed to be a children’s story, but left in all the foulness of an adult comic.  The Red Hulk might be the worst thing Marvel has done in the last few years and I dare you to come up with something worse.

The sad thing is… Loeb was once a GREAT writer… of mystery and character driven storylines.  Batman: Long Halloween and Superman For All Seasons are two of the best DC stories ever told.  I almost hope this is not his last work, just so he can redeem himself, somewhere, somehow.  Captain America White???

  1. There just isn’t the legion strong Superman supporters there once were, but I think the few left after DC’s latest Superman mistak… er, superior storyline are happy to see any other direction, any other writer then James Robinson on any Superman book.  Pod People, Alien Abduction, Super Villain Replacement, C.H.U.D. whatever… That is NOT the same James Robinson that wrote Starman!!  I would have to rate War of the Supermen as one of the worst Supermen stories of all the times, but Kyle and I will get into that on the next podcast.  James Robinson used to write some of the best character development in comics history.  He made characters you could relate to, that you liked.  Now… well, I vote for Pod Person.
  2. Judd Winick’s writing sucks.  I’m sorry, I don’t like to be that mean, but it is true.  In his entire comic career, name the good books he has written.  (Cue Jeopardy music… only 30 seconds… Ding.  Done.)  The answer is some, SOME of his Exiles run and Pedro and Me (which was VERY good.)  THAT IS IT!  Pretty close to a one trick pony in my eyes.

I’m sure he is a great guy to hang out with, but he needs a new career that keeps him the HELL away from my comic characters.  “Oh, Matt, you are being too harsh.”  No.  I’m not.  You didn’t read Green Lantern.  Want to know why I know you didn’t, because I was one of only five idiots loyal enough to the character still around by the time he was finally removed from the poor book.  I’ll say this and then stop bashing him, because if I don’t I’ll get e-mailed by five or six of you wondering why I didn’t say it so…here it goes.  The over under is four issues for one of the main characters in the Power Girl series (or PG herself) to either get AIDS, come out of the closet or be attacked in some kind of hate crime.  Judd, Dude, go help Jeph make TV and leave our comics alone.

Walking Dead.  TV, Comic and where is it all going…

There has been a lot of stuff coming out on the AMC series being helmed and brought to life by Frank Darabont.  I have the link for you to the AMC blog blogs.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/.  This should keep you pretty current on everything that is coming out about it.  There are also some pretty awesome pics on the site one that is literally Tony Moore’s drawing live reaching at you.  Creepy.

There is also a fantastic interview with Darabont about Zombies.  I have been a very big fan of this man’s film work since I was lucky enough to see Shawshank Redemption in the theatre (easily the best film released that year, the same year Pulp Fiction was put out) and was renewed by his masterful work on one of the best horror films I’ve ever seen The Mist.  After you read the interview, you too will agree there could NOT be a better man to helm this project.  It is also important to note Darabont loves comics too and frequents a shop or two in LA and has written some prose stories for some Hellboy collections.

We still have a pretty good number of people reading the Walking Dead (better than some of the top superheroes that is for sure.)  I’ve been asked lately what I think of the series.  That is a tough call, frankly.  The week it comes out it is always the first book I read (unless BPRD or Hellboy comes out.)  I am always excited to pull the book out of the box.  I can’t wait to get to it, but lately I’ve been a little underwhelmed.

I remember the first week it came out.  Dan and I were the only two people who “ordered” it.  I doubt any of the other shops in town even got it at the time it was first released.  Easily, we have sold more volumes of the first trade paperback then anything except Preacher in the shop.  So, it is easy to say, I love this book… however…

Lately, the story has become bogged down.  The second they left the prison due to… bad people showing up… (I’m not giving away anything here, so get your butts into the shop and start reading the trades if you haven’t) it has felt like it has been written for the trade, not for the issue.  It has felt like the story has been drawn out to reach milestone issues not the next cliffhanger.

This is NOT new.  Hell, Bendis does it on every single book he writes (all 15 or so of them) and he still gets us to read his stuff.  But when it comes to the Walking Dead, I think something has been lost by writing for the trade.  When we unpack the books, Mike will take the latest issue of Walking Dead and give it “Mike’s Approval.”  To get such a thing, said zombie book must have A. Zombies (usually a good thing for a Z-book) B. Talking (in a Robert Kirkman book, never EVER a problem) and C. a cliffhanger ending.  Three simple things to fit in your formula and, lately, Mike has had an issue where he had only one of the three (yes, talking was the one thing if you were concerned.)

I think there is something to be said about a writer being a little too preoccupied.  I think Kirkman might be there right now.  I understand this.  Right now he is pretty busy (Image United #3??) and I’m concerned he is losing his focus on what got him to where he is.

So, what am I saying here… Stop reading the book?  NO.  I still think, even written for the trade, as it most certainly is right now, it is still SO much better than most of the superhero gruel I’m forcing down my throat each week.  I’m just agreeing with the few people I’ve talked to lately about it.  I’m hoping something big goes down at issue 75 (which is to be expected) and we quicken up the pace of the story a little.  Maybe kill off a character or three, that always helps too.

If you have an opinion on this, please visit the website and leave it.  I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Tickets?…

We still have tickets for the Sunday, July 11th Iowa Cubs game at a super special low price too.  Proceeds benefit Animal Life line and are only $5.00.  They will also be available for sale at the X-Men Day event.

We have advance tickets for 3XWrestling’s next event at the shop too.  The July 9th Five Year Anniversary Event should be one of the best in recent memory  Children are $6 and Adults are only $12 if you purchase in advance.  This should be a hell of an event.

His week’s featured match is the winner take all, Title vs. Title unification match between 3XW Cruiserweight Champion “The Rockstar” Jimmy Rockwell and 3XW Pure Wrestling Champion “The Viking Warrior” Kraig Keesaman.  Just one more reason why this will be a fantastic event.  Both of these two superstars are highflying at the same time being down and out brawlers, something more pro-wrestlers wish they could combine well.  This feud has come on slowly, but since both are fairly well matched against each other and have had their titles for a little while, it isn’t surprising they would meet at the anniversary to do battle.

I am not one who favors title unifications as more titles are good, right?  But, some entertainment groups have been letting the unified champs run around with both titles.  I hope whoever takes the gold will do just this and then head right after the main gold of the Heavyweight Championship, take it and have ALL THE GOLD!!  They would be like a gold knight with all that metal draped around them.

In June, The Viking came after Jimmy (the true face of all faces in 3XW) with a full on metal axe last month.  Some sinister thoughts on his mind, the Viking heel, I’m sure sees Jimmy as his most direct competition for the number one contender ship in 3XW.  The Viking is seriously channeling some Barbarian.

This will be a great match and though, as a fan, I nearly always root for villains (it’s one of many character flaws I have) you just can’t help rooting for Jimmy.  He has all the nice-ness of a Koko-B-ware or the early Rockers, true faces of old school pro-wrestling, that had high flying and bruising in one, but Jimmy could actually get his hands on the Heavyweight Championship over the next year.  It has been nice watching him grow in skill and popularity over the off and on events I’ve been to over the last three years.  He has become one of the overwhelming fan favorites and very visual stars of 3X and I wish him luck in his match.

The Week of June 21st

Published on June 21, 2010 in Comics, Matt's stupid ramblings, Shop Crap and Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Superman’s Birthday Party…

Wednesday is our party for Superman turning 72 and DC turning 75 years old.  We will have Punch and Pie (Tell them we’ll have punch and pie, more people will show up.) Prizes and PBR.  Party starts at 5:00 and runs till 8:00.

The punch is a special mix Curt is making up for the kids and the pie is a great recipe he found for little Apple Pie bars,  Mmmm.  DC has been very generous and provided some very nice prizes as well as buttons and tattoos for everyone!  As with all of our parties, there will be beer, free beer and what better beer to signify truth, justice and the American way then a red, white and blue can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

There is going to be some great discounts on DC and Superman comics, so, there should be something for everyone.

Really the point of this party is to showcase just how important Superman is.  He was the first and is still the best comic book character in comics.  People can argue about Superman’s relevance in today’s society, but they always come back to storytelling.  The character still holds all of the amazing quite literally other worldly flair he had in 1938 when he stood for workers rights and fought primarily mob bosses.  He was a super Greek strong man who didn’t have all his immunities he has now.  The character then, as he does still now stands in the light and defends truth and justice.  I don’t see how that is not needed more now than ever before.

It is not and won’t be argued that storytelling has been an issue with Superman of late and over the last few decades.  The character’s literal strengths have been written, rather than written around.  How do you write someone who can do anything, you write the human side of him.

In years past, the terrible new krypton storyline (possibly one of the worst ever in character’s history) showed the two best sides of Superman are the symbol (never seen, Superman was out of costume the whole time) and Clark Kent (not seen either as he was off world.)  These are the core of the character.  The hope with new writer J. Michael Straczynski is that we can get back to these.  We NEED to see a human side to Superman.  Without it he is someone who can do anything and that IS boring.

SO… this party is as much a celebration of the length of the character’s history and series (Issue #700!!) as a hope that the NEW writing crew and direction will be great.  We hope you can come and join us and celebrate.

X-Mas in July…

Our next event, Thursday July 8th, will be the a party surrounding the release of X-Men #1, however, we are going to call it X-Mas in July.  Those who remember Geeky Christmas will see our design of this party.  Most of the event will be designed to benefiting Animal Lifeline, the South Side’s special needs, no kill shelter, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun while doing it.

Among the happenings will be a stop in by at least one of the adoptable animals from the shelter, possible appearance by an X-Man, who has told me they might bring along a thin off-season Santa.  We will have presents for the kids, discounts on Marvel merch and of course, free beer!  We will also be trying to get donations for the shelter, stuff they always need like; laundry detergent, dish soap, clumping litter, tall kitchen trash bags, fancy feast wet cat food and milk bone dog biscuits.

July 4th Hours…

Wanted to get these out to everyone, since they effect three days.  Our hours on Sunday the 4th and 5th are going to be 8am to 2pm.  If we are busy at or around 2:00 we will be staying open until it dies down.  Comics are delayed that week too.  So, instead of Wednesday the 7th, there will be Thursday the 8th delivery.

Spider-man, why he sucks… or, Matt’s Rant of the Week!…

I was looking through the internets while mildly paying attention to a wrestling pay per view and found a hint toward continued changes in Amazing Spider-man.  Bleeding Cool’s Rich Johnston commented that rumor is saying Dan Slott will take over full time writing chores and the book’s shipping schedule will be reduced down to only twice a month.  (You can find the full note here: www.bleedingcool.com/2010/06/17/a-twice-monthly-spider-man-slott/)  Though both of these are good for fans, this is another slap to the retailers and, in my opinion is an admittance of failure on the part of Marvel.

Amazing Spider-man, once one of the shops best-selling books, is now among the worst of the top comic properties.  It is consistently outsold by Tiny Titans.  It used to sell considerably more on a monthly schedule then it does now at three times a month.  And I think most damning is the fact no one really enjoys it.

Dan Slott is a great writer, but can he overcome the pile on of failure this character has undergone over the last three years?  Let us recap; Spidey reveals his identity to the world (first and biggest dumb move), Gets sucky new costume (remember that?), can’t make up his mind on being an Avenger or fighting against Captain America or Iron Man, makes a deal with the devil, J. Michael Strczynski leaves the book with questionable editor in chief manipulation of final story, entire backstory, continuity and history restarted with convoluted and poor storytelling and not a damn good thing has been done since for nearly a year and half!  Oh, and sales plummet, forgot that one.

I spoke above about writing good Superman books.  Spider-man is the most human character in comics.  It does not take a brain surgeon to write good Spidey stories, so, why can’t Marvel get it right?

I think similar to Superman, too much thought is being put into it.  Too much editor (from on high) control is being pushed.  Simple is not bad for both of these characters.  You can do big stories, but think about the core of the characters.  At the end of the day relate them back to the reader, make them human with all our and their foibles and struggles.

I’ll give Marvel credit for trying something new, but they never stuck to their game plan.  What was supposed to be Amazing, three times a month and that is it, has become Amazing three times a month with slick gimmicky storytelling and art with no explanation and no real resolution AND a bunch of other books too.  Some are $2.99  and some are $3.99, and that goes for Amazing too.  The series and character are waterlogged and it has been a long time since Karven’s Last Hunt.

Well, smarty pants, how do you fix it?  Make the book $2.99.  Stop with variant covers.  The one writer idea is a good start, story-wise and then have a resolution to the “one more day” mess.  Reset continuity properly by Killing off the 200 year old Aunt May.  Due to the mess, you can “annul” the wedding of Mary Jane and Peter pretty easy without offending the delicate sensibilities of Joe Quesada.  (Who once said if they would be on the cover of every newspaper if they divorced Spider-man, but doesn’t have a problem with Peter sleeping with anyone and everyone in the book now or having Aunt May do it.)  plain and simple: write the character to his strengths and people will buy it.

Something Ronnie found…

Ronnie e-mailed me this, this morning with a link to a Batman fan film he says is great.  I haven’t watched it yet, so if it sucks, blame Ronnie.  If it is great, remember who sent it to you, ME.  Here you go: www.dailymotion.com/Batinthesun

3XWrestling and baseball ticket remeinder…

Quick reminder we still have tickets for the Sunday, July 11th Iowa Cubs game.  Proceeds benefit Animal Life line and are only $5.00.

We have advance tickets for 3XWrestling at the shop for the July 9th Five Year Anniversary Event as well.  Children are $6 and Adults are only $12 if you purchase in advance.  This should be a hell of an event.

I’m going to highlight a match I’m personally looking forward to  over the next three weeks.  This week I’ll look at the Triple Threat Match between “The Unbreakable Zach Thompson, “The Canadian Sex Icon” Ryan Slade and Brady A. Dezire.  This proves to be one of the three real high flying matches of the night.  All of these top performers are sitting just with-in reach of the cruiser weight title and a win will, I’m sure see them competing for the big prize in the future.  Zach Thompson, face of the match, is one of, if not the, most fearless performers in the organization.  I’ve seen him do things no one in Des Moines would or probably should try.  They call him Unbreakable, because he may be after several near and not so near carrier threatening injuries.

Ryan is the best showman in 3XW.  The evil “Canadian” has one of the best built gimmicks in the federation and uses it to perfection to rile up the crowd.  In the last three years, Ryan has really improved his in-ring skills to the point where he should be considered a candidate for a major singles title.

Brady is an old stalwart of 3XW who similar to Ryan, has the ability to push the buttons of the crowd.  A perennial heel, at nearly every match you can see a crack in his persona as his one person cheering section always gets a big hug from dad after a win.  Brady will take some serious lumps and keep coming back for more making him the endurance fighter in a match that could take awhile to finish.

Personally, I like watching all three of these performers in action.  They are some of the best 3XW has to offer and this will be a highlight of the night.  I really can’t say who I’m pulling for more.

The Week of July 14th

Published on June 14, 2010 in Comics and Matt's stupid ramblings. 0 Comments

Is anyone doing anything except watching or listening to World Cup Football?  Don’t look at me that way.  This is one of the best sports events period and the biggest sporting events in the world!  Just not here in the US.  Though I can’t see why.  Nonetheless, here is your weekly tidbits…

Two parties, One place…

Happy Birthday Superman

I hope you all know about Superman’s Birthday Party on June 23rd.  Starting at 5:00 and running until 8:00 we will celebrate comics first and best character as his self titled 700th issue comes out.  You should also know it was 72 years ago this month Superman made his first appearance.  We’ll have punch, pie, prizes and PBR to help celebrate.  Also, there will be discounts on DC merchandise as well as Superman giveaways.  Come, hang out and celebrate at Superman’s favorite coffee house.

Merry X-Men Day

Is the heat starting to get to you?  Need a little winter holiday cheer?  How about X-mas in July?  On Thursday, July 8th, we are going to celebrate Merry X-Men Day.  This is the day X-Men #1 comes out (a new X-Men #1 book, not NEW X-Men, it is like volume three or four… It’s new not New, and they are battling Vampires.  I don’t know, ask Tia, I can’t keep it straight.)  We wanted to give it a little more flair than just a new Marvel number one issue, those come out every other week.  So, why not have X-mas in July?  Tia and I are working on the details, there will be more to come next week.  However, we assure you there will be presents.

Wrestling and Baseball Tickets Available…

We again have advanced tickets for 3XWrestling’s next event, The big five year anniversary spectacular on July 9th.  Advance tickets are only $12 for adults and $6 for kids.  Last year’s anniversary event was absolutely amazing and this year’s should prove to be one of the best events they have ever put on.  I’ll have more in the weeks to come on the matches and feuds.

Also, Animal Lifeline is sponsoring a day at the Iowa Cubs on Sunday, July 11th.  We have advance tickets on sale, only $5.00 for General Admission ($2.00 off the regular price with the proceeds going directly to Animal Lifeline, the local special needs, no kill shelter here on the South Side.)  For more information go to www.animal-lifeline.com.

Comics on Tuesday?…

No, not this week, but it could happen next year.  Back at the C2E2 retailer summit Diamond announced they were considering two different options surrounding shipping books early due to the success they had with Blackest Night #6 being sent out one week early last Christmas and only one account that participated out of thousands breaking street date.

The thought is books would arrive on Tuesday with a release day of Wednesday.  This would give us retailers the ability to get the stuff processed and organized so that the chaos, stress and grouchiness of Wednesday could be alleviated.  Currently Diamond is exploring the exact ways to make this work on their end, as it would need some substantial changes on how the packing and shipping of books would work.

However, one of the thoughts that was also thrown out was shipping on Monday for Tuesday sale.  I think the thought, on Diamond’s part is that if we are changing things to get to Tuesday can’t we put comics in line with other media and release on Tuesday too.  Last week I presented the question on our Facebook page and tried to get some feedback (which only a couple of you gave.  Must have been too busy watching World Cup games… yeah.)

I do not like the idea of Tuesday release and the few people I’ve talked to don’t either.  My thoughts are Wednesday makes us unique and also marks the middle of the week, hump day/comic day equals half way to the weekend.  Now, I’m also an OLD school collector who remembers Friday release day, so, maybe I’m just a curmudgeon on this issue.

I’ve already put in requests to be able to release when we open (at 6:30) and to occasionally have midnight release parties for really big books on Wednesday at 12:01 AM.  I expect there will be a rather significant announcement in the next month on this issue, but it won’t take effect until January of 2011.  I’ll keep you up to date as I hear anything.  If you want to let your thoughts be known, please go to our Facebook page and comment.  I would like to know what you think.

Twice in a Week… or Matt’s rant.

From early delivery to late delivery, the big two need to get their damn acts together.  This week the ridiculousness of delays from the big two companies continues as we see three Spider-man books, two Amazing titles alone, and two of the Joker’s Asylum books released on the same week.  This is unacceptable.  This industry is hard enough without companies having NO regard for the small shop owner or the customer and dumping their titles like so much oil in a large fresh body of water.  (NO it is not that bad and I’m not even close to as mad as I am at BP, but the comic dumping needs to stop anyway.  And the BP execs need to go to jail.)

What has me irritated on this subject is that we have five weeks in this month of June, there are five Joker Asylum and five major Spider-man books scheduled to be released, so why can’t you get your $#!% together and release it on… a… schedule?  OH, I answered my own question.  Schedules, they are hard to keep.  Wait, no they aren’t!  Come on comic companies it is not a hard concept to grasp.

Just think about a world run by comic companies…

Movie or TV shows would start sometime tonight, no, wait, it’ll be tomorrow night and now both of your favorites will be on at the same time.  Sporting events would be, eh, whenever they felt like it.  Dinner, nope, next week, just wait though I promise it’ll be worth it.  You’ll starve, but it’ll be worth it.  Kids getting out of school, “hey, Timmy, Mom will be there when she feels like it.”

I exaggerate for effect, but I think you get my point.  Delays from independent books is to be expected.  The difference is that the creators are doing indie books for much less and get money when they get put out.  The companies work, in theory, much further ahead so that they can have this schedule and promote it accordingly.  Problems will arise, but it seems like this crap is a weekly occurrence and needs to be addressed, one way or another.

Something I found on the internets…

And finally, I found something interesting on the internets I thought you might like.  There is one post on a weekly basis I like to check out called Comic Legends Revealed on Comic Book Resources. This week they talk about the dead; Robin 2 and his fight with  Aids?, Zombie avoiding the comics code and The Smurfs and their own zombie apocalypse.  The column asks a question and then researches the answers as pertaining to comics lore.

All three this week are good reads, but it is the Smurfs one that has full Belgian panels from the original books.  (See, The Smurfs were originally created in Belgium nearly 40 years ago.)  I highly recommend taking a look.

I hope all this undead talk has you thinking about Zombiefest.  One of these days I’ll have a big announcement about its return.  Start preparing, because it isn’t if, but when.

The Week of June 7th

Published on June 7, 2010 in Comics, Matt's stupid ramblings, Movies and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

Superman’s Birthday Party…

Big reminder about Superman’s Birthday Party, June 23rd from 5:00 to 8:00.  We will have Punch, Pie, Prizes and PBR.  Yep, more free beer and what says Truth, Justice and the American Way more than, Papst Blue Ribbon.  Superman would approve, even if DC probably wouldn’t.  None the less, they are sending us some goodies to give away and we’ll make a big deal out of Issue #700 of Superman.  Oh, we might discount some stuff too, maybe.  Really though, do you need a reason to come and drink a free beer and hang out with comic friends?

Name Brand Super-heroes… a.k.a. matt’s rant of the week…

Read some disturbing news about the early stages of branding Green Lantern for the arrival of the movie next year.  www.bleedingcool.com/2010/06/06/green-brandon-it-begins had some pictures and commentary that just made me sick.

Now, I get it.  This is done for those idiots who don’t read comics and need to be “educated” as to what the #%@& a Green Lantern is, but do we need this?  Why can’t you make a good movie people want to see…. Just because it is good?  I suppose not, because the general public doesn’t know who the hell a DC character is besides Superman (bad slow uneventful movies) and Batman (movies in no way like his comic, but at least don’t suck).

Now, maybe I’m in an exceptionally irritable mood on this subject because of the Hockey I have been watching lately.  Normally, I don’t watch television.  WHAT?!?  You unpatriotic monster!!  Yes, it is true.  I had to hook up my stupid government mandated HD converter box for the first time in six months just to watch the Cup finals… and what did I find, WAY too many #%@&ing commercials.  I’m not naïve, I know they are there, that is why I don’t watch the idiot box, but I had forgot how terrible and invasive they are, like a cancer of stupidity in my mind.

So, I guess the thing that bothers me about the Brand X or I mean Green is I don’t really want that to happen with the things I actually like… comics and superheroes.  I don’t want the things I love to do what I hate other forms of lower entertainment life try to do to me.  Maybe, because I didn’t graduate with a degree in advertising I don’t understand.  Maybe they have a reverse golden rule, do unto others type of thing…

It all reminds me of the great Grant Morrison written story in Marvel Boy #3.  An evil (is there any other kind?) super-malignant corporate brand tries to take over the earth.  How does one fight a non-physical thing like a brand name?     It has been awhile since I read that, maybe we can learn something from comics.

Looks like I know what I’m reading before bed tonight.

Concept art for Thor and Cap…

I hate talking about comic related movies, but I couldn’t let this lie.  Did you see the concept art for Thor and Captain America’s costumes?  BWA-HA-HA… oh, wow, those are terrible!!  Yeah, good going idiots, cast poorly and then dress them worse.  Seriously, didn’t mother Marvel check them before they left the house?  “NO, Steve, you can’t wear the plaid pants with that stripped shirt and suspenders.  I’m not even giving you a link to that.  It is so horrible, I’ll save you from it… ah, who am I kidding, you’ll just go find it anyway.  Thor: www.collider.com/2010/06/02/thor-chris-hemsworth-new-images-concept-art/ and Cap: www.joblo.com/screw-words-now-you-can-see-captain-americas-costume

Need something to wash that horrible taste from your mouth.  There was some pretty amazing make-up effects released for the Walking Dead tv show: www.joblo.com/index.php?id=32400 Grr, I’ll have to actually find a way to watch this when it finally arrives in October.

Ronnie’s Review of the Month…

I Zombie #2
Another zombie book.  Great…  But, wait this one may have something going for it.
The book is written by Chris Roberson, who just finished up the kick ass Fables related Cinderella mini-series and the art is from Mike Allred, who is known for his fantastic Madman, but also did the recent Metamorpho arc in Wednesday Comics.
The first issue introduced us to Gwen, a grave digger working for an eco-friendly cemetery in Eugene, Oregon.  She also happens to be a zombie.  However, this flavor of zombie remains “normal” as long as she eats one brain once a month.  If not, she turns all “living dead like.”  But, once she eats a brain, she gains the memories of that person’s life as well.  The first issue sets the scene and introduces us to some of her friends and neighborhood weirdoes; Ellie the ghost from the ’60s, the gang of female vampires who run a paintball club, Scott the were-terrier (no really), and a couple of odd monster hunters with eye scars, knives and Matrix like future coats.  Remember, this is a Mike Allred drawn book, so, everyone appears in their mid twenties and a lot better looking than you or me; even with eye scars.  The issue ends with her eating the brain and getting the memories of a man who was murdered and wants vengeance.

Cue issue #2.  We start with Gwen painting portraits from the dead man’s memories, and the Vampires trying figure out how to up the attendance to their paint ball resort.  You can guess why they want large groups of people there?  The monster hunters are finding bodies, and a mysterious mummy (or invisible man?) is introduced.  There is a well scripted and somewhat disturbing scene in the cemetery where Gwen and the family of her brain donor have a little chat.  This issue and all of these scenes focuses less on Gwen, and more on setting the stage for larger plots.

The book has many themes in common with many other current books and movies, but the tone is very, very different.  It’s a got a bit of the ol’ ultra modern, very pop-art influenced illustrations.  (The art really carries the book too, so far.  If it a Jim Lee clone or that muddy painted artist had done the work, I probably wouldn’t like it near as much.) The coloring is hyper saturated and adds even more to the adult Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew feel of the book.  The whole package screams 50s monster movies, as opposed to horror movies.

The series is off to a slow build, with a character driven plot. The second issue hints at what could be a well developed and fun plot, if sales hold and Vertigo gives it the time it needs to get going.  Remember, Fables wasn’t what it is now right out of the shoot.  IZombie is part monster movie, part detective series, part buddy sitcom.  (Plus the preview in the back of issue two for the Revolver original graphic novel looks really good too.)  On a scale of one to ten, I give it an Eight and looking forward to the next issue.

Lots of New Books…

Just a quick note, there are a bloody hell of a lot of new books coming in this week and this month.  Some are indie and then there is the slew of new releases from Marvel and DC just like every summer.  I point this out because space is limited.  I try and stock as much stuff as I can, but if a book doesn’t sell, I’ll cut it and I do these cuts on a weekly basis, the week after it comes out.  If you are a once a month or sometimes shopper and try some of these, like them, and want them to keep coming in… please, let us know.

Marvel seems to be over publishing even more then they were over the winter months and are (in my opinion) trying to push other companies off the shelf.  This is nothing new and the big (two) companies have been doing it for a long time, but recently it has gone into overdrive.  I’m not going to make a big ranty thing of this, I’m just going to say, if you want what you are reading to come in, let me know.  Thanks.

The Week of June 1st

Published on June 1, 2010 in Comics, Matt's stupid ramblings and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

***Reminder, comics ship on Thursday this week***

3XWrestling and Baseball Benefit tickets on sale now!…

The shop is your one stop for entertainment, even when it isn’t in the form of paper products.  You can now buy advanced, and discounted tickets to 3XWrestling as well as an upcoming Iowa Cubs game that will benefit Animal Lifeline.

3XWrestling tickets can be purchased at the shop and you can save on what you would spend at the door!  Tickets for the June 4th (this Friday) Downtown Destruction event are $12 for adults and $6 for kids if you buy them from us.  I’m really looking forward to the show, myself, which will see an eight man tag match between The Gentlemen’s Club and the amalgamation of Mark Sterling, Zach Thompson and the Horndogs.  Also, a 3XW Heavyweight Championship Match between Tyler Cook and your current champion The Rebel Jeremy Wyatt.  And what should prove to be the most exciting match of the evening will feature “The Rockstar” Jimmy Rockwell putting his 3XW Cruiserweight Championship on the line in a four corners match against “The Professional” Ben Sailer, “Torturous” Tony Sly and Matt Star.

I’ll be there and you should seriously consider joining me for what will be a great night of amazing local pro-wrestling action.  For more information and details of the feuds, wrestlers and matches check out www.3xwrestling.com.

You can also get advanced general admission tickets for the July 11th, 1:05 Iowa Cubs game at the shop too.  They are only $5.00 ($2.00 off the regular ticket price) and all proceeds will go to Animal Lifeline, our south side no kill shelter that benefits animals with special needs.  If you need more information ask me when you are in the shop or check out www.animal-lifeline.com.

Superman’s Birthday Party!…

I am happy to announce our next party at the shop and it will be to celebrate the birthday of the most important comic character ever created, Superman!  The first and best superhero started in June of 1938 and though some sources (an old pre-crisis calendar) claim his birthday falls on February 29th, we will be having the party to coincide with the release of Superman #700, a pretty big event for many reasons (see upcoming episodes of the podcast for why.)

We will have Punch and Pie, in addition to some free PBR (can you think of a more all American beer of Truth and Justice?)  We will also be having some discounts and some prizes too.  We are just now getting the details worked out, so, bear with me… there is more to come next week.

Note on Batman Next Week…

The big 700th issue of Batman ships next week (sorry, no bat-party, maybe when or if Bruce Wayne returns.)  In this issue Grant Morrison will be writing, Frank Quietly will be doing some of the art and David Finch has a really awesome cover.  If you want this issue pulled for you, and subsequent issues pulled, please say so.  I have ordered heavy on this book, but you never know.  Here is the official solicitation:

Batman #700

Grant Morrison returns to BATMAN with this oversized special! And he’s brought an all-star roster of artists along with him including Andy Kubert, Tony Daniel and Frank Quitely to celebrate this milestone 700th issue featuring stories spotlighting each of the Batmen from different eras – Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. You won’t want to miss this blockbuster story that paves the way for the return of Bruce Wayne.

Matt’s Rant of the Week…

…and this leads me to my rant of the week.  There is a third “momentous” issue shipping this month, but in my opinion is means NOTHING!  Wonder Woman has what is being called issue #600.  This happened because of people complaining that Wonder Woman had “reached” this number and should have this numbering.  Wonder Woman issue 44 just shipped last week… OH, you know where this is going.

DC, seriously, you are above this.  Just because Marvel can’t count as well as a four year old, doesn’t mean you should have a mental disability too.  You cancelled it, BECAUSE THE BOOK DIDN”T SELL, now you can’t just re-fix your problem and magicly re-number.  It is volume three, issue 600, which followed issue 44.  You are stupid and Curt’s kid can count better then you can.

This is easily the most infuriating aspect of modern comics.  Marvel has a lovely one going right now with Deadpool and Wolverine both having magic issue #900s.  It only seems that those two characters are in or on the covers of 900 books a month, but no, they are not even close and even if you added your series together you don’t get to 900.

Not that it matters for the masters of math, I really can’t wait to see what the numbering is on Avengers when they realize “Crap!  Didn’t we already have Avengers #500?  Do we count New Avengers in the numbering?  Is this volume two of New Avengers?  How can we fake that we are better than DC?”

And that is what it seems to me, faking and insincerity.  Marvel was NOT 70 years old, Avengers, Amazing Spiderman, Cap, FF, Daredevil, Thor and… and Wonder Woman have NOT reached their “special” issues, unless we are using the word “special” like special education.

All of this shows why Uncanny X-Men, Batman, Superman, Action and Detective are amazing.  (but let us not forget the Brits are king.  2000AD is over 1000 issues strong.  Yes, it’s weekly, but this shows how dam awesome Judge Dredd is.)

Podcasting…

Should have another podcast up later this week.  Pay attention to The Cup Facebook or www.youtube.com/user/Southsiderstudios page for more details.

Crisis on Infinite Hold Boxes…

Our new hold policy will be in the shop this week.  That new policy is this:

  1. Come in once a month (or set up an acceptable arrangement.)
  2. Buy the books that are in your box.
  3. Communicate with us if there is a problem.

You might be saying this is the same policy as the one that existed before… and you would be right.  (If you realized this, it probably doesn’t matter or apply to you.)  However, now we are going to set up a time frame for putting boxes on hold and/or cancelling them… and we will be sticking to it.

Also, we will be having a slightly new system on the putting back of stuff off the wall and waiting to buy it.  We don’t want to be a comic book savings and loan, we want to sell them, not sit on them.  So, stuff put back will have a one week period for you to come in and buy it (or you can talk to us for an acceptable arrangement.)

We aren’t bad or unreasonable people.  We will work with you on everything and we really, really want to sell YOU comics.  So, please, please, please help us help you.