Archive for the 'Reviews-comics' Category

Week of May 14th

Published on May 13, 2012 in Best Bets, Comics, Reviews-comics and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

We are though the first week on the new location.  Not perfectly smooth (no phone for a week, promises on computers/systems/screens not delivered, lack of coffee brewers, not enough hours in the day… the list goes on and on) but as a whole, it has worked and I think for the best.

Here are some pics of the new digs:

 

The “End of an Era” party was a huge success.  I want to thank all the artists – Ron Wagner, Tyler Walpole, Carter Allen, Tom Finley and Jason Wright – for coming out and being part of the great goodbye.  I hope everyone enjoyed the festivities.  It was not like anything I’d ever seen in the store.  Busier than ever and just a really cool vibe.  Hell, there were people out front just sitting around and even some playing music.  It was all kind of cool.

 

A few things about the new location.  We have coffee… for free.  We have some seating.  You are more than welcome to come and sit and surf the net or work on school or work or free time, er, work… whatever.  Yes, we have had to cut down the space for lounging, but some of it is still there.  Come get your books, stay for awhile.  We will also have some sodas stocked and are fine with you bringing in Ground for Celebration drinks.

The future looks bright.  If things progress in the right direction (and the city isn’t a bunch of complete idiots – yes, a stretch for this bunch) the Des Moines Social Club will be moving into the firehouse on 9th and Mulberry.  We have been asked if we would like to be their coffee shop.  It sounds like a good match and could, if it happens, mark the first comic book shop in downtown Des Moines.  …and we would do full scale coffee again.

 

It is, to some extent, sad to end the shop on the south side, but our time there had run its course.  It doesn’t mean there weren’t any good times, but that just that we hope to make many more in this new space.  Ten years is a LONG time for any business, especially one with some real drawbacks (location, visibility and corporate level competition established by your own landlord) but we made it through… WITH YOUR HELP.  For the first ten years, I want to thank you all.  Customers are the life blood of all businesses, especially small ones.  Without you, we are not still here.  On to the next ten years.

 

(A quick shout out to a couple coffee customers that were like no others.  Don on computers, the caramel guy – who in five years I’m sure I was told your name, and just called you the caramel guy – Carol of the Soy latte, Jamie creator of the Around the Horn, Don of the toddy coffee and Gary – the most regular customer we had, even on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.   Most of all though, Bonnie and Mel.  You two have become like a second set of parents to me over the years.  I will miss most of the coffee customers very much, but Bonnie, I will miss you the most.

 

 

Really nice article on Ron…

Joe Lawler had a great article back a week plus ago on the incomparable Ron Wagner.  It is very much worth a read and can be found on the Des Moines Register’s website.

If you have never met Ron, you should get another chance soon.  I have plans for a few signings in mind for the rest of the year (the new shop should work well for signings) and I hope that Ron will come back.  I don’t think he hated the end of an era signing too much.

 

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets…

Before I attempt to persuade y’all on how to spend your money, I wanna apologize for the site being so quiet lately.  The Cup crew has been way stupid busy with the move, and for some reason our personal lives wouldn’t pause for it.  The act of sitting down meant passing out, not writing.  Also, I wanna say that after the first week, things are falling into place at the new shop… and believe me, it is a total upgrade.  I hope y’all feel the same.  I know I feel awesome about the future of the place.  I feel bad for the coffee only customers, but Matt has already gone over the reasons why with most of you.  It is as it is, but hopefully in the future we can serve you again.

If you are one of our many new customers, Welcome.  Glad to have ya!  My name is Ronnie, I am the shop elf, and I blackmailed Matt into letting me get a few words in every week.  You’ve been warned…

 

Best Bets for this week -

This week brings us the third issue of four really, really good new series.  This creator owned renaissance we are seeing right now is one of the best things to happen to the medium for a long time.  Couldn’t be better timing either, what with the Big Two trying to prove whose gimmick is bigger.  We will see new stuff from:

The Manhattan Projects – the first of the two new Jonathan Hickman written ongoing series at Image. This story takes alternate history, science fiction, the occult, secret military operations and wraps it all up in WWII.  And it works really well.  The first two issues were easily 5 Star comics.

Saga – The much hyped, underprinted (by design?) new sci-fi series from Brian K Vaughn and Fiona Staples is off to an excellent start.  I’m sure you’ve heard enough about it, and the praise is all completely on the mark.  As long as it stays on time-ish and focused, this will be a fun ride.  The art from Staples is worth the cover price itself, especially the doublesized first issue.  The second issue had one of the scariest page turns this side of Hellboy.   Also 5 Stars so far.

Saucer Country – Each of the first two issues could easily be published as an art tutorial book, showing the kids how to draw realistic, memorable characters and settings without relying on flashy poses and impossible muscles.  Ryan Kelly is just fantastic.  I so wish he would do lots more than he has.  The writing itself is just as good.  If the thought of a presidential candidate getting abducted by aliens makes you smile, try this out.  It is an election year after all. 5 Stars as well.

Also, issue three of The Secret History of DB Cooper is due out.  Another alternate history mixed with sci-fi, but this time starring one of my folk heroes, the infamous DB Cooper.  First two issues show promise, I’m interested to see where it goes.

 

Do yourself a favor and check these series out, they make comics a good place.

 

Speaking of excellent use of the medium, Scalped #58 is due out, which means the final issue #60 is right around the corner.  I’ve screamed it from the rooftops, this is the best series I have ever read, most intense series I have ever read, possibly the most important series I have ever read.  I really hope creators Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera have something else up their sleeves, there is going to be a big void in comics when they publish the last Scaled issue.  If you haven’t read it, I feel bad for you.  But, I can easily get you the trades whenever you want.  You got no excuses and in three years when this is spoken in the same snobby circles that Sandman and Preacher are regarded in… well, you will wish you hadn’t waited so long.

 

I am looking forward to reading all those, plus The Sixth Gun #22 and Conan The Barbarian #4.  Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan are making Conan much more enjoyable than I expected.  It’s one of my wife’s current favorites too.  I suppose I will probably also get around to all my usual Gotham City fare, for better or worse.

What are you gonna read?

 

Last week I really enjoyed the end of the Lobster Johnson mini-series and Fatale finished it’s first arc in grand style.  It was also great to see Tyler Walpole, Des Moines’ Native Son, return to the covers of Dungeons and Dragons.  Mind the Gap #1 is off to a hell of a start.  Kinda of an old school whodunit with 48 pages and no ads, it’s well worth the 6 cents a page at $2.99, even if the art is a bit plastic (in my opinion.)

This Night of The Owls mini crossover has been a little under whelming, not quite delivering on the promise Snyder gave us over the first 8 issues of the main Batman title.  Batman and Robin #9 was actually pretty good, even if Batman #9 was pretty anti-climatic.  Batgirl #9 was throwaway filler crap. Man, that whole title has been a tragic mistake.  If they were to retcon anything after only nine issues…. oh, and both Detective Comics #9 and Batwing #9 were forgettable.

What did you like last week?

 

 

I asked RJ to return to do a review of a book he had been very excited about and then I was so busy last week I never found time to even get it copied, pasted and posted.  RJ, I am very sorry for that, but it is here finally, unfortunately after – rather than before it “officially” came out.

MIND THE GAP #1

Written by Jim (Return of the Dapper Men, Necrosha: Dazzler) McCann, and art by Rodin (Morning Glories) Esquejo and Sonia (X-Force, X-23) Oback; Mind The Gap is long-form fiction, in the same vein as Morning Glories (also from Image…also a book you should be reading), only this time it’s an (attempted) murder mystery.  McCann takes a page from mystery writers by using this first issue to introduce readers to all of the major characters, and mentions in the text piece at the end of the book, that at least one of these characters is behind the attack that is the impetus of the series.  Apparently at the end of Mind The Gap #1, you know everyone you need to know…you know the what, now as the series progresses, we will discover the “why”.

If straight-up ‘whodunits’ aren’t your thing, let me make it clear that there’s more to Mind The Gap than a simple attempted murder and figuring out who did it and why.  There’s a supernatural element to this story that at first seems like a way to work the central character into the book as a part of narrative, but by the last page, you find out that there’s a lot more going on here than just exercising creative license…and provides the book a reason for continuing longer than what a murder-mystery s/could without overstaying its welcome.

If you’re tired of people going on and on about how Batwoman is “the best looking comic on the shelves”, good news: MIND THE GAP makes Batwoman look like amateur hour,  and barring one of the classic master painters resurrecting and getting into comics, you’re not going find a more beautiful looking book from any publisher currently available.  Marvel fans should be familiar with Sonia Oback’s work, having done work on Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, and the second X-23 mini-series from a few years back; and Rodin Esquejo provides the absolutely stunning and lifelike covers of Morning Glories that you may have seen as you all pass it over every month…I read more than a fair share of comics each month, and I honestly can’t even point to any other book that’s currently being published and is in the same league as Mind The Gap.

There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the new Image books these days…mainly, I suspect, based on people trying to make sure they get their hands on the ‘next’ Walking Dead or Chew (read: make a huge return-on-investment), but the fact that they seem to keep selling out, issue after issue, means that the people buying up all the new #1′s like what they’re reading and coming back for more, and Mind The Gap is just as quality as Saga, Fatale, or America’s Got Powers.   At 44 pages, for only $2.99, Mind The Gap is a steal. There’s absolutely no excuse for passing it up in lieu of any of the stuff that Marvel or DC is throwing your way (especially since the delay that pushed Mind The Gap from May 2 to May 9 made it avoid direct competition with Avengers Vs. X-Men and the ‘big’ New 52 Next Wave debuts).

Note from Dark Horse Editor Sierra Hahn on the Massive…

Why you should buy and read Brian Wood’s THE MASSIVE?

I’ve known Brian Wood for about seven years. We first met when I was hired on at DC Comics to do publicity. Wow. I can’t believe that much time has passed, and, oh, how so much has changed. At that time, Vertigo published about 75 percent of my favorite titles, and I quickly maneuvered myself into the position of publicist for the imprint. Brian and Riccardo Burchielli’s DMZ was one of the first titles I worked on, and I got to know Brian pretty well during my two years at the company.

 

When I made the leap to Dark Horse Comics to try my hand at editing, I kept in touch with Brian and pestered him often about bringing creator-owned work to Dark Horse and also gauged his interest in series like Buffy or Conan. As you know, the prospect of working on the Conan title stuck, and it’s proven to be a big success for you and for Dark Horse.

 

But my initial goal remained: to get a creator-owned series up and running. That project is THE MASSIVE—a series that Brian worked on and refined for several years before he finally penned the first issue last summer. Kristian Donaldson (whom Brian worked with previously on Supermarket) came on board as interior artist, fleshing out a big world plagued by a series of unpredictable, enormous, landscape-changing natural disasters. The result is the loss of millions of lives, a worldwide economic crash, and overall political upheaval. At the core of this series are three central characters—Cal, Mary, and Mag—who are seafaring environmentalists struggling to find purpose as the world they’ve spent their lives saving crumbles around them. Living aboard a ship, the extended crew must redefine their core mission (how to save a world that’s already lost) while on the hunt for their missing sister ship The Massive.

 

THE MASSIVE is a series about people and their struggle to not just survive one another, but a world that is slowing turning its back on civilization. It’s a series rife with mystery, evolving politics, and an examination of humanity’s willingness to exhaust resources at the risk of destroying itself.

 

Each issue of THE MASSIVE will include additional content exclusive to the individual comic books, including photos, artwork, maps, and personal notes and journal entries from Captain Callum Israel and other significant characters. It’s a big world that explores big ideas. For all of us behind the scenes on this series, there is a lot of fun to be had in creating this exclusive content, but it’s also one way that we can bring readers closer to the characters and the ongoing struggles that will plague them in these unregulated seas.

 

I’ve long been drawn to Brian’s work because of his ongoing examination of the world’s political climate. Whether or not I agree with his characters’ perspectives on varying political policies, I am continually enlightened, challenged, and entertained by his work—DMZ, Channel Zero, The Northlanders, and, yes, THE MASSIVE. He also manages to work with some of the most exciting artists in comics right now (you gotta check out what Kristian and Dave Stewart are making together . . . breathtaking). Not only that, but all of the books mentioned above have had proven track records of success in your stores. Come June, I hope that you, the retailers, and your customers alike will discover THE MASSIVE—a new world and new characters with great creators from Dark Horse Comics.

What’s not to love?

Sierra Hahn

Editor, Dark Horse Comics

 

The Week of April 30th

Published on April 29, 2012 in Best Bets, Reviews-comics and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

The winds of change are blowing with gale force and to load on top of everything, Comic Book Day is Saturday.  Most of the info is below.

 

New location coming Saturday May 5th

2608 Beaver Ave.

It has been a long time in coming, but it is almost here.  The new shop is nearly ready to open.

Many are sad that we are leaving the south side.  Yes, I feel for you.  I wish it wasn’t so, but we had little to no options to stay, either on the south side or in our current space.  If you want more details, please ask me when you see me.  I will do my best to help you understand.

Yes, we are losing the prepared for profit coffee aspect of the shop.  This isn’t as big a deal as you might think.  We’ve been squeezed out so badly over the last couple years by the unmentionable wretched neighbors we’ve had moved in near us, but our comic business has sky rocketed.  To lose this aspect, yes, we lose a part that might make us special, but really the costs of running a coffee shop are much larger than you might think.

Instead, we are going to offer FREE brewed drip coffee to customers who browse or buy or just hang out.  This is our gift to you.  Some will say “that is insane.”  (In the coming weeks I will be explaining the grease interceptor ordinance and then you will say “THAT is insane.”  We would be doing prepared coffee and offering beer if not for this.  Want to complain about it, complain to a council member or a board of supervisor.  It is the Water Reclamation Authority, not us who decided the fate of the espresso machine.)  Also, our good friends at Grounds for Celebration are located just across the street from us.  My recommendation, pull into their drive though and order up your mocha or your latte and then come on over and get comics.  All the baristas at Grounds are as good as any of us at the Cup.  Seriously.  Except maybe Ronnie, but he has special powers.

The neighborhood we are moving into has already shown so many signs of embracing us too.  I can not say enough good things about Beaverdale, but will let you know about all of them over the next couple months.  However, the biggest thing I have seen from our new shop is the visibility we will now have from the road and the walk and ride by traffic that is near constant.  This is something we have NEVER had where we’ve been for the last ten years.

Listen, it is a tough racket to run a small business in today’s economic and political climate.  Politicians love to say how much they support us, neighborhoods, landlords and areas of town do too.  But in the end the proof is in the pudding.  Yes, we could stay where we are, and we would not be in existence in two years time.  Period, end of debate.  We have to look out for two things in this, the business itself (our livelihoods, because as much as it sometimes doesn’t sound like it, we like doing this) and you the regular customer.  You will like the new shop and the things to come.

 

New Hours at New Beaverdale Location:

On May 5th we will be open at 9:00 am for Free Comic Book Day

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday – Noon to 5:00pm

Wednesday – 8:00am to 10:00pm

Thursday, Friday and Saturday – 10:00am to 9:00pm

 

Old Shop Hours starting May 5th through May 12th

May 5th – 9:00am to 5:00pm

May 6th through May 12th 9:00am to Noon

 

Friday Night, End of an Era Party

Our last full day is this Friday!!  So, we are going out with a bang.  The End of an Era party starts (officially) at 9:00pm, but we will all be there earlier getting things packed up and set up for the move, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  You are welcome to come at any time.

We will have the typical Free Beer and several artists doing signing and sketching.  We will also have a killer sale on Trades and our old wall.  Plan on some significant discounts.  If it isn’t there when it is time to pack, so much the better.

Also, we’ll have some great coffee discounts as we will need to keep you up so you can help pack.

At midnight, some of the Free Comic Book Day books will be put out.  Then a plea will be put out at 12:15, you can stay and if you want and help us pack up the comics.  We are moving over night and with a little help will open the next morning at the new location.  (We will also be open at the south side shop too on Saturday.)  Why the move to be open on the 5th?  Well….

 

Free Comic Book Day 2012

Yes, the launch of the new shop happens to coincide with Free Comic Book Day.  Much like last year, we will have a midnight release of some of the books (those slightly more geared towards adults) and all of them the next morning at both shops.

This year there will be a limit though.  In years past I have railed on how greedy of a “holiday” this is.  How it brings out the worst in some collectors and how it is NOT free for the retailer.  I’m not going into all that again, as I simply don’t have time.  I’ll sum up my feelings with this, the day needs some fixing from the top (Diamond) and since it is not coming any time soon, we will have to fix it from our end, the retailer.

I have talked with Jeremy at Mayhem and our distributor, Diamond, and we all agree that most shops limit the number of books you can have for free.  Some shops do things differently, but we are going to try something a little more progressive.

We will have a limit this year though.  In years past, the books are gobbled up by free loaders we see once a year, Free Comic Book Day.  You can have six books for free.  DC and Marvel has two releases

Each, those are for everyone.  Then you can have four more of any type.  All others after that we are asking for a donation to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.  (This is merely the first of what we hope to be many events throughout the year with them.  Stay tuned.)

 

Here is a list of the books that will be available and for more info you can go here:

ATOMIC ROBO & FRIENDS           BUFFY/THE GUILD           MEGA MAN       SMURFS & DISNEY FAIRIES

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG                  STAR WARS SERENITY    TOP SHELF KIDS CLUB

TRANSFORMERS #80.5                  WALT DISNEYS DD COMICS          BURT WARD BOY WONDER

CENSORED HOWARD CRUSE       DC COMICS THE NEW 52 #1         DC/SUPERMAN FAMILY FLIP BOOK

MARVEL HEROCLIX AVENGERS FIG          MOOMIN COLOR SPECIAL            MOUSE GUARD HC

SPIDER-MAN SEASON ONE          WITCHBLADE                     YO GABBA GABBA FCB TIME

ANIMAL PLANET WORLD MOST DANGEROUS     ANTARCTICS ZOMBIE KID

ARCANA PRESENTS INTRINSIC                   AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON POINT ONE

BAD MEDICINE #1                            BONGO FREE-FOR-ALL /SPONGEBOB      JURASSIC STRIKEFORCE 5

LADY DEATH THE BEGINNING                     OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE

ROCKHEAD & ZINC ALLOY 2-FOR-NONE                 VALIANT PREVIEW          VOLTRON FORCE

DINOSAURS VERSUS ALIENS                       GRAPHIC ELVIS PREVIEW              IMAGE 20

PEANUTS ADV TIME FLIPBOOK                  THE HYPERNATURALS

 

A delay to make you aware of…

Due to the tragic head on collision with a driver in the wrong lane of an interstate and a Diamond shipping truck late last week, the following comics will be unavoidably delayed a week:

AVENGERS X-SANCTION HC
FCBD 2012 2000 AD JUDGE DREDD SPEC
FURY MAX #1
MIND THE GAP #1
RICH JOHNSTONS THE AVENGEFULS #1
SPAWN #219
STAR TREK ONGOING #8

AND REORDERS OF AVENGERS VS X-MEN #2 2ND PTG

Sorry for the inconvenience.  Most should ship next week.

 

 

Learn from history or be doomed to repeat it…

Found a great article on a bill worming its way through Congress that if passed would label all video game with “Warning: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior.”  Where did I find this article, on the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s web site.  That would be because the ACLU is using the erroneous verbiage back in the 1950’s that violent comic books caused juvenile delinquency to fight the passage of the bill.  Most certainly worth a look.

 

Chad’s Comic Corner…

The Goon #39 All by Eric Powell, except coloring by Dave Stewart

Hey guys, bear with me here as this is the first comic review I’ve written.  Matt asked me if I could write one to help him out for this week.  I guess he must be a little busy or something.

If you guys aren’t reading The Goon you really, really need to be.  Hopefully this review can help convince some of you to give it a try.

I myself just recently discovered The Goon a little under a year ago and now can’t imagine my comic reading experience without it; consistently one of the best books when it comes out.  How I went so long without it in my life is beyond me.

Issue 39, or the 1st 39th issue, is a perfect jumping on point for new readers, though any Goon is a good spot to jump on.  All you need to know is that the big guy with the cool hat, that’s the Goon and his weird little buddy is named Frankie.  They do stuff and most of the time it is pretty funny.

“Death of the Goon” is the issue where everything changes and everything is new!  Nothing will be the same again!  We find out Goon’s new origin, he also gets a couple new costumes… wait, this sounds like a superhero book?  Oh, that’s the point.  The entire issue is Powell’s plea to look beyond the superhero books and find the real quality in comics.  Powell hammers the point home with a letter to you the reader that’s a call to arms for people to support books that aren’t coming from the big two.

There’s so much out there people.  The Goon really should be outselling Avenging Spider-Man (Maybe it is, Matt? – yes, but barely.)  Creator owned comics need your help, you’re their only hope.  There’s something out there for everyone whether it be Sci Fi, Horror, Crime, Humor, Alternate History or all of those mashed together.  So vote with your wallet…. and come in and buy some Goon trades.

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets…

X-O Manowar #1 –Written by Robert Venditti, Art by Cary Nord and Stefano Gaudiano

Valiant comics makes it return beginning this week with X-O Manowar.  Once a wildly popular publisher selling in the millions of issues under the watchful eye of Jim Shooter with creators like Jimmy Palmiotti, Mark Waid, Rags Morlaes and David Lapham, Valiant was known for having a large roster of titles that all took place in the same universe in a very tight-knit, seamless continuity (something only the Mike Mignola-Verse titles seem to be pulling off these days).  X-O Manowar, I’ve heard described as Conan in an Iron Man suit in space, was one of their most popular titles.  This will be the first of the publisher’s relaunch, with Harbinger, Bloodshot and Archer & Armstrong to follow throughout the summer.

 

Night of The Owls Bat-over begins

The first major crossover of the new DC starts with the #9 issues of Batwing and Detective Comics. Spinning out of Scott Snyder’s awesome Batman run, each Batman Family title will feature the title character battling The Court of Owls.   will not be joining in the fun, but Jonah Hex will be in his All-Star Western.

 

DC’s second wave of new (replacement?) titles begin this week -

Earth 2

Once the home of the JSA and the Golden Age version of most DC characters, this Earth 2 will be a new James Robinson written version.  Looks to be more violent and darker than previous versions.  I suppose that’s how DC will make Alan Scott and Jay Garrick more relevant?

 

World’s Finest

A Power Girl/Huntress team up title, apparently the Paul Levitz written Huntress miniseries from the New 52 first wave is being retconned, to be replaced with the original Paul Levitz created Earth 2 Huntress.  This will be the first major retcon of this new redesigned, streamlined, better-than-ever universe (?).  What?  Yeah, I don’t get it either…

Other New, New DC 52 are Dial H for Hero and GI Combat.  Also, considered in the re-re-launch/boot is a new number one of Batman Inc.

 

Action Comics #9

Not to be outdone in the parallel universe game, Grant Morrison will also be featuring stories of three earths in Action Comics #9.  Could this be the start of Elseworlds in the new DC?

 

I’m looking forward to reading Animal Man, Pigs and Swamp Thing, as well as checking out XO Manowar. I’m sure I’ll get the Night of The Owls issues too. What are you gonna get?

 

Week of March 26th

Published on March 26, 2012 in Best Bets, Comics, Cons and Reviews-comics. 0 Comments

Avengers vs. X-Men Party Tuesday April 3rd 7:00

The mega-crossover is nearly a pone us and to celebrate the launch of the big event we are having a party and are being allowed to sell issue one that Tuesday night.  We will also have Sales, Discounts, Prizes, first shot at Variant Covers, maybe some cake and – of course – Free Beer!

I know several of you are into costuming and by all means you are encouraged to dress as an Avenger or an X-Man.  We might try and come up with a game or two as well.

Should be a good time and think about it, what else are you doing on a Tuesday night?

 

Launch of Adventures of Nikki Harris #4, ALSO on April 3rd

Local comic creator Carter Allen will be launching issue #4 of The Adventurs of Nikki Harris Tuesday, April 3rd.  While another comic company (who must not be named) is launching their own universe-shattering event, Nikki and her friends and foes battle it out in the far future, with the fate of the galaxy at stake!  Or was it for a new iPad(tm)?  Either way, creator Carter Allen will be signing copies of the Giant-Sized issue, sketching, having the occasional beverage and offering his opinions on why the comic cross-over peaked around the time Gary Coleman met Knight Rider… or was it when Simon and

Simon teamed up with Magnum P.I.?

For more info and some art check out the comic book bin AND if you want to get an earlier issue… early… One through three are at the shop right now.

 

So, Yeah.. We’re moving…

I’m going to continue with the discussion I started last week.  I’m going to try and answer some of the questions we’ve been asked lately concerning this.

Where is this new place? 2608 Beaver.  It is on the main business strip in the Beaverdale neighborhood district of Des Moines.

When does this start? Technically, May 5th and yes, that is free Comic Book Day.  We are planning to have our midnight party on May 4th.  Then pack up the comics and move the shop overnight (sounds crazy, but… yeah.)  We plan a grand opening May 5th at 9am the next morning.

After that we will have very specific hours at the Fleur location.  There will be options of hold lists (for two weeks) at one place or the other.  Coffee will be available on the South side when we are open too.

Why do this? There are a lot of reasons.  Most revolve around different financial reasons, as most would when talking about small businesses and a move.  You need to remember, we are a business and if you want us around in two years, we can’t stay where we have been for ten years.  If you’ve looked on the south side you know there is not a plethora of great retail options here.  We were also looking at ever increasing costs that needed to be decreased, not increased.  This move does that in numerous ways.

Please remember, we didn’t want to go through this.  We didn’t do this as some kind of personal attack on you, the south side or our customers in general.  If you have further questions on why, come talk to me.  I will explain MUCH more.

What changes are you doing? The new shop is not going to be a full coffee bar, but we will have free coffee.  (see below in my ripping of Newsarama.)  We will be MUCH heavier stocked with comics and trades.  We will have a larger kids section too.  Some of the seating will go away, but much will stay.  We will still encourage you to hang out, have a cup of free coffee, browse and read.  Plain and simple, minus the coffee bar, not much will change.

What does the future hold for The Cup? We are planning on FINALLY getting our book bindery up and running.  We want to get a much larger online presence AND an online shop.  All three of these should be up and running by fall.  However, overall comic-wise, we want to provide even better customer service to our comic book customers.  So many people tell me they love us because we talk to them about comics.  Without having to make coffee in-between ringing up comic customers will make it easier for us to help you find the best books on the racks.

And the long term future… I can’t talk about all the irons we have in the fire, but if the Des Moines Social Club moves into the Firehouse we would work strongly with them in that endeavor.

If you have further questions, please e-mail or stop in and talk to any of us.  If we can answer it, we will.  When I say we thank you for being our customer, we mean it.  You are the life blood of our business and are a part of this move.  Talk to us if you need too.

 

So, why does Comic Book Resources suck ass?

Last week we were mentioned on CBR about our shop moving.  In the tiny piece they say we are dropping the coffee aspect of our shop.  Well, that is incorrect, but then when “news” journalists don’t check their facts and just write what they want, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they would get something wrong.

We are NOT dropping coffee.  We are stopping the bar part and will no longer be charging for it.  Like nice friendly local book stores or banks or a mechanic’s waiting room we will have coffee for you while you peruse the books.

I guess, when it comes to CBR, we aren’t Robert Kirkman or another person they need to hob nob to, they don’t need to e-mail or call for information.  Little makes me more angry than poor journalism.  (I used to work as a news producer and finally quit due to seeing a systemic failure in modern corporate journalism.)  Bloggers are journalists and if they want to be taken seriously they need to get their damn facts right.

 

So, who’s running for that elected office?  A Super Villain!?!…

Since most elected officials seem to be, or at least turn into, super villains after elected why not just come out and say it… before you get elected.  “Hello, my name is Von Doom and I am running for President.”  But that isn’t fair.  Doom has an extreme amount of cool and, frankly, none of the candidates running for President are as cool as Doom!

However, comicsalliance.com had a great post this week with some awesome art of campaign posters for super villains.  They of course also had the cover from Superman after Lex Luthor won the presidency.  Remember that?  Good times.

 

Reviews…

The Rocketeer volume 2 #1

Written by Peter David, Marc Guggenheim and Stan Sakai

Art by Sandy Plunkett, Bill Sienkiewicz, Stan Sakai, Dave Stewart and Art Adams

Covers by Dave Stevens and Darwyn Cooke

What was the best book that came out last week, you might ask.  Sometimes I might have two or three or there isn’t an easy answer, but last week it was so simple, The Rocketeer.  It may be a new number one issue for the new volume; the format is the same for this round.  You get great writers and artist to do short stories about one of the coolest superheroes ever invented.

I found what series editor Scott Dunbier said in explaining the book fit perfectly, “The Rocketeer takes us back to another time, one stuffed to the brim with heroism and thrilling adventures.  Some might call these stories old-fashioned—and what’s wrong with that?”  They are simple, old school stories set in the late 1930’s or 40’s in an anthology book – like nearly all comics were back in the 30’s and 40’s.  Most have some kind of a statement or message to make or are pulling on our comic book heart strings, either comedically or emotionally.  All things that comics, from the same time period these are set in, did too.

However, this book is, with no disrespect to the artist and production values of that time, so much better than any of those books.  The first volume, as well as this first issue in the second volume, is each works of comic book perfection.  Easily one of the two or three best books being published right now and hands down this and the first volume should be no brainer multiple Eisner Award winners this summer.

The book is set for a four issue run with other contributors to the series to include Kyle Baker, J. Scott Campbell, Eric Canete, Paul Dini, Michael Golden, Dave Johnson, David Lapham, John Paul Leon, Bill Morrison, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, Chris Sprouse, Tom Taylor, Matt Wagner, Colin Wilson, and more.

In additional Rocketeer news – there is an ongoing book planned that will be written by Mark Waid and drawn by Chris Samnee.  For more info head to Comics Alliance.

In additional IDW news – Some more publishing is coming from them too.  New series from The Crow, Judge Dredd, The Cape and a formerly unpublished Dave Stevens project.  More info on that can also be found at Comics Alliance.

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets…

BPRD – Pickens County Horror #1

This promises to be awesome.  We got Mike Mignola (Hellboy) and Scott Allie (sometime BPRD writer and all the time editor) on scripts, Jason Latour (Noche Roja, Loose Ends) and Dave Stewart (everything good) on art, and the phenomenal Becky Cloonan (Demo, Conan the Barbarian) on the regular covers. An all-star team for sure.  This two issue mini is supposed to be the Mignola-verse take on vampires.  I am confident that it will take the vampire idea back to its roots, strip it of all the current nonsense and bring it back to horrific glory.  I am also betting this will be a great jumping on point for those not currently reading BPRD.  I am really anticipating this.  I am sure you will read it.

 

The New Deadwardians #1

Another new vampire and zombie book…  But this time written by Dan Abnett, who along with partner Andy Lanning have written way to many good things to count.  The premise is something along the lines that we follow a detective during post-victorian England.  However, the catch is that all the upper classes are voluntarily vampires while all the lower classes are zombies.  Sounds ripe with socio-political commentary… Hopefully.

 

American Vampire #25

Yep, this is the vampire week!  Although anyone who’s read a bit of this series knows that this is vampires done very right and really awesome.  This issue will be the conclusion to the 50′s era death race story which has been kicking butt for the last few.  This was Scott Snyder’s (Swamp Thing, Batman) breakout series, and is still one of the best on the racks.  Read it.

 

It was really cool seeing so many Des Moines-ers at Planet ComiCon this past weekend.  The attendance has been growing every year, and this year showed a large surge.  I got a chance to meet some awesome creators like Jonathan Layman and Tim Sale.  I also had some great conversations with folks like Nathan Fox, Jason Aaron, Matt Kindt and Scottie Young.  Des Moines Native Tyler Wapole had a tablet there and said he was doing really well.  And for all those wondering, Billy Dee Williams is looking great.  I also got a pile of old Batman and Detective Comics for really cheap.  It was a really great time and I highly suggest y’all go next year.  Maybe we’ll get a party bus headed that way.

 

And a Matty J’s Best bet…

Atomic Robo, Real Science Adventures #1

This is guaranteed – no really, I’m guaranteeing this book – the best thing you will read coming out this week.  One of my other two or three favorite (Usagi Yojimbo is the other one, if you were wondering) comics from the last year.  Just a fantastic, fun book that is comparable to Hellboy and BPRD, but with REAL science rather than occult as it’s driving force.  Great, just freak’n great books so far and I expect the greatness to continue.

Don’t believe me.  Fine.  We will go to the creator’s website http://www.atomic–robo.com to see what they say.  Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener give you this promise: No angst, No “cheesecake,” No reboots, No filler and No delays (that we have any control over, i.e. Diamond will be Diamond.) – THAT IS AWESOME!!!  Seriously, what else do I have to say… how about that it costs only $2.75!!  Take that evil corporate comics!!  Oh, yeah, if you didn’t already know it is an indy comic, also making it better.

 

The Week of March 19th

Published on March 19, 2012 in Cons, Reviews-comics, Ronnie's Reviews and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

Avengers vs. X-Men Party Tuesday April 3rd 7:00

The mega-crossover is nearly a pone us and to celebrate the launch of the big event we are having a party and are being allowed to sell issue one that Tuesday night.  We will also have Sales, Discounts, Prizes, first shot at Variant Covers, maybe some cake and – of course – Free Beer!

I know several of you are into costuming and by all means you are encouraged to dress as an Avenger or an X-Man.  We might try and come up with a game or two as well.

Should be a good time and think about it, what else are you doing on a Tuesday night?

 

Launch of Adventures of Nikki Harris #4, ALSO on April 3rd

Local comic creator Carter Allen will be launching issue #4 of The Adventurs of Nikki Harris Tuesday, April 3rd.  While another comic company (who must not be named) is launching their own universe-shattering event, Nikki and her friends and foes battle it out in the far future, with the fate of the galaxy at stake!  Or was it for a new iPad(tm)?  Either way, creator Carter Allen will be signing copies of the Giant-Sized issue, sketching, having the occasional beverage and offering his opinions on why the comic cross-over peaked around the time Gary Coleman met Knight Rider… or was it when Simon and

Simon teamed up with Magnum P.I.?

For more info and some art check out the comic book bin AND if you want to get an earlier issue… early… One through three are at the shop right now.

 

Kansas City’s Planet Comicon is this Weekend

I know there are several of you going, but I wanted to make point out that one of, if not the best comic con in the mid west is going to happen in Kansas City this weekend.  It is Saturday and Sunday, very affordable at only $15 for a single day pass!

Some great guests this year include John Lyman of Chew, Rick Remender, Mike McKone, Tim Sale, Bernie Wrightson, Mike Golden, Joe Kelly… and not to mention Edward James Olmos and Billy Dee Williams.  Probably their best show ever.

If you need more info, head over to the website planetcomicon.com.

 

Iowan to play big part on Walking Dead

A very big character just appeared on Walking Dead Sunday night and the actress happens to be from Iowa.  Joe Lawler has the story over at the Des Moines Register.

…and in case you hadn’t heard and though I would never encourage you to go get porn, ‘cause I am a registered Republican and upstanding member of society anxiously awaiting the Santorum presidency (if you believe that, please ask me about a bridge I have for sale)  Go grab a copy of Playboy.  Yeah, the origin of a character we have all wanted to see for like five years is being published in the latest issue of Playboy.  I’m not going to get into the irritation this brings (why are we not seeing this in, say, THE COMIC!!?!!) but it is a good reason to grab a Playboy and for once you can actually say, “No, I read it for the articles!”

 

In other news…

It might be the worst kept secret the shop has ever had.  We are moving.

I’ll get into some of the whys, but first the where.  We are headed to the Beaverdale area, 2608 Beaver to be more exact.  If you are unsure where that is, it is across from The Rice Bowl on the main drag in Beaverdale, near Grounds for Celebration, Talley’s, Beaver Tap and Beaverdale Books.

I’m sure those of you we were not able to tell in person might be freaking out a bit.  Please don’t.  This is a good thing for us and in the long run for you too – even if you don’t think so right now.  Small business is a tough racket (and by racket I’m not talking about John McEnroe) and for our long term survival, this is our only really choice.

There will be a few changes, some pretty big.  One is coffee, we will not be charging you for it anymore.  I don’t want to spend 500 words describing the terribly written ordinance that requires all food service establishments to have a grease interceptor, but that is the reason.  This ordinance is wretched and will prevent us from making mochas and lattes.  It will not stop us from offering free coffee however.  If you come in and look around, make a purchase or just want to stop and sit for awhile, we will have free coffee for you.  Free coffee for the people!  But I’ll get to that and our hopeful future endeavors in another weekly e-mail down the road.

As you may have seen, there has also been a move around us to push our shop into obscurity.  When we moved in ten years ago, things were different.  The layout of the neighborhood was different.  We were the first brick and mortar coffee shop on the south side.  We were a coffee shop with comics in it.  Now we are a comic book shop that serves coffee – some days, not all that much either.  Things had to change or we would not be here in another two years.

In Beaverdale we have a few things we will never have had before.  Visibility from a busy road with signage you can actually see.  We will have walk by traffic.  We will be part of a neighborhood – one voted by Forbes magazine as the seventh prettiest in America.  We will cut costs down to that of a comic shop, not a coffee AND comic book shop.  (You would be surprised.)

We don’t want to leave the South Side, however, if you have looked at retail costs on the South Side and/or getting on a main road so you can get a little signage… well, yeah.  Listen, I have some better than good friends that we are leaving in a lurch because of this move.  People we consider family.  We did NOT make this decision lightly and the move will not be easy.  If the shop is to survive, this must happen.

Also, we do – finally – hope to open our Book Bindery.  This is something Kyle in particular has wanted to do for nearly two years.  But it is not cheap.  The costs on some of the equipment are insanely high, but with the move and the need for a loan to relocate, we are trying to move those costs into that.  We hope by mid to late summer to be taking our first orders for comic book binding.  Eventually we want to be known as the only readily accessible, open to the general public book bindery in the city.

Those are some whys and whats and wherefores.  We will answer any questions you have about it.  You can either e-mail me – Matt – and I will answer them all or come in and talk to us.

 

Ronnie’s Review…

Swamp Thing – by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette

I hope y’all are reading Swamp Thing, along with its sister title Animal Man, these two titles are the best that DC has to offer right now.  (WOAH! Did Ronnie just say these are better than a Bat book!?!)  They both exist in the current DC universe, but occupy their own corner, separate from the SuperBatWonderLantern universe. And they both succeed despite the reboot with nothing much changed for the better or worse.  Better than can be said of pretty much the rest of DC’s current titles.

The most recent issue of Swamp Thing is the first time we see Alec Holland as the Swamp Thing monster.  A common complaint is that it took seven issues to see the title character appear in his own book (not a spoiler, it’s on the cover).

True, but it was a calculated risk that really paid off. Unlike the current Justice League ach that just ended, Swamp Thing and Animal Man’s decompression makes for a truly epic story with each issue building the tension to deliver a truly meaningful climax.

There seems to be a backlash against this type of writing in recent years, but appears to me that it is a reaction to the writing-for-the-trade policy that damaged the writer’s ability to create the correct pacing.  There are a million different ways to tell a story, each story depends on the writer finding the one that works for them in the story they are writing.  To those that have read this series, imagine all that has happened, all that is now at stake, all that you now know of the characters and their motivations happening in only one or two 22 page issues.  It wouldn’t work any other way than how Scott Snyder has done it.

I haven’t even mentioned the art by Yanick Paquette with colors by Nathan Fairbairn. Other than that it is truly awesome in all the classic ways, the way they use the frames and gutters as another element is beautiful.  There is not a single unused corner of the page, all of it is deliberate and carries the story forward.  Alec Holland’s metamorphosis in the last issue is soon to be legendary.

Scott Snyder is really making a worthy follow up to the incredible Alan Moore run, in fact, it has played homage throughout.

 

A Review of a Perfect Book from Matty J

Conan The Barbarian #2 – by Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan and Dave Stewart

The best book I read last week had three very important things in it and that book was Conan the Barbarian #2.  Easily one of the best Conan stories I’ve read in years (since the short three issue run of Busick and Mignola.)  This is the Queen of the Black Coast storyline from Robert H. Howard’s pulp writings being adapted into the Dark Horse era’s run.  The story is one of Conan finding his first real love, a nasty sea pirate who has been terrorizing this section of the coast.

At first glance, you might see Wood and Cloonan and say “oh, sweet a new Vertigo boo… HEY!  This is Conan.  I’m way to high-brow for that.”  …and you may be, but think for a minute what else you read and then think if you are happy with it.  That is the clincher.  Reading different genres for comics is good, especially if done well.  A broad mind is an open one.  Don’t discount something just because you “aren’t a fan.”  Horror, Crime, Adventure all can be done better than Capes and have been.  Usually it takes a good team to do it.  In the case of Action/Adventure that team just happens to be well out of the ordinary for this genre.

Wood has done plenty of Action based storytelling; he just tends to focus on the character development – his forte – while he is writing the action.  His DMZ and more importantly to this discussion, Northlanders, are probably the best examples of his ability to focus on a character, expand and flesh them out while having a ton of sh!t happen to them.   Cloonan is perfect for Conan as well.  I feel her art is such a great throw back to the the Buscema-esque days of Marvel’s publishing of Conan.  Look at the hard lines and free flowing forms.  They are not so far different than you might think.  Becky just puts more into the backgrounds, though those old Marvel books, it wasn’t John’s fault.

AND – did anyone else notice that the third name on the cover is none other than the greatest colorist in comic history, Dave Stewart!  Yes, I am going to keep harping on his quality work until everyone notices.  If you read Conan, you will see why it is on the cover (not something that happens at Marvel or DC, colorists are throw away unimportant afterthoughts.)  His work so well compliments Cloonan’s it isn’t even funny.  Just perfect damn creators all around.

But we have two of the three things that make for a good Conan book; action and creators.  What could the third thing be?  Well, duh, women in chainmail bikini’s.  Yes, a perfect book.

 

The Week of February 13th

Published on February 13, 2012 in Comics, Matt's stupid ramblings, Preview, Reviews-comics and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

Your Weekly E-Mail from Cup o’ Kryptonite.

 

Sorry if all the posts are a little abbreviated.  I type this in the middle of nowhere northern Wisconsin while driving back from the Eagle River Pond Hockey Tournament.  The team with Cup o’ Kryptonite representation lost all three games and may have been the worst team, standings wise, in the tourney.  Oh, well, we had a lot of frozen fun anyway.

 

Cup o’ Kryptonite was named number 28 of the top fifty reasons “why we love Des Moines” by Juice Magazine last week.  Most of the accolades or write-ups that the shop gets are nice and all, but I am really proud of this one.  Thanks Joe.  For a full list of the 50 reasons, you can check it out here.

 

We should find out Monday, at some point, if we are hosting Mike Richardson publisher of Dark Horse comics.  I’ll announce if we did on the website and the Facebook.  Don’t expect one.  We are the little shop up against a couple giants.  I’m sure Mr. Richardson would have a great time at the Cup, he would do things he wouldn’t do anywhere else (like make coffee,) we were the most creative in our pictures, but those other shops are just too big.  Either way, it was an honor to even be nominated.

 

Tony Moore’s Lawsuit against Robert Kirkman over Walking Dead…

Below there are links to a bunch of sites with the news of this creators rights suit.  Some of the links are better - journalisticly – than others but there is more than likely far more to this than some of the comic media reports, you can be sure.  All media, like all people, keep contacts close.  Robert Kirkman is a shrewd promoter and I’m sure has many contacts with many people in the comic industry.  So take read the “news” with a grain of salt.

You can guess what side of the coin I side with here.  Though not a close friend, I consider Tony a great guy that I always stop and say hi to when he is at a con I’m attending.  Without a doubt one of the best artists in the industry, he is a fantastic, if quiet, guy.  The little time I spent with Tony, I can tell you, he is not the type of person to put forth a “frivolous” lawsuit.  However, that is just my opinion.

The bigger picture with comics being made into movies anymore, you must have something in place from the get-go or this will happen.  When Hollywood money gets involved you are looking at cash flows that can turn everything into crap.

The Comic Alliance’s article can be found here.

The Comic Book Resources article can be found here.

The Hollywood Reporter’s article can be found here.

 

 

Stupid DC…

I don’t want to say I told you so… but…

There was a poll that retailers were encouraged to take to give DC feedback on their big changes they made with the re-boot/New 52.  Those poll results were released last week and I can tell you I am A) not surprised in the least and B) that we were not close to the actual results that were released, which shouldn’t surprise me either.

They show that what DC wanted, didn’t happen.  They didn’t get a ton of new readers in (we did) nationwide and that it really didn’t broaden the reader demographics much.  The poll was conducted with over 5,000 readers of comics.  There is a link below with some of the numbers.

This is not good for DC.  Though they thought they would be pulling in all these NEW readers, it is simply not the case.  Readership on the books is starting to change on their books, now in month six and these numbers show why (in my opinion.)  Without the new readers, there is nothing keeping people on the new stuff.  Sure the new books off the bat appealed in the sense that we were lead to believe they were something they have proven to not be, we now see that in September of last year, people were buying a lot stuff they weren’t sticking with and haven’t stuck with.  I got a lot of, “I’ll try these and cut down in a month.”  I’m still getting the cut downs and more and more every week.  However, the biggest books are selling better than before the reboot and are, for the most part, staying steady.

What does this mean for the future?  The sub books will all get cancelled and new sub will get started, run and get cancelled… just like it has been and will always be.  The problem is, sales will slowly sink as older more established readers, who are overall more sick of the big changes, stop trying the new stuff.  I really think the old continuity will creep back, eventually, and – sorry Arlen – I think Marvel sees that a reboot, doesn’t help, in the long run, to do anything more than give you a multi-month spike and eventually sink you below where you were overall.

What else it tells me?  Superhero comics are not where creativity lies in the industry.  You can trick the non-hero or other company’s primary readers to give your superheroes a try, but in the end, the best you can do is get a multi-month spike and eventually sink you below where you were overall.

-sigh-

A little sad, really.

Find much more here on Comic Alliance.

 

 

Evil Marvel…

If DC is stupid, Marvel is evil.  Last week Marvel offered a “deal” to remove the counter suit against Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich.  They will drop it, IF he pays $17,000 to them for the sale of Ghost Rider merchandise at conventions.  This too is over creator rights and there has become a great response from other creators, especially Steve Niles, in raising money to help.

Find more click here on Comic Alliance.

 

 

Quick Review:

Conan The Barbarian #1 – Written by Brian Wood and drawn by Becky Cloonan.

I can’t write a novel on this one, but I’ll just say it was fantastic and the best the book has been for many years (since Mike Mignola did his brief three issue stint.)  This is a great read with a great jumping on point and creators behind it.  I know that Conan isn’t for everyone, but if you are a peripheral reader of the character you will enjoy it.

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets for Feb 15th:

BPRD Long Death #1 – Ah, BPRD. Always a solid read. If you’ve never read it, give it a chance. Don’t fear jumping in, in the middle, I did and was immediately hooked. For those that have been following along, I believe we will see the aftermath to whatever the fate of Johan was at the end of the last arc, which is really bugging me. This series is always a cut above with excellent art, writing, and a very tight continuity. This seems to be a trend with all Mike Mignola-verse stories (Hellboy, Lobster Johnson, Baltimore, Witchfinder, etc.)  It is easily the highest quality universe in comics and BPRD is the best of the pack.

 

Batman #6 – The startling end of #5 suggests that this issue will be the big showdown between Bruce and The Court of Owls, or at least the beginning of it. Writer Scott Snyder has shown us that he is an expert of long form stories, so I expect this run to have elements that continue for a long time. Which is a very good thing indeed. This is the only Batman book that is a must read right now. Snyder is taking the best elements of good horror and applying it to Gotham City in a way that makes you feel like it should have always been done this way. Just like his Detective Comics, pre-reboot, this is sure to be classic, legendary run.

 

Also looking good this week…

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #1 – This title is being hyped as revealing the origin of the Force and the Jedi.

Super Dinosaur #8 – An all-ages books in the best sense. Me and my son both love it. Probably Kirkman’s best current work.

Hellblazer #288 – DC’s highest numbered book. If you like JL Dark, this is the better Constantine.

Catwoman #6 – This title is better than you think! I swear it! It’s not Shakespeare (or Brubaker) by a long shot, but it’s a big dumb fun adventure book. The first issue was nothing like it’s growing into now. Certainly a better Gotham book than Birds of Prey or Batgirl OR Detective Comics OR Dark Knight OR Huntress OR Red Hood OR Odyssey….