FEBRUARY SALES

Its that time of year again when the weather(especially this week) has people huddling in their houses instead of out wandering the streets looking for things to add to the clutter at home. Just remember that reading is the perfect thing to kill some time and keep your mind off the snow.
To that effect I am constantly adding to the pile of sale items on the back table at the store.
Marvel has been clearing inventory at incredible prices lately and some more great stuff will be arriving next week(Wednesday Feb.13th). For example Iron Fist vol. 1 hardcover for $10.00 is a great deal and a fantastic series that a lot of people missed out on when it first started.

Or how about Stokers Dracula hardcover by Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano. A beautiful book concluding the stories from Dracula Lives. A great item at regular price but for $3.00 you can pick up a couple for friends to enjoy.
I've also recently decided to get out of the D&D market. The gaming section on the shelves here has been shrinking steadily as I ordered less and less each year, but I really need that space for regular comic paperbacks that I know I can sell. All D&D books and modules etc. are now priced 50% off American cover price. With 4th edition starting soon now is the time for 3rd edition hardcore fans to buy up cheap any pieces they may have passed on first time around due to price.

MARCH PREVIEWS -continued

I can't believe I stopped last time before getting to the Starman Omnibus. Probably one of the finest comic series DC ever published is getting the deluxe hardcover treatment. Inside the new cover art by Tony Harris you will enjoy issues #0-16 with the rest following in the next 5 volumes. The series will be collected in its entirety including mini-series, one-shots and specials. Basically all Robinson's material on the Starman character and cast will be together in one set.

David Lapham returns to the monthly comic scene with a new Vertigo title, The Young Liars. Teen misfits on the run in a true action, adventure,suspense story with a mixture of guitars and guns. This looks to be the next big hit for Vertigo.

DC continues its new kids line with the addition of the Super Friends. In the same vein as the Tiny Titans coming in February, this is a bubble faced young readers title that should be popular with parents looking for something a little more safe to read with their little ones. All the most popular DC characters (and Aquaman) look likely to show up and the first issue features Amazo, so even the bad guys should be interesting.

IMAGE has been putting out some really original material lately, but I'm not sure if Dark Ivory qualifies. Joseph Michael Linsner (Dawn) brings us a mini-series about a teen goth who moves to the big city to pursue her dream of becoming a vampire. Will she succeed or just end up another statistic? At least the art will look nice.

Then again, original seems to be Jonathan Hickmans middle name. The creator of Nightly News and Pax Romana offers up something totally different with Transhuman. The story covers the discovery of superhuman genetic engineering in a mockumentary style.

MARCH PREVIEWS

Time to run down a quick list of stuff to look forward to arriving in March.

Dark Horse starts off strong with a new Serenity 3 issue mini-series. This one should sell even better than the last one with all the Whedon fans already hitting the store every month for their Buffy fix. Comic fans can look forward to the Adam Hughes covers.

Conan hits 50, and earns a much deserved break. After this special double-sized issue, there'll be a few months off before the Cimmerian returns in June.

The Hellboy Companion has been rescheduled to arrive in time for the 2nd Hellboy movie this May. This book is best described as the definitive guide to all things Hellboy and BPRD and, includes much artwork from the comics as well as new material by Mignola.

Hellboy and BPRD both ship their respective 8th volumes this month as well.

Over at DC, the Countdown kicks in to high gear as we approach the Final Crisis with all guns blazing. A great disaster seems unavoidable.

Speaking of great disasters, it seems DC is determined to get some use out of the Tangent characters that were created a few years back. I wouldn't mind if they were treated to the occasional summer team-up like the old days of the JLA-JSA x-overs, but a 12 issue maxi-series may be a bit much.

Probably the most anticipated comic sequel ever, is the DC New Frontier Special. Timed to arrive with the DVD animated movie of the original mini-series, this is a one-two punch too big to ignore. The movie will be coming in 2 formats with the single disc version running for about $19.99 and a double disc set including bonus material and 3 episodes of the Justice League animated series for $23.95.

The movie will most likely show up in big stores and video outlets the week before the comic shops get them, but if you pre-order either version from me, I will throw in the comic for $1.00.

BACKSTOCKIN'

I haven't updated you all on the backstock situation here in a while and thought it was about time. With Kellie back helping me on Sundays I've gotten a lot more done and in the last two weeks have managed to restock major titles like Spiderman, Wolverine( a full set of 1st series from 1-186) and X-men. Uncanny X-Men is a nice run from 130 - 400 all in beautiful near mint condition. These are all books from a personal collection I got from one of my earliest customers (thanks Andrew) who needed to leave them behind when he made the move out west. His loss (sorry Andrew) is your gain as I have priced all of these books at incredibly low prices. I still have many of the lower numbered Uncanny's but they vary in condition and will take a little longer to grade properly.
I'm also planning on doing a major backstock liquidation through the month of February. Thousands of comics are piled up in my basement and storage space and I really need to make some room. Keep your eye on this site for info on this upcoming sale.

Boxing Week

Its that time of year again when all that's on everyones mind is"What's on sale".

First off, I will be closed on Tuesday-Christmas Day, and Wednesday-Boxing Day. Its the only time all year that I take two days off together. But I will be open at 11:00 on Thursday for the first of 4 days of sales. Each day will be a different door-crasher special.
The first 10 customers each day will be entitled to a special offer.
THURSDAY- A FREE copy of Hulk or Spiderman Encyclopedia.
FRIDAY - Any 2 Marvel Legends figures for $5.00 each
SATURDAY - DC Digest comics( J.L.U. Scooby-Doo and Titans) $2.00 each, Limit of 3
SUNDAY - Buy one-get-one Free Pokemon or Yu-GI-OH booster packs. Limit of 3
Not mentioned on the ad is that I will be doing a buy 2 get 1 free offer on all paperbacks and hardcovers on the shelves. As usual the lowest price of the 3 will be the Free book.

Remember that all RED TAG items, already priced ridiculously low, will be up to 50% off from Thursday-Sunday next week.
PLUS anyone stocking up on supplies will get a FREE comic box(small) with the purchase of 200 comic bags and boards.

Closed For Snow Day

I'd like to apologize to anyone who braved the weather today only to find me closed. I've been fighting a terrible cold all week and decided with the snow and such that today would probably be better spent at home recuperating.
Please let me know next time you are in if you missed me today, I'll give you a nice deal as an apology and thank-you for your support.
ROB

RECOMMENDATIONS

Continuing my list of books you should be reading, you know Walking Dead is great because it pushes FABLES to the number two spot. Basically the premise of Fables is that all the fairy tale characters are real and used to live in their own realm in the Homelands, in a dimension outside ours. I say used to, because due to an evil conqueror known only(at first) as the Adversary, they have had to flee to safety in our world. The first storyline is genius as it involves a fairly mundane murder mystery, which helps ground the characters in a real world situation making it easier for us to relate to them.

Due to the fact that we are basically already familiar with the characters,(anyone who's ever read a children's tale knows most of the ones we've met ) less time needs to be spent on introductions every time someone new enters the story. Despite a cast numbering in the hundreds, the story moves along quickly.

The main book has since spawned a spin-off, Jack of Fables. Jack of course is a popular name in fairy tales, and this one character is the composite of all the heroes who share that name. I normally hate when a book spits out a character to run in its own title,(this usually just serves to divide the readership) but this time it works well as the main comic has turned towards a more serious storyline, while the Jack adventures remain more light hearted and tongue-in-cheek.

Well written, well drawn, fun month after month, I heartily recommend Fables and Jack of Fables to anyone who comes in the store looking for a great fantasy to read.