On the shelves March 28th

Nothing much new this week except the Virgin comics title Gamekeeper #1 with two covers, 1 by Cassaday.
Probably the 3 fastest selling books this week are all reprints. Buffy fans are still hunting for the first issue of her season eight adventures, and seem to care less if its a 2nd print. While Marvel fans (and investors) will snap up the new cover versions of the death of Capt. America and Civil War Initiative.
Don't miss out on Fantastic Four #544 however, as it's the first adventure of the "new"group with Black Panther and Storm taking Reed and Sues place on the team. This issue will lead into next months Black Panther #28 where the new team meets up with the Marvel Zombies.
Wonder Woman #6 is the first issue by new writer Jodi Picoult and begins a storyline leading in to the Amazons Attack mini-series starting in the end of April.

Next Weeks Stuff

Not a lot of “new” stuff this week, but still some great books. Vertigo starts a new romance war book with Army@Love, the preview in last months Vertigo titles looked good. Marvel wraps up the Civil War with the Battle Damage Report.( Not a comic so much as a files type book) most people hate these things, I remember the comments when they ran in the back of Secret Wars.
Don’t miss books of the week include Amazing Spiderman #539, the reason Spidey goes back to black, and Ion #12 wraps up Kyle’s series, just what are the Monitors up to?
Personally I'm looking forward to JSA #4, I loved this series before 52, but since the restart its been blowing me away. Who is the mystery member ?
I do have a limited number of Captain America #25 coming in, I'll limit these to one per customer, with preference to regular members and customers first. Don't make the mistake of asking for this just for the sake of having it. It was actually a good story and leads in to the Fallen Son storyline which looks like a solid read too. Resale value on this book will be next to nothing in a few years anyway, but if you like a good read, pick it up.

Panda

Closing up the store early on Friday, to set up a booth at Panda. It's a great little gaming convention in their 24th year. Not a big show by any stretch( maybe a dozen vendors and 300+ attendance) but a lot of fun. The midnight masquerade on Saturday night alone is worth the price of admission, but you get to spend an entire weekend, 24hours a day, playing your favourite games with your peers as a bonus. Check out their site for more details and maybe I'll see you there. I'll be at the show Friday and Sunday and in the store Saturday with Rob and Danny running the booth Sat.

http://www.realmsquest.org/pandemonium/

20 Years and counting

This summer (June to be specific) will mark my 20th year as a comics retailer, and I'm still not sure just how to celebrate the event. A sale is obvious, but on what? and how much? Something dealing with the number 20 would be most appropriate, and I'm really leaning towards a 20cent sale. I've done past deals where comic overstock was sold off for a quarter, and this would beat that by a nickel! Coming close on the heel of Free Comic Day, it would probably be a great way to ensure most bargain hunters coming in again before their summer starts.
Maybe a summer long event with a different deal each month, revolving around the number 20? Buy any paperback, get a second for 20 cents? Buy $20.00 in backstock get a free toy?

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

Started work today on the Free Comic Book Day flyer I intend to take to the next librarian meeting. The Toronto Catholic School Board is very interested in getting more comic material in their libraries, but are justifiably nervous about just what. Basically I need to come up with a list of material that is fun and interesting to grade school kids, yet still falls in the category of "safe".
I'm hoping that some freebie comics will help garner some feedback from the librarians. This year's Free Comic Day event has a dozen great kids books, http://www.freecomicbookday.com/
but none really supported by a back catalog of material. Archie just recently began collecting the Sonic series into manga sized trades, and of course they have the traditional Archie digests(not exactly multiple reader material) , but Gemstone just recently stopped publication of the Disney digest books. The D.C. entry is the first of a series based on the new Legion cartoon, I suppose I can use it to lead kids to the J.L.U. or Titans Go volumes,( 2 great shows cancelled before their time).
Strangely enough, the school board wants to find material that will appeal specifically to boys.
Apparently thay have a harder time getting boys into the library, than girls of the same age group. Completely the reverse of what we see in the comic store business.

First Ramblings

I've been meaning to do this for some time now. Just a way to keep in touch with customers, and or fans of the store. Seeing as 2007 is technically my 20th year in business for myself, it seemed like I might have a few things to say. From time to time I may announce sales and specials going on in the store, but mostly it'll just be me rambling on about comics and whatever else crosses my mind( what's left of it).