A Pile of Comics...And I Want More

There are few things that I like more than going comic shopping. Of course I have my main place where I buy my new books, but I love shopping around as well. There are some great area shops that offer a nice selection of books for less than a $1. But the best has to be going to shows or conventions. Now, I call myself a comic fan, but I've never been to San Diego, right now, it's just not financially feasible, but I do love going to the local cons. These cons allow you to check out some dealers from around the state and get some books at some incredibly reduced rates.

The problem is, I tend to buy a lot. While I don't necessarily spend a ton of money, I buy a lot of books and shows are where I tend to tear loose. I'll walk around the vendor's table with my messenger bag and my (getting) tattered notebook with handwritten lists (I just prefer them to the typed lists, I don't know why, I just do) scoping out where I can plop down and dig through long box after long box.

One of the reasons that I love doing this is that sometimes I just "start" collecting certain titles on a whim. It happend with (my now favorite) Teen Titans, when after reading an article in Wizard about the different volumes through the years, I decided I would like to collect them all. 4 short years later and I'm down to less than 10 issues out of 500+. One show, I started "The Flash" volume 2, the next Wolverine vol. 2. I can very quickly fill in the gaps and then I start to read. Being my odd OCD self, I usually have to wait until I finish an entire run before I can start reading. I'm now knee deep in that Flash, but I've just finished JSA, Justice League International (all incarnations), Fright Night (I liked it as a kid, but wow! it doesn't hold up) and Robin. Though, to this day, I've yet to read Swamp Thing to completion because I have yet to finish buying all the books I'm missing and I started collecting it back in 2000!

However, it's time for me to get some more, fill in some gaps and start a new series or two. For the first time ever, I will be able to attend Mid-Ohio Con. As long as I've known about the show, it's been held over Thanksgiving weekend, and for myself who who works in retail management, that is just a no-go. This year it's being held the first weekend in October and I cannot wait. Myself and three friends (one, a hardcore collector like myself, one other a newbie, and the last, a fan lost in the abyss of the '90's who would like to comback) are making the trek and spending the night with other friends.

What am I looking for this time? Well, I really want to finish my gaps in Young Justice, Alias, Hawkman (the most recent volume) and Green Arrow. The only thing standing in my way? That would be some other series that I will start collecting right there on the spot!

Then of course there are the trades and hardcovers...but that's a whole other post.

My gods...February!!??

Yeah, it's been awhile since I've written here. There has been so much going on, I just kind of forgot. What's been going isn't really important.

What is important?

Comics! of course that was the answer. That's what this whole thing is about. So what's been up with me in the last few months of comics?

I finished up DC's second weekly series, "Countdown to Final Crisis," back in April. Now, I liked the first weekly,"52" quite a bit, but this however was a huge waste of my time. What was supposed to be the "spine" of the DCU turned out to be set on the fringes and tell the tale of a bunch of characters that I didn't care about, or were written totally out of character. Worst insult? Reading the first issue of "Final Crisis," the weekly didn't seem to really have anything to do with it.

I read the entire Brian Michael Bendis/Alex Maleev run of "Daredevil." I've heard so much about this series over the years and never really read it. I tried to get some issues a few years ago, but could only piece a few here and there and I never read it. I picked up all 5 volumes of the Hardcover series and read it over the course of like 2 months. I cannot say enough about this series. Everything that I have ever heard about this series is absolutely true, it's an amazing piece of graphic fiction. If the only thing you've ever known of Daredevil is the Affleck movie, you need to read this! Simply stunning.

Meanwhile while this is going on my bookshelf is filling up with hardcovers and trade paperbacks so much that the shelves are buckling under the pressure. Soon, I should be writing about some of the stuff I've got. Just today I received the "Starman" Omnibus vol. 1 and I can't wait to get into that. I've also been steadily building a library of trades for Terry Moore's "Strangers in Paradise"that I cannot wait to get into.

I'll try and update more often. I really want to discuss "Secret Invasion" as well as "Final Crisis" as well as some more trades.

Steve Gerber RIP

I'm not going to write a lot about this, as I'm providing a link to a more informative story from Newsarama.com, but I thought I should still post my thoughts. 

Steve Gerber passed away on Sunday and for Comic fans it comes as quite a blow. Steve has been a notable name in comics for last 40 years and will continue to do so. Most famously Steve created the Marvel Comics character Howard The Duck. Not to be confused with the awful George Lucas movie on which it was based, the Howard comic was a biting satire of life and politics in the 1970's told from the perspective of a walking, talking alien duck, stuck in a world he never made. 

I've been a fan of Howard for a long, long time owning almost all of the Gerber penned issues as well as the later comics and fun Marvel Magazines that continued the story. Most recently I've been reading his work on the Dr. Fate story in Countdown to Mystery, of which #5 shipped two weeks ago out of the planned 8.  A planned complete collection of the entire Howard the Duck series is to be reprinted in Color in the Howard the Duck Omnibus to ship in April, if you've always been curious, I wholeheartedly urge you to read it. 

The comics world lost a great one, and Mr. Gerber will be missed. 

Read the story here. 

Nothing like Wednesdays!

For those of you who do not now, Wednesdays are a big deal in the world of comics. That's when all the new product is put out for purchase. Much like Tuesdays in the world of music and home video, Wednesday is THE day set aside to come into your local shop and drop hundreds of dollars. In my case it's only about $20-$30 each week on average, but still... 

It used to be that comics were available everywhere, but that is no longer the case and is in fact a topic unto itself. Now most people go to a comic shop and I of course used to. I started out way back going to Land of Cran Comics on Whipple Ave. in Canton.  After the managers who ran it were no longer active and the owner came in to run things, I got out. While LOC offers the best selection of new and back issues in town, it just did work for me, plus there was an offer across town at Comic Corner on Tusc. Ave for a friendlier staff and more importantly, a discount. 

After some time, the owner's son moved away, and he mostly ran the place, so it closed on a store level, but the owner carried on out of his own house.  I did this for about a year and a half, but after awhile, things just did not work out. I was left with a few options and ultimately ended up going to a shop up in Stowe called Freaks and Geeks. The store was really quite a haul from my house at the time (about 45 minutes), but I liked the owner and liked the shop and it's atmosphere, so that's where I went and would make that trek about every other week. 

After about a year of doing this, right around the time I got tired of driving to Stowe bi-weekly, Mot, the owner, closed up shop. Which was kind of fine by me, but at the same time, sad. However, Comic Corner had reopened it's doors and was under new management and I thought that that might work out better. This was back in May of 2006, but Comic Corner was to reshut it's doors in just a few months for all kinds of reasons. However, Tom, the new manager kept things going out of his house as well, with a better discount and to this day has not screwed up any of my orders. So, as it stands, even though there's a brand new shop in town, this is where I will stay. 

Welcome to Thunderdome!

Welcome to Pencils, Panels and Wordballoons. I've been inspired by my good friend Aaron, who hosts the wonderful End Of Cinema blog all about the alternative side of the movies especially foreign cinema. His is a very witty and informative site about movies, some I've heard of, some I have not, but I always find his musings interesting. His passion for the art really comes through, and that is what I want to do as well. 

Only differently. 

 This is an area I am devoting fully to my love and passion for the art of sequential fiction, otherwise known as comic books. 

I've always been a fan of comics since I can remember, wether it be early issues of Marvel Comic's Star Wars, to their G.I. Joe, I always loved reading monthly adventures of heroes and villians. I used to get a new comic from my dad for every week I could keep my room clean. Though I never got as many as I would have liked. Though, like most people my age, when 1989 rolled around, it brought with it the the cinematic juggernaut BATMAN and forever my world was changed. Superheroes invaded my brain and I could not be helped.

Then high school hit and I somewhat forget the world of Superman, Spider-Man, Batman and Thor and traded it for girls, music and well, movies. 

Mostly. 

I kept a hand in comics with cool titles like Spawn and The Sandman. 

Though most recently, after the birth of my daughter (who is now almost 3!) I have rediscovered my love of all things graphic. Mostly because it was something I could do on my own, required no power, made no sound, and I could read them anywhere, I resubmersed myself like I never had before. Now, I read everything and anything, from superheroes, to mystery, horror, relationship, and even comics history, and I don't believe I'm looking back. 

I hope to update every so often and show any readers out there what I've recently read from my weekly single issues, or offer up any reviews of cool new collected editions. Even if you don't read comics, I invite you to check back, you may discover something that you didn't know, and might be interested in. 

Welcome...