Before FCBD Ssalefish Comics had an event that was just a cool comicbook sale and party atmosphere. I knew Richard Case would be there and took my Alters #1 Ssalefish Special Cover to be signed. I figured he had a full list of commissions as he was drawing. I got there a few hours after it started.
I asked though and guess what? He had nobody that had asked him for a commission. So I got a nice headshot of Chalice.
Awesome.
Wanted to share the pics.
BDS
I have been absent for quite some time. It was not from lack of comics to Blog about. I am still buying current books. I still have a great many older comics to talk about. I guess the biggest reason was I just got down and didn't feel like it. I struggle with depression and it comes in waves. When it does I tend to prioritize what I do and work came first. That didn't really help, as it stressed and depressed me more, but to live life I had to choose to be in the world and let the online stuff go.
Now seems like a good time to try and get back into the swing of things. The heavy schedule of summer is closing out for a more steady and balanced fall transition. I am more likely to review a DC Comicbook if it is new. Sorry, still not back to collecting current Marvel stuff. I took Mr. Quesada at his word and followed that advice, "If you don't like what we are doing just read the older comics." (A paraphrased quote) That is what I do, when collecting it is back issues of Marvel books. I am reading Lazarus, Pink Ranger, ROM, and Future Quest as my something different. I am still floating around Valiant Comics as well.
Recently I did something I have never really done before. Maybe it is a comic addiction or maybe it was therapy, depends on what side of Fandom you are on I guess. I was just tired of my life that week. Things were stressful, the kids at work were especially loud and bouncy that week, I just felt like all things were terrible. My Local Shop had purchased a collection of 120,000 comics, and were having a special sale. I went the second day. I had withdrawn some money and set a limit. I wasn't even sure I would buy, but if I saw some things I wanted to be ready. On the Saturday of the sale I went and spent two hours just looking through long boxes. It was wonderful.
I could have read books with the previous owner. They had similar taste as I have in books. What was cool was the almost complete runs that were there, even after a day of people picking through already. I had two issues of Ultraverse's Firearm, now I have the entire run. I picked up a major chunk of Brubaker's Catwoman. Lots of New 52 singles that i bought cheaper than cover price. I also got those fringe and oddities one collects but really doesn't have a reason for why they collect them. It was a major haul. I am still reading the last of them. On the OLD Fantastic Four issues I bought. It was nice to just immerse myself in my hobby like that and enjoy myself. Really nice considering all the terrible was still waiting once I got back from my fun.
Still, it got me wanting to write about comicbooks again. I have new material and can really feel the reasons why I did this in the beginning again. Here is hoping that I can begin again and share my love and passion for comicbooks with you, the few who have read my blog.
BDS
My posting for Heroes Con 2015 seems to have gone like my posting for this year, very poor. I did get all my pictures posted on Google +. I guess I didn't feel like it mattered since I never got included in the Heroes Con Blog report on sites with pics. I did all kinds of stuff to get noticed, but I just did not have the energy and with my Blogging being so limited it did not seem to matter. I think I suffered so depression during the trip. If my friend Richard were not with me I believe I would have had a very bleak weekend. I tried so hard to recapture the magic of the last few years, but it just felt off. Some cool things happened, but i just felt lost a bit.
One thing was wanting to be CosPlaying. I want to dress up so bad, but have just been behind in creativity and money for doing something. I know whatever I do will look silly, but as long as I can make some people and kids smile it would be OK. Knowing my body type is limited on the character I can play makes it challenging. I want to at least attempt to look credible. So I think that hampered me a great deal.
This was one of the biggest attendances in a long time. Friday was especially busy this year. It was hard to enjoy and get around on Friday and i got tired really fast. The diabetes just sapped my strength. It was different dealing with it this year. Made me struggle to be able t stand around any length of time.
I did get my three commissioned pieces set and agreed upon Friday. They are awesome. I held back mostly until Sunday for Prints. One Liono print did come with me Friday. I had to get it. $5 trades was what I spent money on early. This was the common early deal of the convention floor. There was a crazy trend with customized Legos this year. I never got a pic, seemed like those vendors would be the nit picky ones about pics.
There were outstanding CosPlayers around. Some of the costumes just blow your mind. Lots of kids. That was cool to see. The number of future geeks. It means that these kids will read and dream. They will be the type to grow up with the type of hope where a man can fly or a tragic lose doesn't crush you.
More later.
BDS
This week I did something I never thought I might do. I dropped Buffy The Vampire Slayer from my pull box at the Comic Shop. I have been collecting Buffy TVS since the very first issue back in the late 1990's. I stuck with this title through thick and thin. I was able to get B&W advance issues in the mail in the early days of my reviewing adventure. It is the book that brought me to my current shop when the place I was at started to not have it in my pull box. I was in Divinity School and would pick up my comics as I drove back on breaks back home. Yet, I dropped Buffy. I also cut X-O Manowar, Wonder Woman, The Phantom Stranger, and Witchblade.
These cuts were about money. I found out Phantom Stranger was ending anyway so that was a moot point. Wonder Woman had been meandering for me and I felt i could look to trades now for that book. Otherwise these were just cuts due to the cost of the titles. I have had to become strict with what I will purchase over the $3 price. When in reality you get 22 pages of story it needs to capture my attention every week. I am not going to get drawn in by the crossover fever that hits every company. It just isn't in my ability to buy all your books for you "BIG EVENT" that happens every couple of months. I had to start cutting deeper.
Future's End might have a different effect on my DC buying. I still am digging the Earth 2 books. This five year jump probably will not bother me there. I am looking to stop my Lantern buys possibly. The paths and ends these books took seem to be away from what draws me to love those stories. Might be time for a clean break and look to trades. Aquaman is a toss up. It might be good, but I liked the Mera that was not so battle scarred. I liked the balance of her in a grocery store buying dog food or threatening to feed a terrorist to a sea monster. I just am not sure that Future's End will keep me at the levels I have been.
Money is tight. Medicine is a constant. Pay is stagnant. I have to cut my one enjoyable thing, comic collecting. It is sad. Especially when I have so little that can give me a break from worry and stress. Some love to hit little balls over pastures, others run/peddle/etc., some catch fish and other things. Me, I collect stories. I savor them and love just falling into those worlds and getting lost for a bit.
So fare the well, Buffy. You have been a constant companion since the TV show Savannah was canceled and I watched the replacement in that now gone dorm room in Buies Creek.
BDS
Fairy Tail is the reason I am not keeping up with my comics blogging. Well, maybe not, but it is the excuse I will go with. While sick and under the dizzying effects of the meds I watched a BUNCH of Netflix. I am almost finished with EUREKA and did finish MAKO MERMAIDS. I also discovered FAIRY TAIL. I was scrolling along the new stuff added to my suggestions list and saw Fairy Tail multiple times and got to thinking. I remembered running into a Fairy Tail group when browsing CosPlay sites. It seems I had found something that connected with my interest in dressing up as characters of things. So I watched the first episode and was hooked.
I fell in love with Lucy and instantly loved Happy. Natsu was funny and dramatic. He really fits the anime hero style well. Soon Grey entered the picture and I met the one most people seemed to be imitating, Erza. It soon became my obsession. I had to watch at least until the multiple stories ended. I would break a bit and dive in again.
This is just one of those great series that has such a wonderful message of hope and family. Family being what you make when you share common ground with others. The importance of sticking together and being honorable shines strong. There is cool magic and adventure as we watch people struggle just to make it in their world. So many misfits and they found a home in the Fairy Tail Guild. When attacked they stand together even if it means they might die. This is just the best animated series I have seen in a very long while.
So that is what I have been doing.
BDS
I really should have had this done earlier in the week, but the antibiotics and cough pill have really made me tired and dizzy. Still, I did pull out my guilty little pleasure of comicbook collecting and reading. I didn't fall for the Danger Girls when they first appeared. I saw the cheesecake covers (and yes I do own a copy of the famous Abbey Chase Bubble Bath cover) and was not a purchaser of comics for art. I was in my early days of returning to comics as well. I didn't delve into the Image waters much. It would be many years later that I would find some Danger Girl comics in collected and single forms for a steal and buy them. I liked those early issues well enough.
What has really captured my imagination has been the last ten years or so of Danger Girl. It has comeback in limited series forms many times and I like that. I have bought a few and really have enjoyed how the characters have grown since those early cheesecake days. TRINITY was the last one I purchased and IDW now has the franchise. The downside of which is the cost of a single issue, $3.99. Still, I was doing better back when this came out and picked each issue up off the shelf. I have put the covers I own in the posts. If you know anything about Danger Girl, it is that there are always multiple covers.
For those that do not know about Danger Girl, it is a great spy/action/adventure comic. It all started with the recruitment of Abbey Chase, Archaeologist and Relic Hunter. She gets brought into the Spy group Know as Danger Girl. There are sisters Sydney and Sonya Savage as well as Deuce and Valerie. Deuce is a former British Intelligent Agent and the surly leader of the team. Valerie is the teenage tech whiz that aspires to be like Abbey. It is Abbey, Sydney, and Sonya that are the three main femme fatales. Each gets there own cover this series.
That is good since it reads as a three part action tale that will converge in issue #4. Abbey is abducted very politely by a desert king and taken for some unknown reason. She always is falling into trouble like this and it leads to her Indiana Jones like saving of the day. It was Sydney that got some of the sex appeal action and funny relationship stuff as she is called to save Abbey while with a nice guy. He ends up in some strange situations because of her. Oh, there is also a group of assassins that are after her. That leaves Sonya as she is retrieving a bounty and anther group of killers have it out for her. The guy she has captured ends up as her buddy during many high octane escapes.
All this leads to Abbey figuring out who is the baddies and who needs help. Her Danger Girl pals arrive and everything gets explosive. This is a group of characters that are used as typical sexy women in comic art ways, but stories like this feel more rendered as it has some well done writing to accompany all the great art. People will buy Danger Girl stories for different reasons. So far, I have enjoyed the recent adventures. I would urge you to not just judge these gals by there covers, but try out the stories. You might be surprised at how independent and strong these female characters have become.
BDS
One great thing about going to a Convention is that you should be able to get trades for bargain prices. I love the $5 trades at HeroesCon. That is what this week's Flashback Friday is and I am so glad. Captain Midnight is a book I would be reading if I could afford the $3.50 price that Dark Horse has on their books. They have many titles I would love to read, I just can't afford to do it. So for me, finding Captain Midnight in a $5 trade book was outstanding.
It has the Free Comic Book Day Captain Midnight #0 and collects #1 - #3 of the ongoing series. It really is a great introduction for the character and series. It also plays into the Black Sky mystery that Dark Horse has running through many of their titles. Here we get a time lost hero returning to find a brave new world, just not the one he envisioned. He expected flying cars and rocket packs.
Jim Albright might be from the World War II era, but he has the smarts and moves to outmaneuver the tech of 2013. He will need it as the daughter of the man he let die is out for revenge. She was lost in time as well. She just reappeared in the 1980's. Fury Shark is her name and she has been a busy little Nazi. We get action and adventure in an old school feel as Captain Midnight picks up the fight for Justice.
The book is filled with great humor as you read along and see both an old style of story being presented and a modern conspiracy tale. This would be a great movie franchise. It reminds me of the Indiana Jones movies or what I wish The Rocketeer had become. Search out and find the Captain Midnight books. It is well worth your time.
BDS
I travel up the road a bit today to a small event that has a great big impact. Every year the Wilkes Regional Library holds what they call Library Con. It is a celebration of all things GEEK and a mish mash of genres as young and old mix together. It has a great bit of fun for kids. It is AWESOME seeing so many children enjoying being in a Library. They have a free admission, but a raffle goes on where you can win every hour. I pretty much donated three dollars as I really didn't care if I won. It is also a time to Cosplay. There are some creative people that show up. Many have just gotten homemade costumes. It is less intimidating that HeroesCon or a big gathering of Cosplayers. The children are great as they stare wide eyed at the characters from there books and cartoons. It is a great way to spend a Saturday.
BDS
"And now for something completely different...." as the saying goes. Deep Space Nine you wonder? Yes, if I also remember correctly, Malibu Comics received the license to produce the first of the DS9 comics stories. I had to get this at Heroes Convention this year. I have a confession that might anger any of you who are of different opinions when it come to Star Trek, but here it is, DS9 was the best series. Captain Sisko is the best Captain. The entire franchise is best viewed through the DS9 portal to the Star Trek Universe.
Those of you still reading and not screaming how Kirk is best, or Picard, or Janeway, can just accept that buying this was a guilty pleasure in my quest for the Malibu Comics lines. I did open this poly bagged issue and will be putting the poster that came with it up in my building where my Comics live. I know for some that is bad, but I believe in reading my comics. So I opened a bagged book and devalued it.
This is a great start to the comic. All the characters are there and have really cool looks. Even O'Brian's wife along with Jake and Nog are present. Seeing Odo shift into a rat and jump in goop that had covered Quark was awesome. The entire story just took me back to those early episodes. It was outstanding. I picked up another one and will do a write up on it, but it just seemed right to begin with issue #1.
BDS
I was really good at Trade surfing the Convention floor this year. I picked up a few good collections. I filled in some of my reads in trade form like Noble Causes. It was a good weekend. Like always I pick up and look at books I have in the single issue format. When I picked up No Honor I was in for a really cool surprise. On the back was not one, but two quotations from me about the book and it's author. Yes, that second and last quotes under the name of Hatcher is me.
I started out writing reviews under the alias of Hatcher for a small site called PaperBackReader. We merged for a bit with ComiXtreme.com before splitting back off. It was the loss of my alias that stopped my work online as a reviewer. My hobby was used by unscrupulous people and I had to give up something I liked a great deal. It was at a time when I was being recognized for being an honest reviewer and reaping some perks of that unpaid job. To see something that I said used to promote a book I really liked was just a bit of nostalgia and way awesome.
If you get a chance, read No Honor. It is really cool. A buddy team up between an art thief and a restless spirit of a long passed samurai. Fiona Kai Avery really can write the culture of Japan and just has a great sense of subtle comedy. The action rocks and it just was a great read.
BDS
#HeroesCon #HeroesConvention #comics
It is Free Comic Book DAY EVE and I am soon to go to bed because the stupid Jonesville Jubilee is having a Run and shutting my road down and I have to get started early. But the excitement is building, while kind of building. I am very broke so the Free part will be the main part. Probably not buying anything from my pull box tomorrow either. Still, this is the big day that has fun and coolness written all over it. Weather is suppose to be nice. Just got to get there.
Read Terry Goodkind's The Third Kingdom this week. I hope to write about it soon. I have to get the book back to the Library after this next week. It was good and better than the last couple of books in this Richard and Kahlan focused series that followed the end of The Sword Of Truth series.
Have a great Free Comic Book Day and then May the 4th be with you!
BDS
So I am changing up our Mondays here at "Let's Blog Comics" and it starts tonight. Since I want to fill in some Mantra issues I am starting Malibu Mondays to substitute for Mantra Mondays. I know I have had problems on the Monday posts and I am working on it. I give you our first Malibu Monday with HARD CASE #1.
It is 1993 and comics has seen the gluttony of special gimmick covers and really shocking events to push a speculator market. A new company starts that promises quality over the flash and empty glitter. Malibu Comics debuts the Ultraverse. It is a place where those with powers are called Ultras and Hard Case #1 is part of the first group of books to come out. It is different for the times.
We open to a massacre. Our cover hero is standing at ground zero for the event that stopped his acting heroically for real. Tom Hawke was part of a group called The Squad. This weird thing that kind of looks like an alien from the "Aliens" movies is ripping the group to shreds. A sacrifice and long leap later we get the tragic news and see the grief of our Hero Hard Case.
Next we see he has taken to play acting his heroics as a movie star. You can guess that something happens to draw him back to being a hero, its a comic about a superhero after all. The hook is gruesome, but is what one might expect in real life. That is something Malibu wanted to get back to in comics, the relateable feel of the characters. I liked this start and will try and complete the series. I started over Labor Day with some Hard Case purchases.
I picked this issue up at a local flea market in a used book sellers booth. It was just mixed in with some random books. It was in a sleeve and in nice condition. I paid the $1 and walked away with this very plan for Malibu Mondays in mind. I will give you a tip. Malibu Comics is a great group to hunt for out in the world. There are many around flea markets and similar events. Rarely are the prices inflated like these people tend to do with Marvel and DC. I mean they get a price guide and think there poor condition is worth what a mint sold for, give me a break. So Malibu can be collected most times for a dollar or less. These are good books to start with in my opinion. You can check here for the books and see if any trip your fancy.
BDS
