CIVIL WAR #6 massively allocated on West Coast

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Posted by: admin on December 31, 2006

Categories: Retailing/Industry

LA’s invoicing just went up, and it looks like EVERY West Coast retailer is getting massively allocated (to the tune of 10-15% — I ordered 100 copies, and am recieving 14) on CIVIL WAR #6 this week. We’re ASSUMING it’s like last week’s problem with the DCs, and they didn’t, y’know, burn up in a fiery traffic accident or something, but we don’t actually know because, as is normal, we found out by looking at our invoices, and not because anyone at Diamond, y’know, told us. I’ll have the shipping list up on tomorrow (or probably Monday), but in the meantime I want your input of how to deal with this operationally. As I see it, I have 3 options:…  Read More…

The end of the year means the end of cheap shots? Or not. Another trade review by Graeme.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on December 30, 2006

Categories: Reviews

Two posts from me last week, and then I’m as quiet as a clam this week. Blame being the only manager at my job, and then add in visits to the INS (sorry, CIS – I keep forgetting that they’ve been renamed now) and the dentist, and you might see why I’ve not had time to get to the store this week, which is a shame… If nothing else, I really want to pick up that new Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane digest, because I’m a sap. But that’s not to say I don’t have a review for you this week. And it’s another trade one, and just like SMLMJ, one that requires you to think back to high school… This…  Read More…

Arriving THURSDAY 12/27

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Posted by: admin on December 25, 2006

Categories: Shipping Lists

Hope everyone had a good holiday. I drank too much nog, and my belly hurts. Darn that rich drink! Here’s what’s coming in on THURSDAY 12/27 — this week AND next, comics are delayed a day because of the holidays. Go into a comics shop on Wednesday, looking for New Comics, and they’re going to laugh at you This is ALSO a feast week — a gajillion billion things shipping, but PLEASE NOTE that apparantly there was a shipping container that went missing, and several of the titles on the NATIONAL list DID NOT MAKE IT TO THE LA DIAMOND WAREHOUSE. These include (among several others) BATMAN, BOYS, FLASH, JLA, EXILES, JACK OF FABLES, SUPERMAN/BATMAN, and, like I said, several…  Read More…

Are you a friendless loser?

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Posted by: admin on December 22, 2006

Categories: Retailing/Industry

Sorry to break-in to the super-reviewing that Jeff and Graeme have been engaged in these last couple of days, but I wanted to quickly remind everyone that SUnday (Christmas Eve) is the 17th annual sit-around-a-comics-shop-and-drink-eggnog thing at Comix Experience. Its even less exciting than it sounds, really — but if you have no friends, no life, or just don’t have anywhere better to be, please feel free to join us in some nog, at 5PM Sunday night. -B

My Bookshelf Is As Heavy As My Heart At Christmastime: Graeme reads and talks about trade paperbacks.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

Because you demanded it! Well, maybe not you, but Leigh Walton3000. He definitely demanded it, and because it’s the holiday season, what else could I do but deliver? And so: The Special Savage Critic Long Winded Book Edition. For you! AMERICAN VIRGIN Vol. 1: HEAD: Here’s my big problem with American Virgin – It’s just not sexy. It’s not even just not sexy, it’s practically unsexy; there’s something about the writing that manages to be preachy and clinical at the same time, like someone’s dad trying to write for The Kids after spending an afternoon on MySpace and reading some Brian K. Vaughan (Steven Seagle, the hypothetical dad in question, has clearly tried to style this in a similar way…  Read More…

Too Late For A Holiday Gift Guide? Too Early for a Best Of… List?

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on

Categories: Reviews

It probably is too late for a gift guide but considering there’s still four plus days to Xmas (and considering some of you might be shopping for yourselves after Xmas with money passed your way), following is a list of forty-three items culled from my Trade Picks of 2006, with some singles thrown in that I thought were great and you could probably still find without too much trouble. They’re sorted alphabetically, so no hierarchy is implied, and they represent my picks only (although if Hibbs and McMillan sorted their picks as well, wouldn’t that be cool?). Brief commentary will be provided as necessary, or until my brain explodes. Without further ado (and with my apologies in advance for an…  Read More…

O Come All Ye Faithful: Graeme’s reviews of 12/20 books.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on December 20, 2006

Categories: Reviews

The secret joy of the Holiday Season is that I somehow managed to find space in the middle of my day to do reviews for this week’s books early. It would be a Christmas miracle if it wasn’t for the fact that I didn’t like half of them. NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #1: Because you demanded it – The entire history of the Marvel Universe… retconned so that Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Strange, Professor X, Iron Man, Namor and Black Bolt murder lots of Skrulls! Yeah, that was a weird start to this series, and something to harsh the mellow that was my excitement about the potential fun that this could offer. No matter how pretty Jim Cheung’s art is – and…  Read More…

Arriving 12/20 (Feast)

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Posted by: admin on December 19, 2006

Categories: Retailing/Industry , Shipping Lists

If you were asking where all the comics have been the last few weeks, well, here’s your answer, honeys. They’re shipping this week. I’m totally crazy right now: Rob took his saved week of vacation this week, so I’m behind the counter every day, all day for the next while. As I think (?) I mentioned last time Rob went vaca, its really REALLY good for me to pull this duty. Exercises muscles I forgot I had, sharpens my skills. I mean, after 17 years of selling funny books, there are bits where it becomes a grind, y’know? So being thrown into the melee is really damn good. And I think I totally nailed all 22 “Yeah, I want to…  Read More…

I am Retsel Ffej: Graeme reviews last week’s books.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

Well, the weather outside? Frightful. And that fire? So delightful. And since there’s no place to go, and baby, it’s cold outside, your lips sure do look delicious… No, wait, I’m getting my songs mixed up. But, as I said in my comments to Jeff’s reviews, he and I are at yuletide opposites this week. Let’s call him the Grinch and me Good King Wenceslas, okay? 52 WEEK THIRTY-TWO: There are issues of this where I enjoy it more than usual, and I’m not entirely sure why; this may be the most enjoyable week of the series for me since week nineteen, perhaps because it feels like the biggest “reveal” since that issue. Except I’m not entirely sure what’s been…  Read More…

The Sick Trick: Jeff’s Review of 12/13 Books.

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 18, 2006

Categories: Reviews

I’m not capital-S Sick but I am little-s sick: mildly feverish and runny nose to beat the band, sore throat when I wake up, etc. Combine that with the newsletter deadline and a shortened workday on Friday so I could attend the non-CE holiday party, and you’ve got the makings for a whiny, weepy & short set of reviews. Speaking of whining and wailing, has anyone made the jump from Blogger to Blogger Beta and, more specifically, the jump from Haloscan to Blogger Beta’s improved commenting system? We’re going to be making the jump soon (like by the end of the year soon) and I’m trying to figure out if I should muck about with the template so that Haloscan…  Read More…

Arriving 12/13

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Posted by: admin on December 11, 2006

Categories: Shipping Lists

The one Suck Ass thing about having a toddler? They get sick, a lot (well, and then so do you) — I’m not sick this week, Ben is, which means he’s not going to school, which means my delicately stacked Big Ass Pile of Too Much Work gets thrown into all sorts of disarray. And then the blackline for the March-shipping books shows up at the store, joy! Add the holidays to that (both worrying about the store, and hassling with family commitments), and I HAVE NO TIME TO BREATH. So, here’s what’s shipping this week, and now I have to figure out how I’m going to get my next TILTING written by Wednesday…. 100 BULLETS #79 2000 AD #1514…  Read More…

Jeff’s UnCleverly Titled Reviews of 12/6 Books.

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on

Categories: Reviews

Ahhh, the holiday season. Does anyone ever end up with enough time to do what they need to? I was in such a rush my original title for this post pretty much ripped off Graeme’s without even realizing it. Oy. But enough of that. Here’s this: 52 WEEK #31: On its own, the issue didn’t do too much for me but, combined with the comments thread for Graeme’s post, I found the whole “who is Supernova?” thing kinda interesting, as cases are made there for both the Flash and the Atom. (If the second “key” Ralph refers to is “Keystone City,” then I’m thinking The Flash…) Unfortunately, as writers try to stay one step ahead of the Internet hivemind, they’re…  Read More…

Until the 12th of never: Graeme reviews today’s books. No, really. Today’s books. Who knew?

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on December 7, 2006

Categories: Reviews

Surprisingly early reviews this week, because I’m out of town this weekend – Kate and I are off to Mendocino to escape the rat race for a couple of days – and I’d feel bad if I didn’t get the chance to tell you about Kaare Andrews’ Frank Miller fetish. For those of you who’re interested in what Kate’s watching on TV as I type this, it’s a Johnny Mathis concert from PBS last night. Apparently he’s a native San Franciscan, which I was kind of surprised to learn. The PBS host said that something that made most San Franciscans proud was that Mathis was born in their city, which is either overstating Johnny’s importance to most people or a…  Read More…

Arriving 12/6

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Posted by: admin on December 6, 2006

Categories: Shipping Lists

As long as I put it up before the store opens at 11, I’m not LATE! 52 WEEK #31 AGENTS OF ATLAS #5 (OF 6) ALL NEW ATOM #6 AMERICAN SPLENDOR #4 (OF 4) ANGEL AULD LANG SYNE #2 ARCHIE #571 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #175 ATHENA VOLTAIRE FLIGHT O/T FALCON APE ED #3 AVENGERS EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES II #3 (OF 8) BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #1 BEYOND #6 (OF 6) CROSS BRONX #4 (OF 4) DARKNESS PITT FIRST LOOK DELPHINE #1 DESOLATION JONES #8 DETECTIVE COMICS #826 DOCTOR STRANGE OATH #3 (OF 5) EMO BOY #10 EVERWINDS SHROOMS ONE SHOT EXTERMINATORS #12 FREE SEXXX #2 (A) HARD TO SWALLOW #2 (A) HERO SQUARED ONGOING #4 INCREDIBLE HULK #101 INTERIORAE #2 INVINCIBLE #37…  Read More…

The Ghost of a Post: Jeff’s Reviews of 11/29 Books.

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 5, 2006

Categories: Reviews

Well, that’ll learn me about posting from work. I started a post here, opened another browser window, and the browser bombed right out. This is how companies plan to win the productivity wars, I guess: by keeping their computers so underpowered they can’t even access the Internet without exploding. Grumble, grumble…. Anyway, before someone sends me an email and crashes my entire desktop: 52 WEEK #30: Bringing back the Ten-Eyed Man was a fine bit of cheek, but the issue was un-fun and perfunctory in the extreme. First, the writers win me over to their slapdash and wack-a-doodle ways, and then they break out Batman soul-searching and plot-convenient cancer coughing? Eh, except for the cover which was weird and lovely….  Read More…

Thank God November’s Done, Part II: The Post Jeff’s Been Waiting A Month to Make….

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 4, 2006

Categories: Retailing/Industry

Whew. So, the twin vices of Nanowrimo (slow to get going, but a blast by the end) and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (a bazillion times more shallow than Freedom Force but if you’re a button-mashing console-owning Marvel fanboy–and boy, am I!—it’s insanely compelling) kept me from posting nearly all month, which is a drag because I was sure I’d blown my chance to write about my trip to Vegas, but Graeme’s Friday post at Newsarama about favorite comic book stores gives me another shot. Now, of course, Comix Experience owns my heart (well, technically, my soul–damn that Hibbs!) but I just gotta give the mad love for Ralph Mathieu’s Alternate Reality Comics in Vegas: Ralph’s shop is well-lit and just jammed…  Read More…

Thank God November is done: Graeme’s reviews of the 11/29 books.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on December 3, 2006

Categories: Reviews

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around these here parts, as we start to think about where to put the tree and all other holiday decorations. It’s also beginning to look a lot like lots of first issues this week, for some reason. Whatever happened to the holiday slowdown…? Other than it meaning that Civil War gets pushed back, of course. 52 WEEK THIRTY: Admit it – When you’ve sat around at home, wondering just how Batman stopped being a dick and got his batgroove back, you never imagined that it would include a group of demon killers with eyes on their fingers. This is an Okay issue; there were some good parts (I especially liked Robin’s conviction…  Read More…