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The Weekend Haul – Weekend of June 16-18

Posted on June 19, 2017 by Walt

Over the weekend, I headed down to Kenmore to pick up stuff that’s been pulled the last couple weeks.

Having learned of a sale at another shop–Hazel’s Heroes–and being much closer to it already being down that far south, I ventured a bit off my usual trail to check out the shop, AND the sale. I was loosely aware of the general region of the shop…I’d just never (since becoming aware of the shop’s existence) had the time while down that way to check it out.

I wasn’t sure going in what the sale itself would be, but the Facebook post indicated it was a "big" sale, and with my present (and likely about to fizzle out) hunt for Trial of the Flash-era issues of the silver/bronze age The Flash series, I was all the more interested, as a sale would bring even too-highly priced issues into a reasonable range, or so I figured.

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While I doubt I’ll ever get the whole series, being aware of the Blue Ribbon Digest series, I’ve found I’m interested in those when I find them for a good price. As this sale was, I believe I got both of these for about $1/each.

Pretty sure the same on the TMNT novels. (Beaten to heck, but for the price, well worthwhile for the moment!) The Six-Guns and Shurikens book and Red Herrings I remember reading as a kid. The Donatello: The Radical Robot is one I don’t remember (and apparently there are others for each of the turtles along with Donatello!).

Gotta say…for me, the better value by far is these five books for $5, over, say, Darth Vader #1 (had a #1 in 2015, and now already again in 2017..!).

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The way the sale was structured, the $12 Power of Warlock cost me $5 (again, which is the better value: that or a book that just came out this week?) while the other Power of Warlock issue matched the price of a DC Rebirth issue.

The Tales of the TMNT #5 (original run), Batman and the Outsiders #1, and Robin (original mini-series) #1 cost me a whopping $1/each!

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The Booster Gold issues also all only cost me $1. I mentally kicked myself when I realized for the pricing I missed grabbing #s 0 and One Million; fortunately, I shouldn’t have much issue finding my #0 from my Zero Hour stuff last year, and already found my One Million from last October. The #1 was a "convenience" copy (and for $1, even, beautiful piece!).

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Then, I noticed some boxes of magazines before I could check out. My curiosity got me, and on investigating, found that there was quite a run of old Wizard magazines! Fortunately, despite thinking it wouldn’t even matter, I’d taken a couple photos of my Wizard shelf in lieu of writing down missing numbers. So, I was able to pull something like 25-26 issues to fill in gaps in my existing run of the magazine…plus several issues that I just want a poster out of and for the price, no sense passing them up–these all had an older $3 sticker on them, with a newer $1 sticker.

Since the sale was that stuff up to $5.99 was $1, I expected I was just gonna be paying $1 per Wizard…but the store owner gave me the stack for 50 cents an issue!

So all told, for roughly the price of 9 standard, modern Marvel issues, I got 30 issues of Wizard, most of which fill in gaps in my existing collection (rather than just cheap duplicates), a couple of old Power of Warlock issues, three TMNT books I haven’t seen available anywhere in over 20 years, a couple of (relatively rare) Blue Ribbon Digests, and a few other issues!

Sure beats the heck outta most conventions!

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Finally, while I was at Kenmore, on a whim, I made a non-comics purchase: a Batman bust bank of the Adam West Batman. A bit more than I might’ve wanted to pay, and DEFINITELY a shame that it took the man’s death last weekend to remind me how much I do actually appreciate his Batman and all that. But I was interested, and opted to get this since it was NOT any kind of "special order" or such, and not a case of anyone profiting off Adam West‘s death! (As, sadly, I suspect Batman ’66 stuff may soon be).

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of May 17, 2017 (Part Two)

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Walt

Along with the closer-to-current-home shops that I’m able to get to pretty easily and "casually" I still maintain a pull list at the shop that’s been my "main" shop for nearly a decade now, prior to being laid off last summer.

I had a bigger haul there at Kenmore Komics & Games over the weekend, with the store’s 30th Anniversary Sale!

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I’ve maintained Spawn as a pull for over a year now, close to a year and a half–and at this point figure it’ll remain at least until McFarlane and/or Image bump it up to $3.99. I’ll be ok with a bump to say, $3.50, but if they go straight for the 33% hike straight past $3.25, $3.50, and $3.75 straight to $3.99, I’ll surely balk at it!

However, as a "special occasion," I’m ok with the $4.99 for the Spawn 25th Anniversary Director’s Cut of #1–I’m entertained at the cover (an homage to Ultimate Spider-Man #1, incidentally from 2000 or so–barely 8 years into Spawn‘s existence, where USM is itself some 16 1/2 years in the past!

Then there’s The Sovereigns, which I was NOT going to go for–it’s like Dynamite has no idea what to do with these characters! There was a year-long (year and a half with delays?) run of several of the former Gold Key books, then there was some other mini-series last year "teaming them up," and now there’s this–which seems to be yet another take on the properties (as a shared universe at that). Still, with my ill-will toward Valiant (coming up on 2 years since I dropped their entire brand cold-turkey over their crap stunt with Legends of the Geomancer), I’ll support a crappily-run situation like these in protest…at least Dynamite just has the generic/general/standard CRAP with variant covers, and isn’t actively trying to screw over fans for CONTENT.

And I’d requested the standard cover for Flash #22…I still want to get a standard Batman #21 to "frame" along with this for my wall.

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As part of the 20th anniversary sale, I hit the back-issue bins and found The Untold Legend of the Batman mini-series. I’m quite certain I have these issues in my collection already…but darned if I’d be able to locate them without digging through several dozen shortboxes and a few dozen longboxes…with the sale, I got all three issues for less than the cost of two contemporary Marvel comics. So three issues’ content that I want to read sooner than later cheaper than two issues that I’d have no interest in? Definitely a worthwhile price, and well within my notion that I’ll gladly (relatively) pay up to $4ish in general for back issues as that’s balanced against what I’m paying anyway for a new/contemporary comic.

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I also finally remembered to check for the AvX: Consequences #5 issue, hoping I’m actually remembering the correct issue that I’m missing. I’d managed to get 4 of the 5 issues as single issues, but somehow either flat-out missed the fifth, or misplaced it and never came across it consciously when going through my boxes. So though I have the two hardcover Omnibus volumes, this gives me a complete set, I believe, of the core AvX 0-12 and Consequences 1-5.

I also snagged the Supergirl volume from a 50%-off bin, figuring for the savings, well worth getting for now, even though the first volume wasn’t there. Fortunately, it turned out I already had the first volume–it’s the Supergirl by Peter David volumes I never wound up acquiring…so this goes with the first volume and thus was all the more a great purchase!

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Along with the purchases, got two free Castle volumes in hardcover–apparently with chain bookstore returns, the shop got quite a large volume of these for free as part of a blowout, so they were additional notes of "thanks" to customers for coming by.

kenmore_30th_anniversary_dice

Finally, as with the 25th anniversary half a decade ago, John had commemorative dice made, and told me to go ahead and take a couple sets. Along with a couple Gen Con D6s, the 25th anniversary one has been a favorite, and these’ll be going into the dice bag as well!

All in all, quite the haul for not a bad price, and some sweet bonuses. There’s also a Riverdale print that I’ll likely be adding to my wall o’ art.

Hard to believe that I’ve been around long enough to see comic shops celebrating 20+ year anniversaries; given timing, I’d just missed the 20th anniversary when I discovered Kenmore, but have been around for nearly 1/3 of the shop’s existence.

And closer to this house, Comic Heaven  recently celebrated an anniversary–I know I have been going there for nearly 24 years now! And even Comics & Friends at the Great Lakes Mall I believe has been around nearly a decade now–their Lake Effect Comic Con is coming up in a couple weeks for its eighth year!

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

When Seeking One Issue Goes Awry

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Walt

Another "bonus" weekend post!

Last weekend, I snagged a bunch of comics from bargain bins, including these four Superman issues, the Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite! story.

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Unfortunately, I’d managed to totally forget that there was a Starman tie-in issue.

Annoying, sure, but hey, not like that series was all that popular in the long run (though it ran at least 43 issues, if not more), totally overshadowed by the James Robinson run that followed post-Zero Hour. Surely it would be a simple matter–with four shops relatively nearby–to locate this one, single issue.

Boy, was I wrong! None of the four shops I made it to this week (including back to the usual, where I thought for sure the issue would be in the bargain bins and I had just missed it) had the thing in any bins, bargain or otherwise.

On a whim, I stopped off at a Half-Price Books, figuring I was already willing to "pay back-issue prices" for the thing, so I could grudgingly pay a higher HPB price since I’d exhausted other simple-ish in-person means of acquiring the thing. (*Still bugs the crap outta me that HPB assigns arbitrary high prices to more issues than not lately! They bill themselves as a USED books store, based on the notion of everything they carry being HALF OFF the printed/published cover price!)

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Somewhat shockingly enough, they had the issue!

…priced at $3. For a beaten-up condition, newsstand edition (UPC instead of generic box). But as usual and as I would factor for any comic shop back issue…the price is the same or less than what I’d pay for a new off-the-shelf, released-just-this-week comic, so hardly worth "complaining" about: the thing is, after all, over 25 years old, and most comic shops don’t seem to have MUCH stock going back before the early 2000s or so, it seems!

Of course, my "quest" for this one particular issue wound up with me making some extra purchases I had not planned on, but for time spent and even visiting other shops, felt like I should buy something rather than walk out empty-handed.

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Being much more meticulous about going through the bargain bins this weekend…I found waaaaaaayyyyyy more than I intended to.

Quite the difference between 36-year-old me and 11-year-old me: 36-year-old me can buy a stack of comics like this. 11-year-old me had a 3-year collection that in its entirety at the time was 1/3 smaller than this particular stack.

Also, those Justice League Action Mighty Minis being…well…miniature…certainly makes the stack look even more impressive.

I wanted 1 specific issue.

There are 122 reasons I would’ve spent less if I’d just tried HPB first…

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Mentor, OH Comic Signing/events for December 10 & 11, 2016!

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Walt

I just received an email from one of the local comic shops in the area–Comics and Friends, located in the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor, OH.

They’re having a couple of signing events this weekend–see below.

Chris Lambert I know from practically the beginning of my knowing comic shops existed–he was the owner of Comics and Collectibles back in the ’90s, and a huge part of my formative years as a comics fan!

Saturday, December 10th:

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And Sunday, December 11th:

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This is a neat comic shop, if a bit different from any others I’ve come across: this one is inside an indoor mall; "the Mall" to me, growing up. There’s no outside storefront, you have to know it’s in the mall, or just be in the mall yourself, to know it’s there. I usually park at the mall’s Macy’s "anchor store," and go in that way–the comic shop is the first store outside the Macy’s, into the mall.

And they have a good selection on back issues, very fair prices on ’em, lots of "sets" and a decent selection of toys and bank busts, and Heroclix and the like; a kids’ section, and a good selection of collected volumes.

The space is a bit cramped at times–being "just" a store slot in a mall–but it’s certainly a comic shop (as opposed to some other store that happens to also have comics), and I’ve found plenty of great deals here; found issues here that everyone else was out of, and while it’s not my "regular LCS," it is one that I like to visit on a fairly regular basis.

I don’t know that I’ll personally be able to make it to the events this weekend with prior plans…but if you’re reading this blog and in the vicinity, it’s well worth checking out–for the event themselves, or just the shop!

For more info, you can find them online at ComicsAndFriends.com!

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, Press Releases | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Back Issues – September 1st, 2016

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Walt

After yesterday’s grousing over not being able to get the cover I wanted (the standard/basic/regular/NON-variant) of TMNT Universe #1 at either of the comic shops I went to*, I pulled up Diamond‘s web interface of a comic shop locator thing and found one I didn’t even previously know existed, that was relatively close by.

(* since being laid off, my usual shop is over an hour’s drive away instead of the 8 minutes one-way from the office, and so I’m having to adjust…)

And so, early afternoon, I set off to find this shop, having confirmed their continued existence via Facebook and saw by a photo they’d posted that they did indeed (at least initially) have the issue.

They had it (more on that later/in another post), but as a “new to me” shop, that meant a new selection of back issues to peruse.

I found that they had a number of issues of note that I’ve looked for elsewhere with no luck…as well as a similarly disappointment in holes in their collection. Still, that’s comics for ya, and these “holes” were more ’80s, with a surprising presence of ’90s stuff (though no Ultraverse issues, unfortunately).

However, I was quite put off by the absolute lack of any sort of price sticker.

Which suggested ok, they’re subject to whimsy of the owner/staff or at least price guide valuations…something I loathe when browsing back-issues! Still, in further browsing I spotted the new (recently-released here in 2016) Overstreet guide for sale, and taking a couple minutes, I paged through and looked up several of the issues, and decided that even at “full Guide value” I was willing to pay the prices, and knowing the “guide value” I would not feel bad passing on them if asked for more. Plus, they’re having a 20%-off sale for the weekend with the holiday.

back_issues_worldsfinest323_donatelloleatherhead1and2

I was VERY pleasantly surprised when the owner didn’t even look around for where he’d left the guide. Just looked at the issues, quoted me $2/ea, applied the 20% discount, and rang me up.

That alone means I will make a point of going back (hopefully sooner than not) to snag some other issues I saw of interest…as well as look for stuff I forgot, like Spawn and DC Comics Presents.

Just under $6 for World’s Finest #323 (final issue) as well as Donatello and Leatherhead #s 1-2 is excellent pricing! Certainly above cover price, but considering one issue’s 30 years old and the other two are probably 20, I’m happy with the price.

I was expecting the three to run me about $14.

While I “get” collector-pricing and such, and supply-and-demand…as someone collecting for completion with virtually zero expectation of reselling anything of significance, I don’t need stuff to be pristine “Mint” or “Near-Mint” condition, nor do I have any real interest in anything “slabbed,” such that I’m happy with a 25-cent cover’s-off, pages brittle and whole thing beat-up issue for the sake of having it than something that’d fetch $100-$200+ in solid positive condition. These issues more than exceeded that, and while I don’t even know what they’d be “graded” at even in general, for me they fit “reading copy” and are not “bad” so I’m good with ’em.

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From behind the scenes: Ziggy photo-bombing my blog-post-prepping.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

#NotAtComicCon (So I Visited Winston)

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Walt

not_at_comic_con_logoComic Con is going on right now, but I’m not there. I’m cool with that, as there is plenty of comic stuff for me locally, and I truly prefer it to the sort of travel/etc that would presently be required for me to ever be at SDCC.

But because I’m not there, I was free tonight to pay a visit to Carol & John’s in Cleveland and see Winston (something that’s been on my mind since the other day).

With hours actually conducive to making the trip and such after work Friday, I drove up to Cleveland to visit the shop briefly.

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Once there, I browsed momentarily and then discovered the extent of their #NotAtComicCon sale. Rather than a handful of Dollar Bins…they had a Dollar ROOM set up.

Once I’d browsed many of the boxes and found some neat stuff and even some specifics I was looking for, I returned to the main area, and asked about Winston.

winston_napping_carol_and_johns_july10

There he was, just  curled up comfortably, napping on a chair by the counter. He woke up a bit and stretched, then watched me ring out, remaining on his seat, one paw stuck out, seeming to enjoy being the king.

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I usually avoid dollar books in any kinda bulk…they’re sure cheaper than $4/issue, but man do those $1s add up in a danged hurry! Along with a handful of Ultraverse issues, some Valiants, and several X-books…I also found the complete Dead Again arc from the Superman titles from 1994 (though it took a bunch of digging through the titles’ sections in the bins). I also bought the Robin magnet, as I’ve been snagging a bunch of magnets lately, and the Tim Drake Robin (up to about Flashpoint) is one of my all-time favorite comic characters.

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Quite unplanned by me, Ziggy made himself at home on a comic box, and I managed to get this photo of him. My own comic book kitty!

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

#SaveWinston Ends On a Happy Note

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Walt

winston_on_comics_carol_and_johns_comic_book_shopI was quite dismayed early on Monday to learn that Winston, a Cleveland-area comic shop’s shop-cat, was missing.

I’ve been to this shop (Carol & John’s) a handful of times, and even if I’ve only caught a glimpse of the kitty, that’s made me smile, and justified the visit. (And I once drove out there specifically hoping to see Winston…something I’m contemplating doing this weekend again).

For me, there’s just something to there being a “shop cat” around…particularly given the way I’m such a “cat person.” I’d encountered a shop cat at a comic store in Pennsylvania about 6 years ago that I’ll always remember–he followed me around, stuck his paws down between issues while I flipped through a longbox, and even decided my head was a plaything while I knelt to flip through a box on the floor and he was stretching down as far as he could reach over the edge to swipe at me, trying to get me to play with him. I had also once “discovered” a book/comic/something shop when I moved for grad school back in 2004…the cat curled up in the window caught my attention, or I wouldn’t have even noticed the store.

There’s also the story of Dewey, chronicled in the book Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World that gets to me.

I ‘discovered’ Dewey barely a week after I lost my first cat, Christy…and reading the book had a huge impact on me, was truly cathartic and really helped me, in its own way, to deal with that loss.

And aside from that, it’s just fascinated me ever since, to consider there being a library or a shop or such with a resident cat that I might see every time I went there.

Even as I type this, a memory’s just surfaced that when I first “discovered” Carol & John’s, I researched the place online, their web page, before I went out, and it was the notion of Winston, their shop cat, that “sold” me on driving out immediately, and the inward thrill of actually seeing him briefly (it was late and he’d probably had enough for the day–I recall him going behind the counter away from the main part of the shop).

So when I saw the top edge of a “Missing Cat” poster in my Facebook newsfeed early Monday afternoon, I had that immediate thought I always have–feeling bad for whoever has lost a cat, but was shocked and then dismayed to realize it wasn’t “just” Carol & John’s page sharing a local missing kitty, but it was their own kitty–a kitty I’ve met, that I “know,” and it was a gut-punch I don’t usually get from such postings.

I’d shared a couple of the posts on social media myself, doing what I could to get the word out so anyone local-ish would know and could keep an eye out, all the while dreading what seems to be the “usual” horrible news.

winston_found_screenshotSo when a friend shared a post to my newsfeed last night, I was first curious about the post…but my heart truly leapt with a beat of joy when I saw what the post actually was:

Great news!

He’d been found, he was safe, the story had a happy ending.

And I’ve thrilled tonight looking at the Carol & John’s facebook page, reading all the comments, seeing several recently-posted photos, and generally seeing just how well-loved this cat is, by so many in the community.

I’d commented to a couple friends last night that I’m sure Winston’s gonna have extra visitors this week, and as mentioned above, I myself am really thinking I want to take a trip out there to see him (regardless of a Not-At-Comic-Con sale the store is holding this week).

And obviously the situation touched me in such a way that it’s what I chose to write about tonight, superseding any other posts I might’ve written.

If you’re in the Cleveland area, it’s well worth paying Carol & John’s a visit. Great service, amazing stock, plenty of bargain-bin ($1) comics, lots of new stuff, a kids’ play area…and of course, Winston the cat.

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Photo (above): Winston laying on some comics, back home again after going missing for a couple days. This particular photo was posted as the profile picture of the Carol & John’s Facebook page Tuesday evening 7/7/2015. Please visit their page, check them out (enjoy photos of Winston at least!), and all that.

You can find them at 17462 Lorain Ave / Cleveland, Ohio in Kamms Plaza.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Giving In: I Bought the Thanos Pop Vinyl

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Walt

I don’t think I even knew about the Thanos Pop vinyl previously; I happened across it in mid-March in a Hot Topic when I was walking at a local mall.

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I was unwilling to pay the $18.99 or $19.99 or whatever the price was. In December 2014 I’d found one of these "oversized" Pop figures of Nicol Bolas (Magic: The Gathering) for about $16, which didn’t seem too bad for what it was. But I was not willing to pay a full $19/$20 for one of these.

Finding this one for about the price of Nicol Bolas and not finding other stuff I was interested in while visiting a comic shop, I decided to just get this before it became a way-expensive hunt later or I paid more including shipping buying online than just buying it and having it in-hand for the instant gratification.

This joins my 1990s Silver Surfer animated series Thanos, my Marvel 3.75" Thanos, and my Marvel Select Thanos…leaving me offhand still seeking the blind box "mystery mini" Thanos and the Mighty Muggs Thanos that was out some years back.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Skipping Wednesday

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Walt

batmaninc009onipadFor the first time in I-don’t-know-how-long, I’ve actually “skipped” a Wednesday trip to the comic shop.

The last few weeks have been expensive. I’m pretty sure the entirety of my actual pull list is all $3.99 comics–Valiant, TMNT, All-New X-Men–and even some of the stuff I’ve been getting “on the side” withOUT officially adding to my pulls have been $3.99 stuff.

And along with the high pricing, it seems that things CLUSTER. Leading to weeks like this–where the only two issues I’d be picking up are not even part of my pull list–FF and X-Men Legacy; two of now-all-too-rare $2.99 books. As neither title seems to be particularly integral to any other title or ongoing events, and I’ve not had any trouble tracking either down, I figure even if I wait til next week or have to swing through another comic shop, not gonna be any real problem getting them. And though I’ve been passively enjoying both titles, neither has me chomping at the bit to read “the next issue,” so this MIGHT even be a test for myself if I even want to continue with them (I didn’t even notice I’d missed issues of Thunderbolts until 2 or 3 came out after my last issue, so I’ve let that one go).

I did (digitally) buy the new issue of Batman, Inc. to read. I’ve rather firmly opted to stick to digital-only for the Requiem issues, specifically AVOIDING the hassles of not being able to grab ’em off the shelf myself for “collectors” snapping them up cuz of the whole death-of-Robin thing (or just fellow readers also checking things out).

So…no comic shop this week, at least not the “regular” or “usual” comic shop visit. Maybe later I’ll touch on that issue of “clustering,” particularly where if the Valiant books were actually spread out more, even one more book planned for print-edition purchase would’ve justified the trip to the comic shop.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Weekend new purchases: Beginnings and Endings

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Walt

weekendbuysGenerally speaking, I’m not much for “recent back issues.” Obviously I’m all about mid-90s back issues, and other such–but with “new” stuff (from the last few years) I have pretty much picked up what I intend to as stuff’s come out. And when I miss something and decide to go back–that’s where I’m highly likely to snag a collected volume.

This weekend, though, I wound up tracking down 10 very recent back issues. Uncanny X-Force #4, Mighty Samson #2, Ruse #3, and Walking Dead #85 I’d somehow missed when they first came out, and with the exception of the X-FOrce issue (marked up $1.01 above cover price) I got these for cover price.

weekendbuysThen with the recent hype over the DC stuff, I wound up deciding I wanted the Stormwatch issue, so finally tracked that down (4th and final comic shop visited for the week/weekend). Since I’d bought Flashpoint #1 when it came out, and #5, and have been rather impatient, I decided to snag the other 3 issues since they were all in stock at one shop. That shop had Batman: Knight of Vengeance #s 1 & 3. Another shop had #2. Final shop had 1-3, so I snagged those. (See, folks? Have an ENTIRE mini-series in stock, and I’ll buy it! Have even just 1 issue missing, and I will leave it on the shelf. EVEN IF I am going to another shop that may well have that missing issue.)

While there, I wound up snagging that Apocalypse figure–hate paying the premium/marked up price in a comic shop, but it’s one I’ll be SHOCKED to ever actually see on the pegs at walmart. And I bought the WARMACHINE templates for the next time I get to play the game; slowly geared up.

finalbordersI also visited Borders for the final time. Thursday went to the local Borders near my apartment, where I snagged a handful of books for ridiculously cheap prices. While in Ann Arbor over the weekend, ducked into the one there but walked out a couple minutes later. Too little selection and far, FAR too many people…and I’d just bought a bunch of comics (see above) so was no need to spend extra time in the bookstore.

Sad to see the chain go, but I still have a couple of Barnes & Nobles relatively nearby, as well as a couple Half-Price Books and a third used-books store, so I’ll get by. But that’s for some other post.

And if you’re wondering at me covering the DC New 52 books? I’m still determining if or how I’m doing that–but I don’t feel like being “just” another review in the sea of HIGH-PROFILE reviews of the stuff.

Here’s to a new week, though. Hopefully much smaller on the wallet, too!

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

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