CAST YOUR VOTES!

It's that time again, folks. Time to vote.

Vote for your favorite comic book store, that is! We work hard to have a great store, and would appreciate it if you could cast your vote for Neptune Comics, 141 E. Sunset Dr. Waukesha WI 53189 for both the Dark Horse "I Love My Comic Shop" contest AND the "Best of Milwaukee" Shepherd Express annual survey. I have made it easy - just click on the links and you'll go directly to the site where you can cast your vote, and the store's information is right in this paragraph, in bold. Then you can tell your friends that YOUR comic book store is Award Winning!


Dark Horse Comics has announced a new “I Love My Comics Shop” contest designed to celebrate the local comic shop and reward loyal fans. Contestants are asked to nominate their favorite shop for a chance to win store credit towards the purchase of Dark Horse books. The publisher will select one grand prize ($200) and one runner-up ($50) at random. The nominated shop will also win a credit for the same amount from Diamond for Dark Horse books and products. Entries are due September 29; for more information, visit http://www.darkhorse.com/news/contests.php?id=60.


Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee Survey - 2006
http://www.shepherd-express.com/Perseus/bom2006wedits.htm

Schwag

So, I talked briefly about the retailer summit in my previous post. To help us cover the cost of the trip Diamond and Alliance get some of the major publishers to give us free stuff that we can turn around and sell. Usually it's one or two really good things and then a bunch of other junk. Last year we had an All Star Batman and Robin retailer variant that went for a nice price, and a special X-Files promo trading card that we thought wouldn't be worth much but both of them sold for close to $50 on eBay. Here's what we're getting this year (the list might change slightly, but this should be pretty much what we get):

• Abstract Studio, Inc. Exclusive print

• ADV Films LINE Manga, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: ANGELIC DAYS Manga vol. 1, NEWTYPE USA , JINKI: EXTEND DVD vol. 1

• Applehead Factory Teddy Scares Comic Book

• Archie Comic Publications, Inc. TPBs, Fly, Mighty Crusaders & Shield

• Bandai Collectible Games 1 PER STORE-Naruto CCG Apparel

• Comic Images Film Frenzy Card Game

• Dakuwaka Productions 1 PER STORE - Helios #3 (Double-sided issue)

• Dark Horse Comics 1 PER STORE: ExclusiveThe Goon print from Eric Powell.

• DC Comics 1 PER STORE-Justice League of America Retailer Variant #1

• Diamond Comic Distributors Valuable Retailer Thank You Package-details TBA

• Diamond Select Toys 1 PER STORE- Exclusive Star Trek:TNG Troi Figure

• Educational Insights Play Foam Samples, Sea Monkeys

• Fantastic Realm 1 per account: Witchblade #100

• Final Sword Productions, Inc. 2007 Honorverse Calendar

• FUNimation Entertainment DVD-New Release

• Green Ronin Publishing Bleeding Edge #1: Mansion of Shadows

• Hidden City Games Clout: Defenders of Undersea Starter

• IDW Publishing TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: SHOCKWAVE Variant cover w/gold foil stamp & illustrated Nick Roche.

• Image Comics Godland Vol 1 TP

• Inkworks Promotional Trading Cards

• Joyride Entertainment/RC2 Fullmetal Alchemist TCG

• Markosia Enterprises, Ltd. Comic Book

• Marvel Comics X-MEN PHOENIX WARSONG 2006 SUMMIT SKETCH VAR #1 1 PER STORE-Rare Wolverine Origins Promo Variant #2

• Mayfair Games Deck of Playing Cards - Settler's of Catan

• Mercury Comics 1 per Store-ATOMIKA Starter Pack, ATOMIKA Sketchbook

• North East Games Mystical Empire CCG: 1st Edition Booster Pack

• Paizo Publishing Gamemastery Item Pack

• Palladium Books The Rifter

• Playroom Entertainment Promo Cards

• Pokemon, USA Inc. Pokemon Booster

• Publisher Services, Inc. World of Darkness Counter Mat

• Score Entertainment Promo cards, booster packs & numbered cards

• TriKing Games 1 per store-Anachronism Demo

• UART Limited Trigun & Hellsing Clear File, BEAR – Original Figure

• Virgin Comics Alex Ross Poster

• Viz Media Manga & DVD samples

• Wizards of the Coast Dreamblade promo mini

• Yaoi Press Saihoshi the Guardian Vol. 1 Graphic Novel

Some of the stuff they'll just hand out easily, and other items we'll have to listen to some sales pitch in order to get it. If you see something on the list you want, you'll have to let us know or it will, more than likely, end up on eBay.

Baltimore

We're going out to Baltimore in just a couple of weeks. The Baltimore Comic Con is there when we're there, so we'll probably spend a good chunk of Saturday checking it out. There are some solid people on the list! I was impressed. You can click on the link I have here and then click on the link for guests to see the biggies. We're hoping to find some reasonably priced original art for the store, so hopefully a slightly smaller con like this will have that. Then Sunday we will probably go to D. C., since Craig has never been there. Lucky for us, a customer of ours lives out there and he's willing to cart us around a little bit. We've never met him in person, but he's quite a character, so it should be lots of fun. Then all day Monday we have what they call a "retailer summit." It's put on by Diamond Distribution and their game distribution partner Alliance Distribution (both owned by Steve Geppi) A bunch of us comic book store owners get together and have a big pow-wow. We get to listen to seminars from publishers of various things as well as seminars put on by some of the big names in comic book retailing. We went to a similar one last October in Ft. Wayne IN and found it VERY informative - it was the major factor in convincing us to expand the store.

Thanks to our new employee, we can be gone for a few days and not worry about what will happen. HORAY! Although we were worried about Friday, especially since books will be a day late because of Labor Day. We figured it could be a pretty busy day and we didn't want to be closed all day long. Luckily our new employee had some extra vacation saved up from her Monday-Friday office job and will run the store Friday. We'll be closed the following Monday, and opened shorter hours on Tuesday, but those are ususally the slowest days of the week anyway.

Now our big worry in planning for the trip is our dog. We're going to board her at her usual place, but we won't get back in time to pick her up before the place closes for the night, and the next day is Wednesday, which is new book day, so there won't be any time to get her and we close the same time the kennel closes. Poor thing, she might have to be there an extra night. It's not just the added expense of an extra night, but she really has issues with being in places that are not our house. We've afraid that if we move she wouldn't know what to do with herself. She only goes to the bathroom in our yard, where she can smell that she's been there before. She's like those people who leave parties/movies/ whatever early to go home because they can't use other people or place's rest rooms. Plus, she probably won't eat much, and probably won't sleep much. When we take her for a 2-night stay she's usually exhausted and has to go to the bathroom about 5 times to catch up with what she held in. Thankfully the boarding place is also a vetrinary hospital, so if she gets sick from all of this they should be able to take care of it.

Couple of Movie Bits

Click here to see some of the first photos of the set of the new Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Click here to go to Michael Bay's official Transformers blog.

Vampire comic 30 Days of Night will released just before Halloween. See clips of it here.

Quoted in Newsarama Again!

Once again I have been quoted in Newsarama.com by Vaneta Rogers. It's always cool to be included in these things! This time retailers sounded off about the whole Civil War debacle. Based on the questions she sent out, she didn't hit a lot of points she originaly was asking about, but it looks like she had a lot of feedback from store owners and so Vaneta just focused on some of the bigger points and used several retailers to support those points.

Click here to read the column!

Civil War additions

So, you all know about the whole delayed Civil War fiasco. Anyway, Marvel has given details on a couple MORE books they're issuing during the gaps when they won't be able to release half of the books in the Marvel Universe because of the delays with the regular Civil War issue.

First up is October's "Civil War: Choosing Sides." The specifics of this one could aparently change. (Hmmm... Marvel throwing something together? Never!) but, it at this time they claim it will be a multiple writer/artist "jam book" that focuses on the heroes caught in the Civil War who don't have their own series AND featured in Civil War: Frontline. (Basically characters you have never heard of.) This one-shot is supposed to come out and take place after Civil War #4.

February sees the addition of "Civil War: Battle Damage Report," which will be much like the "Planet Hulk Guide Book." It will take a look at everything that's happened after the war, where the world stands and will help map out the post Civil War Marvel Universe for readers.

Grand Re-Opening party featuring 501st Legion

It was a great time with the gang from the 501st Legion! They were lots of fun, and the Storm Troopers frightened a few people, even causing one young Rebell to throw up in the parking lot, fearful of his arrest by the Imperial guard.