Sequential Tart Column - Comics Now!

If you haven't picked up, or maybe don't even know about, the newest comic book magazine available, check out my latest Sequential Tart column where I interview the magazine's editor, Brian Deemer, about Comics Now!

The interview is here: http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=878

The gang that works on the magazine are part of the Comic Geek Speak podcast, so they know plenty about comic books. If you are looking for a new comic book magazine that is both entertaining and informative you should ask your retailer for a copy of Comics Now!

Our Gods Wear Spandex

I did a fairly lengthy review of the book, "Our Gods Wear Spandex," written by Christopher Knowles. It's on Sequential Tart now.

Sequential Tart January

One thing people often put down as a resolution for the new year is to volunteer more or help others more. In keeping with that, I did a column for Sequential Tart and talked to comic book store owners.

Check out my Retailer's Corner column this week where I highlight a number of great comic book retailers who give time and money to help out their local communities.

Dan Dare Review, Reviewed

I was very excited to receive an email from the artist on the new Dan Dare series, Gary Erskine. He read my Dan Dare #1 review on Sequential Tart, and was happy to receive a positive review of the issue. Which, by the way, the comic DID deserve.

Here's what he said:

Thanks!
Your positive review cheered me up tremendously after the initial worry and dread of the critical response of handling such a well loved British hero and institution. The Dare Legacy is one not to screw around with and Garth and I are very passionate about doing the character right and proper. It’s pleasing to know that some people appreciate what we are trying to do without twisting the knife with cruel spiteful reviews (or pre-release opinions!) The Hampson fans are also coming round and understanding that a retro facsimile of the 50s book just wouldn’t work with today’s audience. Neither would a radical re-invention. We have really tried to find a bridge between all fans’ expectations and shown that we love the character.
Best
garye

I only know the bare bones of the old Dan Dare series, and have never read it, so I can't really compare what they are doing with it now to what it was before. But as someone new to the character I very much enjoyed that first issue and did not find it confusing without knowing the whole back story. I know that Dan Dare was a BIG deal in the UK, maybe like Superman to us, so I am sure that people were wary and quick to criticize this new version. But, as Erskine says, they can't just take the 50's character and redo the comics and expect to get a new audience interested. Look at Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, and even Indiana Jones - these stories that people loved 10+ years ago have had to evolve as time passed in order to capture a new audience and keep the stories relevant.

I wish Ennis and Erskine much success with this mini-series. Issue #2 comes out this week (Friday, in case you forgot) and if you have not checked it out, I encourage you to do so.

Tart Columns

I hope everyone survived "Impending Doom 2" the killer snow storm. It was pretty nasty outside and we even had to send KellyAnn home at 2 pm before it got bad enough for her to have to stay in the store overnight.

On Sunday we had a table at the Burnham Bowl "show" which I will call a specialty flea market. It is funny, spending a few hours at this kind of thing really gets to me because many of the mentalities there are the exact things we're trying to work against here at the store. How cover price is a bad, bad thing. Crazy collector mentalities. Gack! Plus Burnham is an old bowling alley so it smells of 60 years of cigaretts plus old paper comics and dusty toys. My sinuses were so bad I thought my eyes might just be forced out of their sockets. But we managed to offload the rest of our silver age comics purchase from back in September, so it wasn't so bad.

This week it is practically Lisa Lopacinski week on Sequential Tart! I wrote both of the columns under Features: An Interview with G. Willow Wilson, author of the book Cairo. (You should check this out, she is a very interesting woman and I thought the interview was great.) And my discussion of the Heroes Vol 1 hard cover book and how it relates to the TV show. I also wrote up the All Access piece under columns, on the Miscellaneous Adventures of Stykman comics. My only other submission for the month was my Retailer's Corner piece, which will run on December 17th. I might get a few reviews in there as well. Plus, I wrote a couple of paragraphs for the Tart Time Machine on Christmas Music, which will probably be up closer to Christmas. Anyway, check out my takes on three great items: Cairo Hard Cover, Heroes Hard Cover and the Miscellaneous Adventures of Stykman comics over at Sequential Tart.

Reviews

Another great installment of Sequential Tart went live today.

I have a paragraph about Umbrella Academy #1 under "Read This or Die" and two reviews under "The Report Card" towards the bottom. I review The Sword #1 under comics and Cairo under graphic novels.

Check out the two interviews - they're pretty good!

What Makes a GREAT Comic Book Store?

What the Pros think.

My Sequential Tart Retailer's Corner for this month. Check it out!

Tart Colum

My column on this year's Baltimore Retail Summit is live on Sequential Tart.

Go check it out!!

Sequential Tart September

My write-up on Chicago Wizard World is now live on Sequential Tart. Go check it out! My pictures didn't make it, but they did put on a link to the pictures I've got on Flickr of WWC.

I've got my Retailer's Corner coming up in a couple of weeks - an interview with the guys who run the newest Eisner Award Winning comic book store - Earth2. I link to it once it goes up.

Sequential Tart July

Another bit I contributed to on Sequential Tart is up now. It's about pop culture cook books - mine is towards the end - the Peanut's Cookbook.

We are also looking for anyone and everyone to vote for art for the Sequential Tart calendar. There are 27 GREAT pieces, but only 13 can make the cut. So, click here to see the art and cast your votes. It in no way obligates you to buy anything - of course you might fall in love with something and HAVE to have it. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?

Sequential Tart Column

This week my Sequential Tart Retailer's Corner column is up. It's a fun piece about retailers who set up booths at conventions. Check it out.

Sequential Tart July

The new Sequential Tart issue is on the site. And we're doing things different this time around.

First, there was a theme this time (food) and that hasn't been done since I started writing for them (although I think they did do it before). The other new thing is that instead of putting all of the 'zine on at once, we're releasing new stuff each week. That way there's something new to check out every week - to keep readers coming back as well as getting people to read more of the articles by spacing them out. I think it's an interesting idea! Especially in this information age where once a month information dumps just isn't enough for people - you know who you are.

Anyway... this week my interview with Scott McCloud's wife and two daughters is on the site. It's a fun read where we talk about the good and bad of being homeless world travelers for nearly a year. You should read it! I have a couple of other bits that will be coming up later in the month too, so stay tuned.

More Stuff...

As you know, we've got another big event this weekend. Yep - it's been a very busy couple of weeks. My regular blogging has suffered due to the fact that we've barely cleaned up one event and now have to set up for another. But I love projects, and in-store events are fun, so it's all good.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY STUFF:

USA Today had a bit about the Free Comic Book Day "Unseen Peanuts" book (photo). Great job by Fantagraphics to get some media attention for this excellent book. I hope it helps sell more of the Peanuts collections - we have them all in stock. While our local media continues to stubbornly not cover FCBD, at least USA Today did - with a link to the FCBD home page - so that people can find a store like mine that will have the book. We've already received a couple of calls!

Congress also had a resolution on the floor lauding Free Comic Book Day. It was submitted by a congressman from Maryland - the district where Diamond is headquartered. The resolution praises Free Comic Book Day as, "an enjoyable and creative approach to promoting literacy and celebrating a unique American art form."


TV

Check your local cable listings for: Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked. Sunday at 9:00PM on The History Channel. "Wish-fulfillment figures become role models for generations of children." (120 mins).


Retailer Ranting #1

Once again, I hate Hasbro. First, they have been treating every distributor we deal with for toys like old trash - shipping them next to none of the Star Wars toys we ordered. The ONE we did get has been out all over Wal-Mart nation for weeks already. Then, we ordered the Transformers movie toys via Diamond. There wasn't a picture and no description of what would be in the set - only that these were the top-secret first wave of Transformers movie toys. We have a few Transformers fans that shop here, so we thought we'd pick up a case of the toys. Guess what - the case had a total of two different figures in it. A WHOLE CASE of figures and only two different figures. We'll never get these sold! I swear, this is the last time I order any toys made by Hasbro! I don't care how much Craig begs to order Star Wars toys - I'm putting my foot down because we always end up getting screwed.


Atta-Boys:

20th Century Fox is pushing Fantastic Four 2. We just got a big movie poster from them along with a stack of slightly smaller ones that we are supposed to hand out for Free Comic Book Day. We love to hand out free stuff that we didn't have to pay for! Thanks Fox - no matter what anyone says about the movie, you're OK in my book.

The Buffy comic book continues to sell like hotcakes! It is our second best selling non-superhero comic book right now, with Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born being #1. It is probably in our top-10 best sellers overall as well. I'd have to sit down and look at a spread sheet to be sure, but I think it's right up there. If not in the top 10, I'm positive it would be in the top 20. I love the fact that publishers are doing great comics for the non-superhero fans. Both Buffy and Dark Tower continue to bring new people into my comic book store.


Trends in the Direct Market:

One would not believe how many people have mentioned wanting to open a comic book store. Some here in person, some on-line. I probably get an email a week from someone who has read my sequart.com columns about opening a store and wanted my help or opinion on something. I think this means that people are finally getting tired of the old school stores and/or think comics are cool enough to have more stores. To be honest, there are not enough comic book stores. That's part of the reason why more comics aren't sold or read in the U.S. - availability. Back when I was a kid they were in spinner racks at gas stations and convenience stores - and we read them. Mom would buy one just to shut us up. Now they are sold mainly in stores like mine - comic book stores - so mom has to go out of her way to get them. I think the fact that more and more people are wanting to open their own shop is one of the signs that the industry is changing - and it could spell the end of many a dingy comic shop. The presence of so many comic book movies is another sign of that. You can read my Sequential Tart column for my hypothesis on this.


Retailer Ranting #2

I'm not sure if it's a compliment or just a lack of originality, but some other area comic shops are stealing our ideas. One is doing a food drive with FCBD, another is using our "something for everyone" slogan that we've been putting in our ads for over a year into their current ad campaign. At first I was pretty irritated, but now I've decided just to mind my own business and expect that people will try to duplicate our success here by taking some of our ideas over to their stores.

Sequential Tart April

Be sure to check out this month's issue of Sequential Tart!

I have two articles up. One is an interview with Jim McLaughlin, The president of The Hero Initiative. Find out what Hero Initiative is and how you can help.

The other is my Retailer's Corner on Free Comic Book Day. Find out my take on this annual event.

I even did a couple of reviews - one on Wonder Woman #5 and the other on the season finale of BSG.

Tart T's

The hard working gals over at Sequential Tart have just put a bunch of the monthy covers onto T-Shirts. They have both regular and "buxom" sizes available. They are pretty cool shirts at a decent price. There are a bunch of nice ones, done by some great artists. There are mugs and tote bags too. Check them out! Just clikc the banner.

Some New Columns Up

I've got a couple of new pieces up on this month's Sequential Tart.

My pro-round table with some GREAT creators on their favorite comic book conventions. I was super stoked about doing this - as a retailer and comic book fan, and was surprized at how many creators got back to me. It was a lot of fun!

This month's Retailer's Corner, where I talk about the Eisner Sprit of Comics retailing award.

If you're a Supernatural fan, there's a bunch of interviews this month with folks from the show, so click here to go to the Sequential Tart main page and then look under Culture Vultures for the interviews.