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Whom I Am Thankful For...

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:06:57 -0800

Whom I Am Thankful For...

A Reflection Back At This Time Of Year!

For the past several years during this Thanksgiving Holiday time I have had a blog series of "Whom I Am Thankful For"...

This year I have been so busy that I haven't blogged a series like that so far, but I did find after checking our blog stats yesterday, that those earlier archived blog posts on "Whom I Am Thankful For" were being viewed by several other readers of my blogs...
So that I can share those posts once again for those that are new to this blog, PLUS the fact that the original blog posts posted on the eBay blogs are no longer remaining due to eBay closing down 'their' blogs platform; here are the reposts from those archived blog posts and a couple of new ones added. The blog series was entitled:
"Whom I Am Thankful For", and Included the following so far, with some minor updated revisions:
Part I -   Stan Lee, who will be celebrating his 87th birthday this year! Stan and Jack Kirby were the reasons I started collecting comics, instead of just reading 'funnybooks'. Stan is shown to the left, signing my personal copies of Fantastic Four #1 and Strange Tales Annual #2 for me several years ago. Below is the text from that blog post:
Today is the time of year that many Americans stop, reflect and give thanks...
I am no exception to this as Tina and I get ready to go to my folks for Thanksgiving Dinner.
I was thinking about this as I was getting cleaned up just a few minutes ago...
I am thankful for many things, which is why this is but Part I, but one of the earliest things I can remember being thankful for was the early ability to read and comprehend which helped me become an 'A' Student in High School.
I have of course my great aunt and uncle who started me off with 'funnybooks', but it was pretty much one writer that moved me to look up new words in our dictionary that he wrote on his pages! Stan Lee also introduced new concepts and other genres of writing besides superheroes to me.
Additionally he made me and probably millions of others feel that we were part of a different world, that of 'Marvelmania' via his 'Bullpen Pages' where he wrote to fans like me!
His gift was that he never wrote 'down' to his readers, and his writing improved my vocabulary and started my interest in other pop culture items like Movies and TV Shows, etc.
I am thankful that he and I have finally seen the fruits of his early labors make it to the 'Big Screen' in the past few years. I am truly thankful that my love of comics in printed format have finally been transformed to good/great comic book movies that I am viewing today 49+ years later!

Part II - Engineer Bill ... who has passed away since this blog was first posted. He had a great afternoon kids show with cartoons in Los Angeles during my childhood there. Below is the text from that post:
Yesterday was the time of year that many Americans stopped, reflected and gave thanks...
I was no exception to this as Tina and I got ready to go to my folks for Thanksgiving Dinner.
I am thankful for many things during my life, which is why this is but Part II, but one of the earliest things I can remember from my childhood was when my dad was stationed in Long Beach.
It was then that Engineer Bill (Stulla) hosted a kid's TV show on KHJ Channel 9 in Los Angeles.
He was a favorite TV show host during the 1950's and 1960's.
His show was broadcast on every week day about when school had been out for a while.
What really stuck out in my memory was his 'Red Light - Green Light' portion of the show, where my brother and I would drink, stop, drink, and so on when he would say 'green light' for us kids to drink the milk out of the glass, and 'red light' to stop drinking!
Some of the things that stick in your mind don't always make sense years later, but it was here that I found that drinking and eating what's good for you was fun!
By the way, other local televised kid's shows of Los Angeles during that time were Sheriff John, Chucko the Clown, and Bozo the Clown.
I don't remember many 'National' shows that I watched during that time but one for sure was Captain Kangaroo seen in black and white format.

Part III - Sheriff John ... who also died since this blog post was published, (he passed in 2008). He was another of my favorite kids TV Shows hosts in Los Angeles. Below is the text from that post:
Yesterday was the time of year that many Americans stopped, reflected and gave thanks...
I was no exception to this as Tina and I got ready to go to my folks for Thanksgiving Dinner.
I am thankful for many things during my life, which is why this is but Part III, but one of the earliest things I can remember from my childhood was when my dad was stationed in Long Beach.
It was then that 'Sheriff' John (Rovick) hosted a kid's TV show on KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles.
He hosted the show from 1952 to 1970!
His program would open with Sheriff John entering his office while lip-syncing to the record lyrics of "Laugh and be happy and the world will laugh with you when people see you smiling, they can't help smiling, too..."
After that Sheriff John would go on to the check list, the bulletin board for pictures about safety, and then to the US flag for the Pledge of Allegiance.
The big thrill for kids with birthdays would be to hear your name called on the show!
Plus a birthday cake would be decorated with thick frosting, candy and lollipops. Then while Sheriff John sang the birthday song, the carousel cake spun in a circle while displaying the words "Happy Birthday Brigadiers" on the side of the cake!
It may sound cornball by today's standards, but it was fun in those days! Plus it started me on the 'straight and narrow'!

Part IV - Fess Parker.... Davy Crockett! ... who turned 85 years old in August! One of my best Holiday Seasons was in 2003 when we stayed at his Inn in Los Olivos, California! (See photo of us with him to the left.) Below is the text from that Blog Post:
Yesterday was the time of year that many Americans stopped, reflected and gave thanks...
I was no exception to this as Tina and I got ready to go to my folks for Thanksgiving Dinner.
I am thankful for many things during my life, which is why this is but Part IV, but one of the earliest things I can remember from my childhood was our black and white TV set where I saw several TV Shows including one of my folks' favorites, 'Walt Disney'.
I definitely can remember those early years of watching Fess Parker as 'Davy Crockett' and made sure I would re-watch them when they were repeated years later!
Tina and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Fess Parker a few years ago at his Hotel/Restaurant in Los Olivos, California.
We had visited his Fess Parker Winery, his Hotel/Spa in Los Olivos, and had a great dinner in his restaurant while visiting 'Wine Country' in the Santa Inez Valley.
I appreciated finally meeting the man who had given me so many years of entertainment and was a good role model for me while growing up!
Part V - Howard and Marge McIntosh.... My Great Uncle and Aunt who are both responsible for giving me the first comic books to read at their house years ago! Here is the story:
Years ago when my folks would drive to Howard and Marge's house in Los Angeles, Howard & Marge would have 'funnybooks' for my brother and I to read in the back patio, so we wouldn't either bother the adults or get bored listening to the adults talk!   The 'funnybooks' were a different world for me, and led me to really look forward to our regular visits to their house. Because we could take the 'funnybooks' home with us!
We are sharing this year's Thanksgiving Day with Great Uncle Howard with my folks. Howard turned 95 years old this year. Sadly, Marge passed away a few years ago.
Definitely Howard and Marge were instrumental in getting me to enjoy reading more via funnybooks, and that in turn led me to read the comic book that Jack Kirby / Dick Ayers illustrated, (mentioned in Part VI), that started me collecting comics!
Part VI - Jack Kirby, who 'showed' me that comics were made by real people and didn't all have to be 'funnybooks', as evidenced by the cover of Journey Into Mystery #72, which featured the 'Blob' - a MoNSter that stuck in mind for years! That comic book is what started me 'collecting' comics instead of just reading them....
Definitely that led to my life long fascination with reading and collecting comics, even though my tastes in comics have changed since I first started reading 'funnybooks'. In the photo to the left: Jack is shown at the left, with inker Joe Sinnott shown at the right.
Plus it was his artwork that kept going with comics, when I was told that 'comics' were for kids. I knew different as I watched Jack's pencils become more and more illustrative in the late 1960's and into the mid 1970's. Now it's known that comics aren't just for kids! Sadly though, most comics are printed for 'kids' anymore either... Thanks Jack for keeping comics important in my life during those transition years of 'comics are for kids'!
Part VII -   Tina LoSasso, with whom I celebrated our 8th year of marriage this month! As shown at the photo to the left... we are on quite a journey. It's like I've stepped into a different portal to a new life being with her!
It's Tina who has merged my love of comics and her love of books into what we are both doing today; a business built on promoting comics and books, book launches and other publicity, including attending comics conventions, book signings and blogging!
Today is the day that I give thanks to Tina for a Great Eight Years, and here's to many more!   She would be here blogging too an addendum, but she's been baking pies for two different Thanksgiving Dinners we are attending on Thursday!

Part VIII -   Francis and Lois Hamersky, besides being my folks, were instrumental in giving me an 'allowance' during my early childhood, thus 'allowing' me to buy more comics to feed my 'collecting bug'!
In the photo to the left, my little brother Frank, and I are shown in the front of the Disneyland car, with Mom and Dad in the back. This is from a 1959 photo of my family when we were chosen 'Navy Family Of The Month' at the Naval Base in Los Alamitos, California, and awarded an all expense paid trip to Disneyland!
Today is the time to thank them also for helping form my life. Thanks Mom & Dad!
BTW, I must have gotten that 'collecting bug' from my Dad, as he had a great coin collection for many years!
I am of course also Thankful for a LOT of other people in my life, and they will be mentioned as the year(s) go on in this blog. After all it's not even a 'Top Ten List' yet!
Thanks again to all of those named above that have helped form me into the person I am today!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
Wishing All of You reading this blog post a Happy Thanksgiving Day!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

REVIEWS: To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013



COMIC CON 'BLACK FRIDAY' FEATURETTE:   This year, Tina and I decided to have a 'Black Friday' Specials Sale at our virtual exhibitor table at the 'virtual comic con' that we belong to!
What this means to you is that we are having 'Black Friday' specials for those that belong to our Facebook Comic Con | Make It So Marketing Group Page.
All YOU have to do to be eligible to win ONE of TEN Free Prizes is to join 'join' our Facebook Group Page, and then click on the 'Black Friday' event to say you are 'attending' this virtual comic con event!
That's right, you don't phyiscally have to 'be there' at this virtual comic con, just click the event RSVP box button!
To make it easier for YOU, our blog reader, Just click this link here, to be taken to the event page. You have to be a Facebook member, and then a member of our group page to be eligible to 'click' the attending button! Sound a little complicated, but it really isn't as you don't have to travel to attend our 'Black Friday' Special Event!

This is just one way of our giving Thanks to those that elect to read our blogs and join our exhibitor table at the Facebook Comic Con! Hoping you all have a Happy Thanksgiving Day and a safe Black Friday where ever you may go!

WEB PAGE NOTE: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.
All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.
If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

We also have an on-line exhibitor table at the virtual Facebook Comic Con. You can view the table by clicking this link.
If you are a Facebook member, please join our Facebook Comic Con | Make It So Marketing exhibitor table for updates, specials, and other wall posts!

You Never Know What Waits Inside The...

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:16:21 -0800

You

Never Know What Waits Inside The...

DARK CORRIDOR!

A Publication From Main Enterprises

Above: The publisher of Dark Corridor and other publications, Jim Main.

To the top right: The front cover of issue #3 which is illustrated by Scott McClung.

To the bottom right: The front cover of issue #1, illustrated by Dan Taylor.

Yesterday was the birthday rememberance for Boris Karloff. I neglected to blog about that fact, although I have done so in previous years...
I noticed that a few other bloggers are running Karloff Blogathons this week or other events in rememberance for Boris.
However, what I am going to do today is blog about just one of several magazines that are being printed Today that remind me of stories that Boris Karloff and others like Rod Sterling presented to me when I was younger. Yes, even though those two persons were on TV with their shows, Boris Karloff with 'Thriller', and Rod Sterling with 'Twilight Zone', both of those TV Shows had printed format version of those shows also! Namely comics!
Well, Jim Main of Main Enterprises isn't printing a comic book here, but his magazine 'Dark Corridor' issue #3 had several features that reminded me of what I liked about the two above mentioned TV Shows / comics publications.
Before I start with my review, here is an excerpt from the press release for Issue #3:
What has been described as our best issue yet of our horror/fantasy/suspense fiction and illustration magazine is now availble. Cover art by Scott McClung, The Iguana and John Lambert. Interior art by Dan Taylor, Terry Pavlet, Jack Bertram. Fiction by Sam Gafford,(A Gathering Deamonica) Mark Orr (The Doll) and Michael Vance (In The Out Door). Plus our review section, Den Of The Dark(with reviews by Dennis Kininger and Glenn Walker as well as out letters page section. A 32 page full sized magazine with full color front and back covers.
I did not receive a review copy for issue #1, but since I published a photo of it above, here is the press release for that issue:
The long anticipated horror, fantasy, suspense fiction and illustration publication from Main Enterprises is finally here and is definately worth the wait! Michael Vance contributes the offbeat tales "The Zoo" and "Picked Clean" , while Sam Gafford is responsible for the mesmerizing piece,
"Showtime!" Artists Greg Woronchak, Dan Taylor and Sam Gafford handle the illustrations for the stories respectively. Rounding out the issue is the illustrated poem, "Siren's Song", by Brian Osborne and Armando Abeleda. Additional illustrations by Larry Johnson, Michael Connolly, Mike Roden, color back cover by Roger Foucault...and a stunning front cover illustration by Dan Taylor!
Okay... So reading the above press release excerpts you should get an idea of what the magazine presented to the reader. So how did I find this magazine?
Well, the front cover of issue #3 that I received promised some dark experiences inside! The splash page had a message from the publisher "Grim" Jim Main, which reminded me of some earlier hosts both on TV and magazines and comics, which helped to set the stage.
The 'Dark Correspondence' was next, which was the 'letters page'. Since I had not seen the previous issues, the letters were okay, but probably would have been better to be at the back of the magazine, so that other 'newbies' to the mag like myself could have gotten right to the stories... However, having illustrations inbetween the letters was a good thought, and the letters printed were informative.
I liked the fact that the first story, 'The Gathering Daemonica' had four illustrations to help break up the text. The next story by Michael Vance also had illustrations, in this case five of them. Having illustrations interspersed in the story continued with the next story by Mark Orr. Being a reviewer that likes sequential artwork, I appreciated having illustrations in this magazine's stories. Not that I couldn't visualize the settings that the authors were attempting to portray to me, but that I enjoy having illustrations with my reading text.
The next section was called 'Den Of The Dark', which was the review section of the magazine. Wasteland #1 was reviewed by Dark Dennis Kiniger, and then he went on to review four more publications. Those included 'Coraline' by Neil Gaiman, 'Dark Delicacies' by several authors, edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb. Plus 'Duma Key' by Stephen King, and 'The Pines' by Robert Dunbar. So again if you are a fan of this genre of fiction, you should be able to see if this reviewer's reviews matched your own if you had those selected books.
Added to the above were two inside cover illustrations, and a back cover illustration. Thus you have the complete package to Dark Corridor #3!
I believe this issue to be a well crafted magazine for those that enjoy this genre of story. The illustrations added to the stories presented. The letter section and the review section would make the reader of this magazine feel 'included' as part of a group, and 'feel' invited to follow the magazine next issue.
Details on ordering these issues are as follows:
For issue #3 that I reviewed... Cost of this issue is: $3.95 plus 1.70 S&H. $5.65 total. Personal checks only please, made out to Jim Main.
For issue #1 that I did Not review... Cost of this issue is: $5.50 per issue postpaid in the USA. Personal checks only, with checks made out to Jim Main.
Jim's web site to order is at:
http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/
Thanks to Jim Main for sending me this magazine and other items from his Main Enterprises catalog to me for possible review!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

REVIEWS: To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013



IN MEMORIAM FEATURETTE:   News has reached me last night that Ken Krueger, Chairman of the 1st San Diego Comic Con, passed away this past Saturday, November 21st, 2009.
Ken is pictured below, (fourth from the left), when he attended the "40th-Anniversary Secret Origins of Comic-Con Panel" on the first day of the 2009 Comic Con International: San Diego.

The photo above that I took at the special panel shows all of those that came to the special 40th Anniversary of the Comic Con - 1970's Origins Panel. Left to right are: Dave Clark (behind podium), Richard Alf, Greg Bear, Ken Krueger, Roger Freedman, Scott Shaw!, Barry Alfonso, Mike Towry, and William R Lund. Note: Shel Dorf, founder of the SDCC, was not able to attend because of his extended stay in the hospital. Shel also just recently passed away, (click here for that blog).
Here is just an excerpt from the message that I received:
"Ken Krueger passed away on Saturday, November 21, 2009. As had Shel Dorf, Ken had been on dialysis for an extended period of time. Then late last month, Ken had broken his hip in a fall, and while recuperating he contracted pneumonia and then finally succumbed to a heart attack. He will be sorely missed by family and friends.
As a teenager, Ken Krueger attended the first-ever science fiction convention, the 1939 Worldcon. As an adult, thirty years later, he helped create what has become the premier comics and pop-culture convention, Comic-Con International, for which he served as chairman of the first full convention in August, 1970. In the intervening and subsequent years, Ken was active as a mail-order book seller, book store owner, small-press publisher, periodical distributor and distributor’s rep, and all-around friend to fans and fandom, serving as mentor and life coach to many young fans and aspiring professionals."
The complete 'In Memoriam' note can be found at the Shel Dorf Tribute Page by clicking here.
My condolences to Ken's family and friends.
Also, my thanks to those at the Tribute Page for sending out this message last night.

WEB PAGE NOTE: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.
All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.
If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

We also have an on-line exhibitor table at the virtual Facebook Comic Con. You can view the table by clicking this link.
If you are a Facebook member, please join our Facebook Comic Con | Make It So Marketing exhibitor table for updates, specials, and other wall posts!

The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego Part II

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:08:08 -0800

The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego...

Per Jamie Newbold Of Southern California Comics!

Part II

Above: The owner of Southern California Comics, Jamie Newbold.

To the top right: Jamie Newbold's LCBS holds comic book signing (like the one for the FACTION comic book shown here), and participates in Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) each year in the month of May, as well as over events.

To the bottom right: Talking about FCBD, here is a photo from FCBD 2009 when Jamie and his store manager, Kristin Juan, stopped long enough packing a large sale in a box, for me to take a pic!

Last Monday I started blogging about "The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego", as told by Jamie Newbold  of Southern California Comics in San Diego, (click here for Part I)...
Southern California Comics, a.k.a. SoCal Comics, is owned by Jamie Newbold and is one of the major places in Metro San Diego area that I stop in at for comic book supplies and new comics for myself.
When I stopped there the previous week for the FACTION comic book signing, (click here for that blog), Jamie and I went over what's been going on in San Diego sales wise for comics.
Part I of this series was an introduction to the Store, Store Sales, and New Comics. The following is from Jamie's own words about individual Comic Book Publishers' titles sales at his store:
"MARVEL COMICS: The Dark Reign event is entertaining. I like what’s been played out so far in the storylines. I think “Dark Avengers“, “Wolverine“, and “Invincible Iron Man” have been both well drawn and written. Although these series were enjoyable, some of the limited Dark Reign series and one-shots alternated between necessary and wastes of money. Spider-Man was retooled and continued to succeed even though I lost track of exactly who knows what about Peter Parker/Spider-Man. I was surprised with the return of the clone legend. That old chestnut bore Marvel shame in the 90s. Now, it’s back for reasons unknown and without much fan desire at my store.
Marvel’s concern for its standard bearer titles reflected in the overall quality of art and writing. I sold generous helpings of titles like “The Avengers“, “Hulk“, “Thor“, “Daredevil” and more because they continue to be that good. Brilliant titles like, “The Torch”, “The Marvels Project“, “Doctor Voodoo”, and Icon’s “Incognito” rocked! Marvel’s “Noir” titles sold in small numbers contrary to their potent entertainment value. It’s just hard to push variety onto a money-tight clientele.
Disappointing fans with delivery delays and high cover prices slowed the momentum on heavily publicized “Captain America Reborn“, “The Twelve“, and upcoming movie phenomenon “Kick-Ass“. “Captain America Reborn” ran out of steam so fast that it literally chopped the sales of the regular title in half.
The “War of Kings” story event was surprisingly entertaining for me. I’d long since lost touch with the back stories of many of Marvel’s space-based heroes and villains. Bashing Inhumans into the Kree and others was fun. With the Skrull invasion all but forgotten, the War of Kings stories were briefly entertaining and offered suitable space opera replacements.
Marvel trade paperback book sales increased and continue to generate steady revenue through the year.
Marvel’s success formula for Wolverine in 2009 = “Old Man Logan”. Formula for a successful Wolverine story in 2010 = repeat the same as above!
Marvel continues to dominate back issue sales. 1960s Marvels remain on many buyers’ fantasy purchase lists. Conversely, new Marvel comics can be just as difficult to obtain after a sell-through as they were when Marvel began its “no over-ship” policy years ago.
DC COMICS: DC titles showed surprising resiliency in an unsteady market. I found a handful of their comics held their own sales weight against Marvel in numbers I don’t usually see. The “Blackest Night” story arc overwhelmed anything Marvel had. Blackest Night had the luxury of promotion at San Diego’s Comic Con and the wealth of Green Lantern merchandising in ‘09. Blackest Night sales began shortly before that show and caught fire with its inception.
I’ve enjoyed the new characters inhabiting the roles of Batman and Robin. The sales figures on the Bat titles remained consistent and I received favorable feedback from my customers. DC failed to produce much splash with the overworked Superman family. Flash and other frontline DC characters waded in shipping delays or uninteresting stories.
Vertigo usually produces several interesting titles each year, one or two which resonate strongly with my readers. “Sweet Tooth“, “Haunted Tank “, and “Unknown Soldier“ were tremendously entertaining. The emergence of Sgt. Rock in the hands of Billy Tucci was a supreme attempt at blending DC fiction with World War Two fact. Ongoing series such as “Northlanders” has sold steadily while former strong sellers (“Y, The Last Man“, “Preacher“, “100 Bullets“, and “Fables“) continue to dominate at trade paperback sales levels.
Wild Storm’s “Ex Machina” continues to be a strong trade paperback seller. “Gen 13” and “Authority” were best sellers in my store. At last, the final issue of “Planetary” arrived. However, their video game-based monthly titles have done less than I anticipated. They have a strong talent pool and many tradesmen to draw from. I’m anticipating that they must have something heavy waiting just behind the curtains.
IDW, IMAGE, DARK HORSE AND EVERYBODY ELSE: IDW works hard to find new subject matter and talent to bring to market. IDW is a company that works hard at their craft and keeps trying new things. It’s always fun to see what they produce next.
Retooled “Transformers” and “GI Joe” comics spotlighted IDW’s licensed titles. Their sales numbers plateaued after this year’s movie releases. A promising “The Ghoul” from Niles and Wrightson looks like fun. The “Angel” TV show comics continue to do real well. Joe Hill’s “Locke & Key” title has also been a store favorite with customers eagerly anticipating the upcoming third series.
Image Comics delivered with “Chew” this past summer. The first 5-issue storyline was great fun and sold extremely well. In fact, it met “Walking Dead” sales numbers quickly! Walking Dead is the king of trade paperback sales and sells constantly. “Back To Brooklyn” is a violent, tough-gangster 5-issue story. Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti captured a lifestyle that comics rarely engage at that depth (unless you read any Garth Ennis Punisher story!). “Haunt” with McFarlane’s cover art started well and with Kirkman’s writing, it proves to be a big hit with the customers.
Dark Horse has entertaining comics but customers are not purchasing them. Conan’s re-launch as “...The Cimmerian” is a great read and should sell better. “Kull” was exciting, well-done, and should have brought more attention. Even the Star Wars titles have left more unsold copies behind than in the past. “Aliens” and “Predator” were re-launched with little fanfare. I liked both but the franchises as comic books have slowed way down over the years.
Avatar’s “Crossed”, “Chronicles of Wormwood” and “Ignition City” should be avoided unless you really want to be highly entertained!
In my opinion, these companies and other independent publishers have suffered from uneven sales in 2009. It’s clear from a drop in our new comic’s sales that my customers have sacrificed almost everything to satisfy their Marvel and DC demands. That is a shame. Dynamite Entertainment (“The Boys”, “The Boys: Herogasm“, and “Garth Ennis’s Battlefields“), Boom Studios (Various Disney/Muppet titles and “Irredeemable“) and Zenescope (anything from the Grimm Fairy Tales series) make good reads and deserve to sell more copies than I’m currently able to sell."
Jamie went on to talk about Convention Sales / Web Site Sales / and eBay & other Auction Site Sales... I have titled today's blog post as 'Part II'. If YOU would like to read more of Jamie's thoughts on comics retailing in the San Diego Metro Area and world-wide... Please email me, message me, or write on my Facebook Wall that YOU would like to read more and I'll move 'Part III' up quicker in the timeline for posting here! Thanks again to Jamie Newbold for sharing the above with me and giving me permission to post it in my Blog!
For those of you that are looking at visiting the San Diego area soon, be sure to visit Jamie's SoCal Comics store. There is much more to comics in San Diego than just the once a year Comic Con International: San Diego (CCI / SDCC) that over 125,000 people attend!
Here's the direct link to Jamie's store: http://www.socalcomics.com/!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our own new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.



COMIC BOOKS HISTORY FEATURETTE:   This Blog's 'Main Feature' today was about 'The State of Comics Retailing in Metro San Diego Part II'.
One of the others features of San Diego that I have blogged about a few times is that in the city of Carlsbad in North San Diego County, was the Ranch Home of Leo Carrillo, star of many movies, plus co-star on the "Cisco Kid" TV show. The comics connection to this topic is that there were 40 issues of the 'Cisco Kid' comic book that were published by Dell Comics from January 1951 to October/December 1958. We were at the Ranch this weekend celebrating a birthday and ran across the following event that is coming up very soon in December for the holidays of which I wanted to bring to your attention:

The City of Carlsbad is sponsoring 'Holiday At The Rancho', which is being held Saturday, December 5th, 2009 from 5PM to 8PM, as seen in the photo below. There are additional details as to what is happening at this event, including photos with Santa!
While you are there, be sure to check out the several exhibits of Leo Carillo's memorabilia, including the portrait of Leo riding his horse Conquistador, (shown above). Plus at times a few copies of the Cisco Kid Comic Books are shown under glass!
Please Note: If you can't make it to this event, but find yourself in the San Diego County area during the Summer / early Fall Seasons, be sure to check out the Leo Carrillo Film Festival. We attended all but one this past Film Festival Season. Here's a link to our last blog post for this season!
For more info on the City of Carlsbad's part in preserving this historic site please see this link:
http://www.ci.carlsbgad.ca.us/cserv/carillo.html !
For info on how You can become one of the 'Friends Of Carillo Ranch, Inc., please see this link: http://www.carillo-ranch.org/ !

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All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Family Bones... Collected...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:32:24 -0800

Family Bones

Collected In A Trade PaperBack /Graphic Novel Format

(Based On A True Story)

Above: The author, Shawn Granger.

To the top right: The front cover of issue #4 of the original comic book series. This cover was also used for the compilation of the Trade Paper Back / Graphic Novel compilation.

To the bottom right: The newspaper clipping showing the facts behind the story that was adapted into comic book format and that a comic book series was being published about it!

Shawn Granger, writer and publisher of the comic book series 'Family Bones', sent me a copy of that series that was compiled into a trade paperback / graphic novel format recently.
I had not read this story when it was first published in comic book format. So I was wondering what this book was about after first thumbing through it, deciding on which publication to read next. I had opened up the mailing package that contained this and another one of Shawn's works that I had also not seen before.
What I found was that this is a 'trade paper back / graphic novel' printed format of the collected FAMILY BONES comic book issues 1-5 that were previously published by King Tractor Press.
Also I found the following press release for the series:
FAMILY BONES is based on the TRUE STORY of the oldest married couple on Missouri's death row, as experienced one summer by their unwitting nephew. The writer, Shawn Granger, is a close relative to Ray & Faye and based the story on his experiences as well as those told to him by other family members.
Additionally here is more info:
FAMILY BONES is based on the TRUE STORY of the oldest couple of serial killers, as experienced one summer by their unwitting nephew.

This first volume collects issues 1 – 5 of the popular comic book series based on the lives of serial killers Ray and Faye Copeland. They were the kind, elderly grandparents who murders farm hands at their home.

Sean is trapped on the Copeland farm, a slave for his uncle. The heat simmers his skin to a full boil until the neighbor's beautiful daughter appears. Wendy quickly becomes his hope, desire, and fear; not to mention his one trusted friend. Together they discover each other and some very bloody family secrets.
The following are the credits and details for this compilation:
Written by: Shawn Granger
Art by Orlando Baez, Kenneth Landgraf, Benito Olea Bellido, Mannie Abeleda, Pablo Agustin Lordi
ISBN 978-0-9787486-0-9
Publisher Shawn Granger
Copyright ©2007 Standard Copyright License
Language English
Country United States
Publication Date April 9, 2007

Page Count 176 pages
Size (Was a Comic Book printed format originally but reduced in size for book)
Binding Perfect Bound
Interior Color: Black And White
Okay... this is not the usual fare that I read. However, after thumbing through the black and white art interior pages, I saw enough that made me want to read it first. Please note: I am not into the current vogue of TV shows that are in the CSI vein, nor shows like 'Medium', 'Ghost Whisperer', etc. My personal tastes for murder mysteries is more like 'Castle', 'Monk', etc., with some 'Fringe' type of shows thrown in.
However, this story, although bizarre, was undeniably compelling to keep me coming back for the next chapter. I'm glad that this series was printed in this format, as if were only left in series of single issue 'floppy' comic books format published once a month, I don't think I would have continued to pick this series up each month. So this published format to read all of it, chapter by chapter in a book style is probably the better way to read this series for persons like me.
Also, even though this storyline is one that I wouldn't normally pick up, I can see it being a good introduction to graphic novels for those readers that enjoy this genre of story, but wouldn't read a 'comic book'. Because it is in sequential art format, it would be a good way of introducing those that don't normally read 'graphic novels', but instead read text / prose story books of the same genre.
So what about the artwork? Well, I'm glad to see this series published in black and white format. Black and white would have been my choice for this series also. The different artists in the series have different styles, yet black and white 'blends' them together in a compilation much better than color would have. The difference in art styles would have been a lot more noticeable in color, even possibly glaring. Yet in black and white format the art flows well with the storyline and when breaking the reading time into chapters, it really isn't that 'different' from each artist that contributed.
The lettering by Richard Nelson was a consistent factor in the series, and worked well.
The color covers used for the front covers of the comic book series were well drawn and colored. Each cover used was a good point-of-purchase display cover, and would have caused me to at least pick it up at my LCBS.
In summary, this story is a compelling read, and the artwork flows with chapter breaks for the reader to stop and then pick it up again to continue reading. A good introduction to those that have not read King Tractor Press publications before...
The following link is where You can see where to purchase this trade paper back / graphic novel:
http://www.kingtractorpress.com/
Thanks to Shawn for sending me this and his other graphic novel to me for possible review!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

REVIEWS: To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.


SAN DIEGO COMIC CON FEATURETTE:   Doug Bradley's SPINECHILLERS - the audiobooks from Renegade Arts Entertainment!
I've been waiting to publish the topic of this Featurette for a while, as it is not totally comic book related. However it kind of flows with this blog post's 'Main Feature' today.
While I say this topic is not comic book related, I did meet Doug Bradley (pictured below at the left), and Alexander Finbow (pictured below at the right) at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con! Yet the audiobooks that Alexander gave me to listen to for possible blog review are not comic book based.
However, the stories are some that have been adapted into comic book format, or other sequential artwork format, such as graphic novels. The authors of the stories include Edgar Allan Poe, WW Jacobs, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, Willam F Harvey, JP Lovecraft, and others.
Plus I'm sure you would recognize Doug Bradley who starred in the film that the movie poster behind him features! His voice work is very distinguishable.
So I'm going to mention that Alexander Finbow has just sent me notice that the company 'emusic' is his new audiobook distribution partner, and that you can easily check out that company's online service for the four audiobooks that are in this series.
Alexander also mentions that 'emusic' is also the only place where you can get volume 4 of Doug Bradley's Spine Chillers right now.
What I like about his new distribution partener is that You can listen to a part of each of the four volumes to see if you like Doug Bradley's voice who reads the stories in each volume. Here is the web link directly to the 4 volumes: http://www.emusic.com/audiobooks/narrator/Doug-Bradley-MP3-Download/12508402.html . If you like the genre of stories that Doug is narrating, then you'll probably enjoy this audio book series!
Also, if You are a Facebook member, please see Alexander's Facebook Group Page for Renegade Arts Entertainment online by clicking here!
Plus, Doug Bradley has his own Official Facebook Fan Page now. Click here to become a Fan!
Thanks Alexander for bringing this series to my attention at the Comic Con International: San Diego!

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All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Spotlight On... Melody Mooney, a.k.a. Hygena!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:20:51 -0800

Spotlight On...

Melody Mooney

(a.k.a. Hygena!)

Above: A great publicity shot of Melody Mooney!

To the top right: Another publicity shot of Melody, this time as 'Hygena in Hawaii'!

To the bottom right: Michael D Hamersky had the pleasure of meeting Melody Mooney a.k.a. Hygena from "Stan Lee's Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" TV Show shown on the SyFy Channel, at the 2009 Long Beach Comic Con (LBCC)!

Earlier this week I received my regular emailed notice of my Facebook Friends that are celebrating their birthdays this week...
One name that jumped out at me was that Melody Mooney was going to be celebrating her birthday this upcoming Sunday. I had suggested to Melody when I first met her at the LBCC in early October that I thought she would be perfect for one of my Blog's "Spotlight On..." Main Feature articles whenever she was ready.
So I contacted her shortly after receiving the emailed notification and was pleased to receive the publicity photos published above, and a bio on herself, along with a personal note.
Here is what Melody sent me for this 'Spotlight On... Melody Mooney!':
Melody or HYGENA from ‘Who wants to be a Superhero’ Season two was thrilled to be one of the three finalists and the last Super Girl Standing on the show! Her tag line is 'Fighting Grime and Crime' and her Hero was born at a Convention when she saw a need for someone to clean up after others and teach them proper Hygiene.
Melody is a Canadian born transplant that lives in LA with her Husband. She is involved in Children's Theatre and works with LA Unified School District Inner City Arts program to bring Theatre and fun to under privileged children. Melody loves Star Wars and has a huge Action figure and toy collection. She is a fan of Sci-Fi in general; so much so, she makes her own fan films and enjoys editing them as well. You can currently catch Melody on Youtube and in two independent films. Melody's dream job would be to join the cast of 'Capria' the Battlestar Galactica prequel.
Melody raises money and awareness for The March of Dimes , The Epilepsy Foundation and Pet Orphans.org.
The following are the links to keep up with Melody, who you can see is a very busy person!
http://melodymuse.wordpress.com/
http://www.shareyourstory.org/webx/.ef4474d/
http://giving.epilepsyfoundation.org/site/TR/Events/Tributes?pxfid=9700&fr_id=1060&pg=fund

http://www.cafepress.com/hygena
My wife Tina LoSasso, President of Make It So Marketing Inc, just loved the way that Melody had her booth at the Long Beach Comic Con set up. Besides being dressed as 'Hygena', Melody also had hygenic products with the Hygena label. What a heck of a marketing idea! Plus, Melody was genuinely outgoing with all those that walked by, even though it had to be a looooong three day comic con standing on her feet most of the time!
As you can tell by this blog post and earlier blog mentions, I was also impressed by Melody when meeting her in person. She is someone You should make a point of seeing at a comic con or pop culture convention that is being held in your local area! Until she makes it out toward your area... check out the links she provided above to see what else is going on with Melody!
Thanks to Melody for the above photos and info... and most of all...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to You Melody on Sunday!
From Michael & Tina at ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com !

AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.


COMIC CON FEATURETTE:   This Blog's 'Main Feature' today was about Melody Mooney, who is an actress as well as a pop culture personality.
So it is only fitting to feature another actress who is both known for mainstream TV shows as well as those that are more 'pop culture' shows, like Lois And Clark, and Babylon 5!
That would be Tracy Scoggins, who is pictured below at the recent 2007 Comic Con International: San Diego, (a.k.a. SDCC).
The reason I am mentioning Tracy here today is that she has just been announced to be attending the upcoming Anaheim Comic Con in April 2010! Those dates are April 16 - 17 -18, which after the upcoming Holiday Season will be here before you know it!
So, I for one am adding this Comic Con / Pop Culture Con to my list to probably attend next year. That's because there's also a few other personalities I want to see that are attending. But more on them later!
For Tracy Scoggins fans, here's the link to see more about her attending the Anaheim Comic Con: (click here).

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All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Lazarus... Immortal Coils!

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:26:38 -0800

Lazarus...

Immortal Coils

The Comic Book Series From 10 Worlds Studio!

Above: Joseph Patrick Gauthier at the TAT booth during the 2009 Long Beach Comic Con (LBCC).

To the top right: The front cover to the 1st Issue (Director's Cut) of the series.

To the bottom right: A video welcoming You to the 10 Worlds Comic Universe by the CEO, Joseph Patrick Gauthier!

Yes, I did find a wealth of new comic books series and graphic novels at the recent 2009 Long Beach Comic Con!
Which is probably why I enjoyed this 1st Annual Convention so much! The organizers made sure that Artists Alley was the main feature of this event!
Anyways, this blog post is about another series that I found at the TAT booth, (The Antidote Trust). TAT isn't just one publisher, it's a 'collective' of independent publishers who have joined to better promote their own comics offerings under the TAT banner.
I have been amazed at the scope of comics being offered by those creators / publishers under the TAT umbrella!
Joseph Patrick Gauthier, pictured above top left of this blog post holding all four issues of 'Lazarus: Immortal Coils' invited me to read and posibly review his series. The top right photo of this blog shows the front cover of the 1st issue, 'The Director's Cut' version. Joseph is also pictured in the video shown below the first issue, welcoming You also to see what 10WorldsStudio is offering.
The following are the creator credits for the first issue of this series:
Created & Written by:    Joseph P. Gauthier
Art by:                            Carlos Rafael Duarte
Colors by:                        Frank Martin Jr.
                                       Vinicius Andrade
Lettering by:                   Dave Lanphear
                                       Art Monkeys
Book Design by:               Chris Colbert
Standard Comic - Full Color - Page Count: 28
So what's this series about? Here's the PR for the series:
“A LONG TIME COMING…” It begins here, the New Testament character that disappeared from history is back, but this is no bible tale! On the surface, Gehenna City is any other metropolis. Its citizens are unaware they are raw material for an invasion! Demons rule Gehenna, possessing citizens and spreading like an infection. Only Lazarus can stop them! Discover the origins of this eternal warrior. His death, resurrection, and what fuels his one-man war for over a millennia! The comic 1,974 years in the making!
LAZARUS: Immortal Coils starring the Biblical figure as an immortal warrior in a city built by demons where humans are used as hosts for an invasion. The miniseries is created and written by Joseph Gauthier, penciled by Carlos Rafael Duarte (Highlander: Way of the Sword), with covers by Casey Edwards and Kevin Sharpe.
OK, I gotta tell you that the front cover of the first issue kind of threw me off at first. Because I hadn't read the Press Release printed above!
True, I figured it must have something to do with 'Lazarus' or even the 'Lazarus Concept'. After all it did state on the cover: "The True Immortal Returns...".
But the front cover showed kind of a modern looking figure, a type of super-hero, so I figured that maybe just the name was being used from the biblical tale.
But no... the Splash page, indeed the first four pages were illustrated so fine that I believed I was reading a biblical tale! It wasn't until page five that the story moved into the present day. And then the action began! Almost non-stop action with many illustrations and much less text and dialogue. But a lot of sound effects! Plenty of sound effects!
There was also four pages of bonus material, including character designs / concepts. Not a bad start for a series I thought...
So I went right into reading the following issues since I had them in hand.
What I found in reading all four issues is that I was actually more interested in the olden time scenes that were presented as flashbacks than the modern day scenes. Not that I wasn't interested in what was happening in the present, but the art style would change back to a simpler presentation when the biblical times were shown. I liked that back and forth direction in art style, even though both eras were shown in a grim n' gritty way.
The storyline was really presented well, and the dialogue fit the characters that were presented. The artwork flowed through all four issues, with great coloring especially on the olden days scenes. The lettering did not get in the way of the art, and I enjoyed the sound effects lettering a lot!
This is a pretty good presentation from 10 Worlds Studio in my opinion as I enjoyed the 'Lazarus' concept updated for comic book format...
To see more of what's happening at this comic book universe:
http://www.10worldsstudio.com/
To order the first issue of Lazarus: Immortal Coils:
http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2132
My thanks to Joseph for bringing his series to my attention at the LBCC!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013
If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.


COMIC CON FEATURETTE:   This Blog's 'Main Feature' today was about the biblical character of Lazarus, updated for the present.
Another old character that has also been 'updated' is Beowulf, but in this case the character is known as 'Kid Beowulf' and not the overtly violent Beowulf that has been depicted recently on screen.
Tina and I viewed a few pages of this presentation at the 2009 Comic Con International: San Diego, (a.k.a. SDCC). We did not receive a copy of the full format for possible review.
Below is Alexis E Fajardo, cartoonist, who showed us this presentation at his booth in the Small Press area. We received a 'Press Kit' telling us about this concept, and Tina realized that the concept would be better fitted for school readings, as it is an all ages series. It appeared to be more of a graphic novel format to us.
Plus, since Tina and I showed interest in this project, he also showed us several more projects that he intends to publish that are in the same vein.
Tina made a few suggestions to Alexis, and I thought I should mention his concept here, as Alexis was presenting Kid Beowulf at a comic con setting. You can see for yourself what Alexis is creating by checking out his web site:
http://www.kidbeowulf.com/
Or if You are a Facebook Member then take a look at his Kid Beowulf Fan Page and join him at: click here!

NOTE: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.
All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

One Of Jack Kirby's Series That I Didn't Appreciate...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:26:05 -0800

One Of Jack Kirby's Series That I Didn't Appreciate...

Until Years Later!

Above: Jack Kirby at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC). Photo courtesy of Alan Light.

To the right: A scan of Kamandi issue #3 that I had sent in to CGC for grading.

I have been blogging for the last several months about new comics and graphic novels that I have received for possible review in this blog...
So at times I kind of forget that this Blog is titled "ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com". Which means that I should be blogging about comic book titles that are also truly 'collectible' as well as a good read!
Well, today I'm going to mention again the DC Comic Book Series that Jack created and was an early 1970's hit and 'collectible' today because it is relatively easier to find at least reading copies of this series.
Quite honestly I was a BIG Fan of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's collaborations. When they split, it was like the Beatles breaking up!   Plus I truly was a 'Marvel Zombie', picking up everything by that Comics publisher, including romance, westerns, war comics, and yes... I did say romance comics... my excuse was the artists in those: Romita, Steranko, Colan, Heck, etc.!
So when Jack left for DC I felt I should read his new series there and give his solo work a chance; The New Gods, Mister Miracle, and The Forever People. Even picked up some Jimmy Olsen comics that Jack was doing, even though I hadn't read that title in years...
However, I just didn't 'get' Jack's "Fourth World" series, it wasn't what I was used to writing-wise in his earlier collaboration. Yet I was drawn to the titles because of the art... And too soon those title ended for those that enjoyed Jack's foray into the world he created.   And with that, my brief time reading more than usual of DC Comics ended also.
So I missed the beginning of 'Kamandi' by Jack, even though he has been brought as a DC Universe character since then...
The majority of Kamandi's appearances to date occurred in the first comic book series Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth, which was published from 1972 to 1978.
Kamandi was portayed as a young 'hero' in a Post-Apocalyptic future, which was set in a parallel Earth of the DC Universe's future.
It was set in a period after an event called "The Great Disaster". In that period humans are a persecuted minority in a world ruled by intelligent, highly evolved animals. If that sounds familiar to you, then remember that an earlier 1968 movie 'Planet of the Apes' also portrayed an animal-ruled world!
Indeed, the cover of Kamandi #1, showing a demolished Statue of Liberty, was posibly inspired by a similar scene in the 'Planet of the Apes' movie just before it ended!
However, if you were to think that Jack Kirby was copying the movie, he actually had drawn a similiar theme in a comic book story in 'Alarming Tales' #1 back in September 1957.
In that comic book Jack drew a story entitled "The Last Enemy." In the story, he has a man traveling in time to the year 2514, where he finds that humans are extinct! That time traveler finds that the world is ruled by tribes of intelligent tigers, dogs, and rats!
Jack's drawings of these intelligent animals are very much similar to his later drawings in Kamandi 15 years later.
This series was one of the last that Jack Kirby wrote and drew for DC Comics before returning to Marvel Comics. Just so you don't think that Jack did it all in this DC title, I'll give you a brief credits history;
The original series itself was launched in October-November 1972. Jack wrote and illustrated the series through its' 37th issue. That was cover dated January 1976. Jack continued to illustrate issues #38 thru #40, but Gerry Conway did the scripting chores.
When Jack left DC to go back to Marvel, DC Comics continued publishing the series. Those were written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Chic Stone. I had enjoyed Chic's early inking on Jack's Fantastic Four issues, plus Chic's own works in ACG Comics.
Later issues of Kamandi were then alternately written by Paul Levitz, Denny O'Neil, Elliott Maggin, David A. Kraft,  plus Jack C. Harris.  The pencilling was done by Pablo Marcos, Keith Giffen, and Dick Ayers. I had always enjoyed Dick's work on his Marvel Comics titles, Sgt. Fury, Ghost Rider (western), and The Torch solo feature in Strange Tales, so it was fun seeing his artwork in this Kamandi title.
I haven't covered in my Blog the period at DC Comics when so many titles were canceled. This was called the "DC Implosion" of 1978. Kamandi was one of those titles cancelled during that time.  The final published issue of Kamandi was issue #59, and that was cover dated September/October of 1978.
Like I wrote earlier at the beginning of the 'Main Feature' section, you quite often can find low grade (reading copies) copies of these at comic book conventions. It is the higher grade comics that are HTF nowadays.   I have sent in several to CGC for earlier grading, and have just a couple of those left for sale.
Now I'm also listing unslabbed 'raw' copies from my own personal collection for sale here at Make It So Marketing's eBay Store. Just click on the top right photo of the cover of issue #3 to see the link with all the Kamandi listings we currently have for sale.
Also, for other Jack Kirby works, including comics and magazines, just click on Jack's photo at the top left of this blog post to see those issue for sale.
Thanks to Jack Kirby who has given me so many hours of pleasure of reading the comics worlds that he created or co-created. Kamandi was one that I enjoyed, albeit years later!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you are breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

FACEBOOK: If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.
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All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.


COMIC BOOK SIGNING FEATURETTE:
The following are excerpts from a Press release that Facebook Friend Tonya Kay sent to me yesterday:
Breaking Medusa's Spell - Actress Gone Comic Hero!
Famous comic illustrator, Jim Balent, and Hollywood actress, Tonya Kay, team up to create a story that will "break Medusa's spell".

Jim Balent, best known for his long run on Catwoman, only writes roles for unstoppable females. His popular comic, Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose, now in it's 9th year, challenges socio-sexual stereotypes with it's artistic nudity, gender equality and pagan storyline. Jim Balent felt that Tonya Kay's life was already heroic and would inspire his readers.

In Issue 59, "Medusa's Stare", "Tonya Kay, (featured in Stan Lee's "Who Wants to Be a Super Hero", actress and real life chaotic witch) finds herself trapped in a nether world of despair with Tarot. Surrounded by living stone serpents, the two witches must battle for their freedom or face eternity as statues by the magick of the Medusa."

"I want to see every woman daring to be her unique self. Whether it's biased news, an unrewarding job, a mediocre relationship or destructive marketing, women and men both find themselves trapped in unfulfilled lives - essentially; turned to stone" says Tonya Kay, whose real life is a courageous example of daring to be unique.

When she is not volunteering with endangered wildlife or writing on raw vegan health and nutrition, Tonya Kay is a film actress and television personality in high demand. This year alone, you have seen her on the Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien, ABC's Criminal Minds, Comedy Central's Secret Girlfriend, Showtime's Live Nude Comedy, the History Channel's More Extreme Marksmen and she just shot a role on the Hallmark movie of the week.

"Medusa's Stare" hits comic store stands November 25th. (Please note: There is artistic semi-nudity in the comic book, at least in the preview pages that I was sent.)
Tonya Kay's personal comic signing itinerary will be found at http://tonyakay.com, and autographed copies of Issue 59 of Tarot are available online at http://kayosmarket.com.
NOW here's the Big NEWS for those in the SoCal area: Tonya will be signing at THE COMIC BUG on December 2nd!
That location is at: 1807 1/2 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Manhattan Beach, CA, 90266. I'll try to update this blog post later, but you should be able to find more info on Tonya's own web site in the days to come!

It's The 'Return Of The Super Pimps' !

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:47:11 -0800

It's The... 'Return Of The Super Pimps'!

Above: The creator and writer of the series, Richard A Hamilton, as seen in the TAT Booth at the 2009 LBCC holding a copy of his other mini-series 'Miserable Dastards'. A poster of this Super Pimps series is shown to his right.

To the top right: A Press Release of this series along with a visual of the artwork.

To the bottom right: The Antidote Trust (TAT) Booth was located at the right side wall of the 2009 Long Beach Comic Con!

In an earlier blog I mentioned that I had met Richard A Hamilton at the recent 2009 Long Beach Comic Con while he was at 'The Antidote Trust' (TAT) booth...
At that time he told me that the mini-series I had blogged about earlier, 'The Miserable Dastards' had been collected into a TPB. (Click here for that blog.)
While I was there at the TAT booth he also handed me his earlier mini-series that I had not seen before. That was "The Return of the Super Pimps".
Okay... I had really enjoyed reading the first issue of his 'Miserable Dastards' series, and if he wanted me to check out his earlier work, then I was up for it!
But what was it about? I kinda had an idea from the mini-series title and the covers of the six issues in the series, but wanted to know more. Here is what the Press Release said about the series:
"During the 1970’s, five protectors - Blackbeard, Foxy Mama, Homeboy, GhettoBlaster, and Sidekick - known as the Super Pimps kept the Hood safe and delivered justice with a strut. But that all changed on one night in 1979, and the Super Pimps were no more.
Now, almost thirty years later, Detective Jackson Maple still believes in his childhood heroes and sets out to reunite the Super Pimps, just as a familiar evil returns to The Hood after so many years."
I think I need to 'flesh' it out a little more... Yeah, that's a bad pun... But here's how the story really is set up in the first issue.   The reader gets to see the Super Pimps through the eyes of a young boy in flashback mode.
The Super Pimps had lost one of their own in battle, which basically had forced the team to disband on their own.  Then in the next scene it's now today in modern times and back to that same boy who had witnessed the end of the Super Pimps and who is now a Police Officer of all things!
Maybe this comic started off a little stereotypical at first for me...? But then again, I am an older white guy that has grown up watching several blaxploitation movies and what not during the years...
But then the Super Pimps grew on me.  It was funny to see that the Super Pimps are considered an 'urban myth' of the past, and how they act like they are out of touch with that much time passing. The storyline improves with each issue, and the dialogue works out for each character.
So with a full set of this mini-series I appreciated the storyline more, and the dialogue. There's something about Richard's writing that I find to be a fun read. Maybe a little more so in the 'Miserable Dastards' mini-series, but this storyline here grew on me quickly, and I found myself enjoying it before the end of the first issue. The additional issues just added on to the story, and the ending was pretty good as well!
Ulises Roman, who does the pencils and inks for the first issue is a little 'rough' at first for me. However his pencils grow and he does get additional inking by Rick Bonilla in issue #2 & #3. Robert Roach comes in for lettering and layout design in issue #3 and stays till the final issue #6. The art style was a little different for me at first, but I could see that it did fit the storyline and jelled for me reading into the issues as I went along.
It was the coloring that helped put this mini-series together for me. Jasen Smith had a hand in it for at least issues #1 thru 3.
The credits for who did what got a little expanded and then contracted for the mini-series. I don't know the creative backstory to this series, but all in all I enjoyed the mini-series as a whole, and was entertained by it. One of the hardest things to do in publishing an indie series is to publish all the issues that are figured to be in the story arc. This creative group did it, all the way through to the final issue which was #6.
I shouldn't compare it to the 'Miserable Dastards' mini-series which Richard also wrote; which was a completely different storyline and setting, so I won't much, other than what I've said prior to this.
Suffice to say that I did enjoy reading this mini-series written by Richard and developed further by those listed above and more not named here. I look forward to reading a third mini-series written by Richard!
Here's the direct link to the Dial 'C' For Comics online store where you could purchase this mini-series, and also the 'Miserable Dastards' mini-series that I previously blogged about:
http://dialcforcomics.com/shop/fs_shop.html !
Thanks to Richard for bringing this earlier mini-series to my attention!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you are breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

FACEBOOK: If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.
WEB NOTE: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.
All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.


UPCOMING COMIC CON FEATURETTE:   Golden Surprise Addition to Virginia Comic-Con Line-up!
The following are excerpts from a Press Release received by me on Monday afternoon, November 16th. THIS was the earliest I could post it:
"Richmond-- Virginia IS for lovers... of G.I. Joe and Michael Golden artwork that is-- as Golden signs on as a surprise last-minute guest for next weekends Virginia Comic-Con, slated for November 21-22, 2009!
Michael Golden, a fan favorite for his work on "Micronauts," "G.I.Joe," Batman, Dr. Strange, X-Men, Avengers, and "The 'Nam," among many other projects, has just been added to the line-up just this week, and is a natural for the event's G.I. Joe theme, considering his groundbreaking work on that series.
This will also mark the artist's first appearance in Virginia, in fact. And, to celebrate the fact, Golden will have some special prints and books for the occasion.
During his career, Golden has been an editor at DC Comics as well as senior art director at Marvel Comics, and has worked on numerous movie production projects, including some currently in development.
Golden’s recent work can be seen on the covers of "Heroes for Hire," "Exiles," "Demon’s Regret," "Uncanny X-Men," and Spiderman, among many others. This year will also see the release of Golden’s new sketchbook, “MORE Heroes and Villains,” from Eva Ink Publishing-a perfect match for last year’s “Heroes and Villains” sketchbook.
Joining Michael Golden in Virginia will be Larry Hama (G.I. Joe), Chris Claremont (X-Men), Bill Tucci (Sgt. Rock), Kelly Yates (Doctor Who), Jim Califiore (Exiles), John Gallagher (Buzzboy), Steve Conley (Astounding Space Thrills), Mike McKone (Fantastic Four), Eric Wolfe-Hanson (G.I. Joe), James Kuhoric (Army of Darkness), Mike McKone (Amazing Spider-Man), Reilly Brown (Cable), Randy Green (Witchbalde), Andy Smith (Red Sonja), Rick Spears (Teenagers from Mars), Renee Witterstaetter (Spartan X), James Callahan (Strange Detective Tales), Louis Small, Jr. (Vampirella), Brian Shearer (Gravyboy), Budd Root (Cavewoman), and Zuda Comics winner Adam Lucas (Goldilock).
Admission is $10 for adults to the November 21-22, 2009 show at the Crowne Plaza West, 6532 W Broad Street in Richmond, VA, but it will be free to anyone in full costume, children, folks with student ID and people with military ID. It will also be free to members of the press."
For more information on Michael Golden, his commission and appearances, contact evaink@aol.com, or check out his Facebook Fan Page at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Golden/44937601170
For more information on the Virginia Comic-Con go to: http://www.vacomicon.com/

The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego...

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:45:50 -0800

The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego...

Per Jamie Newbold Of Southern California Comics!

Part I

(Note: For Part II, posted 11-23-09 click here!)

Above: The front of Southern California Comics (a.k.a. SoCal Comics).

To the top right: Jamie Newbold, owner of SoCal Comics retail comics store with Michael D Hamersky, comics online dealer & blogger.

To the bottom right: What most visitors think of when visiting San Diego on comics related business, the San Diego Convention Center, (at the center right), with the white sails. The home of the Comic Con International: San Diego, (CCI / SDCC) each Summer. This photo was taken on November 14th 2009!

Last week I attended the Faction comic book signing at Southern California Comics in San Diego...
Southern California Comics, a.k.a. SoCal Comics, is owned by Jamie Newbold and is one of the major places in Metro San Diego area that I stop in at for comic book supplies and new comics for myself.
When I stopped there last week for the comic book signing, (click here for that blog), Jamie and I went over what's been going on in San Diego sales wise for comics. The following is from Jamie's own words:
"It’s late October and San Diego is experiencing yet another dry spell. There is also a continuing “dry spell” in the comic book sales arena. I’m speaking about two years of recessive sales nationwide finally catching up to “new comic’s” sales (more later). Capitalism is still reeling under the weight of mortgage defaults, stalled loans, unemployment, and bailout fallout. But, one collectible continues to hold its own in battle--the old comic book. Capitalism is capital-schism in my world! Our 2009 economic reality split from much of the sadness in other parts of the business world.
The average Gold, Silver, and Bronze comics remained popular purchases. They consistently sold well worldwide at the same basic pricing points as they did in 2006. While other markets either feel the pinch of current economic woes or are returning to normal, comic book back issues flourish as though the state of America’s retail business was bi-polar! Beginning with the tragedy of 9-11our business has survived potential sales droughts as the economy reshuffles itself. After the recession began this time around I expected to see horrible sales figures, books go unwanted, and money not made. Instead, as with 9-11’s impact on the US economy, our current economic insecurities have reduced back issue sales very little.
Our sales are not huge, not even big but they are consistent. Back issue sales from ages past to the present rarely slowed down throughout the year. Prices achieved reflect a market savvier from sacrifices made by businesses to stay alive and attract customers.
Sure, some people have stopped buying new comics. We’ve seen it and continue to witness the slow departure of customers that we depended on for new comic’s sales. We’ve seen stores apply ridiculous discounts to retain customers. The selling of new comics to make a living is truly an art.
However, older comics continue to keep moving. Why? Older comics are just so darn appealing and the prices are right. Many customers choose comic books that are priced to their liking because old comics often stay the same price. There usually is no fluctuation with these books, unlike purchasing food or gas. At the very least, you can negotiate a comic book sale. Try negotiating your gas price at Chevron. Or, the cost of milk at a 7-11!
Selective discounting at the retail store level helps move books that would sit at full price for years. We found that round-filing lower graded pre-1980s books into $5 and $10 price tags have better turn out. By ignoring established prices and buying and selling at cheaper rates, this strategy works for everyone (except those determined to get more). There are plenty of buyers at our end of the state making it worth our while to carry them.
Customer’s of eBay set the standards years ago and the recession has reinforced those pricing standards. There is no need to try and sell a VG copy of Strange Tales 163 for $12.00. Better to slap $5 on it and the buyer will eventually arrive to collect it. Wholesalers and collection owners offering these kinds of books to us see the same reality. We are getting opportunities to buy older collections with less resistance to lower offers. Those same eBay standards are seen by everyone.
STORE SALES: Comic book buyers love a store that sells new and old comics. At our store, the “hands-on” ability to hold comics before making a purchase breeds trust and loyalty. I cannot emphasize enough how easy it is to sell a comic book if the buyer can see it in three dimensions first. The tactile sale and the fact that there are not many stores left with exotic comics in quantities give us a huge advantage over eBay.
The past two year’s of economic headaches created our dependency on greater numbers of out-of-town buyers for older back issues. San Diego’s transitory-resident nature drove out a few customers through the year due to both financial and career related reasons. Unfortunately, these were the same people that frequented our back issues on regular basis. Although the drop was relatively minor, we were able to bounce back with the amount of tourists visiting the area. Many of these visitors came in to the store inspired by on-line reviews, Overstreet, prior contacts, or internet sales activity. Often, they would share stories of other dealers and collectors with me. These discussions provided different perspectives of pricing/collecting and also allowed for informative feedback. Plus, you get a real good feel of the nationwide market scheme through the visitors.
NEW COMICS: 2008 brought about a 20-30% loss in business. Retail numbers steadily began a return right after Christmas. It was as though everybody took a collective sigh of relief and returned to old habits. 2009 proved to be different in that summertime brought positive growth and spending with some help from Comic Con attendees. However, college tuition hikes, labor shortages, and recurrent fuel increases spelled trouble just on the horizon. California’s sales tax increase also hampered sales of new comics. These unfortunate events produced the next round of disappearances that affected the sale of new comics.
I ended up in a new round of cutting quantities of pre-ordered monthly comics. Diamond Comic Distributor’s F.O.C. (Final Order Cutoff) feature became a steady function every Wednesday (adjusting ordering numbers--downward). Now, in the fall of 2009, we are still regularly reducing the quantity of title orders. This has slowed down a market we enjoyed for the first 8 months.

Marvel’s general cover price increase to $3.99 across a majority of their titles did not impact us immediately. We initially saw increased daily sales figures as our customers segued into new cover prices. Slowly, customer complaints about the extra dollar per book, the constant one-shots, tie-ins, and limited stories against their tightened budgets abounded. Two common complaints we have heard centered on substandard story arcs and late titles. Even fan favorites, like “Kick-Ass” and “Captain America Reborn“, got sales-slammed.
Similarly, DC presented $3.99 issues. If DC had retained $2.99 prices universally, I could have countered Marvel sales decline with DC titles as affordable reading alternatives for Marvel fans.

Cover prices, delays, and a bad economy forced some of my die-hard, big pull customers to consider which titles they absolutely must have. Whether the page count was 32 or 48, the $3.99 cover price continued to hurt business as I stacked unsold copies in hopes that buyers would still pick them up. To alleviate money problems, many of our regular pull-list customers deleted Marvel titles from the subscriptions all together.
I must add that the current theme of DC and Marvel’s constant story events seem to be losing gas each time they come out. Dark Reign and Blackest Night story lines started off strong. Then, too many comics sharing the same storylines (with convoluted continuities -- Spider-Man!) and no end in sight created buyer backlash in hard times. These problems stopped buyers from purchasing them, even if the story line was good. It was done to save money at a time where comics’ creators need to compensate for this phenomenon.
On a brighter note, trade paperback book sales have continued to rise in quantity. My customers have a combative nature when it comes to overpaying for comics. They see that some small publishers cover price their books at $9.00 across the board. My customers pursue those comics in very small quantities as though they were luxuries. They require Marvel and DC to toe the line at lower prices to remain active readers. Their frequency of TPB purchases against buying single issues indicates:

1) Customer’s reluctance to experience $3.99 cover prices
2) Their patience to await a full stories’ release in book form months after the comics were released
3) A way to send a message to the publishers that pricing should be a serious consideration."
Jamie went on to talk about individual comics publishers and their titles... I have titled this blog post as 'Part I'. If YOU would like to read more of Jamie's thoughts on comics retailing in the San Diego Metro Area... Please email me, message me, or write on my Facebook Wall that YOU would like to read more and I'll move 'Part II' up quicker in the timeline for posting here! Thanks again to Jamie Newbold for sharing the above with me and giving me permission to post it in my Blog!
For those of you that are looking at visiting the San Diego area soon, be sure to visit Jamie's SoCal Comics store. There is much more to comics in San Diego than just the once a year Comic Con International: San Diego (CCI / SDCC)!
Here's the direct link to Jamie's store: http://www.socalcomics.com/!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in Our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013


TOY DEALERS FEATURETTE:   This Blog's 'Main Feature' today was about 'The State of Comics Retailing in Metro San Diego' on the West Coast. So I thought I'd run a 'Featurette' on a Toy Dealer in Newark, New Jersey on the East Coast as a counter point!
Below is a photo from the 2009 New York Comic Con that Dene O Shogeke attended.  Dene is pictured at the right side of the photo with a developer, (left in photo), of the then new 'Prototype' game. Dene is President of Tough Nerd Toys LLC. I've been a Facebook Friend with Dene since earlier this year and find his reviews and videos on toys helpful as to what's going on out there in the World of Action Figures and other toys. Here' a little bit about Dene in his own words:
"Growing up in the 70's and 80's I was exposed to a plethora of wonderful and obscure sci-fi flicks, trippy cartoons, amazing action adventure movies, and long running tv series. Comic books were choice reading material and from there I was thrust into a world of imagination and make believe accompanied by action figures and toys.
Coming from a single parent family, where we shared a lot of the same interests, movies could only build up the excitement for up and coming action figures. My mother, who was very in- tune to my interests, got me a bionic man action doll, a pulsar and hypnosis action set and a few star wars figures to get me started and I was in pure bliss!!! From then on I was never without some sort of action figure or toy , and I would always keep them in perfect condition . I wouldn't allow anything to destroy the imagination aspect of the character that the figure or toy was supposed to portray.
As i got older and went to school my passion for action figures and toys carried on hiding them in the back of my desk from the teacher so as not to get them taken from me . I always assumed that when i got older Ii would have grown out of my love for action figures and toys which as you see has not happened.I decided to open my own toy store in September 2007!"
You can see Dene's listings for sale at his web site:
http://www.toughnerdtoys.com/
Or if You are a Facebook Member then take a look at his Tough Nerd Toys Fan Page and join him at: click here!

NOTE: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.
All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.
If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

There Was An Earlier Adaptation Of "The Prisoner"...

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:19:21 -0800

There Was An Earlier Adaptation of

"The Prisoner" TV Show from the 1960's...

Jack Kirby's Comic Book Adaptation That Was Never Published In 1976!

Above: Jack Kirby at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC). Photo courtesy of Alan Light.

To the top right: Page 15, pencils only, of the comic book Jack Kirby illustrated.

To the bottom right: The Prisoner preview comic book distributed at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, introducing the AMC mini-series of 'The Prisoner' that airs tonight, November 15th 2009!

I have been mentioning the AMC mini-series of 'The Prisoner' that airs tonight for a while at several venues, including my own Facebook Group Page as well as my Facebook Wall.
That's because I picked up a few copies of 'The Prisoner' preview comic book at the July 2009 Comic Con International: San Diego (CCI / SDCC), and have been selling them from our eBay Store. Plus the trailer shown at the SDCC and online has looked pretty good for a remake. I'll reserve judgement till I see the entire mini-series.
Earlier this summer I devoted a full blog post 'Main Feature' for this mini-series that finally starts tonight! (Click here for the full blog post of the AMC Prisoner TV mini-series!)
Since then I've had in the back of mind about blogging about the earlier unpublished comic book adapation of the original series. Vince Musacchia, who I met at the recent 2009 Long Beach Comic Con, reminded me Friday evening of that adapation that was not published by Marvel Comics.
So I thought that a little bit of info on that adapation would be fitting for today as an update and as a reminder that show is on later tonight, as Tina and I are taking it easier this weekend celebrating her birthday, (see the below 'Featurette' section.
As long time readers of this Blog know... It was Jack Kirby's cover to "Journey Into Mystery #72" that got me from just reading comics into actually 'collecting comics'! So I have a special fondness for most of his works...
Back in 1966 the premise for the TV Show 'The Prisoner' was conceived. Patrick McGoohan became the actor/producer for the Show. It was a complicated show, and although not a true 'sequel' to Patrick's UK Show 'Danger Man', better known in the USA with the title: 'Secret Agent', it was a great follow up to the earlier show.
'The Prisoner' had already acheived 'cult status' by the mid 1970's. I am not aware of any earlier adaptation prior to Marvel Comics wanting to publish this proposed comic book series. Jack Kirby had returned to Marvel Comics by then, (from DC Comics), and was creating new series for Marvel, as well as a licensed series.
For whatever reasons, Marvel Comics dropped the proposed series after Jack Kirby created the first seventeen pages for the first issue. Mike Royer had partially inked and lettered several of the pages in the Summer of 1976. The timing of this series was to have the 1st issue published in November of 1976 with a February of 1977 cover date.
I've seen the unfinished pages before with reviews and insights, here and there in fanzines, and on websites, so I won't go into too much detail here about what Jack included and didn't include in his unpublished 17 pages...
I just wanted to acknowledge that there was this unpublished comic book series that was based upon the UK TV Show that was broadcast there in 1967-68. USA viewers saw it in 1968. Here we are 41 years later with a remake! It truly is amazing how ideas get recycled in Hollywood!
(And yeah, I know there was a later published four-part sequel by Dean Motter and Mark Askwith, that was printed by DC in 1988-89, but I haven't read that series. I'll mention it here because it is only the second licensed project to be attempted on this TV Show that I'm aware of for comics format. Of course there have been references made to 'The Prisoner' in other comics, and even some similiar stories published story wise, but I'm going to pass on mentioning those here today...)
For those of You that want a copy of the preview comic book of "The Prisoner", just click this link to be taken to our eBay Store for purchase. The cost will remain at $1.95 plus shipping until the preview comic is sold out.
Thanks again to Vince for reminding me that I hadn't mentioned the earlier unpublished comic book series in this blog! And to all of You that have posted comments on my Facebook Wall or sent me emails or messages about your wanting to see this mini-series also!
AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts! We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!
PLUS... Welcome to ALL of You that were reading the eBay Version of our Blog prior to eBay closing 'their eBay blogs platform'. That version of our Blog had 1.37 MILLION page views before the closure... However, This Blog version is the same Blog that has been published at the same time the eBay version was being published. I've been publishing this version since September 2007, so it has the same Fun Stuff You are used to on the eBay version you were reading!
Speaking of eBay... Be sure to check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today!
~ Michael @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:
Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013


SPECIAL BIRTHDAY FEATURETTE:   Below is a photo from yesterday at the Trattoria Fantastica in the Little Italy section of Downtown San Diego. A longtime friend of Tina's asked us to come down to see her new downtown condo, visit Farmer's Market, and then treat us to lunch to help Tina celebrate her Birthday weekend! Thanks Fern Sheinman for a great day! Thanks also to Tonya Mantooth and her husband Dale Strack, (also long time friends), who joined us for lunch and wished Tina LoSasso a Happy Birthday!
And here's to my wife Tina LoSasso... Happy Birthday!
Photo below: (l to r) Tonya Mantooth, Dale Strack, Fern Sheinman, Tina LoSasso, Michael D Hamersky.
You can see Tina's book launch & promotion Division of her company 'Make It So Marketing Inc.' at her web site:
http://www.marketingtina.com/

NOTE: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.
All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.
If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

www.ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com

Whom I Am Thankful For...

Whom I Am Thankful For...

A Reflection Back At This Time Of Year!

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

You Never Know What Waits Inside The...

You

Never Know What Waits Inside The...

DARK CORRIDOR!

A Publication From Main Enterprises

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego Part II

The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego...

Per Jamie Newbold Of Southern California Comics!

Part II

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Family Bones... Collected...

Family Bones

Collected In A Trade PaperBack /Graphic Novel Format

(Based On A True Story)

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Spotlight On... Melody Mooney, a.k.a. Hygena!

Spotlight On...

Melody Mooney

(a.k.a. Hygena!)

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Lazarus... Immortal Coils!

Lazarus...

Immortal Coils

The Comic Book Series From 10 Worlds Studio!

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

One Of Jack Kirby's Series That I Didn't Appreciate...

One Of Jack Kirby's Series That I Didn't Appreciate...

Until Years Later!

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

It's The 'Return Of The Super Pimps' !

It's The... 'Return Of The Super Pimps'!

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego...

The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego...

Per Jamie Newbold Of Southern California Comics!

Part I

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

There Was An Earlier Adaptation Of "The Prisoner"...

There Was An Earlier Adaptation of

"The Prisoner" TV Show from the 1960's...

Jack Kirby's Comic Book Adaptation That Was Never Published In 1976!

"Hammering Out the WebFor You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"