Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reports On:   Semantink's Comic Savvy May 15th, 2011 Meet-up!   (San Diego, California)      - - Top Photo: The May 2011 Semantink's Comic Savvy was held once again in the outside porch area of Milano Coffee Company in the Mission Valley Area of San Diego, California. - Lower Photo:  (L-R) Nathalie Grepe, Andrew Rakestraw - Winner of the Priest T-Shirt Surprise Drawing, Benjamin Glibert, Luis Alvarez, Matt Dunford. -  Note:  The additional pics from last night will be posted in the special photo album: May 2011 Semantink's Comic Savvy Meet-Up at my Facebook Fan Page, Michael D Hamersky On Comics.

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3441:

Last night was the May 2011 meetup of Semantink's Comic Savvy at the Milano Coffee Company in the Mission Valley area of San Diego, California.

And no, this isn't a brand new series of meetups going on in the San Diego Metro Area... Here's the link to the February 20th, 2011 Meet-Up,  and the April 2011 meetup that I attended.  (I did miss the March 2011 meetup due to family members going to the hospital during that time.)

The 'official hours' of the meet-up are from 5PM to 7PM, on the 3rd Sunday of every month, but several persons, including myself  were having so much fun attending that we were there till later... But I did make it home to attend the three hour Season Finale of Survivor on CBS! 

I've included a couple of pics at the top right of this post, with names of those in attendance shown in the photos, (Sorry, not all are pictured... And please excuse any name misspellings!).  Because of the limitations of this blog format, I've built a 'special photo album' titled 'May 2011 Semantink's Comic Savvy Meet-Up' at my Facebook Fan Page for you to see all that were in attendance, if YOU weren't there!  And  please.. Feel free to 'tag' yourself if you attended!

Ben Glibert, Director of Publishing at Semantink Publishing, was once again the 'moderator' of the meetup.

First came the introductions going round the table, and with what the person was currently reading, whether comic book, graphic novel, or TPB.  The group once again had some new attendees, (all are welcome!), and some of the items being read were ones that I had not yet heard of. (i.e. Chris with Nemesis HC, James with Axe Cop, Sioux (sp.) Cowboy Ninja Viking, while others were publications that I had heard of, like: Matt with Scalped, Andrew - Y The Last Man, Jose - Black Knight, and Tiffany with Cyclops.)

Last meeting there had been an announcement that the sponsors of this meetup, Semantink Publishing, would be going to Free Comic Book Day up in the Los Angeles Metro Area,  Rancho Cucamonga to be specific, at 4 Color Fantasies. They reported on having a great time there, as they estimated that the crowd was twice as large as the year before. Plus Ben stated that Semantink had published a FCBD comic just for distribution at that location.  I've asked Ben for one of the few copies that was left, and should be receiving one at the next Comic Savvy in June. 

So that was what 5 out of the 19 attendees attended on FCBD.  They had gone to Rancho Cucamonga, 116 miles (1 hr 59 min) away!  What did the others in attendance do?  Well, I've already blogged that I went to 10 Local Comic Book Shops (LCBS) in the San Diego Metro Area, (blog #3410 & #3411). The next closest in LCBSs visited was Matt Dunford, who attend 4 LCBS. Others either went to just 1, or didn't attend any at all.  A couple weren't aware of last Saturday being FCBD.  So the FCBD event in San Diego is not very well publicized, nor attended... As these 19 attendees are mostly avid comic book fans! 

Further discussion on this topic took place, as it was loudly discussed that with the (San Diego) Comic-Con International taking place in the area once a year... You'd think there would be a better FCBD presence.  (Which is exactly what I said in summation in Blog #3411!) .

Next question... Last month, (in Blog #3392),  I asked the question of the group, 'What upcoming comic book movie are YOU most interested in seeing?'.  The 3rd most popular to want to see was the THOR film, with 12% having that as 1st choice, out of THOR, GREEN LANTERN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and X-MEN.  (PRIEST was not included in this topic at that time.)

However, the attendees at last month's meetup, also thought that 'mainstream America' would want to see THOR the most, with 44% of the votes.

So what did this group think of the THOR film, now that it was out?  Here's the tally from last night.  And surprisingly, (at least to me), was the continued Alpha Rating, instead of a Comic Book Grading Scale! (Please Note - There were 16 attendees at the time of this roll call):

A / NM -  = 4

A- / NM-  = 2

B+ / VF+   = 3

B / VF      = 1

Not Seen   = 6

That was also interesting, because as I stated above, THOR was only the 3rd most anticipated comic book movie coming out to those that attended last month.  And of those 10 out of 16 that had seen it, a most favorable rating was given by 9 out of 10, as I consider a B+ / VF+ a very favorable rating also. A long discussion ensued by those that had seen it, being careful not to ruin it for the 6 that hadn't seen it.

Also, as customary, I brought a 'freebie' for those kind enough to answer my blog question(s).  Last month it was a movie poster for the Priest in 3D Film that was being released on May 13th in the USA and Canada.

My questions actually were started by Ben who had the same questions I did, and followed up by myself.  As I was interested in what everyone did, (or didn't do!) for FCBD this year. Plus I wanted to know what everyone thought of the THOR film, in a 'grade' format, because of the space limitation in this blog format.

My third (and last) question alone without Ben,  was if anyone at this meetup, now 19 in attendance was going to a comic book film that I hadn't brought up last time in my question of the month... 'Priest'?

I hadn't been totally aware that this 'Priest' film was based on a series of Korean comic books, sixteen in number!

But I had run across a marketing intern, Jennell, who was kind enough to provide a 'Priest' t-shirt for both my Facebook Fan Page 'drawing' to be held after Opening Weekend for the film, and one t-shirt for this Comic Savvy meetup as a 'thank you' for answering my survey questions!

I asked of the now 19 attendees... Who had seen the 'Priest' film that had just opened on Friday the 13th.  The silence was deafening... Who had interest in seeing this 'comic book film'?   Only 5 of the 19 put up their hands.  Many weren't aware that the film was based on a comic book series from Korea.  (I hadn't been totally aware of that fact either last month.)  Then I passed out the 3-D paper glasses placard for usage with the online game for 'Priest'.  Some attendees weren't 'keen' on taking one as they were passed around, while others immediately started putting the paper glasses together.  So there was a 'mixed' reaction to the giveaway 3-D glasses I brought...

That is... until I asked everyone to take a look at the back of the paper glasses placard for a yellow sticker.  That paper glasses placard with the sticker was signifying the 'winner' of the 'Priest' t-shirt.  Which turned out to be Andrew Rakestraw, who was one of the five who had expressed interest in seeing the film.  So congrats to Andrew, who is pictured at top right of this blog post, holding the 'Priest' t-shirt that he took home! 

There were more topics brought up at this meetup, but once again, as the meetup is held outside in a porch area, and nine-teen ending up attending last night, there were some sub-discussions that I didn't quite hear.

So... My thanks once again to Semantink Publishing sponsoring this monthly meet-up!  Here's the Facebook link to the event that just occurred, and here's the link to Semantink's Facebook Fan Page, which I encourage YOU to 'Like'!  Plus check out their several comic book series that are online.  When they publish hard copies of those in TPBs, I'll be sure to review blog them here, and possibly the FCBD comic that they distributed ONLY at 4 Color Fantasies for the 2011 FCBD!

Semantink's Comic Savvy is normally the 3rd Sunday of every month, which has been held at the Milano Coffee Company in Mission Valley.  There has been a recent change in ownership there, and with the increasing number of persons in attendance in recent months, the meet-up may have outgrown this location.  If there is a change, I'll mention it  in my next wall post at my own Facebook Fan Page, 'Michael D Hamersky On Comics'.

Till then...Have Some Fun!  Oh, and don't forget to check out the rest of the pics that weren't shown here at the blog, in the special photo album just for THIS meet-up!     

~Michael D Hamersky

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