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It's almost the end of the 2009 year, which means we still have Stan Lee's Birthday to celebrate!  Today, December 28th, 2009, is Stan's 87th Birthday! Happy Birthday to You, Stan! 

The above photos were taken the last time I saw Stan, which was at the Opening Day of the Ignaural 2009 Long Beach Comic Con.

Stan was the Guest of Honor, who cut the Opening Day Ribbon, but not until after he was also honored by the City of Long Beach by having the Day, October 2nd of 2009, declared 'Stan Lee Day'!

Plus he was also given another 'honor', which was read by Jeph Loeb, who is also pictured above.

It has been my honor to blog about Stan Lee several times during this Blog's "life".  Stan was and still is my 'hero', after all these years!  

It was his participation in the 'Silver of Age of Comics' that kept me reading and collecting comics during the 1960's into the 1970's, when so many others my age dropped reading them because comics weren't 'cool'.  That's a different story today, as it is the twenty-somethings and plus that keep this industry busy by buying comics and graphic novels!

I'm not going to go into Stan's history with comics... heck, it would several blog posts to do just that! Instead I'm just going to post the following link from Wikipedia.org that gives a fair representation of Stan Lee's background and accomplishments. (Click here for the Wikipedia entry'.)

Plus to see what Stan Lee is doing nowadays, check out his web site at POW Entertainment!

Plus, You can be a 'Fan' of Stan's at his Facebook Fan Page like I am!

Suffice to say, if it wasn't for STAN LEE, and his multiple co-creators like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Joe Maneely, etc., I wouldn't have the several websites and this blog to be busy with! For that Stan, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Enjoy Your Special Day, Stan!  Let there be many more!  'Nuff Said!

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I want to share with you today some Christmas comic book covers that I have either seen or owned over the years.... 

Starting with a couple that were published in time for my 1st Christmas in 1952!

The one at the top left of this blog post is from Standard Comics.  It's amazing how many comics publishers no longer exist today from the 1950's! But I have to admit that we are experiencing a New 'Golden Age' today, where individual comic book creators can publish their own works, which could be even better!

The comic book at the top right of this blog is from Farrell Publications. Instead of running a 'Bugs Bunny' Christmas Holiday comic book cover here like I've done in the past; I thought I'd run 'Billy Bunny' instead.  I'm probably getting several blank stares at the screen just about now... Billy Bunny??? LOL!

The comic book cover that we just passed while reading this text was one of those neat-o comic book ideas, 3-D Comics!  You know, just like "at the movies" in 1953 when this comic book was published! It was a 'cool idea' to see the First Christmas in 3-D back then... but where's my 3-D glasses at?!

The comic book to the immediate left reminds me of the many times I've been to Disneyland during the Holidays. 

It used to be that a family could go to Disneyland on Christmas Day or the Day after without crowds.

Now the crowds are there with the same idea, making Disneyland during the Holidays look a lot like Summertime... Sheesh!

Although Disneyland was my favorite amusement park growing up, running a close 2nd was Knott's Berry Farm.  When I returned years later to live in the Orange County area, I found myself living just a few miles away from Knott's, so I really had fun taking relatives who came out to visit to have Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner. And load up on the Knott's Berry Farm Boysenberry Preserves.  Knott's became my favorite amusement park in California. Yumm... good ol' days!

Talking about the good ol' days, I grew up as a 'Ford' man, because my Dad had nothing but Fords when I lived at home!

Heck, my first car was a brand new 1970 Ford Maverick, not the 1961 Ford Mustang that Santa Claus is driving in the 1961 Ford Promotional Christmas Comic Book at the immediate left!

I really enjoyed those promo comics of the Golden and Silver Ages of Comics, as you can see through the period of time I've been blogging and including them in the 'Main Features' or 'Featurettes' sections!

A lot of those promo comics are now shown at Scott Shaw!'s Oddball Comics web site, as well in his card packs for sale. If you received cash during the holiday season, and enjoy the covers shown here today, check out Scott's sites.  This year I did a special 'Spotlight On... Scott Shaw!', where you can find out more of the details and why I love attending his 'Oddball Comics Slideshow'!

Okay, now I skip a few years to 1978.  The year that the comic book to the immediate left was published from Marvel Comics. 

I do enjoy reading the Classics stories, especially in Classics Illustrated style or similar like Marvel Comics did.

The 'Santa Claws' versus whomever that have seen print in recent years really don't get my attention.  Plus I wouldn't give those away for Christmas gifts either.

So yeah, I'm getting older, even though I feel like a 'Big Kid' most of the time!

There are more Christmas Comic Book Covers out there, but I've run several of those in past years here at my Blog, plus I have to leave a few for the upcoming years to blog about! There are enough of them out there that someone could actually build a 'Christmas Comic Book Covers Collection', and have a good short box full!

My thanks to those who emailed me or messaged me, asking about where's my Christmas Comic Book Covers this year in my Blog.  In past years I've used them several days up to Christmas Day, but decided not to do that this year!   

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Last week I started blogging about the upcoming 'Indy Comic Book Week' that starts December 27th, 2009.... 

The above pictured graphic novel is one that won't be at your Local Comic Book Shop, (LCBS) during 'Indy Comic Book Week', because it won't be out for a while until 2010!  However its' predecessor, "Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath" could still be on the shelves for you to purchase there!

The reason I'm bringing up the above graphic novel is because back on November 20th the following was posted on the Facebook Wall of the 'Kid Beowulf' Fan Page:

Yesterday morning, Michael D Hamersky became Kid Beowulf's 100th fan! Congratulations Michael! As a special thank you, we will be sending Michael an advance galley of the next Kid Beowulf adventure, KID BEOWULF AND THE SONG OF ROLAND. Michael, we hope you enjoy this sneak peak!

This was after I had met the creator of the series, Alexis E Fajardo, at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, and blogged about him in a 'Featurette' section of this Blog, as seen by clicking here!

I saw the Facebook Fan Page for Kid Beowulf, and wanted to be informed about new developements of this series, so I became a 'Fan', not realizing that there was a contest going on!

So what's this second graphic novel of the Kid Beowulf graphic novel series about?  Here is the press release:

"Inspired by the epic poem BEOWULF, Kid Beowulf follows the journey of 12-year-old twin brothers, Beowulf and Grendel as they travel to distant lands and meet fellow epic heroes therein! Currently slated at a 12 book series, their adventures begin in their native Geatland and Daneland. Book 2: Kid Beowulf & the Song of Roland takes place in France, while book 3: Kid Beowulf vs. El Cid takes place in Spain."

Here is another promo piece, along with the credits: 

Kid Beowulf and the Song of Roland

by Alexis E. Fajardo

The Adventure Continues!

"The Song of Roland launches twelve-year-old twin brothers Beowulf and Grendel into their second adventure, bringing readers along in their journey into literary history—this time, introducing the French tales of Charlemagne and his 12 peers. Wholly original, the Kid Beowulf series stays true to its inspired characters and histories while weaving new imaginings of “what if…” and capturing the imagination of kids and teachers alike."

OK, so that's what this graphic novel's concept is about and the credits.

So what did I think of it?

Well, in the earlier blog post from November 19th, 2009, I mentioned that Tina was very interested in this proposed series. I also mentioned that: "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". We were given a 'press kit', which increased my interest in the proposed series at that time. 

So I was very pleased to see that I had 'won' an advance galley at the Facebook Fan Page for Kid Beowulf for being the 100th Fan! The graphic novel was shipped promptly by Bowler Hat Comics!

Here at Make It So Marketing Inc., we do receive many publications for possible mention / review.  When I first opened up the package, I saw that the graphic novel was very 'heavy' in dialogue text, as well as in actual weight of the graphic novel. It's actually 259 page long! So I put it to the side for a few days as I wanted to give it an ample opportunity to be read fully and carefully for possible review here.

I found the time this past week to read it totally through.  There is a lot there in those 259 pages! Tina and I were originally impressed with the concept of this series, and I've been newley impressed with what happened in this second part of the journey of the twin brothers!

There are a lot of 9 panel pages, plus a lot of dialogue going on. Plus a wide cast of characters for this storyline. There was a lot to see and read in this graphic novel. Sometimes that could be a little overwhelming, but here everything was presented very smoothly and in an entertaining way. 

I found myself wanting to continue reading, but found that with my schedule, that it took several nights to finish. There is a lot here for the cover price of $17.95. The storyline is charming, witty, and made for a good read.

The artwork is styled right for this story, and being printed in black and white format does not hurt this storytelling. I like Alexis' concept and implementation in this second of the proposed series. 

The graphic novel is stated to be for all ages, and I would agree with that.  It would be a good read for parents to read to their younger children, or for older kids to read for themselves. Plus it isn't "dumbed down". Young adults and older persons could find this to be an amusing and adventuresome story!

I haven't seen the first of this series, but if it is like this second volume, then readers are in for a treat should they get jump on this series. Other books planned for this series include:

Kid Beowulf in Rome – the Romulus and Remus tale
Kid Beowulf & The Labyrinth – the labyrinth myth
Kid Beowulf at Troy – The Iliad and The Odyssey
Kid Beowulf & The Fountain of Youth – Gilgamesh
Kid Beowulf & The Ring – The Nibelungenlied

I mentioned above that this graphic novel won't be ready for next week's Indy Comic Book Week.  So when will it be published? Bo Johnson, Publisher at Bowler Hat Comics states:

"We'll be launching the book in April, 2010. We're working on a series of events to coincide with Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, the weekend of April 24–25."

For more of info on this series, please see the following web sites at:

http://www.kidbeowulf.com

http://bowlerhatcomics.com/

and of course, the Facebook Fan Page where YOU too can be interactive with this series:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kid-Beowulf/153666087923?v=wall.

My thanks to Bo Johnson of Bowler Comics for shipping this 'prize' to me so quickly!

I will be blogging about more indy comics series right here at ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com in the days to come, straight into the New Year itself, as that is how long 'Indy Comic Book Week' continues into!

You can follow what is happening and how you can participate in 'Indy Comic Book Week' by checking out the details at:

http://indycomicbookweek.com/index.html.

For our part...Tina and I will be having all the independents comics / graphic novels that we have ready to be sold listed in our online store at low, low prices at:

http://www.makeitsomarketing.com/   

TODAY'S 'MAIN FEATURE':

Last week I blogged about the upcoming 'Indy Comic Book Week' that starts December 27th, 2009.... 

The above pictured comic book is one that could be at your Local Comic Book Shop, (LCBS) during 'Indy Comic Book Week', depending if there are any copies left!  If not, then ask for issue #10 of the series that should be out by then!

So what's this issue #9 of the series about?  Here is the press release:

"The adventure continues! The search for the ‘City of the Dead’ heats up as Sinbad and his band of loyal followers travel deep into the heart of Egypt to find the Crown of Anubis, the second piece of the Jericho Visor. Adding to the intrigue is Sinbad’s decision to place his trust in the mysterious tracker Osmium, a woman from his past, and her wolfhound Zawj. As always, things are never as they appear for Sinbad and his men as the deadly desert looks to claim more victims and retain its secrets."

Written by: Dan Wickline
Artwork by: Eduardo Ferigato
Colors by: Jason Embury

Cover by Marat Mychaels

OK, so that's what this issue is about and the credits.

The above issue was sent to me by Tyler Draguet, Personal Assistant / Editor to Dan since March of 2008. She noticed me taking multiple photos of others in Artists Alley at the 2009 LBCC and talking with them about their publications. She asked me if I had talked with Dan about his works.  I told her no, as each time I had gone by, he was swamped with people!

She took me over and introduced me to Dan right then and there!

Not being overly familar with Dan's works, she showed me a couple publications that she had a hand in while editing.  I have already blogged a featurette about Tyler earlier back on November 5th,(click here for that link).

Even though Dan was a Facebook Friend of mine, I didn't know all that much about his past credits. For those of you that also don't know, here is a brief bio:

"Dan Wickline is a writer who has worked on the 30 Days of Night franchise (Dead Space and Spreading the Disease), Grimm Fairy Tales and Strange Cases. He is currently scripting the on-going 1001 Arabian Nights: The Adventures of Sinbad and the Beyond Wonderland Annual. He is also working once again with Steve Niles and Mike Mayhew on SAVAGE. He has written short prose stories of the classic characters of THE PHANTOM and THE AVENGER for Moonstone."

For more of what Dan Wickline is creating, please see his web site at: http://www.danwickline.com/site/works/

To purchase a copy of this issue #9 check out the publisher's web site at http://zenescope.com/bookpages/an09.htm .

My thanks to Tyler Dranguet for bringing this comic book series to my attention!

I will be blogging about more indy comics series right here at ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com in the days to come, straight into the New Year itself, as that is how long 'Indy Comic Book Week' continues into!

You can follow what is happening and how you can participate in 'Indy Comic Book Week' by checking out the details at:

http://indycomicbookweek.com/index.html.

For our part...Tina and I will be having all the independents comics / graphic novels that we have ready to be sold listed in our online store at low, low prices at:

http://www.makeitsomarketing.com/