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TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3553: For the past several years during this Thanksgiving Holiday Week I have had a blog series titled "Whom I Am Thankful For"... Which usually gets a lot of comments, messages, and emails after I post it. Last year I posted it on Thanksgiving Day, as I was busy setting up everything for my 2nd Annual Black Friday Online Event via my then new Facebook Fan Page titled: 'Michael D Hamersky On Comics'. This year I have been setting up my 3rd Annual Black Friday Event, and extending it through Cyber Monday, as seen in this Facebook Event Page titled: 3rd Annual Black Friday - Cyber Monday Event From Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Yesterday / Last Night, I finished listing over 4,400 different items in my online comic book shop (aka eBay Store / ComicBooksCircus.com), including over 2,800 listings that will start ending during the Black Friday / Cyber Monday period! I do want to mention that there is NO PURCHASE NECESSARY to win one of the 20 Announced (So Far!) Free Gifts that are being given away during that four day period between Black Friday and the end of Cyber Monday. You just need to make yourself eligible for them by two clicking two links: 1) Click the 'GOING' link at the event page, (which is easy enough, because you don't walk, run, drive, or fly to a 'virtual online only event' like this one! And 2) Click the 'LIKE' button at the fan page, Michael D Hamersky On Comics! That's it... Click twice and be eligible! Okay... Enough of the 'commercial' presentation... Back to this year's person(s) I've selected for my annual blog post. First... Here are the re-posts from the previously posted archived blogs combined together in one long blog post along with the 2011 entry added at the bottom. There are some minor updated revisions since the original postings several years ago, where needed: Part I - Stan Lee, who will be celebrating his 89th birthday this year, (2011)! Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers were the reason I started collecting comics, instead of just reading 'funnybooks'. (Note: It started with the cover of Journey Into Mystery #72.) 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. (William "Bill" Stulla (May 24, 1911 – August 12, 2008.) 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, (John Rovick born October 2, 1919)... 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.... aka Davy Crockett... who unfortunately passed away since this previous year's annual blog post. 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 96 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 10th 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! (Tina has her own websites, including MakeItSoMarketing.com & her Facebook Fan Page: Make It So Marketing Inc.) Here's the shout out from that year's blog post: 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 with 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! (Francis has his own web site, Whirlibirds.com, and his own Facebook Fan Page for: Whirlibirds.com Fan Page For Whirligigs.) 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! The Following is from last year's blog post: Part IX - Now for this year's entry (2010)! It was a 'toss-up' as to which of the two persons I first thought about would be selected and listed here... And then a third person came to mind. Since I only have time to do today's post, instead of a series of blogs, I've gone with... Annette Funicello! Here's why! When I was much, much younger, I of course was influenced by the Mickey Mouse Club on TV! Which Annette was first discovered by America and became a major star on this series! Years later being a teenager, I was drawn to the Frankie & Annette Beach Party series of films! Of course, what young guy wouldn't be when there were record albums such as the one pictured here from 1963! And yeah, I did have all of her albums and singles! I also collected the comics that featured Annette on the cover, as well as the Disney films tht she was in and those tht had one-shot comics published. My 'Annette Funicello' collection at one time was stored in five 'perma-pak' boxes, when I was divorced. My later girlfriend, Tina LoSasso, thought it ws a little strange that I would have an 'Annette' collection as well as an Elvis Presley collection, and of course a substantial comic book collection! Tina never had the 'collecting bug'! That was okay though, as when I started selling part of my Annette collection, those items sold paid for Tina's engagement ring! So my personal thanks to Annette, on whom I had an 'early crush on', which I'm sure thousands of other boys developed during her early career on TV and then the film series! Of course I had to see her last film, 'Back to the Beach', when it came out in 1987! Thanks, Annette! And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! AND NOW FOR THE 2011 ENTRY: Part X - I probably gave it away when I posted the photo of the El Cortez Hotel at the top right of this blog! To the left is a photo of the (co-)Founder of what has been known by several names, including the San Diego Comic Con, and the Comic-Con International: San Diego. That of course would be Shel Dorf! Yes, there are many others who also participated in the co-founding of this comic con, but several of the earliest founders name him as the 'Founder' of the con, so I'm going to go with that, and not get into the politics of later years. It was there at the 1972 con, when it was Known as San Diego's West Coast Comic Convention, that I first set up as a comic books dealer, in the basement of the El Cortez Hotel, after buying out a dealer who couldn't stay for the last day of the con. So I offered him an amount to take over his table and had so much fun that I bought my own table for the 1973 con, which when it was officially named as the 'San Diego Comic Con'! Thus, Shel Dorf is the person... "Whom I'm Thankful For" this year, as I am continuing today, almost 40 years later, as a comic books dealer! And although I've had a 20 year hiatus of not setting up at comic cons, (since the mid 1990s comics crash), I recently set up at the 2nd Annual SoCal Comic Con that was held in Oceanside, California! Plus I am combining a 'Book Signing' along with setting up a table at the 2011 Nuke The Fridge Con in the City of Industry on December 10th! So after all these years of first selling at the El Cortez Hotel... I am back to my 'roots' as a convention dealer! Thus, although I had someone else in mind for this year's entry, (who was also one of the three thought of in 2010), I have gone with Shel Dorf. Possibly I was swayed by the fact that this year, (2011), I was nominated as one of the five persons for the 'Comics Blogger of the Year' at the Shel Dorf Awards distributed at the Detroit Fan Fair. Plus I received my membership card, (shown at the above left), from Greg Koudoulian to the "Shel Dorf Fan Club & Entourage', with the title "Blogger of the Century and Shel's Pal". Thanks, Greg! Oh, and here is the link to one of Greg's ventures online, The Planet El Cortez Facebook Fan Page, that I suggest you check out further! With all of the above events reminding me of Shel Dorf this year... I just had to name him as one of those "Whom I Am Thankful For" in this continuing series of blogs. Thank you, Shel! And just as I ended last year's entry... 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 just a 'Top Ten List' so far! 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 my current and archived blog posts! I no longer blog daily, as life's other pressures / pleasures do impose on my 'free time' to do so... But I still enjoying blogging 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... Be sure to check out and make yourself 'eligible' for the FREE GIFTS being distributed at my 3rd Annual Black Friday - Cyber Monday event! You won't believe what my Facebook Friends and myself are giving away this year! Wishing All of You reading this blog post a Happy Thanksgiving Day, and feel free to comment at my Facebook Fan Page shown in the link below: ~Michael D Hamersky On Comics! NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER: My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,553 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog! BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link! We currently have over 2,616 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! ~ Michael D Hamersky Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at: http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ Web Page Note: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that! The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. Note: Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail 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 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! |
TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3552: (Vinnie) This past weekend, I decided to take a peek at the new comics mailed in for possible review, or picked up at comic cons my dad has been to recently, and this was the first to catch my eyes. What grabbed my attention was a drawing of a cute little pig on what appeared to be a childrens book. It was gleefully smiling and staring at me. The children's book that I'm writing about is called "Piñata". This story is about Jorge, a custom piñata maker, who has made a pig for what appears to be his granddaughter, Lola. It explained how he made the piñatas, but with a bit more of creativity. The whole thing, in fact, is a rhyme. The story started with Jorge making the pig in a cauldron with special "ingredients" such as "a dash of hope and a sprinkle of light". Afterwards, we witnessed him doing the final touches of a duck that was headed to a festival. We find the duck winking as she is carried out the door. That is when we learn everything is not as they seem. This is what the publisher says about "Piñata": "PIÑATA CHILDREN’S BOOK - Written by Ken Locsmandi & Sebastian A. Jones - Art by Tomo - Concept and Layouts by Darrell May “They want the candy!” A group of delusional piñatas believe that they are worshipped when chosen to go to the “party.” Not until they see a video tape of their true fate are they smacked into reality. The group of piñatas must then band together to escape their certain demise. Yet in the end, they realize that sacrificing themselves for the happiness of others, the essence of being a piñata, is the best thing in the world." Here is what I found when reading the storyline: [SPOILER] We then can see that these piñata's can talk! Two other piñata's are there, Miguel, a monkey, and Cynthia, a dog (who names the pig, Pancho). They tell him where the duck was headed to. However, Miguel and Cynthia think that going to a fiesta is like being royalty. Their thoughts are far from correct. That night, Pancho was stuffed with candy, as it was Lola's birthday. Later that night, Donna (the duck that previously headed to a festival) returned with half of her body missing! The three were all terribly frightened. Donna told them not to be scared, as being a piñata was a celebration. Donna brought along the recording of the event. Miguel, Pancho, and Cynthia all watched in terror at the events happening at the festival. They all decided to try to do "surgery" on Pancho to remove the candy. It worked, but the next day, Jorge refilled the candy. Later that day was the fiesta, and Jorge tied Pancho hanging from a tree. Jorge went back inside to get the kids, and in the mean time, Pancho unravelled himself. He quickly hid behind the shrubbery out of sight. He overheard the disappointment in Lola's voice when she, Jorge, and the other kids went outside. Pancho, knowing that she was sad, decided to do the right thing. He tied himself up again, and swung, until he was in position, and then rocket-pooped a candy at the door. "It was a direct hit on the door!" Everyone came running to see what had hit the door. When they looked outside, little Pancho was back! Lola took a bat against Pancho's side, and candy went flying! That same night, when Jorge was cleaning up the yard after the festivities, he was aboout to throw Pancho away, when Lola stopped him. He remembered that the piñata is a gift in itself. He did not throw it away. The final page shows Lola sleeping, with Pancho on her drawers, with a ribbon around his stomach, where he had been hit. [END SPOILER] After the story ends, it shows the "candy thieves", a group of mice seen on most of the pages of the story. After that, there is a step by step guide on how to make your own "Pancho"! Overall, it was a cute book that many children would definitely enjoy. Honestly, it was one of the best childrens books I've seen. I give the book "Piñata" a comic book grade of Very Fine/Near Mint (VF/NM), a 9.0 out of 10.0 grade scale. If you would like to purchase this book, you can order it on strangerkids.com. ~Vinnie! (Michael) Thanks, Vinnie! I appreciate your reading this childrens book that was presented to me at the 2011 ComiKaze Expo as I walked by the Stranger Comics / Stranger Kids booth! It is amazing to me that out of the two short boxes of comics / graphic novels / books / TPBs etc., that have come in from either comic cons or via the mail, that you chose this book to blog about today! I know that Stranger Kids had a lot of sales of this childrens book during the ComiKaze Expo. It definitely was a hit during the two days of that convention! For those of you that didn't get a chance to see / purchase the book at the con, here are a few links to view it closer: Here is the web site to buy the book. Here is the Facebook Fan Page for Stranger Kids. There is a Facebook Fan Page for Stranger Comics, but the content on that page is not entirely age appropriate for this particular blog post on Stranger Kids' books, so I am not posting a link to it here. My Thanks to Sebastian and Darrell for the courtesy they extended myself and my wife, Tina during the ComiKaze Expo. ~ Michael Note: Vinnie makes it to as many conventions with me as he can. He collects the 'Amazing Spider-Man' comic book series, but is open to read other titles from publishers that print titles that are age appropriate for him. He also has been attending 'behind the scenes' events, such as the one he blogged about ht here: Vinnie's Special 'Look at The Captain Rochester Party for the Artists' at the recent 2010 Comic-Con International: San Diego! He really had fun meeting and having dinner with Sergio Aragones, Bob Burden, Scott Shaw! and others there at this exclusive after hours Comic-Con Party in San Diego! Also...If YOU liked Vinnie's guest review blog today, you may also enjoy reading Vinnie's other reviews on: Dorothy of Oz Promo Comic Book for the Upcoming Film, Zombie Ranch #2, Yets! #2, The HTHGNP: Red Phones, The Strand Prophecy by JBB Winner, Stuff that Dreams Are Made of - The Mini-Comix, The Adventures of Faithboy #1, Mouse Guard: The Black Axe #2 of 6, Yogi Bear Film (DVD), Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock Vol 2 #1 of 3, Space Punks #2, Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock Vol 2 #2 of 3, Kleeman and Mike #1, Mortifera #3, Classics Illustrated #142 Abraham Lincoln - 8th Edition, 2011 FCBD Edition - Mouse Guard / Dark Crystal Flip Book, Fraggle Rock Volume 2 #3 of 3, Bear and Fox #2, Space Punks #1, The Daughters of Merlin #1, Sea Ghost #1, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard #4 (of 4), Clutch Cargo DVD, The All New Super Friends Hour Season 1 DVD, The Ultimate Underdog Collection Volume 1, Planet Hulk, Coraline, Ponyo, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Sonic the Hedgehog TPB Vol 1, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, The Possum #1 comic book, Vinnie's Take on Berona's War: Field Guide, just to name a recent few! My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and the archived blog posts, now over 3,551 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog! BTW, You can 'follow' this Blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app! We currently have over 2,615 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! ~ Michael D Hamersky Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item that was reviewed here today...!If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at: ComicBooksCircus.com. If it isn't available in my online 'Local Comic Book Shop, (LCBS), then you may be able find it in my Amazon affiiate link, as seen here: Comics & Graphic Novels at Amazon! Web Page Note: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safarai, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!! (Note: I don't list my email address here, due to 'spambots' gathering it and 'spamming' me. To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to have sent me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages in my network already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' for myself so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! |
TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3551: At the 2011 ComiKaze Expo held November 5th & 6th, I saw Louis Love once again. He was both at his booth, and on the floor of this show, promoting his upcoming 2011 Nuke The Fridge Con that is taking place on December 10th at the Frank And Son Collectable Show location in the City of Industry. I took the time to do a photo op for the book signing I added on recently to be conducted at the same table that my wife, Tina, and I will be selling comic books and magazines about comics at. Here is the link to the Facebook event page, titled: Gotham City 14 Miles Book Signing At the 2011 Nuke The Fridge Con, (NTFC), which I invite you to click the 'Going' link if you are attending the NTFC. I have already posted dozens of wall posts / blogs about the GC14M book since I first was asked to become one of the fourteen essayists in the book. Why fourteen? Well, the famous mile marker, 'Gotham City 14 Miles', has been show to millions of the TV Show fans over the 45 years since it was first televised! My Editor, Jim Beard, recently held a book signing at the NJ Comic Expo, and had a lot of fun there, as the Expo was also celebrating the 45th Anniversary of the 1966 Batman TV Show. Here is a link to his photo taken with Lee (Catwoman) Merriwether! So yes, there is a lot of resurgence this year on that particular version of Batman! Be sure to stop by my table at the 2011 Nuke The Fridge Con on December 10th, should you be in the Los Angeles Metro Area. You can stop in at any time during the day, as the con runs from 9Am to 5PM, and BEST OF ALL... The parking is FREE and the admission to the con is FREE! There will be a charge for the book plus the tax to be collected on that. I'm waiting for the next shipment of books to come in for this book signing before I announce the charge. (It should be $20.00 or less.) Hope to see you at the upcoming convention, and here's a personal invite to you to stop at my table to check out my comic books selection for sale, (thousands of DOLLAR COMICS and a few CGC graded comics), plus pick up a new copy of the GC14M book. Of course, if you have already purchased the book... Feel free to stop by my table and have me sign it to you or a friend that you will be giving the book to, this upcoming gift giving season. No charge for my signature on your already purchased book! Again, My Thanks to Louis Love for making this book signing event possible! And, as always, My Thanks to Editor Jim Beard, for asking me on board his project! I urge all of you to 'Like' his Facebook Fan Page for the book, Gotham City 14 Miles! ~Michael D Hamersky On Comics! NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER: My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,551 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog! BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link! We currently have over 2,615 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! ~ Michael D Hamersky Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at: http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ Web Page Note: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that! The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. Note: Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail 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 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! |
TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3550: At the two recent conventions that Tina and I recently attended, (the 2011 Long Beach Comic & Horror Con on Halloween Weekend, and then the 2011 ComiKaze Expo the following weekend), I was given quite a few comics / graphic novels to possibly review by comics creators. So as usual after a major convention, I'm a little backed up on presenting them here at my Blog... Plus I like to cover more than just new (at least 'new' to me!) comics / graphic novels / TPBs here in my blog. That is just one section of this Blog which today has actually hit the 3,550th blog post number! Anyways, I wanted to bring to YOUR attention a comic book that I found at the ComiKaze Expo, as seen in the two photos show above. Kristopher White had a table at the con, which nicely displayed his new comic book, (October 2011). After thumbing through the comic book, I realized that it could be something that I would enjoy reading, although the front cover was a little bit on the 'over-selling' the comic book, what with the 'big names' being used to promote the comic book. More on that later... So what is this comic book series about? Here is what the publisher states: "The 36 is a graphic novel based on Jewish mythology. The Kabbalists say that there are 36 people in the world upon whom it is saved by their simple existence. This graphic novel follows the exploits of these people as they try to "save" the world...even if no one knows what that truly means." Okay... Sounds like something that I would be interested in. So what's 'My Take' on this comic book after reading it? Front Cover - Like I said above... I was a little 'put-off' by the use of mini-review quotes on the top right of the front cover. I thought at first I was reaching for a multi-page flyer or promo comic book when seeing this at the table. Seeing the names on the front cover did nothing for me but make me hesitate on going further. This reminds me of a one-sheet for a film, not a front cover for a comic book, or in this case, a comic book series that will be formatted into a graphic novel later. The title at the bottom of the front cover is overwhelmed by the verbage at the top right of the comic book. My eyes naturally go to the top, and all I see is the #1 on the left, and the quotes at the right. Again, it looks to me to be a promotional piece, not a 'comic book' at first glance. Inside Front Cover - The 'normal' credits page in presentation. Where probably the quotes could have been placed, (or on the back cover). Splash Page - Kind of a 'splash page', but not really... However it does get me interested into quickly turning the page to get into the storyline. Plus it does truly make a 'splash', pun intended! Interior Pages - Now THIS is what I was hoping this comic book would be! Twenty pages of good plot, dialogue and intro of the characters. The artwork is fine, and the colors add to the mood and genre of the comic book. The lettering is really good, and I like the 'sound effects' lettering style. The interior pages are twenty pages of story, and then two pages of pinups by Chris Thorne, shown to the left, who was at the table when I visited. (Thanks, Chris for pointing out that those pages were yours, and for showing me your great sketch cards you have illustrated! I'll mention more on those at another time.) While I think the pinups are very fine, I'm wondering why they were inserted there, instead of an ending page from the creator as to what he intends to do with the storyline, etc. Oh, there's my answer... The Inside Back Cover - That's where it takes a full page of "We Want YOU to Check Us Out Online - the36.net" as an inhouse ad. Being 'Old School' I would have preferred the inside back cover to be more than just a pinup page with some ad text. I would have looked online anyways if the last two pages of the interior pages had been the promo / notes / thank you for reading / etc. page from the creator, with maybe just the one guest pinup as the inside back cover. Back Cover - A promo on what is in store for you in the interior of the comic book. Not bad, especially for people who look at the front cover first and then the back cover, before opening the comic. Which is done all the time at LCBS when patrons pick up a book off the shelf to check out. So, to summarize... I really enjoyed the storyline inside, and would want to see more. The packaging is the only thing that doesn't totally 'ring true' with me. It was only after reading the text on the KickStarter Funding Program for this project, as seen here, that I understood the backdrop of this comic book. It is a five chapter project that is to be formatted / published as a graphic novel. Which is fine, as that is usually the right amount of pages to be published in a graphic novel, (5 comic books). Also, it is great that the KickStarter funding project exceeded its goal of $10,000 to print a graphic novel. I, as others who funded the project, truly believe that this storyline would be a good choice for one. Especially from what I've seen in the first chapter in print. Again, it is only the 'packaging' of the first comic book that is throwing me off a bit in recommending it higher. If it was treated as a stand alone comic book, with just subtle hints to go see more online, I know I would have graded it higher. Plus a revised front cover. Speaking of 'grading'... My comic book grade for this first issue of a series of comic books is a VERY FINE / VERY FINE PLUS (VF/VF+) 8.25 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale. Here are the links for you to check this project out further: The KickStarter funding program, which is fully funded as of August of 2011. I'll be checking in on these to see the progress of this project, as the premise / storyline / art / interior pages show that this project should be one to watch! My 'grade' is based only on the first printed issue of the comic book, not the project itself. My thanks again to Kristopher White for the courtesy of introducing me to 'The 36' at his table during the 2011 ComiKaze Expo! ~Michael D Hamersky On Comics! NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER: My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,550 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog! BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link! We currently have over 2,615 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! ~ Michael D Hamersky Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at: http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ Web Page Note: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that! The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. Note: Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail 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 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! |