it can’t all be about manga…

Last week when I went to pick up my comics I got the “official” word that the store would be closing.  I guess the building is remodeling and the owner doesn’t want to relocate again.  I’ve been going to the Comic Emporium for my comics since I started working at the hospital - which is about 11 or 12 years.  Sniff.  Whenever I hear tales online of bad comic stores, or places where women comic readers feel uncomfortable shopping I’ve always felt lucky.  The two women there are great, and managed to remember enough of what I read that they’d point out new stuff that I’d like or even things for my nephew.  Whenever I’d have a bad experience somewhere else *cough*Beguiling*cough* I’d always be glad I had such a good store.  Awww.  :(

So what am I going to do for comics now?  I’m honestly not sure.  I’ve been feeling disgruntled about the comics I’ve been reading lately, but haven’t done much to upset the status quo of my reading list.  I had a folder at the store and it always seemed like too much of a pain to fiddle with it or I’d forget to mention it when I went in.  I guess the bottom line is that I think I’ve been spoiled by my manga experiences.  One writer, one artist, one volume at a time.   I feel like whenever I really start getting into a comic they switch something up.  Like the Avengers.  I started reading it when Spider-Man joined the team.  I liked the writing and the art, and then Civil War happened and suddenly there were two Avengers titles.  I didn’t want to read both so continued with the Spidey team.  Still liked Bendis’ writing, but now Yu is the artist.  I don’t like him.  His people look like they’re dead and decaying.  Now I have a backlog of Avengers comics that I kept buying but never got around to reading because I didn’t like the art.  What’s the point?  That doesn’t happen with manga.  If you don’t like it you can drop the series, but you’re not going to have a sudden replacement artist in the middle of Bleach for example.  sigh.  Don’t even get me started on the trauma of having to drop Robin when Willingham took over.  My favorite comic book character and I couldn’t even read him in his own title!

Don’t get me wrong.  I still love superheroes and have no intention of dropping comics, I’m just going to do it a little differently.  Ultimate Spider-Man and Buffy I’m going to only buy when the trades come out, I’m probably going to stop reading things like the Avengers, and be a lot quicker to drop titles when I don’t like it or it’s boring me.  It’s a safe bet that I’m going to want anything with “Titans” in the title or Robin on the cover…  :)  

I buy my manga at the Hairy Tarantula and they can do a comic file for me there, but they don’t get comics in that people don’t order.  Which means that I’m going to have to be more proactive about finding out what’s coming out (I bought the latest issue of Previews which was fun to browse through, but potentially expensive when you see things you’d normally miss) or do more wandering around on Wednesdays.  I work fairly close to One Million Comix which is great for new releases and last minute buying decisions, but for some reason I tend to walk past it without seeing it when I try to go there and it’s one of those stores that I kind of creep around in.  Not sure why since the staff is always very nice and helpful…  They also have a really nice toy selection there which can get pricey.  Last week I went in for a $4.50 copy of Previews and ended up leaving with a Rukia figure as well.  :)

Gah, I’ll figure it out.  I guess in the end I’ll just have to figure out what comics are worth the effort and which ones aren’t.  Either way I’m going to be buying fewer of them now.  I think I’ll probably be buying more in trades rather than monthly.  It’s cheaper that way, too.

I’m going to miss the Emporium though.

 Last week I picked up the first issue of Tiny Titans.   As anticipated, it was pretty darn cute.  The stories star various Titans (from the earliest like Robin, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash to some of the latest like Rose and Kid Devil) but aren’t heavy on plot… I think the longest story was four pages and involved Wonder Girl’s new uniform.   Er.  I guess it’s Cassie rather than Wonder Girl.  They’ve made the odd choice to have both Wonder Girls in the comic but Cassie doesn’t have a code name.  Poor Cassie. 

This was one of my favorite gags. 

I think they’re kind of worried about the wrong thing here.  :)  The substitute teacher they get later is even better. 

 So… in this not-so-action packed issue we get Robin pondering the meaning of Speedy’s code name, Cassie’s jeans, Beast Boy gets a puppy and here some of the ladies go out for lolipops.

Ha!  The ladies always love Robin.

So, yes, I really really liked Tiny Titans.  It was a fun read and I love the character designs.   I’m going to pass it on to my youngest nephew who I think will enjoy it too.  He knows more about Superman and Spider-Man right now, but comics are always fun.

Normally I mean to post something on Monday night and end up not doing it.  I’m always afraid it’s going to be a variation of “OMG!!!  Heroes was sooo awesome!!” which I try to avoid.  Er.  But tonight I really really mean it.  What an amazing hour of television that was.  My favorite evening of television tends to alternate between Monday and Thursday now.  (That’s for Supernatural, of course.)  heh.  I’m easy and they’re both kicking ass this year.

Moving on!

I’ve updated my library manga list for January and February, but it looks like some of the stuff I posted back in August is just now showing up on the new books list. 

Hmm.  Speaking of manga at the library… last week I popped into comic store #2 for my comics (add me to the list of those underwhelmed by the conclusion of Civil War) and ended up getting into a conversation with a couple of guys that were talking to the store owner.  One of them was doing some sort of business pitch that I interrupted when I came up to pay for my wee stack of comics. 

I asked if they had Ultimate Fantastic Four #3 since I had borrowed the first two trades from the library and wanted to keep reading the series.  So:

1) The store owner laughed at me.  This is not the first time I’ve gone trolling for trades or back issues after borrowing stuff from the library.  I’m so very easy.

2) The sales dude was amazed and astonished that they had comics at the library.  “What?  They have comics at the library?  Which branch??”  D’oh!  I just replied “All of them” instead of putting on my library geek hat and explaining the catalogue and inter-branch reserves.   (Do they still call it interlibrary loan if it’s all from the same system?)  Gosh, I hope he asks for help if he does end up going in.

3) The sales dude’s friend got very excited about my reading UFF and told me that I had to read Marvel Zombies which apparently ties in somehow.  He was very insistent, so I suppose I’m going to have to look for it somewhere.  I think I promised.  The same guy also made me swear (”NO!  You have to swear!”) not to read the last issue of Civil War when he heard that I couldn’t remember if I had the previous issue.  (I did)  Heh.  He was funny.

I realized after I left that I felt guilty for barging in on their conversation so didn’t really chat with them as much as I normally would have and was trying to figure out if I came off as unfriendly… then felt guilty for that too!  I’m pretty sure I was the only one who cared.

So yes.  I started to reread UFF from the library and quite liked the first two.  I had bought the first few comics and didn’t really stick with it - I’ve never really been a Fantastic Four fan.  Unfortunately I then had the urge to read the Ultimate Spidey issue where Johnny Storm enrolls in Peter’s school so I dug out my Christmas gift certificates and trundled off to the comic store to pick up volume 12.  I discovered on the train ride home that this volume also has the story where Peter and Wolverine switch bodies, which is weird, but one of my favorites.  I got a LOT of stares while I was reading this one and choking back giggles.  Very embarrassing but worth it.

  
Peter discovers his new body comes with claws.

These two have very different priorities…

I had been meaning for some time to replace my USM comics with trades and once I got started… fortunately I had gift certificates left and then found about 8 more volumes at a used bookstore.  er.  And some Astonishing X-Men.  And UFF.  And… I resisted the temptation to buy out their supply of Ultimate X-Men, but it was close. 

Wow.  So much for my short post.  I had decided not to write about any of my new manga tonight because I thought it would take too long.  Oops!

Night, all.

Awesome!  This proves my total Robin fangirlishness!  And I’d probably be okay with being a sidekick, as long as the hero wasn’t a complete jerk.  :)  I’m not at all acrobatic, though.  Some days I can barely walk…

You are Robin Robin 82% Superman 75% Spider-Man 60% Hulk 60% Supergirl 57% Catwoman 55% Wonder Woman 52% The Flash 40% Iron Man 40% Green Lantern 35% Batman 30% Young and acrobatic. You don’t mind stepping aside to give someone else glory. Click here to take the “Which Superhero are you?” quiz…

There was a one page comic for Scott Pilgrim in the free newspaper (magazine? which is it?) NOW that I missed because… I usually don’t read it.  Fortunately they put it online.

BTW, I have nothing against NOW, I just feel I’m not edgy enough to read it.  I’ll flip through it if I see it in the staff room at the bookstore though, just to check out all sorts of amazing Toronto events I’ll never go to.   Still, I like knowing that other people do.  :)

I love randomly finding something cool when looking for something else entirely.  I was browsing around the Dark Horse website and came across The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch, a new graphic novel by Neil Gaiman.  I had just enough time to be annoyed with myself for missing one of his books before I noticed that it wasn’t coming out until January 2007.  That’s a pretty nifty way to start a new year.

Just in case everyone hasn’t seen it yet, here’s a cover for the “season eight” Buffy comic in the works from Dark Horse and Joss Whedon.  It’s sooo pretty!  I don’t think there’s an exact release date for it yet, but I’ve heard early 2007. 

DC Comics has first issues of some of their classic Vertigo titles online and available for download… for free!  Series includes Sandman, Preacher and Y: The Last Man (which has been on my “maybe I should check that out” list).

I haven’t been doing much in the way of posting here lately… I’ve been covering for the Interlibrary Loans person at work the past week and a half and quite frankly, I think it’s broken my brain.  Or at least I have no desire to do much in front of the computer when I get home after 9 hours at work… 

I’m off to watch Brisco County Jr now, which did come out this week in Canada after all.  Yay!