Monday Morning Grind 1-22-2024

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Pile to the left, pile to the right, I guess we’ll start with this one. Ended up falling behind through the move and the holidays but here we go.

Sacrificers… I feel like I was reading The Lottery by Shirley Jackson for a second when I started this, so I stopped and started again. The story is different but it just called out the same emotional response from me. The writing by Rick Remender is solid and the color pallet is pleasing and I will continue this one but I hope for a little more detail and a more drawn out plot.

Deviant. I think this is a very well put together idea and one issue at a time just does not cut it. I think James Tynion IV has taken the comic world by storm these past two years but I think this one is the smartest of his efforts. I’m going to scrounge up an issue #2 on the open market and keep this one ordered going forward.

Action Comics #1061. Jason Aaron. I give him 3 issues without reservation as he just earned it over the years. Given the terrible storylines these past years put out by DC, my reading this is solely on his efforts. One problem, I just can not get into Bizarro. The inverse emotions and text just make the stories difficult for me. That being said, I liked the make up of the issue. Good world building, long term reader connection, and enough dialog to make feel like the $5.00 was worth it.

A special mention for people who enjoy animated style art. Silent Tales has some very nice panel work on sequential art without text. I will be looking at the artist’s other work.

  • Ghostlore #1
  • A Haunted Girl #3
  • Ribbon Queen #1
  • Cull #1
  • Antarctica #2
  • Skull & Bones #1
  • Skull & Bones #2
  • Sacrificers #1
  • Franklin & Ghost #1
  • Trident of Aurelia #1
  • The Deviant #1
  • Silent Tales
  • Action Comics #1061

Ghost Machine Company

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Hey everyone,

A little information about Thursday’s press release from the NY Comic Con. It appears that comic book creators Geoff Johns, Brad Meltzer, Peter J. Tomasi and some others have launched a new company called “Ghost Machine”. This will likely result in their exiting their current work with existing publishers to begin releasing through Image Publishing.

Geoff John Leaves DC Comics For Ghost Machine Creator-Owned Company

Little change for we the reader, but distributors will see a shift in market share as the new company starts to release product.

Our thanks to Mike for sending this to us!

Jesse

Monday Morning Grind 05-24-2023

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With everything that has happened the past month or so I have slacked off on getting my reading done. I thought it would be good to get Devil’s Reign out of the way so I can finish the first volume of Daredevil from Chip Zdarsky and get into the second before it gets away from me.

Not sure why but I feel this was more of a Defenders book than a Daredevil book. Hell’s Kitchen got left behind in the middle of this and it seemed to grow more and more into a New York Marvel event rather than just a Daredevil story. The tail end even seemed like a subconscious discussion on government overreach, but it could just be the writer not pulling in on the scope of the Kingpin’s plan.
The Omega issue left me a little in need of a Defenders book to help wrap up what was started. The Luke Cage, Purple Children and the looming law enforcement status all seemed important at the end but were just left there without telling me where to read next. The negative side of this event is that DD and Elektra left the story before it ended. They were there physically, but you can tell the writer moved them to another story before finishing this.

Not a bad event overall but we will see how it, the characters and the plots move into the future.

  • Devil’s Reign #1
  • Devil’s Reign #2
  • Devil’s Reign #3
  • Devil’s Reign #4
  • Devil’s Reign #5
  • Devil’s Reign #6
  • Devil’s Reign Omega

Next up is a few independents.

Tempora mutantur and changes to our business

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Yeah, I broke out some Latin for you. Tempora mutantur is a term used to explain changes resulting from the passage of time. I can hear several of you laughing as it also looks like “time mutation” (or travel) which some of you know I hate as a plot device. It is however relevant to our situation as a business, and as persons and citizens as a whole. It is time to get up off the mat and start figuring out who we are in a post pandemic world. We can’t back to who we were, so we have to go forward as who we want to become.

The previous post “Fractured” needs to move into our past. To help with that, we have continued the store floor plan conversion from a back issue comic book related business into a newsstand bookstore version of ourselves. Back issue collections will no longer be purchased; our existing back issues will no longer be displayed to walk in patrons. Subscription customers will be allowed access to back issue stock, but not the public in general. (Only those placing monthly orders are considered subscribers.)

Comics are still my love but there are simply too many to process while trying to keep up with the sales floor. The bookstore version will require additional time and consume more of the sales floor. We are just turning the next corner in our journey.

Lastly, I want to thank those who took the time to call or stop in and express concern after my metal health. It was kind of you to be supportive during my vacation from public life. “Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis” is the actual phrase which basically translates as “Times are changed; we also are changed with them”. I am glad to have you along on our journey.

Fractured

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The past few years of divisiveness have resulted in the need for me to take a vacation. Several patrons over these past few weeks have both verbally and emotionally assaulted my resolve to run the store. Rather than engage in verbal or ideological conflict, I elected to enact my own defensive measure.

The store will not be available to the general public from April 24th through May 14th. This will only apply to walk in patrons. Subscription customers will be allowed to knock on the door and enter to pick up their pre-orders. You will also be allowed to stay and talk, shop, or simply vent about your day.

We all know that not everyone agrees on how society should be. The current divisions over political views, gender orientation, gun control, and generalized opposition have just brought these differences of opinion to the surface. Never would I repress or belittle someone for their stance on anything, but lately I have been the victim of these very actions.

While we are temporarily closed, I will once again begin moving the store fixtures and organizing the many things I have ignored this past year. This includes creating a separate area restricting access to back issue to those patrons who order comics per the store subscription policy. It is our intent to process the 100,000 plus comics scattered about the store. Walk in patrons will not have access to these other than those added to the website as we process.

Obviously, Google searches will show us as “temporarily closed” which we elected to do in order to prevent the uninformed from driving to the store thinking access is available. Rumors will start, which only means that no effort was made to verify our status. Not concerned. Our concern has been, is, and will continue to be the patrons who love comics and behave like the heroes portrayed in the stories we all love so much.

I appreciate your support and patience as I mend the fracture society has inflicted and I hope to see you soon.

Monday Morning Grind 04-17-2023

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Just burning through some piles.

  • Black Cat 2020 #1
  • Black Cat 2020 #2
  • Black Cat 2020 #3
  • Black Cat 2020 #4
  • Black Cat 2020 #5
  • Black Cat 2020 #6
  • Black Cat 2020 #7
  • Black Cat 2020 #8
  • Black Cat 2020 #9
  • Black Cat 2020 #10
  • Black Cat 2020 Annual #1
  • Fantastic Four #39
  • Fantastic Four: Reckoning War Alpha #1
  • Fantastic Four #40
  • Reckoning War: Trial of the Watcher #1
  • Fantastic Four #41
  • Fantastic Four #42
  • Firefly #21
  • Firefly #22
  • Firefly #23
  • Firefly #24

Monday Morning Grind 02-06-2023

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This week was more clean up (Captain Marvel) along with some of the more densely written items in my box. Some of you have heard me talk about Sara Lone, which takes place in the early 1960s. The story is about a strong spirited young woman with a rough past trying to save her deceased father’s shrimp fishery. She is arrested for murder, pursued by Mafia killers, and eventually ends up in the hands of the Secret Service. They intend to leverage her past in order to use her marksman skills in service of the government. Meanwhile, the local union leader makes a move on her late father’s shrimp business. This comic is really good if you are familiar with the domestic status of the country in 1962 when we faced extremist plots, drug cartels, union corruption and a looming cold war.

Animal Castle has been around for a year already. I read the first two issues this past May and left it be so I could read the next few issues as a group. Again, this title is a dialogue intensive read. You do not want to skip panels or just plow through them because of fatigue. The title is often compared to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, so it has to be detailed and emotional, which it is. The sociological behavior of the characters is well done, the pencils are distinct and each character is drawn consistent in form and size. I think if there is a shortcoming, the ink work could use a broader color palette. Some of the panels get a little monotone where some bold color would give the eyes a rest. The plot has held through issue five so I would say if you are a literature focused reader, this one is for you.

  • Captain Marvel #31
  • Captain Marvel #32
  • Captain Marvel #33
  • Captain Marvel #34
  • Captain Marvel #35
  • Captain Marvel #36
  • Catwoman #39
  • Star Trek #400
  • Dark Spaces Wildfire #1
  • Sara Lone #2
  • Sara Lone #3
  • Twig #2
  • Animal Castle #3
  • Animal Castle #4
  • Animal Castle #5

 

 

 

 

Monday Morning Grind 01-30-2023

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Loading Previews this week cut down on my catch up but I did get through a few. Like many of you, I am still trying to burn down a pile while still keeping in the know on new ones. To help a little I will complain less about rushed completions to Star, Not All Robots and the end of the first Autumnal arc. All three displeased me but easy to say watching from the seats rather than being in the ring.

The new ones all have potential. Black Panther Legends has pre-teen TChalla, his adopted Caucasian brother Hunter and Shuri witnessing the entrance of Wakanda onto the global scene. The tone of the MCU Wakanda is obvious in the story but page six actually is what caught my attention. When the family arrives in Johannesburg they are separated into two lines,  one for Europeans and one for Non Europeans. The artwork shows the actual separation, white and not white. This reminded me of Trevor Noah’s memoir and his explanation of his real family and the fact that his parents’ marriage was not legal in South Africa. He has stated that often the family would walk on separate sides of the street to avoid attention. We often miss social commentary in comics but it’s nice to see a single page show so much about the environment the characters are in and would have faced in the actual world at the time the story is told.

Trojan took a minute, and a few pages, to get into. The secretive nature of the characters meant having to lend patience until the actual point of their meeting is finally revealed. The last page make you immediately want to purchase issue two. That image compared to the image on cover A, is a nice representation of the content of the book. The down sides are the tone of the story and the biology of the primary character. I will not ruin the reveal but am happy to talk with you about it should you wish.

Kroma was interesting but also a little wonky. I find a story about a religious order controlling young boys, and what appears to be repressing/punishing a female just for being one, very off-putting. The use, and absence, of color is the one attractive thing that kept my attention. The artwork for cover A was well chosen. After reading the issue it was proven a splendid choice, just not sure the visual is worth the journey yet. I will give them another issue to sway me with the story but the potential has a short window on this one.

  • Black Panther Legends #1
  • Trojan #1 of 4
  • Not All Robots #5
  • Star #2
  • Star #3
  • Star #4
  • Star #5
  • Autumnal #8
  • Kroma #1
  • Grim #2

Monday Morning Grind 01-16-2023

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Knocked off a few older titles again this week and seasoned the stack with a few new ones. This particular pile was about things you want to finish but the direction of their stories twisted away from what you originally wanted the plot to be. I run into this from time to time.

Take for example that I enjoyed the first part of Catwoman: Lonely City some months ago. In the third issue the story left the theme of the aging ex-con reconnecting with her city and focused on Catwoman breaking into somewhere and saving the day as usual. Granted it did connect the Orpheus story, and included most of the players in the wrap up, but that was not what I cared about.

The Me You Love In The Dark suffered from a similar problem but here they changed the emotion they were addressing rather than the main plot device. Creative blocks, scary house and painting were replaced with possession, fear and forced effort in the painting. The house seemed like it would address her issues but what did it need her for? You could assume loneliness as a reason but that’s hardly a parallel to the artist’s issues.

Some of the other titles I read  share the same issues but I want to address a new one here. Gangster Ass Barista was sort of fun. Coffee addiction aside, the issue was pure escapism which was nice after the rest of the pile. The flashback panels are good fill in and help explain why the character is working in a coffee shop. It will be interesting to see if the creative team can keep the story in the shop rather than taking it out into the outside world.

  • Parker Girls #2
  • The Me You Love In The Dark #5
  • Samurai Sonja #2
  • Skybound Presents After School #3
  • GCPD:The Blue Wall #1
  • Gangster Ass Barista #1
  • Disaster Inc. #3
  • Disaster Inc. #4
  • Disaster Inc. #5
  • Catwoman Lonely City #3
  • Catwoman Lonely City #4
  • Captain Marvel #28
  • Captain Marvel #29
  • Captain Marvel #30
  • Marvel Snapshot: Captain Marvel
  • Flash 2022 Annual

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