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 24^th through May 14^th. 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.

The below was released to us all earlier this week, subscription accounts already received this in an email. We will begin correcting the dates on the site, but here is the scoop straight from the horses mouth. Obviously hard work will affect these, I doubt the printer is going to relax but work harder to lessen the impact.

Anyway, time to catch up on your pile.

Shipping Updates provided by DC Comics, the below is copied directly from the direct email sent to comic shop accounts.

Continue reading

Today at the San Diego Comic Convention (AKA SDCC) the Eisner Awards will be held. For those of you who do not know, the Eisner Awards are basically the American comic book industry’s version of the Academy Awards.

Here’s how it works: The nominations in each category are generated by a five or six member panel. These are then sent to comic book professionals via Diamond Comic Distributors for comic book professionals to vote on. (Most comic book store owners participate, including Jesse.) At this point, any of us can write in a nominee, if they do not appear.

The votes are then turned in and the judges decide who wins each category. There are 6 individuals on the jury, one comic book retailer (not me), one person from the literary field, one actual librarian, one academic research person and 2 experts from the comic field (these two can be a creator, editor and so on).

Before the winners are announced, I thought I would share the votes cast on behalf of those who sponsor Modern Age Comics, yourselves. These nominations come from notes I have made throughout the many discussions held at the counter or during the Saturday morning discussion group. I fill out the ballot each year and that is how we as customers speak to the judges. We did not vote on all categories as in some cases we simply would be blindly selecting a winner and we do not do that here.

So here they are, our nominees this year. The names in blue were written in by us, as our choice, rather than us selecting from the original nominees.

• Best Single Issue/One-Shot
  MAN AND SUPERMAN 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #1, Marv Wolfman
• Best Continuing Series
  The Immortal Hulk, by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, and Ruy José (Marvel)
• Best Limited Series
  Batman: White Knight, by Sean Murphy (DC)
• Best New Series
  Gideon Falls, by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino (Image)
• Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)
  Tiger Vs. Nightmare, by Emily Tetri (First Second)
• Best Publication for Teens (ages 13–17)
  Middlewest, by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona (Image)
• Best Humor Publication
  Giant Days, by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal (BOOM! Box)
• Best Graphic Album—New
  My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
• Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
  Star Wars: Classic Newspaper Strips, vol. 3, by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson, edited by Dean Mullaney (Library of American Comics/IDW)
• Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
  Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman Deluxe Edition, edited by Paul Levitz (DC)
• Best Writer
  Kelly Thompson, Nancy Drew (Dynamite); Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, Mr. & Mrs. X, Rogue & Gambit, Uncanny X-Men, West Coast Avengers (Marvel)
• Best Writer/Artist
  Joelle Jones, Catwoman
• Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
  Sean Phillips, Kill or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies (Image)
• Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
  Lee Bermejo, Batman: Damned (DC)
• Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)
  Stanley Lau, Supergirl, Catwoman
• Best Coloring
  Jordie Bellaire, Batgirl, Batman (DC); The Divided Earth (First Second); Days of Hate, Dead Hand, Head Lopper, Redlands (Image); Shuri, Doctor Strange (Marvel)
• Best Lettering
  Jared Fletcher, Batman: Damned (DC); The Gravediggers Union, Moonshine, Paper Girls, Southern Bastards (Image)
• Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
  Back Issue, edited by Michael Eury (TwoMorrows)
• Best Comics-Related Book
  Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without an Eraser, by Dewey Cassell with Jeff Messer (TwoMorrows)

My morning paper (courtesy of BBC news) had an interest article in it today that I thought you might enjoy. I have included the link but also a document without the stock photos in the article if you prefer just prose or in case the article is removed.

Does reading fiction make us better people?

Enjoy!

Reading Fiction

The second week of April is National Library Week. For those who do not know about the event, the American Library Association (ALA) sponsors National Library Week to both raise awareness of reading and also to recognize those who serve the community by either working or volunteering in the library.

We at Modern Age Comics value and work with most of the local libraries in the area. You may think them to be old fashioned, full of dusty books or even irrelevant in today’s world. You have the right to think so, but if it is that way, I challenge that your lack of involvement only contributes to that perception. You can become part of it, help drive change, even learn from it.

To that point, bring in your library checkout slip dated between April 8th through April 14th and receive 35 percent off any non-subscription purchases. That means any graphic novel, comic back issue, clearance comics, and yes, even toys. The catch is, you have to have checked out, received a receipt for services or purchased something from the book sales at your local library.

To any volunteer, library staff or board members, thank you for your efforts and patience each day.