So Free Comic Book Day was good this year again. We don't have conventions around here but we sure do have generous comic book stores. I went to three comic shops on Free Comic Book Day and got a boat load of stuff. In Metairie, Louisiana BSI Comics offered 10 free comics, & Media Underground Comics offered anything you wanted (they had a lot and some leftovers from previous years) both also had guest and heroclix and posters and stuff. Magic Comics and Hobbies in Slidell, Louisiana had all the big name books and some of the indie stuff, hero clix, Star Wars minatures figures and they were also giving away some Planet Hulk issues that they had overstock of. In years past I'd have gone to more stores but this year I was kina sick and had gotten most of the books so I called it a day and it was a good day.
Free Comic Book Days is my favorite holiday because to be honest I'm the only one in my family that is into comics and I don't have to worry about pleasing anyone or being at anyones house or whatever the other holidays bring.
So what did I get:
Lets start with the extras: I got three Iron Man Heroclix figures (not sure what series these are for) and one Iron Man (Supernova Series) Heroclix figure, one Wonder Woman (DC Heroclix Origin) Heroclix figure, three Batman (DC Heroclix Origin) Heroclix figures and 1 each of the Star Wars miniature figures Quarren and a clone trooper.
I got an autographed poster from the creators of Welcome To Boarder City the webcomic located at www.welcometoboardercity.com and got to see some of the original artwork. NICE STUFF guys!!!
Now for the comis I got:
2 copies of the EC Sampler
1 copy of Nascar Heroes
1 copy of Comics Go Hollywood
3 copies of Owly and Friends
1 copy of Ignatz
1 copy of Maintenance
1 copy of Wizard's How To Draw
1 copy of Kid Houdini and The Silver Dollar Misfits
1 copy of Shin Chan (Ashcan sized comic)
1 copy of The Moth
1 copy of Hero By Night/Gunplay
1 copy of Gumby
1 copy of Hellboy: The Golden Army
2 copies of Hellboy: The Mole
2 copies of Cartoona Palooza (1 autographed by Tim Lattie artist of White Picket Fences)
2 copies of Broken Trinity
1 copy of Impact University Volume 4
1 copy of Shonen Jump Special
1 copy Transformers Animated
1 copy of Sonic The Hedgehog
1 copy of Archies Pal Jughead
1 copy Walt Disney's Gyro Gearloose
1 copy od The Incredible Hulk/Iron Man
2 copies of Marvel Adventures Iron Man & Hulk & Spider-Man
3 copies of All Star Superman
2 copies of Bongo Comics Free-For-All 2008
1 copy of Graphic Classics
2 copies of Tiny Titans
1 copy of Worlds Of Aspen #3
1 copy of Love And Capes #7
1 copy of Del Rey & Dabel Brothers 2008 Preview
2 copies of Avengers/Invaders Sketchbook
1 copy of Owly: Helping Hands
3 copies of X-Men
2 copies of Project Superpowers: The Death-Defying Devil
1 copy of Arcana Presents
2 copies of Dan Dare/TheStranded
1 copy of Atomic Robo/Neozoic
1 copy of Neotopia: The Enlightened Age Book 1 (full manga book in color)
yes it was a good day!
- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson
Friday, May 9, 2008
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2008 - The Holdays are among us
Secret Invasion #2
This image is copyright © 2008 Marvel Comics and is used as Fair Use Review images only. Image will be removed upon request of Marvel Comics.
Secret Invasion #2
Cover Price: $2.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Major Characters: SKRULLS, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Hawkeye/Ronin, Wolverine, Mokingbird, Luke Cage, Vision, Sentry, Ms. Marvel, Ares, Captain America, many character doubles
SKRULLS! SKRULLS! SKRULLS!
So in issue #1 a bunch of old school 70s and 80s style heroes jumped off of a crashed SKRULL ship. In issue #2 all hell breaks lose and Avengers old and new break out into battle. Its unclear who is a Skrull and who isn't (thats what they wanted right) so the battle breaks out and Ares is telling the Avengers that we know in todays comics to leave because this isn't the right fight to be involved in but the fight happens anyway and some of the pieces start to fall into place.
Several of the characters from the Skrull ship are revealed as Skrulls when they are killed in the fight or by the giant T-Rex that rips through the middle of the fray (Savage Land Style). Spider-Man & Hawkeye + dead = skrulls. I think some of the 70s/80s characters are going to be who they say they are. Emma Frost is shot with an arrow and is bleeding red blood (do skrulls have red blood?) and I anm going on record saying that I believe Mockingbird is the real deal.
In the 80's I was a huge fan of the West Coast Avengers and I loved Hawkeye and Mockingbirds relationship and really wished that they had not killed her off. I want these two back together almost as much as I want Spider-Man and Mary Jane back. I always found it interesting to have married heroes no matter what Joe Quesada thinks. I think Clint Bartons little test of what "October 12th" is one of those things that always works in the movies and it has to work here please Mr. Bendis for me let ths be the real Mockingbird and Hawkeye, please, please, please.
Francis Lenil Yu again does a nice job on the art and I am ready to read some of the comics that I get that tie-in to this series.
DC Universe #0
This image is copyright © 2008 DC Comics and is used as Fair Use Review images only. Image will be removed upon request of DC Comics.
DC Universe #0
Cover Price: .50 cents
Publisher: DC Comics
Major Characters: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Joker, Flash, Green Lantern, Spectre, Rogues Gallery, Libra
So this is basically a issue long commercial for DC's upcoming Final Crisis and several tie-in limited series. Each section of the comic is followed by an ad for a new series DC hopes we will all buy. Normally this kind of thing would not be something I'd enjoy spending my money on but DC did the right thing by making it .50 cents and providing some great artwork and a nice lead in to Final Crisis. Lots of characters appear but what interested me most is the Batman/Joker stuff and I hope I don't need to buy Batman R.I.P. to read that one because it looks good and I hope they cover it in Final Crisis or I'll probably have to pick up the trade later on.
All in all I'm excited for Final Crisis to start up (I'll have to wait for my DCBS order to get this one though) and I don't blame DC for putting this out...hell I'd buy plenty more .50 cent comics for the art alone.
-Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson
New Stats For My DCBS Ordering
So DCBS has an option to download all of the items that you have ordered from them so I can now have a more accurate count of the titles I've ordered and update statistics of my trends in ordering. I'm not sure what I'll come up with for a complete statistical measure of my collection being that its a lot of boxes and I have never been able to get a 100% complete list of everything I own. Anyway the newest statistics look better fo DC Comics in my DCBS ordering.
The Totals:
DC Comics - 199
Marvel Comics - 199
Dark Horse - 4
Archaia Studios Press - 2
Ape Entertainment - 2
Abstract Studio - 1
Boom! Studios - 1
Evil Twin Comics - 1
Super Real Graphics - 1
DC Comics and Marvel Comics tie with 48.5% each and all other indie's combining for 3%. Marvel will soon takeover the number one spot because I have recently dropped Flash and Supergirl and Countdown is over and I will not be getting another weekly title from DC.
Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson
Saturday, May 3, 2008
My Current DCBS Order for May 2008
These are the comics I have on order with DCBS for the month of May 2008, feel free to discuss what you are excited about.
ACTION COMICS #867
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #564
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #565
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #566
BATMAN #679
CAPTAIN AMERICA #40
DETECTIVE COMICS #846
FEMME NOIR DARK CITY DIARIES #2 (OF 4)
FINAL CRISIS #3 (OF 7)
GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #10
HULK #5
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #23
MIGHTY AVENGERS #16
MOON KNIGHT #20
MS MARVEL #29
NEW AVENGERS #43
SECRET INVASION #4
SKRULLS ONE-SHOT
SPIDER-MAN BRAND NEW DAY EXTRA
TERRY MOORES ECHO #5
THOR #10
UNCANNY X-MEN #500
USAGI YOJIMBO #113
WONDER WOMAN #22
X-FACTOR #33
X-MEN LEGACY #214
Breakdown:
Marvel - 16
DC - 7
Ape Entertainment - 1
Abstract Studio - 1
Dark Horse Comics - 1
Marvel has a huge edge this month and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.
I'll also be keeping track of DCBS order totals as if April 2008 was the first order I have made maybe I will go back and figure out the real totals later on to see my ordering tendencies.
Breakdown as of April 2008:
Marvel - 28
DC - 15
Ape Entertainment - 2
Abstract Studio - 1
Archaia Studios Press - 1
Dark Horse Comics - 1
- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Iron Man The Movie
So I just saw the movie a day early (not sure how the theatre got away with it but for me and the ten or so others that were there it was awesome)
I'm not gonna spoil it so here is a brief review:
Tony Stark: Kick Ass
Iron Man Armor Mark 1: Kick Ass
Iron Man Armor Mark II and beyond: Kick Ass
Pepper Potts: I wanna make babies with her - Kick Ass
Iron Monger Armor: Kick Ass
Random Afgani Soldiers: Got their Asses Kicked
Was That The Mandarin? - Dunno didn't pay attention in the credits
Music: AC/DC, Suicidal Tendencies, Black Sabbath - KICK ASS
James Rhodes: Gonna Kick Ass in part two
Jarvis: Very Interesting
Technology: KICK FUCKIN' ASS
Staying After The Credits: Priceless see also Kicking Ass
Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Comic Book Conventions and The Lack Thereof
So its convention season and all the podcasts are reporting from the cons and although its cool to hear the interviews it kinda sucks for me because we don't get any cons in Louisiana...maybe some small local stuff but nothing major. We had 1 good one here that I know of (ever) it was called The Big Easy Comic Con (It was owned by Mid-Ohio Comic Con) and it was awesome. I just wish we could get something down here Big Easy never came back due to the hotel selling their space for the next year (which they had already paid for). I got to meet Brian Michael Bendis when he was doing Sam and Twitch and got to talk to him for at least 30 minutes with just me and my friend. There are some funny stories to go along with this show but that's another blog. Anyway I felt like there was a lot of support in New Orleans for a Convention and I have always wondered why there are never any shows around here??? So if you have conventions around you or can afford to travel to them enjoy them to the fullest.
-Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson
