What's In The Box - May 2011

As you may already know if you have gone back to the start of this blog I order my monthly comic books from Discount Comic Book Service (DCBS) in order to get the discout that I need to be able to get most of the comics I want within my budget. I do try to support local comic shops (LCS) as much as I can by buying trades and when I want to try out a new series.

Now when I get my comics its usually a month or more after they have been out so I can never have the hot new issue when everyone else does and sometimes I'll go buy important series from my LCS because waiting for some comic books just isn't fun and worth the extra few dollars to get them as they come out Civil War, Fear Itself, Final Crisis to name a few of the titles I did this for. 

I think this section of the blog will replace the "Pull List" I've done so that I can put a picture of what I got in and if anyone wants to discuss what I got we can go from there and I always enjoy seing pictures of what other people added to teir collections.

So this is what's In the Box recieved in May 2011:

The Amazing Spider-Man #658-659, Annual #38

Justice Society of America #50

Usagi Yojimbo #136

X-Factor #218

Justice League of America #56

Brightest Day #23-24

The Avengers #12

Captain America #617

The New Avengers #11

The Mighty Thor #1

Journey Into Mystery #622

X-Men Legacy #247

Secret Avengers #12

Uncanny X-Men #535-536

Batman #709

19 comics this month I usually average about 22 - 25 but I think a few series ended the month I made this order. I hope that this was mildly interesting and that you'll check in for my next review.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

My Current DCBS Order October 2008

These are the comics I have on order with DCBS for the month of October 2008, feel free to discuss what you are excited about.

I got back to my budget this month and sold some stuff on eBay to make up for last months over doing it whew! The only extra I got this time around is the Hulk 100 Project...I love art books so this should be pretty nice to have.

Here's the new order:
Action Comics #872
Amazing Spider-Man #579
Amazing Spider-Man #580
Amazing Spider-Man #581
Batman #684
Captain America #45
Detective Comics #851
Green Arrow and Black Canary #15
Hulk #9
Hulk 100 Project
Justice League Of America #28
Justice Society Of America #22
Ms. Marvel #34
Moon Knight #25
New Avengers #48
Patsy Walker Hellcat #5 (of 5)
Spawn #187
Terry Moore's Echo #9
Uncanny X-Men #505
Usagi Youjimbo #116
Wonder Woman #27
X-Factor #38
X-Men Legacy #219

Breakdown:
Marvel - 13
DC - 7
Abstract Studio - 1
Dark Horse Comics - 1
Image - 1


Breakdown of comics ordered from DCBS as of October 2008:
Marvel Comics - 273
DC Comics - 238
Abstract Studio - 7
Dark Horse - 7
Ape Entertainment - 4
Archaia Studios Press - 3
Image - 3
Boom! Studios - 1
Evil Twin Comics - 1
Super Real Graphics - 1
Unknown Publisher - 1

Marvel Comics now leads with 50.65% of the comics ordered from DCBS and DC Comics drops to 44.15% all other indie's move up to 5.2%.

- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

My Current DCBS Order September 2008

These are the comics I have on order with DCBS for the month of September 2008, feel free to discuss what you are excited about.

I went a bit over budget this month...better sell some stuff on eBay.

Action Comics #871
Amazing Spider-Man #576
Amazing Spider-Man #577
Amazing Spider-Man #578
Batman #682
Batman #683
Captain America #44
Detective Comics #850
Final Crisis #6 (of 7)
Green Arrow and Black Canary #14
Hulk #8
Justice League Of America #27
Justice Society Of America #21
Mighty Avengers #20
Ms. Marvel #33
Ms. Marvel Special Storyteller
Moon Knight #24
New Avengers #47
Patsy Walker Hellcat #4 (of 5)
Secret Invasion #8 (of 8)
Spawn #186
Terry Moore's Echo #8
Thor #12
U Is For United 2008 Comic Geek Speak Listener Anthology
Uncanny X-Men #504
Wonder Woman #26
X-Factor #37
X-Men Legacy #218

Comics Now Magazine #4

Breakdown:
Marvel - 16
DC - 9
Abstract Studio - 1
Image - 1
Unknown Publisher - 1

Went way over budget this month with 2 extra comics and a magazine. Next month a few things will drop off and I'm going to have to maybe drop a few titles.

Breakdown as of September 2008:
Marvel Comics - 260
DC Comics - 231
Abstract Studio - 6

Dark Horse - 6

Ape Entertainment - 4
Archaia Studios Press - 3
Image - 2
Boom! Studios - 1
Evil Twin Comics - 1
Super Real Graphics - 1
Unknown Publisher - 1

Marvel Comics now leads with 50.4% of the comics ordered from DCBS and DC Comics drops to 44.8% all other indie's move up to 4.8%. The Comic Geek Speak Book is bieng published by someone unknown to me at this time and I almost missed it on the order I'll updated this if and when I find out who the publisher is.

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

My Current DCBS Order August 2008

I'm a bit late with this I've been working on my website and had to put this blog on hold for a while. So anyway here's the update.

These are the comics I have on order with DCBS for the month of August 2008, feel free to discuss what you are excited about.

Action Comics #870
Amazing Spider-Man #573
Amazing Spider-Man #574
Amazing Spider-Man #575
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
Batman #681
Captain America #43
Detective Comics #849
Final Crisis #5 (of 7)
Green Arrow and Black Canary #13
Hulk #7
Justice League of America #26
Justice Society of America #20
Mighty Avengers #19
Monster Size Hulk #1
Moon Knight #23
Ms. Marvel #32
New Avengers #46
Secret Invasion #7 (of 6)
Spawn #185
Terry Moore's Echo #7
Uncanny X-Men #503
Usagi Yojimbo #115
Wonder Woman #25
X-Factor #36
X-Men Legacy #217

Breakdown:
Marvel - 15
DC - 8
Abstract Studio - 1
Dark Horse Comics - 1
Image - 1

2 less comics this month and again Marvel dominates the month holding number 1 spot. As you can tell I mostly "Make Mine Marvel" always have probably always will. I haven't bought anything from Image in a while but with Todd McFarlane back involved with Spawn I thought I'd check it out for a while.

Breakdown as of August 2008:
Marvel Comics - 244
DC Comics - 222
Dark Horse - 6
Abstract Studio - 5
Ape Entertainment - 4
Archaia Studios Press - 3
Boom! Studios - 1
Evil Twin Comics - 1
Image - 1
Super Real Graphics - 1

Marvel Comics now leads with 50% of the comics ordered from DCBS and DC Comics drops to 45.5% all other indie's move up to 4.5%. I really want to see how far ahead Marvel gets over time. I enjoy all brands of comics but Marvel is where my heart is I guess. Someday I'm going to get a complete list of all of my comics and really get an accurate count.

- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

My Current DCBS Order July 2008

These are the comics I have on order with DCBS for the month of July 2008, feel free to discuss what you are excited about. This order includes two back issues that I didn't order in the last two months.

Action Comics #869
Amazing Spider-Man #570
Amazing Spider-Man #571
Amazing Spider-Man #572
Captain America #42
Detective Comics #848
Femme Noir: Dark City Diaries #4 (of 4)
Final Crisis #4 (of 7)
Green Arrow and Black Canary #12
Hulk #6
Justice League of America #25
Justice Society of America #10
Mighty Avengers #18
Moon Knight #22
Ms. Marvel #31
Ms. Marvel Annual #1
New Avengers #45
Patsy Walker: Hellcat #1 (of 6)
Patsy Walker: Hellcat #2 (of 6)
Patsy Walker: Hellcat #3 (of 6)
Secret Invasion #6 (of 6)
Terry Moore's Echo #6
Thor #11
Uncanny X-Men #502
Usagi Yojimbo #114
Wonder Woman #24
X-Factor #35
X-Men Legacy #216

Breakdown:
Marvel - 18
DC - 7
Ape Entertainment - 1
Abstract Studio - 1
Dark Horse Comics - 1


Marvel dominates this month holding number 1 spot overall and pulling away quickly. DC is still falling away from the top.

Breakdown as of July 2008:
Marvel Comics - 229
DC Comics - 214
Dark Horse - 5
Ape Entertainment - 4
Abstract Studio - 4
Archaia Studios Press - 3
Boom! Studios - 1
Evil Twin Comics - 1
Super Real Graphics - 1

Marvel Comics now leads with 49.6% of the comics ordered and DC Comics drops to 46.3% all other indie's move up to 4.1%.

- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

My Current DCBS Order June 2008

These are the comics I have on order with DCBS for the month of June 2008, feel free to discuss what you are excited about.

ACTION COMICS #868
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #567
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #568
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #569
BATMAN #680
CAPTAIN AMERICA #41
DETECTIVE COMICS #847
FEMME NOIR DARK CITY DIARIES #3 (OF 4)
GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #11
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #24
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #18
MIGHTY AVENGERS #17
MOON KNIGHT #21
MOUSE GUARD WINTER 1152 #6 (OF 6)
MS MARVEL #30
NEW AVENGERS #44
SECRET INVASION #5 (OF 8)
UNCANNY X-MEN #501
WONDER WOMAN #23
X-FACTOR #34
X-MEN LEGACY #215

Breakdown:
Marvel - 12
DC - 7
Ape Entertainment - 1
Archaia Studio Press - 1

Marvel has the edge again this month even with a few titles not coming out this month and taking over the number 1 spot overall. DC stays close in the totals but slips back to second overall. A few Amendments to last months order Terry Moore's ECHO #3 & #4 were added from Abstract Studio as well as Justice Society Of America Annual #1 from DC. These comics are added to the overall totals.

Breakdown as of April 2008:
Marvel Comics - 211
DC Comics - 207
Dark Horse - 4
Archaia Studios Press - 3
Ape Entertainment - 3
Abstract Studio - 3
Boom! Studios - 1
Evil Twin Comics - 1
Super Real Graphics - 1

Marvel Comics now leads with 48.6% of the comics ordered and DC is a close second with 47.7% all other indie's combining for 3.7%.

- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

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

My Current DCBS Order April 2008

Well I thought I'd start posting the comics that I order from DCBS so that any of you that are interested in one of these comics I can talk about it because I'll have it. I don't get Previews anymore so I can only assume that these are from the current Previews which is April this month and the comics should be out in two months. I'll do this each month and there will be a log of at least the definite comics I have that I can talk about.

Here's the list for April 2008:

Action Comics #866

Amazing Spider-Man #561, 562, & 563

Batman #678

Captain America #39

Detective Comics #845

Green Arrow & Black Canary #9

Justice League of America #22

Justice Society of America #17

Mighty Avengers #15

Moon Knight #19

Ms. Marvel #28

New Avengers #42

Uncanny X-Men #499

Wonder Woman #21

X-Factor #32

X-Men Legacy #213

Femme Noir: Dark City Diaries #1 (of 4)

Final Crisis #2 (of 7)

Secret Invasion #3 (of 8)

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 #5 (of 6)

Comics Now Magazine #3

Breakdown:

Marvel - 12

DC - 8

Ape Entertainment - 1

Archaia Studios Press - 1

Marvel has the edge this month and this will probably be a regular occurence being Marvel is my favorite. The indie titles will probably also remain small until I can afford to increase my spending.

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

What I'm Reading - My Pull List

What I’m Reading – My Pull List

Almost everyone out there in comic book land has their monthly pull-list of comics that they collect or just have to have out of some sort of weird obsessive compulsive pattern of behavior that they just can’t help but satisfy. For me I tend to buy a comics series for a very long timer even if I am years behind on reading them for example I am probably 2 years or so on Green Arrow and I have not even started to read the new Green Arrow and Black Canary series because I just have to catch up yet on other occasions I just jump back in on a series and do the catching up later I had let Spider-Man titles lag for a while and when I heard that they were doing one title three times monthly I jumped into the One More Day story arc and have kept up to date on Amazing Spider-Man.

Most comic book stores allow customers to create a pull list and is the thing to do if you collect more than five titles a month (if your shop offers this). Having a pull list is often a great idea because in my experience the shop will get to know you better and they can suggest new titles and if there is something missing from your folder (a fancy name for pull list) they will often go out of their way to get you your comic. In my case I have a cash issue and I have gone to an Internet service so that I can get a discount and get most of the comics that I want to read the indies lose out these days and Marvel and DC dominate my pull list but I love independent comics too and try to read as many as I can.

If you are in the New Orleans, Louisiana area I suggest going over to BSI Comics in Metairie and talking to manager Jason Grazulis and he can set you up. The shop is well stocked and they even have a girl working there “WOOO HOOO” so check them out at

http://www.bsicomics.com/ or stop in and impulse buy like I do. Also in the New Orleans are on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain stop in at Slidell’s best Magic Comics and Hobbies. Owner David Strecker is an awesome guy he even got me a copy of Captain America #25 on the day it came out when I didn’t even have it on my pull list. The shop is nice and they carry a wide variety of comics, toys, games and just about everything you can think of. Get on David’s good side and tell him you like Thor and ask him where he got that awesome book shelf that weighs about a million pounds. Check out http://www.magic-comics.com/index.html and find links to their online store. Since I’m on a budget I shop online at DCBS http://www.dcbservice.com/ they give great discount usually a minimum of 35% but sometimes 75% off on hot new # 1’s. I love this service and although they are an online service they treat you like they are their best friends. They go the extra mile for you and even find issues that they thought we out of stock for you. (Thanks Zack Ms. Marvel #25 is happy to be at my house I promise) Cameron Merkler is in charge over there (I think) and they do a great job of getting comics shipped quickly and in excellent 9.8 condition. Shipping is only $5.95 too for whatever you order.

So anyway here’s my current pull-list

Comics:

Action Comics
Amazing Spider-Man
Batman
Captain America
Detective Comics
Final Crisis
Green Arrow and Black Canary
Hulk
Justice League Of America
Justice Society Of America
Mighty Avengers
Moon Knight
Mouse Guard Winter 1152
Ms. Marvel
New Avengers
Secret Invasion
Thor
Uncanny X-Men
Usagi Yojimbo
Wonder Woman
X-Factor
X-Men Legacy

Magazines:

Comics Now
Wizard

That's it for now talk to you soon!!!

-Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson