Hey, Folks!
Well, Monarch Comics annual post-holiday sale has completed successfully and it is now time to move on to the promised store renovations! To that end, I have scheduled my painting partners to come in and get the job done on Monday, March 22nd. No big whoop to you, my beloved customers, as I am already closed on Mondays. Since I am planning on painting all of the walls, however, it will necessitate a certain amount of “store deconstruction”. If you swing by the store on March 19th-21st you will most likely be greeted by a comic shop is serious disarray. As a result, I am apologizing in advance “for my mess” and ask everyone to be kind while I muddle through the first part of my ambitious plan. Additionally, I want to also let anyone know whom I haven’t mentioned it to that the back issue boxes and the dollar boxes will be taking up temporary residence in the back room while this process is going on. I haven’t decided how to handle this issue yet, but at the very least either Jake or I can go back there and look for any items you are interested in during the renovations.
Speaking of Jake, he will be making his first solo appearance in the store this weekend. From what I know about the comic industry this will be a double bagged first appearance special! I designed his limited hours to allow me to have a little time off so he will be working the 3pm-7pm shift on Friday and the 11am-3pm shift on Saturday. Everyone has been very welcoming to him so far, but please be extra kind this weekend while he does his first solo stint. Okay, actually, you can give him a little bit of a hard time, but not enough where he has to call me for instructions…lol. I do believe Hillman has been a little neglected during this settling in period for me and so I am takin him out for a romantic dinner of vegan sushi on Friday night. I’d hate to have to leave the restaurant because something has gone wrong at the store.
And speaking of Friday night, it is (besides Date Night) also the big climax to Disney+’s WandaVision! I am really looking forward to it and I am going to find it very interesting to try and sit through fancy dinner at the restaurant while I am secretly excited to get back home and catch the finale. Hopefully I will be able to avoid all the crazy spoilers that are going to hit the internet 10 minutes after the show drops. I’ve done pretty well so far and, frankly, it’s kind of like a game for me now. That being said, please avoid coming in the store to test my mutant ability to avoid spoilers…I’d hate to have to, you know, negate your existence with the snap of my fingers or sic Jake on you or something…:P
I’ve mentioned this to practically everyone who has come in the store this week, but I must shout it out on the EDitorial as well. One of my favorite D.C. 90’s Elseworld miniseries has FINALLY been released in a gorgeously remastered omnibus hard cover collection! The Superman & Batman Generations Omnibus HC, written and drawn by John Byrne, is finally available! This collection gathers together Superman & Batman: Generations: An Imaginary Tale #1-4, Superman & Batman: Generations II, and Superman & Batman Generations III in their entirety as well as previously published forewords that Mr Byrne contributed to earlier reprint volumes. The main thrust behind this Elseworlds story is Byrne taking Batman and Superman and showing us a world where they both debuted in the late 30’s, but then continued to age in “real time’ along with their supporting casts. The narrative, at least in the first miniseries, divides itself into decade long chapters and we get to watch these characters live, love, and, of course, die as they wind their way through the 20th century (and beyond.) Byrne also makes it a point to give each story arc the feel of the decade it is passing through within its pages. For instance, the 50’s storyline is a goofy and fun science fiction story or the 80’s storyline is grim and gritty. I remember loving the books when they first came out and rereading the epic in one volume has been an even bigger delight. I cannot recommend this title enough and at $75 it is a great deal for an omnibus! Check it out today!
In my continuing efforts to bring YOU the comic book related merchandise that you want in your local comic shop, I’d like to announce next week’s new arrivals! First up on the list is the Pocket POP SW Mandalorian Child in Pod Keychain! Continuing in the line of Pocket POPs, this keychain shows everyone’s favorite adorable little imp in his spherical carry-all. Considering how fast the last Grogu keychain sold out make sure you grab yours before they fly out the door. Next up is the POP Deluxe Mandalorian Child with Canister Fig! This oversized POP vinyl figure features Grogu along with his handy dandy snack pack carrying case…lol. A new item also arrives next week that I wanted to gauge interest in is the Star Wars Mandalorian The Child Pewter Lapel Pins! I honestly have no idea how much lapel pins are in vogue anymore, but it was just so darned cute I decided to take a chance with them! And finally, the only item NOT featuring Grogu, is the WandaVision 3D Foam Bag Clips! I’ll admit that I didn’t really know what a “Foam Bag Clip” was, but the designs were so charming that I couldn’t resist giving them a try.
Amazing Spider-Man #55 3rd Printing Variant (featuring art by Patrick Gleason, but this time blue!) is due out next week. After the tremendous amount of copies that I sold for the first two printings (white and red) I honestly wasn’t sure how much legs the new printing would have, but I have already presold most of my preordered copies. Those of you who requested yours at FOC are still guaranteed to get your copies and I will hold them behind the counters for two weeks before I put them back out on the rack. For those of you who didn’t preorder a copy, I will have a small amount of them available on Wednesday morning and I am going to put in a reorder for more copies that I should have in by next Thursday. (That is, of course, predicated on whether the cover is still available for reorder by the time I place my next order on Sunday. Currently it looks like it won’t be a problem, but ya never know in this business!)
That’s it for me today as I have a crapload of work to catch up on if I’m going to skate out of the store early tomorrow as planned. I’m a week behind with the small amount of mail order that I do and I’m gonna have to catch up on the paperwork that I would normally futz about with on late Fridays/early Saturdays. I also have someone scheduled to bring by a comic collection for me to look at and decide if I want to purchase them or not. New Mutants #87 & #98 were on the list of comics included so I’m a little excited about it. I’ll make a Facebook post if I end up picking up any goodies!
Have a great weekend and I’ll see ya soon!
Eddie