Category: comics

NYCC 2018 – one month away

New York Comic Con is just about a month away. I bought my tickets back in June, and got tickets for all four days this year. (Last year, I only went on two days.)

I also bought a ticket for the Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibit at the New York Historical Society, for Friday of the con. This isn’t related to the con, but just happens to open on the same weekend. There may be a few other related (or not exactly related) events that I’ll try to get to during the con.

I dithered a lot on whether or not I should book a hotel room. I’d pretty much decided against it, and was going to just take the train in each day, but then changed my mind this weekend. So now I’ve booked a room for Thursday through Sunday. That’s a bit of a compromise, since I was initially looking to get a room from Wednesday night through Monday, so I’d have the room for all four days of the con. But hotel rooms in Manhattan are expensive, and three nights is easier to justify than five nights. So the plan now is to take the train in on Thursday morning, drop my stuff off at the hotel, go to the con, then come back and check in later in the day. Then, I’ll check out Sunday morning and leave my bags at the hotel, go to the con, then pick them up later and take the train home Sunday night. Here’s hoping that all works out and doesn’t backfire in some way.

The excuse I used to talk myself into paying for the hotel is basically that I haven’t taken any other significant vacation this year, and the year is almost over now. I did stay in NYC for two nights in March, when I went to see Cursed Child, but that’s about it. So three nights in October won’t kill my checking account, and it’ll be a nice break.

I’ve started looking at the panel schedule for the con. There’s a lot going on! I kind of wish they had a downloadable PDF of the schedule. The interface they have for browsing it isn’t great, and their site is pretty slow. (The auto-playing video in the page header isn’t helping.) I do like that you can add panels to a personal schedule, and then print it out later. (I may have spoken too soon on that… I remember being able to print out the schedule last year, but I just checked and I don’t see any easy way to do it now. So I may be adding a bunch of stuff to a schedule that I can only view online. Ugh.) Well, either way, there’s plenty of interesting stuff going on, so I should be able to have a pretty good time.

comic book indecision

I feel like I should be posting about something other than comic books, since that’s just about all I’ve posted about lately, but honestly I’m not really moved to post about anything else right now. I have a couple of ideas for programming-related posts, but it’s Saturday and I’m not thinking about work today. So, more comic book stuff.

Since my last post, I’ve gotten my first shipment from Westfield. I didn’t really expect to get anything until the end of this month (August), but I ordered two comics that shipped in July, so I got a July shipment. I’d rather they held those two books though, since it cost $7.80 for shipping, and the two comics only cost $6.53 total. But, oh well, the next shipment will have a better comics/shipping cost ratio.

Also since my last post, I found out that my local comics shop has started using ManageComics.com to manage their pull lists. If they’d had that in place a month ago, I might not have jumped back to Westfield. They used to use Comixology’s pull list service, until it was discontinued earlier this year. And I had been kind of hoping that they’d use Diamond’s Pullbox service when it becomes available, since that sounded like it would probably be a pretty smooth way to handle things. Well, if things don’t work out with Westfield, I’ll probably go back to the local shop and give the ManageComics thing a try.

I just placed my August Westfield order (for comics shipping in October). I ordered all of my usual books, but then had to decide on whether or not to order any of the new Sandman Universe books. I read Sandman: Overture last weekend, so I’m experiencing a little bit of Sandman nostalgia right now. So I picked up the Sandman Universe one-shot at the comics shop this week and read it. I think I’m a little bit interested in The Dreaming, but not the other three titles. All four books look good, honestly, and if I had a lot more spare time and money, I’d pick them all up. In the end, I decided not to pre-order The Dreaming. When it comes out, I’ll check the reviews, and maybe pick up the first couple of issues at the comics shop before committing to it.

I also read the first arc of B.P.R.D Hell on Earth last weekend. Back before I stopped buying comics regularly in 2009, I was a regular reader of all the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. comics. I’ve since filled in some of the stuff I’ve missed via Dark Horse Digital, and read a little bit of it. I really wasn’t sure if I wanted to jump into Hell on Earth. It’s a long story, and it looks to be fairly bleak. But I liked that first arc, so now I’ve ordered the first two hardcover collections, (Volumes One and Two). I don’t think I’m going to start buying any current B.P.R.D. comics though. I’m going to try to stick with trades/digital/hardcovers/whatever. I’m not sure if buying the hardcovers was a good idea, really. I probably should have waited for the next big sale at Dark Horse Digital. But hey, I got both hardcovers at a good discount.

Speaking of nostalgia for stuff I was reading 20+ years ago, I see there’s a Cerebus comic in the catalog this month too. It’s a one-shot, apparently, and looks like it might be funny, but I’m not ordering it. I’m definitely not ready to jump back into the Cerebus vortex! This is an example, though, of some of the difficulties with trying to buy comics these days. I would never have seen this at my local comics store. And, even with Westfield, it wasn’t in their printed catalog. I only stumbled across it because I noticed Aardvark-Vanaheim in the publisher list on the web site.

Beau Smith has a column up at the Westfield site that’s kind of relevant to all this indecision of mine regarding comic book buying. Relevant quote:

Be conscious and particular of where you are tossing your money. Make sure you throw it at what YOU want to read about. Make purposeful choices. Be entertained and informed.

I’m going to try to remember that. I should wrap this thing up and get back to actually reading comics now.

buying comic books is complicated

For the last couple of years, I’ve been visiting my local comic book store once a week and picking up a few books. I started doing this around the same time DC’s Rebirth started, in 2016. I was originally looking at it as an experiment to see if I could get back into buying and reading regular superhero comics again, after a fairly long break. Well, I found a few books I liked and I stuck with it for quite a while. A few things happened recently that got me thinking about whether or not I wanted to stick with it though. Some changes in creative teams on the books and stuff like that.

I thought about jumping off the “weekly comic store visit” bandwagon in January 2017, and wrote a lengthy blog post about that, but I decided to keep going to the local store, and I stuck with most of the books I was reading. Well, I’ve now somehow managed to talk myself into switching back to getting my comics from Westfield Comics again. I placed an order with them today, for comics coming out in August and September. Maybe switching to Westfield will cause me to spend more money on comics, or maybe it’ll be less money. (Placing just one order per month, and seeing the total for the month all at once, might lead me to manage my comic book budget a little better.)

My plan is to stick with Westfield until the end of the year, then reevaluate. I might then give up entirely on monthly books again, or switch to just getting stuff digitally from Comixology, or go back to the local store. I don’t know. The thing I need to watch out for is my tendency to build up a ridiculous backlog. I think I should set a rule that if the pile of unread comics gets taller than me again, I need to stop buying them altogether.

SDCC day one

As I said in yesterday’s post, I am not at SDCC. But I am following the news. Or at least some of the news. So here’s a post with links to a few things I found interesting today.

Spotlight on Maggie Thompson panel: The panel I would most like to have attended today. I was a long-time subscriber and reader of CBG, and it’s nice to see Maggie get a spotlight panel. I learned a lot about comics (and a bunch of other stuff) from Maggie and Don Thompson, and I really miss CBG. (The linked article from The Beat is a little… off. I get the feeling that maybe it was written in a rush, at the back of the panel room, and uploaded to the site without any editing. Oh well. This is one of the reasons I miss CBG so much: well-written and well-edited articles!)

The Comics Journal returns to print: Not exactly SDCC news, but related, and probably timed to coincide with SDCC. I never subscribed to The Comics Journal, but I did pick up a number of issues, back when it was a regular monthly magazine. TCJ always seemed a little too self-important and serious to me, but they ran some great interviews and articles. The new print magazine will only be coming out twice a year, though, so it’s not going to be quite the same as it was in its heyday. But it’s still a welcome return.

Doctor Who Series 11 Trailer: Yeah, I’m looking forward to this! The Doctor Who panel today would be my second choice for “panel I would most like to have attended.”

DC Universe streaming service: I’m curious about this, but not sure I want to pay $8 per month for it. The Titans trailer is… interesting. I’m not sure what to think about it really. It could be a great show or it could be a train wreck. Hard to tell. You can pre-order a one-year membership for $75 right now, but I’m not sure I’d do that without having more of a clue about the new shows.

Grant Morrison on Green Lantern: This is a book I’m going to want to read.

Not at SDCC, preview night edition

Once again, I’m not at SDCC. Sigh. Tonight is preview night, and there are a few things going on, but maybe nothing too exciting (to me, at least). I see that they’re actually closing Harbor Drive during the con this year, which has got to be a pretty big deal. (They probably should have started doing that a few years ago, honestly.)

I’ll be keeping an eye on the news from San Diego during the con. There’s usually some interesting and fun stuff, and I could really use a break from serious news right now. The Union-Tribune has a landing page up with links to all of their con coverage. The local coverage of the con is usually pretty interesting. (They even have an article up about recreational marijuana use for con attendees! Pair that with the free Taco Bell, and you’re all set.)

I’ll probably also be spending some money over at Comixology this weekend. They generally have some pretty good sales going on during the con.

Library Book Sale

I went to the Somerville Library Book Sale after work today and picked up a few things. It was a pretty good deal: four Rick Geary books and two lemon bars for $3! I’m a big fan of Rick Geary. I used to make a point of visiting his table at SDCC every year, back when I was going to SDCC every year. (Those were the days…) He’s a good guy, and his “true crime” books are really good.

I also got a chance to see a few of the books I donated last week one last time. I hope someone picks them up and enjoys them. And I saw a few things that made me realize that I could have donated even more stuff: they had a good number of old CDs and DVDs (and even cassettes and VHS tapes), so I really could have gotten rid of some old CDs and DVDs at least. I do feel a little bad that I didn’t pick up any regular (non-graphic) novels, but they didn’t have anything I really needed or wanted.

NYCC 2018

After waiting an hour in the “virtual queue”, and spending an ungodly amount of money, I now have tickets for all four days of NYCC 2018. I had a good time last year, but only managed to get tickets for two days. This year, I’ll try to survive the full four-day con experience. When I was younger, I could get through a full four-day San Diego con with no problem, but as I get older, it’s hard to sustain my energy through four days of walking around a lot while carrying a backpack. We’ll see how it goes.

By a weird coincidence, I saw in my “On This Day” sidebar a post from 2005 referencing the announcement of the very first NYCC. (The link from that post is dead, but you can read it via archive.org here.) It’s been a highly successful con, overall. It’s hard to run a large con in New York, and other cons have failed. There have been some bumps in the road; for a few years, they didn’t seem to be managing the con well, and there were a lot of complaints about overcrowding. But last year wasn’t bad and they seem to have figured out crowd control, for the most part. So kudos to them for sticking it out and surviving!

two funny Batman comics

A couple of recent Batman-related comics:

  1. Uncle Batman’s Vengeance Juice from Diesel Sweeties (also coffee-related, so covering my two main interests in life)
  2. Robins from SMBC (not coffee-related, but still good)

I think both of these are making a good point, but about half my “to be read” comic book pile right now is Batman-related, and I’m not ashamed of that.

Speaking of which, I might be reading the Batman and the Signal mini-series this weekend, since the last issue came out this week.

Marvel 99 cent sales and other comics stuff

The Beat has a good article up today, trying to explain what’s going on with the Amazon/Comixology 99 cent sales on Marvel books. As a fan, it’s kind of cool to be able to pick up some pretty good books for a buck each, but I feel a little bad for my local comic shop, when these prices are being offered on new release books. I mean, nobody’s going to spend $20 on a book at the store if they can get it for $1 on Comixology. (Well, maybe some people will. But a lot of people won’t.) I’ve bought a few of the 99 cent books over the last few weeks, but they’re all books I would never have paid cover price for anyway.

On a semi-related note, The Beat has a write-up on the Mike Mignola Q&A from MoCCA Fest that I missed last weekend. (Now I’m in the mood to read some Hellboy.)

This weekend, I’m thinking about going to the Big Apple Con. I probably shouldn’t go to comic cons two weekends in a row, but the Big Apple Con is much different from MoCCA Fest. It’s much more of a traditional comic con. There are going to be a few interesting panels at the con, including a Gold & Silver Age panel that could be fun.

MoCCA Arts Festival 2018

I went into New York today for MoCCA Fest. I’d gone to it last year, and enjoyed it, so I went back again this year. Last year, I’d made a full day of it, hitting a couple of museums too. This year, I wasn’t as ambitious and just went to MoCCA Fest. (And I was lazy and took a cab from the train station and back, so I didn’t even get in much walking.)

Last year, I didn’t buy anything at all, nor did I go to any panels. This year, I went to one panel and bought one book, so I did a little better on that front. I bought a copy of March: Book Three, and got it signed by Nate Powell, so that was pretty cool. (I have digital copies of books one and two, though I haven’t read them yet.) Powell was one of their guests of honor, and had some of his art exhibited in the little gallery they set up.

I went to a Q&A panel with Jaime Hernandez, one of my favorite artists. He was there mostly to promote his new book The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America. He also talked about the new Studio Edition book from Fantagraphics, and about his work in general. I’ll probably pick up the Dragon Slayer book from Amazon; the Studio Edition book looks a little too expensive for me. Love and Rockets has been one my very favorite comics since the early days; I think the first issue I bought was #2, in 1982. I’ve never seen any of the Hernandez brothers in person before today though, so it was really cool to finally see Jaime. I probably should have stuck around long enough to get something signed by him, but I didn’t. I’m way behind in my L&R reading too. I have the whole New Stories series, all eight volumes, from Comixology, but I haven’t read any of them yet. That series ran from 2008 to 2016, so I guess I’m ten years behind. (Geez.)

I would also have liked to stick around for Mike Mignola’s panel, but it wasn’t until 3:30 and I didn’t want to stay in the city too late. I could have gotten something signed by him, too, if I’d wanted. When I first walked into the con, he was at his table, and there wasn’t a line, just a couple of guys chatting with him. But I hadn’t actually brought anything for him to sign. (I probably should have just asked him to sign my program book.) Maybe next time.

Overall, it was a fun little show. Lots of eccentric work on display, and pretty much zero super-hero stuff. A nice change of pace from a typical comic con.