My Kingdom for a Copy of She-Hulk #10!
I am so wishing Nerd Nation was a reality already. See, this weekend, Jeff and I were staying in a certain unfamiliar locale, and we wanted to find a decent comic shop so we could pick up our books. Thanks to some convoluted Googling, I located a place that seemed cool: newish shop, nifty name and mere steps away from where we were staying. We hustled on over there — and in approximately 30 seconds, we had come to a rather dismaying conclusion. The shop only stocked two things: graphic novels and RPGs. Which…nothing wrong with either, but there was nary a single issue in sight. No new comics. No tantalizing display of the week’s latest issues. What’s more, we were the only customers in sight, and the atmosphere was one of heavy silence coupled with sterile weirdness, so we didn’t quite feel comfortable asking what the deal was.
We decided to wander around the area a bit, and came upon a little olde thymey hobby shop with model trains, action figures annnnndddd…comic books! Huzzah! Only once we got inside, we found that said comic books were mysteriously ensconced behind the counter. No touchy! So…OK. I guess they don’t want you reading stuff you aren’t gonna buy, but…the books weren’t even displayed well. We craned our necks a bit, trying to suss out the full selection, but it was all for naught since old hobby shop proprietor dude was busy chatting up another customer and could not be bothered to take notice of us. Jeff was pretty put off by the whole behind-the-counter schtick anyway, so we ditched the place.
Both of those scenarios are…weird, right? And if NN existed, I might write up both of these places and name names, oh my! Instead, I shall just marvel at this particular town’s lack of a good shop in which to indulge in one of my weekly rituals of nerdery.
Bat-Brilliance
If you’re not picking up Paul Dini’s current run of Detective Comics, where he’s basically cranking out tight-ass little done-in-ones every month, you may kick yourself now. This is shaping up to be a GREAT run.
Somehow Dini mixes a decidedly Animated Series-inspired take on the character and Gotham with a more tense, adult approach–and I’m not just saying that because a scene in the last issue featured an S&M club. These aren’t kids stories, or really for kids, but they get to the essence of Batman just as the Animated Series did.
There’s even awesome little touches, like Batman offering a guy he’s just interrogated a band-aid for the cut on his face. NICE, Dini. NICE.
Will it be one of the all-time great Bat-runs? Way too early to say. I will say, however, that it’s really fucking great, and the first decade of the aughts has yet to produce its great Bat-run, so it’s already a contender in my book.
We're not using The Zed Word.
Yes, the guy had barely taken Shaun out of the case when I bought it, and yes I had to return today to buy a Dawn of the Dead zombie to menace him. And yes, I’m now thinking about buying their first series Dawn of the Dead zombie to add to the mix.
I’m a zombie nerd – whattayagonnadoaboudit?
Darwyn Cooke on The Spirit
Great interview with Darwyn Cooke on his new Spirit comic coming from DC late this year. Also, preview art!
Geek Potpourri
I got sick right after Comic-Con and feel like I am still just catching up on everything. Perhaps someday I will have finally waded through the entire Civil War checklist and viewed all the saved Dead Zones on my TiVo and watched the many hilarious viral videos making the e-rounds. Don’t hassle the Hoff! And please come jump in my car! (I know, that one’s already old.)
Anyway, in an effort to begin the catch-up process, here are a few geek thoughts pingin’ around the old brain, not in any sort of coherent order.
1. I figured Jordan Collier would show up sooner or later this season on The 4400, but how incredibly perfect that he appeared right before The Wedding of Crazy? Awesome and unexpected. That combined with the weird/sweet romance between geek-approved guest stars Summer Glau and Jeffrey Combs a couple weeks ago is enough to make me forgive the show for ditching my TV Girlfriend, Karina Lombard.
2. I’m really excited that Raina Telgemeier is doing more Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels, and I noticed that the next one she’s working on is The Truth About Stacey. Old skool BSC aficionados (ie, lots of chicks in my age bracket) know that this is book #3 in the actual series…what about #2, Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls?! I was momentarily distressed, since wild-dressing, junk food-loving, Asian American sistah Claudia was always my favorite BSC-er. But then I saw that Raina addressed this very query on her BSC-centric livejournal. Claudia and Mean Janine, #7 in the book series, will be #4 of the GNs. Huzzah! And if I remember the story correctly, it shall make for a very lovely and touching comic indeed. I wonder if Raina plans to do anything with the second tier BSC-ers — Dawn, Mallory, Jessi, etc? Maybe she talks about that somewhere, too. I should keep reading.
3. The most fascinating blog posting/comments discussion I’ve seen in a bit: Apparently, in his spare time, Mark Millar just swims around in a big pile of MONEY!
4. Inquiring minds want to know: has a certain Chris Stewart received the very special, slightly dinged Penny Arcade poster acquired at CC?
