Store sponsors Civil War mock protest

So, I go to this comic shop that put on a Civil War mock protest. The last time I went into the shop, I overheard the protest organizers talking with a co-worker about last week's staged protest -- it was hilarious -- fortunate for the comic shop it was spring break at the college, otherwise they would have been swamped with protest. :)

To quote Newsrama:

The Orlando Sentinel covers the Superhuman Registration Act “protest” organized by A Comic Shop to promote the release of Marvel’s Civil War trade paperback. More than 30 comic book fans showed up for the event, many dressed as Marvel characters and holding signs for or against registration.

You can view video from the protest on the store’s MySpace page. Photos from the event can be seen here.

Gaiman's Eternals

Picked up #6 of 7 of Gaiman's run on the Eternals... Now I'm not a Marvel Zombie; I'm a hard-core DC fan. I've been reading Lee and Kirby's run on the Fantastic Four in trade and I'm enjoying it. I know a little about the Marvel-verse, but I'm not familiar with Kirby's Eternals run. You would think before Gaiman did his run on the Eternals, that Marvel would release Kirby's run in a trade-paper back format. And when I started Gaiman's run, it was #1 of 6... #2 of 6, now it's #6 of 7? Did Marvel forget how to count? Just silly... Aside from Marvel being a bunch of idiots, the series is great... typical Gaiman. I just wish I knew a little more of the back story or the history to really appreciate how he puts it into the Marvel-verse.

Eternals

I've picked up Neil Gaiman's run on the Eternals and I'm loving it. The artwork is superb, the story is engaging and poetic. It's typical Gaiman. I also picked up Jeff Smith's Captain Marvel... Now I like Bone a lot. I'm thinking I need to get my copy of Bone back from my brother-in-law so I can read it again. But his Captain Marvel is very Bonesque... seems like a very simple store on the surface, but lots of "Oh, wow" moments. I'm glad I picked it up...

Now I need to pick up the Essential Captain Marvel in trade... saw it on the shelf at the comic shop I went to. In my mind, I'm corrupted by Alan Moore's run on Miracleman and Tom Strong. I know Jeff is sticking to the spirit of the old Capt'n, but some of story elements and ideas in Alan's Miracleman is burned into my skull... And Neil Gaiman did a few Miracleman stories after Alan left... very good stories, considering it was an hard act to follow.

Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 1

Been reading through Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 the last couple of days. Now, I'm not a Marvel zombie, but I did read some FF back in the 80's -- I've always had a fondness for the team. I've always been a DC reader -- Swamp Thing, Superman, Phantom Stranger, Batman, etc. But I decided to give Stan Lee and Jack Kirby a chance and let me say, I haven't been disappointed. Jack Kirby's creatures are cool... I can really see his influence, especially on Mike Mignola's artwork and for that I'm appreciative.

The funny thing is, with Stan Lee's writing, I get ideas for other stories... for instance, when the FF first encounter the Skrull, 3 of them were left on Earth after the first invasion attempt, hypnotized in to thinking they were cows. Not being a Marvel zombie, did a little research and found out they broke the spell and came back later in another story. But I wondered if they mated with normal cows during that hypnotic stage, why types of creatures would have resulted -- Shape shifting cows? Super-smart mutant cows? :) This in itself wouldn't be the story, but the backdrop for something more interesting... I'm wondering if there's enough loose threads like this for an interesting non-super-hero types of stories.

Rate: B+

Orlando Comic-Con

So I read about the Orlando Comic-Con on the Orlando Metro Blog. Since Erika was working Sunday, I thought I would go and check it out. Didn't recognize any of the names except maybe one... I might have recognize some of the artists from stuff I've read over the years, but no real big names come to mind.

Got talked into buying some stuff (people were very friendly; it was hard to say 'no thank you', especially when you consider how hard these people work to make a living). One guy ended up talking to me about his hilarious take on a werewolf comic -- I just didn't have the heart to say that it wasn't my cup of tea.

Anyway, passed up buying The Song of the South boot-leg copy... again. I might break down and buy it at the next Con... I think next January or February in Orlando.

I had a good time, but the Con was small, compared to the Mid-Ohio Con I attended a few years ago -- there the dealer space was just as large as the artist space. This one had maybe 60 booths, but the vendor space was small. I was looking for some back issues of Powers or that missing issue of Promethea I need for my collection, but vendors seemed to have really limited their stock for this event... And is seemed to me about 90% Marvel (zombie) stuff... Not much DC, Vertigo, or Wildstorm...

And I'm not a big fan of digging through crap to find what I'm looking for. Lots of $0.50 to $1.00 bins; not much golden/silver age comics... It was diversified, but almost to the point of blandness. I did find a few House of Mysteries, House of Secrets, and a Phantom Strangers that I didn't have, but hadn't plan on spending $10+ for a reading copy. One dealer had tons of The Witching Hour, but again at dealer's prices; when all I really want is a reading copy, not a collection copy... Hmm... maybe I should write DC about releasing a collection of some of those great old horror titles...

Dr. Strange

If I could take a Marvel character and revamp the character, which character & what twist would I do? Hm... Doctor Strange, because I wouldn't take on someone from the super-hero line. I like darker, moodier characters... The revamp is a little harder to come up with...

I'd have to do some research... I forget if there's a significant other in his life. Don't think he has any kids... From the stories I do remember reading, he seems isolated, emotionless, cold... Not really a likable character like Batman. Part of the coldness might be from his religious/magic studies, but can't seem to put my finger on it. I remember that he was an arrogant surgeon, who had nerve damage, that sent him on his quest, which led him to study mysticism...

Some initial thoughts, I'd do some flash back (al la Alan Moore's Supreme style).

...more later...

Star Wars!

In honor of of the DVD release, I picked this and the 2nd & 3rd trades up at Half Priced Books over the weekend. Great read! I have in my collection issues #1-9, 50-107... I'm missing most of everything between #10-49... I might have an issue here or there, to this has been a great way of going back & catching up on the issues I'm missing without paying out a lot of money to collect them. Rate: B+

Oh... and I picked up a few Oh My Goddess! trades from Dark Horse that I was missing as well.