Many comic fans interact well with others, at least, well enough. For those that don't, I, the Astonishing Elf Girl, am here to give to tips on etiquette in the comic book store; or "The Museum of Social Awkwardness". Remember, a happy clerk is a...happy clerk.
Tip #4 ~ The Comic Shop is NOT a Daycare! (Say it With Me Now...)
As anyone who has worked in retail knows, there will always be a parent who decides that they need a break from their kids, and your store is gonna take care of them. If you're in a specialty shop that can cater to children, then you're the easy target. In my shop's previous location, there was a nail salon across the entry way and used to be a large clothing store in between. This meant that the comic shop was the defacto free babysitting service.
Some kids can actually handle it, they can go into a comic shop alone and not wreck the store, intentionally or unintentionally steal something, or just annoy the hell out of the clerk. When I first started, my mom would leave me alone in the shop while she did other shopping elsewhere. Other than the one time it took from the owner saying "Please buy that or put it down", I don't think I really bothered him too much. Kids who are well behaved obviously aren't the issue. (and yes, I am singing my own praises. I'm not calling myself "Astonishing" because I'm humble...)
Many comic fans interact well with others, at least, well enough. For those that don't, I, the Astonishing Elf Girl, am here to give to tips on etiquette in the comic book store; or "The Museum of Social Awkwardness". Remember, a happy clerk is a...happy clerk.
Tip #3 ~ Be Nice to Your Comic Clerk, Treat Them Well, and Assume They Work There for a Reason
This one really should be an obvious one, being nice to your comic clerk. It's like restaurants, if you're crappy to your server, you're gonna get phlegm as a special ingredient to whatever you ordered. It's like that in a comic shop, just minus the phlegm...and the food. Well, you might get phlegm anyway.
Regardless, the clerks are the people that handle your comics before you. If you have a pull service, they're the ones who put them aside for you. If you're nasty to us, you might just miss that all important issue where Cap comes back, or Northstar actually kisses a guy, or Claremont writes his first good book in ten years.
Well, we've streamlined just a tiny bit and are back with a vengeance, to provide you with reviews to help you choose what comics to peruse over your weekend. This turned out to be a good week with mostly good reviews. We'll have a special feature on the new weekly series Trinity soon as well.
The short version:
[READ THESE]
Y: The Last Man TPB Vol. 10 - Why's and Wherefore's
Anna Mercury #2 (of 5)
X-Factor #32
Incredible Hercules #118
Wolverine #66
Kill All Parents
Catwoman #80
DC Wildstorm Dreamwar #3 (of 6)
Ultimate X-Men #95
[BROWSE THESE]
Ex Machina #37
Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #30
Guardians of the Galaxy #2
Secret Invasion Fantastic Four #2
Amazing Spider-Man #563
[SKIP THESE]
Kick-Ass #1: Director's Cut
Justice League of America #22
When a story falls between the cracks, it ends up in the sewer and gets swallowed up by the Pink Kryptonite AGGROgator!
(That's right, a Journey reference. What are you going to do about it?)
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BAM! ... You've seen me mention Todd Klein's fascinating series of discussions on logo designs before and he's come up with another entry to examine. Check out Todd's Blog to take a look at the first part of Iron Man's history with cover logos.
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BAM! ... Short and sweet, here's Heidi MacDonald's write up of the Harvey Award nominees. Yes, that's the OVerstreet Price Guide you see nominated. Strange.
BAM! ... Is event fatigue finally starting to settle in? This may be why Secret Invasion #2 beat out Final Crisis #1 on the stands and has far fewer angry fanboys on its tail.
BAM! ... And finally, did you ever want to be Lex Luthor? How about Dr. Doom? Well, you can't be a megalomaniacal supervillain without the proper accoutrement!
Many comic fans interact well with others, at least, well enough. For those that don't, I, the Astonishing Elf Girl, am here to give to tips on etiquette in the comic book store; or "The Museum of Social Awkwardness". Remember, a happy clerk is a...happy clerk.
Tip #2 ~ Stereotypes, B.O. and the Common Geek. (Or: Use Soap, Dammit!)
Ah, body odor. Universally regarded as the Mark of the Geek. Fortunately, in the majority of cases, it's not a problem. Most of you actually do use the little thing called "a shower" and keep yourselves smelling fresh as whatever scented soap you used.
Yet still there is the lingering smell of sweat that manages to work itself into comic shops and conventions. It's not the odd one out, the one who talks to her/himself in the corner about "They" and "Them"; it's the people you least expect. The ones who seem to care at least a little about their appearance.
Leave a comment or two and start discussing these issues that affect the four color worlds we live in.
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As anyone who even reads this humble blog is passing can tell you, I am not what you would call a DC aficionado. I respect their history, dig some Wildstorm stuff, buy the Vertigo collections regularly, but I just can't get into their main line. I was raised a Marvel Zombie and for the moment thus I stay,
However, anyone who reads the comics blogosphere really couldn't get away from the problems DC is having. Between completely incongruous books being released and having to be explained (namely Grant Morrison's excuses for Final Crisis #1) and creators being somewhat vocal about their abrupt dismissal (Chuck Dixon), this week was really just a microcosm of problems being spoken about for some time.Even Warren ELlis offered an unprompted "State of the DC Union." Dan Didio has been a lightening rod for controversy in the industry second only to Bill Jemas.
As someone on the outside, most of what I hear is the negative. most successes are out trumpted by the failures, regardless of the the size of the success. So the question on the table this week is this:
Just what do you think the future of DC is right now?
Will Dan Didio be fired? Can they bring themselves out of hole they've dug? For that matter, is it really a hole or is it the media making it more of an issue than anything else?
Welcome back to my little webcomic jamboree. Last week we covered a whole array of topics, and this week we look more at the community aspect, as well as the remainder of the list. So without further ado, let's finish part two of this three part series with your pal and mine, Mr. Jerusalem!
Well, it's about time, isn't it? I've been saving this one. Now here we are, smack dab in the middle of Gay Pride month. This week we talk about what may be the most high-profile gay character in comics. Northstar.
While not the first 'out' character in comics, (that honor is given to characters in Watchmen), Jean-Paul was created before them and John Byrne, writer of Alpha Flight at the time intended to write him as gay before that. He just couldn't say it...
"Of course, the temper of the times, the Powers That Were and, naturally, the Comics Code would not let me come right out and state that Jean-Paul was homosexual, but I managed to 'get the word out' even with those barriers." (Byrne)
Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter had decreed that there were to be no gay characters in the Marvel universe and prevented writers from having their characters be gay. Byrne was able to imply that Northstar was gay, but could not state it explicitly.
On top of that, later on there was even an attempted retcon of sorts. When Bill Mantlo succeeded Byrne as Alpha Flight writer, he began a storyline in which Northstar became infected with a strange illness. Mantlo intended to reveal that the illness was AIDS and then kill off the character in Alpha Flight #50. However, Marvel's editors intervened and Mantlo was forced to change the ending: instead of dying of AIDS, Northstar was revealed to be a magical being whose illness was the result of prolonged separation from his homeland. Peter David later described this incident as "He wasn't gay. He was just a fairy," This silliness was itself later retconned however, and now Northstar is only a fairy in the gay sense of the word.
Northstar finally came out in 1992 in issue #106 of Alpha Flight, to some controversy, and has remained out and proud ever since, even in alternate reality versions (Ultimate Northstar). Lately he was mentor to a younger gay X-man, Anole, helping him come to terms with his sexuality.
Greetings, I'm Il Palazzo, and I'll be your resident manga expert. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Who the hell is Il Palazzo, and what's all this crazy manga talk?" It's true, Pink Kryptonite has always been dedicated to Americomics, but I believe people should be fans of all types of books-with-pictures. Think you can't get into manga? Think again. Check out the top five reasons you should branch out after the jump.
Many comic fans interact well with others, at least, well enough. For those that don't, I, the Astonishing Elf Girl, am here to give to tips on etiquette in the comic book store; or as my girlfriend calls it, "The Museum of Social Awkwardness". Remember, a happy clerk is a...happy clerk.
Tip #1~Pay Attention to Store Hours
Very few comic stores are open 24 hours, which means each store has its own hours that the employees work. Once the hours are done, the employees want to get the hell out of there, their feet hurt, dammit. This is generally when you should schedule your shopping for four-color images in a floppy "book". One of the fastest ways to get on the bad side of your friendly neighborhood clerk is to still be there well after the store is closed. The sign is posted on the door, and it's generally assumed that if you're going into a comic store, you do have some semblance of reading skills. So read the sign.
There have been many times when customers come into the store after closing. You may say "Why didn't you lock the door?" Well, it's simple my impertinent friend, it's because other people in the store haven't left yet. We can't very well lock them in, we want them out, remember?
In the same vein, if you're one of the people who loves coming early on Wednesdays to get your comics before anyone else in your time zone, don't give the clerk dirty looks if she's not letting you in five minutes early. If you come early, get comfortable with waiting for the doors to open when the store does.
See? That's not too hard; one simple tip to keeping your clerk happy.
Next time we'll talk about B.O., soap, and geek stereotypes. Yes, that means some of you really do need to bathe more often than every equinox.
Wow. This week came and went so fast...I'll stop right there before this becomes an x-rated blog. This week, Secret Invasion #3 (EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!) Yes that was me squealing like a little girl. Yes I am that excited! We also see issue #1 of the much hyped, much anticipated Trinity! Also, triple score, we get issue #15 of Buffy!
Here are this week's picks!
Marvel
AVENGERS/INVADERS # 2
I'm not sure if anyone on our staff is picking this up...I personally don't really care for it, so I will NOT be picking this up. But it's supposed to be good...anyone read the first issue?
Cable #4
Goblin will probably be picking this one up!
Invincible Iron Man #2
After a very promising debut issue, I hope that this book continues to deliver.
Kick-Ass #3
And the Millarverse shall continue to unfold...will we see some 1985 in here? Maybe...
Nova #14
Another Goblin pick!
Secret Invasion #3
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Ultimate Origins #1
Hey it's the Ultimate Universe's version of Final Crisis! Hopefully not as hard to follow though...
See our DC picks, what we're not reading, and the full release list after the jump!
I just wanted to let you know that the official Pink Kryptonite Twitter is up and running. You can view our most inner, deep, naughty thoughts over on the lower right side of the main page.
Enjoy! And be prepared for some awfully embarrassing TMI moments from your dear old bloggers.
Thanks to Goblin for the idea, and our dear Editor-in-Chief Fruit Brute for making it happen!
If you have a twitter account, you can add our feed, PKcrew. Leave your Twiiter in the comments section if you'd like for us to add you!
Boy Meets Hero by Chayne Avery and Russell Garcia
