Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from El Jacone's Comic Book Bunker! Have a fun and safe holiday!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

What Looks Good?

I'm serious, it always seems to rain on Wednesdays now.  So strange.  But hey, now's your chance to get some last minute gifts for the comics fan in your life.

DC Universe Presents #4 -- I am really digging this Deadman story.  And to think I owe pretty much all of my interest in the character to Batman: The Brave and The Bold and Brightest Day.

Tiny Titans #47 -- Sadly, the series is ending at #50.  Happily, we have 4 more issues!

Wonder Woman #4 -- Diana: Princess No More!  Wonder Woman: Ready to kick tail and take names!

GI Joe: A Real American Hero #173 -- Snake-Eyes!  Storm Shadow!  Blue Ninjas!  KUNG FU!

Invincible Iron Man #511 -- Mandarin is moving in the shadows against Tony Stark, and Shellhead doesn't see it coming.

So, what looks good to YOU?

Monday, December 19, 2011

Unbridled Capitalism: Charlotte Comicon 2011

I headed up to the Queen City yesterday with my pals Joe and Adama to hit the Charlotte Comicon, described as the "best one day family friendly comic show in the country."  The "family friendly" aspect is very common in the Charlotte shows, as that is Heroescon's calling card.  Anyway, fun was had by all, especially in the capitalism department.

Iron Man -- At this point I am looking for "onesie-twosies" issues of Iron Man as I slowly whittle down the holes in my collection.  I picked up issues 69, 73-74, 76, 79, 84, 106, and 110.  So looking at my punchlist, I now am missing exactly 3 issues of Iron Man.  Of course, this is including my Essential volumes, but for now that's good with me.

Finding such a good score of the comics I needed at pretty good prices got me ruminating about how I got to this point.  I started my Iron Man collection in earnest at Free Comic Book Day 2004 when we hit the Book Exchanges and Blast From the Past in Augusta.  Oh, I had my run of Iron Man from high school when I started reading the book, but this was when I started buying back issues.  And with the 30 or so issues I picked up that day as a start, I have spent the past seven years filling up boxes with Iron Man comics.  And now that I am just about done, it's strange to reflect on that.

I suppose after I get the whole run I can start replacing the issues in really poor shape, and maybe picking up the ones I have reprinted in the Essential volumes.  That should keep me busy for another 7 years.

Hawkman -- No luck on finding the few missing issues of Volume 4, but I did just about finish Hawkworld.  I picked up issues 22, 30, and Annual 3.  One issue left and Hawkworld is done!

Also, my biggest purchase of the day was the DC Direct Hawkman and Hawkgirl boxed set!  Pretty sweet, but I am so far behind on opening my Hawk toys I don't know when I will get to them!

An odd sign: I saw three copies of Hawkman v.1:no.5 in three different bins.  I didn't pick it up, but it seems like the comic gods want me to buy it...

Flash -- A single Flash comic, initially grabbed to round out a 50 cent bin pull to an even number (of course, it turned out that the bin was now a quarter bin, but there you go), v.2:no.105, featuring a classic encounter with the Mirror Master.

Outsiders -- I am guessing the second volume of Outsiders just had crummy print runs because it's bizarrely hard to find,  Still, I added a few more issues, picking up v.2:no.5, 15, 19, 21-22.

Phonebooks -- From one of the most dangerous tables in the show ($5 apiece or 5 items for $20), I grabbed a pair of phonebooks to add the ever-growing pile of these in my bonus room.  The first was Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank, because I will buy any of the War phonebooks.  The second was Essential Godzilla, wooo!  So stay on the lookout for this over at Earth Destruction Directive!

For a small show, there were a lot of good dealers and, oddly, a lot of cosplay.  Besides the full 5 member team of the Gaoranger (aka Power Rangers Wild Force), there were also a mini Deadpool, and a little kid dressed as a Stormtrooper, which of course demanded the recital of the line "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?"  All in all, a fun trip.  I mean what's better than hanging out with friends and buying and talking about comics?  

Friday, December 9, 2011

Everybody's Linking For The Weekend

Frank gives us the best Wonder Woman covers of the 80s.

Bonus Game!  Martian Manhunter, too!

rob interviews Joshua Williamson!

Meet Pohzar!  (Thanks to Shag!)

And finally, check out my friend Chris' Media Masochist Christmas Special!

Men Of War #7 Cover & Info!

Thanks to The Source, check out this Viktor Kalvachev cover to Men Of War #7, which features two modern stories by JT Krul and James Robinson!

Digging this series, and this one sounds like a good issue as well.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

What Looks Good?

Why does it always seem to be raining on Wednesdays now?  Is it some subtle trick by Mother Nature to get us to stop buying comics and go digital?  I've heard crazier conspiracy theories...

Hawk & Dove #4 -- Condor and Swan and Monsters of Mass Destruction, oh my!

Men of War #4 -- Every day is the same, it's only the battlefield which changes.

OMAC #4 -- Remember when comics were about smashing?  Me too!

glamourpuss #22 -- "Not the Fourth Annual Swimsuit Issue!"  

So, what looks good to you?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Captain Cold Makes a Comeback!

Thanks to The Source, it looks like Captain Cold is the first Rogue to show up in in the new Flash!  His costume looks fairly similar to his previous one, but the coat is obviously a huge departure.  Clearly this Captain Cold does not need to insulate himself from the sub-zero temperatures he works with.  Of course, the other big change is that this Captain Cold appears to be some sort of metahuman!  Will his powers be something in-born?  Or perhaps some technology gone wrong?  We'll find out in a few months time, it seems!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Scarlett Pin-Up... Yo Joe!

Because I have GI Joe on the brain, here's an awesome pic of Scarlett (easily my favorite female Joe) by Jonboy Meyers.  Here's the description from Comic Art Fans:

Original art purchase. I loved the G.I. Joe action figures growing up. When I saw this great pin-up of Scarlett, I just had to get it. Photoshop was used to darken the linework.

If I was a Cobra, she could beat me up any day! Yowza!