No Previews-o-Rama This Month

Around this time each month I would normally post my lengthy two-part Previews-o-Rama, wherein I would hilite things of interest in the current Previews. Alas there will be no Previews-o-Rama this month because I do not have a copy of Previews.



You see, my Local Comic Shop (LCS) came under new management a few months ago--they're now part of a chain of some sort--and one of the many changes they've instituted in that they're no longer giving away Previews to customers.



This is just the latest in a number of unfortuante changes that the new management has made to the LCS. Others include:



Much less shelf space devoted to graphic novels. Formerly there were 8 ranges of manga, which has now been lowered to 3. Those 3 ranges of manga have taken the place of 3 ranges of the independent GNs, which are now down to 4 (from 7). Shelf space devoted to DC, Marvel, Image & Dark Horse GNs has also decreased.



Less shelf space devoted to independent comics, down from 4 racks to 3.



New comics each week are now racked all together (instead of interspersed with the rest of the comics) and shelved way in the back of the store, in a place with very little room to stand--basically causes a big traffic jam on Wednesday.



Elimination of the subscriber discount (as of February), from 20% to 0%.



No more female employees. The store has always had at least a couple of female employees; there is always a turnover rate at a store like this, but those that have left have been replaced with white males. This may be just a coincidence, and I have nothing against white males (being one myself), but it does make one wonder.



There has also been a general decrease in the level of customer service over the past few months. I might be able to live with some of the changes (after all, with the Internet, I don't need a free copy of Previews) but taken all together it's just too much. It seems that the new management is intent on de-emphasizing comics at the store--it's also a gaming store; they used to be big on manga and anime too, although that aspect of the business has curiously decreased down to almost nil at this point*. And instead of a diverse store that handled 'mainstream', manga and indy comics with equal emphasis, it's moving towards being one of those 'front-of-the-catalog' stores.



Fortunately for me, I saw the writing on the wall last month and decided to switch all of my comic buying over to DCBS, starting with comics scheduled to ship in February. It won't be the same as going to the shop every Wednesday for the new comics, but with weekly shipping from DCBS I'll get my comics on the following Monday or Tuesday anyway. Plus, the discount will be much greater. The downside is that I have to pre-order a couple of months in advance (and pay in advance as well).



(BTW, the only reason I know that the subscriber discount is going away is because I overheard another customer ask one of the employees about a rumor he had heard that the discount was going away, and I subsequently asked about it myself and it was confirmed--so far there has been no notification or announcement of any kind.)



I've been a loyal, weekly customer at LCS for over ten years, spending over $200 per month, but no longer. I was willing to support a local business that was dedicated to being a quality comic store, but now that they're part of a chain and seem to no longer want to be a good store they've lost me as a customer.



It's really all kind of sad.



(Oh, if you're looking for a good Previews round up, I'd suggest Tegan's Flipping Through Previews over at Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog.)





* There is an entire store in town devoted to manga & anime though, as well as a B&N and 2 Borders with huge manga sections

Annoying Post About the Sidebar

I spent some time this morning on the links in the sidebar. I've added in several that I've been reading lately, removed a couple of dead blogs, and organized them somewhat. They're now divided into three categories: Comics Blogs, Creator Blogs, and Publisher Blogs, and within each category they're now organized by an obscure system I learned back in library school called 'The Alphabet.'

Library Comics List

I've finished compiling my recommended purchases for our initial comics and graphic novel collection here at the library. If you're interested, you can take a look at it here (I apologize in advance for the crappy M$ Excel output).



You'll notice that it's a fairly broad list, as I was tring to represent a wide range of the world of comics. If you don't see something obvious on the list, it's probably because we already have it, or else I know that we're getting it through some other means and/or it's already in the pipeline.



Thanks to everyone who helped out by offering suggestions.



(To save you from having to count, the list is 400 titles long...)

NPR & NYT on Eisner

Morning Edition's Renee Montagne has a very brief (1:13) segment on Will Eisner's passing, which you can listen to here.



And for the New York Times' obit, could they have possibly picked a worse The Spirit illustration to accompany it?

A New Year, A New Contest

Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag at Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog starts off the new year with a contest, where you can win a copy of Jeff Nicholson's Colonia: Islands and Anomolies collection. I've been a fan of Nicholson's since coming across his Lost Laughter many years ago, and his Through the Habitrails is rightfully considered a classic. Colonia is his most recent and one of his best, so if you haven't read it I encourage you to enter Laura's contest (deadline: January 20).

Big Box o' Comics

Another big box of comics from DCBS today. Let's open it up and see what's inside:



Samurai Executioner, vol. 2

ElfQuest; the Grand Quest, vol. 6

Remote, vol. 4

Peach Fuzz, vol. 1

DearS, vol. 1

Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 2

Little Lulu, vol. 1: Lulu Goes Shopping

Global Frequency, vol. 2: Detonation Radio

The Courageous Princess

Transgenesis 2029 #1: Fides

The White Lama, book 2: Road to Redemption

Astonishing X-Men, vol. 1: Gifted

New X-Men - Academy X, vol. 1: Choosing Sides

Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne, vol. 3

Manga Mover #1

Warren Ellis' Quit City

Batman / Danger Girl

The Hardy Boys #2

Temporary #1

Hunter-Killer #0

All of last week's What If... one-shots.

Comics Buyer's Guide #1601



Lots more reading to be done. Where will I find the time???

New This Week: January 5, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:



The Pick of the Week is Larry Young's Proof of Concept from AiT/PlanetLAR, in which Larry 'pitches' a bunch of high concept comics concepts at you, the reader, with the aid of artists Kieron Dwyer, Damian Coucerio, Steven Sanders, Jeff Johns, Paul Tucker, John Flynn & John Heebink.



In other comics:



Abstract and Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise #70, hits the stores, just in time for its special Christmas-themed cover.



Antarctic's Gold Digger #59 starts a new storyline.



DC has the second issue of Davad Lapham's Detective Comics arc (#802); the first issue of Breach (in today's current comics climate, I give it ten issues, max); the first issue of Scott McLoud's Superman: Strength (I'll be waiting for the trade); and new issues of Firestorm (#9), The Intimates (#3), and The Question (#3).



Image has the return of Flaming Carrot (#1), a new Noble Causes (#6), and a second Liberty Meadows trade collection.



Marvel has the first issue of Peter David's return to the Incredible Hulk (#77), and Ed Brubaker's second issue of Captain America (#2). They also have the second issue of New Avengers, but if you're interested in this you know that they're going to release it in a trade, where you'll be able to read a more-or-less complete story at once, with no ads, for less money.





It's a very light week (as the first week of the month typically is). So if you've got a little extra money in your pocket, why not try something by Will Eisner? There's no finer tribute to a creator than enjoying that person's work, and your local comic shop should have plenty of Eisner on their GN shelves to choose from. (And if your LCS doesn't carry any Eisner, you need to find a better comic shop.)