Comics
As I'm catching up on regular life again, I've made a couple of really LARGE pick-ups at my local comics shop. Last month, I went in and they ended up having to put everything in a box for me to carry it out. Sadly, that only cleared out about half of my holds folder. This past Friday, I went and got the rest. It was all kind of embarrassing, since, at one point, they had actually called me to remind me I had a bunch of stuff there. Sigh!My relationship to comics these days is sooooo irregular, by most people's standards. I just don't do it like other folks do. I guess some people would say I don't do it "right." But it works for me.
Since I don't read super-heroes, there are very few monthly titles I get. Last count, I think I was down to one. Most Vertigo titles I'm interested in I follow by the trade, which also keeps the list cut down. Any given month, there will be nothing from DC or Marvel that I'm interested in, and possibly one title from the rest of the "big four." In terms of individual issues, most of what I read comes out quarterly at best, and a whole lot of it comes out when it comes out.
On top of that, I frequently go for several months without placing an order. Some months, I don't have time; others, I just don't care. If I know that I have a bunch of stuff I need to pick up, then I won't order. It doesn't feel right to me.
When I do an order, it's usually for trades from folks like NBM, Fantagraphics, and Drawn and Quarterly. Sometimes, they come out as planned; sometimes, they don't. In other words, it's feast or famine when it comes to my hold file. When it's full, it tends to be very full, usually with several trades. I try to get stuff at least once a month, so it doesn't back up too bad. I like the folks at my shop a lot, and they go out of their way to get stuff for me. A lot of what I order, they have to special order. I don't like for them to have a lot of money tied up in my hold file on stuff that they won't be likely to sell to someone else.
Right before I went on vacation, I did a pick up. This was the end of March. I cleaned out most of my folder then. They're pretty nice about letting folks get as much as they can, and leaving some stuff if needed. I think I left a few issues of The Comics Journal and a trade or two, about 60 bucks worth of stuff. My plan was to get them, plus whatever else came in, right after I got back.
My dad went in the hospital when I got back, so for the next two months, comics kind of fell by the wayside. Since he died, I've been working on house, yard, and work stuff that needed catching up. I guess it was about time to get the comic shop caught up too.
I think I've actually only put in one order this year, but it looked like most of it came in. Last month, I got all the trades and TCJ's. This time I got all the rest.
Here's what I got:
Last month
Ordinary Victories by Manu Larcent
Modern Arf
The last two Little Lulu volumes from Dark Horse
Buddha volume 6
Anywhere But Here by Miki Tori
Golden Plates Vol 2
Several recent issues of TCJ
Last Friday
The Shoujo Issue of TCJ
Stupid Comics #3 (I need to drop this one...)
Banana Sunday #1 (grabbed it off the racks)
Courtney Crumrin Tales
Other World #2-5
Jane's World #19-20
Burglar Bill #3
Stray Bullets #37-38
Age of Bronze #20
Books of Magic: Life During Wartime #10-12
Vimanarama #3
Jack Staff #8
(I also grabbed a couple of back issues and some trades that had been marked down)
Reviews to follow, I hope!
2 comments:
Oh, when I write about the comic store I used to work at, I want to use this situation as an example. You, as a guy of integrity, bought the stuff you had held, but we would get stiffed sometimes. Some compare & contrast thing. It'll be a few months
Sure thing, Roger. Feel free. I'm pretty strong supporter of locally-owned businesses to begin with, so I cannot bring myself to do anything that would be detrimental to one. The folks at my shop are so good to me, that it just wouldn't be right.
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