| |
|
Easily 75% of my comic purchases of the past three years has been from the bargain bins. Include second hand book shop finds, and you can make that 95%. Every year I go to the Toronto comic convention and spend somewhere around $150 to $200, with only three or four books being over $2. I buy one new book a month. Maybe. Makes it kind of a pain to get involved in online discussions.
An overview of what I've purchased would be almost impossible. The bargain bins are fantastic.
On Saturday my brother and I went down to Orillia and Barrie (we live in Central Ontario, where the closest comic shop is an hour away). I lucked out in Barrie at a junk shop, when a guy came in to buy all the owner's comics. Turns out he owns the local comic shop, which was a relief since the other one in town had closed down, which would have made it and hour and a half from where I live to a decent shop.
Here's what I picked up.
Ginatkiller - Good, but I like kaiju, so I'm biased.
Two issues of Shade - I'm amazed that I have almost the entire series drawn almost entirely from back issue bins.
Batman Adventures - The best straight out superhero comic of the 90s.
Mr. X - Bros. Hernandez. Lovely.
Mystery Play - Muth goodness for two bucks.
Fanboy - Yeah, yeah. But I cannot resist Gil Kane.
Untold Tales of Spider-Man - Second best straight out superhero comic of the 90s.
Comic Book Artist - Issue focussing on the Charlton Action Line. Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, etc. I wish there was more Ditko coverage.
Two issues of Blackhawk - From two different series. The more recent one I only bought because it had some who's who pages in the back, good because I've been drawing the 'Hawks recently. Otherwise, eh... The other one has a Kane cover with the war wheel(!), and a surprisingly fab little story.
The Atom and Hawkman - It was between this and numerous other silver age books. I think I could have chosen more wisely.
Lois Lane - Kandorian mini-skirts, Lana vs. Lois, and the Look Alike Squad, all in 16 pages. Plus a keen Golden Age reprint.
Jimmy Olsen - Jimmy forms a rock band composed exclusively of redhaired musicians to win back his girlfriend, who has been charmed by a Donovan lookalike. To help, Supes introduces the band, but finds himself compelled to relate a story from his Kryptonian childhood involving a sea monster that played groovy music designed to make the citizens of Krypton groove into its waiting jaws. Superman writes out the music for Jimmy, they call it the Krypton Crawl, and Superman starts shaking it. It must be Superman, because jello don't jiggle like that. The rest involves an experimental warship, red kryptonite dust, and spies. Eight pages. The two other stories have Jimmy worshipped as a god by giant intelligent insects on a desert island, and becoming the heaviest man alive. No, I'm not making any of this up.
Dial H for Hero - Groovy. |
|
|
