comics why they're great

I just got my new Star Wars comic and my art was in it. This is why I love comics. You can not only be surprised with the story but get lucky and sometimes get your artwork in the letter page. If you ever have the dream of drawing your own comic book or drawing for the big companies it is good to start somewhere. You can see the wookie Romelacca here or in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #19.

Back issues.

One thing I was taking into consideration is it better to buy back issues or get graphic novels. I know comic books from the golden age keep their value but what I am talking about is the current comic books coming out. Do current comics keep the high prices that comic book store mark them up to a dollar more, 10 dollars more, or even sometimes 50 more than cover price a month after they are out? Is it really worth it? Unless you are a die hard fan for that character is it really feasible to buy it? Then if you really are a die hard fan would it really bother you to buy a graphic novel? You would probably come out cheaper even if you do have the other issues in the book. The reason why I ask this question is I have come to a crossroads, I have been looking at filling in my runs and I have been thinking about filling in my runs with Essentials or Showcases. I mean all I want to do is read these stories and have them in my collection. Do I want to say I have all the issues or do I want to say I have all the stories? Some stories I just love reading on a monthly basis. Well, that is just my thoughts have a good weekend.

A Legend will be missed...Mike Wieringo.

His artwork was some of the first artwork I had of the Flash. In fact my wife bought the first appearance of Impluse for me. From that point on I followed his career from Flash to Green Lantern to Superman, Tellos, Fantastic Four, Spiderman. I just loved his artwork. Getting to meet him at the Heroes Convention was very interesting. My wife got to know his artwork very well when he was drawing Meridian for Crossgen. For all the legends he has drawn his was a legend before his time. He will be deeply missed.

The fun things about comics.

I took these two surveys and it made me think what is fun about comics. See I believe anybody can be a comic book fan no matter what your background is. It doesn't matter what kind of job you have there is a comic out there for you. When you find your favorite character you can look forward to seeing them in a cartoon, a blog, a toy, a movie, my space, or you tube. There is something about seeing your character come to life that brings joy to your heart. I have a friend that is a big Fanstastic Four nut and he was all about the FF movies. All infatuated about it. Had to get the toys, the t-shirt, the dvd's, and cartoons. His girlfriend is a huge manga fan who has just gotten into comic books. Now she is all hung up on Hawkman. I have a brother who loves the Punisher. Boy can't get enought of him. Bullets here, bullets there, string 'em up. I have a little sister that is 10 years old and she loves Power Pack. I can't forget the most important person in my life, right below God himself, that is my wife. When we first started dating she picked up this comic book that I thought was really stupid but I wasn't going to stop her from buying it. It was Liberty Meadows. Then she was really big into CrossGen until the company folded. There was a lot of heartache that I could see in her face but she never stopped hunting for her next favorite comic. She went to Batgirl, Wonder Woman, and Birds of Prey but these books never reached the love she had for the first series she picked up. I felt sorry for her because I wanted her to love a character as much as I do. My brother told me, "You know what Derek there is a character that you turned me on to that I would never had looked at. You should get her to read it also". The character that I gave my wife to read and the comic books she will tell you is her comic books and not mine is The Hulk. From that she is getting all the issues of Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, and has expressed an intrest in back issues. That is alright I will let her think those issues are hers but I still have the Avengers and the man himself, Thor. So go to your local comic book store and find a comic or a graphic novel and give it a shot. The universe you step into may be the love of a lifetime.

If I was a Superhero...

Your results:
You are Hulk

Hulk 90% The Flash 80% Green Lantern 70% Spider-Man 65% Iron Man 65% Batman 50% Wonder Woman 50% Robin 50% Supergirl 45% Catwoman 40% Superman 20%

You are a wanderer with amazing strength.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

I am Apocalypse.

Your results:
You are Apocalypse

Apocalypse 100% Venom 88% Magneto 88% Dr. Doom 85% Mr. Freeze 84% Lex Luthor 75% Dark Phoenix 72% Mystique 68% Two-Face 68% The Joker 63% Juggernaut 60% Green Goblin 52% Catwoman 51% Kingpin 41% Riddler 36% Poison Ivy 30%

You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

New Sketches

Check out my new sketches of Nik in Black Cat costume. She is based off my wife and we hope to have a website with the strips on it soon. Tell me what you think about the poses.

Should you be loyal to your comic book store or should your comic book store be loyal to you?

I have come to a dilemma in my comic book buying. I no longer have to get my graphic novels(GN)from my comic book store I can get them online and delivered to my house. I have been very loyal to my comic book store for many many years but just recently my wife and I went to an art gallery. There is a comic book store right next to it and I went in to look at the store. The owner gave me 20% off. He told me if I would open up a bag (start a subscription) with just 5 titles I would get 20% off current titles(plus other items in the store) and 25% back issues. Now I buy a lot of comics. Anywhere from 30-50 a month. For someone that buys as many comics as I do this seems like a logical choice but because I am very loyal to the comic store I go to I went to them to tell them what the other store offered me. It is also a little closer to my house. I did not go into my comic store expecting them to bow down and kiss my feet. I just wanted them to respect me as a customer and understand where I was coming from because you see I only get 10% off current titles and 15% off back issues and no percentage off anything else in the store. So when I asked this question the first thing I was asked why did I go to another comic book store? What comic book store? I politely told them and asked if they could do the same thing for me since I have been here so long. I didn't ask them to give me 35-50% of what I get at the website for GN's. I don't expect them to meet that when they have to pay for a store and employees. Even though the employees there get 40% off. Instead I got "I am not going to get into a bidding war with my competitors. If you want to open your bag there you can." Do you feel where I am coming from? These guys have to realize they are not the only comic store in the area. There are 2 others in a 10 mile radius. You see the reason why I ask should you be loyal to your comic store or should the comic store be loyal to you, is because this is the question me and my wife are asking ourselves right now. There are alot of great people that work at the current comic store we go to and we really enjoying talking to them but with movies, comics,and gas going up in price it is really getting expensive. It would be nice if you can get a little back.