Tuesday, December 24, 2013

New Comic Day Tuesday Edition (and next week too!) & Customer Appreciation Day - FREE Donuts & SPECIAL Sales!! And added attraction - NEW Club Sheet!

So today, Dec. 24th and next Tuesday are the rarest of days, the day when New Comic Wednesday becomes New Comic Tuesday and it's totally legal! There's only a handful of titles out today, but not having read them yet, let's hope it's a case of quality over quantity (grin)! It seems like we've been waiting a couple of extra weeks for the newest chapter of Forever Evil, this wait is DC's gift to us. And what is Origin II? In the first Origin years ago, we learned Wolverine's first name, which one of his names are we going to find out this time around (grin)!?

Donuts, FREE Ronald's Donuts, that's reason enough right there to come say hi, right? So what are the sales this sign is talking about!? One dollar and two dollar back issues are half off, and all other back issues are 20% off! Variant (excluding todays) are also half off! And our ten dollar graphic novels are buy three for $25.00!!

And yesterday I whipped up the new club sheet sign up for titles coming out in January, February, and March, and I'm going to be sad for any bubbles with the initials MM that aren't filled in (grin)!

And what is this Wolverine image below!?
This is a package of prints that a fine customer who works at a local movie theater gave me to give out to some good homes! So the first 50 people who buy Origin II will get one of these prints for FREE (and even if you didn't like the movie, which I LOVED, you have to agree this is a striking image and it's one high quality stock)!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

New Comics Wednesday 12/18/13 - Can you say BIG week!? Also a note about next two weeks new comic days (Tuesday!)...

The comic I'd be most looking forward to reading this week if I didn't already read it in PDF form courtesy of the creator, Larime Taylor, is A Voice in the Dark #2! But I love getting to see the physical version. This is one of my favorite new series of the year, if you haven't checked it out yet, we still have some copies of the first issue left! And I'll have some exciting news about this title and its creator, Larime Taylor very shortly, so stay tuned here and on the Alternate Reality Comics facebook page!

Did I mention that there's a LOT of comics this week!? Well there are, as publishers rush to get them out before the year closes, including a new Image title called The Saviors written by James Robinson and a new title called Harley Quinn, whatever that is (grin)!
In addition to all the new comic periodicals we got in this week, Alternate Reality Comics' 20% off sale on graphic novels / trade paperbacks is continuing until Dec. 31st, so I'm thinking this is a great time to get that special book for that someone special in your life and or yourself! And we got some more classic Marvel graphic novels in our ten dollar sections!
Here's some early info on when you can get new comics Christmas and New Years Weeks: New Comic Wednesday will become New Comic Tuesday for those weeks, meaning you can be the first o your block to pick up the new comics on Tuesday, Dec. 24th from 10-6pm and Tuesday, Dec. 31st from 10-6pm (as George noticed last night, I need to change the above sign in my store to Tuesday, not Wednesday - I'm just so used to the Wednesday thang!)! And on Dec. 24th, we're having an extra special customer appreciation day with FREE Ronald's Donuts, free beverages, and sales, sales, SALES!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Happy New Comics Wednesday 12/11/13 - & Saturday, Very Awesome Girls LV Holiday Craft Sale Benefit for Child's Haven!

 I hope everyone can make it to Saturday's Very Awesome Girls LV Holiday Craft Sale event from 12-4pm which benefits Peggy's Attic / Child Haven. Anyone who has been to a Very Awesome Girls event knows they're in for a GREAT time - and if you're new to this uber fun group of gals and the community involvement things they do for the community, well Saturday, Dec. 14 at Alternate Reality Comics is the place to be! Details below after the new comics hype, bring friends!

Big Batman Zero Year day (well every Batman by Snyder & Capullo is a big day!)! A new Justice League title, Justice League 3000 by Keith giffen & Howard Porter! And the two main Justice League titles are out as well with Forever evil tie-ins!
 Back in print: a new trade collection of Starlin's Thanos Infinity Abyss! And all of Fraction & Brubaker's Iron Fist is now in one handy BIG collection! New issues of Mighty Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine & the X-Men are out and we got our missing copies of last week's Guardians of the Galaxy and Uncanny Avengers in (two REALLY big things happen in this issue of UA!)!
Something that happened in the newest Walking Dead made me sad. Reading the new issue of Lazarus should cheer me up! There's also a new Image debut from Justin Jordan (Luthor Strode) out and it looks like a great revenge story! A new Doc Savage comic, a seasonal comic, Krampus, and the first volume of the crazy new series, Sheltered are also some of the titles vying for your affections!

Here's the promised details of the Very Awesome Girls LV's Holiday Craftaganza Benefitting Peggy's Attic / Child Haven at Alternate Reality Comics this Saturday, Dec. 14th from 12-4pm (we're going to have raffles for some great prizes - details below - and the craft items that the gals are making have great low prices and make great decor for your crib and gifts!):

Need nerdy ornaments for the tree? Last minute gifts? Well you're in luck!

Come on down to Alternate Reality Comics on Saturday, December 14th from 12-4 for our Holiday Craft Sale! Proceeds from this event will benefit Peggy's Attic. They are the donation center for Clark County Dept of Family Services. They provide toiletries, clothes, toys and much more to children in the Family Court system.

Their wishlist of items can be found here: http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/depts/family_services/Pages/Donations.aspx

For every item you bring from the wishlist, you will receive a raffle ticket for one of the many prize packs we have. You can also buy tickets & those proceeds will go to Peggy's Attic as well! Alternate Reality Comics, Las Vegas! will also have raffle prizes, including an original piece of art drawn by great local artist, Donovan Petersen (character of your choice), two $50.00 gift cards to Alternate, a Doctor Who Yahtzee, & assorted graphic novels - you'll receive a raffle ticket for every item donated or one for every five dollars donated!

So mark your calendars for Dec 14th! We hope to see you come out for a fun event that gives back to your community! And you get to visit with the Very Awesome Girls LV & see their new tattoos of their logo designed by The Ninjabot!



Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Happy New Comic wednesday 12/4/13 - Kirby does Deadpool & Murbina's Artist Spotlight opening reception tonight!

So Jack Kirby doesn't really draw Deadpool this week, but artist, Scott Koblish does a great job apeing Kirby's style - this issue looks like a lot of fun! Second issues of Velvet and Amazing X-Men today and the second issue of Aaron Kuder's Action Comics is out too! The Ghosted trade is new  and it's only $9.99!
You like Matt Fraction's Sex Criminals and Hawkeye, right - well his one shot Inhumanity is out today with artist Oliver Copiel, so you my want to check that out! Avengers Christmas Annual, the Deadpool Kills Deadpool trade, and the fifth Alan Moore Swamp Thing collection (featuring the epic story where Batman confronts Swampy for taking over Gotham, drawn by John Totleben!), and another Young Avengers has also landed!
Garth Ennis has a new comic out, Red Rover Charlie, in which the central characters are dogs in a world wear people are killing themselves and the world has gone to a kind of hell for some unknown reason. JMS writes the new Terminator Salvation and Mignola's last issue of Hellboy in Hell is finally out!
The above piece of cool, eeriely beautiful artis by our Artist Spotlight artist, Murbina! The opening reception is tonight from 5-8pm, bring friends, there's a lot of great art on display (and for sale, prints too!)! Here's some more details:

Alternate Reality Comics is elated to host local artist Murbina & several of her colorful, mostly horror-themed pieces as our Artist Spotlight December artist! Murbina has exhibited at events at the Bellagio, Venice Beach Art Walks, BlackBird Studios, & at the Day of the Dead Festival at the Springs Preserves the past three years! We'll have our complimentary snacks, wine, and other beverages, in addition to the beer that Murbina's bringing to the opening reception, so make sure you bring a designated driver (grin!) to allow yourself to do some liberal sampling of the complimentary adult beverages as you visit with Murbina & her art! Check out Murbina Creative Studios for a sneak peek of what her Artist Spotlight will be like!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Happy New Comic Wednesday - ALL of the comics came out edition!

 Yup, it's Thanksgiving week, so that always means there's a plethora of comics that hit to insure that you've got sequential art entertainment to enjoy after your foodfest! Always a bang zoom day when Saga and Walking Dead come out! This week's new Image title, Black Science, is written by Rick Remender and we have a special cover edition as well! Second issue of Damian Son of Batman (an Elseworlds story) and we see what Barry (Flash) was doing during Zero Year!
 Infinity concludes this week and there's a lot of titles such as New Avengers, Infinity Heist, Infinity Hunt, and the Wolverine and the X-Men Annual (not pictured, but on the bottom right here with the camera flash, is the new issue of Wolvie and the X-Men)! Nova #100 (!?!), Superior Spidey (Doc Oct against Venom!), and a new issue of All New X-Men!
The Sandman Overture comic on the bottom left is the special edition that has behind the scenes on how this comic came together, with transparent lettering that really shows how amazing JH's art is! This Deadpool Annual has an art style that evokes what the new Hawkeye series looks like (and the new issue of Hawkeye is out!) so I can't wait to read it (and I don't usually read Deadpool, even though I've heard this new run has been a lot of fun)! There's really way too many comics that came out this week for me to talk about and I have to get back to reading some of them, so I hope to see a lot of you in a couple of hours!

Black Friday Sale, Alternate Reality Comics style! We'll be open from 6am-7pm with FREE Ronalds Donuts, FREE beverages, and the following sale specials detailed in the Ich Liebe Comics! blog entry below this entry!!


Monday, November 25, 2013

Black Friday Alternate Reality Comics Style!

Here's how we're gonna do up Black Friday this Friday (naturally - grin!), November 29th!:

We'll be open from 6am-7pm!

Start off your day with FREE Ronald (vegan) donuts & FREE beverages!

Here's the sales details that will be happening from 6am-noon!:

EVERYTHING 20% off!! That means comics, graphic novels, statues, t-shirts, pop vinyls, back issues, & more!

Here's the sale deals happening all day (6am-7pm)!!

50% off all variants!

50% off all one dollar & two dollar back issues!

50% off all comic book sets!

HUGE restock of $10 graphic novels!

20% off all graphic novels!

$20 gift certificate for every $100 spent!

We'll also have a BIG display of specially priced holiday items, such as action figures & other  pop culture items!

(% off sales do not apply to already on sale items)

Hope to see many of my Alternate Reality Comics friends!


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

New Comics Wednesday 11/20/13 - A Voice in the Dark & Afterlife With Archie edition!

 A Voice in the Dark, written and drawn by Larime Taylor is one of the best debuts I've read in a really long time! I'm pretty sure that anyone who picks up the first issue will be eagerly awaiting the next issue! Two other new series favorites have new issues out, Afterlife With Archie and Sex Criminals (and we still have the preceding issues)! The book on the bottom left is a new Fairest original graphic novel, with a who's who of great comic book creators contributing (and how about this awesome cover!?)! Harley Quinn #0, a lot of people have been awaiting this!
 The first Nowhere Men collection - can't wait to read this, I've heard so many good things about this title! Look, it's the other cool cover of the second issue of Afterlife With Archie!
Yes, I've got A Voice in the Dark #1 in two spaces up front this week because it's that good and I want to make sure people don't miss it (end of hype, can't wait to talk to people about this title!)! Also today, there's a GORGEOUS new over-sized hardcover original graphic novel from Dark Horse called The Fifth Beatle The Brian Epstein Story!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Woman Rebel The Margaret Sanger Story; Peter Bagge



Woman Rebel The Margaret Sanger Story is a new graphic novel biography written and drawn by cartoonist Peter Bagge (Neat Stuff, Hate, are two of his previous alternative comic series), published by Drawn + Quarterly. 

Margaret Sanger was a pioneering feminist who championed women's rights to birth control. Peter Bagge's biographical graphic novel on Margaret Sanger spans her birth in the late 19th Century, her role as a mother, wife, nurse, and educator. Margaret Sanger traveled the world promoting birth control and went on to found Planned Parenthood (the name of the organization was one she wasn't entirely happy with). Peter Bagge is mostly known as a cartoonist whose exaggerated art style one wouldn't think initially would be well suited for a serious graphic novel, but Margaret Sanger wasn't always a serious person and many of her "adventures" in her home life and traveling to promote birth control are humorous. Additionally, Peter Bagge's unique art style turns what could have just been an average biography into a graphic novel that is every bit as lively as Margaret Sanger appeared to be.


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Happy New Comics Wednesday 11/13/13; Zero Year / Walking Dead edition!

 Another great Zero Year issue of Batman! With Zero Year tie-ins this week in the second issue of Arkham War, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Green Lantern Corps! Second issue Superman / Wonder Woman and the collected first arc of Injustice!
 Galactus is still hungry in Cataclysm, we get a new issue of All New X-Men (they get new outfits), and a GIANT size collection of new X-Men stories in X-Men Gold (so titled because of the creative talents involved)!
Okay, issue #115 of Walking Dead set up All Out War, but with this issue, things REALLY get in gear! And a new Walking Dead collection, volume 19, for those of you who get your WD comic fix this way! Unity #1 is out, starting up a big event in the Valiant universe and Manifest Destiny, a new image title looks really good! There's also some great graphic novels this week including a new Adventure Time hardcover and an over-sized Hip Hop history original graphic novel published by Fantagraphics!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

War Brothers; Sharon E. McKay & Daniel Lafrance


War Brothers is a new graphic novel written by Sharon E. McKay, from her novel about child soldiers in Africa and drawn by Daniel Lafrance. While War Brothers is fictional, it is based on real events happening in Uganda and elsewhere around the world (sadly).


Everyone probably remembers the name Kony, from 2012, as his name was all over social medium platforms as the horrible leader of abducted child soldiers. The children central characters of War Brothers are abducted by Kony's soldiers from their school (which was protected, but they were overwhelmed) and forced to become soldiers for Kony's Lond's Resistance Army, really just a a more self important name than what Kony really is, a thug of the vilest order. While the children abducted in this story have to make some horrible choices to stay alive, like their real life counterparts, War Brothers is also a story of hope and courage in the face of evil, and shows that even if a child emerges from this nightmare, they still have a difficult road in front of them.

Reading War Brothers is difficult, put it should be read and is definitely one of the most powerful graphic novels of 2013. Here's a little video which uses art from the book to give you a better idea of War Brothers: http://vimeo.com/60125256

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Palookaville Number Twenty One; Seth

 Palookaville, written and drawn by Canadian cartoonist, Seth, started off as a very irregularly published comic book, now it's an irregularly published handsome hardcover graphic novel series. Seth is one of my very favorite cartoonists (It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken being one of my all time favorite graphic novels) and I'm loving Clyde Fans, which we get another chapter of here in Palookaville Number Twenty One. As much as I love Clyde Fans, which is a fictional story about a traveling electric fan salesman, I wonder how much longer the story is and how long it'll take Seth to complete this story (maybe he's having a "race" with another great cartoonist, Jason Lutes, whose epic comic book narrative, Berlin, started probably about the same time as Clyde Fans, also has one wondering when we'll see the conclusion of said story - the race being who can hold out for the end appearing longer).
The above sequence is another story from Seth's Palookaville Number Twenty One, titled, Nothing Lasts, which is exactly about what it sounds like it's about. This story is drawn in Seth's more simplistic style, but it's no less a great reflective narrative on what most people would call mundane things occurring in life. The third "story" in this newest Palookaville book is called Rubber Stamp Diary and is more semi-biographical (?) musings by Seth, drawn using a few rubber stamps he had made, with really bad lettering (of which Seth apologizes for). I'd have to say that Rubber Stamp Diary is the only thing Seth has done, that I can remember, that doesn't resonate with me on any level.

Palookaville Number Twenty One is pricey ($21.99), but it is a gorgeous production (except in my opinion, the Rubber Stamp Diary middle section) and it is a good, long read that you'll want to revisit in the future if you like auto-biographical, slice of life sequential art narratives. For those of you who aren't already rapid Seth fans as myself, I'm sure there will be an uber nice collection of Clyde Fans whenever it gets completed and I'm sure that will be regarded as one of those benchmark works of this medium.

Dogs of War; Sheila Keenan & Nathan Fox

Dogs of War is a new graphic novel written by Sheila Keenan and drawn by Nathan Fox. Actually, Dogs of War contains three short stories featuring dogs that helped out during World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. These stories are works of fiction, but they're inspired by actual military history.

Dogs have assisted soldiers in wars throughout history and are called military working dogs (MWDs), but to the soldiers who are out in the trenches with these dogs they are like fellow soldiers to them and become their best friends. I think it would be hard not to tell good stories with this bond between man and animal in such difficult surroundings and Dogs of War doesn't disappoint, with my favorite being the tale of a soldier in the Vietnam War and his dog, Sheba. Great stories by Sheila Keenan and great art by Nathan Fox equal a great full color graphic novel suitable for all ages at a great low price of $12.99!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Happy New Comics Wednesday 11/6/13 - Forever Evil / Superman edition!

 Forever Evil is shaping up to be one of the better events in some time in my opinion! Aaron Kuder joins the creative team as artist on Action Comics - he's become a new favorite of mine! New chapters of Superman Unchained and Batman / Superman today also! Las Vegas' own, Gilbert Hernandez has a new graphic novel out, Maria M. and I'm looking forward to reading Trillium (if I haven't already read this before I post this entry - I start my Wednesday post on Tuesday night before I close for the night getting the shelves ready for New Comics Wednesday!)!
 A new X-Men title, with the return of Nightcrawler! Last issue of this incarnation of Captain Marvel! A super big collection of Hawkeye, collecting twelve issues! A new Hello Kitty, Longshot mini-series starts, and the end of the Ultimate universe continues with the first issue of Cataclysm! And fresh new red vines!
A new Luna title - Alex + Ada, as well as new issues of two Hickman titles, the third issue of Star Wars the Lucas Draft, and Ten Grand!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Bad Houses; Sara Ryan & Carla Speed McNeil

Bad Houses is a new graphic novel, published by Dark Horse Comics, written by Sara Ryan and drawn by Carla Speed McNeil. The characters and plot in Bad Houses centers around estate sales, which are sales of the contents / personal belongings of people who have died. I've heard of estate sales, but have never been to one  or really thought about what going to one entails. The title of this graphic novel, Bad Houses, comes from what one of the characters, Lewis, who works with his mother in preparing and conducting estate sales, describes as those houses that belonged to hoarders and are thus difficult to clean and sometimes hard for family members to reach an agreement on what will be going up for sale. But Bad Houses isn't primarily about these types of estate sales, rather it's a coming of age story of two people who meet at such as sale and the different motivations of those who go to estate sales (it can be like the "reality" show Storage Wars, but that's not always the case).

As good as the story and characters in Bad Houses are, this graphic novel wouldn't be as great as it is without the rich artistic talents of Carla Speed McNeil. Carla Speed McNeil usually writes and draws her own comics, called Finder, which are also collected in fine trade paperbacks by Dark Horse Comics. I was an Eisner judge several years ago and one of the comics up for Eisner consideration that year was Carla Speed NcNeil's Finder story arc titled Talisman, which Dark Horse has fairly recently turned into a gorgeous hardcover graphic novel (I believe a person could read Talisman without having read other Finder stories and appreciate it unto itself, but it'll make you want to seek out other Finder books). Carla Speed McNeil is one of my favorite cartoonists because all of her characters are varied, very expressive, and her story-telling is always a delight to gaze upon page after page. Her characters are funny, full of life, dramatic when they need to be, and Carla Speed McNeil has a great understanding of how clothes fit her characters as well as being able to render any background the story calls for, be it a fantasy one (which Finder largely is) or a realistic one as Bad Houses is. Bad Houses was a joy to read and look at, thanks Sara Ryan and Carla speed McNeil!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Happy New Comics Wednesday 10/28/13 - Sandman Overture has landed & it's a BEAUTY! Special note at the end of this entry regarding Saturday's Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival!

 Everyone who saw me foaming at the mouth on facebook yesterday already knows how happy I was upon reading the first issue of Sandman Overture - it really is THAT good! And if you've never read Sandman before, no worries as this story takes place before the very first one that was published some 25 years ago (for those of you who have read Sandman previously, you'll "get" something extra out of reading and marveling at how amazing the art is in this first issue! And even on the remote chance you don't like the story, the art by JH Williams III is so mesmerizing and beautiful unto itself!
 There's a plethora of what looks to be other cool comics out today, but I'm still basking in the Sandman Overture afterglow, so I'm going to let the photo above and below hint at some of those other titles!
Reminder: This Saturday, at the Clark County Library here on Maryland & Flamingo behind Alternate Reality Comics, we're having the sixth annual Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival from 9:30-4:30pm for FREE! Guests such as Greg Rucka, Georges Jeanty, Warren Wucinich, panels, music, food truck, fabulous comic book exhibitors, plenty of local artists, and a costume contest! And Alternate Reality Comics will have FREE All Soul's Day comics for the young and young at heart at our booth!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Happy New Comics Wednesday 10/23/13 - BIG Image debut week!

 Looking for some new titles to jump on board with? Well Image has two new releases out today. Pretty Deadly and Velvet! And a new Samurai Jack comic from IDW! Second issue of the VERY different Sex Criminals is also out as well as the Justice League chapter of Forever Evil (Justice League Dark this week is also a Forever Evil tie-in)! A new Love and Rockets by Los Bros. Hernandez (I just got my copies this week as they were missing in my shipment last week)!
 Marvel Now What!? - is a send up spoof of Marvel Now! Lots of Infinity tie-ins today too, with Nova, Secret Avengers, Infinity Heist, and Infinity Hunt! Not pictured, but one of the titles I'm most looking forward (dreading) to read is this week's Young Avengers (what's gonna happen to Kid Loki!?)!
A brand NEW original Hellboy graphic novel by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fregado! We also got the beautiful, great Black Beetle hardcover in as well as the first Joker Death In The family hardcover, and the newest Palookaville! Comics will never shut down (grin)!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Happy New Comics Wednesday 10/16/13! Another great smorgasboard of sequential art delights!

 Everyone loved Afterlife With Archie last week, right!? The first issue has sold out at the distributor level, but I got some more copies of the first issue from my friend, Joe Field, who owns Flying Color Comics in Concord, California (he's the genius who invented Free Comic Book Day)! The conclusion of the first story arc of Batman / Superman is out this week as well as Batman teaming up with two Face (!?)!
 Hawkeye - how we've missed you! More Infinity Avengers madness!
The second issue of Ales Kot's new Image title, Zero, will be awaiting you (we still have the first great issue as well!)! The Flash rogues side of Forever Evil is explored in Rogues Rebellion, the conclusion of Hunger as Galactus' hunger leads him to the Ultimate universe which leads into Cataclysm (will this be the end of the Ultimate universe!?) and Charles Soule has a new title, Letter 44, out from Oni!

And Wednesday, October 16th is the last day to bring any new or gently used stuffed animals or toys to Alternate Reality Comics that will be donated to the Children's Hospital at Southern Hills, a drive that was organized by Chase Murry, a local high school senior who is doing this as an Eagle Scout program. Thanks to everyone who has already brought many great items that are sure to make children happy!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Happy New Comic Wednesday! 10th Anniversary Walking Dead Edition!

Some many great covers for the start of the 12 part All Out War story arc which begins in this week's Walking Dead #115! And money back guarantee on Afterlife With Archie (rated teen + as this isn't your parent's Archie!)! Geoff Darrow's Shaolin Cowboy returns after a too long break! Double sized Batman Zero Year chapters and the first issue of Superman / Wonder Woman by Charles Soule!
Paul Pope's Battling Boy - finally! A new Tezuka (well new here in the U. S.) and the second hardcover collection of Matt Kindt's excellent Mind MGMT!
A great jumping on issue of Peter Panzerfaust and a new Vertigo series, Coffin Hill (double-sized), that looks great! If you haven't read the first few issues of Lazarus, well there's now a handy collection out. Thanos Rising collection too and the second big new collected volume of Lucifer! Sidkick, chapter seven of Battle of the Atom, Nightwing, Ghosted, Manhattan Projects, and Brian Wood's star wars are a few of the other new Happy New Comic Wednesday Comics on tap today!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Happy New Comics Wednesday 10/1/13! Ths week's goods will be ready at 11am!

Well we've all survived the excitement that was last week and all of September, now we're at everyone's favorite month, October, right!? We had another shipment not arriving on Tuesday hiccup, so we're going to get over to our shipping hub bright and early today and jam to get everything processed by 11am (and I've got a bug in  my Diamond rep's ear as to why this has happened so many times this year and who do I talk to so that it stops interrupting our new comics flow!)!

Here's some of what will be awaiting you today in terms of comic / sequential art goodness today (and because I didn't get them on Tuesday I haven't gotten a chance to read any of these yet, sob, sob):

All New X-Men, Batman Black & White,  Detective Comics, Forever Evil #2 (and if you've read #1, you're itching to read this like I am! - and we still have the first issue!), God is Dead, Green Lantern, the third issue of Hunger (finally, right?), Lazarus, the second issue of The Star Wars (Lucas draft adaptation), Swamp Thing, and Trillium!!

And the above excellent graphic novels are just placeholders until I get the new title spotlights done up, but if you haven't read any of these and want to, through Saturday they will be on sale for 20% off cover price! Not a dud in the bunch!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Happy New Comics Wednseday 9/26/13 - a GREAT week to be a VEGAS comic fan!

Last week of DC's 3d villain titles (also available in 2D for a dollar less!) - what has been your favorite one so far? Mine was last week's Black Hand (I haven't read this weeks yet).
And the first issue of IDW's Power Puff Girls!
Just look at all of these fantastic Image favorites coming out in the same week! Sex criminals looks like it has the makings to join this bunch! Here's some other titles out today not in these photos: Mind Mgmt, The Trial of the Punisher, The Wake, FF, Avengers, Infinity Heist, Ultimate Spider-Man, Young Avengers, Nova, Tom Strong, Unwritten, Uncanny Avengers, and Fatale!

As if all of this New Comics Wednesday feast of great comics wasn't enough, here's what else is happening tonight at Alternate Reality Comics, Friday night at Alternate, and this weekend:

Tonight from 5-8pm, Alternate Reality Comics will be having the opening reception of local artist, John Gamble and his amazing mechanical pencil creations! With complimentary snacks, wine,  and other beverages while you visit with the artist and the other art lovers who will be showing up!

Friday, from 5-7pm, at Alternate, we're having artist Ryan Sook (B.P.R.D, Kamandi, Spectre, Zatanna, X Factor, and numerous covers for DC and Marvel) as our launch for this weekend's Las Vegas Comic Expo (and Ryan Sook will be doing free head sketches at the store - let's give him a BIG Vegas welcome!):

The second annual Las Vegas Comic Expo is happening this weekend at the Riviera Hotel and if you were at last years Expo, you know a fun time is in store! Lots of great guests, great exhibitors, panels, people in fun eye candy costumes, and just a great way to have a wonderful geekend! Alternate Reality Comics will be at adjoining booths 309 and 311, so stop by and say hi to Epstein puppet, myself and the Alternate Crew!


Monday, September 23, 2013

Cyborg 009; Desanto, Camp, To, & Herring

 Cyborg 009 is a much beloved, best selling manga series created by Shotaro Ishinomori, that also was done as an anime, live action television show and even feature length movies. Cyborg 009 was the ninth in a series of cyborgs created to be used for military reasons, but Cyborg 009 and the other eight cyborgs aren't on board with this plan.
A couple of weeks ago, Archaia (the graphic novel company that has produced beautiful graphic novels such as Jim Henson's A Tale of Sand, Fraggle Rock, and Mouse Guard), released this beautiful, new, full color, hardcover Cyborg 009 graphic novel and it has to be seen in person to fully appreciate what a gorgeous production this is (the cover image posted above  looks simple here on the internet, but come by Alternate Reality Comics to see how different this cover really is!).

Written by F.J. Desanto and Bradley Cramp and drawn by Marcus To (he's done some DC comics like Flash, but nothing that's suggested he could do this level of art) and colored by Ian Herring, Cyborg 009 is an action packed story with a lot of heart and a person doesn't have to be familiar with previous / original incarnations of Cyborg 009 to appreciate this new graphic novel. As good as the story is, the real stars of Archaia's Cyborg 009 are artists Marcus To and colorist Ian Herring. The comic book medium has a lot of great artists and colorists, but To and Herring with their Cyborg 009, have created a graphic novel that's the closest thing to being an anime on paper that I've ever seen, with their great story-telling chops which makes Cyborg 009 a very kinetic experience.