Batwoman #1 & J.H. Williams III upcoming signing!!

This week another thirteen titles of DC Comics new 52 titles arrived and amongst them was one of the most anticipated - Batwoman #1, beautifully drawn by Eisner Award winning artist, J.H. Williams III, and co-written by J.H. and W. Haden Blackman! This new DC company wide relaunch has exceeded expectations and all of the titles are flying off of shelves everywhere, with all of the titles going to a second print! Batwoman #1 is no exception and even though I ordered at really high levels I'm very close to being sold out (this fact isn't helped by my store getting shorted one third of my order with no replacement copies at the distributor level - arrrgghh!). I do have a line on some more from other stores that should be arriving next week (Alternate Reality Comics club members who haven't picked up their reservations yet, fear not, they're tucked away for you!). Seriously, I had what I thought was at least a two month supply of this first issue, but the new DC is really bringing in new faces in droves!

So is Batwoman #1 any good? No ------- it's GREAT! Seriously, it's illustrated by J.H. Williams III, so of course it's the top of the top of the greatest in sequential art! For a lot of people, Batwoman #1 will be their first exposure to J.H.'s writing, but I already knew it would be good because he has written with collaborators before. The first issue starts off with Batwoman already having had some adventures, as this isn't her first appearance, but newbies who haven't read Batwoman Elegy (the graphic novel by J.H. Williams III and writer, Greg Rucka, collecting their run with this character from Detective Comics) may be a little confused, but they won't be bored as they read how J.H. and W. Haden Blackman re-introduce Batwoman into the DC universe! And there's some special guest new supporting characters that have joined the party!

As many of you who have been at Alternate Reality Comics these past two months and have seen the announcements, we are ecstatic to bring back J.H. Williams III for another signing (his first time at my store's new location)! Mark your calendars for Saturday, October, 1st from 4-7pm as Alternate Reality Comics and our beloved patrons / friends show J.H. how much we love the art magic he does! Earlier that same day (Saturday, October 1st), my great friend, Derrick, will be hosting J.H. Williams III at his store, Comic Oasis (in the Northwest side of town), from 11am-2pm! Anyone who has already been to Comic Oasis already know it's one of Vegas' finest, but if you haven't been there yet, here's your chance to check out Derrick's shop and meet J.H. Williams III (and then head over to my shop a couple of hours later and meet him again - grin!)! Here at Alternate Reality Comics, we'll have a big sale on J.H. Williams III graphic novels such as Batwoman Elegy, Batman Black Glove, Promethea (!!), and Desolation Jones, so if you don't already have these gems, this will be a great time to get them (Saturday, October 1st from 4-7pm)!! And just wait until you see the special raffle prizes we've got lined up for the signing!

In addition to J.H. Williams III coming to Alternate Reality Comics and Comic Oasis on Saturday, October 1st, here at Alternate Reality Comics, we'll be having a big selection of original art on display from J.H. that will be up from September 23rd through the end of October at our Artist Spotlight original art gallery section of our store! J.H. Williams III will be selling original art also, so this will be a great chance for you to purchase objects of beauty that will greatly enhance your abode and be the envy of all of your friends!

Saturday, October 1st at Alternate Reality Comics and Comic Oasis with artist / writer, J. H. Williams III is guaranteed to be the best way you can kick start the fabulous month of October!

Swampy Munny, by Michelle Irish!

My friend and Alternate Reality Comics artist, Michelle Irish, recently did her first Munny (well kind of her first, but that's a long story for another day - grin!) and I think it's a beauty! This is of course the DC character Swamp Thing that was just reintroduced into the DC universe again last wek with a new first issue, written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Yanick Paquette (the other Swamp Thing book here in this photo is one of the hardcover collections of the excellent Alan Moore run). The new Swamp Thing series is great, but I won't go on about that anymore here until I get copies of the second print in (the new DC is REALLY taking off!).
Michelle with Swampy (me and Alec Holland, aka Swamp Thing go back a long way, so he's okay with me calling him Swampy)! Yay! Michelle will be doing more Munnys and for anyone who wants to try their hand at arting up one of these figures, we have them at Alternate Reality Comics for a mere $9.99! And anyone who would like to create their Munnys with their art supplies in my store would be welcome to do so, cause I like to see art being made (and I think others would as well)!

Damaged; high calibur crime fiction from Radical Comics!

A few weeks ago, Radical Comics released another top notch title in their small line of quality titles, Damaged, written by David Lapham, illustrated with the hard boiled / horror edge that Leonardo Manco excels at, and beautifully colored by Kinsun Loh, Jerry Cho, and Sansan Saw. Anyone who has read a Radical Comics title, such as Driver of the Dead, Abattoir, Time Bomb, Earp, or Legends, already know that they are going to get a comic / graphic novel with top notch production values. Radical Comics aren't just all style though, their titles also has great story content and I believe their high success rate of quality titles, such as Damaged, is due to their commitment to not just produce numerous titles to carve out a market share, rather focusing on quality over quantity.

Damaged is a hard boiled crime fiction comic (a six issue mini series) set primarily in San Francisco, involving vigilante justice and the outcome of diverging path of life choices that were made between two brothers (one of them, is a police officer). Anyone who has read Damaged writer, David Lapham's Stray Bullets, knows that he can write a crime fiction comic with the best of them and I look forward to seeing how Damaged unfolds and I think many other Ich Liebe Comics! readers will also! Check out Damaged the next time you visit Alternate Reality Comics!

Kiss & Tell; MariNaomi

This past week saw the arrival of a new graphic novel published by Harper Perennial called Kiss & Tell, written and drawn by MariNaomi. Basically Kiss & Tell is exactly what the title says it is, additionally explained by the subtitle, A Romantic Resume Ages 0 to 22, about the cartoonist and her early adventures into sexual discovery.
The art in Kiss & Tell, by MariNaomi, isn't Daniel Clowes or Adrian Tomine good, but it's got a unique flavor of its own and perfectly illustrates MariNaomi's sexual awakenings / encounters. I enjoyed Kiss & Tell on a voyeuristic level (and jealous that my youth wasn't as colored with similar sexual adventures - I know, TOO much information and I'm sure that I'm romanticizing her experiences in the grass is always greener on the other side perspective), but I wish there was a little more self insight other than what almost amounts to a listing of encounters she had during this period of her life, but this is MariNaomi's story and not mine, so of course she can tell / not tell the things she wants to. And although it may sound like I am lukewarm on Kiss & Tell, it's actually a really solid 330 page autobiographic graphic novel for people who like this genre.

Heaven Can Wait Benefit / Anniversary Party!

This past Saturday, Alternate Reality Comics and five other Vegas comic book stores hosted the Very Awesome Girls Into Nerdy Activities bake and craft sale to benefit Heaven Can Wait, a local no kill animal shelter. To say it was a resounding success would seriously be an understatement! The turnout was soooo tremendous all day at Alternate Reality Comics and I want to sincerely thank everyone who came out and supported this animal shelter at my store and stores around the valley. Because of your contributions, many animals will now have an easier time.

These cool Princess Leia cupcakes were made by Sewit Mesfen, one of the V.A.G.I.N.A. gals that was at my store and they were very popular! Actually there was a really varied selection of baked goods that the VAGINA gals made as well as some cool craft items that went fast like Yajaira Vasquez' superhero coasters and Maria Bement's kool-aid coin purses! I want to give huge hugs and kisses to all of the Very Awesome Girls Into Nerdy Activities for doing this benefit, but especially to Sewit Mesfen, Maria Bement, Yajaira Vasquez, and Erin Hemmeter for being at my store almost the entire day on Saturday helping out and to uber cool head / founder of V.A.G.I.N.A., Stephanie Payne, for all she does in uniting the Vegas comics community to help the community at large and have FUN at the same time!

Just some of the people who came out for the Heaven Can Wait benefit / store anniversary party! I was really quite moved with the turnout in support because I know there are many worthy charitable organizations here in Las Vegas, and I'm elated that people think Heaven Can Wait is among those worthy charitable organizations. Individual people don't have to donate a large sum to any individual charity, all it takes is a good number of people donating a small amount to equal a large amount, and that was illustrated very strongly this past Saturday!

Besides the very healthy monetary amount raised for Heaven Can Wait, people also brought a lot of pet food and bedding for animals in need here in Las Vegas!







This is my friend Kim, who is hammering another of my friends, Ethan, with the Thor action figure she won in one of the several raffles (which helped inspire people to make more donations) we had in celebration of Alternate Reality Comics' 17th year anniversary (one year at the store's new location)! We also had a back issue sale,
of which all of the sales went to Heaven Can Wait and that also raised a great amount!

Such a great day, Saturday was! Thanks to Michelle, Jim, and Paul, my very very great friends and great help in making everything run so smoothly at Alternate Reality Comics! I can never say the following enough: Thank you, thank you, dear beloved friends / patrons of Alternate Reality Comics for your tremendous part in making my store the wonderful place it's been for comic book wonderment these 17 amazing years! And there's lots more photos of the fun this past Saturday on my personal facebook page, Ralph Mathieu, so please friend me if you haven't already!

Green River Killer graphic novel

Last week, Dark Horse Books released an excellent true crime graphic novel called Green River Killer A True Detective Story, in a really nice hardcover package (and it doesn't have an annoying dust jacket), 234 pages, at $24.99, and although that's pricey, it's worth every penny!

Green River Killer, is of course about the serial killing of women that took place up in Seattle that Detective Tom Jensen investigated for twenty years. Written by Jeff Jensen (senior editor of Entertainment Weekly) and starkly illustrated by Jonathan Case, Green River Killer is as engaging as the best crime fiction novel graphic novel, but all the more fascinating because it's a true story, with an added element of interest being the fact that Jeff Jensen is writing about a case his father worked on while he (Jeff) was growing up. To my knowledge, this is Jeff Jensen's first foray into writing a graphic novel, but he and artist Jonathan Case, have come out of the gate very strongly and Green River Killer gets my and Kate's highest recommendation!

Tuesday's midnight Justice League #1 release!

As many of you probably already know, this week DC Comics started the relaunch of their superhero universe with the release of Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee! Comics stores were allowed to have a Tuesday midnight release of JL #1 and the final issue of Flashpoint (which sets up the new DC universe in a really dramatic story). Here in this photo are some of my friends who helped out with the celebration: Warren, Kit (she does the best Harley Quinn I've ever seen!), Brice, Jason, Brieanna, and Heath (Michelle, why aren't you in this photo!?)!

Just some of the MANY people who stayed up past my bedtime to celebrate this historic moment for comics, specifically for DC Comics! Totally worth me getting just three hours of sleep! I'm pretty confident that a big majority of the people who read Justice League #1 will be back for the next issue and this comic will also be a great gateway comic for future fans. JL #1 is a great start to the new DC, which really kicks into full gear next Wednesday, September 7th with Action Comics #1 (by Grant Morrison), Batgirl #1(written by Gail Simone), and Swamp Thing #1 (written by Scott Snyder, one of my new favorite writers), and 10 other new first issues, so I really believe there's going to be a new DC title that will push just about every comic book lover's buttons! I believe I've ordered pretty strongly on all of these debuts, but I'd like to encourage everyone to come by Alternate Reality Comics and ask me how our reserve club subscription service works.

This is Stephanie Payne, head of Very Awesome Girls Into Nerdy Activities with her uber cool drawing of her papa, Magneto, drawn by local artist (and good friend), Warren Wucinich! Warren was joined by Brice Gielgens, another great local artist, who drew a lot of cool illos (sadly I didn't get a chance to get a photo of any of the sketches he did) for people that came out for our midnight Justice League #1 / Flashpoint #5 release celebration. I saw SO many friends and patrons (same difference) of Alternate Reality Comics along with a number of newbies, so I think the future of DC Comics looks very bright! For new Ich Liebe Comics! readers, I also have a store facebook page, Alternate Reality Comics, Las Vegas!, just do a search with that title as I have many more photos there!