Happy 30th Anniversary Love and Rockets!

This year, the seminal, alternative comic book, Love and Rockets turned 30 years old! That's 30 years of continuous publication in comic and graphic novel formats by creators / cartoonists, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez (their older brother Mario also contributes stories and art from time to time)! This first page of art shown here is by Gilbert Hernandez (they also write and draw their own stories). The characters that populate Gilbert Hernandez' stories mostly inhabit a fictional town called Palomar.

This page of art ('actually reviewing this published entry, I'm seeing that blogspot continues to find new ways to mess up my posts, so photos two and three are reversed'- both pages are amongst eleven pages of originals on display at the Artist Spotlight section of Alternate Reality Comics through the end of December) is by Jaime Hernandez and most of his characters live in the fictional town of Huerta (Hoppers).
What is Love and Rockets about? Simply put, it's about everything people go through in a life lived, being kids and teen-agers, falling in love, complex friendships, having sex, getting into trouble, getting old, and dying. Every character within Gilbert and Jaime's Love and Rockets stories are fully developed and while many of their women are of the eye-pooping beuatiful variety, they both draw many varied kinds of people, who are all beautiful in their own ways. Gilbert and Jaime are both masters at telling funny, sad, strange, and poignant stories, illustrated in gorgeous black and white (some of their work has been in color, but they work the black and white with such grace that you'll prefer to see their art this way). The Hernandez brothers' understanding of the possiblities of the comic book medium was fully realized when they made their debut back in 1982, but they somehow have even managed to hone their skills, never stagnating.
This past Saturday, December 1st, Alternate Reality Comics was honored to be one of the Love and Rockets 30th Anniversary Celebration hosts, and I want to again thank everyone who showed up and dished out deserved ego strokes to Gilbert and Jaime! For those of you who haven't already seen my posts about this on my store's facebook, our sale on Love and Rockets comics and graphic novels will be 20% off through the end of the year and we still have some lmited edition 30th anniversary prints left for a mere $15.00 (11x14, suitable for framing)! Seriously, if you've never seen original artwork by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, come on by an give your eyes a treat!

Thankful on Thanksgiving and Everyday

Today being Thanksgiving is a perfect day for me to share with everyone the things that I am thankful for in my life, but the following are things that I am thankful for every day.

Comic books. This may seem like a strange, superficial thing to be the first thing I mention as being thankful for, but besides my almost lifelong love of this medium (since 1975!!), if comic books hadn't entered my life, I wouldn't have the wonderful comic store I've now owned for eighteen years, through which I've met my wife (back in 1995) and many, many friends, both close friends and people I get to see fairly regularly from their visits to my store. 

Kate. I've know Kate since 1995 and we've been married since 1997, so that's fifteen wonderful years this December. I love waking up knowing Kate is my partner in my life, talking to her after our work days, and just getting to share the many experiences (and places) we've had. I also love her family and am grateful that they're in my life. 

My friends. I have close friends and patrons of Alternate Reality Comics that I think of as my friends. I would be a pale shadow of myself in the absence of all of my friends. While I may not remember all of the experiences / exchanges I've had with my friends, all of these life moments have made me who I am today and I hope that in the future there's a way to unlock all of these memories because they would make for a wonderful book or video reel (albeit a rather long one!). I do lament not having more time to spend more time with my friends. I'm thankful for my friends I only see at my store for their visits and dialogues with me and letting me be a part of their lives. 

My cats. I love all animals, but especially cats. Presently we have three cats, Alucard, Moto, and Sky and they all have their own unique character traits, I'd love to be able to exchange brain waves with them for a day to understand things from their perspective. I miss Maleficent and Pixie, two of our cats that died but I'm thankful that we had time together. 

Alternate Reality Comics. I love my store and am so thankful for everyone, past, present and future who have visited my store, talked to me, have come to my events, and are providing great homes to the many wonderful comics and graphic novels that Alternate Reality Comics has had the privilege of stocking. I am so fortunate to have my occupation involve the main passion (comic books) of my life and that I get to share all the wonderful stories and art this medium has with so many friends / people. After eighteen years, I still very much look forward to opening the doors to my store and getting to talk and sell comic books. Uber thanks to everyone who shares my love of these magical things we call comic books, especially to those of you who get their fix at Alternate Reality Comics, and to everyone who has given me generous feedback on the evolution of the store. 

My helper bees at Alternate Reality Comics, who are also great friends of mine, Jim, Paul, and Michelle. Jim has really fine tuned the store in ways that would take way too long for me to enumerate, especially since I moved the store to its present location two and a half years ago. Paul, is the store's Sunday captain and has been with the store for years, and has also been a big part of the character / identity that Alternate Reality Comics has. I call Michelle, my store's resident artist because she's done many projects around the store that have really helped define the visual look of Alternate Reality Comics. I'm also thankful for Ron Horsley, my other store artist, who has over the years drawn many wonderful versions of Epstein, my store mascot, that people can see all around the store. Ron has also designed my website and many other outreach visual things I use to promote the store. 

The comic book industry. HUGE thanks to all of the creative people who make the comics and graphic novels we all love possible. Thanks to everyone else involved in the production of comics, including editors, publishers, printers, and distributors for getting these volumes into my store and into my friend's collections. 

Las Vegas. Many of you probably don't know the following, but I haven't always loved Las Vegas. I just moved here originally back in 1980 because I'd lived here for a few years previously and couldn't think of somewhere else to live when my family moved here (nor did I have the means then). It really wasn't until a few years ago, when I was on a trip elsewhere, that I had an epiphany about what a magical place Las Vegas really is. Certainly Las Vegas could still use some improvements, but here's some of the things that I'm thankful for Las Vegas for: The emerging Las Vegas comic book community. We have many great comic book stores now in Las Vegas (and I'm fortunate to be friends with many of them and to have learned from what their stores bring to the greater Las Vegas Valley) and I thank those of you who come to my store with this in mind. For five years now we've had the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival at the Clark County Library and this has been a big big part of the development of the Las Vegas comic community, along with this year's excellent Las Vegas Comic Book Expo, which looks to definitely become a recurring convention for Las Vegas fandom. The Very Awesome Girls Into Nerdy Activities, for all of the charitable events they've done at my store and around the valley, their unique ways of molding the Vegas comic community has really been a joy to be a part of. Brieanna and Heath are also great ambassadors of the Vegas comic book community and I look forward to being a part of more of Brieanna's events in the future (we have one coming up in the store Saturday, December 8th). Las Vegas also has a greatly emerging local art scene, with First Friday having celebrated its tenth anniversary a couple of months ago and is getting better and better. Vegas now has many more free events in addition to the big entertainment options people flock to our city to experience as well as many first class restaurants that offer many options (including many vegan choices) and there really are a lot of places that do this at reasonable prices. And while I love the many trees and floral of the Northwest and Northeast, I've come to appreciate and be thankful for the beauty our desert environments have, such as Red Rock, Valley of Fire, and my own little haven for getting out of the city, the Wetlands (which is just off of Tropicana and Boulder Highway, so really isn't out of the city, but if you go there, you'll be in another world). 

Again, thank you to all of my friends for being my friends, to everyone who has visited Alternate Reality Comics, and to everyone who reads Ich Liebe Comics! (I apologize for being really lackluster in my posts here this year, but I'm looking to change this state of things in the near future - part of my reasons involve the changes at blogspot).

Alternate upcoming October FUN events!

We've got SOOOO much going on here at Alternate Reality Comics that I want to make a giant post here to give everyone a heads up! I want to firstly thank everyone who comes out to the events at Alternate Reality Comics and to thank you in advance for considering going to the following Alternate Reality Comics October events, when I know that everyone has a lot already going on! I'm going to list these upcoming events in reverse order, just because today is Bizzarro Day (I'm not sure what I mean by that - grin!):

Wednesday, October 31st: Halloween is on New Comics Wednesday! Since Halloween is happening on the same fabulous day of the week that new comics and graphic novels are released, it's mandatory that everyone who comes to Alternate Reality Comics that day, has to be in costume - okay, not really, but if you do come in costume, you'll get three raffle tickets for your chance to win some fabulous prizes, including BIG gift certificates, art prints, graphic novels, and a date with Epstein puppet (well the last item may not be real, unless you want it to be - grin!)! We'll also be having a mini version of Free Comic Book Day, but you'll have to come out to Alternate on Halloween to see what that means! We'll be open from 10am-7pm so you could come early and then come by again right before you and or your little ones go trick or treating!

Sunday, October 28th: Join Alternate Reality Comics and the Vegas comic fan community in celebrating the Very Awesome Girls Into Nerdy Activities' 2nd year anniversary at Desert Breeze Park (8275 Spring Mountain Park) from 12-7pm! This sure to be FABULOUS event isn't taking place at Alternate Reality Comics, but it is fully endorsed by us because these Very Awesome Gals have really made the geek / nerd community here in Vegas a force to be reckoned with and a lot of the events they do are done in support of local charitable organizations! I really really hope to see a lot Ich Liebe Comics! blog readers and Alternate Reality Comics' friends at this event and it shouldn't be too cold, but if it is, we'll have the warmth of our big fan community friendship to keep each other warm (grin) - let's show V.A.G.I.N.A. how much we love them for all they do and for being such a FUN group!

Saturday, October 27th: Cosplay Queen of Las Vegas, Brieanna Brock Randall, will be one of the costume designers for what should be one of the biggest Halloween bashes in Las Vegas, at Tommy Rockers (4275 S. Dean Martin Drive), with the fun starting at 8pm. There will be gals and guys in eye candy costumes parading around the joint throughout the night (and everyone's encouraged to come in costume, as there's a $300.00 grand prize for best costume!), great food and drinks, live music, and lots of other entertainment you're not going to get anywhere else for as much fun as you'll have! What costume will I be wearing!?

Saturday, October 27th from 2-5pm at Alternate Reality Comics!: My good friend Ron Horsley will be visiting from Columbus, Ohio, and will be doing debuting his new novel, Sin Gorge, at my store! Sin Gorge will mostly be available as an eBook, but he's going to have some copies available, several of which will be raffle prizes! Besides this being the first novel debut at Alternate Reality Comics, Ron Horsley, the author, has also been my main artist for all of the different versions of Epstein that has colored my store and flyers / postcards for years! Ron is also working on a new 11x17 Epstein print that everyone who comes to this event will get FREE! I hope that a lot of you are able to stop by for Ron Horley's in-store event on this afternoon and will share with him how much his Epstein illustrations have really made Alternate Reality Comics pop! Ron and myself will be plotting our Secret Origin of Epstein comic while he's here, so here's your chance to meet him in person! And there will be FREE snacks and beverages!

Friday, October 26th from 6-8pm at Alternate Reality Comics!: Opening reception for the Seduction of the Innocent Artist Spotlight put together by local artist Pj Perez (The Utopian). The Seduction of the Innocent Artist Spotlight will feature art, selected by Pj Perez, from comics and graphic novels, that have been banned over the years in different parts of the country for their "questionable content"and this Artist Spotlight reception will also be our launch celebration for the fifth annual Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, which is happening on Saturday, November 3rd, at the Clark County Library (1401 E. Flamingo, right behind my store!), a FREE mini comics convention, with artists (Gene Ha, being this year's special guest!), panels, and vendors! At the Seduction of the Innocent Artist Spotlight, Pj Perez has created an awesome 11x14 print that will be available for only $5.00, of which all of the proceeds will go to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to help in their battle against future banned sequential art productions and the stores that sell them. Complimentary wine, snacks, and other beverages will also be part of this special Artist Spotlight reception!
And last, but certainly not least (or first really if I was doing this in a chronologically dated fashion - and many of you have also joined this event via the facebook event page I created this past Saturday 'thanks'):

Sunday, October 21st from 2-5pm at Alternate Reality Comics, one of our biggest signings EVER!: Look at this guest list: J.H. Williams III (Batwoman, Promethea, Batman Black Glove, Desolation Jones), James Robinson (of legendary Starman fame, Earth 2, Shade, Golden Age, Justice Society!), Pere Perez (artist on Smallville Season 11, Batgirl, Detective Comics Annual, & many other DC titles), Chris Wisnia (debuting Monstrosis, a new graphic novel featuring Kirbyesque monster action!), & Ales Kot (writer of Wild Children from Image & the upcoming Change, also from Image)! It'll be like a mini-convention! Get some favorite comics signed (some of the artists might even be talked into doing sketches!), raffles for fab prizes, & FREE snacks & beverages! A portion of the events during the event will be donated to Hero Initiative, a non profit organization that helps comic creators in need (but you don't have to buy anything to come out, visit with these great comic creators, & lavish ego strokes upon them!)!
Thanks for reading all of the above and for your consideration in attending any or all of these events (those coming to all of the above events will receive an additional two raffle tickets for our Nevada Day / Halloween, Oct. 31st all day celebration!)!

Las Vegas Comic Expo 2012 recap!

Last weekend, Las Vegas had its first comic convention in almost ten years (two big comic conventions we had in 1996 and 2003 were poorly promoted and organized, thus killing Vegas comic conventions for years), with Charles, Rob, and David Lee's Las Vegas Comic Expo 2012 and it was a RESOUNDING success on EVERY level! When I first talked to Las Vegas Comic Expo founder, Charles Lee months ago, I knew right away that he wasn't a short-term thinker and that he was committed to doing this convention for years to come. Charles has gone to numerous conventions over the years (and is a HUGE comic fan himself!), so he definitely did his homework. Charles and Rob surrounded themselves with a great support team, including Brieanna Brock Randall (who handled the cosplay side of the convention and assembled photographers), Stephanie Payne (who along with her Very Awesome Girls Into Nerdy Activities gals and other volunteers really made all the small things come together), Shawn Lane (who handled public relations), Douglas Kline (their website guru),Tatiana Dykes and Mark Walters (talent relations and exhibitor registration), and Jimmy Jay of JimmyJayComics.com (director of operations). All of these people and others I'm sure I'm spacing, deserve a HUGE round of applause because last weekend's fun wouldn't have been possible without all of the millions of variables they took care of!

There was a lot of great costumes at Las Vegas Comic Expo 2012 (check out my store's facebook page at Alternate Reality Comics, Las Vegas!, for three photo sets of some other great cosplayers!), great creative talent from comics and screen (especially for a first year convention!), a wonderful varied group of exhibitors, BIG artist alley section, and there was even gaming and panels, so there really was something for everyone at this show! I personally want to thank everyone who stopped by my booth (and even bought things - grin!) and met my new boss, Epstein puppet (made by Phoenix puppeteer, Stacey Rebecca Gordon!), and gave me and my crew (friends, Michelle, Paul, and Ryan, who did a WONDERFUL job helping me with my booth all weekend!) such great feedback on Alternate Reality Comics' booth! I know that everyone I met and talked to (including vendors and the special guests) had nothing but positive things to say about this first year of Las Vegas Comic Expo, and we're all looking forward to Las Vegas Comic Expo 2013 (which will be at the end of September 2013, location undetermined yet - personally I thought the Riviera was great and I think that space has plenty of space for a growing convention)!

Shade #12; James Robinson & Gene Ha

The Shade is a twelve issue series, published by DC Comics, that just concluded with an issue written by the series' writer, James Robinson and drawn by Gene Ha. anyone who has read James Robinson's epic Starman comic, now collected in six omnibus editions by DC, were very much looking forward to this Shade maxi-series, as Shade was one of the central characters of that series. As with Starman, with the main artistry of Tony Harris and Peter Snejbjerg, this Shade series also had excellent art by some of the mediums best, such as Darywn Cooke, Jill Thompson, Jarvier Pulido, and Frazer Irving. Shade #12, featured the art of Gene Ha and as you can tell from this title page above, he was the perfect choice to conclude this series with James Robinson. If you're not already familiar with Starman or the Shade, I'm just going to say that James Robinson and his stellar artist collaborators, comics with said characters, is the very definition of EPIC, beautiful sequential art storytelling.

Do yourself a favor and get the Starman collections, the Shade maxi-series, and or the Shade collection when it arrives! And Las Vegas has two treats in store for them relating to this comic, specifically Shade #12, with artist Gene Ha being the top billed guest of honor at this year's Vegas Valley Comic Festival at the Clark County Library, Saturday, November 3rd, and writer James Robinson, will be one of Alternate Reality Comics' special guests Sunday, October 21st (more details on this last tidbit very soon)!!

Fashion Beast #1; And now for something completely different...

This week, the first issue of Avatar's ten issue adaptation of Alan Moore and Malcolm McClaren's screenplay for a movie that never happened, Fashion Beast, arrived, illustrated by Facundo Percio. Moore and McClaren (manager of the Sex Pistols) wrote Fashion Beast in the early / mid 1980s, but as Antony Johnson's adaptation shows, even with just this first issue, Fashion Beast looks to be one of Alan Moore's finest creations.

Wizzywig; Ed Piskor

Another great graphic novel that was released a few months ago that I finally got around to reading (working on lots of behind the scenes things for upcoming events here in the Las Vegas comic commmunity and the store) is Ed Piskor's Wizzywig, published by Top Shelf. Wizzywig is based on nine real real-life computer hackers, with the central character, Kevin "Boingthump" Phenicle, being a conglomerate of "adventures" those nine hackers actually had.

Ed Piskor's Wizzywig, is a thoroughly engrossing, entertaining graphic novel (300 pages, only $19.95, for another beautifully designed Top Shelf production) that will have you alternating between cheering on the protaginist as he gets away with his hacking schemes and cheering on the law as they catch up to him (depending on how you feel about free acess to information and or how annoyed you become when you end up with a computer virus). You may even learn a thing or twelve, such as the latter section of Wizzywig, in which Kevin, the hacker, now in prison, tells you how you can wash your clothes in the toliet (line the toliet with a trash liner and fill it with sink water) or how you can cook ramen noodles and light your cigarettes with an electrical wire (gplugging it in, but avoid touching the exposed end part of the wire).