Carve your own virtual pumpkin!

I found this neat/goofy flash thingy for you all to have fun with this spooky night!

CARVE YOUR OWN VIRTUAL PUMPKIN!

And here's a Halloween poem I always liked that I still remember from the fourth grade (for some reason):

Tonight is the Night
~ By Harry Behn ~

Tonight is the night when dead things fly like witches on switches across the sky.
When elf and sprite flit through the night on a moony sheen.
It's Halloween.

Tonight is the night when leaves make a sound like a gnome in his home under the ground.
When spooks and trolls creep out of the holes, all mossy and green.
It's Halloween.

Tonight is the night when pumpkins stare through sheaves and leaves everywhere.
When ghoul and ghost and goblin host dance round their Queen.
IT'S HALLOWEEN!


HAPPY HALLOWEEN, y'all!

Manager Ken's Krazy Komic Kutout Korner Part 2

Here it is... the lastest zany, out-of-context comic book panel culled from the collection of eagle-eyed Manager Ken. What is Superman ON? He looks like he's ready to Super-BARF™! Just say "NO!", Supes!

Tomb Raider - The Greatest Treasure of All

WOW. I'm not a big follower of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, but I must say this comic book is just stunning. Top Cow presents TOMB RAIDER:THE GREATEST TREASURE OF ALL, in which EVERY PAGE IS PAINTED by artist Joe Jusko. It's just amazing, like paging through a catalog of old pulp magazine covers or flipping through a stack of oil paintings! It's a fairly solid adventure/quest story, with lots of twists and turns, and a rather unexpected ending... but get it for the sheer visual feast aspect of it. I found myself going back and just soaking up the gorgeous art...

Comix Connection Customer Profile #1 - 10 Questions with Eric M.

I've been meaning to get this little feature started up for a while, and I finally got a couple of forms returned, so here we go! If you would like to participate, please ask for the Ten Questions Sheet at the counter and we'll fix you right up! Join the ranks of the heroic, the noble, the Comic Connected!

1)NAME: Eric M.
2)AGE: 39
3)HOW LONG A COLLECTOR: 25 years
4) FAVORITE COMIC: Marvel's ULTIMATE line
5 FAVORITE BOOK OR GRAPHIC NOVEL: George R. R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones"
6) FAVORITE ACTIVITY: Reading
7) FAVORITE FOOD: Pizza
8) BEST COMIC BOOK RELATED EXPERIENCE: Introducing my daughter to comic books
9) IF I COULD MEET ANY COMIC CHARACTER, I WOULD CHOOSE: Wolverine
10) IF I COULD MEET ANY COMIC CREATOR, I WOULD CHOOSE: Jim Lee

Thanks, Eric!

MARVEL Pays Out In Class Action Lawsuit With Retailers

The skinny: Years ago, Marvel's Terms of Sale contract with comic book retailers stated that any Marvel comic book that shipped late within a certain time period or with substantial creative changes would be returnable to Marvel by retailers. Marvel sort of ignored that clause and never sent out return notifications and never took returns. Fast forward to today, and Lo and Behold, we are all issued credits on next week's invoice for estimated losses! Here's a brief interview with the California retailer who brought the suit to court, Brian Hibbs of Comix Experience...

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

Me neither. But it is that time of year, isn't it? And that's why I give you this cover from HERBIE #21, Oct.-Nov. 1966, featuring the story "The Plump Lump in 'Yay, Team!'"... I really don't have much to add... if you have ever read one of these studies in absurdism, you know what I mean. Merely summarizing a HERBIE plot would take longer than actually typing the entire comic in here, if that makes any sense. Which the comic doesn't. Let's just try to get our heads around the fact that Herbie is a football and an alligator (UF? GO 'GATORS!) in a football uniform is giving him the boot. My head hurts. I'm going to go lie down now.

The Golden Age - Guest Review

by Brian Linnen
On a recent trip into Comix Connection, I picked up an interesting book by Roy Thomas called "The All-Star Companion." If you have been reading comics as long as I have been, you'll recognize the name "Roy Thomas" instantly. Anyway - this book takes a look at All-Star Comics, a title which ran from 1938 to 1951, basically throughout what is considered the "Golden Age" of comics. All-Star Comics featured the Justice Society of America, comicdom's first superhero team, and the obvious forefather to the Justice League of America.

The JSA featured the original Flash, the original Green Lantern, the original Hawkman, the Original Atom, and many more characters (including Wonder Woman, who as a girl, served only as the JSA's official secretary. Different times.... Eventually they let her join full-time.)

The reason I put "original" before all the heroes names above is because during the Silver Age of comics, an editor named Julius Swartz led DC Comics as they recreated these heroes with new secret identities, new costumes, and new backgrounds. This period began in the mid-1950s. You can probably picture the Flash in your head, and when you do, it is the Silver Age version you are most likely thinking of.

For whatever reason, I have always enjoyed these Golden Age versions more than their Silver Age counterparts, and I have been able to read many of the old All-Star Comics courtesy of DC Comic's wonderful Archives line. Many readers of today's comics would be bored by the simplistic storylines, but these adventure tales of an era I will never really know, hold tremendous appeal for me. This is the same reason I enjoy listening to old radio shows featuring the likes of the Shadow and the Lone Ranger or watching old Flash Gordon movie serials.

Also, many comic fans of today criticize the artwork in these old books, but there were many true geniuses working during that time. Seriously. For almost every bad artist a critic can point out to me, I can point out someone producing honest to goodness ARTwork.

* Jack Kirby
* Sheldon Moldoff
* Alex Toth
* Mart Nodell
* Joe Kubert
* Joe Simon

And there are more - these are just names that I could list off the top of my head. I'd rather look at a page drawn by any of these guys than a page drawn by many of today's "hot artists".

There is something about these guys that just seems so fantastic to me. They were creating the entire industry as they went along. Today, creators have 70 years of history to look back at and draw from, but these guys only had each other. I read accounts of groups of creators working non-stop over a weekend in a cramped studio to get books done in time, and to me, it's such an inspiring, romantic image.

I was fortunate to have dinner with Mart Nodell a few years ago at the Harvey Awards, and I heard some of his stories about working on Green Lantern in the late 1930's . I don't think that he looks back on these times as fondly or as idealistically as I'm apt to think of them, but I just can't help it. For whatever reason, I won't let reality intrude upon my vision of the Golden Age - probably because of how much the characters mean to me. I think of their creators as giants and can't compute the idea that they were doing it for the paycheck. I guess I'm being foolish, but I can't help it. Anyway, I know that looking back, they are proud of their work. I saw that talking with Mr. Nodell, and I saw it when I had the chance to talk to Mr. Moldoff and his wife. I could see how happy Mrs. Moldoff was for her husband, and how proud, as we gathered around him looking at original artwork and hearing him talk about the old days. The same was true of Mrs. Nodell, as well.

OK - I'm not going to bore you anymore. Just wanted to write a few lines about this book I got, and I went a little overboard. Can't help it, and who does it hurt? I would recommend this book to anyone who is currently enjoying DC's "JSA" and would like to know more about where these characters came from. It's good, fun stuff, my friends!

SOLO #7 - Michael Allred

Continuing DC's line of creator-specific one-shots-within-a-series, SOLO #7 focuses this time on the terrific stories and artwork of Michael Allred (which for some reason makes me think of Al Feldstein's linework). Allred's previous forays into comics include RED ROCKET 7, the wildly fun MADMAN, and a superlative run on Marvel's X-FORCE/X-STATIX, wherein the heroes had feet of clay and were more worried about their publicity and residuals than super-heroicing (new word?). SOLO #7: Michael Allred opens with the delightful story "An Hour With Hourman" in which our hero has to find something to do to burn up all that Miraclo Pill energy... great stuff! This is followed by the romping good "Doom Patrol vs. Teen Titans" wherein a secret party at Wayne Manor gets completely out of hand. The third story "Batman A-GO-GO!" is the real gem of the book, and worth the price of admission all by itself. Told through the lens of the 1960s TV Batman, it's a rather sad story of a time of innocence, of loss, and of doubt. Allred perfectly captures the nostalgia for an era that will never be again... you just can't go home. Two more stories round out the book, "Fourth World Wager", which is a hoot and a half, and "The Adventures of Lee, Mike, and Curtis: Comic Book Clubhouse!", which is an homage to the comic book kid in all of us... All in all, a great package, a great group of stories, and another top-notch issue... well worth a read!

SIN CITY TV?, Top 300 Comics, Top 100 GNs

Here's a couple of tidbits from the ICV2 website:

SIN CITY a TV show?

Top 300 Comic Books - September 2005 by number actually sold.

Top 100 Graphic Novels - September 2005 by number actually sold.

It's shocking how few comic books a publisher has to sell to make even the Top 50... For instance, number 50 is JLA CLASSIFIED #12 at 43,714 copies sold to retailers... that's 874.28 copies per STATE or roughly 15 PER STORE if you figure there's about 3000 comic book stores in America. We sold about six times that between the two stores, so we're certainly doing our part to spread the word!

Remember when SPAWN #1 sold 1.6 MILLION copies? Of course, 1.1 million of them are still unread in a bag and a board in a box somewhere in somebody's closet...

Manager Ken's Krazy Komic Kutout Korner

In the first of what will be a long series of amazing posts, I present the first Manager Ken Ketterer's Krazy Komic Kutout Korner:


LOOK OUT, BATMAN! Robin's gone completely nuts!

You know, the next time Robin and a crowbar are in the same comic doesn't end well for the poor guy...

In the future, we will supply the title and issue number of these completely out-of-context delights. Enjoy!

Tapping a whole new market

I just pulled this off the ICV2 (Internal Correspondence Volume 2) website:

Marvel Comics in Arabic
From the Teshkeel Media Group
October 24, 2005

The Teshkeel Media Group, based in Kuwait, has signed a comprehensive agreement with Marvel Entertainment, Inc. to bring Arabic-language Marvel comics, trade paperbacks and magazines to the Middle East region.

Great idea! Marvel will be tapping a vast, brand-new market... let's hope they succeeed. I'd like to get a couple copies of Marvel titles in Arabic myself, just for the "neato!" factor...

Flippin' sweet!

They're trading cards. Gosh.

Napoleon Dynamite: Who are you?
LaFawnduh: I'm LaFawnduh.
Napoleon Dynamite: What are you doing here?
LaFawnduh: I'm waiting for Kip.
Napoleon Dynamite: Kip?
LaFawnduh: Why are you so sweaty?
Napoleon Dynamite: I've been practicing.
LaFawnduh: Mmmm. Practicing what?
Napoleon Dynamite: Some dance moves.
LaFawnduh: You like dancing?

We also carry a delicious CD and floormat combo "How to Dance the Napoleon Dynamite Way" kit. It's also flippin' sweet.

This comic makes me want to pull my hair out

Actually, this comic makes that little girl on the cover of Girl's Love Stories #179, (DC Comics, Sept. 1973) want to pull her sister's boyfriend's hair out. I think. Unfortunately those two teenagers are so deeply involved in their embrace that neither appears to notice that a screaming, crying child is pulling the poor guy's hair AND sweater! That is SOME kiss. I was so moved by the jarring bizarreness of the cover, that I had to read it... and it just gets worse. It seems that Dina, the pigtailed little hair-puller from the cover wakes up one night to get a drink of water... and spies her older sister in an embrace with her boyfriend. Since her sister is saying "Stop it- Steve-- please-- please-- Stop!", Dina naturally rushes in to help her sister fend off the apparent masher's advances, only to be chastised by her sister with the following illogic: "Don't be a silly little fool! You watch too much TV!" Boy things sure are different nowadays, aren't they? Today Steve would have been pepper-sprayed to the floor and 911-ed in a heartbeat, possibly appearing on a future episode of the "COPS" TV show. I won't even go into the rest of this twisted story, like how Dina becomes a chilly young lady afraid of love, or how her sister's husband's Best Man rescues her from drowning... it's all too sordid. Let me just leave you with the warning that it's best to leave these romance comics unread sometimes, and just bask in the goofy imagery of the covers. And steer clear of pigtailed hair-pullers.

What do you want to be for Halloween?

What are you gonna dress up in costume as this Halloween? Looks like Max, my son, wants to be Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots from the cartoon Transformers... guess we better get busy making the costume! I'll be in my usual Number Six/Number Two attire from the television show The Prisoner.

And, don't forget, the Comix Connection Halloween sale and costume contest runs from Friday, October 28th through Monday, October 31st... come in on ANY of those days in costume and get your polaroid snapped to enter our contest and win valuable Gift Certificates and maybe even get some candy! C'mon, when else can you dress up as the Magical Pixie Death Robot and run around in public? Legally?

NYC MECH creator appearance update

As noted earlier, Comix Connection will be hosting the creators of the Image comic NYC MECH. We now have the finalized time/date info:

Comix Connection-Mechanicsburg -- SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5th -- 2:00PM to 5:00PM

Comix Connection-York -- SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6th -- 2:00PM to 5:00PM

We currently have copies available for purchase of NYC MECH #1, NYC MECH: BETA LOVE #1, 2, and 3, and the just-released NYC MECH trade paperback compilation that collects the first six issues of the original series. The boys will also be bringing some prints and t-shirts, so come on in and check out their incredible work!

Guest review: JUSTICE #2

by Jared Wolf
First off, Alex Ross appears to be at the peak of his artistic abilities. Each individual painted page comes to life and beckons your undivided attention. Forget his outspoken political views and pay attention to what really matters, his paintings. To me he is the Da Vinci of the comic book medium during its own renaissance period. What really drove me to write this was not just the spectacular art or the amazing appearances of The Riddler and Poison Ivy, but instead the emergance of a nesting doll in Riddler's posession. I have collected nesting dolls since I was given my first one by my Hungarian grandmother one frosty Christmas morning years ago. As a matter of fact it was the very nesting doll that The Riddler held, minus the sick riddle within. So if you're not reading JUSTICE because of Ross's political views, read it because nesting dolls rule! No but really this book is great, the art and the going-ons, and especially with the addition of the pencilled sketches by Ross complimented by profiles on the featured villians taken directly from Batman's private files.

The Wolfman has howled.

LOVELESS: Hard-boiled Western

I just read the preview copy of Vertigo/DC's LOVELESS, written by Brian Azzarello with art by Marcelo Frusin, and let me tell you, the hair is standing up on my arm as we speak! Azzarello, known for his incredible run on 100 BULLETS (6 compilations available so far), HELLBLAZER (the best run in my opinion, "Freezes Over") and others delivers another hard punch to the gut with LOVELESS. Frusin outdoes himself with his best cinematically-influenced artwork, which owes a deep debt to the fantastic Sergio Leone "Spaghetti Western" films of the '60s... but that's not to say it's a pastiche or rip-off - Frusin carves out his own harsh, bleak territory, with loads of dark black ink. Just the way I like it. The plot? Well, not sayin' too much: Wes Cutter comes back from the War Between the States to find his life, land and everything he held dear long gone, and carpetbaggers and Yankees stinking up his place. And he's not gonna abide by that. What he has come through and what he will become promises to be an interesting journey. Well worth checking out.

TIME's Best 100 Novels list includes WATCHMEN

I just got this email from DC Comics:

DC COMICS DIRECT CHANNEL SPECIAL
**********
October 19, 2005
**********
TIME MAGAZINE'S BEST 100 NOVELS LIST INCLUDES WATCHMEN

In the October 24 issue of TIME, book critics Lev Grossman and Richard
Lacayo named WATCHMEN as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. The critically acclaimed WATCHMEN graphic novel, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, is the only graphic novel selected, and stands alongside literary classics including J.D. Salinger's Catcher in The Rye, Harper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird and Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.

In the magazine, Lev Grossman writes that, "The story of a ragbag of bizarre, damaged, retired super-heroes reunited by the murder of a former teammate, WATCHMEN is told in fugal, overlapping plotlines and gorgeous panels rich with cinematic leitmotifs. A work of ruthless
psychological realism, it's a landmark on the graphic novel medium. It would be a masterpiece in any."

This month, DC Comics celebrates the 20th anniversary of the original
publication of WATCHMEN with WATCHMEN: THE ABSOLUTE EDITION. This oversized hardcover collection this edition includes 48 pages of rare supplemental material, including samples of Moore's WATCHMEN scripts, the original WATCHMEN proposal, Gibbons's conceptual art, cover roughs, and more. The book has also been restored and recolored by WildStorm FX and original colorist John Higgins and approved by Gibbons to appear as originally intended.

Needless to say, both versions are available at Comix Connection.
We applaud Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons for this singular achievement!

Video Watchdog - overlooked gem

One of my favorite magazines is Video Watchdog, $7.95, published by Tim and Donna Lucas since June 1990. This glossy, full-color digest-sized magazine which bills itself as "The Perfectionist's Guide to Fantastic Video" is just that: it's chock full of great reviews, articles and interviews of movies (wordwide, not just American cinema) that fall under the "fantastic" umbrella. Contributors like Stephen R. Bissette, best known for his colloboration with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on DC Comics' Swamp Thing from 1983-87, offer insightful analysis and commentary while retaining a genuine love for the material. No one-sentence "blurb-reviews" here... just great attention to detail. In the No. 122, Oct/Nov 2005 issue alone there is a lengthy article on Thomas Edison's FRANKENSTEIN(1910) DVD release, concise reviews of the FIREBALL XL-5 boxed DVD set and the NIGHT STALKER/NIGHT STRANGLER(1972/1973) DVD set, an overview/examination of the Warner Brothers LOONEY TUNES DVD box set releases, a full article on David Cronenberg's VIDEODROME (1983) and much much more, all in just this single issue! If you're hankering for some great video reading, give Video Watchdog a try!

(Oh, and there's also a review of one of my favorite guilty pleasures: DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY (1974)... how can you possibly miss with that?)

York Book & Paper Fair

This Saturday, October 22nd, Charles F. Miller, Publisher, will host the long running York Book & Paper Fair at the York Expo Center (York Fairgrounds) from 9:30AM to 4:00PM.

A short list of what to expect: * First Editions * Children's Books * Illustrated Books * Autographs * Pennsylvania History * Civil War * Travel * Maps * Big Little Books * Magazines * Comics * Pulp Magazines * Science Fiction * Sheet Music * Rare Books * Americana * Prints * Posters * Bibles * Postcards * Original Artwork * Advertising * Photographs * Literature * Fine Bindings * Cookbooks * Mysteries * Vintage Paperbacks * Ephemera * Collectible Paper * Trade cards...

Comix Connection will be set up there, with our usual selection of tasty Golden/Silver/Bronze Age comic books! See you Saturday!

Kneel before the mighty ZOD 2008!

In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote.
-- General Zod
Your Future President and Eternal Ruler

General Zod throws his hat into the ring... with some poor soul's head still attached I would imagine...

The coolest comic this month - Devil Dinosaur

The coolest comic book this month has to be Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur, (Marvel Comics, December 2005). Illustrated by The Goon's Eric Powell (with inks by an accidentally uncredited Mark Farmer), and written by Tom Sniegoski with Eric Powell, Devil Dinosaur harkens back to the days of the great late-1970s Marvel Comics and the late, great Jack Kirby. The story begins with two Celestials meddling with the fates of two tribes of primitve humanoids... on prehistoric Earth! Devil Dinosaur is on the side of the weaker, more compassionate tribe, so one of the Celestials calls in a ringer: the Incredible Hulk! Needless to say, much mayhem ensues, all in glorious color by J. D. Mettler. I felt like a kid again as I read this one... I mean, check this two-page spread out:


Holy mackeral, that's some great comical funnybooks! A roller-coaster ride of a read and just an all-around ton of fun! Highly reccommended.

Oh yeah, there's also a backup reprint story of the first appearance of "The Hulk" by Kirby and Dick Ayers from Journey Into Mystery #62 (November 1960). *shrug* It's OK.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE from the DEPARTMENT of HOMELAND SECURITY

ATTENTION: We have now replaced the rather hard gumballs in the Mechanicsburg gumball machine with brand-new, fresh and tasty gumballs of the "Splat" variety. They are very delicious and have the flavors of many actual tropical fruits, such as ...er... uh..., well anyway, they are great! And remember, if you get a gumball marked *WINNER*, you get a FREE COMIC BOOK of your choice ($3.00 or less). There is also the chance that you might win one of the Sacagawea Dollars that are mixed in among the gumballs...

Uh, and that really wasn't a message from the DHS... sorry.

Such a great sale it's scary

Just a reminder - The giant Comix Connection Halloween Sale and Costume Contest 2005 runs for four days this year... Friday, October 28th through Monday, October 31st!

ALL BACK ISSUES in the BINS - $1.00 EACH!

ALL OLDER WALL BACK ISSUES - 25% OFF!

ALL GRAPHIC NOVELS and BOOKS - 20% OFF!

ALL STATUES AND TOYS - 20% OFF!

This is one of the two big sales we normally run in the course of a year (the other being Free Comic Book Day), so come in early and get the goodies!

And what would Halloween be without a costume contest? Come in to either store in costume to enter to win fabulous gift certificate prizes!

1st PRIZE: $50.00 Comix Connection Gift Certificate
2nd PRIZE: $25.00 Comix Connection Gift Certificate
3rd PRIZE: $10.00 Comix Connection Gift Certificate

Be creative and have fun!

When Fall is in the air, I think of Lulu

That's right, Little Lulu. I've had this great old comic (Marge's Little Lulu Vol. 1, #16, 1949, Dell Publishing Co.) hanging on my wall for years and even now when I look at it, it makes me smile... the beautiful colors, the perfectly balanced composition, the ability to evoke laughter without words. This time of year - when the nights come a bit earlier and there is a chill in the air - always reminds me of my childhood for some reason... the smell of leaves burning (sadly, no more), the pumpkins that appear mysteriously on porches, the football games that mysteriously appear on the television, the apple cider, school busses (Where do busses go in the summer? Florida?), seeing your breath... and raking leaves. Raking leaves is the ONLY pain-in-the-neck chore that comes with a reward when you finish: A huge pile of leaves to jump in! Now look at the sour expressions on Lulu and Tubby's faces... don't they realize how much fun they soon will be having?

The Ramones and comic books

What can I say? The Ramones are the best band ever in the history of the universe, period. To me, they exemplify the quitessentially American character of pure Rock-N-Roll: Simple, fast, loud, catchy and just plain fun. Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy are the fearsome foursome who, to me, played the soundtrack of the mid-'70s to the End of the Century and beyond. Their stripped-down, do-it-yourself, punchy WA-DA-DANG! sound resonates through any era... fast and furious FUN will always lift you up and make you wanna dance... for the sheer joy of being alive. From their Dorothy Hamill hairdos to their incredibly longlasting trendsetting ripped jeans and motorcycle jackets, the Ramones embodied a standard of universal outsider Youth that still lives strong today. Why the Ramones never took over the US charts is beyond me. So what does my everlasting love for the Brothers Ramone have to do with comic books? Well, therein lies a tale... a Weird Tale of the Ramones!

Recently an extremely cool Ramones artefact has come into my posession... the WEIRD TALES OF THE RAMONES boxed CD/DVD set... and I must say, a loving and slavish attention to detail has been lavished on this choice item. It contains "Three Punk-Defining CDs packed with 85 Hit Songs and Rarities, and an additional DVD presents an hour of rare footage and video clips."

And here's the kicker: Included in the boxed set is a 52-page squarebound comic book history/tribute/biography/mash letter to Our Boys In Black by some of the greatest names in comic strips and comic books... there are pieces by Jim Woodring, John Pound, William Stout, Steve Vance, Bobby London, Bill Griffith, Mary Fleener, Bill Morrison, Xamie Hernandez, Wayno, Sergio Aragones, Carol Lay and many others! There's even a 3-D section with glasses included.

Well. Here we are. I paid about $57 to glom this massive thing at a Major Movie and Music Retailer Chainstore... and I've seen it as low as $44 so far online. Do yourself a favor and just go buy it when you can... you won't be disappointed.

I saw the Ramones back in 1989 at Hammerjacks in Baltimore... that hour was one of the best 45 minutes I ever experienced...

ONETWOTHREEFOURONETWOTHREEFOUR...

FLASH: NYC MECH Creators to Visit Comix Connection

THIS JUST IN: It has been confirmed by reliable sources that the creators of NYC MECH will be visiting Comix Connection-Mechanicsburg and Comix Connection - York on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5th.

Ivan Brandon is the writer of the acclaimed NYC MECH, RUULE: Ganglords of Chinatown and the upcoming THE CROSS BRONX, as well as assorted projects for the big screen and other media.

For the past two years Andy MacDonald has focused on creating and developing comic book properties such as NYC MECH (published by Image Comics) and Kid Gilgamesh (first published in More Fund Comics - Comic Book Legal Defense Fund benefit book). Andy has also been active as a freelance artist providing editorial illustration for various New York based magazines, album cover art for independent bands, and storyboard art for commercial and film projects.

DETAILS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE AS THEY DEVELOP.

Infinite Crisis

Wednesday marked the release of DC Comics' event book of the year Infinite Crisis, the seven-issue miniseries which has been billed as this decade's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Dial B for Blog has a lengthy review of the first issue.

Please Do Not Mow The Lawn With My Car

Here's a fun Shockwave slot-car racing game. Lay out your own track using the handy pieces, then race against the computer.

Don't Get Me Started

Well, here we are at the start of the revamping of the Comix Connection website, and all I can think of is... FANS. No, not those kinds of fans... I mean real electric fans! The kind that spin around and cool you off in the summer. The old kind that draw blood if you're not cautious. Those fans.
As some of you know, I have a small obsession with antique electric fans. I even belong to groups such as the American Fan Collector's Association. I guess you could say that I am a fan of fans!
Why am I telling you all this? Well, in an incredible mix of ju-jitsu style and forbidden alchemy, I have conflated my two favorite subjects into one meta-collecting-obsession...

I give you:

Comics With Fans On The Cover.

Staggering, isn't it?

As an aside, this copy of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies#22, August 1943, Dell Publishing Company is an actual Dell file copy. That's right. I own a DELL FILE COPY for one of the lamest reasons ever... it has a fan on the cover. Stay tuned as I pull more of these beauties out of my collection and post them for you to see... for I am... A FAN!

Why Wildcat Rules

Milo George, former editor of The Comics Journal, recently posted a great tribute to DC Comics third-stringer Wildcat. It made me call the York Comix Connection to see if they had any issues of JSA #54 in stock, but I'm apparently about ten months too late for that one. Blast!