By the way...

CLICK ON IMAGE TO EMBIGGEN!

JUST COMIX CONNECTION - YORK, FOLKS!

COMIX CONNECTION - YORK IS MOVING UPDATE #2

Hey everyone! If everything goes well, the YORK STORE should be moved by MONDAY, MARCH 8th.

Comix Connection - York will probably be closed on SUNDAY MARCH 7th to do the actual moving!

Please bear with us during the move. We will try to provide our usual impeccable service, but we may be a tad preoccupied. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience. (Of course, this is barring any unforeseen things popping up. Fingers crossed!)

WE ARE MOVING THE YORK STORE WITHIN THE WEST MANCHESTER MALL! WE WILL BE LOCATED UP AT THE THEATER END BETWEEN BON-TON AND GAMESTOP!

(Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg isn't going anywhere. Just so you know.)

LAST CHANCE TO SCORE BACK ISSUES FOR A BUCK

There's still time to partake of Comix Connection's 22nd Anniversary Sale and fill your boxes with One Dollar Back Issues!

That's right, all day today (Noon to 5PM) at both locations

ALL BACK ISSUES IN THE BINS are a paltry ONE DOLLAR EACH!

Get in today and stock up on the bargains! Free cardboard box with large purchase!

And THANKS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU FOR 22 GREAT YEARS of comical funnybook goodness! We really really appreciate it! THANKS.

TODAY AND SUNDAY!

It's
COMIX CONNECTION'S
22nd ANNIVERSARY SALE!

ALL BACK ISSUES IN THE BINS ARE

ONE DOLLAR EACH!

ALL DAY!
BOTH DAYS!

Ah, to be 22 years old again...

What are you doing this weekend?

Playing chess on a roller coaster? I don't think so.

How about this:

The Comix Connection 22nd Birthday Sale is this weekend, Saturday February 27th and Sunday February 28th!

ALL BACK ISSUES IN THE BINS ARE ONE MEASLY DOLLAR EACH!

Free leftover Diamond Comics packing box with every large purchase!

So come on in and grab a pile of good reading for a few bucks! Help us lighten the load at Comix Connection - York before the Big Move! (We're figuring the second week of March or so, depending on the speed of the construction guys. We'll be located beside the GameStop up at the other end of the Mall, in case you weren't aware!)

COMIX CONNECTION - YORK IS MOVING UPDATE #1

Well, due to scheduling a bit of construction, we will not be moving Comix Connection - York until the beginning of March. That actually gives us more time to get things squared away, like installing the Koi Pond and the escalators. Stop by the soon-to-be-old location and get your complimentary cup of Comix Connection Roof Water™. Thanks in advance for your patience during the transition. Jared and Jim will keep things squared away!

COMIX CONNECTION - YORK IS MOVING!

You've probably noticed the roof leaks at Comix Connection - York over the last month or so! It doesn't look like they're going anywhere but Comix Connection is!

COMIX CONNECTION - YORK IS RELOCATING WITHIN THE WEST MANCHESTER MALL! WE ARE MOVING TO THE SPACE RIGHT BESIDE GAMESTOP UP AT THE THEATER END OF THE MALL!

This will probably happen within the next week or so... don't be surprised when you show up at the old location and there's nothing there but Jared's sandwich and Jim's Mountain Dew can and a sign telling you that we

ARE MOVING TO THE SPACE BETWEEN GAMESTOP AND THE BON TON AT THE OTHER END OF THE MALL!

We will continue to be Central Pennsylvania's Ultra-Hip Pop Culture Mecca, so come on in and check us out!

THE WINNAHS!

Last Friday we sprung a SPECIAL SURPRISE FIFTY DOLLAR GIFT CERTIFICATE DRAWING on the unsuspecting public at both locations for those brave souls who emerged from their snowed-in burrows and, ignoring whether or not they saw any shadows or other such malarky, came in to Comix Connection to pick up some comical funnybook goodness. We now have the winners of the drawing and each winner will receive a FIFTY DOLLAR COMIX CONNECTION GIFT CERTIFICATE good on ANYTHING in the stores (no cash back, sorry)!

Comix Connection - York winner - > Steve Stough

Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg winner - > Gabbi England

Come on in and claim your prizes, winners!

The rest of you: Don't forget, the Comix Connection 22nd Anniversary Sale is coming up soon...

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 27th
and SUNDAY FEBRUARY 28th
ALL BIN COMICS ONE DOLLAR EACH
WHILE THEY LAST!

See, you ALL win!

SPECIAL COMIX CONNECTION CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT!

Shake off that cabin fever and come visit us from NOW until 5PM Sunday, make a purchase and you're automatically entered to win a FIFTY DOLLAR COMIX CONNECTION GIFT CERTIFICATE! Shovel that driveway, warm up the Ferrari and come on in!

1) Make a purchase, fill out an entry blank
2) One entry per person per day Thursday, February 11th through Sunday, February 14th
3) One FIFTY DOLLAR GIFT CERTIFICATE given away at each Comix Connection location
4) Random drawing for the winners will be held Monday, February 15th!
5) Fifty Dollar Gift Certificate is good only for merchandise, no cash value!

Stop by TODAY! And tomorrow! And Saturday! And Sunday!

ADDED:

COMIX CONNECTION IS OPEN NORMAL HOURS TODAY!

WOOOO HOOOOOOOO!

Come and get 'em! We're OPEN!

Thanks for your patience everybody!

COMIX CONNECTION IS CLOSED TODAY!

ATTENTION: BOTH COMIX CONNECTION STORES ARE CLOSED TODAY DUE TO THE ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF FROZEN PRECIPITATE BLANKETING THE REGION! DO NOT COME IN, WE ARE NOT THERE! STAY TUNED FOR TOMORROW'S STATUS!

We survived DEATHSTORM 2010

Yes, we're OPEN today at both stores! C'mon in!

And, no we do not trade comic books for surplus milk, bread or eggs.

COMIX CONNECTION IS CLOSED FOR THE DAY!

Sorry, folks but both Comix Connection stores are closed today! It's just too crazy out there with no signs of letting up for several more hours. Check with us tomorrow, we'll see what happens. Why don't you spend the day getting your collection in order? Or not. Whatever. Just don't come here.

Our 22nd Birthday Sale!

ANNOUNCING:

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 27th

and SUNDAY FEBRUARY 28th

ALL BIN COMICS ONE DOLLAR EACH

WHILE THEY LAST!

BE THERE OR BE SOMETHING THAT RHYMES WITH "AIR"

Two titans of the comic book world to visit Central Pennsylvania this week!

Boy, it's a banner week for comic fans... look who's coming to Dickinson College on Thursday! Art Spiegelman!

Thanks to artists like Spiegelman, comics have moved beyond red-headed stepchild status into a grudging respectability. What’s more, the number of comics being published in a given year — from superheroes to manga to art books to reprints of classic strips to online comics — is staggering.

That sea change and how it came about will be one of the main topics of discussion when the cartoonist comes to speak at Dickinson College's Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium in Carlisle at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The event is free. For more information, visit www.clarkeforum.org or call 245-1875

Spiegelman is best known for “Maus,” a memoir of both his father’s experiences in Auchwitz concentration camp and the pair’s own difficult relationship.

Spiegelman’s talk, entitled “Comix 101.1” will also look what the art form has to offer readers and why it shouldn’t be ignored.

Read Chris Mautner's entire article at pennlive.com.

And also on Thursday, there's Chip Kidd at the Whittaker Center in Harrisburg!

Recognized as an American master of contemporary book design, USA Today describes Kidd as “the closest thing to a rock star” in graphic design today.” His book jacket designs for Alfred A. Knopf have helped spawn a revolution in the art of American book packaging. His work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Eye, Print, Entertainment Weekly, The New Republic, Time, Graphis, New York, and ID magazines, and he is a regular contributor of visual commentary to the Op-Ed page of The New York Times.

For more info, read the listing HERE!

Isn't it funny how they're both in town on Thursday? Wouldn't it be cool if they met at a diner after their respective speeches? And wouldn't it be cool to sit in on that conversation?

OK, TWILIGHT fans

RESERVE YOUR COPY OF THIS TODAY:

The first printing of Yen Press’s Twilight: The Graphic Novel will be 350,000 copies, according to the company. It will street on March 16th in hardcover for $19.99. This first volume will tell the story of the first half of the prose novel; the release date for the second half of the story has not yet been announced.

The graphic novel will use selected text from Stephenie Meyer’s original novel, paired with illustrations by Young Kim. The Kim art will be primarily in b/w, with color “interspersed throughout,” according to Yen.

Read the entire article here at the ICV2 website!

Let us know if you want a copy of this held for you when it arrives. Just ask your Friendly Neighborhood Comix Connection Counter Monkey and they will make sure you get one!

After the Blackest Night...

...comes the Brightest Day!

If you were starting to fear the DC Universe might not survive the calamity and horrror of the Blackest Night, well, have no fear. DC Comics announced on their blog, The Source, on Monday that following the events of their blockbuster series Blackest Night, they will kick off an event, appropriately titled, Brightest Day this April. This will first and foremost be a biweekly, 26-issue series, kicking off with Brightest Day #0, written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi. Brightest Day will also be a unifying banner carried on many DC titles after Blackest Night, such as Justice League of America #44, as well as some new titles that debut that month, such as Flash #1.

For more details on this event and other DC Comics news for April, stay tuned for the new February Previews catalog, that will be in stores on January 27Th. I think what I'm most excited for in April is to see who will be alive after Blackest Night, will there be a fabled White Lantern, and when has Bruce Wayne been all this time?

To All Things an Ending...

In the months before the first issue of Siege, we've been telling our readers at the shop that Siege was not just an event seven years in the making, but it's an event that will change the course of the Marvel Universe for the foreseeable future. If you need more proof of the change that is coming, here's an advance look at the February Marvel Previews solicitations for the Avengers family of comics that ship in April.

NEW AVENGERS #64
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils by TIM GREEN II
Cover by STUART IMMONEN

SIEGE BLOCKBUSTER TIE-IN!!
The staggering conclusion to the SIEGE arc delves into the Hood's secret relationship with Norman Osborn and how it will affect the stunning outcome.

Plus the fate of the one they call Mockingbird! What you don't see in SIEGE, you will see here!!

32 PGS./Rated A …$3.99

NEW AVENGERS: FINALE
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by BRYAN HITCH

In the wake of SIEGE, an ALL NEW shocking conclusion to the landmark NEW AVENGERS series. NEW AVENGERS is coming to an end…but not without a bang. For the first time ever, series regular Brian Michael Bendis teams up with the superstar artist that reinvented team books for this generation…Bryan Hitch.

The entirety of the Marvel landscape has changed and many Avengers do not know their place in it. But before they can move on, some very important loose ends need to be tied up. A.K.A. it's payback time!! All this and a bevy of super star artists stop by to pay tribute to the work they made famous over the course of this top-selling book.

64 PGS./One-Shot/Rated A …$4.99

DARK AVENGERS #16
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by MIKE DEODATO

SIEGE BLOCKBUSTER TIE-IN!!
Series Finale!! What?! Marvel's number one ongoing series is coming to an end?! What could possibly happen in the last chapter of SIEGE that is so intense as to bring this crazy chapter in Marvel history to a close??!! Well, clearly we can't tell you here but there will be a funeral and the fate of Norman Osborn Will. Be. Decided!!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

MIGHTY AVENGERS #36
Written by DAN SLOTT
Pencils & Cover by KHOI PHAM

SIEGE BLOCKBUSTER TIE-IN!!!
SALVATION Pt. 2 of 2 - "WWJVDD"
SERIES FINALE! While the Mighty Avengers are fighting on the front lines of SIEGE, can HANK PYM and JOCASTA stop the Avenger's greatest enemy, ULTRON, by themselves? Or will Pym-Space become the ultimate staging ground for a cybernetic-assault on all of reality? See SIEGE through the eyes of the Avengers with the most to lose!

The Dark Reign is ending, the Age of Heroes is coming, but before that can happen... there's a wedding? And more than one character is thinking, "What would Janet Van Dyne do?" We can't be any more cryptic than that. Trust us, you don't want to miss this one.

32 PGS./Rated A …$2.99

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #35
Written by CHRISTOS N. GAGE
Penciled by JORGE MOLINA
Cover by DAVID YARDIN

SIEGE BLOCKBUSTER TIE-IN!!
This is it: the series finale – and the end of the Initiative as we know it! Learn the fate of your favorite heroes, villains... and those who aren't quite sure what they are, but who are going to have to decide in a hurry!

Who will taste sweet victory? Who will know the agony of defeat? For some this is an end -- for others, a new beginning (which you'll be reading about very soon)! Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. is falling...and The Heroic Age is dawning!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

With so many titles ending one has to guess these books will be replaced by new titles. What will the Avengers line-up look like after the Siege? Will the adjectives or maybe just the numbering change? Will we finally have one true blue Avengers team? Will Avengers Initiative evolve into the Avengers Academy? What is Avengers: the Children's Crusade? So many questions... so many endings... but all of this is just the beginning of a new era for the team...

...and since that new era that dawns with the outcome of Siege, here's those solicitations too!

SIEGE #4 (of 4)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL

THE MARVEL BLOCKBUSTER OF THE YEAR!!
This double-sized finale brings the Dark Reign to a shattering conclusion and brings with it the bombastic new HEROIC AGE. Every single page of this book is a shocker: Lives are changed. Heroes fall. Deaths. Revenge. Villain comeuppance. And when the dust settles, who will be in charge of the Marvel Universe??

You will find out here and only here. This is the one they will be talking about.

40 PGS./Cardstock Cover/Rated T+ …$3.99

SIEGE: EMBEDDED #4 (of 4)
Written by BRIAN REED
Penciled by CHRIS SAMNEE
Cover by ADI GRANOV

SIEGE BLOCKBUSTER TIE-IN!!
As the SIEGE of Asgard escalates to its final chaotic moments, one man must decide which is more important - living through the day, or getting the truth behind the
story of the century!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

THUNDERBOLTS #143
Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA
Cover by ADI GRANOV

SIEGE BLOCKBUSTER TIE-IN!!
Round three of Thunderbolts vs. The Mighty Avengers! Here at the end of SIEGE, everything set in motion by Norman Osborn comes to a fiery resolution—like his prime black-ops force!

It's the cataclysmic end of an era – that sets
the stage for the next big chapter of the most unpredictable book ever!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

THOR #609
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Penciled by BILLY TAN
Cover by MICO SUAYAN

SIEGE BLOCKBUSTER TIE-IN!!
The Siege brings Ragnarok to Asgard! The Shining City of Thor and his brothers in arms faces destruction on the greatest scale it's ever suffered, at the hands of Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers. But the Norse heroes have bigger problems, when THOR fights THOR!

The evil Thor clone has come to kill the God of Thunder and take his place. Even if Asgard survives the Siege…will Thor survive Ragnarok?!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

Marvel is also announcing a set of one-shots that will close out Siege and end the Dark Reign. These one-shots do not carry their final titles. (As a note, this strongly calls back memories of the death of Captain America. Remember then that Marvel simply referred to a series of "Fallen Son" specials, which then evolved into a mini-series called "Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America." Each issue focused on a different hero.)

Here are the book titles:

Fallen

Siege: Loki

Siege: Spider-Man

Siege: Captain America

Siege: Young Avengers

Siege: Secret Warriors

All of these titles will carry a $2.99 price point with the exception of "Fallen," which will be $3.99.

I know that's a lot of news to digest this weekend! Feel free to leave comments! This news is definitely discussion worthy! For more information, stay tuned for the new Marvel Previews magazine that will be in stores on Wednesday, January, 27th!

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 13

It's Monday, so it's time for some news on upcoming collected editions of classic comic books. This week the focus is on just a few key artist-centric reprints DC Comics has on their fall 2010 schedule of releases. So if you're a fan of comic artist extraordinaire, Neal Adams, pay attention and start saving your pennies, because you're going to want to add these to your library!

First up, the DC Universe Illustrated by Neal Adams Volume 2 will finally be released in September 2010. While the first volume featured miscellaneous work on everything from Superman and Teen Titans to Our Army at War and Star Spangled War Stories, this next volume reprints a hefty offering of Adam's horror work for DC.

The collection should include:

The Spectre #2-5, The Phantom Stranger #4
and the stories from House of Mystery #178, 189 and 186, The Witching Hour #8, Weird Western Tales #12, 13 and 15, and Limited Collector's Edition C-31

This hardcover will run 192 pages for $39.99 and will arrive in stores September 7Th, 2010.

DC Comics will release another collected edition that day featuring Adams' work, with DC Universe Illustrated by Neal Adams: The Covers. This will also be a 192 page hardcover collection of all the various work Adams contributed a cover to but no interior work, and there were certainly quite a few! This book should nicely round out DC Comics efforts to make the whole of Adams work available to fans.

But there's still one piece missing, right?

Well, not anymore!

This fall DC Comics will also be reprinting the story Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali! This tale, co-plotted and written by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams with art from Adams, will see a new release in two formats:

"The first is a deluxe hardcover edition featuring an expanded sketch section and additional content with a new cover by Adams."

-and-

"For all those fans of the book in its tabloid form there is also a limited edition hardcover in the original trim-size with the complete, original cover of the landmark issue."

I think that's some of the best reprint news I've heard in a long, long time!

Well, that's all for this week! Stay tuned though... there's always plenty of classic reprints on the horizon!

Hope your Christmas was a good one!

Sadly, I STILL did not receive my Moller Skycar, but there's always next year, right?

Anyhoo, once you digest all that Christmas Goose and Lutefisk, gear yourself up for our amazing LAST SALE OF THE DECADE that starts Monday, December 28th and runs through New Years Eve Thursday, December 31st!

Here's the info:

1) The PROGRESSIVE YELLOW DOT SALE! All back issues in the bins, plus TONS of select YELLLOW DOT-stickered merchandise will be on sale as follows:

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 40% OFF!
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 50% OFF!
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 60% OFF!
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31st - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 70% OFF!

2) SUPPORT the Pennsylvania Food Bank and the York Rescue Mission:
FOR EVERY CANNED FOOD ITEM YOU BRING IN TO DONATE TO THESE WORTHY CAUSES, PICK ONE BLACKEST NIGHT PROMOTIONAL RING ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Bring as many cans as you want - bring in ten cans of food, get ten rings from our supply ABSOLUTELY FREE! Help fight hunger here at home and score some cool rings while doing so!
(Some ring colors are not available or in short supply! Free rings to be chosen from the rings we have!)

Let's see how many cans of food we can pile up, OK?

There's still time

To get that last minute gift or cool stocking-stuffer... a Comix Connection GIFT CARD!


A Comix Connection Gift Card (available in any amount from Five to One Million Dollars), makes the perfect last-minute gift idea for the comic book reader in your life. Suitable for all ages and very portable, the Comix Connection Gift Card is great for any occasion! Drop by today and finally complete your Christmas shopping... just ask your Friendly Neighborhood Comix Connection Counter Monkey to fix you up! We're open until 6:00 PM in York and 5:00PM in Mechanicsburg today, so come on in!

There's a first time for everything

As most of you know, next week is a "Skip Week" for comic shops serviced by Diamond Comics Distributors. Because of the way that the Christmas and New Years Day holidays fell on the calendar this year, Diamond Comics will not be sending us any new stuff for the shelves next week. That is why we're having a BIG SALE* from Monday, December 28th through Thursday December 31st. However, there WILL be a couple of new items available that were delivered this week, along with this notice:



The following will be available next Wednesday:
- NEW YEARS EVE PROMO CALENDAR WITH AVENGERS ID CARD
- ORIGINS OF SIEGE FREE RECAP COMIC BOOK
- BLACKEST NIGHT #6

This is the first time in out 22-year history that we have been given a street date notice for comic books! It almost makes us feel like a real business!


*NEXT WEEK'S BIG SALE:

1) The PROGRESSIVE YELLOW DOT SALE! All back issues in the bins, plus TONS of select YELLLOW DOT-stickered merchandise will be on sale as follows:

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 40% OFF!
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 50% OFF!
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 60% OFF!
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31st - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 70% OFF!

2) SUPPORT the Pennsylvania Food Bank and the York Rescue Mission:
FOR EVERY CANNED FOOD ITEM YOU BRING IN TO DONATE TO THESE WORTHY CAUSES, PICK ONE BLACKEST NIGHT PROMOTIONAL RING ABSOLUTELY FREE!
Bring as many cans as you want - bring in ten cans of food, get ten rings from our supply ABSOLUTELY FREE! Help fight hunger here at home and score some cool rings while doing so!
(Some ring colors are not available or in short supply! Free rings to be chosen from the rings we have!)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

Comix Connection will be holding it's LAST SALE OF THE DECADE from Monday, December 28th through Thursday December 31st 2009!

Both stores will feature:


1) The PROGRESSIVE YELLOW DOT SALE! All back issues in the bins, plus TONS of select YELLLOW DOT-stickered merchandise will be on sale as follows:

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 40% OFF!
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 50% OFF!
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30th - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 60% OFF!
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31st - All bin comics and YELLOW DOT stuff --> 70% OFF!

2) SUPPORT the Pennsylvania Food Bank and the York Rescue Mission:

FOR EVERY CANNED FOOD ITEM YOU BRING IN TO DONATE TO THESE WORTHY CAUSES, PICK ONE BLACKEST NIGHT PROMOTIONAL RING ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Bring as many cans as you want - bring in ten cans of food, get ten rings from our supply ABSOLUTELY FREE! Help fight hunger here at home and score some cool rings while doing so!

(Some ring colors are not available or in short supply! Free rings to be chosen from the rings we have!)

3) Available on Wednesday, December 30th
ABSOLUTELY FREE --> ORIGINS OF SIEGE 32-page comic featuring an ALL-NEW prologue by Brian Michael Bendis, exclusive origin pages and more!
ABSOLUTELY FREE --> Marvel 2010 Calendar!
ABSOLUTELY FREE --> Avengers ID cards!


4) Also available on Wednesday, December 30th, BLACKEST NIGHT #6 goes on sale!

So come help us bid the "Oughts" farewell with a bang for the New Year 2010, and enter the TWENTY TEENS in style!

(All free items and sales items are in limited supply and will be given away or sold while supplies last!)

What Women Like Part 2

(As promised, here's Part 2 of the most excellent essay from our own Nicky. Read on! --Bill)


Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 - A new comic book series picking up where the television show left off, and perfect for any Joss Wheedon fans who miss their stake-and-slayer fix. Now Buffy's got an army of super-slayers at her disposal, with Xander gleefully living the dream of being Nick Fury and Willow getting witchier than ever, but that just means the Big Bads have to get bigger to keep up with the heroes. It starts off with some familiar faces from the Scoobies' past, and heads off on a wild ride unconstrained by special effects budgets. And of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Angel: After the Fall as well; it likewise continues where that television show left off, a welcome relief to anyone disappointed by the cliffhanger cancellation we were left with when the gang charged the apocalypse full speed ahead. And oh, how things have changed...


Catwoman - If you're looking for a superhero story that will convince her that capes and spandex aren't just for the boys, why not start with this recently-revamped series featuring Batman's favorite femme fatale? The cat-burgler moves back to Gotham with a new look and a new outlook, and sets herself up as the whip-wielding protector of her East End neighborhood. The series starts with Catwoman: Dark End of the Street and ends with Catwoman: The Long Road Home with quite a few volumes in between; it ran for 82 awesome issues. But why not start with Catwoman: Selina's Big Score instead? Taking place just prior to Issue #1, this book by Darwyn Cooke has Selina getting back to her criminal roots out of costume and is perfect for anyone who likes heist movies like Ocean's Eleven or the Italian Job -- and doesn't require a jot of prior knowledge about Catwoman, Batman, or the assorted superheroes of the DCU.


Walking Dead - Looking for something for a horror fan? Kirkman's Walking Dead is such a great story that even people who don't like zombie stories like it, and those that do love it! These are old-school shambling zombies in a full-blown apocalypse, and the handful of survivors trying to make it through this dangerous new world for however long they can last! Because no one is safe in Kirkman's zombie-riddled environs, and they don't always end up killed by corpses, either. That won't stop you from getting attached to the characters, though, even if you try; they're who the story is really about, and you can't help but get sucked in and root for them, no matter how doomed they seem.


Now what about the younger crowd? The following section are all books safe for kids and teens, but more than brilliant enough for adults to adore, too. Trust me!


Coraline - Once again, we'll start the list with a Neil Gaiman. This story, brilliantly adapted into comic book form by genius illustrator P. Craig Russell, is about a little girl whose parents move to a new house that proves to have a very interesting door. You might be familiar with it from the recent animated movie; I can guarantee that the book is even better. It's delightfully creepy and mysterious, and all about family and what it means to look at the other side of the fence and wonder if the grass is greener. Sometimes it is; sometimes it's really spiderwebs. This book is just scary and unsettling enough to make kids (and adults) shiver with gleeful fear, but not enough to give traumatic nightmares. Well, probably not... ;)


Courtney Crumrin - And while we're on the subject of creepy, meet Courtney. Her parents also moved to a strange new house, but this one was inhabited by her Uncle (or maybe her great uncle, or her great-great-great uncle) Aloysius. It might be inhabited by some even stranger things, too, although it would be hard to think of something stranger than magical Uncle Aloysius...until Courtney meets the goblin in the woods. She thinks he's less trouble than the mean kids in her new school, but decides that there's no reason why she can't deal with both. Charmingly illustrated in stark black-and-white by Ted Naifeh, the Courtney Crumnrin series is about what it's really like to be a kid -- and what it would really be like to deal with faeries and monsters and parents, oh my.


Good Neighbors: Kin - The first in a series by Holly Black, Good Neighbors is also illustrated by Ted Naifeh and deals with the overlap between modern life and magic. A young girl named Rue Silver has to go into the faerie world to rescue her mother (who was secretly a faerie, by the way) and clear her mortal father's name, because he's been accused of murdering her missing mom. And along the way, she'll also have to save the world. But first she has to figure out if she's a faerie or a human, and decide which world she ought to save. Holly Black already introduced us to modern day faerie and all its beautiful dangers in her prose novels like Tithe and Spiderwick. Now she enters the world of comics and, working with Ted Naifeh's beautiful art, does it fantastically.


Gunnerkrigg Court - Know any fans of Harry Potter? Here's another story of a magical school, although the magic in this case is super-weird-science; this school is all about scifi technology, and they try to keep all the magic relegated to the mysterious forest outside. A girl named Annie starts school and starts to bridge that gap, with all sorts of amazing adventures along with way with her friends Kat (junior mad scientist), Robot (a Robot), Reynardine (a wolf-god in stuffed animal form), and Shadow 2 (a shadow). It started out online at http://www.gunnerkrigg.com, but is now being printed in story-arc collections.


Bone - No list would be complete without Jeff Smith's masterpiece Bone, a story that centers around the Bone family: three cartoony brothers who stumble into a magical world called the Valley, a place infested with rat creatures, dragons, magical princesses, a grandmother who could send the big bad wolf into a new line of work with one right hook, and the Lord of Locusts who wants to consume the valley if the Bones can't stop him. Get the whole story in the massive Phonebook, or in the new color editions. This is what would happen if Carl Barks and Tolkien wrote a book together, and it's beautiful.

And of course, there are comic book adaptations of quite a few novels, too. There's Dark Tower and The Stand from Steven King, Ender's Game and Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card, Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs, Anita Blake by Laurell K. Hamilton, Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and the brand new retelling of L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz, among many others.

So come on in and take a look at the varied selection of comics around, because this list is just the tip of the iceberg. We have most of these in stock at any given moment, but if we're sold out of any, we'll be only too happy to order you a copy! You have but to ask. And if she's reading comics, too, she can't complain about how many you buy. ;)

To the girls: Agree with these recommendations? Disagree? I leave any of your favorites off the list? Drop us a word in the Comments section and tell us all about it, because I'm certainly not the only one always looking for awesome new comics to read!

~Nicky