Want to see a bunch of photos

of the places and faces of Comix Connection over the last 22 years? Why then just CLICK HERE and enjoy!

Feel free to comment and fan Comix Connection on Facebook if you haven't already!

We sell SNAKE OIL

That's right... Comix Connection sells SNAKE OIL, the acclaimed comic from local creator Chuck Forsman. Chuck recently dropped off copies of the last three issues of SNAKE OIL at Comix Connection, so the wait is over! HERE's a link to Chucks blog, and here's a great review of SNAKE OIL on the COMICS JOURNAL website. I highly recommend this eclectic title... it has a unique voice rarely found in comics.

NEW BLACKEST NIGHT RINGS!

These just came in today, the BLUE and VIOLET rings from the BLACKEST NIGHT story!

Buy this:

ADVENTURE COMICS #4

GET A BLUE RING absolutely FREE!

And buy this:

OUTSIDERS #24

GET A VIOLET RING absolutely FREE!


(Hand-modeling provided by Counter Monkey Josh, who has spectacular hands by the way!)


OH, AND THIS IS THE COOLEST THING THAT SHIPPED THIS WEEK:



The folks at Eaglemoss have really outdone themselves with this amazing hand-painted miniature figure. Only $38.99 while they last!

Have you seen these yet?

Imported from the UK and brought all the way to Comix Connection are these amazingly-detailed hand-painted statuettes of all your favorite STAR WARS STARSHIPS and VEHICLES! Behold:


"This amazing collection includes the most authentic models of starships and vehicles, cast in metal with plastic trim parts and accurate hand-painted details. Specialist model-makers have helped to craft faithful reproductions of the ships and machines from the movies, including superbly modeled details of all the parts. Each one is a work of art and a collector's item to treasure.


Each model comes with a superbly illustrated magazine that tells you the story of the vehicle and its pilot or driver, and gives full technical specifications. You'll also find out about the other fascinating craft from the expanded universe of the Star Wars novels and animations, plus the inside story of the making of the films."


The first four have arrived: X-WING FIGHTER, MILLENNIUM FALCON, NABOO ROYAL CRUISER, GENERAL GREVIOUS' WHEEL BIKE , with many more in the series to come! Each comes with its own display box with a photographic backdrop!


Come on in and check them out! A must for Star Wars fans!

BLACKEST NIGHT YELLOW RING ARRIVES!

We just received the Yellow Sinestro Corps rings and they sure are SWEET! Stop by either Comix Connection location and get yours FREE with the purchase of DOOM PATROL #4 while supplies last! Collect them all!

BUY THIS:


GET THIS:




I love it! Thanks DC Comics, for making this happen!

Coming soon - Peter Bagge's THE BRADLEYS?

Now this is great news about one of my all-time favorite comic books, HATE (which followed the awesome NEAT STUFF)... Peter Bagge's classic strip about the hyper-dysfunctional Bradley family is in development to be an animated series at FOX! More info HERE and HERE!



It's been 24 years since the debut of NEAT STUFF... I think that America is finally ready for an animated Bradleys! Bring it on!

RING-A-DING-DING!

(Hand modeling courtesy of DC Comics Administrator - Direct Sales Stuart Schreck!)

In conjunction with their cross-company story arc BLACKEST NIGHT, DC Comics will be releasing a set of life-size wearable Lantern Rings that are tied to various crossover titles that are FREE with purchase of select issues! Those issues are:

Adventure Comics #4 (Blue Lantern Ring)
Blackest Night #5 (Green Lantern Ring)
Booster Gold #26 (Agent Orange Ring)
Doom Patrol #4 (Sinestro Corps Ring)
Justice League #39 (Red Lantern Ring)
Outsiders #24 (Star Sapphire Ring)
R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 (Indigo Tribe Ring)

(And hopefully you already got the Black Ring with BLACKEST NIGHT #1)

DC Comics kindly sent us a set of the rings on Wednesday so that we can show everyone how amazingly cool they are... stop by the stores and check them out! They are featured right at the counter to get your fanboy drool flowing.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ONGOING TITLES, WE CAN SIGN YOU UP FOR JUST THE INDIVIDUAL ISSUES THAT COME WITH THESE COOL RINGS! Of course we CAN sign you up for the various titles if they interest you!

Just email us, call either shop or speak directly with your Friendly Neighborhood Comix Connection Counter Monkey and we will fix you right up! Don't miss the coolest promotional item to come down the pike since... well, since the ultra-cool Green Lantern ring that was given away back in the 1990s!

RESERVE YOUR BLACKEST NIGHT RINGS TODAY!

Coming soon from DC

A full spectrum of Green Lantern promotional rings!

(Click on the image to embiggen!)

We're not positive of the details at this early stage but it looks like these rings will be tied to the purchase of a few crossover titles. WE WILL LET YOU KNOW HOW TO GET THEM AS SOON AS WE FIGURE IT OUT!

From DC:

DC COMICS SOLICITS BLACKEST NIGHT PROMOTIONAL RINGS

With BLACKEST NIGHT ramping up the danger across the DC Universe, DC Comics presents a full spectrum of BLACKEST NIGHT PROMOTIONAL RINGS, solicited in the September Previews!

DOOM PATROL #4 --> YELLOW PROMOTIONAL RING. The YELLOW PROMOTIONAL RINGS are scheduled to arrive in stores on November 4.

BOOSTER GOLD #26 --> ORANGE PROMOTIONAL RING. The ORANGE PROMOTIONAL RINGS are scheduled to arrive in stores on November 18.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #39 --> RED PROMOTIONAL RING. The RED PROMOTIONAL RINGS are scheduled to arrive in stores on December 2.

BLACKEST NIGHT #5 --> GREEN PROMOTIONAL RING. The GREEN PROMOTIONAL RINGS are scheduled to arrive in stores on December 16.

ADVENTURE COMICS #4 --> BLUE PROMOTIONAL RING. The BLUE PROMOTIONAL RINGS are scheduled to arrive in stores on December 30.

R.E.B.E.L.S #10 --> INDIGO PROMOTIONAL RING. The INDIGO PROMOTIONAL RINGS are scheduled to arrive in stores on January 13.

OUTSIDERS #24 --> VIOLET PROMOTIONAL RINGS. The VIOLET PROMOTIONAL RINGS are scheduled to arrive in stores on January 27.

We'll be starting a list of folks who want all of these (which involves purchase of the comics the rings are tied to), so let your friendly counter monkey know that you want to be added. Please don't ask us here on the blog in the comments section, as we may miss it. Call the stores or talk to a clerk when you're in!

This is Going on My Christmas Wish List!

Christmas if you can believe it is a mere 137 days away, and this Japanese invention is now at the top of my list! I present to you the rubber band machine gun!

WEDNESDAY COMICS Contest!

I'm sure by now all of you have heard of DC Comics' ultra cool WEDNESDAY COMICS... but did you know that issue #1 shipped today? Well, it did and it's AWESOME! It's easily the coolest thing I've seen in a very long time. The format is similar to Sunday newspaper comic sections, and will run weekly for twelve weeks. Each feature gets one full-size page of gorgeous art and story... and check out the titles:

• METAMORPHO by Gaiman and Allred
• STRANGE ADVENTURES by Paul Pope
• SGT. ROCK by Joe Kubert
• BATMAN by Azarello and Risso
• KAMANDI by Gibbons and Sook

plus TEN MORE! Too cool!

Anyway, here's the deal: Send in YOUR PICTURES of you and WEDNESDAY COMICS and you could win a store gift certificate! Be creative and have fun! Send entries to bill@comixconnection.com and I will post them here on the website.

And to get the ball rolling, here's mine:


My invisible friend and I enjoy a nice glass of iced tea in the shade of the Deadwood tree, absorbed in WEDNESDAY COMICS!

Mystery on South Street

If this image looks familiar to you, then you may know of the history of the mysterious Toynbee Tiles. I'd heard about them some time ago thanks to a story on NPR, but I had never actually seen one. Today though as my girlfriend and I were out and about on South Street in Philly before the Camera Obscura concert, I happened to look down and saw one as we were crossing the street.

These tiles started appearing nearly thirty years ago in Philadelphia, but have since been reported all over the world. Initially the tile was about the size of a license plate, but the one we saw today for example was only maybe two inches in height by four inches in length. But as intriguing as the geographical placements and differences in size and materials may be, the real mystery lies in the basic inscription that has been a part of each tile since their first appearance in Philadelphia all those years ago.

TOYNBEE IDEA

IN KUBRICK'S 2001

RESURRECT DEAD

ON PLANET JUPITER.

The tile's meaning has been theorized by connecting the references made in the tile. It is believed "Toynbee" refers to Arnold J. Toynbee, a famous 19th century English religious historian and of course "Kubrick's 2001" refers to 2001: A Space Odyssey, co-written and directed by the late great filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. Wondering what's the intersection though between the works of Toynbee and Kubrick? Toynbee's writings spoke of a man named Zoroaster who conceived the idea of monotheism. Looking at the musical score to 2001: A Space Odyssey its theme song is curiously entitled "Thus Spoke Zoroaster." But what of the "Resurrect dead on planet Jupiter" business? Well, around the time the tiles first showed up writer David Mamet published the one-act play 4 AM, which depicted an odd interaction between a radio host and a strange caller who wants to talk about a plan to resurrect the dead on Jupiter.

While Mamet has always claimed he invented this caller, in 1983, a real caller identifying himself as James Morasco, a Philadelphia city social worker, rang Clark DeLeon at The Philadelphia Inquirer. DeLeon then published his remarks of that exchange.

Wanna run that one by me again?
By Clark DeLeon

Call me skeptical, but I had a hard time buying James Morasco's concept that the planet Jupiter would be colonized by bringing all the people of Earth who had ever died back to life and then changing Jupiter's atmosphere to allow them to live. Is this just me, or does that strike you as hard to swallow too? Morasco says he is a social worker in Philadelphia and came across this idea while reading a book by historian Arnold Toynbee, who's theory on bringing dead molecules back to life was depicted in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"There are no scientific principles I've found that can make this possible," Morasco said, "especially colonizing the planet Jupiter, which has a very poisonous atmosphere. The possibility of giving that planet an oxygen atmosphere is beyond even science fiction writers' imaginations."

Now that quote may sound as if Morasco doesn't believe it can be done, but that's not true. He thinks that between Toynbee and Stanley Kubrick there is a way to pull it off. That's why he's contacting talk shows and newspapers to spread the message. He's even founded a Jupiter colonization organization called the Minority Association, which he says consists of "Me, Eric, Eric's sister who does the typing, Frank. . ."

You may be hearing more from Morasco. And then again, you may not.

Weird, huh? But trust me, this mystery only gets weirder the more you read on the topic. So if I have piqued your curiosity and you'd like to read more on this, there's a great write up here. I know I've enjoyed mulling it all over in my brain since seeing it earlier today. This concludes my odd little side note of a very entertaining and fun day!

Get your BLACKEST NIGHT rings!

In conjunction with the upcoming Green Lantern story arc BLACKEST NIGHT, publisher DC Comics will be releasing a nifty little promotional item... a BLACK LANTERN RING! We will be giving them out to anyone who signs up for BLACKEST NIGHT while supplies last! That's right, just buy a copy of BLACKEST NIGHT #1 and you will receive a Black Lantern promotional ring for FREE! That way you don't have to do this:


And if you want a taste of Green Lantern Blackest Night, stop in and grab a copy of the Free Comic Book Day comic BLACKEST NIGHT #0... we have plenty of them at both stores, absolutely FREE!

For more on Blackest Night, click HERE! It's gonna be a Green Lantern summer!

Wednesday Comics Project Will Be in the May Previews Catalog!

Want more info on DC Comics' Wednesday Comic weekly series? Well, here's the official solicitation information on the book that will be featured in the May Previews Catalog for items shipping in July!

WEDNESDAY COMICS #1-4
In July, DC Comics gives a fresh twist to a grand comics tradition with WEDNESDAY COMICS, a new, weekly 12-issue series by some of the greatest names in comics today!

WEDNESDAY COMICS is unique in modern comics history: Reinventing the classic weekly newspaper comics section, it is a 16-page weekly that unfolds to a sprawling 28” x 20” tabloid-sized reading experience bursting with mind-blowing color, action and excitement, with each feature on its own 14” x 20” page.

Spearheaded by DCU Editorial Art Director Mark Chiarello, whose past editing credits include BATMAN BLACK & WHITE, DC: THE NEW FRONTIER and SOLO, each page of WEDNESDAY COMICS spotlights the continuing adventures of DC heroes, including:

• BATMAN, WEDNESDAY COMICS’ weekly cover feature, by the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso

• ADAM STRANGE, by writer/artist Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR 100)

• METAMORPHO, written by New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman with art by Eisner Award-winner Michael Allred (Madman)

• THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN, written by Walter Simonson (Thor, MANHUNTER) with art by famed DC cover artist Brian Stelfreeze

• DEADMAN, written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck, art by Dave Bullock

• KAMANDI, written by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS)
with art by Ryan Sook (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL)

• SUPERMAN, written by John Arcudi (The Mask) with art
by Lee Bermejo (JOKER)

• WONDER WOMAN, written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell (Dare Detectives)


• GREEN LANTERN, written by Kurt Busiek (TRINITY, ASTRO CITY) with art by Joe Quiñones (TEEN TITANS GO!)

• TEEN TITANS, written by Eddie Berganza with art by Sean Galloway

• SUPERGIRL, written by Jimmy Palmiotti (JONAH HEX) with art by Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL)


• HAWKMAN, written and illustrated by Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, Special Forces)

• SGT. ROCK, written by Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON), illustrated by legendary comics artist Joe Kubert

• THE FLASH, written by Karl Kerschl (TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE, THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE) and Brenden Fletcher, illustrated by Karl Kerschl

• METAL MEN, written by Dan DiDio with art by Ian Churchill (SUPERGIRL)

WEDNESDAY COMICS will arrive in stores folded twice to 7” x 10”, with the first issue set to reach stores on July 8; Issue #2 on sale July 15; Issue #3 on sale July 22; Issue #4 on sale July 29 • 1-4 of 12 • 7” x 10”, 16 pg, FC, $3.99 US!

I think that's a whole lot of goodness for just $3.99!

Turn your nerd room into the bridge of the USS Enterprise!

With this awesome "wall mural":


read more about these HERE and check out the RoomMates website for tons more awesome wall decorations, including Batman, Incredible Hulk, Spider-man, Superman, Iron Man, Transformers and much more! (LINK FIXED! GO AHEAD AND CLICK ON IT NOW.)

(I really liked that suggestion in the comments section of that first article: Make one of the GUARDIAN OF FOREVER! Yes, please.)

Thanks for the tip, P-J Delaye!

More amazing WATCHMEN stuff

Found at The New Frontiersman website.

When you go to that site, click on the quarter on the right near the top and PLAY the 1980's-style WATCHMEN arcade game! It didn't work for me in FireFox, but it did in Internet Explorer. All Hail MICROSOFT!

Less than 18 days to go.

On the roof of Comix Connection - Earth Bill

I want one of these on a pole over each store:



With green and yellow neon of course.

See more about these cool "Roto-Spheres" HERE, and there are more incredible "atomic-age sign" videos HERE and HERE.

Motionography again?

Volstok Telefunken is a great artist I just discovered over on Drawn.ca. I had no idea before this discovery that motionography was used so often. I couldn't find the embedded code for these motionography clips, but trust me when i say, if you want to smile, just watch the way this artist incorporated animation into everyday situations. It brings the type of smile to my face that I haven't smiled in a long time, maybe with the exception of watching Pixar films. Go to this link to watch a few!

If you like what you see there, check out the artist's page, where he does some great animation work! What a creative guy! Thank you Volstok Telefunken!

A Motionographer?

First of all, I've never heard of an motionographer, but I think I like it. This is an example of motionography. It appears to be stop start animation.

Attention all personnel... this is the Captain speaking

OK, this is just too cool:


From the Diamond Select website:

This iconic sci-fi release measures an astonishing 3 1/2 feet wide by 3 1/4 feet deep and stands just under 3 1/2 feet tall. The chair itself is constructed of high-quality fiberglass and features plastic, metal and wooden accents to recreate the legendary original prop. Highlights include a newly-engineered base to allow full 360° rotation, a leather seat cover, working indicators and switches as well as your favorite sound effects from the classic Star Trek series!

Detailed schematics of the Captain's Chair supplied by Paramount were used to iron out the various chair designs and create the ultimate Star Trek lifestyle accessory. The right-hand console includes settings for Yellow and Red Alert, Pod Jettison, Micro Tape and the ship's Intercom while the left-hand panel features Hailing Frequencies, Viewscreen Activation and Shuttle Operation controls - each with sound effects or light-up details.

And it's only a bit over $3000.00! If you want to order one, let me know!

(Did anyone else giggle when they read the phrase "ultimate Star Trek lifestyle accessory"?)

We got a WiiFit this Christmas

and it got me thinking about this 1983 SEARS Wishbook containing state-of-the-art Vectrex, Gemini, Colecovision, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, Atari 2600, Atari 5200 systems and even some nifty handhelds for the 1983 Christmas season.

I had a Vectrex and an Atari 5200 at this point, plus a handheld football game. Pretty cool memories.

Did you have any of these?

2008 in 40 seconds

Here you go:




You're welcome.

Solar Death Ray hijinx!

Mike Bollinger sent me this some time ago:



SolarDeathRay.com: The #1 Death Ray On The Internet!

Everyone but me thought we should shake the Jiffy Pop, and I finally agreed. Shaking the Jiffy Pop means shaking the entire Solar Death Ray, which is why I hesitated. However, shaking proved to be critical, and soon we could hear popcorn poppin'! After Jiffy Pop's trademark dome had deployed, we shut down the death ray and examined the popcorn. It was a bit overdone, no doubt due to being heated in an unconventional orientation by an unconventional heat source. Race tasted some. The popcorn, which had been forged in the glow of the sun's fusion energy, didn't give Race superpowers as we had hoped. It did bestow a burnt aftertaste, however, so we all considered this a huge success.

I love science!

YOU'RE TOAST, VADER!

No seriously:


Available at the Star Wars Shop for a mere $55! Does a Dark Lord of the Sith even eat a balanced breakfast?

(Thanks for the link, Mike B!)

The History Was Thick.

I was able to attend the York Book and Paper Fair yesterday and it was a great experience. I worked our booth from 9 A.M. till closing at 4 P.M. Looking out over the stacks of wonderful ephemera I was anxious to get out there and rifle through all the cool possibilities hidden amongst the great cover designs of books and must-laden paper product. In the meantime Bill found a surprise when he opened a Bible to pray for an end to the rain that plagued the outside world.



Once allowed to wander I visited our neighbors booth and found two comics I was looking for. Intro to Absorbing Man and the beautifully illustrated Silver Surfer #1



Also I found an amazing compass ring. This allowed me to claim that my super power is to tell directions (The Compass Corps) which everyone unanimously agreed was...'LAME', as they put it.



While roaming and mingling with the veterans of the event I could tell these people loved what they did. I fell into it, the sounds of old vinyls spinning and crackling, the smell of books born way before me, and the feeling that the attendees history was thickening.

You Can Stand Under Their Umbrella!

Dark Horse Comics has a rather unusual item due to arrive in our stores, Wednesday, October 15th, in the form of an official Umbrella Academy umbrella. It probably couldn't protect you from an Eiffel Tower gone berserk or from a crazy violinist sister, but it will certainly keep you dry!

Mail-Order Monkey Ruminations

MegoSteve sent me to THIS ARTICLE over at Comic Book Resources... pretty interesting.

Did any of you out there ever order a monkey from a comic book? Did you every order ANYTHING from a comic book?

I did. I got a couple of wargames like "Supreme Commander" and "Tank Trap" that had tiny plastic pieces... I still have the cool little tanks and ships and jets somewhere around here.

World's Most Beautiful Libraries

CLICK HERE for more awesome libraries.

Counter Monkeys in New York?

Well they might not be Counter Monkeys, but 2 years ago i went to The Big Apple and had the pleasure of riding the New York Subway system. 722 miles of sights, sounds, and bumpy rides. The most impressive thing to me was an amazing display of Mosaics that lined much of the walls. Ranging from animals to hats, I enjoyed them all! If you haven't been able to see them, I feel it's a must when visiting the NYC.
Oh wait! There's a Counter Monkey!
Look Out Counter Monkey!!!

No Counter Monkeys were injured during this photograph. Comix Connection Safety Assurance Board.

My Irish buddy is so much cooler than me

We recently had the pleasure of putting up (with?) old friends of mine who currently reside in Dublin, Ireland (Hi Ciaran, Martina, Kyle and Aran!) One of the things that struck me after having not seen them for 12 years or so was how much they haven't changed. They are still hip, smart, cool, etc., while I seemed to have become mired in soft middle age. Case in point, Ciaran's awesome tattoo:


(That's a Ralph Steadman rendering of Hunter S Thompson as Dr. Gonzo, with the inscription "HST/RIP".)

That's completely cool, and just the kind of thing I'd like to think I would get, if I got a tattoo.

And then there's the piercing, but that's a story for another day.

(Of course it was great to see the Dubliners... the time flew so quickly we just may have to visit them in a year or two!)

Bring me (information on) the head of Captain America!

Hey everybody! Perhaps you've noticed this little gem I've had hanging around the stores for the last fifteen years or so:


It's a full-sized latex over-the-head mask of Captain America, and I'm trying to find out more information on it. I've had it for about 15 years, it seems very well made, but it has no markings or identifying features. Does anyone out there have any info on this thing? Let me know!

Little Nemo TV/Movie? Pilot.

From the year of my birth, 1984, comes a TV/Movie? pilot for Winsor McCay’s classic comic, Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Yoshifumi KondÃ. Beautifully done. Wish I could see more of this!

For the person who has everything

Get them a remote-controlled steam-powered centipede, of course:



Enjoy your weekend!

Mad Magazine TV Special Unaired Animated Pilot from 1974!

I can't remember where I found this gem:



From the YouTube description:

This was an idea for a potential animated series or series of television specials. When brought to the network executives it was deemed to "Adult" to be shown on television, thus it never made it past this stage.

Very cool.

IRON MAN blasts the box office

And has this to say:



Thanks to longtime fan Mike Bollinger for the image. Apparently it's from a Marvel greeting card from the 1970s. Here's the rest of them:



Too cool! Thanks, Mike!

R2-D2 projector and more!

Check this out... a totally cool R2-D2 video projector!



CLICK HERE to see the video!

Thanks to longtime fan Chris Heilman for the link!

Mrs Boyce is the coolest

On Free Comic Book Day in the Mechanicsburg store, our adoptive den-mother Mrs. Boyce brought the staff the following treats to keep our energy levels up so that we could properly serve everyone:




There were other characters including Catwoman, Robin and the Joker, and they were all delicious. She said she hand-carved them (ha-HA!)... it was so nice of you to think of us! Thanks, Mrs. Boyce!