My Brush with Greatness
So we may not be Golden Apple or Mile High, but I have to say that Metro Entertainment gets a fair amount of celebrity customers (one of whom's going to be writing Amazing Spider-Man soon but won't be named until I get his permission). And while I may have shown Crispin Glover where the Daniel Clowes comics were and saw Neil Patrick Harris with who I thought was his hetero-life mate (boy, was I not surprised!) shopping for indy books, most of the real celebrities have been the little guy.
So when someone slyly pointed to a copy of Absolute Watchmen on our sheves and mouthed the words 'I'm working on that' to my co-worker Ish, we nearly broke out the champagne. Yep, a lovely couple (or brother and sister or good friend and good friend; after NPH, I've learned to be wary) from Sony came in and secretly admitted that they indeed were working on Doctor Manhattan for the upcoming film of Watchmen. The rather lovely woman had done a test print apparently and that got them in the job. On a break back home in sunny Santa Barbara, they'd be due back for work in Vancouver soon but were nice enough to stop by and totally thrill us with little to no info on the movie.
Even my 'Blink once for yes, twice for no!' tactic didn't work! They did say that the movie was incredible (well... they do pay your checks) and that the comic was practically being used as storyboards for scenes in the flick. When asked about the incredible layers of complexity the book has, what with the prose, the comic within the comic and all the other things online naysayers have been touting as impossible to film, the conversation grew interesting.
Apparently, the Tales of the Black Freighter is mentioned within the script, but as to exactly how it's incorporated into the film, he suggested that there might be different versions of the movie.
I continued to pump them for info that they simply couldn't give out, but at least seemed to impress them with how much I knew about the book. The woman who'd made the test film of Dr. Manhattan seemed surprised and asked if I knew this much about all of the comic we sold.
"Yes," I said. "Yes I do."
Change! Really!
I mean it! Change is coming to this site!
But in the meantime, enjoy Metro Entertainment's sexy new layout.
How Unnerving
Yeah, we're in chrysalis mode here at Snap Judgments, big changes coming soon to layout and whatnot. Change is good!
But not some change. At the store, we try to be careful on what kids can and cannot get their grubby little hands on when it comes to common perceptions of 'inappropriate material'. When we get the more mature graphic novels (loosely defined as a store policy regarding extreme graphic violence or boobies), we slip them in a bag and put a label that says customers must be over 16 or 18 to view and/or purchase. Yeah, not everyone does this and it's a little awkward for people wanting to browse through certain Vertigo titles or art books or manga. but it's better to be safe than sorry with parents.
So when I see Y the Last Man, a book we bag up due to mature themes and nudity and sex and a bunch of things that mothers can get riled up about, right next to the young adult section, I feel weird. I mean, Minx, yes! Perfect! But... Y the Last Man? Really?
Ah, not like Borders doesn't have worse in just as close a reach to kids or that there's a chance anyone's going to go sue them over content. Just weird to have that sudden moment of self-doubt and work-induced censorship at a store that doesn't have to follow the same rules we do.
Name Drop It Like It’s Hot
So, in sexy, sunny and very nearly on fire Santa Barbara, CA, we had a special vistor in the store the other day. And I'm not talking about one of the upcoming writers on the 'Brand New Day' version of Amazing Spider-Man either.
While I was at lunch (of course!), one Joe Johnston came into the store on a mission. He was checking out Captain America comics because today, he'd be heading down to Marvel Studios to talk about possibly directing the Captain America movie. He purchased the Adventures of Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #1-4, a Marvel Masterworks of golden age Cap stories (Marvel Masterworks vol. 43: Golden Age Captain America Nos. 1-4 to be exact) and yes, Brubaker's Captain America #15, 24 and 25. We tend to run out of Brubaker issues as the whole store is a fanboy for that series and we recommend the books hand over fist.
Let's wish the guy luck.
Crime Wave Hits Southern California!
Well, not but an hour after I posted my last here at Snap Judgments, I manged to contract the throat cold that one of our customers had been sporting for the last couple weeks. My sinuses exploded, I lost my voice, started up a little fever and the manager sent me home, making sure i didn't infect anyone else with my deadly motaba virus. But, before I left, i grabbed some of the best cold and flu remedy around: my pull comics from the last couple weeks plus the new Women of Marvel 2 trade out that very day. If I was out sick, I was going to enjoy it.
While waiting for a ride back home (as in my sorry state I could barely breathe, let alone get myself home), I deposited myself at the local coffee shop and waited for pick-up. When relief arrived, I gathered my things to go and found myself missing... my comics.
Other things I had on me: my keys; my wallet; my laptop computer, two mp3 players (one for music, one for file storage) and a very snazzy looking computer bag. And yet, the only thing missing was a nondescript brown paper bag containing one trade and a dozen or so floppies.
I searched the place, asked around, talked to the guys are the shop and came to the conclusion that someone had stolen my comics.
Now, I'm no Jeph Loeb here, but I think I went through all five stage of grief regarding my lost books by now and can finally move on to the healing:
- Denial
There was no way someone stole my comic books. Who would steal cmic books when I had a perfectly good laptop with me? No, no, no... I had to have misplaced them and soon, I'd be going through the Women of Marvel 2 at a happy and chagrinned clip, right? I must have left them at the store! They must be still on me! Maybe I didn't buy any in the first place! I mean, stealing comics? - Anger
I couldn't believe I was so stupid as to get my books that day of all days. It was all the guy at the register's fault! He gave me a magazine sized bag rather than a comic sized one and my perceptions were all thrown off! What kind of lousy good for nothing creep steals comics!(Also, I fought Wolverine.) - Bargaining
I buy too many books! That's the problem. If I just didn't by so many books, this wouldn't be such an issue. I'll cut down. I'll go through my pull and just get what I need, and then maybe I'll find my books as some sort of karmic retribution. I wonder if I could offer a reward? - Despair
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!! I MISS MY BOOOOKS! I wanted to read those! I don't even know which ones I got! My review copy of New Avengers was in there and now I'm going to have to BUY IT! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!(Also, Spider-Man cried with me in the rain. In a graveyard. While wearing all black. Listening to Morrissey.) - Acceptance
Welp. They're gone. No one's seen them, no one's going to come to the store and try to sell them so I can leap over the counter and plant a boot in their face. I just lost my comics. Maybe they'll go to a good home. Maybe the thief will share them with a younger sibling and something good might come out of this. After all, I have good taste in comics. Maybe someone will read and enjoy them and spark something new. I'll just have to piece together what I bought and see if I can't read something at the store. They'll trade the Green Lantern Sinestro Corps and I'll be able to get the whole story in one go instead of all this second printing hunting.
I miss them, but they're gone and like Iron Man watching "Cap's Body" sink beneath the frozen water, I know I only have myself to blame.
Against Better Judgment
Sorry about the lack of preview reviews; UPS stiffed us again with the magical mighty envelope of power that fuels my Marvel enthusiasm so I find myself a little floundering. I should be picking up some of my pull (maybe people might be curious about the books I deign to pay money for) and oh yeah. The latest New Avengers came out.
It's time for All You Need to Know. Well, not time now as I have to eat lunch and then throw myself back at a bevy of Diamond boxes and ensure that you, the customer, are getting your books with a smile and a thumbs up, but expect some words after work.
'Cause man, this issue is pretty schizophrenic, the more I think of it. Oh, New Avengers, I had so much hope for you...
The Sun Rises and the Monsters Go Away
So tired. So very very tired.
Comic Con was awesome, of course, but only when you're home, in your bed, far far far away do you realize that you just spent a very long weekend with a hell of a lot of people running across convention floors with a laptop in tow.
Hoo.
I have tons more to say, as said laptop's battery wasn't fantastic and I switched to the ol' pen and paper method of notes for the most part, so continue to expect more Con info from Yours Truely.
But for now I'm back home, selling books and listening to the wonders of peace and quiet.
Comics = Romance
I have worked at a variety of places. From comics stores to video stores to music stores to restaurants to electronics stores.... and I can say with 100% assurity that one place that couples make out the most out of those places?
The comic shop.
Having been at two, I see couples in all the time and, on the average, 7 out of 10 are physically attached to each other in one way, shape or form. Hands around one another, holding hands to drag one another down the aisles like anxious children, sitting at their feet while the other one goes through back issues with a dogged focus, making out in one of the corners of the store, couples love to administer PDA in here. It's weird... and vaguely uncomfortable.
Are comics romantic? Does the florescent lighting set the mood? Does the smell of back issues just really do it for some people?
On one hand, I could say that the less they are in here to shop, the more affectionate they are. Sometimes I think it's a comicless girl's method of shooing the boyfriend out of the store. "Look, honey, hugs and kisses! Pay attention to me so we can leave!" Sometimes I think it's a territorial thing. "See? I'm not a nerd, I gotta girlfriend!" Most of the time I'm just confused.
A good customer pal of mine and I were talking relationships when she was picking out some trade paperback presents for a new beau and I have to agree with a point most clearly made by her: having common interests in movies or music is one thing and sometimes, general interests can be faked. But the more obscure your passion, the less popular your culture is, if there's a spark between you over potato clocks or Fraggle Rock or Mr. Spock, something one can give or take... it's a beautiful thing.
When the Short Answer Just Won’t Do
I often find myself thinking about these things when it's slow. Or I'm staring off into the distance. Or when I'm brushing my teeth.
What am I going to say to the guy (or gal!) who asks me, "What's House of M?"
I could say 'Oh, it's an alternate reality where Magneto rules the world', but does that do it? Knowing no more than that, would you read it?
I think I would. I'd just be sorely disappointed by the end of things.
This is what I ponder. I sometimes wonder about what I wonder about.
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Attitude Adjustment
I am one lucky gal.
When things get me down, when I'm starting to frown and think Marvel Comics just might have blown a gasket and gotten turned around somewhere that I don't want to follow anymore, I am seriously seriously lucky to have one of the new Amazing Spider-Man writers come into the store and set me straight. To show me an old panel caption or two that brings a smile to my face. To tell me things and gags in his upcoming issues that put my mind at ease and to commiserate on issues that we just don't think live up to the mighty Marvel manner (sometimes in very frank terms). To remind me that hey, some people are taking this way too seriously and unknowingly pull me back from being one of those people.
Yeah, people don't talk this way, but sometimes... don't you wish they did?
Thank you, sir. I can't wait for a Brand New Day.