Pull List for Nov 5

Small week for me Yeah!
Marvel Zombies #2 - Realy surprised how good issue #1 was, hope it continues.
Zombie Tales #7 - More zombie goodness
Amazing Spider-Man #576
Invincible Iron Man - Hope this continues it's hot streak as well.
Adventure Comics Special: The Guardian #1 - Part of the New Krypton storyline, so it better be worth the money. Don't understand why it couldn't be told in the Superman books.

And that was it.

Tom.

Pull List for Oct 29/08

Here's what I grabbed today.
Hellboy: In the Chapel of Moloch - Mignola back as writer/artist for an issue. I usually only buy the one shots and 3 issue series of Hellboy, and wait for the Library Editions for the rest now.
Spike: After the Fall #4 - Thought this was only a 3 issue series, maybe one day I'll actually read it.
Amazing Spider-Man #575 - Still on board for the reboot.
Thor #11 - Really like the fact that this book hasn't been involved with the crossovers...yet.
Nova #18
Astounding Wolf-Man #9 - Really glad I only have one more issue to go on this one. Just fell flat for me.
Superman #681 - Part 2 of a storyline I'm really looking forward to.
Chuck #5 - One of my favourite shows - hope the comic doesn't suck.
The Boys #24
Spawn #185 - Change in direction, we'll see how it goes. Spawn was one of the first books I really followed on a month to month basis for the first 100 issues.
1985 #6 - The conclusion.
Amazing Spider Man Annual #1 - Supposedly a story about Jackpot.
Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3 - Supposedly Peter gets laid.
No Hero #2
Rage of the Red Lanterns #1 - I'm picking up Green Lantern books now, so this falls into that category.

Tom.

Pull List Oct 25/08

So, the Canadian prices rose last week, and I feel like it's only a matter of time before the American prices rise too, which of course would raise the Canadian prices again. Really have to be careful what I'm buying now especially the books going for 3.99.

Here's what I picked up:
GI Joe #0 - picked it up because it was a dollar, likely won't pick up anymore. IDW - the publisher - only sells $3.99 books.
Fear Agent #24 - I read this book by the arc now, seems to take forever to come out.
Daredevil #112
Captain America #43
Amazing Spider-man #574 - still liking the whole reboot even if I completely disagree with the way they got there.
X-Factor #36 - Cannot stand the current artist, can't wait until he's replaced.
New Avengers #46 - On probation.
Ultimate Spider-Man #127 - so far behind on this book, but I've bought it since the beginning, probably will buy it till it gets cancelled - if ever.
Secret Invasion #7 - almost over, thankfully. Then we get to see how the Marvel universe changes until the next Crossover.
Superman: New Krypton Special - Really looking forward to this, strange because it's a DC book
Angel After the Fall #13 - hope this is over soon, my wallet could use a break.
Zombie Tales #6
Criminal #6

Tom.

Pull List for Oct 15 * Marvel Price Policy

Relatively small week for me -which is good.
Amazing Spider-Man #573 - Finally be able to finish reading New Ways to Die. Also grabbed the Stephen Colbert Variant edition, because it's cool.
Charlatan Ball #4 - Not a bad little book. I have the Hardcover edition of Joe Casey's other book Godland, still haven't read it yet.
Astonishing X-Men #27 - Wasn't too impressed with the first issues of Ellis' run, he usually always brings something different.
Captain Britain & MI 13 #6 - decent title, not sure if I'll stay with it.
Guardians of the Galaxy #6
Mighty Avengers #19 - Book is cancelled for me - still on the hook for one more issue, probably won't even read this one at all.
Ultimate Origins #5 - the mini is done and I can stop caring about the Ultimate Universe. Won't bother with Ultimatum.
Ghostbusters: The Other Side #1 - So glad the ghostbusters are back in comic books - a video game coming soon too!

It was going to be a normal day at the Comic Shop until, the guy working behind the counter told me that Marvel has raised their prices on all of their books. The Canadian price of course. This highly pissed me off. I am primarily a Marvel reader. A solid 90% of my stack is Marvel. My problem is not the fact that Marvel increased their prices - that is going to happen, comics used to cost .10 cents remember. The problem I had was how quickly Marvel changed the Canadian prices. When the Canadian dollar was at par or above the American dollar Marvel dragged their heels on changing the price, making equal or closer to equal the American cover price. But when the Canadian dollar drops like it has in the last couple of weeks, Marvel jumps all over it and raises the prices .50 cents a book across the board in a heartbeat. WTF!

This means nothing to Marvel, because honestly how many people does this effect? In the hundreds on some books...maybe a thousand on the top selling books? I'm dropping a few more Marvel books because of this. Nothing drastic, I can't ever see myself giving them up completely, but this factor in to my pull list. I think Captain Britain will be gone, maybe X-Factor as well, maybe a couple more if I can. But it will definetely stop me from buying any mini-series from Marvel, the prices were already jacked up on those.

In the last couple of weeks, I had added a few DC titles, with Marvel upping their Canadian price DC will have to follow suit within the next couple of weeks I imagine.

Stupid bastard jerks Marvel!

Tom.

Pull List for Oct 8/08

Pretty big week for me, didn't go last week and picked up some stuff I normally wouldn't try.

Supergirl #34 - Just trying it out, supposed to tie into the rest of the Superman titles.
The Boys #23 - really should catch up on this one.
Action Comics #870 - This one was added to my pull list for the foreseeable future.
End League #5 - behind on this one too.
Green Lantern #35 - Just added to the pull list
Green Lantern Corps #29 - just added to the pull list.
Invincible Iron Man #6 - Fraction is making me care about an Iron Man book, long after the movie was released.
The Twelve #8 - Read the first 3 issues, then decided to wait until the whole series comes out to finish it.
Walking Dead #53
Deadpool #3 - so good to have this character in his own book again.
Marvel Zombies 3 #1 - Jerks at Marvel upped the cover price, now it's $3.99 per book, and I bought both covers!
Deadworld: Slaughterhouse #1 - Starting a new mini series before the previous mini is finished, smart?
No Hero #1 - Avatar raised the price on this one too! Another $3.99 book.
Crossed #1 - $3.99 yet again!
Dead of Night Devil Slayer #2

Wanted to buy the Zombie Variant for Amazing Spider-Girl this week. Bought all of them last year when Marvel released MZ 2. But last year the variants were all released 1:1. This year it seems like it's going to be released 1:10, which means they won't be going for cover price, which means I probably won't be grabbing them this year - at least not all of them. I was looking forward to adding them to my zombie collection. Stupid Marvel, isn't the prevalence of variants part of the reason the comic book industry crashed earlier in the century?
Amazing Spider-Man is shipping with 4 covers next week!

Tom.

PVR & Pull List

Wow, I suck at keeping this thing updated. Initially it was supposed to be something everyday, then it turned into twice an week and now it's whenever the hell I feel like it.

PVR's...

Are the greatest invention of all time. Top five at the very least.

I record everything that I watch now, just so that I can fast forward through the commercials. Way better to be able to get through an hour long program in 40 minutes rather than wasting the hour to watch it live. I can watch the shows on my time - typically a day or so after they initially air. I know that the networks hate it, I can fast forward through their prescious TV ads, but it's been a life saver, especially on days where the TV lineup is packed with stuff that I want to watch. Mondays and Thursdays are the worst. Without the PVR I would have to drop a few shows. Could always download them I suppose, but no.

The only problem is that I think I've been losing my attention span. Normally the only things I don't record to watch at a later date are award shows and sports events. Watching the Emmy's a couple of weeks ago, I was reaching for the fast forward button at practically every commercial break and sometimes just to get past the lame attempts at comedy from the hosts and the drawn out acceptance speeches.

It's affecting my watching of sports as well. The NHL season started up on the weekend and I couldn't sit through 5 minutes of the game - it could be because it was Pittsburgh and Ottawa playing over in Sweden but hockey is my favourite sport, if I can't sit through a game of that I'm screwed.

Pull List for 2 weeks ago, didn't go to the store this week only 2 books on my list. So for 2 weeks ago this is what I picked up.
1985 #5 - pretty decent, story I guess.
Angel Revelations #5 - ending the miniseries that has been...ok.
Fantastic Four #560 - don't love it, but don't hate it either. Sticking around until the end of the Millar/Hitch run.
Nova#17 - still surprised that I like this book.
New Avengers #45 - may be the only Avengers book I'll be getting in a few months as I have cancelled both Mighty and Initiative.
Deadpool #2 - #3 is due out next week, that's 3 issues in 2 months, not that I'm complaining but the scheduling seems weird.
Captain America#42 - I think Brubaker has surpassed Bendis as my favourite comic writer.
Avengers: Initiative #17 - done with it - didn't even read this issue, started out great but felt like it really fell off in quality maybe ten issues ago.

That's it.
Tom.

Pull List for Sept 17/08

Ok, here's what I grabbed.
Astounding Wolf-Man #8 - I want to like this book, but it's still on the edge of being dropped for me.
Captain Britain #5 - Put this on my list after hearing so much about it, but may drop it due to budgetary concerns - plus I'm thinking of adding a few more titles to the list - something has to give, good book, but I don't need to keep up with it.
Guardians of the Galaxy #5
Mighty Avengers #18 - Kind of glad Bendis is leaving the book in a couple of issues, never really got into the book - this one will be dropped.
Walking Dead #52
War Heroes #2
X-Factor #35
Action Comics #869 - Damn Geoff Johns, not only is he getting me to read DC Comics, but he's got me adding 3 DC books to my Pull List. Action, Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps.
Zombie Tales #5
Spike: After the Fall #2 & 3

Watching the Emmy's now, maybe a review tomorrow, maybe not - nobody reads this thing anyway.

Tom.

Pull List for Sept 10

Better late than never and it was a small week too!

Criminal #5 - took a look at the new Solicits for Dec and Brubaker and Phillips have a new Icon book to go along with Criminal called Villians, have to add that to my list now too.
Secret Invasion #6 - Only 2 issues of this series left and I am underwhelmed, I say this pretty much every time, but this may be my last big crossover. The problem is, with Universe spanning crossovers, they always spill over into all the other books that I read.
Ult. Origins #4 - I think I may be done with automatically buying whatever Bendis puts out, and with this Dark Avengers and Dark Reign stuff - it would save some money.
Ex Machina #38 - good title from what I remember, it's been about 6 or 7 issues since I last read one.
Amazing Spider-Man #571 - Read the first part of the New Ways to Die story - and it wasn't horrible - waiting for it all to come out to finish it up.
Deadpool #1 - Yes! Book of the Week for me, I love this character so much, and am so glad that he gets another chance at a solo book - even though the last 10 or so issues of Cable/Deadpool was essentially just a Deadpool book.

Mini TV review - Trueblood - not that great.

Tom.

Edit: Of course by Villians, I meant the new book by Brubaker and Phillips is called Incognito.

Pull List for Sept 3/08

Here's what I picked up on Saturday:
Amazing Spider-man #570 - hope this 'New ways to die' storyline lives up to the hype.
The Boys #22 - I'm really falling behind on this book. Not a condemnation of it, just a reminder for myself to get reading it.
Buffy #18 - Liking this more than Angel.
End League #4 - falling behind on this one as well, but it's on a bi-monthly schedule - hopefully that changes so I read them as they come in.
Invincible Iron Man #5 - Only bought this because I was on a high from the movie - but 5 issues in and I'm still reading a book starring Iron Man - who knew?
Zombie Tales #3 &4 - backordered because my LCS missed them the first time around. Anything zombie is fine by me.
Angel #12 - Haven't read an issue since #5 I think, but still get it because I was such a fan of the show. I have hope.
Dead of Night: Devil Slayer - Don't know anything about the character, but it's written by Brian Keene, writer of The Rising - a kick ass zombie novel. And anything zombie is fine by me.

Tom.

Pull List for Aug 27

Big week this time around. Actually picking up 2 weeks worth of stuff as I didn't hit the store last weekend because of Fan Expo.

Charlatan Ball #3, Captain America #41, X-Factor #34, Guardians of the Galaxy #4
Kick Ass #4, Fear Agent #23, Daredevil #110, Amazing Spider-Man #568 & #569
Avengers: Initiative #16, Supernatural: Rising Son #5, Nova #16, X-Force #6
Wolverine #68, Ultimate Spider-Man #125, Angel Revelations #4, Haunt of Horror #3
X-Factor: Layla Miller, 1985 #4, New Avengers #44, Mighty Avengers #17.

Only had a chance to read the Avenger books. I love how they are just extentions of Secret Invasion now. They needed more space to fill in the blanks on how this was set up and planned from a long time ago - not just thrown together because Marvel needed another company wide crossover. The books don't even feature characters that are on the teams or were Avengers at all.

Oh...wait, I don't like that at all. These books better pick up after the Invasion is done, or they're dropped.

Tom.

Fan Expo 08

I hadn't been to a comic book convention since I was about 15. Having just turned 29 two weeks ago I thought that should change. With FanExpo this weekend I did change things for the better.

Now, FanExpo isn't soley a comic book convention, that's where the roots started and comics take up a large portion of the flooring, but FanExpo also has Anime, Video Games, Horror and SCi-Fi to draw fans into the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

This combination seems to work quite well. It was packed. Tons of people there, at points it was very difficult to even move. I lost count of all of the people that I bumped into. I have gone to Card Shows (hockey cards) and there is no comparison in terms of the crowds. FanExpo would win hands down.

Observations: I really expected to see more people dressed as comic book characters. I saw some for sure - with the Watchmen movie coming out Rorshach was a popular choice - and a few Spider-Man's. I even saw a 6 year old boy with a Batman costume on. But the Anime/Manga kids are hardcore. I couldn't tell which medium there characters were from as I am not familiar with Anime or Manga. But damn, I was stepping on tails, bumping into duct tape broadswords, having to duck out of the way of spiked hair. I was not prepared for the hardcore Anime/Manga kids.

Some of those Anime/Manga costumes could get a young woman arrested - mistaken for another 'profession'. Ass cheeks hanging out everywhere.

Trade paper backs and Hardcover collections are taking over the comic industry. That was the majority of my purchases, because that was the majority of what I was seeing. It was like browsing at Chapters except the sellers kind of knew what they were talking about. I did buy single issues, but was disappointed with the selection. Was it because nobody had what I wanted - and I admit I wanted a few less than sought after issues ( I just want to finish my Major Bummer run ) or was it that sellers knew that TPB's and Hardcovers were going to be the big sellers? Probably both.

Big Seller for the con, was definitely Watchmen - people were selling out of their stock on Saturday when I went and there was still Sunday remaining! Another big seller was Killing Joke - I bought a copy myself - both written by Alan Moore.

The horror stuff was pretty hardcore too, scary looking people with Tatoos trying to sell you there home-made horror movies. Didn't really spend too much time in those areas - Sci-fi as well. You could definetely tell the horror fans - dressed in all black and pale. Some of the stuff looked pretty cool and I like horror movies myself on occasion, but I felt like if I tried to engage anyone in a conversation about horror movies I would be left in the dust with their knowledge.

File away for next time: My first con in years, wasn't completely sure of what to expect. For next year - because I'll probably go again - I didn't attend any panels or signings or get any sketches. A day later and I regret it. Next year, I might just buy a 2 day pass and 1 day can be dedicated for signings and sketches and the other for shopping.

Just Dumb: I never bothered to check out artist alley, for someone who keeps telling himself that one day you'll have a comic of your own to pimp out to the masses, it was pretty stupid to not spend any time to see how it's laid out and what kinds of things the people there have to sell. Have to fix that for next time.

Tom.

Pull List for the Week of Aug 13

Went to see Tropic Thunder on Wednesday. Great movie, I'll try to do a review tomorrow. But here's the comics I picked up today:
Captain Britain MI 13: 2-4 - I heard good things so I'll try the rest of the series so far.
Hellboy: Crooked Man #2 - Normally get the trades of Hellboy and I'm going to start upgrading to the Library Editions
Fantastic Four #559 - Not really liking Millar's run on this yet.
Amazing Spider-Man #567 - Love Spidey again after Brand New Day, never really hated him before but this book is back at the top of my reading list.
Astonishing X-Men #26 - Hope this gets better, had no love for last issue
Chuck #3 - Think the show is great, probably won't read this until the whole series is out.
Action Comics #868 - Mainly bought this for the Gary Frank art, never really cared for Superman, but the story is good. May have to add this to the pull list.
Walking Dead #51 - Can't wait for these issues to come out.
Angel After the Fall #11 - Falling a little behind on this book, still I stopped reading at #6
Secret Invasion #5 - Really want something to happen in this issue.
Halo: Uprising #3 - It's only been about a year since the last issue, still a better record than Kevin Smith and Daredevil: Bullseye

Tom.

Comics Pull List for the Week of Aug 6/08

I usually pick up my comics on a Saturday as opposed to Wednesday, when they're released. It's just easier to get to the store on the weekend.

Here's what I picked up:
Crossed #0 Avatar - Looks like another violence filled series from Garth Ennis.
The Boys #21 Dynamite - An Ennis twofer!
Buffy #17 Dark Horse
Invincible Iron Man #4 Marvel
The Twelve #7 Marvel
Ultimate Origins #3 Marvel
Criminal #4 Marvel/Icon
Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #2 Marvel

Haven't had a chance to read anything of this week's stuff except for Crossed, which was just a preview issue really - enough to get me to want to read the rest of the series though, so mission accomplished I guess for Avatar.

I also have the habit of only reading the monthly issues - if it's part of a mini-series or something (like The Twelve) I'll just hold off until the whole series is out then read it as a whole.

Something you'll realize (I'm assuming I'm talking to more than myself) is that I am a Marvel Zombie. Mostly everything on my pull list is from Marvel. Never really got into DC's characters that much. The occasional Superman or Batman story was fine, but I'm hearing good things about Green Lantern, I'll have to give that a try I think.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is - no reviews today. 2 days into this blogging thing and I'm already getting lazy.