When did you last go to a comic book shop?

Before the COVID-19 pandemic first started causing shutdowns here in the U.S., I had last visited the comic book shop I normally go to back on February 22nd.

By about mid-March 2020, the State of Connecticut ordered all "non-essential" businesses to close their stores.

That order started to be lifted May 20th here in the state, and this past Saturday (June 20th) I finally made it in to the store. Only bought three books, but that's in part because some of the books I would have bought (published by Dark Horse) have been delayed for several months.

For the record, the two books that were in my hold file were Sir Edward Grey - Witchfinder: The Reign of Darkness #4 and #5 (of a five-issue series), and I got a copy of Flash #750 off the shelf (which had been released back in early March).

Me too, before the COVID-19 pandemic started causing big shutdowns here in Italy, I had last visited the comic book shop I usually go to, back on February 26th!
Theorically local comic book shops, as booksellers, could re-open since 19 April but mine didn't open at first and I wouldn't risk going, since it is located almost in the center of the town where there is always a lot of people who still don't respect safety rules....
So I am trying to go again.....today late afternoon, we'll see!

Barry_Allen wrote: . . . Theorically local comic book shops, as booksellers, could re-open since 19 April but mine didn't open at first and I wouldn't risk going, since it is located almost in the center of the town where there is always a lot of people who still don't respect safety rules.... ...

My comic book shop isn't in quite so busy a shopping district. It had been in an old local railroad station/depot, but a little while back a new structure was built next to the old one and the shop moved into that. So there's plenty of space / parking around it, and when I went there on Saturday (late morning) I was the only customer there.

MajorHoy wrote:when I went there on Saturday (late morning) I was the only customer there.

The one closest to me opened about a month ago. Masks required. I have been a couple of times, despite little new material. I like the shop and want to continue buying there.

Mbast1 wrote: . . . I have been a couple of times, despite little new material. I like the shop and want to continue buying there.

The one I've been going to is probably around +/-20 miles away, but it's by local roads (state highways, but speed limits aren't that high since it's through residential areas and some small farmland spots). I don't get up that way all that often, but there's not much I'm really interested in buying these days.

SIDE NOTE: I've probably mentioned it before, but the shop is in Newtown, Connecticut, about a mile away from the site of the December 2012 school shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Went to the comic book store today (last was there about two months ago), and while I didn't buy any new books, I did pick up a couple of older items that were discounted.


* Batwing #9 (July 2012) for $1.00

and


* Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 5 tpb collection (2001 edition) for $8.00 (had been cover-priced $17.99 back in the day . . . )

I hadn't been collecting/reading during the No Man's Land run, so I haven't read the story before.

I have to go to my LCS too, it's been more than two months that I don't go, after all....
I have to buy/read the trade paperbacks of Batman: No Man's Land too, I had missed the individual comics at time, they were too many and I wasn't reading so much in that period!

Barry_Allen wrote: . . . I have to buy/read the trade paperbacks of Batman: No Man's Land too, I had missed the individual comics at time, they were too many and I wasn't reading so much in that period!

I only picked this one up because of the price. So far, I'm not sure if it would be worth it to me to buy any of the other books collecting the whole storyline unless I could find them for a really, really cheap price.

Wound up going back to the comic book store again today (since I had to go to the neighboring town to take care of something else), and I actually bought a brand new comic book released this week:

Batman: Three Jokers Book One.
I hadn't originally been planning to buy it, but I've gotten in the mood for something Batman-related again, and I am somewhat curious about this.

Also picked up a Dollar Comics reprint book:

Reprints Batman #567 (originally published back in 1999).

I go to Central City Comics in Ipswich every Wednesday.

tony ingram wrote:I go to Central City Comics in Ipswich every Wednesday.

How much do you get in an average week these days?

And was the store always open during the Coronavirus pandemic, or did it have to close at all due to any government regulations that may have impacted "non-essential businesses"?

MajorHoy wrote:

tony ingram wrote:I go to Central City Comics in Ipswich every Wednesday.

How much do you get in an average week these days?

And was the store always open during the Coronavirus pandemic, or did it have to close at all due to any government regulations that may have impacted "non-essential businesses"?    

Oh, yes, it closed. All non essential stores in the UK were closed for a couple of months, though it made no real difference from Central City's point of view, since obviously no comics were being published anyway. The last shipment sent out to the UK in March actually ended up stuck at customs until things started to return to normal. It was released and the comics sent to stores roughly two weeks before they were allowed to reopen, so Rob at Central City simply got his regular customers to pay him by PayPal and then passed their comics over to them in clandestine street corner meetings...

I'd guess I'm still buying about thirty new titles a month.

Made it to the comic book store today and picked up:

Detective Comics #1027


Hawkman #27


DC Dollar Comics:  Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood #1
The six-issue mini-series originally was released back in 2000; this dollar reprint of the first issue appears to have come out earlier this year.

While I was at the shop I also added Batman: Three Jokers Books Two and Three to my hold list. (Book Two appears to be scheduled for release at the end of September?)

Three Jokers #1 was quite intriguing. I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
Bit of a sparse week for us, as Marvel have been hit by a production hitch that's pushed everything back a week.

Finally made another trip to the comic book shop today and picked up a few things.

 I.) DC Comics:

* Batman: Three Jokers #2 and #3 (of 3)


* Detective Comics #1029
(NOTE: Was put in my hold file by mistake <since I previously requested #1027 only>, but decided to give it a try anyway)

 II.) Marvel Comics:

* True Believers: Introducing the Black Widow #1
and True Believers: Black Widow -- Amazing Adventures #1
as well as

* History of the Marvel Universe #2 <from 2019>

 III.) Dark Horse Comics:

* Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. - The Return of Effie Kolb #2 (of 2)

Just went into town to pick up my latest batch. We're in lockdown again, so all non esential retails is closed, but Central City are taking PayPal payments and bringing regular customers deliveries to the door for pickup.

tony ingram wrote:Just went into town to pick up my latest batch. We're in lockdown again, so all non esential retails is closed, but Central City are taking PayPal payments and bringing regular customers deliveries to the door for pickup.

The shop I go to did that last time there was a shutdown. I'm hoping to avoid another one (not likely, given how little many Americans seem to think of the precautions to avoid it), but I hope if they DO have to go through it again they can do this. I want them to be around a long time.

Mbast1 wrote:

tony ingram wrote:Just went into town to pick up my latest batch. We're in lockdown again, so all non esential retails is closed, but Central City are taking PayPal payments and bringing regular customers deliveries to the door for pickup.

The shop I go to did that last time there was a shutdown. I'm hoping to avoid another one (not likely, given how little many Americans seem to think of the precautions to avoid it), but I hope if they DO have to go through it again they can do this. I want them to be around a long time.

I'm hoping they can avoid the full closure of "non-essential" businesses again where I am, but numbers are going up again here in Connecticut as well.
So far, places like Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey are trying to avoid total statewide closures and just do more targeted rollbacks (earlier closing times and reducing capacity limits at restaurants, etc.) and limiting any closures towards more specific areas that are hotspots (numbers-wise).

Mbast1 wrote:
The shop I go to did that last time there was a shutdown. I'm hoping to avoid another one (not likely, given how little many Americans seem to think of the precautions to avoid it), but I hope if they DO have to go through it again they can do this. I want them to be around a long time.

MajorHoy wrote:
I'm hoping they can avoid the full closure of "non-essential" businesses again where I am, but numbers are going up again here in Connecticut as well.
So far, places like Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey are trying to avoid total statewide closures and just do more targeted rollbacks (earlier closing times and reducing capacity limits at restaurants, etc.) and limiting any closures towards more specific areas that are hotspots (numbers-wise).

The same is happening here guys, this time it seems that my province is much less infected by the virus but the other provinces of my region are much more infected and all the surrounding regions are already in the so called "Orange zone" (one step below the "Red zone" of lockdown times).
Back on topic, I had (late) ordered Batman Three Jokers too, so far I have received issue one, still to be read!

Barry_Allen wrote: . . . Back on topic, I had (late) ordered Batman Three Jokers too, so far I have received issue one, still to be read!

I haven't read Book Two or Book Three yet; I was working on finishing up a regular book I was in the middle of reading first.
I did read Detective Comics #1029, but I wasn't all that impressed by the issue.
(See separate thread: " Detective Comics #1029 - 'Who Are You?' ".)

MajorHoy wrote:

Barry_Allen wrote: . . . Back on topic, I had (late) ordered Batman Three Jokers too, so far I have received issue one, still to be read!

I haven't read Book Two or Book Three yet; I was working on finishing up a regular book I was in the middle of reading first.
I did read Detective Comics #1029, but I wasn't all that impressed by the issue.
(See separate thread: " Detective Comics #1029 - 'Who Are You?' ".)

I did read Book Two of Three Jokers late last night; here's the thread for discussing that series:
https://crikey.forumotion.com/t1013-batman-three-jokers-3-issue-series

Made it to the comic book shop this morning and picked up:

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Seven Wives Club (one-shot)


Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Her Fatal Hour and The Sending (one-shot)


DC Nation Presents DC Future State (freebie)

and, for the heck of it,

Archie Christmas Spectacular #1 (February 2021 cover-date)

I use to get these every now and then when I was (much!) younger, and decided to pick it up for the heck of it when I saw it on the rack.

Well, I didn't go the comic book shop today, but at a book store (Barnes & Noble) I did decide to buy:


Betty & Veronica Best Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #286 (Jan. 2021)

Finally made it to the comic book shop this morning but only got two comic books:

Infinite Frontier #0
and

Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #1 (of 4)

Went to the comic book shop this morning and picked up a few books.
* DC Comics:

Batman Black and White #4
which has a story with Maps from the series Gotham Academy


Batman: The Detective #1 (of 6)


Catwoman #29


Detective Comics #1034

and

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #1 (of 12)


* Dark Horse:



Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #2 - 3 (of 4).

All very good, fine and nice choices, I'd say!

MajorHoy wrote:Went to the comic book shop this morning and picked up a few books.
* DC Comics:

Batman Black and White #4
which has a story with Maps from the series Gotham Academy


Batman: The Detective #1 (of 6)


Catwoman #29


Detective Comics #1034

and

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #1 (of 12)
.

and nice covers too, especially the last one, Bats with Scooby! ! !

Went to the comic book shop this morning and bought:
* DC Comics:
- Batman: The Detective #2 (of 6)
- Catwoman #30
- Detective Comics #1035
and

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #2 (of 12)

* Dark Horse:

The House of Lost Horizons: A Sarah Jewell Mystery #1 (of 5)

* Image Comics:

Image Firsts: Criminal #1 (from back in 2019)

Yesterday's haul included Black Cat #6, X-Factor #9, X-Corp #1, Joker #3, Batman: Urban Legends #3, Amazing Spider-Man: King's Ransom, Spider-Woman #12, Heroes Reborn #2 and Heroes Reborn: Hyperion and the Imperial Guard.

tony ingram wrote:Yesterday's haul included Black Cat #6, X-Factor #9, X-Corp #1, Joker #3, Batman: Urban Legends #3, Amazing Spider-Man: King's Ransom, Spider-Woman #12, Heroes Reborn #2 and Heroes Reborn: Hyperion and the Imperial Guard.

I sometimes get curious about trying the Joker series for Jim Gordon, but considering the writer (Tynion) and how over-played the Joker has been in DC comics (especially in the past maybe ten years?), it doesn't seem worth it to me.
As for Batman: Urban Legends, it seems like too much of a mixed bag for both stories and writers to make it worth it to me, especially when it sounds like only one of the features in an issue might be of interest for me to check out.

tony ingram wrote:Heroes Reborn #2[/i] and Heroes Reborn: Hyperion and the Imperial Guard.

I don't usually get to the comic shop until Friday after work (my local shop stays open on Fridays late, so they can run games) but this is one I'm looking forward to getting.

Last Friday I was finally able to go to my LCS and bought, among others (hopefully I'll tell you about in next posts...) , these two big format Question comic books with art by Bill Sienkiewicz, which I still have to read   :

MajorHoy wrote:

tony ingram wrote:Yesterday's haul included Black Cat #6, X-Factor #9, X-Corp #1, Joker #3, Batman: Urban Legends #3, Amazing Spider-Man: King's Ransom, Spider-Woman #12, Heroes Reborn #2 and Heroes Reborn: Hyperion and the Imperial Guard.

I sometimes get curious about trying the Joker series for Jim Gordon, but considering the writer (Tynion) and how over-played the Joker has been in DC comics (especially in the past maybe ten years?), it doesn't seem worth it to me.
As for Batman: Urban Legends, it seems like too much of a mixed bag for both stories and writers to make it worth it to me, especially when it sounds like only one of the features in an issue might be of interest for me to check out.  

That is the point of these anthologies, like the Batman: Black & White series, which have been recently collected in a Omnibus, also here, and which was, overall, a fine reading, often with top creators, of course the limit may be that the stories are too short...

Finally made it to the comic book shop today!
Hadn't been there since May.  Back in late May, my Mom tripped and fell inside the house and chipped the bone in her elbow, so I've been tending to stay a little closer to home than the comic book shop when I go out to stores and such.

Picked up:
* DC Comics:
- Stargirl Spring Break Special #1
- The Flash #770
- Green Arrow 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular
NOTE: Got the Jen Bartel '00s Decade Variant; couldn't get the 40s Michael Cho Variant which I would have preferred
- I Am Batman #0
and
- The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #3 - 5 (of 12)

* Dark Horse:
- Hellboy & the B.P.R.D.: The Secret of Chesbro House #1 - 2 (of 2)
- The House of Lost Horizons: A Sarah Jewell Mystery #2 - 4 (of 5)
- Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #4 (of 4)

Not reading Infinite Frontier? That's where all the JSA stuff is happening...

tony ingram wrote:Not reading Infinite Frontier? That's where all the JSA stuff is happening...

Problem is, I really don't care about any of the other stuff.

If it was just about the JSA, I'd maybe try it.
Maybe I'll just wait until it's collected in a tpb at this point.

A lot of it is about the JSA. There are even callbacks to Infinity Inc. It seems to be about characters with a prior connection to the multiverse, and the latest issue brings Jade, Atom Smasher, Power Girl, Wildcat II and Damage back into play at last.

Went to the comic book shop today and picked up:

DC =

Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries #6


Batman Secret Files: The Signal #1 (one-shot)


Batman Fortnite: Zero Point (Batman Day 2021 Special Edition) <free>

Dark Horse =

House of Lost Horizons: A Sarah Jewell Mystery #5 (of 5)


Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1957: Family Ties (one-shot)

What the Hell has happened to the Scooby Gang!!!?

MajorHoy wrote:Went to the comic book shop today and picked up:

DC =

Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries #6

tony ingram wrote:What the Hell has happened to the Scooby Gang!!!?

Well, it was a story set back in the days before Bruce became Batman, so Scooby and the gang were also younger. In fact, it takes place around the time of this story:




So the masked boy in red & green on the cover of the new issue is actually young Bruce Wayne.
(It was a fun little issue)

So by my reckoning, that would make modern day Scooby about 25 years old. What are they feeding him, Scooby snacks soaked in Super Soldier Serum?

Didn't buy it a comic book shop, but I did get delivery today of

Batman: The Adventures Continue Season One (tpb) which I had ordered from Barnes & Noble.

Very nice!

MajorHoy wrote:Didn't buy it a comic book shop, but I did get delivery today of
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season One (tpb) which I had ordered from Barnes & Noble.

I remember ordering from bn.com (more than ten years ago...) discounted books like the Marvel Vault, and they also had a nice and long list of clearance items, then I lost contact with them, did you get a nice discount for this BTAC tpb?

Barry_Allen wrote:

MajorHoy wrote:Didn't buy it a comic book shop, but I did get delivery today of
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season One (tpb) which I had ordered from Barnes & Noble.

I remember ordering from bn.com (more than ten years ago...) discounted books like the Marvel Vault, and they also had a nice and long list of clearance items, then I lost contact with them, did you get a nice discount for this BTAC tpb?

No big discount price since it's still relatively recent.
They were offering it at $17.99 (cover-price is $19.99 U.S., so about 10% off), the same price amazon.com had it at last time I checked. Since I'm a Barnes & Noble member I would have gotten 10% if it was an in-store purchase, but for online orders I do get free shipping without any purchasing price minimums.
(I believe in the U.S. it's a $35 minimum purchase for non-members to get free shipping these days.)

Made it to the comic book shop today and picked up:

DC Comics:
* Arkham City: The Order of the World #1 - 2 (of 6)
* Batman: The Long Halloween Special #1 (one-shot)
* The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #7 - 8 (of 12)

Dark Horse:
* Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club #1 (of 5)

Marvel Comics:
* Spider-Man/Venom #1(Free Comic Book Day 2020)<free>

The Long Halloween special was pretty good, I thought, as is Arkham City so far.

Have you planned buying something to read during Black Friday, guys?   I was thinking that, maybe, the best way to save money in these days is....not buying anything and read a (comic) book from the (high) pile of things still to be read...

Barry_Allen wrote:Have you planned buying something to read during Black Friday, guys?   I was thinking that, maybe, the best way to save money in these days is....not buying anything and read a (comic) book from the (high) pile of things still to be read...

Black Friday is one American import I think the UK could do without. It only really started being talked about over here about three or four years ago, and I have no idea why. In any case, i just make a point of ignoring it.

tony ingram wrote:

Barry_Allen wrote:Have you planned buying something to read during Black Friday, guys?   I was thinking that, maybe, the best way to save money in these days is....not buying anything and read a (comic) book from the (high) pile of things still to be read...

Black Friday is one American import I think the UK could do without. It only really started being talked about over here about three or four years ago, and I have no idea why. In any case, i just make a point of ignoring it.

Well, "Black Friday" has its good points and its bad points.

Over here in the U.S., it's the day after Thanksgiving, so many people have that day off from work if they have a Monday-through-Friday job. Personally, I've never been to those early Friday morning sales where masses of people wait on line before the sun comes up to rush into stores.  But on the other hand, when things aren't as crowded in the afternoon, some stores still have better-than-usual offers available on things I may actually want and/or need.  And other deals may be available online over the Black-Friday-to-Cyber-Monday extended weekend.  A publisher that offers a lot of collections featuring old pulp magazine stories (reformatted, not direct representations of how they were originally published) that I like to read is offering 30% off this weekend, so I'll probably get two-or-four books from them. (They normally offer free shipping if you buy a certain $ amount, which is why I would buy more than just one book.)