Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 18, 2017, 10:38:06 PM
I also have a couple of trade paperback collections of romance stories where they've whited out all the dialogue balloons and captions, and completely rewritten the stories, to hilarious effect.

Do you remember what these are called?

I've been reading some romance comics. I especially like Career Girl Romances. The slang is hilarious. It's amazing to think how different the world was back then.

It's cheaper to get a subscription from archiecomics.com but they often deliver them late or not at all. I think it's close to 50% off cover price so most people just live with that.


I prefer to get my digests from Kindle or Comixology but I really only buy B&V Friends (my personal fav) and Betty and Veronica. Sometimes I get the other digests if someone comments on here that it has a particularly good lead story or is a well put together collection of stories.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 17, 2017, 12:55:43 AM
Haven't posted on this thread in a couple of weeks, but I've been busy reading.

Last week:
MICKEY MOUSE #326
DEADMAN DARK MANSION OF FORBIDDEN LOVE #3 (of 3)
DETECTIVE COMICS #950
WONDER WOMAN #16
DOLLFACE #2
GREEN HORNET: REIGN OF THE DEMON #3 (of 4)
JOHN CARTER: THE END #1
WILL EISNER'S THE SPIRIT: THE CORPSE MAKERS #1 (of 5)
JONESY #10
MOONSHINE #5
SAVAGE DRAGON #220
EMPOWERED & THE SOLDIER OF LOVE #1 (of 3)

DEAD@17: BLOOD OF SAINTS TP
DEAD@17: REVOLUTION TP
DEAD@17: THE 13TH BROTHER TP
DEAD@17: AFTERBIRTH TP
DEAD@17: THE WITCH QUEEN TP
DEAD@17: THE BLASPHEMY THRONE TP

This week:
PATSY WALKER AKA HELLCAT #15
BATMAN TMNT ADVENTURES #4 (of 6)
BATWOMAN: REBIRTH #1
CAVE CARSON HAS A CYBERNETIC EYE #5
THE WILD STORM #1
KILL OR BE KILLED #6
ROM ANNUAL #1 (2017)
THE FOREVER WAR #1 (adapted from the 1974 Joe Haldeman Nebula & Hugo-winning novel)
SLAM #1-3 (Girlie comic about roller girls. It was okay, but I don't think it interested me enough to continue.)

Junji Ito's DISSOLVING CLASSROOM TP - Great collection of short weird horror tales linked by 2 reoccurring characters, a brother and sister.

Junji Ito's FRAGMENTS OF HORROR HC - Another collection of short horror stories, no connections between these.

Junji Ito's TOMIE HC  - 700 pages, but a real page-turner. I read it in 2 days. Weird, surreal, grotesque, disturbing, fascinating. Ito's horror manga is different than any kind of horror I've ever read.

SCOOTER GIRL TP - Love the style and the setting, but I have mixed feelings about it because I hate the core idea of the story.

BETTY AND VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #251  - Never thought I'd see Bridgett again in a new story. It was funny, though.

WORLD OF ARCHIE WINTER ANNUAL #66  - Dan Parent's new 5-pager is a funny Reggie & Betty story.

Would I like Dead@17?


I liked the art in Slam but the story was hard to follow with so many characters. Maybe it would make more sense if I read them back to back instead of a month apart.


I found some random Scooter Girl B&W issues in the 25cent bin once. Liked the art, not the story. Maybe I would like it better in color. Like Blue Monday.


You're back to reading Jonesy? I thought you gave up on the series.


Let me know if Patsy Walker ever goes back to the girlie story it was for the first few issues of the comic.


I might try some of those Ito comics. I'm slowly getting into horror. But I like more ghost than gore.


Did you check out the Jem Annual? It has Gisele art in it. 

Quote from: steveinthecity on February 15, 2017, 12:21:39 AM
If memory serves, for a time we used to go to Kmart on Wednesdays to take advantage of their discount dinner they offered.   I was there many a night.   My parents shopped the heck out of the place afterwards, so I presume it all worked out, moneywise.

Totally had a grocery store like this in Ohio called Buehler's. We get the Friday night fish fry then pick out a video in their mini video rental store inside. I remember Giant Eagle having a video rental store too.

I have fond memories of Kmart as a child. It was a fun place to shop in and was well stocked back then. I remember buying the Sabrina novels there featuring Melissa Joan Hart on the cover. I would beg my mom to take me and my friend there at midnight during a sleepover. It was one of the few places open at that time (24 hours). Target had better stuff but was not open. We would cause general havoc: ride around on the motorized carts, bounce a giant bouncy ball from the toy department down all the aisles, hide dog bones in the meat case. I also remember cranking calling Kmart all the time to ask if Chloe was there. Chloe was just a random name I chose. I remember one time the person in the clothing department answered and they just happened to see a woman walk by in a flowered dress and I said "That's her!" And they actually went after her. People were more gullible back then.

I saw a Jughead digest by the checkout at a Gerbes grocery store in Missouri back in June 2015 which sparked my interest. Mainly I was thinking, "They still make those???" And this caused me to dig out my old childhood Betty and Veronica digests from 1997. When I left Missouri in 2016, they had a lot of them in the magazine aisle but not near the checkout anymore. They would keep a decent amount of back stock going back a couple of months. In Nebraska, I see them at Barnes and Noble sometimes but mainly it's just the trade paperbacks. I remember buying the digests from grocery stores in the 90s. They were featured right near the checkout. And I would buy Cheryl Blossom and Sabrina floppies from Waldenbooks.

The 1000 pagers which collect the recent digests. Best bang for your buck but it's a mix of everything. Not just 70s. They also have a few books Best of 60s, 70s etc.

Enough with the boring politics talk. Speaking of the downfall of Kmart, this guy made one about Target in Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohXYR69UhxI


I hope he makes one about Sears when the time comes.

Quote from: 60sBettyandReggie on February 12, 2017, 07:32:19 PM

Quote from: irishmoxie on February 12, 2017, 02:02:38 AM
Lots of different things lately. Mostly non-fiction:


Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrove


The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Immigrant stories are probably my favorite genre)


Show Dog: The Charmed Life and Trying Times of a Near-Perfect Purebred by Josh Dean (about an Australian shepherd. I wish this was my job)


Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace by Jessica Bennett


Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham (the mother on Gilmore Girls. Not as funny as I'd hoped)


Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson (memoir of the little girl from Mrs. Doubtfire, Matilda)

I've heard she writes. Are her books usually funny?

I think I was assuming she'd be like her character Lorelei Gilmore. She was funny in parts, but in kind of a try hard way. I think she's only written 2 books: her memoir and a fiction book about being a young actor trying to make it.

On a semi related note, where do I look up comic sales? I want to know if another comic that I like non Archie related is selling well or not.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 12, 2017, 02:02:57 AM

Quote from: irishmoxie on February 12, 2017, 01:42:50 AM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 11, 2017, 04:11:55 PM

Quote from: irishmoxie on January 20, 2017, 06:58:57 PM

Quote from: BettyReggie on January 20, 2017, 11:17:02 AM

I bought these

You're reading Jem again? What made you change your mind?

I was thinking about buying those Gisele covers, until I noticed that the Gisele cover variants for issues #20-24 are all "Retailer Incentive" covers (so good luck finding a copy for cover price). Too rich for my blood.

The thing that kills me is that IDW is not even letting Gisele have her artwork featured on the main cover for those last three issues where she did the interior art. So I said the heck with it, and will wait for the TP collecting those last three issues she drew.

There were also these RI cover variants for JEM #20 & 21 by Gisele.

Jen Bartel's artwork is really good though. She drew a few issues too (not as good as her covers). Retailer incentive variants are usually around $4 at TFAW but you have to play shipping making them come out to around $8.

I'll wait and see. I suspect the variant covers Gisele drew for JEM will all show up in the trade collection in a Cover Gallery (they may even use one of them as the actual TP cover). It's only going to be a thin trade collecting the last three issues (although the final issue is giant-sized, so I guess that amounts to almost 4 regular issues, which is usually about the minimum for a TP collection).

I like Jen Bartel's covers, too. Also Ross Campbell's cover for #1A (they really should have kept him as an interior artist) and Amy Mebberson's covers for #2B, 2C, 2D, & 2E, Tania Del Rio's cover for #10 (Archie month variant) and Shouri's cover for #10 SUB. Victoria Robado's covers aren't bad either. Not crazy about most of the rest of them, but actually, now that I think of it, there should be enough room in that last TP for cover gallery of ALL of the previous covers and variants.

Shouri and Victoria Robado are the same person. Shouri is just her pseudonym. She does a lot of work with Gisele as well though she's mostly known for her coloring. Most of her art is chibi so you might not like it. She did some covers for the recent Kiss series as well.


They did release a covers book collection for Jem though that was awhile ago and it wouldn't be complete now.

Lots of different things lately. Mostly non-fiction:


Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrove


The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Immigrant stories are probably my favorite genre)


Show Dog: The Charmed Life and Trying Times of a Near-Perfect Purebred by Josh Dean (about an Australian shepherd. I wish this was my job)


Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace by Jessica Bennett


Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham (the mother on Gilmore Girls. Not as funny as I'd hoped)


Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson (memoir of the little girl from Mrs. Doubtfire, Matilda)

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 11, 2017, 04:11:55 PM

Quote from: irishmoxie on January 20, 2017, 06:58:57 PM

Quote from: BettyReggie on January 20, 2017, 11:17:02 AM

I bought these

You're reading Jem again? What made you change your mind?

I was thinking about buying those Gisele covers, until I noticed that the Gisele cover variants for issues #20-24 are all "Retailer Incentive" covers (so good luck finding a copy for cover price). Too rich for my blood.

The thing that kills me is that IDW is not even letting Gisele have her artwork featured on the main cover for those last three issues where she did the interior art. So I said the heck with it, and will wait for the TP collecting those last three issues she drew.

There were also these RI cover variants for JEM #20 & 21 by Gisele.

Jen Bartel's artwork is really good though. She drew a few issues too (not as good as her covers). Retailer incentive variants are usually around $4 at TFAW but you have to play shipping making them come out to around $8.

Looks like 2014 was the beginning of the end and 2015 they really went off the cliff.