OKAY, so one of my favorite cartoonists right now is Sammy Harkham, who you may or may not have met at this year’s HeroesCon. I met him, and might as well have been meeting Farrah Fawcett, considering how nervous I was the whole time. I LOVE HIM! But besides being a studly cartoonist, Sammy also edits the preeminent anthology KRAMER’S ERGOT, six volumes of which have come out over the last 8-10 years or so.

THIS FALL WILL SEE the release of Kramer’s Ergot #7, which will be published as a 16″ x 21″ massive tome for $125, filled with a laundry list of great creators, including Chris Ware, Dan Clowes, Adrian Tomine, Seth, Kevin Huizenga, Matt Groening, Jaime Hernandez, and a bajillion others. It’s crazy. While the book will only be 96 pages–I know, I know, let me FINISH–it’s all material created SPECIFICALLY to see print at this size, comparable to the size of old Sundays like Gasoline Alley, etc. This has NEVER BEEN DONE in comics before, and from all accounts some of the work is breathtaking. Imagine what someone with the graphic sense and careful pacing of Dan Clowes could do with a page over 4 times larger than a standard comic page. I’m getting sweaty just thinking about it, and I’m not even that big a Clowes fan. But I AM a big fan of comics, and the thought of pushing into this kind of territory is really exciting to me.

BUT NOT to everybody. A lot of people–maybe even YOU–are put off by the high price point and relatively low page count. Which is totally fine. There are a lot of books that are too expensive to buy at ANY price for some people. But the strange thing is that a lot of people have decided that they need to COMMENT on how expensive the book is, regardless of whether they care of not about what’s in the book, whether they’d have EVER bought it, etc. Boring, I know; but on the Internet people have to talk-talk-talk, especially bloggers, even when they pretend to be objective and journalisty. Imagine needing to say something EVERY DAY to an audience you can’t see. You can almost forgive these guys for their digital demagoguery.

ALMOST.

I have been more vocal in this dumb debate than I normally would be, half because I find it childish for people to complain about art–ignoring art is the best defense against art you don’t like. And half because I REALLY AM excited about this book, and want to stick up for it like you would for anything you like. And my excitement was only quadrupled a few days ago when Tom Spurgeon posted this excellent interview with Sammy Harkham about the book, the creators involved, et cetera, rather than flinging opinions out all willy-nilly with little more information than the size and cost of the book. But I’m a fan of Tom Spurgeon too, so maybe I’m just playing favorites.

SO, I say all this NOT to bring this cacophonous kerfuffle into our blog. I am uninterested in hearing what everyone thinks about expensive artsy books–I like the folksy neighborly vibe we have on this blog, and would prefer not to enter into some rejoinder war with anyone. So, if you’d like to be heard, please feel free to post on any of the threads I’ve linked to above.

THE REAL PROBLEM WITH THIS BOOK for me is all about the retail risk. Kramer’s Ergot #7 will be available for much less than $125 on Amazon, possibly as low as $80–how in the world can we compete with that? While I intend to support the book by purchasing it here, I get a fat employee discount, so it’s a wash. And while I’d love to order a bajillion, just to shut up the people who say that comic shops will never order such a pricey book, I’d have to defend to Shelton why I spent so much of his money (which is never in surplus anyway) on even a few of such a pricey book.

SO LET’S SAY (pending confirmation from the publisher of what our cost will be) that we offer the book to anyone who special orders it for an even $100. That’s 20% off the retail price; a little more than it costs on Amazon, but we throw in the satisfaction of supporting your locally owned and operated comic shop for no additional charge. This will ONLY apply to people who special order the book by posting here or e-mailing me directly–other copies purchased in the store will be at regular price, although stuff like your reserve discount, etc., would still apply. If I don’t know you, I may ask for some sort of confirmation, just so we don’t end up with a stack of these things unsold if you change your mind later. If you’re from out of town and would be mail-ordering the book, it’s probably better if you order it directly from the publisher (Buenaventura Press), as it’s an oversized package and would add too many weird costs for us.

ANY TAKERS? I really do think this is going to be one of the most talked-about and influential books of the DECADE, a historical event in comic book publishing. I CANNOT STOP USING CAPITAL LETTERS when talking about it.

I’M SORRY.

Now up on Newsarama is an article I wrote for Matt Brady on selling Watchmen to customers–very apropros considering this Saturday’s Watchmen Discussion Group. Matt asked me to write something after a conversation he and Shari Brady and I had at the recent Mark Millar/Tony Harris signing. Sweet! This will increase the value of any copies of Superior Showcase #3 I’ve signed for anyone, so all FOUR of you go ahead and start thinking of how to spend all that money!

Shocking insider video! Reputations ruined! A legion of teenaged fans disillusioned forever!

‘i am 8-bit’ art show opening 2008
by pennyman

Our buddies Jim Mahfood and Scott Campbell profiled in a video at the recent I Am 8 Bit gallery show in (I think) California somewhere. Probably Los Angeles? I think Los Angeles takes up most of California anyway, so that’s a safe bet. Anyway, there’s a bunch of cool pieces, some of which you can see on Scott and Jim’s blogs. Check it out!

I’m going out of town for the next couple of days (to see the MELVINS, baby!), so I wanted to get a few pictures up for those of you who were unable to come today. As I type they’re still signing away, but things will be wrapping up pretty soon. I’ll put a couple of photos up here, but expect by the end of the week a longer report on our Flickr site.

The line early on–things started a hair late, but everyone was SUPER cool, as usual. Of course, we have great customers.

Here’s “Locutus”, whose name I just forgot (sorry, Loc). He won the Hero Initiative auction for the first spot in line and a free copy of the tour incentive cover. My man Loc!

You don’t write all those famous comics without a big brain–here Mark Millar poses while Tony Harris does ALL the work, sketching away.

Also on hand were our buddies Tommy Lee Edwards and Nathan Edmundson, who are both pretty fun to talk to.

A quick shot of how fun everything was. Oops! I gotta go to a party with all these guys. Finally, a perk! I’ll give you a full report later in the week. Keep it real, guys!

We’re getting our ducks in a row for this Sunday! Just as a reminder: we’ll be having a SALE all day long, and be opened for extended Sunday hours, from 11am to 7pm. More details at this post.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! As part of the Tour of Duty in support of the new War Heroes book from Image, we’ll be hosting Mark Millar and Tony Harris in a store signing from 2-5pm!

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! We’ll also have a SUPER limited edition tour exclusive version of War Heroes #1, available while supplies last for $5 a pop.

OH BUT CHECK THIS OUT! You can still bid on the first spot in line, as well as a FREE copy of the tour exclusive, the proceeds of which go to the Hero Initiative! Good Lord!

Yes! As mentioned in last Friday’s Heroes Hotline, our buddies at the Hero Initiative are auctioning off the first-in-line slot at this Sunday’s Mark Millar and Tony Harris appearance! Not only that, but the winner will also get a FREE copy of the exclusive “Tour of Duty” cover to War Heroes #1, available only at one of the 7 U.S. tour stops! Cuh-razy!

You can get to the Ebay auction here: note that the gremlins got into the link I sent out in the Hotline, so this link should work. Remember that ALL of the moneys resulting from this auction go to the Hero Initiative, which is a super-awesome charity that you should give a lot of money to. I’d go on and on about how great they are, but they’re better at talking about it than I am.

Okay! Get charitizing! See you this Sunday–don’t forget the already mentioned sale stuff, as well!

As it says in the title, our New Releases page will be updated sometime tomorrow afternoon. Apparently something glitchy happened at Diamond, so we have not yet received our invoice, and I’m told by our rep that it won’t be until tonight sometime. Just in case you were wondering.

Luckily for “nights and weekends” workers such as myself, the scut-work of deciding what and how many to order of any title is left in the capable hands of Dustin and Shawn. The minefield that is intuiting the demand for any title is–at best–akin to reading tea leaves; or if you prefer, the innards of your average ungulate.

This was put on dramatic display just yesterday, when, hot on the heels of its cool looking trailer, Heroes sold six copies of the Watchmen trade paperback and two full runs of the series. Now, you might not think of eight as a huge number, but ponder this: We have sold, on average, a copy or two of Watchmen per week for the past several years. In the six years I’ve worked at Heroes, that’s around 70 copies a year, in the neighborhood of 400 since I’ve worked there. On a book that has been continuously available since 1987!

Shawn and I had a brief discussion after seeing The Dark Knight last week that we should beef up our supply of Watchmen and Batman: The Killing Joke, but Sweet Nellie Furtado! Our sales have jumped 300% in one day. One day! We didn’t see a commensurate increase in demand for Sin City, nor The Spirit, nor for 300, nor any of the other (relatively) self-contained works with filmic tie-ins. We saw a considerable bump, mind you, but not a sell-out.

This leads to thoughts about the perils of ordering. Comics that we love, or are original and exciting, or are just plain wonderful, don’t often move off the shelves. In the month and a half since it was released, we’ve sold one or two of the recent Starman Omnibus, one of which I bought (or, at least, I think I paid for). This was a well reviewed comic by respected creators, and whose penciller appeared at HeroesCon. And it hasn’t sold worth a poop. Luckily, I wasn’t in charge of ordering, or we’d be saddled with ten unsold copies of a $50 book. Likewise were the sales on Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier. It sold OK, but even with all of us constantly pushing it, we maybe sell one every week. Cable & Deadpool trades sell at a more rapid clip!

In the coming months, we hope to get leaner and meaner with our ordering, cutting the chaff, while still providing the selection that you’ve become accustomed. Give us a hand, as we depend on your expertise, from unknown great creators, to online “chatter”, to trends in manga. Remember. This is your Heroes, too.

Well, it’s not exactly a secret, as we had a bunch of big ads in our HeroesCon 08 Program Book to this effect, AND have it listed under the “Coming Events” section of our weekly Heroes Hotline, but just so YOU, the loyal readers of our humble blog, know it, let us officially announce it:

On Sunday, August 17, from 2-5pm, Mark Millar and Tony Harris will be making a special appearance in our store, in support of their book War Heroes. We’ll be a part of an exclusive seven city “Tour of Duty”, and the ONLY stop between New York and Texas, so we expect to get a lot of out-of-towners for this event!

In case you’re not familiar with Mark Millar, he’s the super-popular writer behind The Ultimates, Wanted, and Fantastic Four, among a bunch of others. He rarely makes appearances on this side of the Atlantic Ocean (I believe he’s a Glaswegian, and definitely a Scotsman), so we’re pretty excited to have him in such an intimate setting. Even more excited because he’ll be here with our old pal Tony Harris, he of Ex Machina, Spider-Man: With Great Power, and Starman. Tony’s a perennial favorite at HeroesCon and one of our staunchest supporters, so we’re always excited to see him, no matter what the reason.

War Heroes #1 should be out any time now, but we’ll have a bunch on hand at the signing, as well as a tour exclusive you can only get at one of the 7 “Tour of Duty” stops. We’ll see you August 17 in our store!

As many of you know, the comic book industry lost, in my humble opinion, one of the brightest stars in the business recently. Michael Turner (4/21/71 – 6/27/08 ) passed away of complications from bone cancer. At only 37, he left an unmistakable imprint on the scene, and I thought it odd, that his death didn’t seem to get too much press coverage. His body of work was breath-taking.

The one example that instantly pops into mind is the Justice League of America # 10 cover that was swirling in controversy for some reason. If I remember correctly, most people were complaining about some silliness called “proportion”, and using crazy words like “reality”. Little hint here people…it’s a comic book. If you want proportion or reality look at a book of photographs! It was a beautiful piece! And not just in the way you think I’m talking about! I LIKE the exaggerations in his art. It made it fun to look at!

My favorite piece has to be the four alternate Fathom # 4 covers. I have those framed, and hanging under my surfboard, and I must say, they are B-E-A-U-tiful! For a guy with so many other extreme talents/distractions, he seemed so focused on his art. For an award winning water-skier, martial artist, and avid video game player, he just seemed like the total package.

But regardless of how anybody feels, I think the man was a genius, and will be missed! RIP Michael Turner.