JUSTIN’S PICK :: BATMAN BLACK & WHITE #1: In the wake of DC’s massive roll-out of Forever Evil and Villains Month, it might be easy to overlook a black and white anthology, even if it does feature one of the greatest comic book icons of all-time. Batman as a character tends to attract comics’ top talent, and in that interest, DC has revived the Black & White series. Boasting a stunning cover by Marc Silvestri, this issue is a cornucopia of amazing art and writing, from Chip Kidd and Michael Cho‘s wonderful team-up tale to a Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy yarn by dream team Maris Wicks and Joe Quinones. Bat-luminary  Neal Adams flies solo, John Arcudi pairs nicely with Sean Murphy, and Howard Mackie and Chris Samnee round out this outstanding issue with a truly grisly character study of one of the Caped Crusader’s most intriguing villains. In the sound and fury of all these .1 issues, take a little quiet time with this gem, and revel in the art form we all love and appreciate.

DC Comics kicks off their Villains Month this week.  There were a very limited number of 3D variant covers produced for Forever Evil #1, and comic book stores only received one copy each.  We’ve already received several requests for this cover, but since we will be unable to fulfill those, we still want to give our customers a fair chance to buy our only copy.  Starting Wednesday morning at 10 am, we are offering it on a first come, first served basis.

Many of you might know that DC is publishing up to four separate issues of all of their titles in the month of September.  We know that many of you will not want to purchase every single issue, and therefore we’re not pulling every book for reserve customers. We are happy to fulfill your requests, however, while supplies last.  The easiest way to ensure that you’ll get all the issues you want is to email our store manager ( [email protected]).  Remember, we aren’t pulling these issues for you even if you have the titles on your reserve list, so find a checklist, decide which ones you want, and let us know.

As always, we will do our best to keep our loyal customers happy. Thank you for all your support.

RICO’S PICK :: HIT #1: Bryce Carlson and a new-to-comics artist Vanesa R. Del Rey bring their talents to classic Los Angeles Noir with Hit #1. Vanesa’s illustration art is gorgeous and I look forward to seeing her work sequentially. Below is a peek at her art for Hit in black and white followed by a finished color page. Archie Van Buren is the colorist and Ryan Sook is providing  beautiful main covers for this series.

ANDY’S PICK :: EMERALD CITY OF OZ #3: Eric Shanower and Skottie Young continue their beautiful and exciting reinterpretation of L.Frank Baum’s immortal OZ series with this wonderful 6th installment.  Issue 3 comes out this week but you will want to get the other two issues as well.  Dorothy and Ozma take  Aunt Em and Uncle Ben (newly arrived from Kansas) on a sight-seeing  tour of Oz unaware that the  rotten Nome King is building an an army bent on sacking the Emerald City. Great story, great art  and Toto too.

HEATHER’S PICK :: X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM #1: Uh oh, I feel the pull into my first ever Marvel event coming with X-Men: Battle of Atom #1.  I’m reading more X-Men books than ever with Wolverine and the X-Men, All New X-Men (hey, #16 is also out this week!), and X-Men (that I refer to as X-Ladies in my head) and I am even going to throw Deadpool into this list given his happy appearance on one of the variant #1 covers. So with a deep breath, I will be diving headfirst into Battle of the Atom and hoping for the best with all my X-Favorites.  With X-Men converging from the past, present and the future, it’s sure to be an interesting tale.

UPDATE: Happy Labor Day! Today is the last day of our HUGE Warehouse Sale! Get here now!

Here’s a reminder that we’re kicking off our first ever Warehouse Sale next Friday, August 30th!  We’ve been hearing how excited all of you are for this event, and we’re looking forward to it just as much as you!  We also know many of you are curious about how these books will be priced.  Here’s what you can expect next weekend:

As you can see, you’ll have three different levels of pricing over the weekend, and the more you buy, the cheaper the books will be.  Friday and Saturday will obviously offer the most quantity to choose from, but by Sunday and Monday you’ll have the chance to pick up even greater deals.  We’ll have 100,000 comics under tents outside the front of the store for you to dig through.  That’s 300 long boxes!  I should also mention that over 100 of those boxes will be in alpha-numeric order for your shopping ease!  As a reminder, we’ll be open extra hours all weekend.  The official hours for the sale are:

Friday, August 30:  6 p.m. – MIDNIGHT

Saturday, August 31: 10 a.m. – MIDNIGHT

Sunday, September 1: 10 a.m. – MIDNIGHT

Monday, September 2: 10 a.m. – DARK (or until everything’s gone!)

On Friday the store will still open at 10 a.m. like normal, but we’re aiming for 6 p.m. to kick off the outside sales.  Also note that in addition to extending our hours on Sunday, we’re opening three hours earlier than usual.  That’s right, you’ll have the opportunity to shop Heroes on a Sunday morning!

PARKING: We’ve also heard some concerns about parking for the event.  You can still park in the small lot directly behind Heroes (between Heroes and the warehouse), but we’d also like to remind you that there’s plenty of free on-street parking on Pecan Ave, and on 8th Street.  All of these spaces are right around the corner from our store, and provide multiple options if the lot behind the store is full.  There’s also $2 parking available at the end of the large lot to the side of Heroes.  Between all of these options, there will be plenty of convenient places for you to park.

This is not only the first time we’ve had a true Warehouse Sale, but the first chance you’ll get to shop late night hours at the store.  Come by, pick up some incredible deals, and celebrate Labor Day with your friends at Heroes!

JUSTIN’S PICK :: HENRY & GLENN FOREVER & EVER #1: There’s a lot of stuff I’d pick this week: Uncanny Avengers #11, pitting Wolverine against a resurrected and repowered Daken, or Aw Yeah! Comics’ great new Itty Bitty interpretation of Hellboy and company. But despite all that, my pick is Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever #1. The original H+G consisted of one-panel gags by the slick chaps at art collective Igloo Tornado, along with journal snippets and a Satanic Hall and Oates to round out the hilarity. Now the gang’s back together (with some new pals in tow) offering up all-new sequential strips starring the star-crossed couple. See! Glenn’s reaction to the first book! Witness! Henry unleash a dastardly threat from beneath the front yard! But mostly, laugh. And if you haven’t checked out the original book – Henry & Glenn Forever, remember – no coffee table is complete without it!

 Here at Staff Picks Ltd (A Division of Renzicorp Intl.)–there are two types of books that we are drawn to: either books we recommend for personal reasons–love the characters, fan of the creative team, enjoy a particular storyline, etc. and then there are the books that we believe are indispensable and belong in every serious comic library. The first two volumes of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LoEG) belongs in the latter category; It is a must-read, must-own work of sequential art.  Even if you haven’t read it (yet), you are most likely familiar with the premise– every work of British genre fiction from Shakespeare to HG Wells occurs in the same universe. The LoEG tells the story of an epic team-up of the greatest adventurers from the end of the 19th century. Much has been written about the challenging nature and overwhelming detail of the subsequent volumes (The Black Dossier and the three part Century) but it is these first two story arcs– offered in a single soft cover omnibus at a very affordable price–that will excite and delight any comic fan. LoEG belongs in the same library with Moore’s other comic epics–Watchmen, V for Vendetta and Swamp Thing. And for goodness sake, avoid the LoEG movie at all costs!