Andrea’s Dazzling Picks for 04.24.2024

Hello Comic Shop Friends! Holy crap that Sonic Day event! John said we probably had about 300 people come through, Natalie Haines sold out of all her prints, and we sold out of all our Sonic the Hedgehog books! Dang!

Thank you to all of you who came out! Pictures are up on our Facebook page if you want to check them out.

And now we’re prepping for – Free Comic Book Day!

It’s two weeks away! Saturday May 4th starting at 10am! John sent out an email with all the details, but here’s the rundown:

  • Bluey will be here! And will be handing out free Bluey books! This will be an early appearance, so plan accordingly. Tentative times are 10am -11am, and 12pm-1pm.
  • We’ll have 20 local artists and vendors set up in the FCBD room, so make sure to support them and pick something up!
  • Everyone can pick up 12 free comics! There are 48 different titles this year, and you can find them at https://www.freecomicbookday.com/ and the DC titles can be found on https://comicbook.com/comics/news/dc-free-comic-book-day-2024-titles-revealed-barda-batman-mad/#4
  • We will have the titles separated by All Ages (green), Teen (blue), and Adult (red) on the tables.
  • The Rust Belt Monster Collective will be painting a Star Wars mural live outside the shop! Will we get Jaxxon? John Shearer hopes so! Will we get Chewie cradling Lando? I hope so!
  • Plus, the shop will have 50% off back issues! Except the wall because John has something special going up for that day!

Also in May:

Late Nite Comics will be Thursday May 16th from 8pm to midnight! Word is, it’ll be new dollar stock!

Wednesday May 15th is the Lenora’s Midnight Rental Secret Screening at the Grog Shop! Doors at 7, show at 8. We’ll be there to celebrate Ben’s one year of co-hosting, and it’s also a late birthday celebration for me, so come out and watch a crappy movie with us!

MARVEL COMICS

Want a little bit of horror in your Star Wars? Then this single-issue story, “Ghost Ship”, by Benjamin Percy and Stefano Raffaele is for you! Darth Maul is sent by Palpatine to investigate a missing prison ship, transporting members of a cult known as the Final Occultation, who want to unleash chaos across the galaxy. Darth Maul is pulled into their nightmare, and must face the horrors of the Trinity of Leadership. Can he maintain control amongst their chaos?

There’s a rumor that we may be seeing a live action Dazzler cameo soon, and now Marvel has reprinted the Dramatic Debut of the Dazzler in this X-Men #130 facsimile! A new mutant has been detected by Cerebro, and Jean, Scott, and Nightcrawler find Alison Blaire, whose disco debut is interrupted by a group of Mandroids. Come for the first appearance of Dazzler, (“Have you ever wondered where your light powers came from?” “Nope.”) and stay for the Mr. Fantastic Twinkies ad and the two-page spread of Kenner’s exciting Star Wars collection!

DC COMICS

DC’s facsimile this week is the full reprint of the comic that introduced Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern! Hal Jordan had a fine reputation, but he never dreamed his reputation was so widespread that an unearthly being would single him out to receive the greatest gift in the universe! With a short explaining superstitions about the color green, three Green Lantern stories, and ads for a $1 giant flying plastic jet and a $1 frontier cabin big enough for two children to play in!

Also, a couple continuing titles that you should check out:

Another great issue of Penguin! Penguin’s return to Gotham City has become a bloody homecoming, and his plans are in motion to take back his empire from his ruthless twin children. All clues in recent crimes lead back to the twins, but Batman isn’t convinced that Penguin isn’t entirely behind it.

The second issue of Batman: Dark Age mixes in more of the real-world events, with incarcerated Bruce Wayne signing up for a tour of duty in Vietnam in exchange for a commuted prison sentence. Placed in Commando Operations with Sergeant Ra’s al Ghul will change him in a way he never expected and lead to the birth of the Bat!

SMALL PRESS COMICS

That Wilkin Boy is back! Along with writer Cullen Bunn and artist Dan Schoening, Bingo returns to his first love, singing. Signing away the souls of musicians as a successful manager and producer isn’t really what he wants out of life, and when he asks the senior partners for a chance to perform again, they agree. With a catch, of course. Another solid Archie horror story, and if you missed the first Wilkin one-shot, we still have one copy left!

Very, very rarely do horror films and comics genuinely give me the creeps, but this one did. There’s a creeping dread that is set up so well, with no payoff in this first issue. And it’s just real-life horror, not even part of the ghost story element of the book. James Tynion IV and Christian Ward’s new DSTLRY title is a haunted house story, dripping with opulent wealth that’s just a cover for the rot underneath. There is a mansion on the coastline of California, owned by a titan of industry, who had a fascination with the occult. Rumors have spread. What’s he building in there? Now, after his death, an assistant representing a mysterious buyer and a realtor are about to unlock the secrets within the house.

The second of the Image Universal Monsters mini-series, Dan Watters, Ram V, and Matthew Roberts bring the Creature from the Black Lagoon up from the murky depths for an all-new story! Haunted by an encounter with a notorious serial killer, reporter Kate Marsden has tracked him to the Amazon. But following his trail leads her to a brush with an unexpected threat, and death. Could the Creature be friend? Or foe? Are the bodies piling up the work of the killer or the Creature?

For fans of Deathstalker, it’s Deathstalker! Co-written by Slash and Tim Seely, with art by Jim Terry, it’s the Return of the Last Great Warrior King! Deathstalker, and his sidekick Kurn, are champions for the Broken Nations, taking on tasks that the warriors in the Citadel of Abraxeon do not deem worthy. After taking on a beast to rescue the Daughter of E’Yah, Deathstalker takes off his pants, and now he has a virgin worshipping cult after him! Things don’t get any better when the only place to escape to is his Princess ex’s place. Can’t a guy just swing his sword anymore? Find out in the nudity and blood-filled comic that leads into a new feature film! And a Barbaric Vs Deathstalker one-shot!