09.Dec.2009 – Shipping this week

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Shipping This Week: 12/9/2009

DARK HORSE COMICS

OCT090042 BPRD WAR ON FROGS #4 (OF 4) $2.99
OCT090024 CITIZEN REX #6 (OF 6) $3.50
JUL090070 CROSSING EMPTY QUARTER & OTHER STORIES HC $24.95
SEP090015 GROO HOGS OF HORDER #2 (OF 4) $3.99
OCT090096 STAR WARS CLONE WARS #11 HERO CONFEDERACY PT 2 $2.99

DC COMICS

OCT090215 ACTION COMICS #884 $3.99
OCT090189 ADVENTURE COMICS #5 (BLACKEST NIGHT) $3.99
OCT090207 BATGIRL #5 $2.99
SEP090162 BATMAN THE CULT TP NEW PTG $19.99
OCT090191 BOOSTER GOLD #27 (BLACKEST NIGHT) $3.99
SEP090164 BOOSTER GOLD BLUE AND GOLD TP $14.99
MAR090252 COVER GIRLS OF THE DCU CATWOMAN STATUE $99.99
OCT090283 DANTES INFERNO #1 (OF 6) $3.99
OCT090223 DC HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2009 #1 $5.99
OCT090192 DOOM PATROL #5 (BLACKEST NIGHT) $3.99
OCT090274 GEN 13 #33 $2.99
OCT090224 GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #27 $3.99
MAY090273 HOT TOYS DARK KNIGHT POLICEMAN JOKER 1/6 SCALE FIG $195.00
SEP090167 JLA YEAR ONE TP NEW PTG $19.99
OCT090231 MAGOG #4 $2.99
OCT090193 REBELS #11 (BLACKEST NIGHT) $3.99
OCT090279 RED HERRING #5 (OF 6) $2.99
OCT090212 RED ROBIN #7 $2.99
OCT090271 SCOOBY DOO #151 $2.50
OCT090235 SECRET SIX #16 $2.99
OCT090237 SHIELD #4 $3.99
OCT090266 SUPER FRIENDS #22 $2.50
SEP090173 SUPERMAN SUPERGIRL MAELSTROM TP $12.99
SEP090174 TERRA TP $14.99
OCT090240 TITANS #20 $2.99

IMAGE COMICS

JUL090388 ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #20 $2.99
OCT090348 GOD COMPLEX #1 $2.99
JUL090372 I HATE GALLANT GIRL TP $12.99
SEP090349 PILOT SEASON MURDERER #1 $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

OCT090490 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #614 GNTLT $2.99
OCT090498 BLACK WIDOW DEADLY ORIGIN #2 (OF 4) $3.99
AUG098202 BLACK WIDOW DEADLY ORIGIN #2 (OF 4) SECRET VAR $3.99
SEP098111 DARK REIGN LIST PUNISHER ONE SHOT 2ND PTG DILLON VAR $3.99
SEP098110 DARK REIGN LIST WOLVERINE ONE SHOT 2ND PTG CHOI VAR $3.99
OCT090631 DARK REIGN UNDERSIDE TP $24.99
OCT090558 DARK X-MEN #2 (OF 5) $3.99
OCT090559 DEADPOOL #18 $2.99
OCT090504 DEATHLOK #2 (OF 7) $3.99
OCT090477 ENDERS GAME WAR OF GIFTS ONE-SHOT $4.99
OCT090637 GENEXT UNITED TP $16.99
OCT090523 GHOST RIDERS HEAVENS ON FIRE #5 (OF 6) $3.99
OCT090598 HOUSE OF M HC SPIDER-MAN FANTASTIC FOUR X-MEN $39.99
OCT090519 INCREDIBLE HULK #605 $3.99
OCT090511 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #21 $2.99
OCT090531 MARVEL 70TH ANNIVERSARY FRAME ART ONE-SHOT $3.99
OCT090621 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 14 THWIP DIGEST $9.99
OCT090528 MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #18 $2.99
SEP098244 MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ #1 (OF 2ND PTG YOUNG VAR $3.99
JUN090609 MMW GOLDEN AGE SUB-MARINER HC VOL 03 $59.99
JUN090610 MMW GOLDEN AGE SUB-MARINER HC VOL 03 VAR ED 128 $59.99
OCT090625 MS MARVEL TP VOL 07 DARK REIGN $19.99
OCT090557 NATION X #1 (OF 4) $3.99
OCT090535 NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #3 $4.99
SEP090384 PUNISHER NOIR #4 (OF 4) $3.99
SEP090385 PUNISHER NOIR #4 (OF 4) CALERO VAR $3.99
OCT090550 REALM OF KINGS IMPERIAL GUARD #2 (OF 5) $3.99
OCT090640 RUNAWAYS GOOD DIE YOUNG TP $16.99
OCT090495 SPIDER-MAN AND SECRET WARS #1 (OF 4) $2.99
OCT090605 SPIDER-MAN RED-HEADED STRANGER PREM HC $19.99
OCT090570 SWORD (MARVEL) #2 $2.99
MAY090564 TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS HC VOL 02 $99.99
MAY090565 TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS HC VOL 02 DM ED $99.99
OCT090623 ULTIMATUM TP MARCH ON ULTIMATUM $19.99
OCT090624 ULTIMATUM X-MEN FANTASTIC FOUR TP $19.99
OCT090581 UNCANNY X-MEN FIRST CLASS #6 (OF $2.99
SEP090456 WAR MACHINE #12 $2.99
OCT090494 WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #3 GNTLT $3.99
OCT090644 WHAT IF CLASSIC TP VOL 06 $29.99
OCT090546 WHAT IF WORLD WAR HULK $3.99
OCT090577 WOLVERINE UNDER BOARDWALK ONE-SHOT $3.99
OCT090569 X NECROSHA GATHERING XN $3.99
OCT090611 X-FACTOR OVERTIME PREM HC $24.99
OCT090582 X-MEN FOREVER #13 $3.99
OCT090483 X-MEN NOIR MARK OF CAIN #1 (OF 4) $3.99
OCT090484 X-MEN NOIR MARK OF CAIN #1 (OF 4) CALERO VAR $3.99
OCT090638 X-MEN SPIDER-MAN TP $14.99

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

OCT090653 TOYFARE #150 MATTEL WWE CVR $4.99
OCT090651 WIZARD MAGAZINE #220 PLATINUM ROSS CAPT AMERICA CVR $5.99
OCT090652 WIZARD MAGAZINE #220 PLATINUM STAR TREK CVR $5.99

COMICS

OCT090771 ANCHOR #3 $3.99
SEP090763 AOD ASH SAVES OBAMA #4 (OF 4) $3.50
OCT090698 ARCHIE & FRIENDS #138 $2.50
OCT091169 AZUMANGA DAIOH COLL ED $24.99
OCT091170 BAMBOO BLADE TP VOL 03 $10.99
OCT090853 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA FINAL FIVE TP $14.99
OCT091003 BEYOND THE WALL #2 $3.99
AUG090741 CARS RADIATOR SPRINGS #4 $2.99
JUN090847 COMPLETE DRACULA #4 (OF 5) $4.99
OCT090691 DAYS MISSING #5 (OF 5) $2.99
AUG090635 DON BLUTH SPACE ACE #4 (OF 6) $3.95
OCT091095 DOT HACK LEGEND O/T TWILIGHT COMP COL TP $19.99
SEP091019 EXCEL SAGA TP VOL 20 $9.99
OCT090777 FARSCAPE DARGOS QUEST #1 $3.99
SEP091018 GESTALT GN VOL 04 $9.99
OCT090973 GHOSTBUSTERS PAST PRESENT FUTURE (ONE SHOT) $3.99
JUL098075 HOT GIMMICK VIZBIG ED GN VOL 03 (RES) $17.99
SEP091017 INU YASHA TP VOL 43 $9.99
SEP090794 ITAZURA NA KISS GN VOL 01 $16.95
OCT091005 JON SABLE FREELANCE ASHES OF EDEN #3 $3.99
OCT090993 LEGION PROPHETS #4 (OF 4) $3.99
OCT090991 LEGION PROPHETS GN $17.99
SEP090946 LOVE BUZZ GN (RES) $14.95
AUG091017 MANGALICIOUS TICK #4 (OF 4) $3.95
SEP090706 MICKEY MOUSE & FRIENDS #298 $2.99
SEP090710 MUPPET SHOW #0 $2.99
SEP091036 O PARTS HUNTER TP VOL 19 $9.99
OCT091135 ONE PIECE GN SET VOL 1 2 & 3 EAST BLUE $14.99
OCT090705 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #137 $3.99
OCT091172 PANDORA HEARTS GN VOL 01 $10.99
OCT091173 PIG BRIDE GN VOL 03 $10.99
SEP090831 PORTABLE GRINDHOUSE LOST ART OF VHS BOX SC VOL 01 (RES) $19.99
OCT091174 RAIDERS GN VOL 01 $10.99
JUN091040 RETURN OF KING DOUG HC $14.95
OCT090979 STAR TREK ALIEN SPOTLIGHT CARDASSIANS $3.99
AUG083876 TALES OF DESPEREAUX MOVIE HC $16.99
OCT091176 TIME AND AGAIN GN VOL 01 $10.99
SEP090713 TOY STORY #0 $2.99
OCT090673 VAMPIRELLA SECOND COMING #4 FRISON CVR $1.99
OCT090671 VAMPIRELLA SECOND COMING #4 GABRIELLI CVR $1.99
OCT090672 VAMPIRELLA SECOND COMING #4 JONES CVR $1.99
OCT090670 VAMPIRELLA SECOND COMING #4 SUYDAM CVR $1.99
AUG091082 VIETNAM JOURNAL TP VOL 01 INDIAN COUNTRY $17.99
SEP090660 WITCHBLADE TAKERU MANGA SC COLLECTION $19.99
OCT091177 YOTSUBA & ! GN VOL 07 $10.99

Comic Zone: One Year Later

A lot has happened in the last year.

For example, a comic book store opened in Scottsdale, and managed to find its way to lasting for a full year.

At this time last year, the Marvel Universe was still being Secretly Invaded by the Skrull Empire. DC only had two colors of Lanterns. Image was not unified. The Ultimatum Wave had just crashed. Nobody was sure if Chris Claremont’s X-Men would last Forever. We were in the midst of what will hopefully be the last Crisis we see for a while, and there were no Mouse Ears to be found anywhere.

By this time next month, Disney will officially own Marvel Comics. Nickelodeon already owns the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Siege to end all major crossovers will be underway. The Dark Reign of a Blackest Night will be getting closer to the dawn of a new, Heroic Age.

And it will be a new decade with new challenges.

In the last year, at Comic Zone, we have made friends with many talented artists and writers in the local area. We’ve come to befriend many of our regular customers, many on a first-name basis.

In an economy that saw most other comic stores have to downsize, Comic Zone has been growing. But our quest to become the best comic book store Scottsdale has ever seen isn’t over, yet. This is where we need you, Zoners.

We need to know what you want to see. We’ve experimented with picking up a few toys here and there. What other action figure lines will you pick up? We’ve got both Magic: the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards for sale, now. Are there any other CCGs you’re collecting? We’ve begun taking in some used Anime DVDs. Would you like to see our used DVD collection expand? What else should we carry? Music? Apparel? Trading cards?

I don’t want a list of what you see in other comic stores. I want a list of what YOU want. I know what’s in the other stores, I used to shop there. And you know what? Most of that stuff is STILL there. It looks nice, but if it’s still there, it’s not selling. And it’s not selling because people don’t actually want it.

We want to make Comic Zone into YOUR comic/geek culture store. What kinds of things are YOU interested in? We’ll take special orders on anything and everything we’re able to get our hands on.

Come on in and let us know!

Our One-Year Anniversary is today!

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I just sent out this email:

Hey hey, Comic Zoners!

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but today is our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! That’s right, good ol’ Comic Zone has been around for an entire year! Can you believe it?

To celebrate, we’ve got various sales going on throughout the day (c’mon in
and ask what’s going on, because they’ll be changing all the time!), as well
as plenty o’ comic celebrities making in-store appearances: Our pal Tosh
Delaney of STUMP Comix will be in, signing his books and doing sketches.
Tony Parker, the penciller for Boom! Studios’ adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? will be in around 2pm. Jay Fotos,
writer, editor, and colorist of the Frank Frazetta-themed comics, including
the excellent Death Dealer series will be in this afternoon as well, signing
autographs on any and all of his comics. Around 4, Benjamin Gendenning of
Skulljammer.com and Tony Tibke will be swinging by, as will the Of the Earth
Bellydancer Troupe.

That’s right, Zoners. We’ve got belly dancers.

So swing on by! We open in just a few minutes, at 10am, and we’ll be rocking
all day until our usual close time of 8pm.

Thanks for a great year! Looking forward to seeing you today!

-Andy, Avery, Linda & Sean,

The gang at Comic Zone

PS: Happy Dress Like a Ninja Day.

Turtles Forever

Despite having missed this when it aired on the CW a couple weekends ago, thanks to the magic of YouTube, I was able to watch this full-length feature before it was released on DVD (a date which has been pushed back so many times, it’s no longer even officially announced as coming out).

So, this was advertised as a meeting of the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, and the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles relaunch, as well as the final chapter of the 2003 animated series. Since I’ve been such a huge TMNT fan since 1987 (without knowing what I was getting myself into, I watched the five-episode pilot series that aired in prime time the week between Christmas and New Years in ‘87…and within the following year, had a good number of the toys and merchandise), and I’m one of the few twenty-somethings who gave the 2003 reboot a fair chance, I knew I had to check this out.

A few things you need to know going in:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was started by two guys (Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird) in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1984. They drew a single black-and-white issue, and used their tax return money to pay for printing. Within one day of its release, all 5,000 copies sold out. In 1984, in the independent comics world, this was pretty much unheard of. Based on the success of that first issue and its subsequent re-printings, Eastman and Laird continued on with the series. Within a couple of years, they wanted to make action figures of the Turtles and related characters. Playmates toys stepped up and agreed to make the toys, but only if a cartoon could be secured. In 1987, Fred Wolf Films met with the duo to discuss making an animated series, but a few changes had to be made; the Turtles had to wear differently-colored masks (they originally all wore red…not that you can tell, in B&W comics), and the tone of the series had to appeal to a younger audience.

The early episodes of the ‘87 cartoon were pretty decent. New characters were created specifically for the series, such as Krang the evil brain from Dimension X, Bebop the mutant warthog, and Rocksteady the mutant rhinocerous. For some reason, the turtles were obsessed with pizza (a fact that every pizza chain in the world fell in love with), and the show quickly degenerated into a bunch of terrible puns and slapstick humor. It lasted for nine seasons, ending in 1996, with a total of 193 episodes. Not too bad, really.

In 2003, the TMNT cartoon was resurrected by 4Kids! Entertainment (who had previously translated Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! for US broadcast TV to much success). The first episode was entitled “Things Change,” and immediately we knew that things would be different. There were no pizza jokes. The turtles would often exclaim, “What the shell?” in moments of distress, as a thinly-veiled censorship. Bebop and Rocksteady, the two bumbling buffoon henchmen of The Shredder were nowhere to be seen. Krang was nonexistant. And Shredder himself… was not only a total badass, he was also part of an alien race known as the Utroms (from the original comics) hell-bent on universal conquest. The plots of the episodes were often taken directly from the original Eastman & Laird comics. These weren’t the Turtles that I grew up with… These were the Turtles that grew up with me.

The first four seasons of the 2003 TMNT cartoon, in my opinion, were absolutely fantastic. Even if it weren’t the TMNT, I would rank this among the best US animated series of all time. Season 5, despite being completely finished, did not air, putting a halt to all ongoing stories. Instead, we were treated to a soft reboot of the series called “TMNT: Fast Forward,” where the turtles were sent 100 years into the future. Fast Forward lasted for 26 episodes over two years (though it was officially only one season).

After the end of Fast Forward, season 5 was finally aired in early 2008. After the summer hiatus, Season 7 was subtitled “Back to the Sewers,” where the turtles returned from 2105 to present-day. Admittedly, I didn’t catch too much of this season. It was better than Fast Forward, but the dark, serious tone of the first four seasons was still significantly lightened up.

Still breathing? Okay. So here’s a very very brief synopsis of the movie:

Turtles Forever opens after the events of Back to the Sewers. The 2003 turtles run into the 1987 turtles, and the eight (!) Ninja Turtles realize that the ‘87 turtles, along with Shredder, Krang, Bebop, Rocksteady, and their ultimate battle station, the Technodrome were transported to the 2003 Turtles’ world. The 1987 Shredder realizes that if they’re in a new dimension that has more turtles, there must be another Shredder. And he finds Ch’Rell, the Utrom Shredder from the 2003 series… who quickly takes command of the entire operation, and enhances every single bit of Dimension X technology with his extensive knowledge of Utrom tech, and then hops dimensions to… the original Eastman & Laird comics universe. The ‘87 and ‘03 turtles follow suit, and quickly run into the original, black & white Ninja Turtles… who mess everybody up. Hardcore.

This is definitely a movie that’s worth checking out if you’re a TMNT fan. If you’re not, it probably won’t win you over, as it requires at least a basic knowledge of the TMNT from all three universes (although, hopefully, my primer above is enough!). But I’ll definitely be checking this out on DVD.

Also, word on the ‘net is that 4Kids will have it up on their website sometime in December, with an additional 12 minutes of footage that wasn’t shown on the broadcast premiere. So if you’re itching to see it, keep an eye on www.4kids.tv

Hmf. In hindsight…

We should’ve called yesterday “Blackest Friday,” to tie-in with the Green Lantern: Blackest Night story going on. Oh well. Maybe next year we can tie in our sales with other current crossovers.

Tony Parker confirmed!

Tony Parker (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) just confirmed for our one-year anniversary. Add him to the list of already-confirmed talent (STUMP Comix founder Tosh Delaney, Death Dealer scribe Jay Fotos, and Tin Star Tex creator Ben Glendenning), and our party is shaping up quite nicely!

December 5th, at Comic Zone. Be there!

Invincible Iron Man 15-19 Review

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“World’s Most Wanted”

When Iron Man hit theatres, last May, Marvel decided to re-launch Iron Man with a new #1 issue. They hoped that the film-generated interest in the character combined with a relaunch would make for a great new series.

And, with up-and-coming writer Matt Fraction on the series, it’s been quite good. Fraction wasn’t given too much inside detail on the movie, and had apparently written the entire first story arc before the film was even released. Fortunately, the story he wrote worked as an indirect sequel to the film and really got things rolling, right out of the gate.

And then Dark Reign happened. Norman Osborn took over everything that Tony Stark was in charge of (SHIELD/HAMMER, the 50-States Initiative, etc.), and Stark decided he needed to protect the identities of his fellow super heroes from a madman like Osborn. So, via a bunch of pseudo-science that only works in SyFy Channel movies and comic books, Tony Stark deleted his brain.

So, as the issues go by, Stark gets progressively more forgetful. By the time issue 15 picks up, he’s already forgotten a lot of the higher functions of his brain, such as anything that rocket scientists would know. He’s forgotten most peoples’ identities, and is slowly beginning to forget more things, like how to spell and use a screwdriver.

But, before his brain’s deletion, Tony left his secretary, Pepper Potts, an Iron Man (Iron Woman?) suit of her own, which Pepper named “Rescue.” Together, along with the Black Widow and former SHIELD director Maria Hill, the trio of ladies made a break for it to try and take Osborn down, once and for all.

In issue 19, Norman Osborn, in his Iron Patriot armor, has found Tony Stark, in a modified version of the Iron Man Mark IV armor (his classic outfit from the late 60s and 70s), and the two engage in a rather one-sided battle. But Tony’s lady-friends manage to get every major news outlet on the scene, and Osborn is forced to simply imprison Tony Stark, rather than outright murder him. But when Osborn wants to pull the plug on Stark’s life support, he’s reminded that Stark’s power of attorney goes to his physician, Dr. Donald Blake.

Salvador Larroca’s pencil work has rarely been better than his run on Iron Man. Every character is easily distinguishable from each other (even the two redheads, Pepper Potts and the Black Widow, who share a lot of panel-time together), and the story is told magnificently. Even without Matt Fraction’s great dialogue, you’d have a really good idea of what was happening, which is exactly how comic art should be done.

The coloring, in my opinion, is a little bit over-rendered. It works, because this is an Iron Man book, but it’s not a style of coloring that I’d like to see Marvel use on a line-wide basis. However, the palette used by colorist Frank D’Armata is certainly always befitting of the mood, and does enhance the atmosphere.

The second half of “World’s Most Wanted,” a year-long run in Invicible Iron Man, sets up for this week’s “Stark: Disassembled” storyline, which will then lead into the series’ SIEGE crossover, Marvel’s next big event, which will see the reuniting of Iron man, Thor, and Steve Rogers as Captain America as The Avengers.

Fraction and Larroca are doing with Iron Man exactly what Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting began doing with Captain America back in 2004; Stripping the character down to the essentials, only to re-build him bigger and better than before. If Stark: Disassembled and the SIEGE tie-in can live up to the excellence of World’s Most Wanted, and the creative team stays on the title afterwards, I predict that this will become one of those legendary runs in comics that people will talk about for years to come. And it may just be the most intriguing run on Iron Man since the mid-80s.

Dec. 5th: Comic Zone’s 1-year anniversary

Coming December 5th, 2009: Comic Zone’s 1-year anniversary party. Belly dancers! Cake!

Confirmed guests include:
- STUMP Comix founder Tosh Delaney (Myspace.com/stumpcomix)
- Jay Fotos (Frank Frazetta comics/Jayfotos.com)
- Ben Glendenning (Tin Star Tex/skulljammer.com)
- Of the Earth Belly dancers

Still waiting to hear back from a few folks.

There will be cake.

More info to come! Stay tuned!

Breaking in to Comics

As a store co-owner, it’s kind of amazing how many people come in and ask me about things that I should rightfully have no idea about. One of the questions I get asked the most that actually pertains to comics, though, is how to get started in the industry, usually as an artist.

First off; if I had THE answer, I would be penciling comic books myself. I’d know what I need to fix about my artwork, it would be fixed, and I’d be making funny books, instead of selling them.

Secondly, I get asked this question via the Internet. So, clearly, these people have online access, where there is an abundance of information about EVERYTHING. In fact, the Internet even knows what I had for breakfast this morning (It was waffles. See? The Internet knows). And I’m not even some pop-celebrity like Lindsay Lohan or Johnny Depp (intentional key word placement to raise search-engine rankings, there? Hmmm, could be!)

HOWEVER. Somebody, someday will have come here from some random search and been like, “Yo, Andy, why you wasting my time with this?” To those people, I say this:

http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com/Writing.html

http://zubkavich.livejournal.com/165953.html

Read every single thing that Jim Zubkavich has written. He’s an editor for UDON Entertainment (creators of the wonderfully super Street Fighter and Darkstalkers comics, on sale now!), and, as such, knows what editors are looking for (shock and awe!). My personal favorite is in “Portfolio Horror,” with the Sailor Moon crayon drawings.

In addition to reading Zub’s stuff, the best way to learn about what you need to do is READ COMICS. Don’t just get art styles that are what you’re into: Get EVERYTHING! If you like Jim Lee’s work (X-Men, WildC.A.T.S., Batman, etc.), buy comics by Skottie Young (New X-Men, Wonderful Wizard of Oz). If you like Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman, New X-Men, We3), pick up stuff by Takeshi Miyazawa (Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways). If you like David Finch (New Avengers, Moon Knight), get things by Mike Allred (Madman, X-Statix). The only way to grow as an artist is to look at everything that’s out there, and be inspired by it. Heck, don’t just limit yourself to comic artists – Look at the works of the great Renaissance painters (You know, the ones the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were named after). Check out some Van Gogh. Know who Brunelleschi is.

Read Scott McCloud’s books – Understanding Comics, Making Comics, and Re-Inventing Comics. How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way should be on your bookshelf. DC has an entire line about becoming a professional comic artist. Wizard has countless Basic Training books. Get them all.

Then, draw. Draw again. And when you’re sick and tired of drawing, do it some more. Because if you can’t even be bothered to draw a portfolio, there’s no possible way you can draw 22 pages of comic a month. And once you’ve drawn your little hands off, go to conventions. Meet creators and editors. Go to portfolio review sessions. Befriend important people! Brian Michael Bendis got a job in comics because he wouldn’t stop going to conventions. Eventually, the editors at all the major companies got to know him, and now he’s the head writer at Marvel. But in 1995, nobody knew who the hell he was.

Make a webcomic! Update it daily. If you’re not comfortable writing, find somebody who is a writer. Go to websites like PencilJack and find people who have stories but are looking for an artist. A friend of mine just got her first published work in the mail by doing exactly that.

These are just some of the things you’re going to need to do to break in. And I don’t even know what I’m talking about.

International Crossover Appeal?

Over at The Beat, Heidi MacDonald points to this articlewritten by a fella named Joe Lawler, who has converted his girlfriend into a comics-reading monster. But said girlfriend is not reading any Superhero comics.

Heidi responds with questioning why Mr. Lawler didn’t recommend comics written by women or manga. I question why manga would even be a factor at all?

Let’s face it; There is very little crossover between manga readers and American comics readers. Comics as a medium is not the same as comics as a genre.

I’ve dipped into the manga/anime pool several times, over the last 15 or so years. I used to tape Sailor Moon every morning, because I had to leave for school before it ended. I watched every single (often-excruciating) episode of Dragon Ball Z on cartoon Network. I own 6 of the 8 Ranma 1/2 season box sets, plus both movies, as well as both seasons of Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, and all 3 GITS films. I have the entire series of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. I’ve watched all of Hellsing. I have bootleg tapes of Japanese episodes of Transformers: Headmasters. Every single anime that appeared on Toonami, I tried for at least 10 episodes; Many I continued with, such as Tenchi Muyo!. I own volumes of Mermaid’s Scar, Ranma 1/2 and Gon manga, and I’m reading through a lot of Oh My Goddess!, currently. The number of single volumes of manga I’ve read and anime movies I’ve watched are countless. And that’s just what I can think of off the top of my head.

But you know what I have absolutely never seen?

Original Japanese superhero comics. You know why? They practically don’t exist.

The vast majority of folks who read American comics are genre fans – We like stories about overdeveloped men and women running around in form-fitting outfits, being overly angsty and smashing things. And that’s what about 90% of American comics is. Over 99% of manga is NOT about that. Yes, there are things like X-Men Manga, where Japanese creators take American characters and bastardize the hell out of the original stories – Much like American moviegoers just experienced with Astro Boy.

But, really. Go to the Manga section of any bookstore. With the exception of Adam Warren’s “Empowered” (which isn’t actually manga, but most book retailers are too ignorant to know the difference), you will not see any spandex-clad superhero stories.

Most of the folks who come into Comic Zone looking for manga want nothing to do with the American comics we carry. They have opinions about them (mostly comprised of why they’re supposedly not as good as manga), but they won’t actually read them. Most of the folks who come into Comic Zone looking for American comics want nothing to do with manga, often because they can’t get past the big eyes on the few anime/manga they’ve seen, and aren’t willing to try something different.

However, even then, it boils down to this; Manga and American Superhero comics have almost nothing in common, except that they are told in the same medium. And people will not automatically like one or the other based on the medium; They’re going to like one or the other based on the quality of stories, and personal taste.

But is there a way to get the two groups to meet? I believe so.

Trying to hand somebody who just read Ultimate X-Men a copy of Bleach is not going to work. But maybe handing somebody who reads Superman a copy of Dragon Ball Z might; Both series have a main protagonist sent to a world while they were infants who grow up in hicksville to become the most powerful fighters on the planet.

If someone digs Vampire Hunter D, show them Spawn. Both have a supernatural presence that the stereotypical 14-year-old Metallica fan would love the hell out of.

For the fan of Wolverine: Old Man Logan, try handing them Fist of the North Star. Mega-violence in a post-apocalyptic world, with a serious badass for a main character? That describes both series, if you ask me.

Both groups should enjoy Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, written by Sean McKeever (Teen Titans), with art by Takeshi Miyazawa (Robotech: Invasion). Hey, it’s Spider-Man, and what American comics reader doesn’t like him? But because the book focuses around Mary Jane’s point of view, coupled with Takeshi Miyazawa’s über-manga art style, there’s a natural crossover for manga fans.

Similarly, Left-to-Right versions of Gon can appeal to anybody, because the stories about the three-foot tyrannosaurus have no dialogue. Though, I think a lot of American comics fans may have trouble reading the stories in the original Right-to-Left format in which manga is published.

Unfortunately, despite all the similarities, people will still often prefer one country’s storytelling over the other, due to personal preference.

But me? I just enjoy a good story.