7/31/07
Hello Pulpfictioners,Still too tired for words from San Diego Comic Con (those of you who attended know what I mean). Thought I would share a day in the life...
I went to the SDCC on Friday, leaving Long Beach at 5:15am (ugh) and getting to SD at 7:15am for the Diamond retailer breakfast at 8am. Line was already around the convention center as I went to park. Had quite the feast at the Manchester Grand Hyatt (very nice hotel that I would highly recommend if you can ever afford to stay) and listened to Diamond tell us about the health of the industry, their plans and new POS system. After that we did Q and A with a few decent questions from the crowd (fellow store owners) and some wasteful of time ones (mostly individual store problems that should have been directed towards that person's rep). Diamond personal were actually courteous and seemed interested towards improving on items of general complaint. I was told this year's breakfast was tame compared to previous years - actually a fight or something of that nature might have livened things up a bit. We did get lots of freebies at the end which you will find around the shop soon. Almost 10:00am, off to the convention center...
Lines all over the front of the building but, as befits someone of my status, I got to walk right in through the professionals door. I was going to take in the Warner Brothers panel at 10:30am (where Watchmen, Whiteout and more were being glorified) but I decided to take advantage of an almost empty convention floor and run around the room as much as I could before my first retailer's panel at 11:00am. Rest of the day is a blur of panels and floor wandering; picked up some useful (and not so useful) info at both and have a much better idea of what I would like to do with Pulp Fiction if I had three times the space and ten times the money
Overall the convention was a blast; already looking forward to next year. Two notes - (1) get your tickets early for next year as the con will probably sell out all four days well in advance (2) ride down on the Pulp Fiction caravan, or whatever we decide to call the charter bus adventure-yes if I can arrange it we will have a bus that leaves Pulp Fiction and takes you to the con, at least on Saturday, but maybe all four days!
Back to the "real" world - Diamond order due tomorrow - must get you guys (and gals) your August comics. Last, but certainly not least, check out the Wizard site (http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/005309294.cfm) and you will find the best convention coverage and stories by our very own Ryan Riley!
<TOP>7/10/07
Hey Pulpfictioners,Running really late this week - this was supposed to be to you Monday morning - so just a few quick observations from last week:
- Tranformers (the movie) ruled the box office and New Avengers/Transformers #1 ruled the register at Pulp Fiction.
- Thor also had a strong return and looks to be a winner thus far.
- The Vigilante had a following?? Nightwing #134 (featuring you-know-who’s return) sold out immediately and I have a list of you waiting for the reorder - which should be here Wednesday.
Speaking of Wednesday…Green Lantern #21 (the continuation of the Sinestro Wars storyline) hits the stands. We should have plenty of copies, but just in case, if you really want it and can’t be here Wednesday, let me know…
Thanks to all of you that tried out comics from our “good reads” promo last week - Highwaymen #1 was gone by Friday…hope some of you liked it enough to keep reading; if so, let me know so I can make sure I have enough copies of #2!
And now a word from Ryan (the Bottom Line) Riley who writes this week about one of the funniest comics around, and one of my personal faves, The Adventures of Barry Ween by Judd Winick - take it away Ryan:
"Barry Ween is a 10 year old with an unparalleled genius intellect. In his own words, he was
born smart, exhibiting self-awareness while in his mother's womb. Imagine a kid from South
Park with the unlimited knowledge & technological resources of Reed Richards, the acerbic,
paranoid wit of Bill Hicks & the mouth of a sailor and you begin to grasp just what Barry as a
character is capable of…"
(For Ryan’s complete review go to The Archives-The Bottom Line)
7/2/07
Just another week in the life of Pulp Fiction….X-Men #200 ruled the new racks this week, as those of you who showed up after about 2:00pm (and didn’t have it on your pull list) realized. Pretty good tale Mike Carey is spinning, as the action was aplenty with the return of the Marauders and some surprise betrayals. We should have a few (emphasis on a few) more copies coming in this Thursday, so get here early or let me know ahead of time if you need a copy. Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps might have given X-Men a run for its money, sales-wise, if I had ordered more copies…second prints of this one coming in a few weeks; rumor has it that this storyline (to be played out in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps over the next few months) will tie in to some big happenings in the DC Universe later this year. Again, let me know if you want/need these.
Promo week hits Pulp Fiction (again)! Last month’s “indy” intro sale was a big success, so I thought we would try it again. Also thought we would try some “less heavy” titles this month - these are all great books that have good word-of-mouth here at Pulp Fiction…time to bring back some fun and heroics to comics. This Thursday (and thru the weekend), you can pick up for just 99 cents: All-Star Superman #1 (voted #1 title of 2006 at Pulp Fiction), Highwaymen #1 (new Wildstorm title getting rave reviews here), and the Atom #12, a little (he-he) known gem from DC; this issue is a great jumping on point with Countdown tie-in, “The Search for Ray Palmer”. And I've saved the best for last...get Invincible #0 by Robert (Walking Dead, Irredeemable Ant-Man) Kirkman for only a quarter - this is one of the best kept secrets of the comic book world right now and it will only cost you a measly 25 cents to check it out thanks to the fine folks at Pulp Fiction! Help us help all these great titles to grow, grow, grow...
I’m out,Mike <TOP>