LET'S LEVEL WITH LEE!

NEW ARRIVALS

2012-01-22T12:35:00.001-08:00

LEE’S COMICS SHIPMENT
ON SALE 01-25-2012

DC
ADD HC $24.99
ALL STAR WESTERN 5 $3.99
AMERICAN VAMPIRE 23 $2.99
AQUAMAN 5 $2.99
AQUAMAN VAR 5 PI
BATMAN AND ROBIN WHITE KNIGHT DARK KNIGHT HC $22.99
BATMAN BEYOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TP $16.99
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT 5 $2.99
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT VAR 5 PI
BLACKHAWKS 5 $2.99
CATWOMAN TP VOL 1 $29.99
DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS 22 $2.99
FLASH 5 $2.99
FLASH VAR 5 PI
FURY OF FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MEN 5 $2.99
GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS 5 $2.99
GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS VAR 5 PI
HAWKMAN BY GEOFF JOHNS OMNIBUS HC VOL 1 $75.00
I VAMPIRE 5 $2.99

JUSTICE LEAGUE 5 $3.99
JUSTICE LEAGUE COMBO PACK 5 $4.99
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK 5 $2.99
JUSTICE LEAGUE VAR 5 PI
LEGION SECRET ORIGIN 4 $2.99
RESURRECTION MAN TP VOL 1 $29.99
SAVAGE HAWKMAN 5 $2.99
SUPERMAN 5 $2.99
SUPERMAN VAR 5 PI
SWEET TOOTH TP VOL 4 ENDANGERED SPECIES $16.99
TEEN TITANS 5 $2.99
TEEN TITANS VAR 5 PI
UNCHARTED 3 $2.99
UNWRITTEN 33.5 $2.99
VOODOO 5 $2.99

To see all the new DC Covers and info go here.

MARVEL
ALPHA FLIGHT 8 $2.99
ALPHA FLIGHT VAR 8 PI
ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN AND WOLVERINE TP $19.99
ASTONISHING X-MEN 46 $3.99
AVENGERS SOLO 4 $3.99
AVENGERS SOLO AVENGERS CLASSIC TP VOL 1 $24.99
CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BUCKY 626 $2.99
CAPTAIN AMERICA BY ED BRUBAKER PREM HC VOL 1 $19.99
DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE 20 $2.99
DAREDEVIL BY BRUBAKER AND LARK ULT COLL TP BOOK 1 $29.99
DAREDEVIL BY MARK WAID PREM HC VOL 1 $19.99
DEADPOOL 49.1 $2.99

FANTASTIC FOUR 602 $2.99
FANTASTIC FOUR VAR 602 PI
FF 14 $2.99
FF BY JONATHAN HICKMAN PREM HC VOL 2 $24.99
FF VAR 14 PI
MIGHTY THOR 10 $3.99
MMW UNCANNY X-MEN TP VOL 4 $24.99
OFF HANDBOOK OF MARVEL UNIVERSE A TO Z TP VOL 3 $19.99
RED SKULL INCARNATE TP $15.99
SECRET AVENGERS 21.1 $2.99
SPIDER-MAN 22 $2.99
STRIKEFORCE MORITURI TP VOL 1 $34.99
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES 6 $3.99
WOLVERINE WOLVERINE VS X-MEN TP $15.99
X-MEN LEGACY 261 $2.99
X-MEN LEGACY AFTERMATH TP $15.99

To see all the new Marvel covers and info go here.

DARK HORSE
ANGEL & FAITH 6 $2.99
ANGEL & FAITH VAR 6 PI
AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 1 PROMISE PART 1 $10.99
BPRD HELL ON EARTH RUSSIA 5 $3.50
CARDCAPTOR SAKURA DARK HORSE OMNIBUS ED TP VOL 3 $19.99
CREEPY ARCHIVES HC VOL 12 $49.99
CREEPY COMICS 7 $4.99
KING CONAN PHOENIX ON THE SWORD 1 $3.50
KING CONAN PHOENIX ON THE SWORD VAR 1 PI
MANARA LIBRARY HC VOL 2 $59.99
THE IMMORTAL DEMON I/T BLOOD 2 $3.50

USAGI YOJIMBO 143 $3.50

To see all the new Dark Horse covers and info go here.

IDW
30 DAYS OF NIGHT ONGOING 4 $3.99
DEAD RISING ROAD TO FORTUNE 3 $3.99

GODZILLA KINGDOM OF MONSTERS 11 $3.99
GODZILLA KINGDOM OF MONSTERS VAR 11 PI
INFESTATION 2 1 $3.99
LIL ABNER HC VOL 4 $49.99
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ONGOING 6 $3.99
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ONGOING VAR 6 PI
TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE ONGOING 1 $3.99
TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE ONGOING VAR 1 PI

To see all the new IDW covers and info go here.

IMAGE
ARTIFACTS ORIGINS ONE SHOT $3.99
BULLETPROOF COFFIN DISINTERRED 1 $3.99
DARKNESS 98 $2.99
ELEPHANTMEN 37 $3.99
EPOCH 4 $3.99
GREEN WAKE 9 $3.50
MARKSMEN 5 $2.99
MICE TEMPLAR VOL 3 7 $2.99
NANCY IN HELL ON EARTH 1 $3.99

WALKING DEAD 93 $2.99
WITCHBLADE 152 $2.99

To see all the new Image Covers and info go here.

MISC PUBLISHERS
APPLE SELECTION SC VOL 1 $39.99
ARCHIE 629 $2.99
ARCHIE VAR 629 $2.99
B & V FRIENDS DOUBLE DIGEST 221 $3.99
BART SIMPSON COMICS 67 $2.99
BETTIE PAGE IN DANGER 1 $9.95
BLACK GOD TP VOL 15 $11.99
BLADE OF KUMORI GN $14.95
BRENDA STARR REPORTER STRIPS VOL 1 $60.00
DARK SHADOWS 3 $3.99
DURARARA GN VOL 1 $11.99
FAMOUS MONSTERS ART COLLECTION VOL 2 $16.99
FANGORIA 310 $9.99
FANTASTIC LIFE GN $9.95
FATHOM BLUE DESCENT 4 $2.99
GAME OF THRONES 5 $3.99
GAME OF THRONES VAR 5 PI
GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD 8 $3.99
GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD 10 COPY VAR 8 PI
GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD 20 COPY VAR 8 PI
GFT ALICE IN WONDERLAND A CVR 1 $2.99
GFT ALICE IN WONDERLAND B CVR 1 $2.99
GFT ALICE IN WONDERLAND C CVR 1 $2.99
GIRASOL PULP DOUBLES THE SPIDER VOL 22 A CVR $14.95
GIRASOL PULP DOUBLES THE SPIDER VOL 22 B CVR $14.95
GREEN HORNET ANNUAL 2 $4.99
HIGH SCHOOL OF DEAD GN VOL 5 $13.99
HOW TO ARCHER ULT GUIDE SC $15.99
INCORRUPTIBLE 26 $3.99
IRREDEEMABLE TP VOL 8 $16.99
JUDGE ANDERSON PSYCHIC CRIME FILES TP $20.99
JUXTAPOZ 133 $5.99
KEY OF Z 4 $3.99
KIRBY GENESIS 5 $3.99
KIRBY GENESIS VAR 5 PI
KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE 182 $5.99
KUNG FU PANDA 4 $3.95
LAST PHANTOM 11 $3.99
NAUGHTY & NICE GOOD GIRL ART BRUCE TIMM SC $50.00

POLLY & PIRATES TP VOL 2 $11.99
QUEEN SONJA 26 $3.99
ROBOCOP ROAD TRIP 2 $3.99
ROMEO & JULIET THE WAR GN $19.99
SAILOR MOON TP KODANSHA ED VOL 3 $10.99
SILENCE OF OUR FRIENDS GN $16.99
SIXTH GUN 18 $3.99
SIZZLE 52 $5.99
SPONTANEOUS HC $24.99
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE BERRY FUN 4 $3.99
STUFF OF LEGEND JESTERS TALE 4 $3.99
SUPERNATURAL MAGAZINE 30 $6.99
TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE 72 $2.95
TINTIN YOUNG READER ED GN KING OTTOKARS SCEPTRE $8.99
TINTIN YOUNG READERS ED GN BLACK ISLAND $8.99
TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN FACSIMILE ED 2 $3.99
TWILIGHT MANGA TP VOL 1 $14.99
VAMPIRELLA 13 $3.99
WALLY WOOD STRANGE WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION TP $24.95
WARLORD OF MARS FALL OF BARSOOM 5 $3.99
WARLORD OF MARS FALL OF BARSOOM VAR 5 PI
WARREN ELLIS ATMOSPHERICS COLOR ED GN $7.99

SPECIALTY ITEMS
N/A

NEW ARRIVALS

2012-01-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

LEE’S COMICS SHIPMENT
ON SALE 01-18-2012

DC
ANIMAL MAN 2ND PTG 2 $2.99
BATMAN 5 $2.99
BATMAN ODYSSEY VOL 2 4 $3.99
BATMAN ODYSSEY VOL 2 VAR 4 PI
BATMAN VAR 5 PI
BIRDS OF PREY 5 $2.99
BLUE BEETLE 5 $2.99
CAPTAIN ATOM 5 $2.99
CATWOMAN 5 $2.99
DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS 5 $2.99
DIABLO 2 $2.99
END OF NATIONS 3 $2.99
FABLES 113 $2.99
GREEN LANTERN CORPS 5 $2.99
HELLBLAZER 287 $2.99
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES 5 $2.99
NIGHTWING 5 $2.99
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS 5 $2.99
SECRET SIX THE DARKEST HOUSE TP $16.99
SUPERGIRL 5 $2.99
SUPERMAN WAR OF THE SUPERMEN TP $14.99
THUNDER AGENTS VOL 2 3 $2.99
TINY TITANS 48 $2.99
WAR OF THE GREEN LANTERNS AFTERMATH HC $22.99

WONDER WOMAN 5 $2.99
WONDER WOMAN VAR 5 PI
YOUNG JUSTICE 12 $2.99

To see all the new DC Covers and info go here.

MARVEL
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 678 $3.99
AVENGERS 21 $3.99
AVENGING SPIDER-MAN 3 $3.99
AVENGING SPIDER-MAN VAR 3 PI
DAKEN X-23 COLLISION TP $19.99
DAREDEVIL 8 $2.99
DAREDEVIL VAR 8 PI
DEADPOOL CLASSIC TP VOL 6 $29.99
DEADPOOL MAX 2 4 $3.99
DEFENDERS TOURNAMENT OF HEROES 1 $5.99
ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR TP VOL 5 NEW ED $19.99
ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 8 NEW ED $19.99
FEAR ITSELF FEARLESS 7 $2.99
FEAR ITSELF JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY PREM HC $19.99
FEAR ITSELF THUNDERBOLTS PREM HC $19.99
GENERATION HOPE 15 $2.99
GHOST RIDER 8 $2.99
HALO FALL OF REACH INVASION 1 $3.99
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN 512 $3.99
JOHN CARTER A PRINCESS OF MARS 5 $2.99
JOHN CARTER OF MARS WORLD OF MARS 4 $3.99
LEGION OF MONSTERS 4 $3.99
MARVEL FIRSTS 1970S TP VOL 1 $29.99
MARVEL POINT ONE II TP $24.99
MOON KNIGHT 9 $3.99
NEW DEFENDERS TP VOL 1 $29.99
NEW MUTANTS 36 $2.99
SIX GUNS 4 $2.99
SUPERIOR 7 $4.99
THUNDERBOLTS 169 $2.99
TWELVE TP VOL 1 $16.99
ULTIMATE COMICS HAWKEYE BY HICKMAN PREM HC $19.99
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN 6 $3.99
UNCANNY X-FORCE 20 $3.99
UNCANNY X-FORCE VAR 20 PI

UNCANNY X-MEN 5 $3.99
UNCANNY X-MEN 2ND PTG 2 $3.99
UNCANNY X-MEN VAR 5 PI
VENOM 12 $2.99
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN 2ND PTG 2 $3.99
WOLVERINE PUNISHER GHOST RIDER OFF INDEX MU 6 $3.99
X-23 PREM HC VOL 2 CHAOS THEORY $19.99
X-FACTOR TP VOL 12 SCAR TISSUE $19.99

To see all the new Marvel covers and info go here.

DARK HORSE
CONAN HC VOL 11 ROAD OF KINGS PT 1 $24.99
CONAN ROAD OF KINGS 12 $3.50

MASS EFFECT INVASION 4 $3.50
MASS EFFECT INVASION VAR 4 $3.50

To see all the new Dark Horse covers and info go here.

IDW
COBRA ONGOING 9 $3.99
COBRA ONGOING VAR 9 PI
DANGER GIRL DANGER SIZED TREASURY ED $9.99

DANGER GIRL REVOLVER 1 $3.99
GHOSTBUSTERS ONGOING 5 $3.99
GHOSTBUSTERS ONGOING VAR 5 PI
MEMORIAL 2 $3.99
STAR TREK ONGOING 5 $3.99
STAR TREK ONGOING 10 COPY VAR 5 PI
STAR TREK ONGOING 20 COPY VAR 5 PI
STEVE CANYON HC VOL 1 1947-1948 $49.99

To see all the new IDW covers and info go here.

IMAGE
BOMB QUEEN VII QUEENS WORLD 2 $3.50

CHEW 23 $2.99
ELEPHANTMEN HC VOL 00 $34.99
HACK SLASH CVR A 12 $3.50
HACK SLASH CVR B 12 $3.50
MORNING GLORIES 15 $2.99
NEAR DEATH 5 $2.99
PROPHET CHURCHLAND CVR 21 $2.99
PROPHET LIEFELD VAR CVR 21 $2.99
XENOHOLICS 4 $3.50

To see all the new Image Covers and info go here.

MISC PUBLISHERS
ARCHIE & FRIENDS DOUBLE DIGEST 12 $3.99
BACK ISSUE 54 $8.95
BILL GRIFFITH LOST AND FOUND 1970 - 1994 TP $35.00
CALIGULA WRAP CVR 6 $3.99
CHARISMAGIC 4 $2.99
CODE GEASS QUEEN GN VOL 4 $10.99
CROSSED PSYCHOPATH WRAP CVR 7 $3.99
DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG ANIMAL MAN 98 $14.00
DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG SUPERBOY 99 $14.00
DEAD MANS RUN 1 $3.50
DISNEY FAIRIES GN VOL 7 TINKER BELL PERFECT FAIRY $7.99
FRAGGLE ROCK CLASSICS TP VOL 1 $9.95
GREEN HORNET 21 $3.99
HACK SLASH EVA MONSTERS BALL TP $16.99
HELLRAISER MASTERPIECES 6 $3.99
JUGHEAD 211 $2.99
JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST 177 $3.99
KIRBY GENESIS DRAGONSBANE 1 $3.99
KIRBY GENESIS DRAGONSBANE VAR 1 PI
LEGEND OF OZ THE WICKED WEST 2 $3.50

LORD OF THE JUNGLE 1 $1.00
LORD OF THE JUNGLE VAR 1 PI
MAZEWORLD GN $29.99
NEWTYPE NOV 2011 54 $16.00
PATRICIA BRIGGS ALPHA & OMEGA CRY WOLF VOL 1 4 $3.99
PATRICIA BRIGGS MERCY THOMPSON MOON CALLED TP VOL 2 $16.99
PLANET OF THE APES 10 $3.99
RAISE THE DEAD II HC $19.99
RED SONJA 62 $3.99
RED SONJA RAVEN $4.99
ROBERT JORDAN WHEEL OF TIME EYE O/T WORLD 19 $3.99
SIMPSONS COMICS 186 $2.99
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG ARCHIVES TP VOL 17 $7.99
SONIC UNIVERSE 36 $2.99
STEED AND MRS PEEL 1 $3.99
STEED AND MRS PEEL VAR 1 PI
TWIN SPICA GN VOL 11 $13.95
VOLTRON 2 $3.99
VOLTRON VAR 2 PI
WALLY WOOD STRANGE WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION HC $39.95
WASTELAND 33 $1.00
WORDGIRL GN VOL 3 WORD UP $7.99

SPECIALTY ITEMS
SPIDER-MAN DAREDEVIL BY LEE BERMAJO POSTER $8.99

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM LEE'S COMICS!

2011-12-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from your friends at Lee's Comics!

To celebrate the Holidays, and to get you in the mood for gift-giving, we present this look at some of our favorite Christmas comic book covers from the Golden Age.

THE ARTIST

2011-12-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

I'm a big movie fan, and I try to go to the theatre at least once a week. I like to see old movies (particularly at the Stanford Theatre) as well as new ones. I try to see the best of the new films that come out, of all genres. I heard good things about "The Artist", so I went and saw it this evening. I absolutely loved this film!

It's a black and white, and mostly silent tribute to silent films. Every detail is pitch perfect, starting with the credits, and moving on the the acting, make-up, clothes, and general attitude. That's a very difficult thing to carry off, in fact, I would have thought impossible, but, the film maker did it! It is filled with one stunning scene after the next. I laughed, and I'm not ashamed to say that I also cried. This is a great movie, and it's rare artistry of the highest order. It's also a heck of a lot of fun to watch. It's great for the whole family. See it, especially if you are a film fan. It is a film about film, like two other great Movies, "Sunset Boulevard", and "Singin' in the Rain". Those two films happen to be favorites of mine, and I will add "The Artist". to my list of favorite films. certainly my favorite film of the year.

Right now, the film is only playing on a very limited basis. Lucky for Peninsula residents, it's playing at the Palo Alto square. See it, you'll love it!

LEE'S AFTER THANKSGIVING SALE!

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Coming up, is our first big sale of the year! The perfect time to stock up on Christmas presents for all the comic book loving folks on your list. Lee's Comics has it all: The biggest selection of Graphic Novels in the Bay Area, Comic Books old and new, Comic Book themed Shirts, Glasses, Posters and Novelties. It's your one-stop shop for all the best in graphic literature! This is going to be the biggest comic book sale of the year, and it's worth a drive from anywhere in the Bay Area!

20% off Books and Graphic Novels
50% off on Bin Back issues
50% off on vintage "Wall Comics" (Mountain View only)
25¢ Comics. Thousands to choose from. All new stock. Lots of valuable stuff!
$5 Graphic Novels. Hundreds to choose from. Never before offered at this price!
If you are a comic book fan, this is the place to be!

A thousand dollars worth of free gifts for the early birds!
Free gift for the first 50 people. Each gift worth at least $10!
Gifts include Pure Hero Vemon Shirt Sizes Large and Extra Large, Assorted 'Toon Tumblers, and Superman Caps. First come get first pick!

Here's the cool part! We are not opening up at the crack of dawn. Skip those crummy big box sales and come to a world-class comic book sale instead. You'll thank me later!

LEE'S COMICS AFTER THANKSGIVING SALE
Friday November 25th
10am to 9pm

Both Incredible Lee's Comics Locations!

1020-F N. Rengstorff Ave.
(By Costco)
Mountain View, CA 94043
(650) 965-1800

2222 S. El Camino Real
(2 Blocks S. of H92)
San Mateo, CA 94403
(650) 571-1489

WWW.Lcomics.com

STORE VIEW

2011-11-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

Come on into our Mountain View store. Have a look around.

View Larger Map

METRO HABIBI ARTICLE

2011-10-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Craig Thompson's Habibi, there is a wonderful article about it thes weeks' Metro Magazine by the always informed and insightful Richard von Busack. Pick up a copy if you live in Silicon Valley, or read it online.

LEE GOES APE!

2011-10-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Before I start with the usual photo parade, I should catch you up with the story so far.

We were scheduled to host Craig Thompson at our Mountain View store on Thursday. His publicist needed to cancel at the last moment due to circumstances beyond our control. We rescheduled Craig's signing for Noon at our Ape booth. We were already planning on hosting underground Zap Comix artists Spain and S. Clay Wilson at the same time. My back went out a week before, so I was not planning on going. My back has been getting better, plus I felt that excitement was mounting. It was going to be a big deal, and I should attend, back or no back.

Here's a shot of the convention floor at around 9:00 am. Mark Crane, Clay, Mark Arnold, My Son Lee, and Nik are starting to bring the fixtures and books in from the van.

Clay leads the way.

Nik Houser, Lee Hester IV, Mark Crane, Lee Hester III.
Okay, after a around two hours of fevered work, we have our five booth spaces shaped up into a pretty good temporary storefront, complete with a podium conaining a battery operated cash register and merchandise bags, and flanked by two signing areas. We hooded up a plug-in credit card reader from 'Square" to my son's Android phone, and we are also good to take credit cards. My son is impressed by the set-up.

Craig Thompson and me.
It's noon, and Craig Thompson arrives for his signing. We have 50 copies of his new Habibi book, a wonderful hardcover. Over 600 pages for $35. We also have plentiful copies of Blankets, in hard and soft cover. We have the now out of print original soft cover edition of Blankets. We have Goodbye Chunky Rice and Carnet De Voyage. All these books came in real handy, as Thompson's appearance was an absolute smash! Later on Thompson did a signing at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund booth. They had a huge stack of Habibi there, as well, and were charging a recommended ten dollar donation for signatures. Despite the additional cost (to help fund a very worthy cause) the Legal Defense fund sold out of all copies. In fact, by the end of the first day, I understand that the entire convention floor was completely sold of of Habibi. It's an absolute smash hit. Readers adore Thompson's work, and he is on the cusp of becoming a major super-star!

Thompson sure was nice to the fans! He gave tremendously of himself the whole time. He did sketches for everyone. He posed for pictures for anyone who asked.

On the other side of the booth, we have...
Hey you! Captain Photobomb! Get out of the picture!

As I was saying, we have Publisher Dan Fogel, Spain and S. Clay Wilson with their assortment of delightful underground comix.

A look at one of the delighful sketches that Thompson was doing, gratis!

Some of the many delighted fans.

It was a real pleasure meeting and spending time with Craig Thompson. He's a really nice guy, and I believe, one of the most gifted graphic novel creators of all time. I think he may be one of the great voices of a generation.

After the signing, I had the pleasure of taking Craig and my Son out to lunch at the burrito place around the corner. We had a delightful conversation, as Craig filled us in on the creative process. My son is a terrific artist, and I am a huge fan, so we were both quite captivated by what he had to say.

Here's some nifty news. Craig agreed to appear in person at Lee's Comics for his next book. Tuck that away in your memory bank. It will be a wonderful day when it comes to pass, and this time, you MUST attend!

I won't be returning to Ape. I'm going to stay home and rest my back a bit. I'm going to rely on the other reports, both posted, and the ones told first hand to customers who I talk to, to find out what happened at the rest of the show. If you attend Ape on Sunday, make sure to stop by the Lee's Comics booth at the end of the hallway.

LEE'S KEY MARVEL STORM!

2011-08-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

Have you every dreamed of owning a Key Marvel First Appearance or First Issue? If so, it's time to put your dreams into action!

Right now, Lee's Comics has just about every Marvel Key there is. They are all up for Auction on our Ebay store, and they end Sunday August 28th. If you are the high bidder, you can pick up your prize at our store, and save the shipping.

Here are a few of the great Marvel Comics that we are offering. Click on the title to see the live auction page.

Amazing Spider-Man #1

Amazing Spider-Man #129
(1st app. Punisher)

Avengers #1
(1st app. Avengers)

Avengers #4
(1st S.A. Captain America)

Captain America #100
(1st Issue)

Conan the Barbarian #1
(1st comic book app. Conan)

Daredevil #1
(1st app DD)

Fantastic Four #1
(1st app FF)

Fantastic Four #48
(1st app. Silver Surfer)

Giant-Size X-Men #1
(1st app. New X-Men)

Incredible Hulk #102
(1st Issue)

Iron Man #1

Journey Into Mystery #83
(1st app. Thor)

Sgt. Fury #1
(1st app. Nick Fury)

Strange Tales #110
(1st app. Dr. Strange)

Tales Of Suspense #39
(1st app. Iron Man)

Tales To Astonish #27
(1st app. Ant Man)

X-Men #1
(1st app. X-men)

DC: THE NEW 52

2011-07-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

Justice League #1

As you have probably heard, in one of the boldest moves ever, DC is re-booting their universe with 52 new #1 issues, starting August 31st. Print out this handy checklist, and bring it to your local Lee's Comics. We'll pull the ones you want, and hold them for you at the store. To find out more about the new DC first issues and to see a video featuring Jim Lee and other top talents, check out the DC website.

TITLE / CREATORS / PRICE
__ ACTION COMICS #1 Grant Morrison and Rags Morales $3.99
__ ALL STAR WESTERN #1 Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Grey and Meridat $3.99
__ ANIMAL MAN #1 Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman and Dan Green $2.99
__ AQUAMAN #1 Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis $2.99
__ BATGIRL #1 Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes $2.99
__ BATMAN #1 Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo $2.99
__ BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason $2.99
__ BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #1 David Finch $2.99
__ BATWING #1 Judd Winick and Ben Oliver $2.99
__ BATWOMAN #1 J.H. Williams III, Haden Blackman and Amy Reeder $2.99
__ BIRDS OF PREY #1 Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz $2.99
__ BLACKHAWKS #1 Mike Costa and Ken Lashley $2.99
__ BLUE BEETLE #1 Tony Bedard and Ig Guara $2.99
__ CAPTAIN ATOM #1 JT Krul and Freddie Williams II $2.99
__ CATWOMAN #1 Judd Winick and Guillem March $2.99
__ DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #1 Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang $2.99
__ DEATHSTROKE #1 Kyle Higgins, Joe Bennett and Art Thibert $2.99
__ DEMON KNIGHTS #1 Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert $2.99
__ DETECTIVE COMICS #1 Tony Daniel $2.99
__ FLASH #1 Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul $2.99
__ FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1 Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli $2.99
__ FURY OF FIRESTORM #1 Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver and Yildiray Cinar $2.99
__ GREEN ARROW #1 JT Krul and Dan Jurgens $2.99
__ GREEN LANTERN #1 Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy $2.99
__ GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1 Peter J. Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna $2.99
__ GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #1 Tony Bedard, Tyler Kirkham and Batt $2.99
__ GRIFTER #1 Nathan Edmondson, CAFU and BIT $2.99
__ HAWK AND DOVE #1 Sterling Gates and Rob Liefeld $2.99
__ I VAMPIRE #1 Josh Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino $2.99
__ JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 Geoff Johns and Jim Lee $3.99
__ JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 COMBO PACK includes a digital download $4.99
__ JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1 Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin $2.99
__ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1 Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti $2.99
__ LEGION LOST #1 Fabian Nicieza and Pete Woods $2.99
__ LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #1 Paul Levitz and Francis Portela $2.99
__ MEN OF WAR #1 Ivan Brandon and Tom Derenick $3.99
__ MISTER TERRIFIC #1 Eric Wallace and Roger Robinson $2.99
__ NIGHTWING #1 Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows $2.99
__ OMAC #1 Dan DiDio, Keith Giffen and Scott Koblish $2.99
__ RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #1 Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort $2.99
__ RED LANTERNS #1 Peter Milligan, Ed Benes and Rob Hunter $2.99
__ RESURRECTION MAN #1 Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Fernando Dagnino $2.99
__ SAVAGE HAWKMAN #1 Tony Daniel and Philip Tan $2.99
__ STATIC SHOCK #1 Felicia Henderson, John Rozum, Scott McDaniel and Jonathan Glapion $2.99
__ STORMWATCH #1 Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda $2.99
__ SUICIDE SQUAD #1 Adam Glass and Marco Rudy $2.99
__ SUPERBOY #1 Scott Lobdell and R.B. Silva and Rob Lean $2.99
__ SUPERGIRL #1 Michael Green, Mike Johnson and Mahmud A. Asrar $2.99
__ SUPERMAN #1 George Pérez and Jesus Merino $2.99
__ SWAMP THING #1 Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette $2.99
__ TEEN TITANS #1 Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund $2.99
__ VOODOO #1 Ron Marz and Sami Basri $2.99
__ WONDER WOMAN #1 Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang $2.99

Action Comics #1

SURROUNDED BY SUPER-HEROES

2011-07-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

There's a new article about your ever-humble comic book dealer in the new Palo Alto Weekly. Pick up a copy if you are in Palo Alto. If not, you can read it online.

PATRIOTIC COMIC BOOK COVERS

2011-07-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

What better way to celebrate the 4th of July by enjoying some patriotic golden age comic book covers.

LET THERE BE CRUMB!

2011-06-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

If you are an underground comix fan, and you live anywhere near the Bay Area, you will want to head to the San Jose Museum of Modern art, where they are displaying all 200 pages of the original art to R. Crumb's Genesis, now through Sept 25th.

Make sure to pick up this week's Metro. It has an excellent cover feature by on that topic by the always insightful Richard von Busack. If you are out of the area, check out the article online. I am quoted in the article, but don't let that discourage your from reading it!

If seeing all that great Crumb artwork wets your appetite to read some of his works, stop by to get your own copy of Genesis at Lee's Comics. Also, check out our new, beefed up selection of underground comix by Crumb and others at our Mountain View location.

WONDERCON INTERVIEW

2011-06-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here is an interview with me at the WonderCon.
It's taken in front of my booth at the 2011 WonderCon.
You can see my son Lee4 in the background.

Big thanks to master retailer James Coville who uploaded it to You Tube!

RAPTURE!

2011-05-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

View this video and you will experience the Rapture!

The END is Nigh!

BAY TO BREAKERS

2011-05-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

Connie and I traveled to San Francisco for the Bay To Breakers weekend. This time we took our daughters, Hannah and Sophie. We rented a hotel room on the Great Highway, very near the finish line. We arrived on Saturday at around 3 pm, so we had some extra time to kill. We hiked up the beach to the Cliffhouse. We went into the Camera Obscura, a reflective projection system dating back hundreds of years. They capture live images of the surrounding area up close and project them onto a large convex surface that people gather around. This particular one has been in use since 1945. I've visited it before, and it's very pleasing way to see the majesty of the surrounding area from a unique vantage point. We could see the beach, the crashing waves and the surfers in the water up close. A unique, vantage point, that gave one an awesome feeling.

After that, we hiked down to the ruins of the Sutro Baths. This used to be a massive building, right by the raging sea. It's ruins are enormous. I was surprised that you could walk all around, unencumbered by fences or rules. There is plenty to see here, and even a little adventure if you wanted it. We walked around for a while on some narrow remains of walls that were sticking out of the water. They didn't have anyone there blowing a whistle, telling you not to. That was nice, and unexpected.

After three hours of waling by the ocean, we turned in. I was awoken at midnight by the whistling of gale force winds, and rain hitting the windows. That worried me a bit. Weather like that could make running miserable.

Connie and I got up at 4:30 to prepare for the race. Happily, it had stopped raining. It was still a bit cold. We had to get across town. Our hotel was at the finish line, now we had to get to the start line. We were planning on looking for the shuttle, but as we were walking down the stairs of the hotel, there was a man in running clothes walking down right in front of us. I asked him how he was getting to the start line. He told me that he called a cab. I asked him if we could share a ride with him, and he said it would be fine. That was a nice break for us, as we got to the start in a hurry, plus we got to split the fare. Our half, with tip was just fifteen dollars.

We arrived near the start line. We sequestered in the coffee houses, for a while to avoid the cold. The race started at 7 am. Connie and I were in corral A, right by the start line. They gave us chips for our shoes, which later showed that we passed the start line 45 seconds after 7 am. The race is seven and a half miles, and includes a steep San Francisco hill; Hays Street. It was my hope to finish the race in under an hour, as I've done three times in previous years. I started pretty strong, but I realized that I was getting tired fast. I couldn't keep up that fast pace of a seven minute mile. I settled into a good rhythm, but I knew I didn't have the speed to quite pull off my goal. I finished in 1 hour and 46 seconds. I guess I did okay, considering I only run 3 times a week these days, and weigh 10 more pounds than I did when I got those better times. Also, I'm over 50 now. I'll try again next year!

Here's my stats:
1 hour 46 seconds
1,884 overall of 43,398
660th Male Masters of 10,244

Connie had an enjoyable run and finished at 1:12:28

Because of the placement of our hotel room, we both got to take a shower and change before heading off to "Footstock" the after-race gathering place. This is the first year that we've been able to have that luxury. Normally we just head off in our running garb. That can get uncomfortable, because you will be in shorts, and you will be covered in sweat. If the weather gets cold, and in San Francisco it usually does, you'll get cold very quickly. Footstock took place at the speedway meadows, about a mile or two away. After running Bay to Breakers, this seemed like a long way to travel! There was a lot of free packaged food samples and drinks being given out along the way, and this was a boon for us, as we were quite hungry and thirsty.

We brought the camera, but the battery doesn't hold a charge very well, so we only got a few shots.

Hannah at the Sutro Baths

Connie and Sophie at Cave to the Ocean at Sutro Baths.

Costume contest at "Footstock" after the race.

Hannah at "Footstock" main stage.

Me, Hannah, Sophie, enjoying the live bands.

Connie dives for the dough at the KGO money pit!

MORE BIRTHDAY PHOTOS

2011-05-10T00:41:00.000-07:00

Several people commented that they liked the photos from my birthday party at the San Jose Historical Society. My son has a really nice camera, and he's a great artist. Both those things make a huge difference in the quality of the photos, as you can plainly see here.

Chillin' on the trolley.

Left to right, the Trolley Driver, Mother Emi, Sister Julietta, Me, Wife Connie, Daughter Hannah, Friend Emily, Daughter Sophie, Son Lee, Son's girlfriend Christina.

With Connie. Across from me: Julietta, and Emi. Behind them: Connie's sister, Lorna. Behind her: Christina.

Christina in front of the Hotel.

BAY TO BREAKERS

2011-05-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, Connie and I will be running in the 100th annual Bay To Breakers. If you are running it this year, make sure to say hi. I'll be wearing my Pure-Hero Spider-man crew shirt, so I won't be hard to spot.

We ran our first BTB 10 years ago and it took us an hour and a seventeen minutes to meander to the finish line. We ran most of the way together, giving each other moral support. We told jokes, and had a jolly time the whole way. At the home stretch, I still had some energy left, so I sprinted to the finish, finishing about 12 seconds ahead of Connie. We finished in place #5162 and #5234 respectively. We felt like Olympians, and were thrilled to find our names the next day in the Examiner Bay to Breakers souvenir edition.

It was only the third time I had run any kind of distance, so I didn't even know if I was capable of finishing the whole thing. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I could. I think I had some reasonable training under my belt from running on the treadmill, walking the stair-master, and riding the stationary bike at the gym. Over the years, training has ebbed and flowed, but we've always gotten back to trail running when health permitted.

Connie and I usually run BTB together every year. We do it to celebrate her birthday, and our wedding anniversary. Non-runners think it's nutty how some people celebrate special occasions by doing something so challenging and exhausting. Connie's running group celebrates Thanksgiving day by running up a mountain early in the morning. You'll find many female runners in particular spend a fortune on matching running outfits and shoes. They have closets full of them. Nike and the others are well aware of this phenomenon, as it adds considerably to their great fortune.

In 2004, our training intensified. We were running every day. Connie was getting up early and running in the Los Gatos hills with her runner's club. I was running solo a little later. I avoid rising early unless it's absolutely necessary. I've never been in a running club, but I ran with Connie's group on weekends sometimes.

In 2004 I posted my best finishing time of 57:41. Nothing spectacular, but a personal best, placing me at finisher #582 out of fifty thousand people, some of whom were actually running. Connie finished at 1:04:45, placing her at 1,485 overall.

In 2005 I dropped down slightly to 58:39 (#762), and Connie Had her personal best of 1:01:19 (#1023). That year San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ran the race and finished at around an hour. Gorgeous Gavin no doubt quickened his pace to escape the throngs of love-starved women, and angry husbands perusing him. Another year that we were there, during one of her fitness kicks, Oprah Winfrey ran the race. She probably hired two runners to push her from behind, and two more at her sides to pick up, and throw down her legs.

In 2006 I must have been coming off a sprained ankle, because my time dropped down to 1:02:07 (#862), Connie hung in there, doing her 2nd best time of 1:03:26 (#1010) I think I ran with her most of the way, but sprinted a bit at the end. I'm a real competitive stinker!

Hannah, Me, Sophie, Connie, Humphrey, and just a bit of Molly's tail.
From the cover of the Palo Alto Weekly, 2007.

We ran in a bunch of races including Bridge to Bridge, and The Palo Alto Moonlight Run. The Palo Alto Weekly, which sponsors the Moonlight Run, did a story about our family's running habit, complete with a picture of Connie, Me the Girls and the Dogs on the cover running around Hellyer Park Lake.

In 2007 I sat our the race do to a back injury. Connie was out of the game too.

In 2008 I returned, and finished under an hour; 59:28 (#1027) Connie took it easy and finished 1:10:51

We skipped 2009 and 2010. We always have run it together, so if one of us can't make it, the other one bows out too.

This year we are going to do it again. Neither of us is training as much as in years past, so we can't expect to get our best times. We only run three days a week. When we were really in great running shape, we ran six days a week. We also did more long distance runs (twenty miles or more) and more speed training. I also weigh more. When I was training a lot, my weight was down to 170 pounds. I weigh 190 at the moment. They say that each pound difference adds or subtracts a second per mile on a race, all things being equal. For me, that's 20 seconds added per mile for 8 miles. 160 seconds or nearly 3 minutes. That's if my training were the same, which it is not.

For the first time, Connie and I will be running in the master's category, which is the over 50 category. That makes it easier to finish higher, since you are no longer competing with the young bucks.

My goal for this year is to finish under an hour. I'm a little apprehensive as I'm aware that given my age, weight, and level of training, that goal will almost be impossible to achieve. Three miles into the race, you face the Hays street hill. Those San Francisco hills don't kid around. I might kill myself, trying. Or I might make the goal. You really never know what your capable of until you try. Connie, ever the sensible one, is planning on taking it easy. She figures that she'll finish in around an hour and 15 minutes. After that, we have booked a hotel right near the finish line. We'll pop in for a quick shower, gather the children, and then have a nice leisurely breakfast at the Beach Chalet that overlooks the finish line. There we can recount battle tales and observe all the wacky runners in their zany costumes, and all the naked runners who drop their shorts to expose their shortcomings.

Stay tuned for a report next week to see if we survived.

In case you want proof, here it is.
Connie and I at the finish of the BTBs.

MARVEL HEROES BUILDIBLE 2

2011-05-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

For years we've been selling cool Gacha style 2-inch vending machine toys. One of the hottest series we ever carried has been the Marvel Heroes buildables. Series 2 just arrived, and we have them at both locations. They cost just $1 each. These are hot! Everybody wants them, especially the staff!

STERANKO IN DARK HORSE PRESENTS

2011-05-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

Dark Horse presents #3 will feature a 13-page preview of Jim Steranko's long awaited Red Tide graphic novel, along with an interview. This special 100-page issue is scheduled for August 24th. Make sure to reserve your copy!

AMAZING FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!

2011-05-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Free Comic Book Day was amazing this year! It was one of our busiest days ever at both stores. I set up and worked at the Mountain View store handing out the new comics, and chatting with many of the customers. This year we had a signing with the creators of the Geronimo Stilton graphic novels. This was our first kid oriented signing at Lee's Comics, and it turned out to be an absolute smash!

There were around 50 people lined up before our 10:00 am opening. The store was full to capacity until the early evening. There was a long line of people making purchases for most of the day. The signing started at Noon. Soon, there was an even longer line for the signing than for the register. The artists, Michele Foschini, Leonardo Favia and Ennio Bufi, all direct from their homes in Italy, started a few minutes early, and stayed an hour and a half past their scheduled finishing time of 2:00 pm. Even more people still wanted to see them, but we eventually had to cut off the line, as the artists were expected at my buddy Joe Ferrara's excellent store, Atlantis Fantasyworld later that day. When you are in Santa Cruz, make sure to stop by and see Joe, his lovely and charming wife Dottie, and his super-cool comic book store.

I make a point of giving out the free comics in front of the store. For one thing the event takes place in May, and the weather is usually quite nice. Also, doing things outside creates a buzz. We are in the largest and busiest regional centers within a 7-mile radius, with popular attractions such as Costco, Verizon, Pet Club, Office Max, Krispy Kreme, and McDonalds, that generate thousands of visitors per day. In the morning I put up flags and a free comic book day banner. Those things coupled with the big crowds, attracts yet more waves of people that come over to see what all the fuss and hoopla is about. I try to take that opportunity to turn these new folks on to comics. By giving the comics away outdoors, it also lets people know that there is absolutely no purchase necessary, and no strings attached. You don't have to buy a thing to get a free comic. You don't have to sign anything or join a mailing list. You don't even have to come in to the store if you don't want to. It was interesting to note that almost everyone did go into the store, even though the comics were being given away outdoors. About half the people were so interested in what was going on in the store that they went inside first, and only when they were done did they come back outside to select their free comics.

Our most popular sale items inside the store was our bargain books. Normally we price them at 50 cents each, but for the sale, we marked them down to the price we used to charge a few years back, namely 25 cents. We put a lot of new stuff out throughout the day as well. We had plenty of cool books from the 1980s and 1990s from collections that we recently purchased that we kept stashed away in the back room just for the occasion. New stuff going into the bargain bins really whips the bargain hunters into a frenzy! There were a few hours where we had several people waiting on each of our 15 bins of quarter books. Many people also enjoyed our half price sale on back issues and sets. We had a storewide discount of 10% off, and many people took the opportunity to sock up on new comics, and to expand their personal graphic novel library, and to buy gifts for friends and family.

I appreciate all the support in the way of purchases that people make from me on FCBD. The fact is that comic book dealers such as myself have to pay for the free comics that we give out. They cost around 25¢ each. Since my stores are busy, and well known, and have been around for such a long time, between the two stores we gave out over six thousand free comics. That's an expense of over fifteen hundred dollars right there. Add to that the printing and mailing of postcards, and the ads in the Metro, the Mercury News and the Daily post, and you have another fifteen hundred dollars. Add to that the staffing, and the discount given on the graphic novels that we have to replace, and you actually have a break-even proposition on one of our busiest days ever! I'm not complaining though. I think the event is wonderful for the future of comics. It really creates a buzz in the media. Free Comic Book day is in it's 10th year now, and everybody seems to know about it. It's all over the media. My friend Joe Field, owner of Flying Colors in Concord, the creator of the event, was all over the place. I saw him on TV and in the papers. Joe is a real class act, and makes the ideal spokesman for the comic book industry. New comic book movies are opening up all the time. Thor is the #1 movie in the universe. Everyone wants to go to comic conventions, and the big ones are selling out in an instant. Comics have arrived in the mainstream in a big way!

It turns out that Geronimo Stilton is fantastically popular with kids. Word spread all around the Bay Area for the signing. We ran ads (along with other retailers in the Bay Area) in the Metro and the Mercury News. In addition, I ran ads in the Daily Post. I also sent out, and gave away thousands of postcards. All these ads featured news of the signing, and a delightful cartoon of the artists. Well, the news got around. Lots of families with kids stopped by. They brought Geronimo Stilton graphic novels in many different languages. I saw French, Spanish, Chinese, German and other editions. Lots of people asked me if I had any foreign editions for sale. Alas, I did not. The creators, Michele Foschini, Leonardo Favia and Ennio Bufi could not have been nicer. Michele spoke the most English of the three, and he was absolutely delightful. He was one of the friendliest, nicest, most charming guys I've ever met. He and the other artists made sure to make each person that came to see them feel special. Each one signed the books, and the artist, Ennio Bufi did wonderful free sketches for each person! Everyone who attended the event left with a huge grin on their face. These guys were like rock stars for the kids!

I wanted to note that several librarians approached me during the event. They had promoted the event to their children. One librarian had even made her own flier about the event to hand out to the kids. She's a terrific person, and a big comic book fan. She's helping to get great Graphic Novels into her library. She told me she could not keep the Gerinomo Stilton Graphic Novels in stock. I hope to collaborate with her more in the future. I also heard from a bunch of people who told me that said they enjoyed the newsletter. Lots of people approached me and wished me a belated 50th birthday, and I really appreciate the good wishes.

As soon as the singing was over, I was approached by Tom Rollinger, a trained animation artist, who is just starting out as a published comic book artist. He asked if he could do a signing on FCBD. I figured, why wait a year?, so I immediately set up a table for him outside, right next to the counter where we were giving out the free comics. Soon he was sketching away for free for anyone who asked, and charming the fans. I saw him doing delightful sketches of Iron Man, Flash and Superman. He was hard at work when I finally had to tear myself away and go home after an exciting, but exhausting 12 hour day. (Setting up the day before had been a 14-hour day.) Next year, we are going to try to make it even better. It's going to be tough, because the bar has been raised. I'm still buzzing with a head full of ideas on how to make it even better. I'm going to write them down, and put them in a file to consult a few months before next year's FCBD.

I noticed that a lot of people take the opportunity to make a tour of Bay Area stores during FCBD. Many of the stores host events and sales along with the free comics. This helps to create a very special day for comic book fans. One store, Black Cat comics in Milpitas was giving out a sticker that said "I got my free comics". The sticker looked like the "I voted" sticker you get when you cast your ballot. Even though Milpitas is quite a distance from Mountain View, I saw people wearing those stickers throughout the day. I thought that was a great idea. Me and my friend and helper for the day, Mark Arnold came up with some ideas for our own sticker for next year.

I hoped that this event would take on that kind of fraternal order among comics retailers, and I believe that this has happened in a big way. Years ago I tried to promote that notion by conceiving and organizing full page color gang ads in the leading Silicon Valley Newspapers, the Mercury News, and the Metro. They are open to any dealer who wanted to participate, and most of the dealers take advantage of this as a way to get maximum coverage for FCBD for a very modest investment. Generally the newspapers get in on the act and do articles and features on FCBD, and comics in general. I like to think that this annual promotion has helped raise the profile of the event in the area, and even perhaps comics themselves. Everyone is pulling together for a common purpose. It's a rising tide that lifts all boats. This is a very good thing, especially if your boat is sound.

In addition to the regular free comic books, Dan Vado publisher of Slave Labor donated a truck load of graphic novels and comic books. That very generous act allowed us to present an additional huge buffet table of free stuff for the huge crowds. On this table there was no limit whatsoever that people were allowed to take. We had just as many free comic books from Slave Labor as all the other free books combined! This brought the excitement level up a notch. Hats off to Dan Vado and Slave Labor.

Finally I wanted to make mention of Justin Giampaoli's award-winning Thirteen Minutes blog. He ran a piece on FCBD that I read with great interest. He said some very nice things about me, and I was tremendously moved by what he had to say. I have to admit that he might have been overly generous in his assessment. Perhaps his absence form the Bay Area has added a glow of nostalgia for the comic book stores of his past, but I will try to live up to what he says, and hopefully I'll succeed now and then.

Here are some excerpts, but be sure to read the whole post. This is a great blog, by the way, so you'll want to bookmark it for future reading.

Tomorrow will mark the very first year that I will not be attending Free Comic Book Day. Since Joe Field dreamed it up in 2001 (leave it to the Bay Area to be innovative, we’ll hit that topic again soon) and the first official event was held in 2002, I’ve attended every single one in one form or another for the last 9 years.

Now, of course, the day isn’t solely about the free books. It’s about cultivating no risk interest and an LCS (local comic book store) potentially capitalizing on that interest to generate long term readership and the corresponding spike in the revenue stream. In theory. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some varieties of LCS which do this and do it well, Lee’s Comics in Mountain View, CA comes to mind. It’s one of the flagship retail establishments (a chain, no less!) in the San Francisco Bay Area that I used to frequent. Lee will typically entertain all sorts of deep discount opportunities, line up creator signings, spike the free books with bin after bin after bin of quarter comics, achieve market penetration with radio stations on site, be quoted in the local paper, coordinate with other non-comic retail establishments (ie: free doughnuts or discounted menu items at the restaurants next door), etc, etc. He schmoozes with the kids, the moms, and the entire clientele base. You can literally see him converting new readers. He just gets it. His actions, the continued existence of his stores for decades, and the emotional high you get when you enter one of his stores are the proof.

Now, let's look at a whole mess of pictures, posted in order.

Crowds line up for the event.

Almost ready to start handing out the swag.

The feeding frenzy begins.

At the back of the store we find the bargain hunters. A hearty breed. Firm of foot, and quick of grasp.

A line of shoppers going all the way down the middle of the store.

Outside again. Wave after wave of customers, families, and kids arrive.

Noon, the Gerinomo Stilton artists arrive.

A line of parents and kids line up to see the artists.

Arnold gets "Happy Feet."

Everyone wants a photo with the friendly comic book artists.

Free sketches for all!

Who says kids don't read comic books anymore?

I take a picture with the guys before they have to go. Thanks for a great signing!

A family shows up as as Green Lantern/Green Arrow! How cool is that!

Taio, Mark, and Richard show off their nifty FCBD shirts.

Tom Rollinger starts sketching gratis for the fans.

Everybody loves Tom's great art.

Thanks Tom! Great Job!

CAPTAIN AMERICA

2011-05-05T01:36:00.000-07:00

If you enjoyed that variant cover of Savage Dragon, you may be familiar with Captain America #1, which I believe served as the inspiration. This was drawn and created by Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon. It was issued in December 1940, a full year before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and the USA subsequently declaring war on Japan and Germany. I believe that this was the first time that a super-hero fought Hitler. At the time, Jack Kirby got a lot of flack for it, but he abhorred what Hitler was doing and Kirby was a scrappy guy. He didn't back down from a fight. Soon many of the Super-Heroes would join the battle along with the rest of America, and eventually freedom prevailed.

Note the plasma TV. Kirby, as always, was on the cutting edge.

MY BIRTHDAY

2011-05-02T23:51:00.000-07:00

On Friday I celebrated my 50th birthday at San Jose's History park. This is a small town filled with historical buildings located next to Happy Hollow in San Jose. My sister-in-law Barbara was kind enough to secure the site for a friends and family celebration. We had the whole town to ourselves. We started with a trolley ride though the town. It's very picturesque. It looks a lot like main street USA in Disneyland, except for the fact that the buildings are really of antique vintage. The trolley was a genuine one from the 1920s, and was driven by a engineer in authentic garb. You could tell that he loved it. He kept having to stop the trolley as more and more guests arrived, but he never lost his patience. We had around 35 people in all attend.

After the trolley ride, we gathered in the ice cream parlor for drinks and ice cream. The drinkers in the group were able to take a nip or two, which raised the level of jollity even further. We then met for a buffet style dinner of delicious Mexican food. After that we had cake, and I opened cards and presents.

After that, we repaired to the bank building where we watched a cartoon (What's Opera Doc, starring Bugs Bunny) and a feature (Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie") A great time was had by all. What a wonderful, memorable place for a party! I took lots of photos, but the ones on the trolley came out best! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Left to right, Emily, Hannah Hester, Helen, Sarah Crane, Mark Crane (General Manager, Lee's Comics), Victoria Crane, Michelle Crane, Mike and Barbara Hanley, Christina (Lee4's Girlfriend)

Everyone from before but now Shannon Hanley 4th from left, Lee4 to my right, Alex and Julie Bargas to my left. Kevin has joined Helen.

Same as before, but Connie is now in the picture, obscured by the post!

SAVAGE OBAMA!

2011-05-02T23:31:00.001-07:00

Here's a variant comic book cover that turned out to be quite prescient!

STERANKO ROCKS!

2011-04-28T23:31:00.001-07:00

Here's something that tickled my fancy, via the CGC discussion boards.

In case you didn't get the reference, it's a mash-up of the following two images:

Two figures that rocked, the house, merged into one. Mash-up courtesy of Photoshop rockstar Flee Marquete

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

2011-04-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here’s a Wonder Con report from a dealer’s perspective.

After a 2 year lay-off, I decided to get back into selling at big conventions. I figure that the times require a little bit of extra work. And let me tell you, setting up and selling at a large convention is major work.

Usually I take 2 booths, but as a cost cutting measure, I cut it down to 1 booth this year. It was going to be a real challenge to fit all the stuff I wanted to bring into one booth. I tried to sketch out a good layout on graph paper, but I just could not fit all the elements. I had all the stock and fixtures in my van, so I marked off a 10 x 10 foot area in masking tape on my garage floor. It was easy since there are tiles on the floor. Then I spent a few hours setting things up, and moving them around into different configurations. Finally, I came up with a workable layout for the convention.

This exercise helped me tremendously. When you are moving your stock and fixtures into a convention floor you are always in a big hurry, so it was a great help to know right away where to put everything.

We brought Pure Hero Shirts, a bunch of back issues that we were selling for a bargain $2 each, some graphic novels that we were selling for $5 each, our Duck and Cover stickers and buttons, Toon Tumblers, Golden and Silver age back issue bin comics, which we were offering for 50% off, and our over $20 Wall Books.

Everything sold well in all departments. There was a great crowd, and it was nice to see that there was a big emphasis on comic books. People were hungry for comics. They were buying up the $2 bargain books. They especially liked anything by Jack Kirby. The wall comics sold well too. The high-grade books sold first. Also, nice copies of Thor and Captain America were especially popular.

One thing that was really nice was that a whole lot of people from my past stopped by to see me. This included several former staff members, including Rob Rheaume and Rita Pease. I also saw numerous store customers each day who stopped by to let me know how much they liked the stores. It was extremely encouraging to hear the praise.

I was able to buy some nice comics. I got some good golden age books from Brett of Brett’s Comic Book Pile. I got another small collection of Marvel silver age including several first issues like Silver Surfer #1 and Sub-Mariner #1.

Rich Koslowski is an artist and inker at Archie Comics, and he had some nice art for very reasonable prices. I’m talking about $10 a page. I picked up 3 complete stories penciled by Stan Goldberg, a legendary Marvel and Archie artist since the 1940s who recently retired. I figure I’ll salt these away for around 20 years and see what they’re worth.

The most exciting comic book deal was on low-grade copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 (The first appearance of Spider-Man) and Spider-Man #1. These were from a customer who bought them from me, but is now selling them to raise money for his son’s college tuition.

Speaking of Spider-Man, I congratulated my friend Phil Shafer of Comic Collector Shop for scoring the retailing coup of the decade. He’s going to have Smiling’ Stan Lee in person at his Sunnyvale store on Saturday. It’s going to be a smash, to be sure. Phil was kind enough to extend an invite to me, so I might just make an appearance.

I talked to Image partner Erik Larsen. He is going to be partners in opening a comic book shop in Berkeley in the former location of Comic Relief. It will be called Fantastic Comics. Uel Carter, who worked for Comic Relief will be another partner who, it seems, will be in charge of the day-to day operations.

Larsen was clearly very excited about opening up his own comic book store. He was just beaming. With the kind of resources and energy he has, and talented friends to do in store events, it would seem to be a sure-fire hit. A Crusher.

It’s hard work doing a show like this, and 2 days later, I’m still tired and bleary eyed. I guess it would help if I took a day off to rest. I’m very glad I went, and I look forward to next year, where I’ll get 2 booths so I can fit everything in ever better.

Now for a few photos:

Mark Arnold and I show off the Amazing Fantasy #15 and the Amazing Spider-man #1. Behind us, you can see more vintage comics. Comics were King at the WonderCon.

With former staff member and former jet-setting playboy Rob Rheume along with staff members Tiao and Ryan.

Rob Rheume along with former staffer Rita Pease and friend.

My son, Lee helped all 3 days, and on set-up, and the family joined us for a visit on Sunday.

Artist Rafael Navarro shows off his nifty new sketchbook.

There were plenty of people dressed in nifty costumes including this great one of Silk Spectre from Watchmen.

Greg Horn is an avid comic collector. Here he is seen enjoying his vintage Marvel comic that he purchased from me.

With the great one, Sergio Aragones.

My son took all pictures, and did a fine job.

HALL OF FAME

2011-03-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased to announce that Lee's Comics has been inducted into Metro Newspaper's Hall of Fame! So far, only ten others are in that group, headed up by rocker and local radio personality Greg Kihn (above).

"You would have to be Stupendous Stan Lee himself to come up with the proper superlatives to describe Lee Hester's comic shop, with its two branches in Mountain View and San Mateo. Over the years, Lee's has hosted real luminaries in the business at in-store signings, years before the rest of the world (and particularly the film industry) figured out that there was something special in these polychrome myths."

Pick up the new Metro, which is available for free right now, all around Silicon Valley, or you can read the article online.

Thank you to all that voted for Lee's Comics in the category of "Best Comic Book Store". I'll do my best to make this place worthy of the approbation.

FANTASTIC COVER

2011-01-25T12:20:00.000-08:00

Speaking of the Fantastic Four, here is my favorite FF cover of all time, by the great Jack Kirby. I just love the drama, the colors, the layout. It's perfection! This is issue #45, in which the Inhumans were introduced. FF was really hitting it's high water mark around this time. The stories and art were getting better and better. Exciting new characters and concepts were being introduced in practically every issue. Three issues later, the Silver Surfer would be introduced.

This very issue, and lots of other Fantastic Four comics, and thousands of other great vintage comics are now on sale at my ebay store!

FANTASTIC THREE

2011-01-25T11:23:00.000-08:00

Fantastic Four #587 in which a member "dies" is going to be on sale a day early. You can get your copy today, Tuesday January 25th. It will be on sale at our Mountain View store by 1:00 pm, and at our San Mateo store by 3:00 pm. We will be selling it for the cover price of $3.99, and limiting to one per customer, so that we can serve as many people as possible. The rest of the shipment will be on sale on Wednesday, as usual.

HOLIDAY HOURS

2010-12-21T22:41:00.000-08:00

Here are the Holiday hours at Lee's Comics.
All other days are as normal.

Friday December 24, Christmas Eve: Noon-5
Saturday December 25, Christmas: Closed
Friday December 31, New Years Eve: Noon-5
Saturday December 1, New Years Day: Noon-5

WHAT I BELIEVE

2010-12-21T22:35:00.001-08:00

Some people don't have the guts to put their beliefs out there for the whole world to see. Not me! Here's mine in a nutshell:

GREEN LANTERN MOVIE POSTER

2010-12-07T15:19:00.001-08:00

BAT-WIKI

2010-12-07T15:16:00.001-08:00

Cartoon by Randy Bish in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

LEE'S WALL OF DEATH!

2010-12-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 by George Perez. Perhaps the most imitated comic book cover of all time, but it, in turn had its antecedents.

Many years ago I kept a collection of comics on my store wall that featured the theme shown here. I've now re-created that collection, and it is available for viewing on my Facebook page. There are now over 50 covers posted there, so make sure to check it out. All friend requests will be fulfilled.

X-Men #136 by John Byrne and Terry Austin pre-dated Crisis #7 by four years.

Brave and Bold #84 by Neal Adams, a full decade before the X-Men cover, and clearly a big influence.

Batman #156 by Shelly Moldoff, a decade before Neal's Brave and Bold cover. Perhaps the first fallen super-hero cover of it's kind.

AFTER THANKSGIVING SALE

2010-11-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

(Actually, the EVENT is November 26th)

You don't have to get out of bed early to experience the biggest Comics event of the year! Stop by your local Lee's Comics and enjoy Super Deals! Make sure to stock up for yourself, and everyone on your Holiday List. There are amazingly great deals at both stores!

Here are the Mountain View, and San Mateo Specials:
· 25¢ Comics. Thousands to choose from at each store. Stock is All-New and unmarked in Mountain View.
· 50% off a special selection of Wall Comics in San Mateo.
· 20% off all Wall Comics in Mountain View.

Deals at both Locations:
· 50% off Bin Comics and Sets.
· $2 Special selection of Graphic Novels. Thousands to choose from. Come early for best selection.)
· 20% off New Comics, Graphic Novels, T-Shirts, Gift items, and everything else! (Sorry no discount on subscriptions of that week's new items.)

It's the most fun you've ever had in a comic book store!

Lee's After Thanksgiving Sale
Friday November 26th
10:00am to 9:00pm
Both Northern California Lee's Comics Locations

Mountain View
1020 N. Rengstorff Ave.
(650) 965-1800

San Mateo
2222 S. El Camino Real
(650) 571-1489
www.Lcomics.com

HOPE FOR AMERICA

2010-11-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

CHARLES BURNS SIGNING A SMASH!

2010-10-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

This week's Metro.

Thanks to all who attended our Charles Burns signing at our Mountain View store yesterday (Tuesday, October 26th, 2010.) We had a great turn-out! around a hundred people came, and we sold lots of copies of "X-ed Out" and "Black Hole." The event was cover-featured in this week's issue of the Metro, with a great article by Richard von Busack. Make sure to read it on-line if you didn't get a printed copy. It's an excellent, and article. I couldn't be happier about it.

Going into the event, I was a little apprehensive since it was on a weekday instead of a week-end. In addition, it was on Tuesday, the day before the shipment arrives, traditionally one of our slowest days. In addition, it was at noon, rather than in the evening, when people were off work. I was afraid that these factors would reduce turn-out, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a great turn-out, and a line for most of the signing time. The line was not too bad, and once you got to the front, Charles spent time with you, so it was well worth the short wait.

The people who attended appreciate what a great artist Burns is, so they managed to fit it into their schedule. I heard quite a few people say that Black Hole was their favorite graphic novel, so those that attended were quite thrilled to meet Charles, and to get that, and his new book signed. Lots of people came up to me and thanked me for putting on the event, and to them, I thank them for the support.

I was also a little worried about meeting Charles. His comics are some of the most genuinely spooky that I've ever read. Also, his pictures and self-portraits suggest that he might be a stern fellow. I was quite pleasently surprised to find Charles to be a nice, down to earth fellow. He's considerate, and smiles easily. He is also a reserved and quiet individual. I have a feeling that it would take a while to really get to know him.

He was very gracious with the fans. He signed everything presented to him, including the event flier, copies of the metro, and "Brick By Brick" the Iggy Pop album that he did the cover for. He posed for photos with anyone who asked. To my complete amazement, he did sketches for anyone who asked, and apologized that the quality was not as high as he could produce if he was at home.

Brick By Brick by Iggy Pop, 1990 illustrated by Charles Burns.

Hanging out at these events, you get to hear some great stores. Someone asked him about getting the assignment for the Iggy Pop cover. He said that he heard from his agent that a record label wanted to see some samples of his work. He was not too thrilled about having to audition until he asked who the recording artist was, and he was informed that it was Iggy Pop. He sent samples in right away by Federal Express. They liked what they saw, and they wanted a cover "yesterday", so Burns scrambled, and whipped it up. He delivered the original art to Iggy Pop in person at Iggy's Manhattan penthouse. Iggy loved it! Allan Ginsburg was there that day, taking lots of pictures. He was supposed to be the photographer for the back cover of the album, so somewhere there's lots of pictures of Iggy Pop and Charles Burns taken by Allan Ginsburg.

After the signing, I took Charles, and David, the literary agent that was driving him around, out to lunch. In conversation, I found out that Charles has two daughters, just like I do. He also mentioned that they both ave very different personalities beginning from their earliest years. The same as mine. They used to get embarrassed by some of the very ordinary things that he did in public, just like mine do. It was interesting to see that we both had some of the same experiences with our daughters.

I felt very privileged to get in on Charles Burns' book tour. He stopped at quite a few book stores, but I believe that Lee's Comics was the only comic book store on the tour. Burns is one of my favorite creators, and it was a pleasure to meet him, and to give the local fans a chance to meet him too. I'm going to keep working to try to bring the very best comics creators to Lee's Comics. Make sure you join my mailing list, so I can tell you about future events.

Here are some photos from the signing, presented in chronological order:

MEET CHARLES BURNS

2010-10-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy to announce our next artist signing here at Lee's Comics. It's with the great graphic novel creator Charles Burns. Charles is famous for many works including Black Hole, which is widely considered one of the best graphic novels of all time.

We will be celebrating the release of Mr. Burns' brand new hardcover graphic novel from Pantheon Books, X'ed Out. It is all original story and art that has not appeared before in any format.

Meet Charles Burns in Person
Free and open to the public
Tuesday, October 26th
Noon to 2:00pm

Lee's Comics
1020-F N. Rengstorff Ave.
Mountain View, CA 94043
(650) 965-1800
www.Lcomics.com

GOING APE

2010-10-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

Mark Arnold and I traveled to San Francisco on Saturday to check out the APE (Alternative Press Expo). For most of the previous years, I have set up a booth there. It's so much easier to just go have a look, than to sell. I brought some postcards about our upcoming Charles Burns signing to drop off at the center. I saw a lot of interesting books and bought a few to read at home. Mark and I left around 2:00 pm.

More Trash From Mad #12

I just bought a collection of Mad Magazines and had an issue of More Trash From Mad #12 from 1969. These Mad Specials contained various inserts. This particular issue had "pocket medals". One of the medals was missing, so I figured that I would remove the rest of them, and bring them to the APE. Now and then, when I ran into someone interesting, I looked through the stack and presented them with a pocket medal. I still have a few of them left. Who knows, I might present one to YOU next!

Some of the "Pocket Medals"

I'm thinking that I might want to start doing a booth again next year. It's a good way to promote the stores, talk to people and hand out business cards and flyers. It's much better to have a booth as a base, than to just wander around the floor aimlessly. If I step away completely from setting up at Bay Area conventions for too long, people may start to forget about Lee's Comics. Economics are tough these days, so a little extra work might be warranted. It sure is nice to just walk in and out of the convention hall at your leisure rather than getting up at the crack of dawn, forming several tons of boxes into a sales area, and then being on your feet selling all day.

With two former Lee's Comics employees,
James Walker and John Fleskes of Flesk publications.

A couple of nutty guys selling Jack Chick religious
mini comics, and parodies and histories of them.
I bought a bunch!

Here's a display of the Chick Tracts.
Photo by Mark Arnold.

With Rafael Navarro. Note his pocket medal.
Photo by Mark Arnold.

Award winning Michael Aushanker.
Photo by Mark Arnold.

The Award Winning Keith Knight.
Photo by Award Winning Mark Arnold.

STUFF THAT I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BUT ONLY RECENTLY LEARNED

2010-10-12T22:33:00.000-07:00

Steranko's Nick Fury #4. Op art meets pop art

Did you ever learn or figure out something that in retrospect, seemed so obvious that it's hard to believe that you didn't know about it in the first place? I sure hope so, because here's my list of STUFF THAT I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BUT ONLY RECENTLY LEARNED.

Arby's
You know the place that makes those yummy roast beef sandwiches? Well the name is the initials of the product that they sell, but spelled out phonetically into a name. R. B. for Roast Beef. Connie could not believe that I didn't know that. Did you know that? Sometimes you don't really think about things because they are right under your nose. You don't think they have deeper meaning.

Chips Ahoy
I didn't realize that the name of this popular cookie is a take-off on "Ship Ahoy!" When I first heard about this cookie I had a limited vocabulary. My knowledge of the cookie pre-dates my knowledge of the phrase so I just took it for granted.

Rock The Vote
I don't have any excuse here. I really should have realized that this was a take-off on "Rock the Boat."

Namor (The Sub-Mariner)
Didn't realize that this famous Marvel Comics character's name it the word "Roman" spelled backward. He's kind of like a Roman Emperor. That's more of a tough one, you probably don't look at names backwards looking for meaning all the time ether.

Rom (Spaceknight)
I didn't realize that Rom's name is short for Romany, meaning gypsy. He is a gypsy that roams around the galaxy.

Cloak and Dagger
For some reason, it didn't occur to me that this team's name was a take-off on a slang term for spy fiction. That's because you could clearly see the girl's cloak, and the dude's daggers. I didn't think about the name any further! Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees!

I'll be updating this list from time-to-time as I think of new ones.

BB Gun
What are the BBs that a BB gun shoots. BB is short for Ball Bearing.

Tony the Tiger
You know how Tony the Tiger, say's "It's Grrrrrrrrate!" I didn't realize that he elongated the Grrrr because he's a tiger, And Tigers say Grrrrr. It wasn't untill McGruff the crime dog came on the scene and used pretty much the same gag, that I caught on. What's the Armstrong's Roofing guy's excuse (Three sevens, Aaaaaaaand a one two three four!) He's not dog or tiger (But he is dead.)

Pop Music
I didn't realize that this was short for Popular Music. It seemed like it was music that Popped. Around the same time I heard about Pop Art, I heard about Op art, which I knew used optical illusion. Steranko used a lot of it in his art. But what about "pop guns" or "pop rocks" the pop in those are not short for "popular." The items make a popping sound.

Pulp Culture
I didn't realize that this popular book on Pulp Magazine art was a take-off on "Pop Culture", or Popular Culture. Perhaps others didn't realize it as well, as there were other books on subjects other than Pulp magazines published in the same format that still used the word "Culture" thus elimating the play on words entirely. "Comics Culture" is one of the titles.

I will update the list from time to time when I think of more things that I didn't know at the time, but should have been obvious to me.

HUNG UPSIDE DOWN

2010-10-12T00:25:00.000-07:00

This song is new to my ears, but it's going through my head a lot these days.

The band is Buffalo Springfield. The band included Neil Young, Steven Stills, and Richie Furay. They will be playing together for the first time in over 40 years, in Mountain View on October 23rd and 24th. My wife and I will be attending with friends.

Here's Bluebird, one of their best songs, and for my money, one of the best songs of all time.

Here's their one and only big hit. It is one of the big theme songs of the 1960s. By now, you probably guessed that I love Buffalo Springfield, and you would be right.

IS THIS THE AL JAFFEE'S MAD LIFE REVIEW?

2010-10-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

If you are reading this, then you're probably a fan of Al Jaffee. You know and love him for his Mad Fold-ins, his Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions, his Mad Inventions, and his hysterically funny writing and artwork for Mad Magazine.

There is a new biography about Jaffee called "Al Jaffee's Mad Life." It is written by Mary-Lou Weisman, and profusely illustrated by Al Jaffee himself. There is a color drawing on almost every other page. Most of them are brand new for this volume, and they add wonderful details to the story. Jaffee's story would be remarkable just for the great comics work he's done. Did you know that one of his first jobs was working for the 18 year old wonder-kid Stan Lee at the company that was to become Marvel Comics. Did you know that his best friend in school was Mad's Rembrant, Will Elder? Another classmate was Harvey Kurtzman?

Jaffee's father could draw characters from the Sunday Funnies, to the delight of his children.

What makes this biographical book so remarkable is the harrowing life that Jaffee and his led. His eccentric and deeply religious mother took him and his brothers from America to Lithuania, not once but twice. He lived in abject poverty and was narrowly rescued from the holocaust by his father.

It's all true, and it's one of the most remarkable and compelling biographies that I've read. It's a must-read if you are a Mad magazine fan, or just a comics fan in general. This is a biography that rises to the level of great fiction.

An assembly line of children producing paintings of airplanes for sale at local stores. The group includes Al Jaffee and Will Elder.

ANTI-SOCIAL NETWORK

2010-10-11T13:01:00.001-07:00

The Social Network is currently the #1 movie in the country. It is about the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerburg. Facebook headquarters is just a few miles away from my Mountain View store, where I am writing this. I don't know how accurate the portrait of Zuckerburg is in this movie. Jessie Eisenberg, in an outstanding performance, portrays him as a very smart, but a completely anti-social person. In the first scene, he is so creepy to his one-and-only girlfriend, that she leaves him for good. It's a wonder she gave him the time of day in the first place. By most accounts Zuckerburg is a much more normal and well-adjusted person in real life the way he portrayed in the film. He supposedly has friends, and even a long-term girlfriend.

Throughout the movie, new innovations for Facebook are presented as if they are brand new inventions. Take the invention of the status update, which is an a-ha moment in the film. I always thought that Facebook was pretty much the same as MySpace, with all the same bells and whistles. Did Facebook really introduce new features to the world, or was it just a slight improvemnt over previous such sites? People got tired of MySpace for some reason, and migrated over to Facebook. I'm assuming that sooner or later, Facebook will be pase' and everyone will switch over to the newest thing. I've seen so many social networks come and go that I'm getting social network fatigue. I'm tired of setting up new profiles and pictures and inviting people to join. I've been on My Space, Comic Space, Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, and too many others to remember. I do have an account on Facebook, but I scarcely do anything except to okay friend requests. I see most of this social networking as a complete waste of time. I haven't even logged in to Myspace for over a year.

So, perhaps Facebook is not so vital and revolutionary. Perhaps Zuckerburg is much more normal than portrayed in the film. One thing is extraordinary, and that is the film making. This is a hell of a good movie. It's fast and smart. It moves quickly and the dialouge is cleaver. The music and cinamatography are first rate. Justin Timberlake is great in a supporting role as Sean Parker, creator of Napster. Who knew that Timberlake could convincingly portray a rock star? A bit of a stretch, but he pulls it off!

Make sure to see The Social Network, not necessarily for the historical value (if you want that, read a bio), but for the film making. This might well be the best picture of the year. It is especially interesting if you live in the middle of Silicon Valley, where Apple, Ebay, Facebook took hold of the newest frontier.

HOW TO SCREW UP YOUR BUSINESS

2010-09-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

As a home-owner and a business owner, it falls to me to make repairs. I wind up going to the hardware store about once a week. There is an Orchard Supply Hardware right by my house in South San Jose, and another one right by my Mountain View store. I usually go to Orchard. I like the service and I know the layout. They usually have what I need. Now and then, I have to go an extra mile or two to the much larger Home Depot for a part that OSH doesn't carry. I am pretty familiar with OSH and Home Depot. I've been to both places hundreds of times.

Today I noticed that one of the back-issue bin sections was sagging. The problem could easily be fixed by installing a couple of corner braces. I've got lots of them at home, but none at work, and I wanted to fix the problem right away, so I headed around the corner to the OSH on Charleston Road. It's only about half a mile away from the store. Something looked amiss as soon as I entered. I saw that the shelves in the back of the store seemed empty.

I headed over to the hardware section and began looking for a box of 3/4 inch screws. They didn't have them! There were lots of empty hooks where they should have been, but no product. I didn't worry about that too much as the corner braces would probably come with their own screws (although not quite as heavy duty as I like.)

I then went over to where the angle braces should have been. Again, empty shelves greeted my where the product was supposed to be. I did find some angle braces that were not quite the size and style that I was looking for. They were also copper colored, and I wanted metal color. It didn't matter too much. No one was going to see the angle braces. I figured that I would make due with those.

I flagged down a worker, and asked him what was going on with the stock at the store. "Why isn't Orchard ordering more product for the shelves?", I inquired. I showed him all the empty shelves that were supposed to display the product that I was looking for. The worker told me that Orchard put in the orders, but the factories were slow in delivering the goods due to the slow economy. He told me that he gets asked that question about 10 times a day, and that he feels he should print up a card with the answer for all the people that ask him.

I thanked him for letting me know, and I didn't tell him, but I have a hard time believing his explanation. He might well believe it himself, and it may very well be something that a superior told him, but I don't buy it.

For one thing, as I mentioned, I go to hardware stores frequently. About once a week. I mostly go to Orchard in South San Jose, and I haven't before noticed empty shelves or a lack of inventory. Now I don't go to the Mountain View branch nearly as much. The problem could be limited to just that branch.

I suspect that the Mountain View branch is experiencing some kind of trouble. Perhaps it's a trouble with management. One thing is for sure, when you go to a hardware store it's usually because you need to fix something in a hurry. If you go once, and there are empty shelves where the parts you need should be, you will go elsewhere. The next time you need something, you might not even try that place again, so you won't know if they got their act together or not.

It's really easy to blame the bad economy for everything. The Mountain View Orchard Supply Hardware had better find a way to stock the products that people want, and they better do it fast, or they will soon go under. They can't afford to have a store full of half-empty shelves. It's either fill those shelves up with the parts people need, by hook or by crook, or close. When people need hardware, they need hardware, not excuses.

SOYLENT GREEN

2010-09-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

I just got around to seeing Soylent Green for the first time. Somehow I got it into my head that it was a trashy movie. Maybe all the spoofs and parodies of it colored my judgment. I started watching the DVD expecting some trashy fun.

My expectations changed very quickly. The film starts on a very strong footing with a musical photo-montage that deftly conveys the effects if the industrial revolution, overcrowding, and pollution. There is another montage near the end of the movie, as well. These portions of the film are incredibly striking and powerful. It's some of the most evocative film-making I've seen. They are the high points of the film, and are so bold, that they would be reason enough to see this film.

The rest of the film is uneven, but it's still watchable and compelling. There is a great deal of provocative material here, and it will have you thinking about it for days.

The film is set in the future, but most of the sets look like the early 1970s, when the film was made. One exception is an upscale apartment where the rich folks live. It has an interesting white-hued futuristic look. The apartment comes complete with what, at the time, was a great futuristic advance-one of the first arcade style video games, created by Nolan Bushnell who went on to found Atari. It probably looked pretty cool at the time, but now it looks like a primitive version of Asteroids. It doesn't help that the actress playing with it does not seem to have a clue how to operate it. Her ships keep dying every second or two, yet she is oblivious to this and acts like she's having a grand time. Couldn't someone on the set have spent a few minutes teaching her how to play it? Despite all that, I thought it was a neat scene, and I was pleased to see that vintage game. I think i remember playing it!

You have to make allowances. We are a bit spoiled now. Movies such as Blade Runner and the 5th Element have a fully realized futuristic world with all the little details shown to perfection. You almost take that for granted now. Video games have come a long way, for that matter. I hope we don't get so spoiled by the current technology that we are no longer willing to supply some of our own sense of wonder.

In Soylent Green, you don't see a thing that suggests a futuristic world for much of the picture. This can be forgiven because there is great acting by the principals, Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson in his last film appearance. There are also a profusion of thought provoking ideas. You probably know the shock ending of this film. Few people won't know the big reveal going in. It's common knowledge whether or not you've seen the film. That's not the main attraction of the film. Enjoyment of it does not depend on the shock ending.

Soylent Green is not a trashy movie. It's a great , thought-provoking near masterpiece with good acting and great scenes. If you are a film buff, or a science fiction fan, you'll definitely want to see this one. Check it out if you have a chance.

THE TEN BEST GRAPIC NOVELS OF ALL TIME

2010-09-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

I have spent much of my life promoting Graphic Novels as an art form. I do that at the stores, at conventions, online, and in the media when opportunity arises. I am quite happy that Graphic Novels have gained a much wider appreciation in mainstream society in recent years.

In my efforts to expose more people to the joys of Graphic Novels, from time to time I compose a list of the Best Graphic Novels of all time. Naturally, these kind of lists are always subjective. It's an art, not a science. I hope that you will agree, however, that there are some worthy picks here. The selections are in alphabetical order.

Black Hole by Charles Burns

Blankets by Craig Thompson

Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

Ghost World by Dan Clowes

Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Sin City by Frank Miller

Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Y The Last Man by Bryan K. Vaughn and Pia Girarra.

Some pretty nice books there, don't you think?
Well if you agree that these are fantastic books by amazingly talented creators, you will be happy to know that the creator of one of these books will be appearing at Lee's Comics in Mountain View next month to premiere a brand new Graphic Novel!

Can you guess who it is?

Let me give you a couple of hints.

Fist, the creator has never appeared at Lee's Comics before. Second the creator does all the writing and artwork for his Graphic Novels. That should narrow down the list quite a bit!

Let's see who will be the first to guess the identity of our next in-store creator appearance!

STERANKO

2010-07-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

One of Steranko's classic Marvel comics.

Fans of classic comic art treasure the work of Jim Steranko. In 2001 I had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Steranko at our Mountain View location for a panel discussion with author MIchael Chabon, who had used Steranko as inspiration for the hero of his Pulitzer Prize winning book "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay."

J. David Spurlock, Michael Chabon, and Jim Steranko at Lee's Comics.

Here is a very snappy article about Jim Steranko by noted author Jonathan Ross. Make sure to check it out!

AL WILLIAMSON R.I.P.

2010-06-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

I was sad to hear of the passing of legendary EC comic book artist Al Williamson. Williamson was the youngest of the EC comics artists. He was friend and collaborator of the late Frank Frazetta. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times at Comic Con. He's a giant to me and countless other comics fans.

GRAND COMIC BOOK DATABASE

2010-06-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

If you collect comic books, you probably already know about the Grand Comic Book Database, but in case you don't, you should certainly check it out. The goal of the GCBDB is to catalog all the comics ever made. I've made a whole lot of searches, and it seems like they are about 90% complete in that task. They have a small and medium size scan of each cover, and they list the cover artists. They list the creators of each story inside, including script, pencils, inks, colors and letters. They list the genre, characters, a plot synopsis of each story, and where the story was reprinted, or reprinted from. They list the cover price and on sale date. They list know variations. There are also notes, and those can be the most interesting thing.

This is an incredible resource! The Overstreet Price guide lists only a tiny bit of this information. They usually center on a small list of artists that they consider "Collectable", and ignore many noteworthy artists.

When I am looking over a run of comics these days, I invariably consult the GCBDB. There is always a wealth of interesting information there. I always learn something new when I check the GCBDB. Of course this slows down my work as I just have to check out some of the stuff they mention!

As a random example, here's some interesting info I found when doing a search of the relatively obscure 1970s series "Marvel Premiere". It was interesting to me, at least! Maybe it will be interesting to you, too.
Issue #2, Phil Kane, a character from a 1956 Jack Kirby Yellow Claw reprint was retouched to be Nick Fury! (This I 'gotta see!)
Issue #15 Although uncredited, Klaus Janson certainly inked at least pages #8-11.
Issue #24 The Marvel softball team appears on pages 15-17 of this issue, with Marie Severin providing most of the likenesses. Chris Claremont, Len and Glynis Wein, Marv Wolfman, Tony Isabella, Irene Vartanoff, Herb Trimpe, Mark Hanerfeld, Bill Mantlo, Mike Kaluta, and Al Milgrom are featured. See the letters page to Iron Fist #2 for more information.
Issue #50 Letters page article on making this issue including the credits and a photo of Roger Stern, Jim Salicrup, and Alice Cooper.
Issue #53 Cover is by Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein . (I didn't know that!)
Issue #54 Another Frank Miller cover!

I'm sure that there are numerous errors and omissions on the database, but people can submit corrections and cover scans when needed. It's just going to get better and better. This is a really great resource. It's one of the many things that make's one thankful for the internet.

BOOK BURNING

2010-06-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

Did you ever do a couple of things at the same time that made you appreciate heretofore unforeseen connections between them? Here's an example from my own life from a few days ago.

The other night I thought it would be fun to watch a move, so I asked my daughters to choose one. They chose Fahrenheit 451, and we proceeded to watch it. The movie is based on the famous 1950s novel by Ray Bradbury. In the move (and in the book) firemen don't put out fires. They burn books. Books, of course, have disturbing, provocative ideas in them, so they have to be eliminated for the common good. I was thinking about what a crazy idea this was, even for a science fiction film. And then it dawned on me that on that same day, I was reading a book about censorship called "The Ten Cent Plague", by David Hajdu.

They burned tens of thousands of comic books right here in America, in numerous separate events! The most hated of those comic books was the EC line, which ironically included adaptations of Ray Bradbury's own stories. So, in 1953, at the same time that Fahrenheit 451 came out, EC was putting out comics like the one below that were very likely being burned. Bradbury's vision remains stronger then ever.

Here's an excerpt from "The Ten Cent Plague", by David Hajdu.

Groups of students continued to burn comic books in school yards around the country, some under the sway of their parents and teachers, some in concord with them, some unsure of their own points of view and doubtful of the propriety of disagreeing with their elders, some emboldened to defiance through the burnings themselves. In one case, a grand public protest organized in Rumson, New Jersey, an affluent town near the seashore, the young people involved were exceptionally young, Cub Scouts, and they were only part of an elaborate plan arranged by a Cubmaster, Louis Cooke, a scout committeeman, Ralph Walter, and the mayor, Edward Wilson. As it was announced on January 6 at a "fathers' night" meeting of the Rumson High School PTA, the event was to involve a two-day drive to collect comic books "portraying murderers and criminals," a journalist at the meeting reported. A group of forty Cubs would tour the borough in a fire truck, "with siren screaming, and collect objectionable books at homes along the way." Then the mayor would lead the boys in a procession from Borough Hall to Rumson's Victory Park, where Wilson would present awards to the scouts and lead them in burning the comic books. The Cub who had gathered the most comics would have the honor of applying the torch to the books. When the national office of the Cub Scouts of America declined to support the bonfire, and news≠papers as far-flung as Michigan's Ironwood Daily Globe questioned it, the Rumson event was revised to conclude with the scouts donating the comics to the Salvation Army for scrap.

A few weeks later, a Girl Scout leader in the farm-country town of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Mrs. Thomas Mullen, guided her troop and local students in a comic-book burning, unencumbered. (The event had not been widely publicized in advance.) The scouts, fourteen- to eighteen-year-old members of Senior Troop 29, began gathering crime comics, as well as western and romance titles (because of their shootings and sexual innuendo, respectively), then turned the burning over to students at St. Mary's, a Catholic high school of about 275 housed in an austere redbrick building, a refurbished old hospital. Following a script by the parish pastor, Rev. Theon Schoen, the students conducted a mock trial of four comic-book characters, portrayed by upperclassmen who pleaded guilty to "leading young people astray and building up false conceptions in the minds of youth." The trial, held on the school grounds after classes, concluded with a "great big bonfire," as one of the students, Bonnie Wulfers, would remember it. As the books burned, Schoen led the assembled group of more than four hundred students from St. Mary's elementary and high schools in a version of the now-standard pledge to "neither read nor purchase objectionable publications and to stay away from retail establishments where such are sold."

A comics burning in Binghamton, NY, 1948.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
--Ray Bradbury

PALY HIGH

2010-05-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent article about me that I just discovered online:

I thought that the student reporter did a pretty good job over all.

A couple of corrections, I am standing at the Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco in front of an exhibit of original Gene Colan art, rather than in front of posters of comics as stated in the picture caption.

Then there's this statement:
"Older comics come in a grainy black and white."

Not true, they were all in color, even for a dime.

FRANK FRAZETTA

2010-05-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

Master fantasy artist, Frank Frazetta, died today at the age of 82. Frazetta was the greatest and most influential fantasy artist of all time. He inspired all who came after him. He is a household name, and people recognize his style everywhere. He's an icon. If you dream at all, you know Frazetta.

I started selling comics at the San Jose flea market, back in the late 1970s. Like everywhere else, Frazetta influence was all pervasive. I often sold near a stand that provided airbrushed custom art on vans. The vans lined up all day, and they all wanted the same thing. They wanted some bad-ass Frazetta art on their ride. I would always stop by and admire the various renderings throughout the day.

What could say "If this van's rockin' don't come knocking" better than this beauty?

The Flea Market was in bloom in the hot summer months. He-men strode around in their tank-tops in the mid-day sun. Many of them had tattoos. Guess who the most popular artist was, and probably still is, when it comes to tough-guy tattoos?

Would you want to mess with the owner of this arm?
His tattoo, alone, could kick your timid ass!

I quickly came to the conclusion that all guys think that they are Frazetta characters. It didn't matter if they were a Hell's Angel or a math teacher, inside was the heart of a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth. A guy that won't back down when things get rough. Somehow Frazetta had gotten in to each man's head, and had understood the underpinnings of his soul. Frazetta was as popular as beer.

The parodists caught on to this universal longing inside the common man to be a Frazetta character.

This is by Boris, but it's an obvious Frazetta parody.
Just like everything else by Boris.

What action movie star would not want to be depicted by the great Frazetta?

They've messed with the wrong guy.

What better way to let heavy metal fans know that you mean business than with this bad-ass cover!

When I think about it, Frazetta's art was so powerful, so potent, that it was almost a sacred thing. It was surely the best part of anything it was attached to. No matter how many great artists there were in an issue of Creepy, or Eerie, NOBODY could beat the Frazetta cover. I've never listened to Molly Hatchet, but boy is that cover beautiful. Their music couldn't possibly be as good as that cover. Frazetta was almost too good for the world he inhabited, but he surely elevated it. He wrote a brand new visual language that lives on everywhere.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

2010-05-02T16:23:00.001-07:00

Free Comic Book Day was an absolute smash! It was one of our busiest days ever. It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day, and families and groups of people were coming in waves all day long. The store was also packed, and there was a line at the register most of the day. Even though we increased our orders on the free comic books, they were completely gone by 5 pm. Next year, we'll order even more. We estimate that over a thousand people showed up at each Lee's Comics location. Apparently these free comics are catching on! Who knew?

I brought my daughter Hannah, age 14 to the event. She made this terrific video. Make sure to check it out!

The Top Seven Comics Creators who can KICK YOUR ASS

2010-04-24T00:31:00.000-07:00

Modern-day Houdini Jim Steranko.

Here's a great blog post about real-life kick-ass, macho, he-man comics creators from comics lunatic Ty Templeton. Warning, it's not suggested for sissies, or people who drink their tea with upraised pinkies. The line up of brawlers Includes "Jaunty" Jim Steranko, and Jack "King" Kirby. The only serious omission is Daredevil artist David Mack, who I've personally seen doing all the moves that Daredevil does in the comics.

GENESIS!

2010-04-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

This one is brilliant! You've got to check it out. It's Genesis, the band, by R. Crumb as imagined by Ward Sutton.

Make sure to check out all 11 pages!

Link.

WANDER CON

2010-04-04T13:02:00.001-07:00

This is the first Wonder Con that I have not set up a booth at.

I headed to San Francisco with my friend Mark Arnold. I met up at the Convention with my son, and his girlfriend. My goal was to hand out some flyers for my store, so I deputized my group. After we handed out a box full, the powers that be informed me that handing out flyers in the building was forbidden. I complied with them, and stopped handing flyers out. We went upstairs for a while, and then went across the street and hung out at Starbucks, where we chatted, looked at the program schedule and had some snacks. Rather than sit in a long line, and activity I try to avoid at all times, I figured that we could just cruise in a little after opening time, like civilized people and get right in. That strategy worked like a charm!

The staging area on Friday.

We managed to hand out flyers to most of the people here until the powers that be converged on us.

Here's the view from above.

Here I am with Bob Schreck one of the greatest comics impresarios in history.

Here I meet up with the Devil. He goes by the name of Robert Rhine, when he travels above ground. He puts out a magazine for his subjects called "Girls and Corpses". I haven't yet made a pact with him, but I'm thinking it over!

Here's the legendary Joe Kubert, one of the greatest comic book artists in history! I love his Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace. What a terrific artist!

The highlight of the show for me was definitely the Stan and Hunter Freberg panel, hosted by Mark Evanier. If you are a comedy or animation fan, you already know about Stan Freberg. I didn't know as much about his work producing television commercials. They played some samples, including a fussy Englishman who hated prunes, and Ann Miller dancing on a Coffee can. The audience loved them. I would love to see more of these. The stories that Stan and Hunter told about making these were hilarious. I'll have to see if there's a DVD collection of these.

There were plenty of people there in costume. I think it's great. It makes it costume optional masquerade party.

Here's my boy, Lee 4 clowning around with his pal, the great Matt Wagner of Mage and Grendel fame.

Here's the great artist, Art Adams, with his lovely and gracious wife, Mrs Art Adams.

Here I am with Mimi Cruz and her cousin. Mimi runs one of the best comic book stores on earth, Night Flight comics in Salt Lake city.

Here are the nutty guys behind the great comic-centric rock band "Kirby Crackle".

Here's my pal, Dapper Dave Downey, proprietor of World's Best Comics in Sacramento. To the shock of all, he has actually dained to bring some comics to the comic book convention!

Here are the fine folks at the Flesk Publications booth. Master artist Mark Schultz of Xenozoic Tales fame is on the right.

There was no paucity of movie-type stuff on the floor. This one at least has origins as a comic book.

I'm not sure what this one was.

Random crowd scenes, within and without.

The artist for Boom Comics' Toy Story. Unfortunately I didn't write down any names.

Here I am with my buddy, Barry Borras. Barry has an amazing collection of collection of Toys and Comics.

Saturdays highlight was the Mark and Sergio show. I was luck to get in as it was completely sold out, and standing room only.

Here is best selling author Max Brooks. I just found out that he is the son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft!

I invited my friend Walter Fields to the show, and he came on Saturday. Here is Walter, Mark Arnold, Lee 4 and Me. Goodbye Wonder Con. A great time was had by all!

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

2010-02-01T00:04:00.000-08:00

There's a terrific article in today's San Jose Mercury News. It's called "Graphic novels' growing appeal." The picture above ran with the article, and I'm quoted in it, but don't let that stop you from reading it.

I'm the most happy about how the the article promotes quality graphic novels. The author, Randy Myers really knows his stuff, and has excellent taste in literate works such as Maus, Persepolis and Blankets. He also mentions popular and compelling ones such as Watchmen, Y: The Last Men, and The Walking Dead. This is one of the best articles that I've seen promoting the kind of Graphic novels that I love the most.

I hope that this article inspires some new readers to try graphic novels.
This article has certainly inspired me, and I intend to start a display of the recommended graphic novels it in my store.

THE DEAN OF AVATAR

2010-01-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

No, not a production painting for Avatar, but a vintage Roger Dean painting.

I saw the movie Avatar over the weekend. I enjoyed it, especially for it's beautiful vision of an exotic alien world. Throughout it all, I had the feeling that I had seen many of the images before. At last, it came to me. I had seen those vistas in the work of fantasy artist Roger Dean, famous for his album covers for Yes, and other groups. When I first started buying record albums back in the early 1970s, I loved the group Yes, and would spend hours gazing at the incredible worlds he created for the covers. He seemed to be everyone's favorite fantasy artist in those days, rivaled only by Frank Frazetta. Roger Dean is not mentioned in the credits of Avatar, but there are plenty of people online, as it turns out, that feel he might have helped inspire the visuals for this movie.

If you want to see more of Mr. Dean's fabulous paintings, check here.

Another vintage Roger Dean painting.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-31T20:23:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT LEE'S COMICS!
Hopefully 2010 will be better than the last.
(How could it not?)

AFTER THANSGIVING SALE

2009-11-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

We were almost hoping that this Annual event didn't catch on. Who the heck wants to get up early the day after Thanksgiving? I sure don't. But lots of you guys do. So we did! And we'll do it again next year! Here's some pictures from our Mountain View location.

The line starts forming a half an hour before opening time.

Free gifts for the first 50 people per store. Here's the happy recipient of a Joker 'Toon Tumbler.

Here's our buddy, Scott, owner of Handee Books. I think that I was trying to sell Scott on the merits of our fabulous Lee's Comics boxer shorts.

Here's a shot from the back of the store. You can see the people snapping up the Silver Age comics, and the bargain comics.

The back issue bins from another angle.

A crane shot (taken by "Little Lee" the human crane.) from the front of the store.

Folks lining up at the counter.

Another crane shot from the front. You can see our buddy, Mark Arnold strolling down the middle of the store, bringing long boxes for bargain hunters to put their swag into.

Bargain hunters up close and personal.

One last shot from the back issue bins.

A big thanks to all that attended the After Thanksgiving Sale at Lee's Comics!

NEW ARRIVAL

2009-11-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

I'm very pleased to announce the latest addition to the Lee's Comics family, Victoria Ann Crane, born Monday November 2nd. The baby, and Mark and Michelle Crane are all happy, healthy and doing fine.

COMIC BOOK SHOWCASE

2009-10-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a neat product, new to Lee's. It's an easy and elegant way to display your favorite comics. It's called a Comic Book Showcase, and is made by the BCW company. The top part is clear plastic. You snap it off, insert your comic in the well, and snap it back on. There is a built-in handle for hanging. It comes in Current and Silver Age size, and sells for $7.95

(Sorry, my copy of Silver Surfer #4 is not included.)

WHAT IT WAS, WAS THE BLACK OCTOBER SALE

2009-10-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

The Black October Sale, held last Saturday at both Lee's Comics locations was a smash! It was a bright, sunny day and everyone was in the mood to dig for bargain comics and stock up on graphic novels. I worked at our Mountain View location until the early afternoon, and took a few pictures.

Here's Dan Jackowitz one of my favorite ex Lee's Comics clerks. Dan stopped by for a visit. He's married, and has a new home. Congratulations Dan! I'm sure that many long time Lee's Comics customers have fond memories of Mr. J!

Here's another look at those bargain book hunters, snapping up those comics with the speed of Mercury!

Here's my friend Mark Arnold manning the booth. He often helps me out at special events.

Now we travel into the store.

MP and Stephan ring up sales.

Frenzy in a Far-Off Bargain Bin!

THE HORROR! THE HORROR!

2009-10-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

This video is wrong on so many levels. It was filmed at a recent Wizard convention. (Note the empty isles.)

I don't blame the girls. I feel sorry for them. Whoever it was at Wizard that okayed this has a lot to answer for. This is like a modern day minstrel show, for comics.

VISUAL PUN

2009-09-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a visual pun. The picture recalls a common phrase. Can you guess it?

The first correct guess wins a $10 Lee's Comics gift certificate. Send your entry to Lee@Lcomics.com
Make sure to include your name and address.

OK, we have a winner. It's Sean Kleefeld. Have YOU figured it out yet? If not, take a moment and try again. Okay, if you are still stumped, I'll give you the answer. Just drag your cursor over the line below to reveal.
The Door is a Jar.
Simple, no?
Look for the next visual pun soon!

GENIUS

2009-09-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

I enjoy reading the Metro every week. I particularly like Richard von Busack's movie and other pop culture reviews. I read anything he writes, as he's one of the most brilliant and insightful writers on the scene. He's written about comic books many a time, and he really knows his stuff. I was very happy to be included in the September 23th 2009 Best of Silicon Valley edition. This was posted under "Staff Picks, Arts and Culture."

That nice write-up kind of inspires me to get busy and book a few more comic geniuses here.

LOTUS 7

2009-08-03T23:24:00.001-07:00

If you like the Prisoner's car, see here what a good driver can do with it:

By the way, that's Wolverine's ride too.

WHY DID YOU RESIGN?

2009-08-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

This year, after 23 years of setting up at the San Diego Comic Con, I decided to quit. Some people are curious about the reasons for this.

It occurs to me, that the best TV show of all time was about a guy that quit.

oh thank heaven

2009-07-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

My daughter Sophie was all fired up about "Free Slurpee Day", and was telling me about it for days. It took place Saturday, so I drove her and a friend 2 miles down the road to the nearest 7-11. I was worried that there would be a big crowd for such a great free treat, but there was no line. I was also worried that it was the wrong day, or that they would say that they ran out of cups, or the like. There was only 1 other person in the store. I asked the clerk about the free Slurpee. With obvious embarrassment he handed me 3 cups. These were no ordinary cups. They were Lilliputian in size. The things were barely the size of my palm.

Great. It's been years since I've been to a 7-11. I used to love their Slurpees. Back in the 1970s I would buy my comic books, and spend the last of my hard-earned money on a Slurpee. They had a series of cups with the DC heroes on them, and later with Marvel Characters. I loved those cups, and still have many happy memories of collecting them.

Lee's Favorite Slurpee Cup, featuring Jim Steranko's Nick Fury.

If you are a small business man like myself, you may think that you cannot compete with the huge companies. Think again. Just treat your customers well, and you will have a distinct advantage over most corporations.

Corporations think they are really smart when they think of new ways to trick their customers. Some genius at the 7-11 corporation (or whatever conglomerate owns the place) thought it would be a great idea to make July 11th (7-11, get it?) free Slurpee Day. Now instead of giving you a regular small size Slurpee, (12 ounces), which would be entirely acceptable, and within everyones expectations, they come up with a really nifty way to short change the customer. They make a special tiny cup. But this is no ordinary size. It's 7.11 ounces! It's like they are shining up a turd and telling you it's Almond Rocca!

Apparently 7-11 does not want you to drink deep. They just want to give you enough to whet your appetite, so you'll have to buy more on the spot just to quench your thirst. But hold on. This is not, free sample day. It's supposed to be free Slurpee day. Mrs. Fields gives away little tiny pieces of cookies every day. Does she call it "free Cookie Day?". I guess Costco should call every day "Free Food Day" since they hand out little tiny samples. The gelato shop I go to should announce "free gelato Day" since they offer a tiny spoonful for you to taste.

My philosophy is to treat each customer as a friend. When our industry has free comic book day, do you get a tiny comic book? Do you get a page, or a panel? No, you get a full-size comic book! At my store you get 2 of them. 4 if you bring in a coupon. The comic book dealer pays for these free samples in order to get new faces in the door. Each of these "free" comics we give away costs us 25¢ and up. Just how much would a regular sized Slurpee set back the 7-11 owner? I would be shocked if it was a nickel. But that's still too much, so they have to produce a tiny size cup, which likely cost more money to make than the Slurpee costs. All in the name of bilking the suckers that come through the door.

If it was free popcorn day at the movie theater you would expect at least a standard small size popcorn, right? Not a tiny size bag with 5 kernels in it! 7-11 went and produced a special tiny cup, slightly over half the size of the smallest drink that they sell. Shame on the corporation for thinking so little of it's customers to do this! I also blame each individual branch. If I owned a 7-11 I would have been giving out normal sized Slurpees, even if I had to pay for them out of my own pocket. You just don't treat your customers (your friends, remember) that way.

My plan was to get the free ones for the people in my group, and to buy more for the people at home. When I saw the crummy little insult of a shot they were giving out, I swore that I would buy nothing. It's going to be a very long while before I set foot in a 7-11 again. Shame one you 7-11. It's no wonder you are ridiculed as the "Quickie Mart" on the Simpsons. Your reputation for being a shoddy rip-off is well-earned. You had a chance to make a lot of new friends on July 11th, but instead you put greed first.

Shot-glass size free Slurpee. Is that any way to treat a guest?

PRINCE VALIANT

2009-07-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

PRINCE VALIANT Vol. 1: 1937-1938
Fantagraphics Books, Hardcover $29.95

My favorite comics work ever is Prince Valiant by Hal Foster. Years ago, Foster's entire cannon was released by Fantagraphics, one year's worth of material at a time, in oversized softcover volumes. These volumes are now long out of print, and command collector's prices. It's a shame that such vital material was so expensive and hard to find.

Now Fantagraphics has begun a new series of volumes that are a great improvement over the previous ones. They are hardcover with better reproduction and coloring. The previous volumes were in soft cover, which, due to the oversized format, was easy to damage. The hardcover format is a much better way for this timeless material to last through the ages. The coloring and reproduction are much improved as well. There is now 2 years worth of material in each volume, double what the previous volumes had. The first volume includes several pages of nicely illustrated historical Hal Foster articles and interviews.

A glance at Foster's Prince Valiant will show you how beautiful and masterful the illustrations are. Foster starts off nicely, but after around 18 weeks, he really hits his stride. Where the pages were previously done generally on a 12-panel grid, they now open up with much larger vistas of sprawling castles, armies marching, and action scenes. All are rendered with singular beauty, flair and realism. It's the work of an absolute master, working at the height of his powers. Upon reading it, the amazing discovery is that the stories are even better than the art! All of Foster's incredible panoramas are there in service of a thrilling saga. Prince Valiant is a man of action, but he is also quite cunning and strategic. He is bold, strong, and well trained, but more frequently he out-thinks his opponents. You can't wait to see what happens on the next page.

This beautiful volume belongs in any comic book fan's library. I have read these stories many times over the years, and I have loved them each time. I am reading this volume at home right now, savoring a few pages each night. This is absolutely fantastic material. It's my Desert Island graphic novel. If I could only keep one Graphic Novel, this would be the one. It's available at the stores right now. Buy yours today!

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY!

2009-07-06T16:25:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my Niece Shannon's birthday, my Sister-In-Law, Barbara, invited my family and a bunch of other people for a cruise on the San Francisco Bay to see the fireworks.

We left from the Port of Oakland. Our ship was the USS Potomac, which had been Franklin Roosevelt's Presidential yacht, known as "The Floating White House". It was really exciting to travel on such a historic vessel. It's a small craft, and can accommodate no more than 125 people. They had plenty of drinks and snacks available, and docents on hand to tell passengers about the historic details of the ship. I must say, this was one of the most spectacular independence day celebrations that I have ever experienced!

Here's a vintage picture of F.D.R. enjoying himself on the ship. You can almost feel his presence, as all the little details have been re-created.

Connie and I.

The Bay Bridge.

Daughter Hannah, who plans to live in San Francisco when she grows up.

Sophie, Cousin Sarah, and Hannah on the fantail.

Sister in-law Rebbecca, Grandma, Birthday Girl Shannon, Sophie, Sarah, and Hannah.

"Pardon me, have you any Grey Poupon?"

Some of those aforementioned fireworks.

"A 3 hour tour!" It's Cousin Justin.

ARCHIE GETS MARRIED?

2009-05-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC. Today she had a segment on the upcoming "Marriage of Archie."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Hey, did you notice that Rachel's correspondent, Kent Jones, looks a whole lot like a grown-up Archie Andrews. As you can see, Jones says that Archie is going to marry Veronica. As it turns out, he's going to marry Betty too, but both stories are going to be imaginary stories. It all stars with Archie #600, where imaginary Archie of the future proposes to Veronica. This runs to issue #602. In issues #603-605 future imaginary Archie marries Betty. Poor Jughed, he gets left out in both imaginary scenarios. And he's none too happy about it, as you can see on this cover:

I don't have any inside information, but I would speculate that the world or Archie will return to normal shortly after these issues run their course. Archie Comics is a conservative company, and they are not going to change their successful 70 year old formula. It's going to quickly return to a teen love triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica, never to be definitively resolved. But, in the meantime, Archie is getting a boatload of free publicity with this "Imaginary story".

I wonder if Marvel's rumored return of a certain shied slinging hero will garner the same.

SUPERCON

2009-05-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

I didn't set up at this year's WonderCon in San Jose, but I traveled there with my friend Mark Arnold to hand out Lee's Comics coupons. Actually I didn't have to travel far, since I live in San Jose.

There was a nice, long line of advanced ticket holders. I walked the line, and gave out my coupons. I saw several of my regular customers in line.

Here's the view from the inside.

Here's Michael V. Bennett, who I call "Wild Kirby Guy." He paints incredible day glow originals in the Jack Kirby style, which he sells for a very modest price. Right now, he has a show at the Super7 Store in San Francisco. Check it out!

Here's one of the all-time greats, Howard Chaykin, creator of American Flagg. Howard is a fascinating, animated, and personable fellow. He talked to me about his admiration for Harvey Kurtzman. Howard is kindly holding up the Lee's Comics coupon.

Here's Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos with my friend Bill Morrison of Simpsons Comics fame. Jane did a great interview on the Ronn Owens program on Friday at 11:00 am to Noon. It was a very entertaining interview, and she plugged the SuperCon a bunch of times. If you hurry, you can listen to the interview, or download it.

Here is K.D. Boze with his book, the Virgin Project. This is a very compelling book about various people's first time. You can buy it at Lee's Comics, or online. There's going to be a 2nd volume, so you'll have a chance to submit your story. I'll post details about that later, when I find out.

Here's the great cartoonist Sergio Aragones of Mad Magazine and Groo fame, along with your humble retailer. Forget about the guy in the beer commercials, Sergio is the most interesting man in the world!

Mark and I cut out after about 4 hours, but we had a great time. The SuperCon continues today (Sunday). Hopefully the air conditioning will hold out, as temperatures are expected to reach triple digits today.

HOOKED ON CLASSICS

2009-05-15T21:32:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to enjoy fine Classical Music while getting down with the boogie? If so, this is for you:

WONDER WOMAN OF THE SPHERES

2009-05-11T09:03:00.001-07:00

I found this terrific piece of art on a Worth 1000, a website where people create a Photoshop rendering based on a suggested theme. This time, it's cartoon characters in classic art.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2009

2009-05-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

This year's Free Comic Book Day was an overwhelming success at both locations! I worked the Mountain View store. After some deliberation I decided to give away the free comics outside like I have done on previous years. The deliberation was due to the light drizzle that was coming down. Drizzle or no, I want ahead and set up outside. I really like to be set up on the sidewalk out in front of the store in our busy complex as it features a Costco, a Pet Club, a Krispy Kreme, and other popular stores. There are one thousand five hundred parking spots in our center, and most of them are filled on a busy Saturday, so it's bustling with people. I like to think that by being out front, we create just a few new comic readers. Lucky for me the drizzle abated by 11:00am. I noticed that the crowds of shoppers inside the store were huge this year. The store was so packed that we we almost had to have people wait in line outside for their turn to go inside. For the first time ever, we completely ran out of free comics to give out, even though we ordered larger quantities than ever.

We sent out Postcards to the 2,500 people on our mailing list. The postcard offered 2 extra free comics (for a total of 4), and 4 free comics from our bargain section. Our bargain books are regularly 50¢, but we had them on sale for 25¢. The bargain books were so popular that it was hard to get near them. In the afternoon, I had a good idea, and I brought several boxes of choice old bargain books outside for customers to pick through. That way, they could choose their free bargain books without having to fight their way to the bargain bins inside.

Sales were up a whopping 30% this year! (We were quite happy with last years sales too!) Not too shabby for being right in the middle of a recession. I guess people really like the free!

The bargain bins are not for the timid!

A view from the back of the store.

Customers lining up at the register.

More interior shots.

A view from the front door.

Set up outside to hand out the free comics. Mark Arnold mans the booth. Note that the ground is wet from the light rain.

Back inside.

People getting their free books.

The fellow I'm talking to here is Chris Pedrin. It's been a few years since I saw Chris. You may remember him as the creator of the Fortress, a heavy duty clear holder for valuable comics that came out before CGC came along. Chris brought along his two boys. He's got a few more kids at home.

I always like to see parents bring their delightful kids to Free Comic Book Day!

Free Comic Book Day is a party for all ages! See you again, the first Saturday in May!

JACK MEETS MAC

2009-05-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

I was amazed to see a picture of Paul McCartney meeting Jack Kirby. Jack's daughter Lisa talks about the meeting on her Blog.

As you may or may not know, the Beatles were comic book fans. Paul McCartney has a song called Magneto and Titanium Man.

The Beatles Photo Blog posted pictures of the meeting along with the scan of an original drawing that Jack presented to Paul. There was also a picture of Iron Man #22, which might be the inspiration for the Magneto and Titanim man song. This is really neat stuff for this massive Beatles and Jack Kirby fan.

I found out about this on Heidi MacDonald's Beat.

WOLVERVINE MITT

2009-04-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

Wolverlee

"I'm the best at what I do, and what I do isn't pretty. I sell comic books."

Yesterday we received 4 huge Federal Express boxes. They were all full of over-sized foam wolverine mitts just like the one pictured. Evidently the movie studio sent them out to promote the upcoming movie. Hurry on into your local Lee's Comics and pick up your very own, absolutely fee of charge, while supplies last. Make sure to wear yours to the premiere! That's a mitt that just screams "We're number one!"

NETFLIX

2009-04-24T00:45:00.000-07:00

I'm not much for My Space and Facebook, and I definitely don't Twitter. They all seem like a big waste of time to me, plus, there is WAY too much spam. Everybody is trying to sell you something. Just what this world needs. More ads!

I did join Netflix recently. My goal is to finish seeing the films that are generally recognized as the best ever. Right now I am working off the list from the internet movie database. They have a list of the top 250 films as chosen by their readers.

I looked over the list, and made a list of the films that I have not seen, and added them to my netflix cue. I have been watching these movies. I must say that the results are very good. I am seeing a much higher percentage of films that I really like, rather than by choosing films that look good at Blockbuster, or Comcast on Demand.

I just finished a really thought provoking and challenging film. It's "Requiem For a Dream." I recommend it highly, but must warn you, it's not for the squeamish. I had to stop watching it, and I returned to it the next day. It was just too disturbing. I found out that it was directed by Darren Aronofsky, who also directed "The Wrestler". He also directed the movie "PI", which is also highly regarded. Since I like the director's work, I added PI to the top of my cue. I'll get that in a couple of days, since I am returning "Requiem" tomorrow.

The funny thing about Nexflix is that my cue of movies is getting longer and longer. You would think that it would get shorter as I exhaust the great films. One great film leads to another as you discover another great Actor, Writer, or Director.

If you are interersted in finding out which movies I rate most highly, you can become my Nexfix friend. Just click on the link. Right now, I just have hundreds of ratings, but I will start writing reviews as well. If you like my taste in movies, I might like yours as well.

This seems like a decent purpose for social networking.

Better than "Twitter My Face Dot Com". (KGO Radio Traffic Man Stan Burford came up with that one yesterday.)

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN ON GENE KELLY

2009-04-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

Looking at these Scopitons makes me think of my very favorite practitioner of flimed singing and dancing.
That would be the inimitable Gene Kelly.

My favorite film is "Singing in the Rain", starring Gene Kelly.
It is as close to perfection as anything man has yet created.
Kelly made scores of great films. Some of my other favorites are "The Pirate", "An American In Paris", "Cover Girl" and "On the Town". If you are not yet a fan of Gene Kelly, this AMC tribute by Christopher Walken will make you one.

ONE MORE SCOPITONE

2009-04-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Here is one more Scopitone. It stars the Kessler Sisters. It's fun, elegant and classy. It's like something you would see in a Gene Kelly movie.

SCOPITONE MANIA!

2009-04-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

I attended the KFJC Psychotronix Film Festival on Saturday, and had a grand time. For those not familiar, the film festival features interesting and unusual 16mm short films. Saturday's program featured musical shorts.

The first few films almost knocked my and my friends out of our chairs. I had never seen anything like them. During intermission, I asked the organiser, Robert Emmett about them. It turns out that they are called "Scopitones." They were made for special video jukeboxes in the early 1960s. The Scopitone jukeboxes were expensive, and they never really caught on. There were only 500 of these sets made. The Scopitone videos were only made for a few years. They started in France, but made their way to America.

I bet that very few people know about these today.

Most of the videos centered around women that were curvy and easy on the eyes. The color and sound are vivid, and the dancers grin gleefully. A typical one is below. Keep in mind, these have much bigger impact on a larger screen, but the You Tubes will give you the general idea of what a Scopitone is like.

Here's a really outstanding one that's a little different:

Here's a neat one:

I hope you enjoyed these. I love them! If you want to see more on You Tube, just search under Scopitone, or click on the link.

If you want to order some Scopitones on DVD to watch at home, go to the Scopitone web site.

As I mentioned at the top, I just discovered these yesterday, and they are my new mania.

AINT THE INTERNET GRAND?

2009-04-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

There has been much debate about Microsoft Comic Sans lately.
I am not a fan of this font, as you will see, if you follow the links.

Heidi MacDonald (The Beat) published an article about the creator of this font, and I posted a comment.

The very next day, my comment was reprinted on Letterer extraordinaire Todd Klien's blog. He went on to do a detailed analysis of the many failings of Comic Sans.

Its really gratifying to put forward a view on a certain subject, and the very next day receive a detailed examination by one the world's leading authorities in that field.

The subject of Microsoft Comic Sans might not be life changing or earth shattering, but by gum, I was thinking about it, and now I know all about it.

That's one of the really cool things about the internet. Most of the time we just waste time on it, so we forget what an awesome resource it is. You get instant access to a vast universe of information and expert analysis. You could even, theoretically, use it to get info about something important! Not on my blog, though, I deal strictly with trivia and ephemera. That's how I make my living, too. I don't sell a single item that you need. Just stuff that you want. None of it is vital for your survival, but somehow it makes life more fun and interesting.

VIRGIN PROJECT

2009-04-06T17:37:00.000-07:00

The Virgin Project is a new graphic novel project by K.D. Boze and Stasia Kato. It's a whole bunch of true stories about different people's first sexual experiences. The names have been changed to protect the formerly innocent.

This is a surprisingly engaging collection, and it grabbed me immediately. The stories are quite democratic. There are sad stories, happy ones, funny ones, straight, and gay. Regardless, they all touch on something universal in all of us. Truth is stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to the bedroom, or the backseat of a Caddy.

This material is for mature audiences, but not what I would call pornography. As a parent, you might even want your children to read it. Perhaps they could avoid some of the situations depicted therein.

The Virgin Project is a 142 page Trade Paperback, Color and Black and white. It sells for $25. It has not yet been widely distributed, and we bought our copies from the publisher. It's on sale now at both Lee's Comics locations. For those of you that can't make it to the store, you can order by mail.

I recommend this book highly.

OSCAR SEASON!

2009-03-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

One more photo from Wonder Con, on the right it's award winning photographer and bon vivant Oscar Benjamin, spotted with an unknown female on left.

CATS THAT LOOK LIKE HITLER

2009-03-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is my sister-in-law Barbara's cat, Pooty.

Of course, I don't call him Pooty, I call him "Schickelgruber", or "the Führer".

Barb let me know about a website called: Cats that Look Like Hitler.
They call them "Kitlers".

RUSH HOUR

2009-03-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

There is a new Website that allows you to post a quick automated apology to Rush Limbaugh.

It should prove to be quite a time saver for busy Republicans.

BUY! BUY! BUY!

2009-03-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is a follow-up post to my previous item about the "wisdom" of comic book retailers that no longer engage in the business of buying and selling back issues.

Sometimes the fates come along to help buttress my argument. Today was an example of this.

As it happens, today I had the good fortune to buy the original owner comics collection pictured above. Most of them are from World War 2 era. They are wonderful golden age books, and it's a real pleasure to have them. These are the books that made America great, put the Axis on the run, and won the war for the Allies. Looking at these will make your pulse quicken whether you collect comics or just read them.

The most amazing thing about these books from a preservation standpoint is that they all have white paper, even though they are seventy years old. If you are a collector, you know how truly rare that is. Comics books, until recently were printed on newsprint, and were made to last only a month 'till the next issue came out. To see fresh looking 70 year old comics is truly shocking. It's rare that I get to buy original owner collections this nice, so it's always a treat for me.

By original owner, I mean that they were all bought by the same person or family, and they were kept together and never re-sold until today. I am very fond of original owner collections because they have not been displayed by dealers before, so they have bright, vivid, and glossy covers

I'll be pricing and scanning these comics over the weekend. They should be on sale in the stores, and on my online store by Monday. I won't be turning away books like this, until I'm pushing daisies.

BYE BYE BACK ISSUES

2009-03-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

I just read a very entertaining article by a comics dealer who is eliminating back issues from his store.

I disagree with his premise, but I found the article and comments thought provoking. His main qualm with back issues seems to be that they encourage the viewing of comics as collectables. Not necessarily so. Most of our back issues are cheap reading which costs less than a new comic!

Also, I think of the great independent record stores such as Amoeba records and Rasputin. They carry new stuff, cheap stuff, and collectors items all in one store. Every department seems to do well, and they have survived and thrived where new only record stores like Tower Records have gone under. When I go to an independent record store, I buy from all categories. I don't want to limit myself, and I certainly don't want to limit my own customers. It amazes me how so many otherwise progressive retailers paint themselves into a corner by turning their back on profitable product lines.

The really neat thing about back issues, is that as a dealer you can buy them for your own price. They can be very profitable if done correctly.

Lee's Comics will continue to carry back issues. We will continue to make an offer on just about any collection. It might not be a LOT of money, but you will get an offer (unless it's REALLY bad!)

Here's a hypothetical question. You are a dealer. You don't carry back issues. You don't buy back issues at all from customers. Someone brings in a low grade, unrestorerd Amazing Fantasy #15 valued at $2,000. They are willing to sell it for $1,000. You know you could sell it within 3 days and make a 1,000 profit.

If so, you DO buy and sell back issues, you are just very selective about what you buy.
If not, you are turning down ready profit in hard times.

I will keep selling back issues.
They help keep me in business.

I also like to have a vast selection of New Comics and Graphic Novels. I don't mind selling comics supplies, toys, T-shirts and novelties. I am all in favor of expanded choices, rather than diminished ones.

WATCHING THE WATCHMEN

2009-03-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

I arrived at the parking lot of Eastridge Shopping Center in San Jose on Friday at 9:00 am. I wanted to see the first theatrical showing of Watchmen. After all the hype and hoopla, I wanted to see it before anyone had a chance to color my judgement with their appraisal.

I hadn't been to this shopping center many times before. I had never driven there on my own, only as a passenger. When I reached the sprawling center at that hour, it looked like a huge, vacant warehouse. I parked right up in front of where I presumed the theatre entrance was. There were only one or two cars in the parking garage. The structure looked vast and seedy. It probably looked better when it was filled with cars. Without the cars, you could see all the wear, trash, cracks in the pavement, weeds growing through the cracks, and painted over graffiti.

I made my way to the entrance, and walked inside. The place was empty, but the lights were on. The stores hadn't opened yet. That was going to happen in an hour. Theoretically. For now, I felt like I was in the middle of "Dawn of the Dead", the zombie movie that takes place in a shopping mall. I just looked it up online to fact check. Here's a fun fact that I found, and I should have known. Zack Snyder, the director of Watchmen directed a re-make of Dawn of the Dead in 2004. Walking around in a vacant mall is the perfect way to warm up for a Zack Snyder picture.

I've never been to an early showing. Not this early at least. The show was scheduled to start at 9:45. There was not a soul waiting at the Theatre. The gates were closed. I killed some time walking around the mall. I saw some very nice super-hero hats on display at a hat place. I checked out the Gacha Ball kiosks and compared the selection with my own.

Finally I wandered in to see the movie at 9:30 am. The following contains spoilers, do don't blame me if you read anyway.

The movie starts over very handsomely with a montage of previous events. This is done quite artfully and it sets a nice tone for the movie. This film is beautiful to behold. There are many scenes in this film that defy expectations for a costumed super-hero film. At the same rate, there is plenty of action to please fans of this genre. Generally, things are tastefully done, and the Rorschach, Comedian, and Dr. Manhattan characters are very well played.

The opinions on this movie seem split. I think it's a better film than 300. I normally don't like Super-Hero movies. You might say that this is not a super-hero movie. There is much to like about this film. Perhaps I benefited by not having a very fresh memory of the series. The last time I read it was twenty years ago. I do remember it wall enough to note that the filmmakers changed the ending, but I don't recall any other changes. There were probably a bunch. I wonder if some of the people that didn't like the film were comparing it to the comic series. I believe that a movie should stand on it's own merits, just like a book or comic book should. This film held my attention, and I would like to see it again some time. I give it 3 out of 4 stars. Definitely worth seeing.

HBO STRIP CLUBS

2009-03-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

If you watch HBO programs like the Sopranos or The Wire, you will notice an establishment that I call the HBO strip club. That is a place where characters meet to talk. Nobody ever looks at the women who are in the background, moving lethargically on stage.

THE REPUBLICAN RESPONSE

2009-03-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the official Republican response to Obama's ambitious new agenda:

BULLSEYE

2009-03-05T23:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes only satire can fully explain an issue. Here John Stewart scores a bullseye.
Stocks sliding? Banks failing? Who could have forseen THAT coming? NOT CNBC.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

THAT'S ARMAGEDDON

2009-03-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a little video that pretty much encapsulates what's happening to the economy right now.

t

CHANGE PARTNERS

2009-03-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of Frank Sinatra's singing. My favorite period is the albums that he did at Capitol records during the 1950s. Some of my favorite material from the 1960s is his work with Brazil's greatest songwriter, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Here is a live rendition of a medley of songs from their great 1966 album "Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim." Sinatra alters his style to suite the songs, without losing his unique directness and storytelling skills.

SOME KIND OF WONDER CON

2009-03-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm finally rested up, and have enough time to do a 2009 Wonder Con report. Setting up a booth at a large, multi-day convention is an exhausting endeavor, even if you are fit and active like I try to be.

It was well worth the effort, though. Friday and Saturday were like having two extra shipment days. Some time ago (as explained in greater detail in past postings) I decided to diversify our convention stock as to appeal to the greatest number of attendees as possible. That strategy paid off handsomely this time. Everything sold great! We had this week's new comics, bargain books and toys, 'Toon Tumblers, Pure Hero Shirts, Posters, Buttons, Stickers, old two dollar comics on a vintage spinner, half-price statues, and some new toys that we got from Diamond on consignment.

The only departments that didn't do so well were the wall and bin comics. This may have been due to the fact that they were set off to the back of the booth a bit. I did take time to poll many of the back issue dealers. Most of them said that sales were down, or disappointing.

While I was at the show, I tried to put my ebay store on vacation. That stops the sales from going through until I get back. The reason I did this, is that I didn't want to sell something online that had sold at the convention. I got back online a couple of days later, and found that I had sold a bunch of stuff on my ebay store! What the heck was going on? I finally figured out what happened. Putting your store on vacation only makes the ebay store items go on hold. For the last several months, I put new items up at a fixed price "buy it now" listing. None of those listings were put on hold.

Now here's the funny thing: I sold more vintage comics on my ebay store, that I had tried to shut down, than I did at the convention! We still did okay with vintage comics at the show, but I'm glad that they are not my primary focus like in years gone by, or I might be singing the blues right now.

Several times during the show I tried to walk around, but could not do so because the isles were crammed with people. It was a human traffic jam, and you could not get anywhere, so I just went back to my booth. I noticed that the isles where they were selling comic books had plenty of room to move around in. It was those other items, the non-comic book items, that appealed to the big crowds at the show.

Friday and Saturday were very busy. Sunday saw lots of people, but they were mostly looky-loos. The sales slowed down considerably on Sunday.

Anyway, it was a successful event for this dealer. It's particularly satisfying, especially in these uncertain times. That's the financial angle. From a personal standpoint, I always enjoy seeing old friends, business associates, and favorite creators. Now for a few photos.

Here's me, Ryan, and Mark. It's Friday, and we are set up and ready to go.

Here's one of my favorite booths. They sell a bunch of nutty Anime style hats. I brought plenty of people by that booth.

Here's the folks lining up to get in.

Here's my friend David Mack, creator of Kabuki.

Our buttons were a big hit.

This chap was the voice of Charlie Brown in the 1980s. He was fun to talk to.

I saw this gal in her great Polaris costume, and it immediately made me think of one of my favorite comic covers of all time. It's X-Men #50, by the great Jim Steranko. I got her and her friends to interpret the cover in tribute.

Here's the cover to X-Men #50, to compare.

Here's my 6 foot 7 son, "Little Lee", and his girlfriend Christina. I bought a hat for her from the aforementioned funny hat place. My son helped out on Saturday and Sunday, and was a great help to me.

Here are my long time friends, Richard and Wendi Pini, creators of Elfquest.

Here's another fantastic costume. It's Steve Ditko's Creeper. I was a big fan of the character, and enjoyed seeing this unique costume.

My son must have took this one. It's an outstanding shot of Zatanna.

This one was really great. It was not a mask, and you could see her eyes.

NO TIME

2009-02-27T22:31:00.001-08:00

No time to post anything today. Instead, enjoy the following:

EAR WORMS

2009-02-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

On the way home from the convention, I was listening to Dr. Dean Edell, and he was talking about "ear worms". Those are the songs that you have stuck in your head, and you can't get rid of them. On day like today, where everything goes nice and easy, I often have this one running through my head. It's a nice, pleasant ear worm.

What is the music that goes through your head? What is your "Theme"?

WONDER CON DAY 0

2009-02-26T14:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Mark and I loaded our cargo van to the brim with vintage comics, bargain books, toys and Pure Here shirts.

I got up at 5:30 this morning, and got on the road before 7:00. I picked up Mark at his house in Hayward, and continued on to San Francisco. We arrived before 9:00. Within a few minutes, they let us drive underground to the convention floor. We grabbed a couple of pallets and started loading them up. As soon as we were done, a forklift operator took the pallets to our booth. We started setting up the booth. By 12:30 I decided that we were pretty well set up. We covered everything up, and called it a day.

Now it's 3:00 pm. I'm back at my San Jose home, relaxing in my sweatpants. I gassed up the van, and just enjoyed a delicious sandwich at Eric's Deli. It can be really hard setting up at shows, but today went really smoothly. I'll be relaxed, and ready for tomorrow. I'll be back with a report, and pictures.

If you are going to the show, look for us in the 1000 isle, right by the front. Make sure to say hi, okay?

WONDER CON

2009-02-24T11:47:00.001-08:00

That's where I'll be this weekend.