Bill Morrison Mobilizes for Metro Entertainment

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Bill Morrison at Bongo Comics is putting together a huge benefit to aid Metro Entertainment, a Santa Barbara comic book store that’s hit a rough patch.

Bill wrote about it on a recent Facebook post: “I've received donations of art from some of the best artists in the comic book business (I don't like to drop names, but...NEAL ADAMS!!!) and I'm blown away by the generosity of my fellow artists. But I need more heavy hitters to come to the rescue if I'm going to reach the goal!”

Later, Bill ran down the list of those who have already helped out: "So here's a list of artists I've received donations from, or who have already put something in the mail to me! Neal Adams, Geof Darrow, Gilbert Hernandez, Herb Trimpe, Eric Powell, Bruce Timm, Paul Smith, Evan Dorkin, Al Jaffee, Dave Gibbons, Kelley Jones, Dean Yeagle, Humberto Ramos, Jim Woodring, Tone Rodriguez, Tom Richmond, Tim Burgard, Peter Krause, Robert Pope, and John Rozum. More to come, I'm sure!"

Click to continue reading Bill Morrison Mobilizes for Metro Entertainment

Read More | Robot 6

My LCS…RIP

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

So... my local comic book store closed down after 25 years in business. It’s the same old story - they can’t make a go of it any more following a boom period in the 1990s.

I found out about it, oddly enough, on Free Comic Book Day this year, and was part of a conversation where the owner was discussing the reasons why his store was closing. One of his comments was that he had seen a decrease in comic book-related traffic in his shop over the years and that he had not seen new, younger readers coming in for comics.

The store had between 50 and 70 regular subscribers in a community comprised of three towns, totalling around 50,000 people. It’s a mostly rural area that’s been hit hard economically over the years - there are almost no aspirational jobs for anyone in their 20s, and the population demos have less than 6% of the population between the ages of 20-25.

Click to continue reading My LCS…RIP

Comic Book Jobs: Checking Out Craigslist

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Movies,

Regular readers know how much I love the Craigslist, especially when it comes to looking for jobs in the industry. You never know what you'll find! Let's take a peek...

Superfans are wanted for a live comedy show in New York called Geeking Out!

A talent agency is looking for models to appear at Comic Con International, $16-25/hour. Expect to see a few ads like this as the con quickly approaches.

Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: Checking Out Craigslist

Update: Dreamhaven Books And Comics

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Dreamhaven Books And Comics, the legendary Minneapolis bookstore and mailorder company, is shutting its brick-and-mortar biz in early 2012.

At least that was the original announcement back in October.

Owner Greg Ketter clarified his position on a recent LiveJournal post:

“I am planning to eliminate regular store hours at the beginning of February 2012. I will periodically announce a "SALE DAY", likely a Saturday, to be open, perhaps once a month or so. I'll announce it any and every way I can and I'll make sure I have some special discounts and sales to entice people into the shop. As I've pointed out to many, many people, I'm not moving out of my current location or even rearranging the store. I own the building, the taxes are reasonable, I need someplace to store my books and work from, so I'm staying put. I just won't have the doors open regularly so that I can actually get some work done. I won't go into all of the frustrating aspects of minding an open but suffice to say, it does keep me from actually making a living. (sic)”

Click to continue reading Update: Dreamhaven Books And Comics

Read More | Greg Ketter

Comic Book Jobs: Checking Out Craigslist

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Dark Horse Comics,

Craigslist is like the Match.com of job hunting. Sometimes, you find a partner that’s not too damaged and looks good in the right light, and other times it’s all unemployed fatties still using their yearbook picture for their profile.

You can decide which is which today.

Los Angeles: It may not be the next Captain America or even Cowboys & Aliens, but if you want to be in a super-hero there’s a casting call for The Superluver Project. It’s “a new comic tale of a super-suave superhero and his quest to spread a little love and order around the world.”

Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: Checking Out Craigslist

Comic Book Jobs: Comic Book Retailer

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Do you have a knack for the retail? Do you think you could convince a hardcore Marvel zombie to pick up a copy of The Walking Dead or Chew?

Would you like to spend your Wednesdays rummaging through a huge stack of new comics before most people get to see them?

You could be a retailer. Or an Assistant Manager of a comic book store.

An “Eisner Award-Winning Comic Book Shop Chain in Northridge, California” is looking for one who can spare 30-40 hours a week for $8-10 an hour, depending on skills and experience.

You gotta have knowledge of the current market for comics and graphic novels, and at least a year of retail experience. You’ll be expected to handle the register, inventory, restocking, and maintenance of the sales floor.

If this is the store that I’m thinking of, it’s one of the best in the Valley and very close to Cal State Northridge so you get some college clientele in there too.

Good luck, job seekers!

[Artwork: Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons (you knew I was picking that, right?), © Fox]

Groo And My Favorite Comic Book Store

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Independent,

You might think that my favorite place to buy back issues would be my local comic shop, or maybe haunting eBay or perhaps running to a comic book convention, want list in hand.

You’d be wrong.

One of my favorite places to find oddball comics is a thrift shop – you know the kind I mean, the ones with old clothes, chipped glassware and broken Betamaxes. The kind of thrift shop that’s usually run by the Goodwill or the Salvation Army or a local charity organization.

The DNA of antique dealers runs through my veins, straight from my maternal grandfather and on down to me. So as a kid, our family field trips were often to estate sales, drafty auction houses, flea markets and, of course thrift shops. My reward was that sometimes I’d find comics. I once won a box lot of 50 or so good-condition Silver Age DC’s for $10.00, so the rewards were often very nice.

When you’re poking through a thrift shop the condition of whatever comics you find might be too worn for a comic book store to bother with, and a lot of them may be multiple copies of Darker Image #1, but that only makes finding the nugget of gold all the sweeter.

Click to continue reading Groo And My Favorite Comic Book Store