Galaxy Update

Just a note that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I recently began an intensive training program in my job that requires pretty much all my attention at the moment. Regular blogging will resume as soon as possible; thank you for your patience.

Galaxy Newsbrief 020314: Most Keenly Anticipated

* Five for Friday's results are up at The Comics Reporter. This on almost made me a little misty for the days of mail-order comics buying. Of the five I listed, the biggest impact on me was by Bud Plant and FantaCo, but I'll never forget that giant box of dirt-cheap comics from the Passaic Book Center. Someone mentioned Russ Cochran -- I didn't think of that, because I think of him as a publisher, not a dealer, but of course he was that too. I bought almost the entire EC Library from him in the early 1980s. Those were packages most keenly anticipated, let me tell you.

* Johanna Draper Carlson has details on the 10th anniversary reissue of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Lost At Sea. It's a great work of O'Malley's that's been overshadowed by the lengthier, more audacious Scott Pilgrim series. Hopefully the new edition brings it some new attention; it deserves it.

* Johanna also reviewed the new Justice League direct-to-video movie War. She liked it better than I did. She observes that "Older teens may find it a blast. They’ll likely find the personalities of the heroes, all somewhat juvenile and pouty, easier to relate to, too." Sadly, she's probably right; I think I prefer that superheroes, just sort of generally, don't act like jerks and call each other "douchebag" right after they've met for the first time. Perhaps it could inspire kids in real life to not act that way as they grow older. JL: War, on the other hand, reinforces the idea that that's normal, acceptable behaviour. Which sadly, I suppose it is, more and more.

* Longtime writer-about-comics Randy Lander has posted his January update, about comics and more.

* The Simple Dollar has advise for how to invest in collectibles that is relevant to comics collectors. And sports card collectors. And Beanie Baby collectors...

* Uncomics: Jim Kunstler on the end of the Yankee Dollar chain of dollar stores.

Galaxy Newsbrief 020114: January is Gone

* Tom Spurgeon linked to this on Twitter, and it's a fantastic piece of comics history: Real examples of old mail-order lists from people selling comic books. I'm pretty sure Tom found this while researching this week's Five for Friday, the answers to which should go live tomorrow. The question was, "Name five places you ordered comics from before the internet," or words to that effect. My answers hopefully will be among the responses. This question took me back to opening that amazing box from the Passaic Book Center, which offered 100 back issues of their choice for some crazy amount like 10 bucks back in the late 1970s. Anyone have a .jpg of the ad they used to run in Marvel and DC titles? I found so much stuff for the first time in that box, like The Demon and Kamandi by Kirby and other stuff now recognized as classics, but which apparently you could barely give away back then.

* Hey, Tony Isabella is blogging again. Looking forward to hearing all the details of his L.A. adventures.

* Did you see what Neil Gaiman has to say about online piracy? In my experience, he is exactly right. Hear him out.

* Have a good weekend. See you Monday.