Happy Last Day Of The Year!

Yes, we'll be closed on New Year's Day!

And we'll only be open until 6pm, on Monday, Jan 2nd.

If you're in the hood, you should try to catch Baby New Year tonight:

Shank Reading Club 2006

I've realized that I am at the age where I've forgotten more books I've read than books I've left to read in my lifetime.

Yes, it's wildly depressing. For most books, I can just remember feeling that they were good, but the details are pretty fuzzy.

So, the Mobtown Shank Reading Club this year will be about revisiting some classics and seeing if they hold up. And the twist is that they're all graphic novels. If you've never really gotten into comics or jumped in late, this would be a good chance to get into some great titles and tear them apart!

We've got the year planned out, so drop in when you want, or go for the whole ride:

January - V for Vendetta
February - Watchmen
March - Dark Knight Returns
April - Love & Rockets Book 10
May - I Never Liked You
June - Buddy Does Seattle
July - My New York Diary
August - Jimmy Corrigan
September - Our Cancer Year
October - Cinderalla
November - Ghost World
December - Black Hole

Discussions will be held at the end of each month over at Frazier's.

Email me to be kept in the loop and for your secret decoder ring.

And we still have our Lost Book Club. We'll be discussing A Wrinkle in Time in January.

The Club Is Open

We're open!

We'll be closing early this Sat, though, 6pm, and we'll be closed on Sunday, New Year's Day.

Happy Holidays Haiku

Last minute shoppers
Bless adrenaline rushing
Your desperate hearts


We'll be closing early tonight, at 6pm!

And we'll be closed tomorrow for Xmas Day.

Our Creator, Al Dente

photo by Sidereal

It's now a book!

They need to be out there calling these people retarded all the time. Nonstop. The ID people are winning because the scientists think if they ignore the issue, it will go away. Plus, I'm sure it would be therapeutic to make fun of the ID people. I think it's pretty amazing that these people without scientific backgrounds -- or really any education at all -- think they have the right to decide the science curriculum. And it blows my mind that they are getting away with it.

Hey, Big Spenders!

Another drawing of Big Spender Card winners:

Joel Dinolt
Mary MacDonald
Jed Dodds
Norma Thomsen
Melvin Bradley
Glenn Dellon
Bill Lynch
Ryan Pattan
Daniel Snoke
Lynda DelGenis

Congrats winners! Stop by the store for your prizes.

It Would Suck To Be A Comic Book Store

Excuse me, but I'm about to post something that will make this sound like a comic store blog: the inevitable bitching about Diamond Comic Distributors.

We are not a comic book store. But we carry a lot of comics because we like good reads.

For those of you who wouldn't normally shop at a comic book store and don't really know how it works, you should know that Wednesdays are THE day - the day new comics come in.

How can that be? Well, because there's only really ONE distributor for comics. Diamond. Most comic shops just have one distributor and that's it.

So if Diamond fucks you, you're fucked.

We, like most independent bookstores, use HUNDREDS of distributors and wholesalers. If we can't find something from one distributor we can usually find it from another.

Yes, we use Diamond. And yes, every week there's something missing. Or late. Re-orders take weeks (instead of days like with book distros).

But the worst is when we're allocated. Because that's another thing that Diamond does, like no other. You order an item months in advance and THEN they place their order for said item based on the the pre-orders they get from retailers.

It's the dumbest way to do business. Because if they don't get enough orders they just don't order it and cancel the item. So even though WE want it and put in our order, it may not ever come.

We put in our order for Angel Battle Puppets. We get a ton of pre-orders from OUR customers. You know how many Diamond gave us? One. WTF??

God, it would suck to be a comic book store.

Acme Novelty Library 16

Just in time for Xmas.

4 Books To Go

Largehearted boy has 4 more books to go to complete his 52 Books 52 Weeks Project. 10 more days!

What a year of reading it's been!

Santa Knows

Santa was walking around the Ave yesterday and stopped by the store. He said he heard me on the radio. He knows everything!

But I bet he didn't know I was interviewed for MobyLives, which is like all radio now.

When Dennis Loy Johnson, the host, told me that there would be no editing I kind of freezed up. So it's not a terribly glib interview.

That Dennis, he's just flying by the seat of his pants. Like an anti-Ira Glass.

This Is Junko

Junko Wong stopped by the shop today and signed all of our Blythe Style books.

Blythe dolls are still coming!

Underdog Vs Satan Claus

Wow, another classic finally on DVD.

Season of Surprises

Benn received the Hampden Merchant of the Year trophy. I was nominated as well! Kooky!

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

Putting the Christ back in Christmas...cookies.

It Gets More Xmasy Every Day

photo by Mike Lee

Who has a War on Xmas? Even Nora has the spirit! Give the Jew Girl Toys!

Your Present May Be In Here

And The Winner Is...

We should have our new shirts in stock before Xmas. And hoodies!

ETA: Our winner is Mr. Jordan Jeffries!

I'd like to thank EVERYONE who entered. It was a really tough decision for our panel of judges. There were so many great entries we took an extra long time. Some special one time runs may be in the works.

Gift Cards

Our gift cards are like little gifts themselves. We give local artists free reign to illustrate them up and you can put any amount on them.

Now It Feels Xmasy

New Penguin Classics

Penguin has a new series of classics with covers done by comic artists.

The first is Chris Ware doing Voltaire's Candide. Coming in the new year will be other titles with artists like Charles Burns, Seth and Spiegelman.