100 Girls #1 (pretty decent concept... will give it a shot)

Avengers #501 (#86) (i'm probably in the minority here but i'm kind of enjoying the new arc)

Delete #1 (i'm skeptical but will give it a shot)

Firestorm #5 (i'm still enjoying this but not loving it yet)

Hulk And Thing Hard Knocks #1 (Hulk vs Thing is always a classic match up but i'm not the biggest Bruce Jones fan)

Milkman Murders #3 (bizarre and interesting book so far)

Nail #3 (ditto)

Periphery #1 (can't even remember what this is about but it must have piqued my interest)

Sylvia Faust #1 (modern witch tale... will give it a shot)

Ultimate Spider-Man #65 (a title i consistently enjoy... one of my top 5 books)

Y The Last Man #26 (ditto)

I just got all my August comics yesterday! I can't even start thinking about September yet!

Essential Avengers #4

Detective #798 (I haven't been loving this lately, but I decided to "tough it out" til issue 800. Two more to go!)

Justice League Unlimited #1 (loved JLAdventures, so I'll prolly love this as well)

Spider-Girl #78 (The only M*rv*l title I buy)

I like Bendis on Avengers. I'm in for the ride.

Essential Avengers #4 - Can't go wrong there.

And, also, a Spider-Girl fan. Closest thing to a book Stan would recognize being done at Marvel right now.

(Funnybook shopping Friday - pick up about 3 weeks of stuff.)

Avengers #501: It was good, but I wish more had happened.

Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks#1: I heart Jae Lee, but I wavered because of the price. It was a small week so I ended up getting it anyway. Good stuff.

Birds Of Prey #something: To be honest, it was the weakest issue of Gail's run. Still very good though. I'm all for Huntress shooting people with her crossbow.

Plastic Man #9: This was from a few weeks back I think. Funny, but not really something I'd buy regulary. Maybe it should come out as occasional digest format trades instead of as a monthly?

I'm interested to hear how Sylvia Faust is. It looked interesting but I was really put off by the art, which looked really amateurish.

Michael

Avengers 501 - Interesting character interactions after the bedlam in 500.

Ultimate Spider-Man 65 - I really enjoyed this issue, especially The Breakfast Club-like setting.

Thor 84 - Poor old Loki.

Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks 1 - I've never read anything written by Bruce Jones, but I'm a sucker for a Hulk vs. Thing story, so I gave it a try. I'm curious to see where this story goes and why the Thing is "stalking" the Hulk.

Okay, I'm late on this, but there were no new comics out
for me this week, so I only went to the store today.
I bought the V FOR VENDETTA tpb & SEAGUY #1-3
for myself, & I picked up a bunch of digests for my 10-year-old
Godbrother. The first 2 digests of SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
(collecting Mark Millar's issues), BATMAN ADVENTURES,
JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES, MARVEL AGE SPIDER-MAN,
& the first digest for MARVEL AGE FANTASTIC FOUR.

Those things are great! Seriously, perfect for new readers. As I was
looking through them on my way to his house I had to fight the
urge to just keep them for myself (I may go back & get my own
copies). I used to read Superboy & The Legion Of SuperHeroes
digests when I was a kid. Those things were great to sneak & read
in class while you're supposed to be studying, or while you're
on the schoolbus home. But the problem is I had to go to a
comic-book store to get them. The Big Two really need to make a
massive push to get these things in to places like grocery stores.
There's no reason these things can't be sitting on the racks at
the check-out counters next to the Archie digests & T.V. Guide.
They'd be a perfect impulse-buy for parents to get for their kids.

Just my opinion.

JR - the return of the digest format is a good thing for the industry..if the big 2 get them out in mass outlets we'll be gettting more younger readers into the fold.

Yes, but: Why Digests? I love 'em too, but if the big two would just put <i><b>COMICS</i></b> in mass outlets we'd be getting more younger readers into the fold!

I agree but as someone who works in retail...its all about space or "footprint" as we call it...the digests take up less space so they are more attractive at that sort of price point to retailers.

Edward

Understood, but a standard comic book spinner rack takes up about 2 square feet of floor space and has 40 slots which can comfortably hold about 10-15 books each. So at $2.25 a pop, what are we talking about?
Between $900.00 - $1350.00. They buy at half price and get to return any unsold for a refund. If I were a retailer, I think I could free up a couple'a square feet for that kind of potential profit.

Eating the overorder is just for Comic Shops?

Well, I'm thinking that, like the Archie digests which I always see
in grocery stores, they can be placed right at the checkout counter.
So, while people might skip the spinner rack they can't help
but see the little shelf as they're putting their groceries on the
conveyer belt, which makes them the perfect impulse-buy when
little junior see them & starts bugging his mommy for one. I
don't know what the exact sales figures for Archie are, but they
must be alright for them to be so widely distributed, but I
know Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc., would sell a lot
better, since they're more recognizable to kids.

Plus, I do think the format is just more attractive for kids. $5 or $6
for a little book with 6 stories in it just seems like a better deal
than $2.50 or $2.99 for one 22-page story. With the digests I just bought
my Godbrother I essentially got $112 worth of comics for about $45, that's
pretty good.

And seriously, I am gonna go back & get some for myself.

It always has been.

Ah, but the spinner racks aren't for the adults to "notice", they're for the kids to see and then run to Mommy and Daddy and bug 'em til they get a comic book!

Don't misunderstand me, I'm all for digests, but they aren't going to save the industry. Getting actual comic-books into places where kids will see them will. Of course, this will also take a commitment from the publishers to put "all ages" content into the books.

Does anyone still carry the old fashioned metal spinner racks still?? I hate the new plastic ones I've seen at Waldenbooks etc....

Edward

I have one.

Okay...in the area of Florida I live...here is the rundown on comics on newsstands...

Wal-Mart- Archie titles only
Bruno's (Grocery Store)- Mix of Marvel and DC comics on a power panel at the end of a aisle
Books-A-Million- Marvel ...DC...Dark Horse mixed into the magazines

And that is it for reg comics...although if we could get reg comics into every place in town that sells Wizard we would have about 95% saturation of the local market.

Edward

By the way...can I borrow the issues the Headmen appeared in please??

Edward

Borrow? No. But you're welcome to come over and read 'em anytime you want!

About spinners: The Post Exchange here at Ft Gordon still has them. In fact, the Exchange at Camp Doha, Kuwait had them too. They carry the full range of stuff. Not sure about all Exchanges, but I've seen them at quite a few.