Big doings in the DC Universe

Here's a brief taste:

Many of you have heard rumors that DC Comics has been working on a big publishing initiative for later this year. This is indeed an historic time for us as, come this September, we are relaunching the entire DC Universe line of comic books with all new first issues. 52 of them to be exact.

In addition, the new #1s will introduce readers to a more modern, diverse DC Universe, with some character variations in appearance, origin and age. All stories will be grounded in each character's legend - but will relate to real world situations, interactions, tragedy and triumph.

This epic event will kick off on Wednesday, August 31st with the debut of a brand new JUSTICE LEAGUE #1, which pairs Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, together for the first time. (Yes, this is the same week as FLASHPOINT #5.)

The official announcement is tomorrow (with much more detail), so make sure you check the Interwebs for all the details!

Don't forget

Amongst all the picnicking and good cheer to take a moment to remember the purpose of the holiday... to honor those serving and those who have fallen in service. (Read more about Memorial Day HERE!)

X-men: First Class just keeps looking better and better

Here's the latest clip with January Jones as Emma Frost:



Hold me, I'm skeered.

Are you in?

(Artist's rendition. Thanks Trick Chas Treat!)

It looks like we're doing the "Photo Of Comix Connection On The Cover Of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #666" thing... let us know if you're in!

Here's what you need to know:

1. We will have copies of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #666 with a photo of the Mechanicsburg store on the cover available at both stores
2. We will also have the "regular cover" without or store on it available at both stores
   
3. The version with a photograph of our store on the cover is a LIMITED REGIONAL VARIANT only available through our two stores
4. Both regular versions and our cover will be priced at $3.99 per copy initially
5. We will NOT be able to EVER reorder these, so once they're sold out, they're GONE FOREVER
6. We will gladly hold you copies... TELL US NOW BEFORE WE SET THE PRINT RUN
7. It's the coolest thing we've ever done
8. They will arrive in AUGUST
   
9. CALL TO RESERVE YOUR COPIES OR JUST ASK YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD COMIX CONNECTION COUNTER MONKEY TO PUT YOU ON THE LIST
   

We're so excited. This is just plain awesome.

What should I do with these 30,000 Lego pieces?

Why, try to build what this guy built... an Imperial Shuttle / Arrival of the Emperor diorama!
Behold:


See all the pictures HERE!

(And apparently all the posts this week are Star Wars-related.)

Original Star Wars Trailer

This is why I love the internet. Behold, the ORIGINAL trailer for Star Wars:


"Somewhere in space, this may all be happening right now!"

I think I actually remember seeing this, and of course being blown away. Science fiction movies were far and few between back in the late-1970s, and my sister and I had been following the information about this new "STAR WARS" movie while reading about it in Starlog Magazine...

Star Wars Propaganda Posters

I thought these were awesome:





Check them all out HERE!

You're welcome.

The coolest thing Comix Connection's ever done?

Quite possibly. If you remember:

As Marvel previously announced via press release, it will be offering qualifying retailers personalized Amazing Spider-Man #666 Comic Shop Variants that feature unique covers with your comic shop being defended from the dangers of Spider-Island by the Wallcrawler himself!

And now we have this:

A preview of one of the two available personalized covers, complete with a sample store photo, is shown here:

And here's the cover without an image. Try to imagine a nice picture of Comix Connection on that. (My photoshop skill are severely lacking.)




Keep in mind this is just preliminary art for ONE of the TWO covers we will have to chose from! I can't wait to see the finished product. THIS IS SO EXCITING!

Now. WHO WANTS ONE?

UPDATE Trick Chas Treat created this image, which looks completely amazing:

AWESOMESAUCE!

LET THE CORPORATE BRANDING COMMENCE!

Anyone else nee one of the COMIX CONNECTION "Ramones-style" T-SHIRTS in your basic black with white logo? I'm ready to pull the trigger on an order, so let me know if you want one. They'll still be $10.00 each and just a bit more for 2XL and 3XL. let you Friendly Neighborhood Comix Connection Counter Monkey know ASAP! Thanks to all of you who already let me know what you need! Summer's coming and I know you all want to be styling...

Pick of the MONTH!

I just finished reading the new ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #1 from IDW, and I gotta say... IT'S ACES! As a longtime fan of The Rocketeer and the late artist Dave Stevens, I was fully prepared to not like this, as no one can top Stevens' art for sheer beauty of line and knack for composition. With a pretty awesome lead story by John Cassaday (I don't think his art is quite the fit for the Rocketeer... too -uh- blocky maybe?) and a nice story by Mike Allred (I like his writing better than I like his art), I was completely blown away with the third story by Kurt Busiek and Michael Kaluta... beautiful art, great story - well worth the price of the book! Throw in a couple of pin-up pages by Mike Mignola and Jim Silke and you have one great package! Let's hope IDW can keep producing the high level of quality talent that this character deserves! And it looks like that will be the case with issue number two featuring work by Darwyn Cooke, Geof Darrow, Alex Ross, Mark Waid and more. I'm looking forward to the next issue!

Just out of curiosity

Show of hands!

How many of you would buy a copy of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #666 with a photo of COMIX CONNECTION worked into the actual cover?


Because that's what's happening.

Stay tuned for more info as we nail this thing down.

Posted without explanation

You're welcome.

And I apologize in advance for any nightmare this may foster.

Free-Floating Planets May be More Common Than Stars

Astronomers, including a NASA-funded team member, have discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the dark of space, away from the light of a star. The team believes these lone worlds were probably ejected from developing planetary systems.

and

The discovery indicates there are many more free-floating Jupiter-mass planets that can't be seen. The team estimates there are about twice as many of them as stars. In addition, these worlds are thought to be at least as common as planets that orbit stars. This would add up to hundreds of billions of lone planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone.

Read the entire article on NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's website HERE!

Just think of all the planets that are wandering around out there... and what they might be home to...


Nah. Too farfetched.

Right?

Local Comic Book Social Group forms!

WEDNESDAY NIGHT NATION!

Local fan Kevin Mack and his friends have formed a Comic Book Social Club of sorts in the Mechanicsburg area.... but I'll let him tell it:

Comics are a pretty diverse medium. There are comics for every genre imaginable and the only thing more diverse than the books being published are the fans who read them. But even with all our diverse interests, there is one thing all comic fans can agree on: It can be tough to find other comic fans, and we all want to.

There are few things in this world as great for a comic fan as meeting other fans and talking about our respective passions; sharing excitement over the latest movie adaption or the new writer taking over our favorite books can provide hours of enjoyment. But one of the hardest things in the world is to find others who share these passions and forming those lifelong friendships.

It is with that mission in mind that Wednesday Night Nation was formed. We are a social club in Central Pennsylvania that promotes comics and pop culture, and encourages the gathering of people who enjoy both. We aim to help people meet other members through a variety of events designed to form those connections in interests we all want to share.

This sounds like a lot of fun and a great way to meet fellow fans! They are planning to have "meetups" for most of this years' comic-book-related movies, so why not join in the fun? Who knows, you might make some new friends who share your love of comic books!

Please feel free to check out their website HERE, or contact Kevin directly HERE!

Music using ONLY sounds from Windows XP and 98!

Does what it says on the can:



I'll be finishing up the May orders today, so my normal erudite and informative posts will resume. Thanks for your patience.

Shot down by the best

(OUR ARMY AT WAR #140, March 1964)

Imagine this poor German flyer's luck: He's tooling along in his checkerboard-painted Messerschmidt ME-109 when he spots a couple GIs in a jeep. So he pounces, right into the machine gun of SGT. ROCK! BOOM. Done.

(G.I. COMBAT #110, Feb/Mar 1965)

A year later (I assume after a long hospital stay), the same pilot has a freshly checkerboard-painted Focke-Wulf FW-190. He spots a puny, under-gunned and under-armored American tank and pounces... right into the machine guns of JEB STUART and the crew of the HAUNTED TANK! BOOM. Kiss that plane goodbye. Worst luck ever.

Nothing to say here

Sorry, working on the orders for stuff shipping in July, so I got nuttin.

Well, OK, here's a funny picture:


Later, skaters.

THANKS EVERYONE!

We just got word from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank that you folks who visited Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg last Saturday donated

780 POUNDS OF FOOD

during our recent Free Comic Book day 2011 Food Drive!

WAY TO GO!

That's pretty excellent... THANKS EVERYONE!

Let's see what the total is at Comix Connection - York! Their mound of food looked about as big as the one in Mechanicsburg, so it's gotta be about the same amount! Fingers crossed!

(I do want to note that there were several outdated cans of food in the barrel... the Food Bank can't use those, people, so please check the dates before you donate!)

PONYMEN

Who watches the PONYMEN? I do.

This is why there was no new post on Wednesday

IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

Blogger is back

May 13, 2011 — permalink

What a frustrating day. We’re very sorry that you’ve been unable to publish to Blogger for the past 20.5 hours. We’re nearly back to normal — you can publish again, and in the coming hours posts and comments that were temporarily removed should be restored. Thank you for your patience while we fix this situation. We use Blogger for our own blogs, so we’ve also felt your pain.

Here’s what happened: during scheduled maintenance work Wednesday night, we experienced some data corruption that impacted Blogger’s behavior. Since then, bloggers and readers may have experienced a variety of anomalies including intermittent outages, disappearing posts, and arriving at unintended blogs or error pages. A small subset of Blogger users (we estimate 0.16%) may have encountered additional problems specific to their accounts. Yesterday we returned Blogger to a pre-maintenance state and placed the service in read-only mode while we worked on restoring all content: that’s why you haven’t been able to publish. We rolled back to a version of Blogger as of Wednesday May 11th, so your posts since then were temporarily removed. Those are the posts that we’re in the progress of restoring.

Again, we are very sorry for the impact to our authors and readers. We try hard to ensure Blogger is always available for you to share your thoughts and opinions with the world, and we’ll do our best to prevent this from happening again.

Posted by Eddie Kessler, Tech Lead/Manager, Blogger

There goes my unbroken five-year string of daily posts.

On the cover of the Rolling Stone

OK, not quite. Local York rockstar artist Mike Hawthorne makes the cover of INSIDE CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA magazine:

That is the greatest picture ever in the entire universe.

The article talks with Mike about his new strip RAISING CRAZY, which you should be checking out HERE!

Added: READ THE ARTICLE HERE!

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

You don't have to buy one from some Malaysian guy on Ebay

Like I had to.



I'm considering having another run of the "RAMONES-style" Comix Connection T-shirts made in basic black with white lettering.

DOES ANYONE ELSE WANT ONE?

Let me know here in the comments section, or let your Friendly Neighborhood Comix Connection Counter Monkey know how many you want and in what size!

That means at least TWO people thought it was that valuable...

(CLICK TO EMBIGGEN)

Check THIS out:

Heritage Auctions has set a new price record for an original piece of comic art by selling page 10 of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #3, by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson, to an anonymous collector for $448,125.

I'm amazed. More valuable than a Frazetta cover? Sure it's iconic, and was the comic that revitalized Batman, but... more valuable than a Kirby splash?

Wow. Just WOW.

OK, that was the BEST FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EVER! Thanks to everyone who came out and got some goodies... it was great to see all the familiar faces and also all the new ones too! What a blast! We'll be posting a bunch of pictures once the dust settles and we get things back to "normal".

But FIRST: THANK YOU COMIX CONNECTION COUNTER MONKEYS!
You guys (and gal) were awesome! Way to pull out all the stops in the midst of controlled chaos! You're what makes Comix Connection shine!
Thanks Jared, Jim, Steven, Ian, Mike, Doctor Joe, Dave, Mandalorian Nicky, Dan, Triple-G, J-Mac, Shawn, TJ, and Chad!

Special thanks to The Boyces, Mark and Carol and of course sign-holder extraordinaire Johnathan! Thanks for the quiches, the Secret Ingredient Peanut Clusters, and the amazing CHOCOLATE COVERED POTATO CHIPS! Seriously, those things were AMAZING!

And special thanks also to our beverage benefactor! That was very kind of you!



At Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg: HUGE THANKS to all of you who donated STAR WARS toys for the members of Garrison Carida of the 501st Legion Star Wars characters to give to children in hospitals... your selfless generosity without desire of remuneration is what puts comic book nerds among the best people in the world! It's greatly appreciated and know that your donations will put a smile on a kids face!


Also at CC-Mech: IMPOSSIBLY HUGE THANKS to the astonishing outpouring of food donations for the Central Pennsylvania Food bank! LOOK AT ALL THAT FOOD YOU PEOPLE DONATED! I figure that's about two-and-a-half BARRELS worth! Amazing! Thanks everyone!

(I'll post more info and pictures, including some from Comix Connection - York as they arrive in my inbox!)

ADDED: I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT TO THANK OUR SPECIAL GUESTS, artists John Kovaleski, Brad Samuelson, Kevin Graham and Andrew Griffith! THANKS GUYS! It was a blast having you all!

AND THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO CAME OUT TO THE STORES ON FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2011 and made it the fun success it was! You guys and gals rule! Thanks for making Comix Connection CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA'S ULTRA-HIP POP CULTURE MECCA!

WHAT ARE YOU DOING SITTING THERE READING THIS?

GET IN HERE, ALREADY! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT IT'S FREE COMIC BOOK TODAY, ALL DAY?

Look, I gotta run, but come on in to Comix Connection and get your FREE COMIC BOOKS! See ya!

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY... SEE YOU AT THE STORES!

SATURDAY MAY 7th
10AM - 9PM
BOTH STORES!

Everyone gets THREE COMIC BOOKS from our vast selection of Free Comic Book Day Comics absolutely free, plus additional comic books for each food item donated to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the York Rescue Mission!

Bring 1 can, get 3 FREE COMICS + 1 EXTRA FREE COMIC = 4 COMICS!
Bring 3 cans, get 3 FREE COMICS + 3 EXTRA FREE COMICS = 6 COMICS!
Bring 10 cans, get 3 FREE COMICS + 10 EXTRA FREE COMICS = 13 COMICS!

Featuring:

20% OFF ALL GRAPHIC NOVELS, COLLECTED EDITIONS and BOOKS

20% OFF ALL POSTERS

20% OFF ALL T-SHIRTS

20% OFF ALL STATUES

20% OFF ALL TOYS

20% OFF ALL GAMES & GAMING ITEMS

25% OFF OLDER BACK ISSUES ON THE WALL

ALL BIN COMICS $1.00 EACH

ALL 2/99¢ COMICS 10¢ EACH

CLICK HERE to read about Comix Connection's Free Comic Book Day 2011 Special Guests!

CLICK HERE to read about Comix Connection's Free Comic Book Day 2011 helpful new Free Comic Station Locator Banner!

CLICK HERE to read about Comix Connection's Free Comic Book Day 2011 Limited Edition Lolipops!

SEE YOU ALL TOMORROW!

UTZ SNACK FOODS - The Official Sponsor Of Comix Connection's FCBD Event!

Thanks to the generosity of the Utz Snack Food Company, Hanover, PA and to the diligence of long time box-holder and all-around swell guy Mike Reichart, Comix Connection will be giving away mini bags of delicious Utz Potato Chips to attendees of Free Comic Book Day 2011 this coming on Saturday, May 7th while supplies last! That's right, the first hundred or so people will get their own bag of crunchy, tasty goodness, made right here in South-Central Pennsylvania, the Snack Food Capital of the United States! Be sure to get yours!

So we can LITERALLY say: "It's all that and a bag of chips!"

Heh.

Thanks Mike!

Please don't touch the comical funnybooks with your chip-stained fingers.

Don't forget to bring your cameras this Saturday!

As you know, this coming Saturday is Free Comic Book Day 2011, and Comix Connection is pulling out all the stops! In addition to at least THREE FREE COMIC BOOKS for everyone, great sales, and some cool Green lantern swag, Comix Connection will also be hosting four talented creators:

COMIX CONNECTION - YORK
Appearing from NOON - 3PM

Artist John Kovaleski - John has done work for MAD magazine and also produces the hilarious cartoon strip Bo Nanas. Read more about John HERE!



Artist Brad Samuelson - Brad Samuelson currently writes and draws the strip AS THE GRASS GROWS. Read more about Brad HERE!

COMIX CONNECTION - MECHANICSBURG
Appearing from NOON - 3PM

Artist Kevin Graham - Kevin is a professional illustrator who has done artwork for Topps (Lord of the Rings, Heroes, Halo, Star Wars, Terminator, Indiana Jones, etc.), Breygent (Woodstock Generation, Dexter, Marilyn Monroe, Wizard of Oz, Classic Sci-fi & Horror Posters and more), Inkworks, Upper Deck and more! Read more about Kevin HERE!


Artist Andrew Griffith - Andrew currently works for IDW Comics on their TRANSFORMERS comics. Read more about Andrew HERE!

SPECIAL APPEARANCE at Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg!

Fresh from their visit to Comix Connection - York during our 23rd Anniversary celebration, the troops of GARRISON CARIDA (Vader's Fist) of the 501st Legion will be making a return visit to Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg from 10AM until 2PM! Come meet various professional-grade costume characters from the Star Wars movies... get your pictures taken with some of the Galaxy's finest! And don't forget to bring unused toy donations (Star Wars preferred) to help the Garrison with their children's charity work! Let's fill the barrel again!


So, come on in and meet the artists, and DON'T FORGET TO BRING YOUR CAMERAS!

ONLY FOUR MORE DAYS

That's right, only four more days until this:


Mmmmm, Goldenberg's Peanut Chews...





...OH YEAH AND FREE COMIC BOOK DAY IS ON SATURDAY TOO.

Free Comic Book day 2011 - Three ways to GIVE

Free Comic Book Day is one of the coolest days of the year... it's when you get FREE COMIC BOOKS! This year (as usual) we'll be giving out THREE FREE COMIC BOOKS to every single person who comes to the stores this Saturday, May 7th, Free Comic Book day 2011 from 10AM until 9PM!


But Free Comic Book Day at Comix Connection is also a day for you to give also. "But Bill, how can I GIVE on Free Comic Book day at Comix Connection?" you ask. Well, there are THREE ways YOU can give back on the biggest nerd holiday in the world:

1) Get additional FCBD comic books for each food item donated to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the York Rescue Mission!

Bring 1 can, get 3 FREE COMICS + 1 EXTRA FREE COMIC = 4 COMICS!
Bring 3 cans, get 3 FREE COMICS + 3 EXTRA FREE COMICS = 6 COMICS!
Bring 47 cans, get 3 FREE COMICS + 47 EXTRA FREE COMICS = 50 COMICS!

2) At Comix Connection - York from Noon - 3PM, guest artist John Kovaleski will be gathering donations for his nephew's Leukemia fund... please feel free to throw something in the jar!

3) At Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg from 10AM - 2PM, costume characters from the Star Wars movies from the friendly folks at Garrison Carida of the 501st Legion will be on hand for photos and are accepting unused toy donations (Star Wars preferred) to help the Garrison with their children's charity work!

So there you have it... three ways to give! Let's fill those barrles, fanboys and fangirls. Last winter you all donated OVER TWO THOUSAND POUNDS OF FOOD, so I KNOW comic book people are very generous...

SEE YOU ALL ON SATURDAY!

FLASHPOINT BUTTONS!

Check out the awesome "flair" DC Comics will be giving out with their FLASHPOINT books through June 2011! Yes, they're cool pinback buttons that will be available for FREE with purchase of their matching books!



It all starts with Free Comic Book Day's GREEN LANTERN/FLASHPOINT Special Edition, then continues thusly:

Whatever Happened to Gotham City?

FLASHPOINT: BATMAN KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS #1-#3

Whatever Happened to the World’s Greatest Super Villains?

FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: DEATHSTROKE & THE CURSE OF THE RAVAGER #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: THE OUTSIDER #1-#3

Whatever Happened to the Aliens?

FLASHPOINT: ABIN SUR THE GREEN LANTERN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: PROJECT: SUPERMAN #1-#3

Whatever Happened to Science & Magic?

FLASHPOINT: FRANKENSTEIN & THE CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: SECRET SEVEN #1-#3

Whatever Happened to Europe?

FLASHPOINT: EMPEROR AQUAMAN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: WONDER WOMAN AND THE FURIES #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: LOIS LANE AND THE RESISTANCE #1-#3

Everything You Know Will Change in a Flash!

FLASHPOINT: LOST KID FLASH #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT #1-#3

Apparently this isn’t a parallel Earth or an Elseworlds... this is the real deal, the DC Universe we all play in. I am frightened and excited.

Here's the list:



Much additional discussion at the DC Universe blog HERE! let us know which ones you want!