Tony's Column Thirty-One

Tony’s Column

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June 25, 2010

A Foxy Hex in 3D

Hey everyone, I was going to talk about Alex Ross and his relationship with Dynamite doing Marvel characters but there is a couple of other things I want to discuss. Jonah Hex brought in a whopping 5 Million Dollars on it’s first weekend. This is possibly the lowest opening for any of the main stream comic companies movie. I don’t know if it’s a bad movie or it’s attached to what I am sure will be know as the “curse of Megan Fox”. Outside of Transformers, all the movies she’s been in have boom big time. The other thing I want to mention will not be boding well for most of us. Did you know that the majority of comics shipping in September has a cover price of $3.99 US. If fact over 60% of the Marvel comics shipping that month are $3.99 or higher. I am wondering if this is going to cause a major Marvel backlash or will people cut other books in order to keep their Marvels. This might be a wait and see attitude for most people. Are you like me and getting tired of the deluge of Movies coming out in 3D. The movie companies have found a way not only to make money but to combat piracy. You have to pay an extra $3.00 a movie to see it in 3D, they don’t let you reuse the glass (even if you keep them you still have to pay the extra $3.00 which I believe is wrong). With most 3D movies being in the major theatres it’s like a needle in a haystack to find the one theatre in a city that would have it in 2D. It’s usually the low rent cheaper theatre with bad seating and the projector breaking all the time. In some of the larger new theatres they should offer a 3D and a 2D showing of the movies. Or maybe after a few weeks change the 3D show to a 2D showing. I also think that if they are going to make us wear the 3D glasses they should have clip-ons for people who already have glasses. Knowing my luck it would be and extra buck to get the clip ons. Well till next time. Tony

June 18, 2010

I know what I like

Hi Everyone, I have had a chance to read a few things recently and just want to give some of my opinions. The new Black Widow and Birds of Prey have both been fabulously done. The women writing these books have a grasp on the characters and the art is also well done. The same can’t be said for the Heralds Mini Series from Marvel. There is nothing wrong with Kathryn Immonen’s writing but the horrific art makes the book unreadable. Incredible Hulk and the Hulk series is still going along strong and with the revelations who both the red Hulk and Red She-Hulk was (I guessed it but was given enough red herring to make me doubt my pick). Grim Jack the Manx Cat was also welldone, not quite the Maltese Falcon but good enough. Avengers #1 and Zatanna #1 were interesting enough to make me want to read the 2nd issue. The Rawhide Kid was ok but it could have been done a lot better, even with playing up his being gay more in this mini. Marvel Zombies 5 how bad can it be with both Machine Man and Howard the Duck fighting Zombies. The one thing I am sad about is the fact they are going to cancel X-force. This series has been going really well on it’s own but now with the crossover into second coming it has spelt the doom for the series. I’m not sure many agree with me but the Multi crossover has put the nail in many a series. It either because sales didn’t pick up because of the tie in or sales dropped because it tied in with the crossover. This Summer both Marvel and DC have launched a lot of new series and with the independents starting to get into the mix this could be the biggest comic production in recent years. I just hope that we get as much quality put into these books as we are getting quantity putting out these books. Till Next Time. Tony

June 11, 2010

Hawks do it, after 49 years

Hi Everyone, The Hockey Season is finally over and even though my beloved Canadiens didn’t win it all at least the Chicago Blackhawks were able to break there almost 50 year curse. Winnipegger Jonathan Toews was voted playoff MVP even though he didn’t have a great final round. Now the debate is going to start, who is the better player Toews or Crosby. Well they are both young and I think their best years are still ahead of them. It would be interesting to see if they can meet in the finals in the next 4 to 5 years when they hit their prime to see who really is the best. Lets not forget Alexander the Great. I wonder what the ratings on NBC were this year for the finals. It will be interesting if they got really high ratings. I don’t think it will change on how and when they show games but it might give them something to think about. Youth beat experience this time around. Like the Superbowl a first time team beat a team with more playoff experience. What this finals really came down to it was which goaltender would make the least mistakes. It turns out it was the Chicago goaltender. Who would have thought that after so many years of Goalie’s stealing the series that we would have one were the goalies were almost a non factor. I was one of the one’s who shook my head when Chicago didn’t trade for a goalie at the trade deadline and I thought that it was going to cost them. It didn’t because they ran into a goalie that was not as good as the hype and not as good as their goalie was. Till Next Time. Tony.

June 4, 2010

Should I Sell or Should I Store

Hey Everyone, Well I got a beef this week. I don’t know if people realize this but I am in the business of SELLING book and comics not STORING THEM. Most new comics that I order I order with the intention of selling out (or as we call it in the biz “Sell Through”). Most of the Hot titles that are coming out in my initial orders I have been doubling what I either normally order or what I order for the reserves. Lately I have had a lot of people add titles to their lists before the issues have shipped. The day most of these issue hit the stand there are still a few copies that do go to the stands. Some sell out that day, some by the end of the weekend, some in a couple of weeks. The beef I have is if you come in, oh say 2 MONTHS after it’s shipped, hoping to get that hot number 1 issue or hot series or even a certain TPB (that was sitting on the shelf for the last 7 weeks that you looked at and debated whether you wanted to buy it) and it has sold, why is that my fault that it isn’t here. If I have taken the necessary steps in ordering the book, making sure that they are at least available on the week they ship, why is it my fault that it not there a MONTH later. I have had a couple of people come in lately and give me dirty looks because an item I had on the shelf for weeks sold and they are mad because I sold the item. I have offered to reorder the item for them, but once I mention that I would require a deposit, they say they will try somewhere else. That’s their prerogative maybe somewhere else will have it. That’s they way a free enterprise system works. I just don’t need the dirty looks or you saying to your buddy as you leave the store that it’s a crappy store just because I didn’t have what you wanted that day ( even though you were in 3 times before when the item just sat on the shelf). With something items there is a chance that they are going to be back in stock real soon. With others, it might not happen. Sometimes if you see something you want you just have to bite the bullet and take the plunge. Just don’t blame the retailer if you decide to wait for a long time to get the item or maybe you were hoping it would be cheaper. Well someone else I guess wanted it more. Whew, that felt good. Until Next Time. Tony

May 30, 2010

Birthday Odds and Sods

Hi Everyone, Today is My Birthday, so I just wanted to share a few Thoughts from my head (with apologizes to Faith DeBrooke the Genderflux Revolutionary). I am actually starting to write this on the Saturday at work. I had a real good baseball conversation with one of my customers. I got to thinking about how in the last few years attendance in most sports have declined. Some people have attributed it to the economy but I think there is more. It has been shown that if you put a decent or great product out there people will come. If you are going to pocket the money or not invest any time into the team, people will get the message and start to stay away. I have liken that to business as well. I have been starting to make a few changes to try to make the store better. I will be redo the bins, I will be adding a few more Books shelves. I will be redesigning the new comic wall slightly. I have started to refill the bins and the shelves with books and comics. I am even getting more Comic TPBs on a regular basis. What is great is that no matter who wins the Stanley Cup this year the cup is guaranteed to make an appearance in the province of Manitoba. I am hoping that the Blackhawks win because it would be great to see Captain Serious (Jonathan Toews) bring the cup to the Dakota Rec. Center, which I do believe was his home community club back in the day. I am also hoping that Captain Canada Steve Nash can help Phoenix win game Six to force a game 7 back in LA. It would be great to see him go on to the finals and possibly win one finally. Even though My Canadiens are not in the finals they made a heck of a run. They need to keep both goalies, get a little bigger and get a consistent goal scorer and they will be set. Have you noticed that there appears to be more 3-D movies coming out especially anything that is animated. I have found some of the effects have been lacking and it seems just like a money grab for the movie studios (here lets charge you an extra $3.00 for glass that even if you keep and want to use for other 3-D movies you will still get charged the extra $3.00 so why not just give them back to us so we can recycle them and reuse them.) I am almost thinking that it might be time to find were most of these are showing in 2-D and save the $3.00. Well Heroes and Law and Order have gotten the boot. Now NBC has only one show that gets them any ratings. Even with getting football back on Sunday nights they can’t get out of the basement. CBS gave up football once and they spent many years in the ratings basement, regained football and are number one. I guess it could be getting football back on a full time schedule will help and not once a week but ever since NBC gave it up they have been tanking in the ratings. It makes you wonder: Does sports really have more of an Impact than we think. Till Next Time. Another Year Older Tony.

May 29, 2010

Gangs, Guns and Politicians

Hi Everyone, I was trying to think about what I was going to talk about on this rainy Saturday afternoon. I am sadden by what is happening lately. There was 2 shooting close to where I live and 3 people under the age of 16 were taken to the hospital. The shooter turned out to be only 19 and he had actually targeted the wrong house. The Premier has said that we have a great program in place to combat this but can’t do much with legislation because that is federal responsibility. I say BULL. It’s time that this government both locally and provincially get off their collective butts and start doing something about this. This problem is not just restricted to the inner city. This problem is city wide and it WILL hit their neighborhoods in a big way if they don’t find a way to stop it now. At one time the Gang problem was fine as long as it was confined to the downtown or the North End. Now the gangs have started popping up all over the place. Drug houses were fine in the these areas too, except now most of the grow ops are being found in the wealthy areas of the city. Is it going to take something happening to a politicians immediate family member for them to finally take some action. Years ago, different committees were tell the police and Politian’s about the rise in the gangs and how they should put a stop to it before it becomes a problem. They said according to their intelligence that the gangs were unorganized and it would take at least 5 years before they became a problem. In less than a year 3 gangs (the Manitoba Warriors, Indian Posse and the Zig Zag Crew) had gotten organized and by the time the police figured it out they were already in trenched in the drug and prostitution business. There are now as many as 30+ gangs operating in the city limits. Most are just a bunch of Kids calling themselves a gang, but with the recent arrest of the Hell’s Angels and Zig Zag Crew members a void has been opened and there are the serious gangs trying to fill it. Most are looking to make a name for themselves. Most of them know the law. Most of them are recruiting members as young as 8 years old. Unfortunately most of us might get caught in the crossfire. Like one of the unfortunate kids this last week. Till Next Time. Tony

May 20, 2010

Where has all the Manga Gone?

HI Everyone, I was going to talk about how more people seem to be out and buying but I am going to talk about a disturbing trend if your into Manga. DC has just announced they are closing their Manga division. This coupled with Viz laying of 40% of their staff last week does not bode well for manga in North America. Manga DVD sales have also slumped in the last couple of years and Cartoon Network late last year dismantled their adult swim manga block of shows. Manga growth came in at a time when stores sales were getting into Manga. I still remember being one of the first stores to go heavily into Manga Comics when they first came out ( a certain comic retailer would always drop by my store about a year after I started with the manga trying to find out what the hot titles were then stock his store with similar titles). Then came a time when every comic store had manga and it was still a growth industry, really good titles and still enough variety for all interested. Then came the TV shows which some of them were just chopped up and edited versions of the DVD movies. This got a lot of kids interested in them and a lot of non traditional sellers interested in selling them. The Market was flooded, they were finding anything that was manga/anime and putting it out for sale. Then like with most things that are hype driven the kids that were interested in this got bored and went on to something else. The only problem is that all the fans of the Manga’s fed up with A) Not being able to find their favorite titles because they were sold, B) Found that there was way too much out there for them to keep up with and C) found that companies were starting to produce more than 10 volumes of each of their titles. Another thing is that all the Manga was in book form and that the non Traditional stores were treating the books as all the same and as second class citizens. Back to me, I had cut back on New Manga about 6 years ago because what I saw happening was the same thing I had seen years previously with Pokemon cards. Now the reality of that is happening. I hope what this ends up doing is taking Manga back to the drawing board and have restart, slower and more equitable and enjoyable for the fans of the genre. It would be a shame to lose this genre and fan base because it gave them something different than the standard North American fare and that is still needed. Till Next Time. Tony

May 13, 2010

The Little Tin God

Hi Everyone, I wanted to talk about Frank Frazetta who died this week or how the dream is still alive for the Tony Slam with both the Canadiens and Suns advancing to the conference finals but instead I am going to talk about a very arrogant person. Gary Bettman is the commissioner of the NHL and he is playing a dangerous game as the little dictator of the league. Once again Winnipeg is being used as a bargaining ploy to get what he wants and I for one am getting real tired of it. There are talks going around about trying to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona. The Coyotes used to be the Winnipeg Jets at one time. When the Jets left for the desert, we were told by the little dictator that even though we had the fans that would support the team the corporate base just wasn’t here but it was in Phoenix. Well over the years that Phoenix has been gone they have been losing money EVERY SEASON. The Jets may have lost money up until the league had brought in revenue sharing and a salary cap but not as bad as it has been in Phoenix. Now all of a sudden when we have a new arena and a corporate base to support a team we are being used as bargaining chips. Told that if any of his southern experiment teams HAVE to move that we are “one of the cities considered”. Leak enough info that a team is coming to Winnipeg and then get which ever city (Atlanta, Phoenix, Florida) to pony up and do what it takes to keep the team in there town. He even had the nerve to compare the situation in Phoenix to how some of the other teams have had to go through the same thing. It’s not the same Mr. Bettman. Chicago had an owner that refused to put any money into the team and as long as fans kept coming he didn’t see why he had too. Ottawa and Edmonton had people owning the team that had no right being owners. Phoenix had an owner who from day one was propping up the team and the team wasn’t very good so the fans stayed away. If people would remember when the Arizona Cardinals went to the Superbowl they had their first Sellout their first game of the Playoffs. The town really is only a 2 sport town The University of Arizona and the Phoenix Suns. Hockey, Football and even Baseball are only supported as long as the team is WINNING. As for people who say our Arena is too small, the average attendance for most NHL games is only just over 15,000 people. There are lots of American teams that are drawing under that number. To come on TV in march and say you have talked to a group in Winnipeg and that the facility they have there is fine and then to say Tuesday night that you had never talked to anyone in Winnipeg now that is just wrong. We may never get another team as long as this bozo is in charge. To tell you the truth I wouldn’t want one with him around. Just don’t keep jerking us around. Till Next Time. Tony

May 6, 2010

Free Comic Book Day 2010

Hi Everyone, Free Comic Book Day 2010 has now come to an end. It was a successful one this year With lots of people coming in throughout the day, many new face. The only problem I have is the fact that I’m not asking you to buy anything, you can just come in an get ONE free comic. Not 2 or 5 but 1. It is a day to get reacquainted with comics or to get something for nothing. I like to not only have comics to give away on FCBD but also through the year. I also would hope that people would not only come on FCBD but all throughout the year. If you do, you can still get a free comic. Some people get down right rude when you tell them that they can only have ONE free comic. Maybe I just don’t get it but if I’m getting something free where I don’t have to purchase something and the only stipulation is that I get ONE item free, I would be happy. Most free Items these days come with some sort of Caveat. If you look on the TV they say they will send you a second on free just pay separate shipping and handling. How is that really free, they could pack everything in one box and send it with one shipping. The shipping and Handling technically pay for the 2nd item. I am giving you ONE comic free, no extra shipping and handling, No having to spend $5.00. You just walk in take ONE comic show it to me and leave. Other than that, I would say FCBD 2010 was a rousing success. I hope that people will take advantage of the 10 anniversary next year. See You then. Till Next Time. Tony

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