Hi, it’s been quite a while since we last sent out a big email, and we’ve piled up a number of things to tell you.
1. We exist!
We’ve been at our “new” location for over a year, yet every week we still get old customers stopping by telling us they didn’t know we moved.
Inconceivable!
Our new digs are at 1708A Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Berkeley — a few blocks north of Trader Joes, and a few blocks south of where Metallica’s Kirk Hammett apparently used to take guitar lessons. We’re open Wednesday-Sunday, 12-5PM and our charismatic canine Gizmo hopes to see you there.
2. SAGA is coming back in January…
…and there’s no guarantee you'll be able to get your hands on it!
It’s no secret that if there’s one comic that’s been a consistent number one seller at Fantastic Comics, it’s SAGA. That’s right – SAGA has routinely outsold our top Marvel and DC books, event or no event, so it’s safe to say that just SAGA coming back will be the biggest event of the year as far as we’re concerned.
The quantities we need to order really make us nervous, and the thought of missing out on SAGA’s return should make you nervous! Help keep our mutual anxieties down and reserve a copy for us to pre-order.
Drop by and let Uel know you want SAGA in person or by email at:
contact@fantasticcomics.net
We’ll be giving away a life-size (but dead batteried and no longer talking) Lying Cat to one lucky pre-order customer… whether you want it or not!
We’ve made multiple attempts over the years to give away this dead cat to no avail. This time we will triumph!
“GOOD RIDDANCE,” thinks Gizmo! What a jealous dog!
3. We just paid off a big debt…
…to our distributor-who-must-not-be-named (let’s just say if usury laws covered businesses exploiting other businesses, there would be biblical repercussions), and are celebrating with Sunday Sales:
Sunday 12/12: 20% off trades and back issues
Sunday 12/19: 20% off trades and back issues
Friday 12/24: Spend at least $50 (probably for yourself), get $10 Gift Card (probably for your pals).
Or spend $100, get $20. Or spend $1000 and get $200. Escalations of this sort are encouraged!
Please thank our patrons who were absolutely instrumental in this great unburdening.
https://www.patreon.com/fantasticcomics
4. Speaking of demonic overseers…
Our New Evil Landlord has taken an interest in our rarer comics, and is asking for some of them in lieu of rent. We can’t justify refusing, unless you can outbid his predatory offers. Save these precious graphic gems from the clutches of this morally ambiguous monster!
In particular he would like our excellent Detective Comics #267, the first appearance of Bat-Mite.
He’s offered $450 off our rent for this beauty. Can you beat that?
To check out condition, you can see a full flipthrough of our copy of the comic here:
To bid on this, email your single best offer to
events@fantasticcomics.net
with the subject: BIDDING ON BAT-MITE
Also on the chopping block is this 3rd printing of Zap #1, with this time the minimum bid being a whopping $4.50 (Our Evil Landlord doesn’t like the torn cover – what a penny-pincher!)
To bid on this, email your single best offer to
events@fantasticcomics.net
with the subject: BIDDING ON ZAP
We’ll close out bids when January rent is due.
On that note, how would you like to be our New Evil Landlord?
Well, you can… for $20+ million. Demonic details are at:
http://classy.ofberkeley.com
5. Lastly, if you’ve noticed…
…our email missive is coming to you in the form of a substack newsletter.
While substack has been in the news for poaching comic creators, why shouldn’t comic book stores also be the beneficiary of venture capital largesse?
So we’re jumping into the fray — to make this a bona fide newsletter, and not just a craven promotional email, we’ve gone through the effort of compiling an actual newsletter. So please enjoy the first (and possibly last) issue of:
Fantastic Comic Presents
Comic Topic: Underrated
Is it possible to be underrated in a world where every piece of art seems to be collected, scanned, and worshiped no matter how obscure? Unfortunately, just like money, the majority of attention and accolades accrue to a small minority often regardless of whether it is deserved.
Let’s balance that equation a little! Here’s a small survey of underrated comic makers and creators to see who they think is underrated.
We start with Carol Lay, whose very underrated short piece Midwestern Wedding appeared in Peter Bagge’s first issue of editing Weirdo:
Carol Lay
Jay Cotton who composes music for Peewee Herman had a character named Pee Dog. Insanely funny and obscene. Good friends with Gary Panter, they sometimes collaborated, and I think the later issues of PD were all Jay.
Peter Bagge
An artist from that era whose work really holds up well, IMO, is Michael Dougan of "East Texas" fame. He stopped doing comics a long time ago -- a shame for us readers, though I can hardly blame him for moving on.
Another great one from the 1980s is Robert Armstrong of "Mickey Rat" fame. Look him up if you're unfamiliar.
Joey Alison Sayers
I like a lot of newspaper strips, which most people don’t I guess. I like Mutts, Get Fuzzy, Zits, Bizarro, Willy and Ethel. I remember reading one time that Joe Martin, the guy who does (did?) Willy and Ethel was drawing 3 daily strips. That blew my mind. I burned out doing a weekly strip. I can’t even imagine.
At this point in the newsletter, store proprietor, Uel, interjects:
“HEY, WHY NOT RECOMMEND BOOKS PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY BUY IN THE STORE?!”
“It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken is the go-to Seth book for most people, but most people are sleeping on this one!”
“Most people think Sub-Mariner is just a cold dead fish — I beg to differ!
All it takes is a wonderful writer and artist to make the Sub-Mariner a hot, fried fish! Yum!”
“Jim Rugg of Street Angel fame gets all-ages into D&D without the pesky charts — indoctrinate your youngins!”
“This stand-alone Superman story is really about the author’s relationship with his sick father — a more serious version of Dan Clowes’ Wilson if you can believe it!”
“Jeff Lemire and Sorrentino work their magic on a character that doesn’t always get the spotlight, especially during the doldrums of the New 52.”
'“According to Todd, Garfield was always a solid seller for Comic Relief. ‘Stock up on Garfield…’ is Todd’s whispering advice. Well, Garfield might be a hero to most, but our champion orange cat here at Fantastic Comics is Michael in the Manga section!”
… and that’s a wrap for us this time.
We probably won’t be sending out another one of these for a long time, or maybe even ever, so check out Uel’s weekly video show at: