Friday night and there's this lingering sense of cold in the air. For those with actual heating, curse you to diced bits of liver in a dipping bowl of tartar sauce. Mmm, that's actually good eatin'

As is looking for a back issue of a comic you've been chasing and then finding it. Of course, part of the hunt is the searching involved and if that isn't tautology, these aren't questions cobbled together into a clump of togetherness. Like waffles on a loose iron.

...chasing issue number 2 of the Lone Ranger...

...looking to get copies of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics 'Long Way Home Parts 1-3' out on Dark Horse...

...Do you have a copy of Batman: Face the Face?...

...I'm trying to hunt down a copy of Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13, published by Archie...

Do you have any in stock?

For those just out of stepping-on-to-a-train or catching-a-ride-otherwise range, best bet is actually to either call up the store on 9601 2622 or email through.

Either way, things might take a bit of time trying to track them down if they're even in the shop. Not counting those which might be sold out or gone for others to have bought under your nose hairs.

Back issues being what they are, they might be there one day, but gone the next as a result of someone else coming in to take them up from the issues.

When in doubt, ask. After all, there's enough tartar for everyone.

That is until the muncher comes along and wipes out the buffet. And then there isn't any more.

 

Such a weird case of casing the joint in looking for clues when a mysterious CD turns up in the post. The kind that features music, that audio thing they play on the back of ice cream trucks and before the fingerprint slide show at the cinemas.

Look long and hard enough and in the right place, answers lie and they be there. Of course, it's all in the execution and perception of "the right place." As it always does.

On the topic of mail...

Just wanted to know how I can go about having a comic book mailed out. I'm interested in a comic/graphic novel being released this week.

Could you please email me a product price list for your mail order service?

I like to know the postage cost for 3 comic orders to Western Australia.

Yes, conglomeration is good, when making three emails into one chunk that carves a nice slice of cheese what melts on the hood of a sugar cube station wagon.

Back on topic, mail order service of the Comic Shop is a free service. Only costs to bear with paws are that of the actual comics themselves and the postage to ship them to the destination.

Order about with a request via email, fax or phone on the specific title as well as a delivery address.

Usual costs around Australia, for say about a handful of comics (be serious), is $5 on the postage.

With the cost of the comics to send and the postage, then comes the money order made out to "the Comic Shop" to be delivered to the PO Box. Address in this case being:

the Comic Shop
PO Box 3330
Liverpool Westfields NSW 2170

Then comes the short wait with Australia Post delivering the titles in question.

And there it is, a quasi subscription comics service we call mail order.

 

Wake up early enough in the morning and the cheapskate will find a nice source of rancid water if they find themselves licking the leaves in the garden for the dew. Of course, other, sane people will just turn on the tap and drink from that. Or suckle on the chunks of ice frosting out their fridges.

There may be rainy days, but it's not all wet and sunshine with water far from being all around. Which brings up the topic of umbrellas...

The Umbrella Academy just came out in the US so I'm not sure if it's going to come to Australia. Will you be obtaining any of these comics/the series? I note that you do sell Dark Horse Comics and hope that you may be able to assist me with my enquiry.

The Umbrella Academy from Dark Horse. Written by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and art by Gabriel Ba.

Recent comic of spoke is a teaser from that whole Free Comic Book Day thing not too far back into the distant start of this month. Actual comic itself won't be hitting any real shelves, here or in the US, before September.

And the wait begins again until such time.

 

Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been back in the kicking of vampire teeth and staking of their hearts for two issues now and looking well to hammer out many more months for season eight can only be done through the comics.

Naturally, there are interested folk in flicking through the past materials strewn over and across the Whedonverse.

I was wondering if you had any back issues of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel or Fire Fly magazines. If you do, could you let me know how much it would cost and if it would be possible to send anything I buy through the mail.

Battleship hits on Buffy and Angel back issues. Spotty at times, but still a good hit for the tanker sitting next to the tug boat.

Firefly, not so much. More the Serenity in that case. Released at first as a mini-series, now collected and sold in the trade paper back form. Sitting shorter than the original release print, but still swearing as much in Chinese.

For any comic or trade, the prices will be listed on the bagging of the bagged and boarded comic themselves. For postage, it will depend on the location, but usually no more than $5 for those mail hits within the great state of New South Wales.

Ordering things from the Comic Shop is doable and there are no handling or packaging costs at all, ever, when using the mail order service.

 

Twenty and more years on and Tony Montana still generates quite the fan base. Squatting action figures, foul-mouthed action figures and bobble heads with a dinky tommy gun in hand.

Wouldn't it just be remiss to not have a comic of such? Yes, it partly would.

I am interested in the ordering the scarface comics, can you let me know if or when they will be available and the price. thank you

Scarface: Scarred for Life #1 from IDW Publishing, came out on the first week of January and is on the shelf.

Monthly for the six issue miniseries, its US cover price is $3.99 which is $7.45 converted in Australian.

 

For your creepy consideration:

Just wondering if you have any original Gold Key series Twilight Zone comics in stock. Also chasing original or re-issue Tales From The Crypt and Crime Suspense Stories.

No go on the Twilight Zone comics from Gold Key. Thems be nowhere to be seen in the store shelves or in the back issue bins. A truly hard-to-find find, so keep that in mind.

Bit of an upper on the latter titles, Tales From The Crypt and Crime SuspenStories.

At least, from first glance racking. Release of those collected editions are in stock. No idea what the paper smells like, though they're bound to be fresh given their reprint status.

Who doesn't like the smell of comics?

 

Given that the Comic Shop's profile on MySpace is a beast unto herself, there has been quite a few males out there intrigued by the presence. As such, they are most eager for more pictorial explorations and come with lines such as the following nubby poke:

Hi I'm from liverpool tooo . . u got a pic or sumethin or a msn addy??

Photos? Why sure she has, they're all up at the Flickr account. Not as riveting as those of the security camera, but what can you do?

As for an MSN address, forget that. That's the way of diminishing returns. the Comic Shop will chat, but only at 10a/170 George Street, Liverpool. She don't like the internet chatrooms. She claims that they're too impersonal and fake.

 

From time to time people are interested in seeing what the Comic Shop has in its coffers.

Do you have a catalogue? We are interested in your Bobble Heads.....mainly the horror figures.

Trying to knock out and keep up-to-date a catalogue? Not happening. At least not right now.

What is though, is a fairly often updated showing of the galleries of head knockers, statues and busts on display on the main site. The pages are usually scanned on the start of the week, so if in curious wonder about what's there, hit them up like a batsman on the rocks.

 

A scanner-reader by the name of John asks of the shipping lists page, "What's the deal with all those titles in bold?"

To which the answer politely removes itself from the lavatory and replies, "All the titles listed in bold on the shipping page denote new number 1's hitting the shelves for that particular week."