Hey, Folks!
Well, I’m back. I had a pretty good weekend adventure with Hillman in Chicago and now I have returned to the busy hustle of running a comic book shop. It really turned into a learning experience on the kinds of things I need to keep covered when I try to go out of town. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Jake did a GREAT job of running the store and as a result we had a very lucrative weekend. I just know now the “holes” I have in my coverage of basic store function and what I need to do to properly train whoever follows Jake into my employment. Since I knew Jake would only be with me for a short time there were many mysteries of the comic industry (and my screwy way of keeping track of it) that I didn’t bother training him for and I will have to rectify that with my next loyal minion.
Yeah, I kind of buried the lead there, but Jake’s time as a Monarch Comics staff member is coming to an end. As we agreed at the beginning of this venture, Jake’s time with us was always going to be coming to an end this month. Now that he has graduated from UT he is officially a scientist and now must journey on to begin another journey into the World of Forensic Science.
I will miss him terribly. I wasn’t really ready to bring on an employee when I asked Jake to help out after I heard he lost his previous gig. The main reason I offered him a position is that I knew he was cast aside rather rudely by his former employers and I knew there would be a ton of paperwork to complete just to allow Monarch Comics LLC to have employees. I figured if nothing else it would allow my accountant to set everything up, train me how to manage things like Workman’s Comp and figuring out paychecks, and also give me the occasion to start figuring out the things I would need to do in order to train someone appropriately. All of these tasks were completed admirably and on top of that I got to experience the unrestrained sassiness of Jake as well his conscientious and excellent work. While I am glad that he will now be able to continue on with his career aspirations I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I wish he were sticking around to continue helping me get the store ready for its next phase. I don’t think I could have made a better choice for my first employee and I wish him great success as he moves on. Thanks, Jake, for everything you contributed to the store during your too-brief employment. Now excuse me while I dry my eyes…allergies, don’t you know…
Before I went on vacation, I made up a quick Facebook post regarding the previous “available only in Europe” death metal editions of Dark Nights Death Metal #1, 2, and 3. I’m bringing it up again here to let everyone know that I will be ordering a small amount of each as well as the new Lunar exclusive Dark Nights Death Metal Soundtrack! Here’s the solicitation material for each item:
DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL SOUNDTRACK LUNAR EXCLUSIVE
To accompany the unrestrained awesomeness of DC’s Dark Nights: Death Metal comic series, execute producer / composer Tyler Bates (Guardians of the Galaxy, John Wick) present the Dark Nights: Death Metal soundtrack. Directly inspired by the comic series’ storyline, the diverse soundtrack illuminates the darkest corners of each DC character’s psyche. This Wonder Woman cover is limited to the Direct Market. Allocations may occur. Limited to 2,000 units for comics shops. Contents: Gatefold Jacket – Exclusive Wonder Woman Cover Variant 2xLP Red Smoke Vinyl 11×22 Poster Insert Comes with Mirror Board Character Trading Card – Randomly Inserted, 11 Total to Collect! Track List 01. Mastodon – Forged by Neron 02. Chelsea Wolfe – Diana 03. HEALTH, Tyler Bates – ANTI-LIFE (feat. Chino Moreno) 04. Maria Brink, Tyler Bates – Meet Me In Fire (feat. Andy Biersack) 05. Grey Daze – Anything, Anything 06. Rise Against – Broken Dreams, Inc. 07. Manchester Orchestra – Never Ending 08. Denzel Curry, PlayThatBoiZay – Bad Luck 09. Carach Angren – Skull With a Forked Tongue 10. Starcrawler – Good Time Girl 11. GUNSHIP, Tyler Bates – Berserker (feat. Dave Lombardo) 12. Greg Puciato, Tyler Bates, Gil Sharone – Now You’ve Really Done It 13. Show Me The Body – Stone Cold Earth 14. IDLES – Sodium 15. Soccer Mommy – Kissing in the Rain
RETAIL PRICE: $45.00
DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL #1 SOUNDTRACK SPEC ED RISE AGAINST WITH FLEXI SINGLE BROKEN DREAMS, INC.
(W) Scott Snyder (A) Greg Capullo (CA) Dave Johnson
This special edition of the first issue of Dark Nights: Death Metal features an all-new cover by Dave Johnson that showcases Batman with the members of the band Rise Against and comes with a flexi single of the track, Broken Dreams Inc. : from the upcoming Dark Nights: Death Metal soundtrack produced by Tyler Bates. Get ready for the earth-shattering encore! The legendary team behind Dark Nights: Metal and Batman: Last Knight on Earth takes center stage and reunites for one last tour. When the Earth is enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, the Justice League is at the mercy of the Batman Who Laughs. Humanity struggles to survive in a hellish landscape twisted beyond recognition, while Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman have all been separated and must fight to survive. Unleash the beast and let the head banging begin! Allocations may occur. Limited to 3,000 units for comics shops.
RETAIL PRICE: $24.99
DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL #2 SOUNDTRACK SPEC ED GREY DAZE WITH FLEXI SINGLE FEATURING ANYTHING, ANYTHING
(W) Scott Snyder (A) Greg Capullo (CA) Ryan Brown
This special edition of the second issue of Dark Nights: Death Metal features an all-new cover by Ryan Brown that showcases Superman with the members of the band Grey Daze and comes with a flexidisc of the track “Anything, Anthing.” Get ready to scream! Wonder Woman roars across the horrifying Dark Multiverse landscape in the world’s most nightmarish monster truck, with Swamp Thing riding shotgun! The two arrive at the ghoulish cemetery base of Batman and his army of zombies, but can the former friends stand each other long enough to form a plan and take back the planet? (Plus, what’s Lobo doing in space?) Don’t miss the second chapter of the wildest ride in the DC Universe, from the epic team of writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo! Allocations may occur. Limited to 2,000 units for comics shops.
RETAIL PRICE: $24.99
DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL #3 SOUNDTRACK SPEC ED DENZEL CURRY WITH FLEXI SINGLE FEATURING BAD LUCK
(W) Scott Snyder (A) Greg Capullo (CA) Kai Carpenter
This special edition of the third issue of Dark Nights: Death Metal features an all-new cover by Kai Carpenter that showcases Deathstroke with Denzel Curry and comes with a flexi single of the track: Bad Luck from the upcoming Dark Nights: Death Metal Soundtrack produced by Tyler Bates. All aboard! When the Justice League launches its assault on New Apokolips, the team’s goal is to free Superman from his solar prison. But it’s all going off the rails when they learn that the Man of Steel is gone for good thanks to the Anti-Life Equation. Plus, the deep secret of the Darkest Knight is revealed–but how much darker could the Batman Who Laughs possibly get? And don’t miss the surprise return of everyone’s favorite wannabe Robin! Allocations may occur. Limited to 2,000 units for comics shops.
RETAIL PRICE: $24.99
As you can see above, all of these books are going to be extremely limited and no matter how many copies I order chances are they will be allocated. The FOC for these items is 6/13 and my final order numbers on these will be based on any preorders I receive as well as a few extra copies. Any orders will be processed on a first-come, first-basis so let me know ASAP if you are interested in any of the above items.
Everyone has been asking me this week about how I am going to handle the whole mask thing here in the store. Well, after much soul searching and consideration, I have decided that as of June 2nd masks will no longer be required to enter the store. Frankly, I am just about sick of playing mommy for everyone who, after a year of mandates, still can’t figure out how to wear a mask properly or likes to play the game of “Do I have to wear a mask?” Seriously, I’m over it. That being said, I will still be wearing a mask in the store for the time being, but in my case it is mostly because I kinda like my masks and I haven’t been sick ONCE since this whole mandate thing started. Also, while I am vaccinated, I still see a couple of hundred of you good folks every week and I want to protect everyone as much as possible from getting anything that I may have been exposed to. Let’s just hope that this doesn’t explode into a mass of covid infections and everything gets shut down again before Free Comic Book Day!
Well, that’s it for me this week. I want to get everything posted and running smoothly so I can start painting another rack. Someday I’ll run out of racks to paint and that day will be a good one…😊
Have a great weekend!
Eddie