Hey, Folks!
Well, the latest edition of “Snowmageddon-Toledo-Style” has finally come and gone and we can pick up the pieces and move on with our snow covered existences. While I am happy that my customers who plow snow for a living got some work yesterday (I just love that PHAT snow plow comic money!), I found it extremely irritating that the storm that was supposed to be passed by the time I got off work was actually just picking up speed at exact moment I had to go over to my Dad’s place to clean up the mess. Honestly, it was Wednesday night and it had been a loooong day and all I wanted was to go home and slob out in front of the TV and maybe do a little laundry and instead I was stumbling through a winter wonderland trying to shovel huge snowdrifts and clear off Dad’s car while the snow just kept coming down. The job did get done, but I am so sore this morning that its going to take a real effort to get through all of the end of the month comic retailing stuff that needs to be attended to today. As a humorous post script to this gripping narrative, Hillman showed up literally five minutes after I finished Dad’s drive to help out…lol. Thanks, Hill, you really are the best, but we need to work on your timing…😊
Regular Cover by Greg Capullo 
Regular Cover by Joelle Jones 
1940’s Variant by Adam Hughes 
1950’s Variant by Travis Charest 
1960’s Variant by J Scott Campbell 
1970’s Variant by Frank Cho 
1980’s Variant by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau 
1990’s Variant by Gabriel Dell’Otto 
2010’s Variant by Jeehyung Lee
Speaking of end of the month retailer duties, today is the day that I will be entering initial orders for the February Previews. Of course, as I’m sure you are all aware of by now, initial orders are not quite the same thing as final orders so there is still some time to put it any special requests. The four biggest titles on initial orders today are the Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Spectacular #1, Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Spectacular, and Batman #92 and 93. The Joker and Catwoman titles are part of D.C.’s big $9.99 specials with ten variant covers each, most of which represent different decades of the character’s development by w wide arrange of artists. We have a Good News/Bad News thing going on with the Joker/Catwoman covers. Unfortunately, D.C. Comics has only provided the regular cover for the Joker title, although I do have a list of the artist’s slated to do the covers. The good news is that D.C. just released all of the Catwoman covers save the 2000’s Jim Lee variant this morning so at least I have that to put in front of you. Adding to my conundrum is the information that current quasi-fan favorite/speculator darling Punchline will have her origin story in the Joker title only makes my order predictions even foggier. I will have a small amount of each cover available for the rack, but if there is a specific cover(s) you are interested in then please let me know. Monarch Comics is also continuing our special sale deal on folks who order a complete set of covers. The price for a full set of either Joker or Catwoman is $80 (plus tax).
Batman #92 regular cover by Yasmine Putri 
Batman #92 variant cover by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau 
Batman #93 regular cover by Tony Daniel
I’m not sure what to make of Batman #92 and 93, at least in terms of what demand is going to be. I mean, the story and art has been top notch since the new team of James Tynion and Tony Daniel took over and I expect the high quality will continue with artist Guillem March joining on these issues. D.C. Comics made the issue of demand a little more difficult to gauge yesterday when they told us that the previously announced card stock variant cover by Francesco Mattina will now be replaced by a card stock variant cover featuring Punchline by star artist Stanley “Artgerm” Lau. In addition, issue #93 will have the big finale to Tunion’s “Their Dark Design” story line and will also be the prologue to the big “Joker War” story arc that officially begins in Batman #94 (and will also include several tie-in issues, but that’s a problem for the March Previews…)
I’ve got some numbers in mind for both issues and a hazy idea of what I’ll need in terms of folks who always buy Batman, but I’m almost completely in the dark on what I’m going to need on hand to satisfy folks who are going to be curious about this new story line or the cool covers. So, if you don’t regularly read Batman or do read Batman, but have a specific cover choice in mind, then by all means please let me know. Anyone who requests specific a specific cover (or mulitples) who gets me their order by the FOC (4/1/20 for #92 and 4/15/20 for #93) will have their copies guaranteed. After the FOC, the best I can do is guarantee that if you regularly buy Batman through our subscription service then I will have a record of it and you will get at least one copy of the titles to read.
The drama of the missing box from UPS ended up being resolved fairly quickly yesterday. I mean, it was a pain in the neck (or other, less identifiable body parts) to deal with behind the scenes, but I have to admit that I pulled it off with considerable aplomb. It’s nice to see that the system I’ve gradually developed over the last thirty years is sturdy enough to withstand the weight of a crushing shipping error. Please let me know immediately if you missed a title you requested this week and I will do my best to take care of you. I think I got everyone covered properly, but I have been known to make the occasional error ( shocking, I know!)
Next week we have the arrival of another big D.C. anniversary issue, this time Flash #750. Flash is one of those mid-tier comics that has a surprisingly robust fanbase, but whose numbers don’t change much from issue to issue. So when I sat down to do orders for the title with its 10 variant covers and very little solicitation information, well, I decided to backpedal and go a bit light on this offering. In any event, I will have a small number of each cover available for order this week, but the last time I checked all covers were still available for reorder which could change at any time. As a result, if there is a specific cover you are looking for Flash #750 then please let me know by placing a request VIA the subscription form. We will be offering a full set of ten covers for $63 (20% off the retail price) for anyone interested.
One final quick mention…we will be limiting orders for Batman #90, due out next week, to copy per customer to make sure that everyone gets a copy who wants one. This restriction does NOT apply to those of you who ordered multiple covers before the FOC or who regularly buy both Batman covers. So please only choose one cover or the other when filling out the subscription form this week. If you choose more than one cover then I will fill your order with either one or the other based on which cover I have more copies of in stock. Thanks for understanding on the limitations and know that this means more Batman for more people!
That’s it for me this week, Folks! I’m already running a bit behind schedule this week in regards to getting the subscription form posted, so I suppose I better wrap this up and get it going. Thanks again for all of your understanding with the UPS snafu this week and I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Eddie