To celebrate the wedding of The X-Men’s Northstar and Kyle Jinadu in Marvel’s Astonishing X-Men #51, Midtown Comics is looking for a comic loving, same-sex couple who would be interested in getting married in our store on June 20th for a special event! Email us at media@midtowncomics.com

Astonishing X-Men writer Marjorie M. Liu will be signing at Midtown Comics Downtown on June 6th from 6-7! Click for details

AJ Confessore, a long time customer and friend of Midtown, has passed away. If you’re a reader of our blog, watched Fuse TV or walked around NYCC, you’ll know AJ as CC Banana, comedian and rock and roll interviewer. CC loved to poke a little fun at those he interviewed, and he met and interviewed such rock luminaries as Sebastian Bach, and KISS.

If you shopped at our stores, CC was just plain AJ. AJ had been shopping with us for 15 years, since the store’s inception. Personally, I remember meeting AJ about a month into work, on my first Wednesday. AJ was a regular of all of our stores; his love of rock n’ roll was matched only by his love of comics and the world of comics. He was always very friendly, and very courteous to all of us. As an employee of Midtown Comics for four years, seeing AJ on Wednesdays was like clockwork. As busy as Wednesdays get, and they do get very busy, we always got to talk at least for a few minutes, AJ would always talk to a bunch of us and catch up with us, and in a sea of thousands on Wednesdays, he was always a constant, friendly presence. AJ was a one- of-a kind person, a person with great heart and humor, and on behalf of all of us at Midtown, we will miss you and hope you’re in a better place now. Rest in Peace.

- Raph

You can order your very own SIGNED copy of the Justice League Vol. 1 HC from midtowncomics.com for COVER PRICE!

Each copy comes with an official certificate of authenticity.

Midtown Bloggerinos! Raph here, with a review of the new book from Brian Cronin: Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent?

This book is full of something fanboys absolutely love: lists! From things like iconic covers, to obscure things like weirdest comic book commercials, this book covers well known comic history as well as obscure history (Did you know that Sadie Hawkins day comes from a Li’l Abner strip?). It’s not just lists by the author either: there are some polls from the CBR forum for superlatives (Biggest fights, top 25 characters), which is very much a fan debate thing. The lists I’m sure will spark debate amongst you and people you know. There are also lists provided by industry luminaries like Dave Gibbons and Geoff Johns, who definitely know what they’re talking about.

Who is Brian Cronin, you may ask, and why is he writing a book about comics? Mr. Cronin is the author of the Comics Should Be Good Blog at Comic Book Resources, one of the leading comic book websites in the world. Brian also has written a previous book, Was Superman A Spy? Clearly, Mr. Cronin is qualified.

So with all of that said, what is the final verdict? This is a nice book to have on the book shelf, with little tidbits to help jog your memory (like a list of Stan Lee’s appearances in Marvel movies) or a clever tidbit to impress your friends at a party (Batman tried to lobotomize Joker early on!), this book is a great addition to your collection! Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? is available May 30th… check it out at our website!

That’s it for now, until next time–

STAY BLOGGY MY FRIENDS!

- Raph

While The Avengers are duking it out with The X-Men, Batman is facing off against a threat that predates Batman himself. Now that threat has targeted Bruce Wayne, and all the power brokers of Gotham. All of this comes from DC’s newest superstar writer (and Midtown favorite) Scott Snyder!

Scott’s been working on Batman since late 2010, when he began his story with a tale of secret underground auctions, where wealthy people bid on the weapons and contraband of villains, which can be seen as a precursor to the current story. It was the 2nd story, however, that really grabbed attention. The story revolves around James Gordon Jr., Commissioner Gordon’s son. James Jr. is most known for being the baby that takes the tumble over the bridge in Batman: Year One. The event clearly had an impact on young James, as he grew up mentally unbalanced. This 2nd story in Detective Comics eventually became the main story and it is easily one of the best in recent memory, and the Black Mirror hardcover collects both stories.

After Snyder concluded the James Jr. story, the DC Universe relaunched, and he took over the Batman series. The new story has involved Bruce Wayne deciding to be more proactive with his city. Bruce announces that he’s funding a revitalization project for Gotham, which includes new buildings and programs that will enrich the city. It seems like Bruce is finally turning tragedy to triumph, and letting his non-Batman self move on… The Court of Owls doesn’t approve.

The Court of Owls is like the Illuminati of Gotham City. They’ve been secretly running the city for years, using their Talon as their assassin. They operate in secret, to the point that everyday Gotham citizens treat them like a myth. Even Bruce himself is unaware of these people, until they decide that his project is not to their liking. They strike at Bruce hard, and it seems like he’s rocked to his core by all of this. He barely escapes the Court, and they in turn send out every Talon they have… because it’s time for the Court of Owls to make itself known!

The opening salvo of Night of the Owls has already been fired, with Nightwing #8 and Batman #8. Check those out, and check out the rest of the stories in May!

That’s it for now, until next time–

Stay Bloggy My Friends,

- Raph

The Wall Street Journal stopped by Midtown Comics Times Square to talk about Marvel’s Avengers.

Midtown Blogvengers! Raph here, and being that we are a blog for a comic book store, let’s review the biggest movie EVER! It’s AVENGERS TIME!!!!! Spoilers warnings abound!

HO-LEE. COW.

Seriously.

WOW.

First off, this movie is one of the biggest gambles in movie history. As a comic book fan, it’s nothing new to me, but the scale is. In comics, characters get established and then you get that super team-up. Before World’s Finest, there was just Superman and Batman, even the Avengers all had solo series prior to them assembling… but those were single comic gambles… how much does it cost to print a comic? Tens of thousands? Marvel Studios has spent over a BILLION DOLLARS in production and advertising costs to get to this point. Between the Iron Man movies, Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor and Avengers itself… a BILLION DOLLARS. Sure, the other movies were profitable, but we’ve known since the end of Iron Man that Avengers was coming, so Marvel was locked in and committed, which is a crazy gamble.

And boy has it paid off!

Pretty durn cool…

Avengers is an AMAZING movie. It’s arguably the best Marvel movie, the best superhero movie period. The dialogue is snappy, the pace is good for the most part, the action is TERRIFIC… it’s everything you ask for from a comic book movie. The best part is the group dynamic.

Whether they’re bantering, arguing or fighting side-by-side, the way the Avengers comes together feels very organic. Of course, it helps if you’ve watched every movie that led up to this, but it’s really simple: the world needs heroes, and the Avengers all answer for their reasons: Iron Man for the glory, Thor because he swore to defend this realm, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow because it’s their sworn duty and Banner because he finally found a productive rage vent. The tension between the team is palatable, and when Loki’s mind games come into play, it’s delicious watching these guys tear into each other. What’s better than that? The last 45 minutes.

“If my guns get bigger, they won’t fit through the Bifrost!!! I have much to consider…”

As much as I liked the previous superhero movies, there is no action scene that compares to the Avengers-Chitauri battle. There really isn’t. Every character gets a moment to shine. This reviewer happens to be a huge Thor fan, and he’s got tons of good moments.

The Avengers is pretty much the perfect comic book movie. The build-up to the final fight is a bit long, but there’s so much gratification action wise throughout the movie, that you really can’t complain. The timing, wit and delivery are all a credit to the cast and director Joss Whedon, who can now be rightfully coronated as King of All Fanboys. ALL HAIL KING WHEDON!

You HAVE TO see Avengers, I don’t see a reason why you wouldn’t! It’s one of the most fun experiences I’ve had in a while on the big screen. That’s it for now, until next time—

Stay Avenge-y My Friends,

Raph

Midtown Bloggerinos! It’s AvX time again! This week, I got to ask Nick Lowe, editor of the X-Men books, about his own take on this massive crossover. Enjoy!

1. Two issues in, it’s clear that the time for talk is over. We’re getting some explosive battles between the two teams, how difficult was it to get the creative and editorial teams to agree on certain things happening? I have to imagine there was a lot of push and pull.

There was some push and pull, but most a bunch of fists pumping in the air. The five writers were totally copacetic when we were all in the room working this whole thing out. As for the specific AVX #2 fight, Jason just did a terrific job. I think he was maybe a little nice to the Avengers, but I was really happy with the awesome fight that he (and JRJR) choreographed. 

2. This may be a meeting of two of the biggest teams in all of comics, but it’s also a confluence of Marvel’s biggest talents. How did you guys come up with the collaboration of so much talent together?

This was something that Axel pushed for first and foremost. First, in an event heavy recent history we knew we had to get the message across that this was much bigger than anything we’d done and we had to get across just how special it was. We had done a few VERY successful X-Men events in this style, so Axel thought it might work to get that message out. The five writers embraced it heartily (with Brian leading a rallying battle cry at a retreat) and the three artists were just so damn perfect a fit! Basically, we wanted to put as many of our best resources in play in AVX as possible.

The first shot fired.
3. This saga with Hope has been building pretty much since Messiah CompleX, House of M even… is AvX going to close this ongoing epoch of Marvel lore?

This definitely feeds off of some of the House of M and Messiah Complex stuff that was going on, but more importantly, this is a huge story that is ready for new and lapsed readers. It definitely picks up on past stories a little, but for the most part, it starts fresh with #1 and goes from there. It’s big and nuts and awesome. 

10 bucks on blondie!
4. The series also happens to be a fanboy’s dream: it’s full of answers to “who would win” questions. Is there a particular moment you’re looking forward to?

I’m really looking forward to #5 which is the end of Act 1 of the story. Matt Fraction wrote a kickass script for it and JRJR is slaving away on it. But it’s going to knock people’s socks off. 

5. We got a couple of moments with Wolverine, where all the mutants are calling him traitor. Will this series take it’s toll on Logan?

Oh, fo sho. There is a LOT at stake for Wolverine and his school here and he’s got a lot of emotions getting churned here. He may have healing factor, but he can and will get hurt.

Exciting stuff! Avengers vs. X-Men #3 is out this week! Check it out! Until next time–

Stay Bloggy My Friends,

-Raph