Counterside Noise

Action figures to the scene

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:38:29 +1000

On the array lining up the walls and those shelves above the back issue bins, such a wide selection of action figures. Wouldn't it be good if you could figure out what's there and that?

Currently for those looking to spot what busts the shop has, from the likes of Bowen Designs, Marvel Select, Diamond Select and such, there's the gallery of busts.

For those checking out a fuller body experience, the statues gallery displays a wide sampling (most of really) those from the likes of DC Direct, Hard Hero, Bowen, Clayburn Moore and others.

Now, for those who think about the bendy, of articulation and all things action figurey, the action figures have their own listing as well.

Listings on the action figure listings on the action figures are grouped in sets and bunched in DC, Marvel, movies, cartoons, horror and music. And them bigguns like the John Lennon and The Crow.

How much is that superhero in the window?

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:38:07 +1000

Walk along one of the window displays of David Jones in the city (where copies of The Big Issues are usually on sale every other week) and spot not one, but three Marvel characters in the window. No wild guesses as the mark hits with the usual suspects of Spider-Man, Hulk and Wolverine adorning the big splash canvas.

Alyse Graham from Robert Townson High School and her piece, "We All Have Issues" for Art Express to thank for the bright and comic book love large in the city streets. Grand dash of colour and paint, texture in the lines all out with the chaos working to resolve. Art-speak much? Bold and wild, simple as that and the style is just right for the look of them.

Another DJ window display features noses on a reason (one cut off to spite the face, one brown looking sniffler) and another set features metal scraps, iron lines and all other things worthy of a tetanus shot in what looks like a struggle along a train set.

There on display like deaf doggies in the window since some weeks before. There to stay until who knows when the egg pops out of the backside of the hamster trapped up the wrong end of comfort.

After that, a return to the windows space of the slightly non-responsive and rather fake looking people playing dress-ups in the windows the other times during the year.

Do you know if these kids sell, or are allowed to sell, their art works from Art Express?

Turning tricks at the Australian Yo-Yo Champs 2008

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:10:05 +1000

And thus endeth a day that featured the Australian National Championships of 2008. And double demerit points. And a day that the shop was closed. Even picking up that Saturday gone.

SCEGGS in Darlinghurst was a steady trickle of sweat from everyone in the hall. Jugglers, yo-yoers, spectators. The heat was indeed on in all cheesy manner of speaking. Smell of talcum powder in the air. And the stench of plastic gym mats. A lot of those in attendance as well.

Free yo-yos for all attending and from the look and throw, a clear reason why. Tricks, slips,

Sports ladder, 1A, Y and all manner of outside the box throw downs. (Boxes of actual scoring in play, step out and practise the hang of sticking a trick).

Congrats to shop regular Jason Hay (crouching tiger with a V salute in above photo), picking up second place in the Y division.

Results of the championships:
1A division:
1st - Kahli
2nd - Mark
3rd - Skip

Y division:
1st - Daniel
2nd - Jason
3rd - Kahli

So what did you do to close out the Australia Day long weekend?

Look out for yoyos and jugglers in Darlinghurst

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:09:38 +1000

Late notice to be sure. Like a spud lodged in the back end after a night on the upstyle-down.

Anyway, for those looking to catch strings turning tricks and more than just balls landing in hands, check out the Australian National Championships later today.

Today, forthwith too right ol chap.

Details for you:

SCEGGS Darlinghurst
215 Forbes Street
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Monday 28 January 2008

Judges: Stuart Brown (Yoboy), David Quach (Quagi) and Soon Van (Sleeper)

Schedule:

12:00-14:00 - Compulsories for 1A.
14:00-15:00 - Sports Ladder as well as a tutoring session for any newcomers to the yo-yo scene
15:00-17:00 - 1A and Y division freestyles. Best trick comp.

Spectators best turn up after the end of the compulsories. They're for the yoers to book themselves a place into the later divisions and will just be standard trick pulling with no flair necessary.

Actual contest begins after than. And the jugglers (who will be sharing a part of the hall) will still be swinging and juggling and hoop circling it up.

Spectators are free to come and watch. Word also is that everyone who turns up will receive a free yo-yo.

Drop in folks!

Update: Super quick wrap of the 2008 Championships.

Closed Mondays and Public Holidays

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:46:01 +1000

One of the bad things about being closed Mondays is that the public holidays often, more often than not weirdly enough, fall on Mondays. So when public holidays are popping up along the year, it's a blah thing when they do step up at the front end of the working week. No real difference here at the Comic Shop.

Not all the public holidays ruefully fall at the start of the week. Sweet Christmas indeed this year with Christmas Day and Boxing Day, not to mention New Year's Day, all in the middle of the week. Tack Monday on with the public holiday and that's half the week gone really.

Good time of the year to spend half the week not even working. As if people are really working right now. Not if you can get away with it.

Not such a good time on the comics shipment though. Shipping usually being affected by delays due to flying in from the States. Not too bad though. A day is the norm for the lateness.

Let's see how the planes with the boxes of comics and merch goodness hits this year round.

For the commercials, that obese load known as Santa Claus should have gone and done his loads by now. No flight delays exist for him.

So what did you score for Christmas in 2007?

Solving Triple J's feature album cover quiz

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 22:49:03 +1000

Anyone who walks into the Comic Shop will no doubt hear the familiar sounds of Australia's youth radio network piping through the air vents. Namely that being of triple j. Or to others, "what kind of spit is this?"

Great for listening to all kinds of artists that aren't of the bubble gum pop or middle of the road persuasion. And there does happen to be that kind of market. Kind of market that can spot an album cover from a tiny square portion of the whole?

Probably.

Anyway, so the triple j album cover quiz challenge thingo from Richard Kingsmill is to do that. Spread falls from the list of feature albums played over the course of the year, get them right, score the booty of albums therein.

Working it out proves to be a mighty test of an hour. Resources handily at hand hand over the answers. Got to hand it to the junk about the house in scoring the answers. Mess works best here it seems.

First album cover on the puzzle grid is so undeniably that of The Hives that it's almost Will Sassoish for the man who stands off right on its square. Didn't spot Young Modern right off the bat? Don't even call yourself Australian.

Everything else, sadly having not paid any attention to the album covers (as well as being away from Australian radio for a portion of the year), washes it into the higher and harder stakes.

And that's where the resources of scratching posts and cluttered desks come in handy. Not to mention another eyeball to spot and pick them off.

Copy of the mag magazine at hand to sift through and it happens to contain the albums released for the year? Like that from Queens of the Stone Age and John Butler Trio? How sweet it is.

Then there's the stuff that's not entirely easy to pick up and off of the printed page.

Rate Your Music steps in with a few lists compiled from its users. So many to flush through, and not one of them made easy to run through either. Sanity even steps in to pitch a fork or two, and it's all about looking at the entire year's releases week by stinking week. Architecture In Helsinki and LCD Soundsystem from that round of things.

Makes the eyeballs water at the faraway blinks to recover. Three resources down and handy all to leave but one and two.

Of course, with the spot varnish that is the tiny squares on the quiz, who wouldn't think of using something like Photoshop to blow them up and attempt at rendering the barely there fonts to see? Alas, not much value in that plan of attack after a long while of trying to temper the bicubic/bilinear enlargement process.

So like it's like a weird circle that the final clue to answers on the cover challenge happens to find itself on Zan Rowe's Run With the Hunted blog on the triple j website. Looking over some of her picks of the Best Albums of 2007 so far... it's a bit of creative calendar working when the kids of a nuclear never happen pop up as the real tough nut to bust.

Spend an hour or less, spend some time and peel those eyeballs. That quiz is a fun thing to carve up.

The Comic Shop rabble on the scrabble radio

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:20:06 +1000

Sitting between a chant of some religious slant and a song from some other country base outside of Australia, there was a slither of a slot for the Comic Shop to pop up on the radio.

Blitz in and out again, covering about a whole half hour, the Comic Shop boys were on Macarthur's C91.3FM just recently. Tonight actually. Back there in 19:10 land gone past. And the talk invariably covered the look of the store and the comics whatnot from the perspective of a radio host who only believes in The Phantom.

Superman's little "It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!" from the old timey TV show kicking off the segment. Chris, Jason and Tom all there to represent the store.

"Turbines to speed," from the Batman TV show audio grab breaking the half point begs a question. How do you get to an intransitory position which in actuality isn't one at all but instead just a place to get somewhere else. If even.

The show's audio intros almost looked like a skewer toward the DC hand if not for the Lone Ranger getting in a heel there.

Caller Paul didn't help on that front though. He was on about Superman, the Justice League and the Justice Society of America.

Marvel love coming from the shop itself. Nice work on Jason prefixing Stan Lee as a co-creator on the House of Ideas. Just wouldn't seem like the right thing if he'd gone with the "creator" slip. And Tom's aside to caller Paul was deftly put.

Caller Hank sure missed out on prime time to hijack the listener call in segment they had for a flash. Instead, harping on about Kabuki and automatically dismissing manga when thrown at by the host. That Hank needs some more misdirection when on the air on the phone on the radio. Next time you blue furry.

Dash off on the sign off and the plug for the shop's location (in addition to being in Liverpool) slides in before the cut off.

But where is the library people? It's right next to the Comic Shop it is. That's the way it's around, not the other.

Those were the days...

thecomicshopliverpool+ryan@gmail.com (Ryano.) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:38:29 +1000

What happened to the glitz and glamour of foil and hologram covers on comic books? Sure you can get 20 different variant covers, 19 of which are probably drawn by Mister Turner, but gone are the days of straight to shelf flashy covers. Or you could always go to Dynamic Forces if you are willing to part with your hard earned.

T'was the early to mid nineties, maybe the height of the "speculator" craze that brought about so many variables to the fore. Or maybe it was because the comic companies were just trying to defribulate a market that was all but dead. Either way, covers like Iron Man #290 with its gold foil inlay, Superman #123 with glow-in-the-dark electricity zapping from his new duds, Wolverine #75 with a banging hologram stuck straight on the cover and Spider-Man #25 with its giant hologram cover making it one of the coolest covers of its time.

Either way, these covers were exciting. Even though I wasn't slightly interested in any 2099 series except Spidey, I still had to get every issue #1 just for their kick butt chromium facia.

I'm not saying that chromium, foil and hologram covers are no longer released. Only that their prevalance on the shelves is going the way of the collectors card... only difference is, I was happy to see cards go.

Coyote Ragtime Show

thecomicshopliverpool+ryan@gmail.com (Ryano.) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 22:52:12 +1000

Take one part Cowboy Bebop, mix it with an ounce of Trigun then drink 23 cups of coffee and you're ready to go.

It's a sci-fi/western/cat and mouse huckjam which follows the adventures of an elite pseudo space pirate named "Mister"... Mister? Really? That's the best you could do? Mister is searching for a lost fortune left by the now deceased Pirate King "Bruce"... BRUCE? Are you for real? Bruce is the name of my garbage man, not a Pirate King!

Anyway, moving along. The animation is amongst the best I have seen for a while. The colour and sharpness of picture is excellent. The character designs are overall very good. Madame Marciano's 12 sisters, named after each month of a calendar year, are similar yet distinguishable and some of them are just plain saucy!

Considering that I have only viewed volume 1 of the series it is hard to say where the story line will go. I can only assume from what I viewed that the series although shallow in depth of story would be a great series for action, purdy pictures and even purdier lasses.

Out go the candles on the 13th birthday sale

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:09:05 +1000

Over the weekend and through the balloons, many turned up on to celebrate the Comic Shop turning both one and 13 at the same time. One for the first year at the new swanky digs. Thirteen for the total of years serving and helping out the readers and collectors in all forms, be it comics, action figures, The Simpsons, statues or busts.

For those early beavers to witness the steps before opening on the Saturday morning, the crew out and decked with safety gear for the celebratory and symbolic smashing of the old to really bring in and hammer the new.

In the battle of Jason and Fox, it was clearly evident that after a knock, Jason is victorious over the smashed head of Mulder.

No more X-Files to deal with here. Only the clean break and we're all new again. Mulder needs a rest it seems.

Everybody pick up a plate, the food is on the table and here's more juice to go with that slice. And the carving up picks up well and truly nicely with all and all having a great time picking up merchandise and back issues to better reach their ceilings with.

Action figures, statues and busts, but don't forget what makes a comic shop a comic shop. The back issues. And here, the search continues with many picking up finds and treasures missed out the first time when on the shelves.

What a weekend.

Thanks for coming to the Comic Shop and celebrating our birthday sale with us.

See you again real soon!

Ready up to smash the skull of Duchovny

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:27:11 +1000

Rock early and up to the Comic Shop tomorrow and the watch as the fun of the birthday sale party hits on. For those outside the scope of the site and the mailing list, it's time for the 13 candles on a birthday cake made of discounts and slashings on the paper cut kind. 25% to 50% kind of deals that is. Statues, busts, action figures, The Simpsons, head knockers, all of it really*.

Beyond that, and before that, Jason will be taking a sledgehammer to Mulder's head across the front steps (no, there are no back steps) of the Comic Shop.

Prepare for debris as two hapless shield workers stand at the ready to collect some shards. Should be fun, might be dangerous, all sounds good. And that will be the champagne bottle smashing the steps to mark year 13 of the Comic Shop.

See you there bright and early with some sporting video cameras for YouTube ready.

(*Save for the recent stuff, stuff on lay-by and the standing orders.)

Shearing the sheds of Black Sheep

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:25:19 +1000

Another one down at the Comic Shop and for those who are on the mailing list, the giveaway to see the film, Black Sheep is done and over.

And when a giveaway wraps up, the shearing of the wool comes along in picking through the clumps at a few of the answers from the winners and shearers.

Who's the black sheep in your family or set of friends?

Self deprecation was a bit on the high ratio here as the answers were a little on variants of "Me" with even a nice little reason why. Of course, if not the self, it's a younger sibling for all their awkwardness and general corner funking up skills in the house.

"Black sheep in the family?"
"Why? Who lives in the shed this week, papa?"

Name one thing that comes from sheep

What's the first thing that comes to mind when dealing with sheep? Abattoirs naturally. Meat and lamb chops on the menu here. Wool clumps dropping all over the place as the shaving continues apace.

What comes next with a film about sheep in Middle Earth? Jokes and riffs on the New Zealanders themselves. Baby Kiwis and hernias on this section of the emergency ward.

Complete your version of this lyric...

So the old nursery rhyme hands out bags of wool to people such as "One for the master, and one for the dame, and one for the ..." and the whole thing from like the gates at the farm are wide open.

People who shall be in abundance of wool and that particular knitting supply includes the likes of crackheads, mutants, idiot drivers and even Stalin's iron rule. What a spectrum.

That's it for this promo and thanks again to Dendy Cinemas and Icon Films for the double passes.

Stay tuned to your inbox for the next time a competition comes along and you're in for the thrill of finding yourself a winner for your genius. Is funny, is good material for the win.

For the win people!

Dark Tower at the end of seven

thecomicshopliverpool+soon@gmail.com (Soon Van) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:16:40 +1000

Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #7 hit the shelves last week. Wrapping up the first of a series the adaptations of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, it's the first of the last of the first few of that which will come later from the works of the one they call King outside of comics*.

Do you guys have any of the DARK TOWER SKETCHBOOK left? Also, are there any one-shots of the series that you've got?

Plum stuck out of stock of that particular piece. None were left shortly after they came out and before the mini-series itself started proper.

However, this week on the shipping list is Dark Tower: Gunslinger's Guidebook a one shot guide on the world of Roland Deschain of the Gilead and his ka-tet.

If reading the solicitation on Marvel's site, it's very hard to do with the grey on light purple scheme. No squint for the make up!

*The one in comics being Jack Kirby for those who only read the indy stuff and shy away from DC and Marvel like the angry vagrant at the end of the stoop who goes where he sleeps.

Shipping on Thursday, October 2 2008

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:15:21 +1000

Comic books, statues, busts, merchandise, magazines and everything else expected instore for this week. For the freshest listing: http://www.thecomicshop.net/shipping.php

Marvel

Agents Of Atlas Premiere Hardcover (reorder)
Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Laughing Corpse #1 (Of 5)
Cable #17
Civil War House Of M #2 (Of 5)
Dark Tower Long Road Home Hardcover
Deadpool #2 SI (reorder)
District X Vol 1 Tradepaper (reorder)
Eternals #5
Excalibur Classic Vol 5 Tradepaper (reorder)
Excalibur Vol 2 Saturday Night Fever Tradepaper (reorder)
Genext #5 (Of 5)
Hulk Planet Hulk Tradepaper (reorder)
March On Ultimatum Saga
Marvel Apes #3 (Of 4)
Marvel Zombies Hulk Dm Cover Tradepaper
Marvel Zombies Iron Man Dm Cover Tradepaper
Marvel Zombies Spider-Man Dm cover Tradepaper
Mighty Avengers #18 SI
Moon Knight #22 (reorder)
New Excalibur Vol 1 defendes Of the Realm tradepaper (reorder)
New excalibur Vol 2 Last Days Of Camelot Tradepaper (reorder)
New Exiles #12
Punisher Max From First To Last Tradepaper
Punisher Max Vol 8 Widowmaker Tradepaper (reorder)
Punisher War Journal #24 SI
Runaways 3 #2 (reorder)
Secret Invasion Thor #1 (Of 3) (reorder)
Spider-Man Magazine #3
Sub-Mariner Depths #2 (Of 5)
Ultimate Iron man II Premiere Hardcover
Ultimate X-Men Fantastic Four Annual #1 (reorder)
Uncanny X-men New Age Vol 2 Cruelest Cut Tp (reorder)
Uncanny X-Men New Age Vol 3 On Ice Tp (reorder)
Uncanny X-men New age Vol 4 End Of Greys Tp (reorder)
Uncanny X-Men New Age Vol 5 First Foursaken Tp (reorder)
Venom Dark Origin #3 (Of 5)
X-Force Cable Vol 1 Legend Returns Tradepaper (reorder)
X-Men Eve Of Destruction Tradepaper (reorder)
X-Men First Class Vol 2 #16 (reorder)
X-Men Phoenix Warsong Premiere Hardcover (reorder)
X-Treme X-Men Vol 6 Intifada Tradepaper (reorder)

DC

Action Comics #867 (reorder)
Action comics #868 (reorder)
Action Comics #869 (reorder)
Alcoholic Hardcover
Armay @ Love The Art Of War #3 (Of 6)
Authority #3
Batman #680 RIP
Batman And The Outsiders #11 RIP (reorder)
Batman Strikes #50
Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam #2 (reorder)
Countdown To Final Crisis Vol 3 Tradepaper
Dark Knight Joker 1/6 Scale Collector Figure (reorder)
DC Comics Encyclopedia Hardcover
Dc Universe Decisions #2 (Of 4)
El Diablo #2 (Of 6)
Green Arrow Black Canary Wedding Album Hardcover
Green Lantern Revenge Of The Green Lanterns Tradepaper
Hellblazer Presents Chas The Knowledge #4 (Of 5)
House Of Mystery #6
Jonah Hex #36
Justice League Of America #25
Justice Vol 2 Tradepaper
Looney Tunes #167
Manhunter #35
Nightwing #149 RIP
Supergirl #34
Superman The Third Kryptonian Tradepaper
Supernaturals Origins Tradepaper
Terror Titans #1 (Of 6)
Titans Companion Vol 2 Softcover (reorder)
Top Ten Season Two #1 (Of 4)
Tor #6 (Of 6)
Trinity #18
Vixen Return Of The Lion #1 (Of 5)

Image

Four Eyes #1
Invincible #53
Red Mass For Mars #2 (Of 4)
Savage Dragon #138
Vignettes Directors Cut Tradepaper
War heroes #2 (Of 6) (reorder)
Witchblade #121

Dark Horse

Conan The Cimmerian #2 (reorder)
Predator Omnibus Vol 4 Tradepaper
Savage Sword Of Canan Vol 3 Tradepaper (reorder)
Savage Sword Of Conan Vol 4 Tradepaper
Star Wars Insider Magazine Special #104

Various Independents

Angel After The Fall Vol 1 Hardcover (reorder)
Army Of Darkness #13
Battlestar Galactica Origins #10
Beyond Wonderland #2 (Of 6)
Boys #23
Boys Vol 3 Tradepaper
City Of Dust #1
Comic Shop News #1111
Doktor Sleepless #9
Dreamland Chronicles IDW #4
Futurama Comics #39
Galaxy Quest Global Warning #1 (reorder)
Jesus Hates Zombies Lincoln Hates Werewolves Gn
Land Of Oz Manga #3 (Of 4)
Man With No Name #4
No Hero #1 (Of 7)
Sonic The Hedgehog Archives Vol 9 Tradepaper
Star Trek New Frontier Tradepaper
Starship Troopers #10
Tarot Witch Of The Black Rose #52 (reorder)
Transformers Animated Vol 2 Tradepaper (reorder)
Transformers More Than Meets The Eye Vol 1 Tradepaper
Transformers Movie Prequal Saga Of The Allspark #4
Undersea Adventure Of Captain Eli Vol 2 Graphic Novel
Voltron A Legend Forged #3
Worlds Of Dungeons & Dragons #4

Magazines

Alter Ego #81
Star Wars Insider Magazine Special #104

Statues and busts

Women Of The DC Universe Series 2 Huntress Mini Bust

Action figures

Beetlejuice 18 Inch With Sound Action Figure
Dark Knight Joker 1/6 Scale Collector Figure (reorder)

Merchandise

Wolverine Brown Costume Bobble Head SDCC Exclusive
Ultr Pro 9 Pocket Page Trading Card Storage Sleeves (reorder)