New Marvel and Indie Comics Releasing Wednesday, October 28th
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #51 LAST
(W) Nick Spencer (A/CA) Patrick Gleason
“LAST REMAINS” CONTINUES!
• “LAST REMAINS” continues as Spider-Man seeks help from Doctor Strange. <SPOILER ALERT> it’s not going to be enough.
• Spider-Man does what many would find unthinkable to take the fight to Kindred.
Rated T+
AUTUMNAL #2 CVR A SHEHAN
(W) Daniel Kraus (A/CA) Chris Shehan
After missing the funeral of her estranged mother, Kat and her daughter, Sybil, hope to fit into the quaint town of Comfort Notch. But the town’s obscure history and strange customs make it a struggle, leading to a shocking confrontation.
COLONEL WEIRD COSMAGOG #1 (OF 4)
(W) Jeff Lemire (A/CA) Tyler Crook
From the world of the Eisner Award-winning Black Hammer series comes a bizarre sci-fi adventure origin story!
Wacky space adventurer Colonel Randall Weird leaves Black Hammer farm and embarks on a strange journey through space and time for something that he’s long forgotten with his sanity and life at stake!
“Jeff Lemire’s Black Hammer feels like it’s walking two roads-one honoring the past of superhero comics, and one forging a path into the future of the genre.”-Cullen Bunn
GIGA #1
(W) Alex Paknadel (A) John Le (CA) Adam Gorham
Nobody knows why the skyscraper-sized mechs known as ‘Giga’ fought their bitter, centuries’ long war. All they know is that when the fighting finally stopped, the dormant Giga became humanity’s new habitat and new gods in one. When disgraced engineer Evan Calhoun finds an apparently murdered Giga, his society and the fascistic tech-centered religious order that controls it are rapidly thrown into chaos.
From writer Alex Paknadel (Friendo, Turncoat, Incursion) and rising star John Le comes another Vault & White Noise partnership about what happens after the mechs stop fighting.
IMMORTAL HULK #39
(W) Al Ewing (A) Joe Bennett (CA) Alex Ross
• Some time ago, an outside force entered Bruce Banner’s system.
• The Devil says it’s the Green Scar. The Green Scar says it’s the Devil. Maybe they’re both right…or both wrong…
• …but only one of them can be the IMMORTAL
Rated T+
SPAWN #311
(W) Todd McFarlane (A/CA) Carlo Barberi
Cult of Omega” (PART 1 of 3)
SPAWN raises some of the ‘dead’ as he storms a palace that has been hiding the secrets of a hidden society whose members can combine to become more powerful than any SPAWN throughout time!
Lead by their new king… the OMEGA SPAWN!
PART 1 of 3
TODD McFARLANE and Carlo Barberi launch an exciting and dangerous new chapter for SPAWN!
SYMPATHY FOR NO DEVILS #1
(W) Brandon Thomas (A/CA) Lee Ferguson
Winston Wallis has a secret. He is all that remains of mankind, and is surrounded on all sides by demons, monsters, and ghouls that picked up where humankind left off – lying, stealing, cheating, and killing.
Years ago, it was Winston’s job to investigate such things. Now his ex-partner needs help solving the brutal murder of the world’s largest Colossal. Because he knows the secret. He knows about the magical curse that gives Winston the ability to survive a world where everything is bigger, stronger, and angrier than he is. But how long can Win’s impossible luck last, and will this new case finally be the death of him?
He certainly hopes so…
From Brandon Thomas (Excellence) and Lee Ferguson (Sam and His Talking Gun), the critically-acclaimed creators of The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury, comes a bold new series filled with murder, mystery, monsters, and magic!
TMNT THE LAST RONIN #1 (OF 5)
(W) Tom Waltz, Peter Laird
It’s the TMNT event of 2020! Springing from the minds of TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird comes an epic like you’ve never seen before! In a future NYC far different than the one we know today, a lone surviving Turtle goes on a seemingly hopeless mission to obtain justice for his fallen family and friends. Kinetic layouts from Eastman, inks from Esau and Isaac Escorza and a thrilling script full of surprises from longtime TMNT scribe Tom Waltz all combine to make this one of the most memorable TMNT stories you will ever read!
Oversized in both format and page count, this is a perennial TMNT tale that can’t be missed!”
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #9
(W) Charles Soule, Scott Snyder (A) Giuseppe Camuncoli, Matt Wilson, Leonardo Marcello Grassi (CA) Dave Johnson
“UNITY,” Part Three
The expedition moves further into UNITY, and discovers more of the secrets of this techno-futuristic paradise version of America.
HOLLYWOOD NEWS! Acquired by New Republic Pictures after a competitive bidding war for potential franchise development. SNYDER and SOULE are attached to adapt the screenplay and serve as executive producers alongside CAMUNCOLI. John Hilary Shepherd will oversee development for New Republic.
X OF SWORDS STASIS #1
(W) Tini Howard, Jonathan Hickman (A) Mahmud Asrar (A/CA) Pepe Larraz
X OF SWORDS, PART 11
A ritual. A parliament. A game begins.
Rated T+
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Pop 45! Moment #9: WINNING THE EISNER AWARD![]()
The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award.![]()
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In 1996, the most prestigious award that was available in the comic book business was "The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award", named for the comic book writer, artist, and genius, Will Eisner. I wanted this award!![]()
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Ken Carson tackled this big project for That's Entertainment. He got right to work and within a short time he got us nominated for "The Eisner." That was the easy part! Now we had to convince the panel of judges that we deserved to win this. We were required to submit documentation about our physical location and the quality of our store image, our inventory, our support of small and innovative publishers, our community activity, our customer service policies, and much more!![]()
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Ken needed to include some "visual aids" with the package for the judges to consider so he began to collect some of the old photographs and articles from local newspapers. He also came up with the idea to enlist the help of two of our loyal customers to produce a short videotape movie about the store. Memo Salazar and Aaron Banyai were both talented filmmakers and they had a clever sense of humor. I had been involved in minor parts of two previous film projects of Memo's; one was a very funny look at a local county fair and the other was a low-budget, full-length movie in which I portrayed the owner of a comic bookstore (what a stretch!). My "big" scene was filmed in our Fitchburg store one night after we closed and although the finished scene was only about four minutes long, it took almost an hour to film. Although I was snubbed by the Academy of Motion Pictures (and didn't even get an Oscar nomination!), it was still fun to be part of the movie-making process.![]()
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Memo offered his creative gifts to make a short video about our store. He filmed the store building, the displays of new comics, back issues, and collectibles. He interviewed customers who were willing to give testimonials about our service and vast inventory. He filmed some of our employees as they described their function in the That's Entertainment hierarchy. I was filmed describing our decades of experience in the comic book hobby and business and our commitment to expanding the community awareness of both the comic book industry and our stores. Memo used a clever technique to try to convey the huge size of our store to the viewers. He placed himself on a wheeled cart and filmed while Aaron moved the cart up the aisles so the whole length of our retail space was apparent. When Memo finished editing the film, Ken packaged up the videotape, all the pictures, testimonial letters, and documentation needed for the panel of judges. We didn't win.![]()
After our narrow "defeat" in 1996, we were honored by being nominated again in 1997, and with a little additional information, we won The Will Eisner Spirit Of Comics Retailing Award at Comic-Con International: San Diego '97. A few weeks later I received the beautiful statue and the award certificate in the mail. Our business was now recognized internationally for its passion and dedication to our customers and comic books!![]()
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#thatsentertainment #pop45 #pop45countdown
Have you checked out the comics in our comics display case lately? We filled it with lots of gems, including Marvel Comics Mystery No.49, graded 4.5, $4,999.99. We also have a San Diego ComicCon exclusive comic from 1993, featuring the first appearance of Hellboy, graded 9.6, $364.99. Stop in to scope out these books and many others!
Pop 45 Countdown: Moment #10![]()
America’s Longest Running Amateur Comic Book ![]()
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Way back in 1965, when I was a young ten-year-old kid, I created a comic book superhero called Insect Man. Rex Mason (secretly Insect Man!) fought crime in crudely-drawn comic book adventures that I shared with my classmates. These small comic books were popular with the other kids and a few of us even played “superheroes” and “villains” during our recess time! I wrote and drew the Insect Man comic books for quite a few years but as life got busier I stopped producing new adventures of Insect Man. Then I opened our comic book and collectible store. ![]()
One of my customers, Peter Fries, asked if I’d be interested in resuming publication of the comic book series. He had created a new super-hero team called “The Defensors” and he wanted to feature them in the new Insect Man comic books. Peter wrote and drew a three-issue storyline and we began publishing Insect Man again. We had these issues offset printed in black and white and we sold quite a lot of them in our store. Some of my other customers began to write and draw stories too. Dan Courtney and Chris Coleman created a few issues about a new super-hero named “Silverlion.” I enjoyed publishing these stories but these issues didn’t feature my character of Insect Man. Another customer, Larry Young, wrote and drew a story that would feature the exciting return of Insect Man! He designed a new costume and this issue was an instant hit! We sold out of every copy we printed! Larry didn’t have time to do any more issues but David M. Lynch stepped up and began writing the new Insect Man comics.![]()
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Over the next few years, we had many other people draw the Insect Man comics including Ken Carson, William Byrd, Gary Henderson, Holly Hunt, and more! The local newspapers wrote articles about “Worcester’s Own Super-Hero!” and sales increased on our Insect Man comics. Eventually, since Insect Man had become our official store mascot, we decided to commemorate his 25th anniversary by publishing a real, full-size comic book that was distributed all over the country! We had a full-color front cover by popular artist, Rick Vietch, and a great back cover by Kevin Eastman, the co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! ![]()
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Twenty-five years later we published the Insect Man 50th Anniversary Edition. It has a full-color front cover by the legendary artist, Gene Colan (artist of Marvel Comics Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, and more!) and a back cover by Andy Fish (artist of Dark Horse Comics Blackwood, Archie’s Sabrina, and many more!) We’ve produced over 115 different issues of Insect Man comics over the past fifty years!![]()
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To find out more about my life in comics, visit my blog at:![]()
mylifewithcomicbooks.blogspot.com/.../my-life-with...![]()
#thatsentertainmentpop45countdown #comics #comicshopnews #thatsentertainment #insectman #worcesterma
Join us for our upcoming Magic the Gathering Pre-release, Tarkir: Dragonstorm!![]()
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#TarkirDragonstorm #mtgcommunity #magicthegathering #tarkir #mtgprerelease #worcestermahobby #GameStores #thatsentertainment
Pop 45 Countdown ![]()
Moment #11: Chandler Lives!![]()
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Around 2007, Ken and our marketer Evan felt we needed a bold and distinctive LOGO as part of branding our burgeoning “Pop-Culture Emporium.” Now I always considered the name “That’s Entertainment” displayed in the Broadway typeface to be our logo; I also felt that my own superhero, Insect Man, could continue to be used as a mascot/logo—it was a cool image our COMIC fans had come to associate with "The Friendly COMIC Shop" (for many years, Insect Man as drawn by Willie Blyberg was featured on our store bags). But the guys wanted something that would more fully represent the entire DIVERSIFIED, one-stop pop-culture and entertainment store we had become.![]()
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They sat down and brainstormed with a designer we know named Ken Racicot, who really helped them develop and refine their ideas. Before too long they had a rough concept and design figured out, and they turned to another old friend of the store, artist Derek Ring, to “bring it all home.” I’ve mentioned Derek before as the creator of a comic called “Monster.” By this time, Derek’s art and design career had really taken off, his distinctive work was everywhere, and he was in HIGH demand! We knew we were incredibly fortunate to connect with an artist of his caliber!![]()
Derek presented us with many interesting variations of the basic idea of a retro-looking Robot surrounded by an explosion of pop-culture! Emailing back and forth with him, Evan and Ken made a bunch of choices and suggested some revisions and additions to the preliminary designs. A few of these different “directions” are shown in the image below! You’ll see that some of the decisions to be made about the overall “look” of the logo were dramatic, and others were more subtle-- including even what his "smile" would look like! ![]()
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The FINAL version of the That’s Entertainment Robot logo as we know it today arrived by email one morning. Ken recalls clicking on the image file attachment and spontaneously saying “WOW!” out loud as it filled the screen in full color! Derek had done an amazing job, beyond all expectations! We had our logo, and we still use it all the time!![]()
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A few years later, we decided we needed a proper NAME for the Robot. We even ran a Robot coloring contest and asked for suggestions. None of the ideas seemed on target (Roboty McRobotface??). Finally, we turned back to our ROOTS for the name he has today, the name of the street That's Entertainment started on in 1980: CHANDLER! And now you know... the REST of the story!![]()
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To find out more about my life in comics, visit my blog at:![]()
mylifewithcomicbooks.blogspot.com/.../my-life-with...![]()
#thatsentertainmentpop45countdown #comics #comicshopnews #thatsentertainment #robots #chandler
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Call now to sign up to play one or more board games at our Free Board Game Demo this Saturday, Nov. 5th! Each table will have a teacher who will show you how to play! 508-755-4207. Lots of spots still open! #boardgames #tabletopfun pic.twitter.com/FA4s…
