Tag: Holly

Nothing for Christmas

bad wolf
December 11, 2013 at 8:23 am
I was never a real collector, at best i would pick up ‘reading copies’ (the cheapest available–funny how DSH doesn’t mention that possibility to a customer).

(Hat tip to bad wolf, whose Dec. 11 comment I’ve been quoting for three days running.)

So Dead Skunk Head John was holding out all along. After befuddling and boring Holly all week with his collector’s jargon, lo and behold, the second of the seven mystical SJ covers is revealed.

Howard and Nester
December 12, 2013 at 12:04 am
Day 4 and there are still no comics in frame in this soi disant comic store…This is starting to get creepy.

As it happens, yours truly had occasion to visit a bona fide comic store today to get a secret Santa gift for a coworker. This guy happens to be a comics fan who incidentally seems reasonably mature and well-adjusted. So at lunchtime I took me to NYC’s Midtown Comics. I was really tempted to ask if they had any Starbuck Jones, but the staff was pretty busy and surely had no time for my foolishness. Still: comic books (and other wares) were clearly on display and available for perusal and purchase. And nary a chullo, goth chick or dead skunk head in sight.

Slab Me Silly

bad wolf
December 11, 2013 at 8:23 am
…Believe me, the [comics] industry has had a long conversation about these man-cave stores with geek-babble spouting salesmen freezing out potential customers by putting up a wall of ‘secret passwords’ and inner-sanctum speak. So yes, if TB is trying to show us what’s wrong with comic stores today, he’s doing a bang-up job.

It had been going so well, too, with John patiently explaining the nuances of comic book grading. That is, until Holly asked a perfectly reasonable question, earning not just John’s disdain but also garnering dirty looks from freaks Alex and Owen

Key-pin’ It Real

bad wolf
December 11, 2013 at 8:23 am
To spare anyone who might be curious, my definitions:
keys: Key issues, may include first issues, first appearances, crossovers, beginning of famous storyline. ($$)

Thanks to bad wolf who, in yesterday’s comments, provided a Komix Kollektor mini glossary along with a little insight:

Believe me, the industry has had a long conversation about these man-cave stores with geek-babble spouting salesmen freezing out potential customers by putting up a wall of ‘secret passwords’ and inner-sanctum speak.

Though, to be fair, today John is actually making sense: Silver Age Flash meets Golden Age Flash would be, by bad wolf’s definition, a crossover. I get it! Why doesn’t Holly? She’s making the type of classic “duhhh” face that we usually see on Bull.

Holy Fail

“Another universe“? “Secret password“? “A journey of biblical proportions“? For fuck’s sake, we’re talking about comic books! Dead Skunk Head John’s (and Tom Batiuk’s) favoritest things in the world! And rather than directly answer Holly’s question (said answer being “Oh, hells yes”), John climbs into his Comic Book Guy pulpit and starts spewing his jibba jabba. The punchline fails because John clearly is speaking English. Panel 3 would be funnier without dialogue: just Holly standing there with a blank expression. Wait: that would fail too, though, since Holly’s expression is always blank…

I mean no disrespect to real-world comic book aficionados; I know that there are some of you reading this blog. But the majority of folks don’t know or care about comic books. Question for comics fans: Batiuk’s writing this with you in mind…do you find any of it amusing?

Pop the Korner

Holly carries her bulk up the stairs to the Komix Korner. Speaking of bulk, Owen’s goatee does little to conceal his double chin; when did that happen? That flight of stairs is probably the only exercise that any of the characters in today’s strip get.

Anyway, business at the Korner seems to have picked up since last December: not only can John now afford a nicer Christmas tree, but he’s sporting one of those cool t-shirts with a Batman logo that magically disappears!