The Best Comics of 2024 (So Far): A Mid-Year Check-In with Ben Kingsbury of Gotham City Limit Comic Shop

This episode (Ep.435) was recorded at Gotham City Limit comic shop with Ben Kingsbury (the owner!). Ben and Badr chop it up about their predictions for SDCC 2024, and discuss Marvel's big events (Blood Hunt & The Ultimate Universe) vs DC's big events (Absolute Universe & All-In initiative). They also talk about what it takes to run a successful comic shop, the oversaturation of variant covers in the market, and lessons learned from being a shop owner. Ben also shares his favorite comics of the year, sleeper titles of 2024, and what new comics coming out later this year that he's most excited about. There's A LOT of recommendations being shared in this episode, so have a notepad ready — It's a good one!

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Transcript

The Best Comics of 2024 (So Far): A Mid-Year Check-In with Ben Kingsbury of Gotham City Limit Comic Shop - The Short Box Podcast Ep. 435

00:01
Intro music plays

00:31
Yo, Short Box Nation, welcome back. Thank you so much for tuning in. And if this is your first time tuning in, welcome to the show. My name is Badr and this is the Short Box Podcast, the comic book talk show that brings you the best conversations about comic books with the people that put their blood, sweat, and tears into making them. And every now and then we also talk to the people that put their blood, sweat, and tears into selling them, which brings us to today's episode. This is episode 435.

00:58
and I'm recording this episode live from my favorite place in all of Jacksonville, right? It's the best comic shop in all of Jacksonville, but probably all of Florida, if not the whole continental US, an award winning comic shop at that. I'm talking about Gotham City Limit. And when I say award winning, we're talking like they've won awards for best comic shop and best business here in Florida. So, you know, my comic shop is pretty red and I'm joined by the man who makes all of this possible. He's the owner.

01:25
of Gotham City Limit. You've heard his voice plenty of times if you've listened to, even last week's episode, you heard him on that episode because he was able to stump Kelly Thompson, right? He asked her who would win in the Black Widow versus Scarlett question. And if you listened to Jason Aaron episode, he was also the man that stumped Jason Aaron, who's an award-winning writer who gets paid to use his imagination. And he was having a hard time coming up with an answer to Ben's awesome question, which if you haven't heard, if you don't know what I'm talking about, go check out that Jason Aaron episode.

01:55
And I've kind of ruined the surprise, but if you're watching video you already know who I'm here with for my audio listeners I'm proud to welcome Ben Kingsbury back to the show. Let's give it up for Ben Welcome back man, Potter. Thanks so much, man. Oh, they get a little Pacer the greatest the bestest boy. That's right. Finally made a come

02:18
book appearance on the final boss. No, but thanks for having me. But remind me, I'm gonna have to rewatch this so when we do our end of the year show, I just don't regurgitate all the same stuff I'm about to spit out right now, right? I gotcha. I also wanna say for our video listeners, I think this is one that, this is an episode that behooves you to listen or watch the video version. I'm an audio first guy, so I know how it is, but this one is a special one because we're here live at, or pre-recorded live at Gotham City Limit.

02:46
And you also not only get cameos from Pacer, but you're also getting cameos from Jonathan working hard behind us, closing up shop or recording after hours. I mean, this guy's working after hours right now. Yeah, right? Thank God for salary, botter. Yeah. Better work some hard. But look, you can't be the best comic shop and best specialty retail shop in Florida without working in some extra hours. Yeah, I mean, it's customer service. So...

03:13
That's the name of the game. I think that one of the keys to this place is what everybody who works here kind of provides and that is beyond, you know, people don't come in and say, hey, do you have this? And we just point over to a box somewhere. We go find it ourselves, you know, or I call Jonathan on his day off. I'm like, hey, Jonathan, where's ultimate invasion number four? So Ben's, so Jonathan's like a lawyer. He's working on like a retainer. He can call him anytime.

03:40
I tried to give him a day off last week or on his day off. I told him, I was texting him, literally in the middle of texting him, do not post anything on social media, just take a day off. And as I was texting him, he was posting on social media. Jonathan, ladies and gentlemen. Beyond lucky to have Jonathan, dude. Beyond lucky, amazing guy, amazing guy. Okay, so today's episode is meant to be like a mid-year catch up between us. We're supposed to talk about the best comics of the year so far. What's got you excited as a comic shop owner?

04:09
things that you've noticed, the trends, et cetera, and all of that. But before we get into that, I wanted to congratulate you because speaking about awards and all of that, you are nominated again this year for Best Specialty Retail Shop in Florida, Best of Florida, so Best of Florida Award. You're nominated again. Congratulations, dude. Well, it is awesome, but all those nominations mean are any awards that we win, we only win them because the people who come here go on there and vote. And because I hold Jonathan's job hostage if he doesn't vote every single day.

04:38
And the Indian company I hired to vote for us illegally on the side. No, just so we wait. Now, it's awesome. The whole point of all those awards to even be nominated is great. Then you get super competitive and you want to win again, but it really is just a testament to the people who come in here. That's actually my favorite part of the shop. Hands down is the people like having a comic store to be proud of. You know, and they like...

05:04
talking, oh man, this is a great place to go. When people come into town, we get a lot of visitors. They see, hey, this is a place you want to stop in if you're on business or from somewhere else. So any of those awards, man, they are fantastic and they are a testament to all the awesome people that take it to the limit on the regular, man, for sure. Ben, from the outsider looking in, it looks like there's a lot of great things going on in the shop. We've already kind of talked about some of the good things going on with the award nominations. You know, you've got, you're growing the team.

05:33
But I was curious from your perspective, what would you grade this year in comics? Like when you think about, we're recording this on July 22nd, so two days before New Comic Book Day, a couple days before San Diego Comic Con. So we're mid-year-ish. This is like a mid-year-ish check-in with you and talking about the industry as a whole. But when you think about all of the different things that have happened this year, from the publisher side, from the...

06:01
you know, from the comic book side, from just like customers and things going on, what would you rate this year in comics from like a A through F? Well, you know, obviously that part of what we do here is we love to read. We don't just sell comics. I love collecting it for the art, but we love to read comics. And since January, this year specifically, this is the best comics have ever been to me in my life.

06:29
And part of it is, I think the comic book industry embraced adults reading their stuff. Comics have always been a gateway to younger people to find some cool reading, especially if you're not that into reading. If you're 8 to 15 years old and you find a genre in comics, whether it's horror, Marvel or DC or independent, whatever it is, it's a great gateway to reading. But they're...

06:54
writing stories so my forty four year old self i mean every week it's twenty five or thirty comics i'm reading and they're all fantastic so uh... in terms of that i think we've really solidified uh... we have the best writers i don't know if we've ever had more talented people in the game i mean from everybody from the people david pepios writing you know the punisher in the space goes to the people on thundercats to all the transformer stuff the jeff johns

07:22
DC, I mean, we'll get into it with the All In, but what they've been doing, House of Brainiac and their absolute power, the phone's ringing, somebody wants to take it to the limit, to getting Tom King to write their stories, Tom Taylor writing the Nightwing. I mean, these Scott Snyder's coming back for All In. I mean, these are the best writers. And so from a purely reading standpoint, I don't know if it's ever been better.

07:48
Honestly, it's so good. I mean, every week I can't wait. New Rook this week, oh, is it Transformers? Is it new Marvel? Is it the new universe? Is it new DC? Because people sleep a little on DC. They're not quite as collectible as Marvel in terms of value in the comics. But the stories, Chip Z on Batman creating Failsafe, and Josh Williamson, and Tom King, these are, I mean, the stories have never been better.

08:17
I guess on the topic of DC, like I said, we're a few days out from San Diego Comic-Con. This one has like a, I feel like a certain air to it, a certain energy to it. You know, DC just, I'd say announced, but it was kind of like leaked and announced, like the whole, you know, all in absolute line that they've got going on. Marvel's returning back to Hall H. Kevin Feige will be there. I think they're doing a Wolverine Deadpool panel. It just feels like there's a certain air to this San Diego Comic-Con. So as a retailer, like...

08:46
I guess I'm curious how much of San Diego Comic-Con impacts the shop and people coming in or maybe seeing something there and wanting to come in here and get ahead of it or check it out. Do you find that San Diego Comic-Con in this instance or just Comic-Cons in general will have an impact on what happens here? Well, iconic ones like San Diego Comic-Con, 100% because they're going to put out...

09:13
these panels with these videos and these previews and stories and ideas that they haven't released yet and it will catch a little like wildfire. Like anything as a retailer, DC is right smack in the middle of a thing called Absolute Power, which is a huge event for them. They're already, then all of a sudden last week it was just like all in everywhere. You're like, wait, I thought we were doing Absolute Power right now. So it's cool. But the all in that DC has coming out.

09:43
I think the reason that they're pumping it around San Diego Comic-Con is Jonathan and I were talking about it, we have a feeling it's kind of a response to the Ultimate Universe Marvel did. You know, where you might get the classic characters in an alternate universe, similar to even what Transformers and G.I. Joe and Void rivals have done. So I think in terms of that, it will bring a bunch of new people in. And hands down, although DC writes amazing stories, some of the best stuff they do is their Elseworld stuff.

10:13
And they're continuing to do that this year. And that definitely brings new readers in, for sure. I spent all day today catching up on my notes and specifically trying to figure out what this all in is. Because the initial tweets from Scott Snyder and some of the things that I seen that was being shared on Twitter and online, I didn't get the full picture. So I read a couple of articles about it. And it's still, I think I have a grasp on it, but I don't know.

10:41
I guess in your opinion, does it feel like a lot? Well, it doesn't really make a lot of sense yet. OK, so I'm not the only one. No, no, no. Because I mean, I follow a lot of the writers. Kelly Thompson announces she's doing the Wonder Woman. But it looks very dark. And even she said it's like a Wonder Woman you've never read before. Then plus, some of the all-in promo stuff said every issue is a jumping on point.

11:07
So I think we're all looking for clarity, but I think it was DC's way of teasing to lead into San Diego Comic-Con, and I'm hoping we get some more answers in San Diego Comic-Con about it. But it's, you know, DC, it's hard with some of their characters, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. I think one of the hardest things that never gets talked about is how good these writers are continuing to write stories that have 60 years of history.

11:32
I mean, that's crazy to try to tie it all together. That is a colossal task. And I'm always impressed when a writer is capable of finding a piece of lore or continuity that hasn't been explored, like bringing an old character back or just finding their own little pockets to make the most out of it. I wanted to really quick, you mentioned, you're bringing up the writers and creators that are doing all in. And I mean, they've got a murderer's role. I mean, not only is it being

12:00
spearheaded by Scott Snyder. Seems to be his kind of baby alongside Nick Dragata. So they're both doing the absolute Batman. You've also got folks like Al Ewing that'll be a creator on the All In. You said Kelly Thompson, Jason Aaron, Ron Vee, Tom Taylor, Dexter Soy, Mikhail Janan. I mean, it seems like they're pulling in the best of the best. They've had a lot of those men and women doing titles already, and then they went and got a couple of the more

12:30
big name writers, but that's the key, because comics really are about making amazing stories now. The artwork, it's almost funny. After I read a comic, I'll go back and look at some of the artwork, because you take it for granted. You just read through a comic, you just pass over, and you're like, look at all this detail this guy put in this one little scene here, you know? So I try to give that its due, but the stories that DC is writing, I don't care whether or not you...

12:57
buy comics for them to be collectible. They're the best stories out there right now in terms of what they've done over the last 20 years. Way better than what DC was doing, let's say, seven years ago. I like this a lot more than the New 52 stuff. I guess on the topic of New 52, kind of just stay on all in really quick. That was something that I saw kind of echoed a lot in Scott Snyder's sentiments is there's going to be new number ones and jumping on points for everybody.

13:25
So you've got the main line of books, which will eventually hit a point where it'll be like a new jumping on point. And then you've got the all in line of books, which obviously are all starting at number one. So their thing, it seems to be a focus on providing jumping on points for absolute new fans, no pun intended. And like existing fans, people that are pulling these titles and then folks that also wanna jump in on the main continuity, I guess.

13:49
Will this have an impact on people coming in? 100%. But for the long term, I could understand a short term, like, hey, I want the new absolute Batman number one. But in the long term, do you think this will have folks staying on board? I have a feeling because one of the things that happens in here a lot when you get someone who's never been in a comic story before, just happened earlier this week, this awesome, sweet young woman came in, and she loves Jason Todd.

14:18
some of the other Tim Drake and some of the other Robin characters, they're looking for a jumping on point. And what I always tell them is, hey, we'll find you a spot. And then you just jump two feet in the deep end and you start swimming around. And because, oh, you like Nightwing, we'll pick up a couple issues in Nightwing. While you're reading that, there'll be an advertisement to something else. And you'll come in and be like, hey, do you have one of these? And it leads you down a natural path. Because the...

14:43
First, the hardest thing is when you walk into a comic store and you've never bought a comic before, figuring out where to start. So I love new events where I can be like, hey, Absolute Power just came out, Bloodhunt number one, ooh, check this out, Ghost Machine number one has Rook, Redcoat, and Geiger in it. Check that out and if you like that, come back and we'll get you on the series for it.

15:06
So I'm always looking for cool jumping on points, because I know once you get a couple books, you're 100% coming back for some other stuff. It'll naturally lead you down other pathways. So I kind of like when they do that, you know, rebooting TMNT this week, number one. And although everyone's like, oh, it's a new number one, well, people don't know 150 issues of stories, and it can feel really intimidating. Yeah, I love TMNT, but I want to pick up issue 138. On the flip side.

15:36
when these new initiatives come through and they're resetting things and starting for new number ones and providing new jumping on points, do you ever find that having a negative impact on customers who are pulling a title, that have been pulling it for 15, 20 issues now, it's like, wait, they're messing up the pacing or I've been invested, now it's a new number one. Do you ever find that, I guess that scenario happen? Yes.

16:00
a little tiny bit, but it is not a huge thing. Some people follow writers. If Jed McKay leaves a title, hey, I'm not going to get it after Jed McKay leaves, or passing it along. Tom Taylor is on Nightwing. A few people might, but most people who get Nightwing just want to get the Nightwing no matter who the writer is, and they'll continue to get it. People drop titles just because they don't like them. It doesn't really have anything to do one

16:30
But if they change a character in a way that people don't respond to well, AKA how Marvel tried to do that back in the day, switching everybody from the generation to a new generation hero. And you lost a lot of Captain America guys when you made him Hydra, and you lost this group of people. I think experimenting with new storylines to get new people in the shop is always an amazing thing to do from every age group. But.

16:58
worrying about whether or not someone's gonna drop it. If you keep a great writer, then you have a pretty good chance of keeping people on the story. So, I mean, it really just comes down to, like Harley Quinn, we've been slowly dropping people off, but DC just really isn't putting out any Harley Quinn comics that have a great story to them, that are really positive. On the opposite side, Poison Ivy, they did a new origin for her and we got people adding it. So there's a natural ebb and flow to everything.

17:26
The continuous ongoing nature of comics sometimes can be a lot for people. You know, you come in and say, hey, I want Amazing Spider-Man every time, but after a couple months of getting three Amazing Spider-Man every month, you're like, maybe I'll just take a six part series here and there, you know? I think I could take this money and invest it in stock. Right, exactly, right, which way we're gonna do. Yeah.

17:47
But yeah, that's how it works. I mean, sometimes it can be intimidating for a long haul, but for the most part, it's all about whether or not the story keeps someone's interest. And everybody likes something different, so that's the best part. That's well said. I wanna turn the corner here, because you've mentioned Marvel and Bloodhunt. I mean, Ben, you know my pull list. You know the books I pick up. It's been a long time since I picked up. I've been following a big two event. So I decided to give Bloodhunt a shot.

18:14
because I think you've spoken highly about it. I think I've also seen like some positive praise for it online and all of that, but Pepe Larez is drawing it and it is one of the best, I mean, he's one of like the best out here. So I caught up with Bloodhunt, all four issues. Issue five will be out a week after this episode airs. I guess what I want to hear is, how is Bloodhunt doing for the shop? And what are your thoughts on what Marvel is doing with the, you know, them bringing back the ultimate line, you know, Bloodhunt being the big event and the other stuff they got in the pipeline?

18:43
Well, the big event, Blood Hunt, is, let's say, it's better than some of the other big events that Marvel's done in the past. They did that red band kind of polybag. Yeah, yeah, which I thought was a nice touch. Yeah, it is. It's a cool way to do it. You just get more rib cages and intestines in your back. Right, a little bit, a couple extra pages. A little bit of different dialogue. But it definitely, in terms of selling, was really cool. The covers are awesome. Cool story.

19:09
Sometimes in comics I wish DC and Marvel would take some of their characters and do some drastic things. So Blade, obviously, spoiler alert, but Blade is the antagonist of this entire story, but it comes to find out that he was really being controlled by the first vampire, right? And I thought, you know, when I first found out Blade was the bad guy, I thought, you know what, this could be really cool. He could take on the Avengers by himself.

19:35
He could be an ultimate bad guy to where maybe you end blood hunt, but maybe Blade isn't a good guy. Maybe he kind of is a bad guy. And then they did the convenient thing of always possessed by somebody. And you're like, ah, you guys, was it a dream sequence the whole time, dude? Thought you guys were creative. No, but so that's really cool. But what Marvel has done that has changed the game this year is their Ultimate Universe. That stuff's super popular and has brought a ton of new writers and readers in.

20:04
I'm smart. Anything Jonathan Hickman kind of starts with Ultimate Spider-Man caught fire to everything else. But probably my favorite one of them all is the Ultimate Black Panther. The way they've done Killmonger, the way they've done Storm in there, the way they've done Black Panther allowing, you know, the idea like I was just talking about making Blade a bad guy. Well, I love DC else worlds because you can take an iconic character and do something you don't normally expect from them.

20:33
Same thing with Ultimate Universe, it's fantastic. Green Goblin and Ultimate Spider-Man's kind of a good guy right now. And you can really take these core characters and do them in a different way that's not that is it because you know when you're reading a Batman title, unfortunately, Batman's not dying.

20:49
Even if they cut off his hand and make it look like he went to an alternate universe and they laser beamed him to death, he somehow is still alive. You know, and that takes a little of the drama away, but in an alternate universe, or an alternate universe, you can kill Batman in the first issue, and you're like, damn, what just happened? So yeah, I love that stuff. I guess to your point, the one ultimate title that really surprised me by how much creative freedom they gave their creator is Ultimate X-Men with Peach Momoko.

21:19
I think piqued my interest enough for me to check out the first couple of issues. I'm behind one or two issues, but I've seen panels from some of these recent ones and it's like, whoa. I'm like, this is all part of the same line? Yeah, I think Ultimate X-Men is a great jumping on point for our younger crowd because what you know, what Peach did, which was kind of smart, she took all of these female X-Men characters and put them in a high school together.

21:46
and their powers start showing up. And then there's social media aspects. Someone records it, and then May Storm, a younger storm, tries to fry the phone before it gets on the internet, but then it spreads like wildfire. And I've always actually had a lot of admiration for the young generation because I don't think.

22:06
I know for me, I'm 44, I can't imagine what it was like growing up with a cell phone around you in third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, where everything is recorded and that's who you are. It becomes your identity. You don't get to get away from bad moments. So I really feel like the younger generation of Americans in around the world, they don't get enough credit for living through a life where everything is recorded and you instantaneously become that.

22:33
person, whatever gets spread on social media. So it was a cool way for her to do the X-Men kind of as a young group of people, experiencing their powers for the first time and then dealing with all the social aspects of it. It's a definitely different feel than what you get from like the Ultimate Black Panther and the Ultimate Spider-Man, which are very serious titles. Even the Ultimate, regular Ultimates is a very serious title. So it's still serious, but in a great way, they really were able to.

23:01
And then Peach Momoko's artwork is light and fun and awesome. So it's easy to do and it's easy read. Well said, yeah. Yes, stylistically it stands out story wise and look and feel it stands out. And you know what, you might just give me motivation to go get caught up. Yeah, I mean, the ultimate Black Panther though is really the one I know everyone's heard about, ultimate Spider-Man, but the ultimate Black Panther has been really probably my favorite. And being completely candid, I read all the Black Panther stuff, but it is not one of my first go-tos.

23:29
And this universe where they've taken these characters and the way that they portray them, I really enjoy and it's been awesome so far. Yeah. Speaking of Bloodhunt 2, the best part of Bloodhunt was probably the Black Panther three-part series. So if you want something that isn't just the main series of Bloodhunt, they did a bunch of mini series with Bloodhunt, the Bloodhunt, Black Panther. I definitely recommend that three-part series. Because I was just about to tell you that...

23:56
Having only read the main line of books for Bloodhunt, it feels like I'm missing so many details. Well, yeah, just like Night Tears for DC, and they do all those side stories, there's a couple where you're like, money grab. And then there's some that are like, wow, this was awesome and a huge part of the story, and thank God I read this one. I guess reading just the main title of Bloodhunt books, it feels like someone pressed fast forward.

24:22
on the story, you're like, wait a minute, wait a minute, go back, when did that happen? Well, we just read the last one, the last Amazing Spider-Man Blood Hunt, and it has a huge, that one has a huge one, and then the X-23 Wolverine Blood Hunt, a huge reveal in it, but we're like, there's only one issue left. How are, like, we, Jonathan and I, we're literally discussing that today. It feels like, we're like, wait a minute, this thing's over, wait, did it even happen? What's happening right now, so. I guess me dipping my toes back in with like a big, you know, summer Marvel,

24:52
crossover event it it feels a little bit of like you know the same old same old kind of tactics but I will say Jed McKay's writing is really good I've been a fan of him Pepe Larez I mean amazing artwork the red band you know versions are like a kind of cool touch to it so it's been interesting like dipping my toes back in that but it does feel like oh no no you're not getting me Marvel I'm not buying

25:17
You know, 20 additional books. We always fall into that trap. And the problem is there is a couple of them that aren't any good, that are kind of just fillers. But The Blood Hunters is amazing. The Black Panther Blood Hunt is really good. The Wolverine One-Shot is very good. The Hulk one was actually a huge part. So most of them are one shots. They don't have anything to do with the regular story. But then they did a one-shot Blood Hunt Hulk. And that literally tied in directly into the ongoing horror Hulk.

25:47
So if you're a Hulk fan, definitely wanna pick that one up. I make a comment in here all the time. I am, I constantly believe the people who make comics for Marvel and DC have never tried to sell one in their life.

26:00
They make awesome stuff and they put some great stories together, but you're like, I don't think you guys thought this one through on this aspect here. I think I asked you in December last time we record, if there was one thing you could change about, you know, uh, the comic book industry, you know, as in terms of retail and all of that, like what was the thing you'd want to change? And I remember your answer then was, uh, you said something about more comics should have like a recap page of, Hey, here's what happened last time. Would you change your answer right now? Or do you have another one?

26:29
No, that's still the most important thing to me. Marvel and DC do it, but they don't always do it. And it's just such an easy way. Inside front cover, they have a bunch of wasted space. But if you want to pick up a new title, especially independent, the first issues always go, because people are speculating. So they pick up that first one and then pass the first one, you're not going to get a lot of people added.

26:58
And the whole point is to try to get people onto a story, and then maybe we can get a reprint. Maybe we can go on the hunt and find the first issue. But if you can tell me where I kind of pick up at right now on this story, I can just continue on. Plus, I read everything, and I still read the recap, because it's a month later for some titles. And you just write 180 comics in between those two. And just like a TV show, it ends one way.

27:23
The next episode doesn't always pick up directly where it left off. You're on a whole other scene, on a whole other place, on a whole other planet. You're like, wait a minute, what is even happening right now? So those recaps really help. So that's definitely one thing that would make it just life a lot easier in the comic book world because you want to sell out. You want to have stock, but you want to sell out. So it's a little game you play and you want people to be able to continue on and they come in and they're like, God, you have the first issue. And you're like...

27:52
I have zero, two, three, four, and five, and no more number ones. I guess in that regard, is it easier to sell someone on a trade? Because it's collecting all the issues, you don't gotta worry about missing one. It tells you the complete story for the most part. How do trades and collected editions do for you versus single issues? I imagine single issues is still the dominant purchase, but how do trades and collected editions do for you in terms of sales, but also like...

28:21
getting new readers on board? Well, they're awesome. So they never did this in the 80s and 90s, where they printed, they did Six Issues of Spider-Man, and then the next month they printed it in a book. I was just about to say, is it coming out a lot faster? Oh my God, they're so, they're like, it's like the switch. Remember how long it took movies to come on VHS back in the day, where it'd be like three years after it was done in a theater, and then all of a sudden it was Blu-ray and streaming and a month out of the theater, you're watching it at home.

28:51
They are printing out the trade paperbacks for all the titles. So like Scarlet Witch, Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man. I mean, when I was younger, some of my favorite things to do were go to comic shops that had trade paperbacks, that had some of these collect editions because you could, I wanted to read Maximum Carnage, but you weren't going to find all 14 parts of the Spider-Man book there. And so being able to pick up the book with the entirety of it in there was one of my favorite ways to read comic stories. So

29:19
In terms of getting people interested in something when we can't find all the comics, it's great, but it's also very, very useful for, say, sequels. So like Laceron and Re-Evolution, the sequel's out now. And the first comics of Laceron are worth something. So they're not super easy to find, even reissues. So getting the hardcover book for somebody or a trade paperback of Laceron and then you can jump on in the comics, boom. Same thing with DC's Dark Knights of Steel.

29:48
The original Tom Taylor story was amazing, 12-part series. They just started it all winter. We're Death Strokes of Viking, and it is amazing, right? But we have a ton of people we've been ordering every single day here. The first two trade paperbacks of Dark Nights of Steel, so people can read the original story and then pick up the comics now and continue buying it in the comic form. So I love the trade paperback books. Deceased is still one of my favorite stories of all time from DC.

30:18
So I just ordered another five copies of that. And you know at the limit, we sell all our books 35% off all the time. So what's better than that, man? I mean, look, man, you know that we did a transformer trade paperback book, our own books of the first six issues. So I loaded up on seven, eight, nine, and 10 issues, and I sell the first six here, and then seven, eight, nine, and 10 out of the box, boom.

30:41
Geiger, one of the hottest new things, the brand new exclusive hardcover book. This is also why we did a video podcast, folks, so you can see. Yes, you can see that stuff, everything that we got. But that's the reason we get these, because then you can pick up that Geiger, you can get that ghost machine, and then you can decide if you want to keep reading the new stuff and it's an easy way to do it, because going on the hunt for those comics isn't always the cheapest. What's more important to have in terms of a trait and being a comic shop owner and retailer?

31:11
or like the ability to forecast. Because I think that's where you excel at is that you're both creative where you're thinking like, okay, I've got this trade, but I'm also gonna bundle it with these issues and sell it that way. And then forecasting wise, I feel like you always do a good job of like, like you just said, you know, you know that their last Ronin-2, you know, it's gonna be a sequel. Let me stock up on the trades. Let me push those. Like what do you think is the more important trade to have? Or are they just equally important? Well, I think that it's...

31:39
very important to know what you're doing. Like know the product. And if you try to fake it with people, they'll know. Oh, Jonathan, you leaving? Bye, John. See you, Jonathan. Yeah, Jonathan, the greatest worker of all time. He's finally locking out. Greatest comic shop employee of all time. Love that guy, friendly neighbor with Jonathan. But I think it's very important to have a knowledge of what you're doing and really be immersed in it. So like today, Monday.

32:06
uh... the more recording this there's a lot of final order cut off comics and a lot of those comics are varying covers and i just look at that uh... artist and then i look at the cover and we make a get agestimation about how and popular it's going to be but because i'd love buying comics not just for the stories but because of the artists uh... it makes it a little easier for me plus

32:31
I can see the sales numbers. Oh, it's Scottie Young. Yeah, we're getting 25 of those. Oh, it's Pichu Mokko. Yep, we're getting those. Oh, it's Alex Ross. Yep, we're getting a bunch of those. But the other thing just that I think is a key to life that anybody can apply to anything anywhere is, man, when I did this Transformer book or when I did this Geiger book or when we do any really retailer exclusive comic, I never had that idea ahead of time. I got an email.

33:00
And I saw it, my brain was like opportunity, and I just jumped in it. And that's what I think is important and what other people could potentially apply to their own life is sometimes you just have to be open to opportunities that you're not even thinking of. And then all of a sudden at 1101 AM on a random Thursday, boom, don't wait, just do.

33:25
And so we jump on some of those opportunities. We have a Berserker exclusive coming out this week with Steven Sokovia, a full foil. And I've never done a Berserker title. And certainly, we've never done a foil one. But Boom Studios, it was first come, first served. They sent an email out saying, hey, it's first come, first serve. Who wants that? And I mean, within two seconds of getting the email, I want it. And I'm like, all right, now we just make it happen around it. But so I saw an opportunity. My brain said, go for it. And sometimes I'm wrong.

33:54
Sometimes I've taken some opportunities. I did a Tyler Kirkham exclusive for Profit Number One, the facsimile reproduction, because I heard that Jake Gyllenhaal was gonna play Profit in a movie at some point. Same, no, no, I remember that news, yeah. And I don't know if it's still happening or not, but I really thought, I was like, oh, okay, the movie's gonna be popular, people are gonna come looking for it, we got Tyler Kirkham to do a sweet homage, and I mean, I'll probably be giving away those comics for the rest of my life.

34:22
You got it. You are going to make mistakes. But I think one of the keys to this place or one of the things that I do on the regular is opportunities that I never even had an idea about get presented to me. And then instantaneously I make a decision and I just jump two feet in the deep end or I say no. But I don't think about it for three weeks. I don't.

34:48
weigh all the pros and cons, I trust my ability and what I do in here and how I think about things. And everyone has that same natural gut instinct. So if you can just follow your gut instinct and look for an op or like be open for opportunities and then one presents itself jump on it, I think you can find a lot of positive things happen in your life. That is well said, Ben. You're always shocked full of good business advice and life advice. On the topic of variance.

35:17
Cause I've noticed that too, you know, someone that used to work at a shop in like the early 2010s and whatnot, it does feel like the market has been oversaturated with the number of variants. Sometimes, me and Drew actually were talking about this last week is that, you know, we'll come in here and we're like, wait, did I pick that issue up? Oh no, that's just a different cover. And you know, sometimes it kind of messes with your head and you know, obviously there's covers that you want, but you know, they end up being, you know, one in 100. And

35:45
And I guess I want to hear from you. Do you think that there's too many variant covers? Or I guess what are your thoughts on what seems to be the oversaturation of variant covers? Has that helped you in any way? Has it harmed business in any way? It makes it hard because generally the A cover is collected. However, one of the reasons that we are busy on Wednesday and there's a line of people when we open the door on Wednesday morning is because we'll have all the variants here and there will be a selection.

36:15
And people can walk in on a Wednesday, didn't pre-order it three months ahead of time, didn't go through the Yellow Pages magazine style, to look for the comic variant they wanted. They can just come here and find it. And I love some of them. Like so, they did black suited variant covers for Marvel recently, and then DC will do some cool foil variants or Christmas card variants. I love them. I just wish they would do one.

36:44
for every issue, an A cover and then just one awesome B cover. So like this whole month is Deadpool, Wolverine. And I know Marvel wants to promote the movie. And obviously Deadpool and Wolverine are very popular. But there's a Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe variant and a Wolverine Deadpool Weapon Extraction variant on the same book. And so even if you love Deadpool and Wolverine, these aren't $1.25 anymore.

37:11
A lot of them are $4.99, some are $5.99. The foils are $7.99, $8.99 now. So if Marvel and DC and some of these companies that put out four variants for some books, they're shortsighted because it's a classic corporate, oh, well, if we put it out, we sell more. You know, the shop buys an additional 10 copies instead of just getting 60 cover A.

37:36
He got 15 cover B, 10 cover C, 10 cover D. Now we got 100 total copies. However, it would have a bigger impact if they just sold the, let's say, use Deadpool kills example where they're doing them across all the titles. If they sold just the Deadpool kills Marvel Universe variants for one month, and then did the Deadpool weapon extraction variants the next month. It forces people to pick and choose.

38:05
And so for that aspect, I do wish it would change a little tiny bit. But like anything else, everything goes in ebbs and flows. And you've seen it definitely go like that. DC has changed the way that they distribute comics recently since COVID. Plus their incentive game changes a little bit, plus their variants. Sometimes they just do one cover again. So it'll go both ways. But I think the multiple variant game is

38:35
primarily a money grab. That's where it came from. The idea was, oh, we can sell 100 more comics because we have four variants for this cover. But like X-Men 1 came out, it's like we don't need eight covers for it. You know, I mean, you could save some of these for the later issues. These would be awesome. Because then there's some variants where you're like, well, that's just silly and we don't even need it. I guess, you know, just thinking about like my relationship variants, you know.

39:01
it back and it was like a special thing because there wasn't so many and it would normally just be limited to like that first issue now it feels you know there's eight variants for the third issue and fourth issue and you're like what are we doing and it makes me think of like an altered version of this saying which is like if everything's special then nothing is special you know it almost is like it's too

39:21
It's like too much of a blatant money grab in my opinion. It kind of like turns me off. It's 100% where it came from. It's definitely a corporate idea, and people saw somebody else doing it, and they hooked it up. But I will say there are some companies, like let's say Skybound, they do an A and a B cover. And then Incentives, which is fine with me, I'm cool with, but like Transformers, there's just an A and a B every week.

39:43
Scarlett, there's just an A and a B. Destro, just an A and a B. And then there's retailer exclusives like we do and the incentives which are awesome. But that A and the B makes it so easy for the collectors. If you're a Transformer fan, you can say, hey, I just want the A and B cover. Because we have had multiple people who come in and say, I want every Deadpool cover. Then they come in, they haven't been here in two months.

40:05
There's been three issues at Deadpool. There's six covers for each one. And all of a sudden, they've got 25 comics to buy. And they're like, OK, I just want the B cover. So we've definitely found that, where I've gotten screwed a little bit, because I've ordered it. I pulled it. I got it. And they're like, I don't need eight Incredible Hulk covers. I just wanted the A and B cover. And I guess it just makes me also, this is the last thing I'll say and we'll move on. But it also makes me feel a little icky that.

40:33
It just feels like these companies are tapping into like this. I don't know. I want to say FOMO, I guess like nerd collector FOMO. You know, they're kind of like, it's kind of almost predatory is a word I'm thinking of when it comes to these variants. And I've also seen like a weird impact where it's more about the variants and the actual story, which is what I appreciate about you, Ben, is that you're always talking about the story, the art, you know, what's inside of the book. And I think sometimes variants and the talks of like, you know, the expensive ones and the rare ones takes away from.

41:03
Like what really matters about these books, which is like the story, what's inside of it. Yeah, I know. And I wonder if people think I'm full of shit when I say that I really, the worst part about this place is the money, but it is. And one of the reasons that we hook people up with discounts, like if you take care of us and you come and get your stuff and you get a lot of stuff, we give you some pretty solid discounts to boot.

41:29
If someone wants to come in and try something and we're adding something on, hey, let's knock a buck off that first issue and let's try it out, see if you can do it. I gave away the first trade paperback, a deceased to someone, and I said, you take this. They're like, why are you giving this to me, Ben? Because I was like, because later this week when you're done reading it, you're going to come back and buy the other three trade paperbacks, a deceased, and that's 100% what happened. So obviously, I need to make money.

41:56
and I want to make money, I do cool things, so that I, and life is expensive, so I, but the money part of comics is the worst part of it. You know, I make jokes with people all the time, and I say, if you come in here, and you like, you come in, and you're like, oh, how much money do I owe Ben? Stop buying fucking comics! Like, you don't have to buy comics, you don't have to! It's literally giving you stress in your life, man. I love you, and I want you to come in here.

42:24
but don't try to make me feel guilty for the comics that you want. If you don't want them, no harm, no foul, you don't have to get them. It's the bonus to life, you know? So, in that aspect, but it's tough, man. And that's why we try to help people. We try to take care of them, because in this industry, they're not a buck 25 anymore, baby. They're not 2.99. There's some that are easy 6.99 every time. The reference is kind of outdated, but I think the spirit is applicable here. What you just said makes me think of a...

42:52
this big boy lyric from his outcast song. He says, instead of paying for that wood grain steering wheel, pay your fucking beeper bill, bitch. Right. 100%. There is multiple people in here where I have to be their parents. And I'm like, maybe you shouldn't be getting these. I want to shift gears here, because you're talking about this being a place for people to hang out and see friends. And because we're recording this on the Monday before, what is it, the 23, 24?

43:19
July 24th, new comic book day. TMNT number one comes out and they're doing a pizza party, right? Yeah, yeah, we're having a pizza party, yep. You said IDW gave you a gift card to spin it how you want it, to promote, to bring people into the shop. And you're throwing a pizza party, which I think, you know, hopefully, if you're listening to this and you were not aware of that, hopefully that got you excited and you'll be coming to Gotham City Limit this Wednesday for that. I brought that up because I wanted to hear about

43:48
some of the, what's been some of the standout moments or things going on in the, I guess, in the indie publisher route? We spent a lot of time talking about Marvel and Bloodhound Ultimate and DC, All In, and et cetera. But when you think about 2024 in the year of independent comic publishers, what's been some of the standout things? Well, I think it goes back to what we talked about, I think initially on this podcast here, which was what I thought about comics in 2024. And one of the reasons that I said,

44:17
I don't know if they've ever been better in terms of stories is because the independent stuff is as good as Marvel and DC or better. So obviously, I think in our 2023, Transformers was a huge thing. It just started up, right? And they're getting that whole void rivals, Energon universe, but the stories have only gotten better. So the Cobra and Duke series are done. We're doing store exclusives for all five covers of the Destro.

44:47
They're doing the scarlet. Which was awesome. I read the first two issues and Kelly Thompson. But again, the best part about it is that I'm 44. I love G.I. Joe in the 80s, but the only thing I really remember about G.I. Joe other than Duke and Snake Eyes and some of the big names, oh, I know Cobra Commander is and Zartan because of his glow in the dark skin. You know?

45:08
but was that no one ever got hit by any of the red or blue lasers that they shot at each other. No one ever got shot. It was just lasers and tanks and helicopters that got hit. But now I get to reread all these stories about these characters, but it's like an alternate universe. So like the Duke read, the five-part series Duke was like reading Jason Bourne, except Duke was Jason Bourne. He's on the run from the federal government because he knows the Transformers exists and the government telling them they don't. So what a cool way to do it.

45:37
And then the other one I want to bring up real quick before we get off topic is the Ghost Machine Universe. I was actually about to bring that up. Yeah, and that is amazing. The Geiger is my favorite thing ever, like in comics right now. The two-headed dog Barney has my heart. There's a very insidious thing happening in the new Geiger series, and I'm very worried about where it's heading. And you know, this has an emotional thing on me, and that's why I know I love it.

46:06
But Jeff Johns is killing it. That ghost machine that was the one shot that kicked off the Rook, the red coat and the Geiger. Now these stories are amazing and every time they come out I can't wait. I'm taking them home tonight. The new Rook comes out this week and are some of the first things that I read when they come out every week. So I read DC and I read Marvel, but man, you know, we're talking about a brand new one that just came out last week. Kill All Immortals by Zac Kaplan.

46:33
Dark Horse comic and then Paranoid Gardens, new one that just came out last week, sold out first issue right off the bat. Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, crushing independent stories. Something's Killing the Children is as popular as independent stories go and they're on the mid-30s. Which makes me extremely, I mean, I remember that first issue came out and thinking like, oh, okay, this is pretty popular, people are picking it up, it's sold out. But to see the longevity of it, 30 issues in, hell, I went to a...

47:03
I went to a James Tinian panel at C2E2 where he was just talking about, you know, something is killing the children, the expansive universe, like the new issues you got coming out that's going to explain like origins. It was a packed out panel and sitting in that I was like, wow, he's like, you know, like he's got something here. And it just made me think about all of the lightning in a bottle that

47:26
image in Skybound and all, Dark Horse and Boom and IDW have been able to capture in a bottle some of these titles. I mean, even Boom Studios has been making just amazing stories, things that you wouldn't, I Heart Skullcrusher and just all these random tiny titles that maybe in years past, you're like, I have no interest in that. But because these writers are so talented and they build up so much credibility, I'm willing to...

47:56
to follow Kelly Thompson to any title she writes. People are willing to follow James any title he writes. So Deviant is very popular, Messed Up Santa Claus Story, you know? I mean, and that's what people want. They want real stories and real authentication. And when they spend $3.99 to feel like I would rather go home tonight and read 10 comics than to scroll through Netflix for a half hour looking for some TV show that probably isn't worth my time. And I guess there's something else to be said about

48:25
Like all of these independent companies popping up or initiatives popping up that are being led by, you know, Ghost Machine is being led by, you know, spearheaded by Jeff Johns. But granted, he's got, you know, who's who roster of artists and writers also doing books. I mean, DC Comics all in, granted it's with DC, but you know, the excitement that Scott Snyder's got and you know, Kelly Thompson making the announcement and.

48:48
And I mean, the list, Distillery, I think, is a great example. Well, it's so popular now. These guys wouldn't have been this popular in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. That is true. Very true. And I think that lends to my point that seeing their excitement, seeing them being empowered, knowing that this is something they own, so they're putting their all into it, I don't know. To your point, a great time for comics, especially non-big two independent publishers. I've been fascinated in the quality.

49:16
the amount of quality books coming out. I mean, look at all the shows that come out of it. And I mean, it's going to continue. It's only the beginning. I mean, speaking of how popular The Boys and Invincible and some of these titles are now that make it right. But Penguin Random House, the world's largest book distributor, just bought Boom Studios. And I believe people ask me why. And I believe the only reason they did it was to get a hold of Berserker, Keanu Reeves' title.

49:44
It is going to blow up. There's going to be an anime. There's going to be movies. They already did a 12-part series. They're doing two more one-shots this summer coming up, including this week. Like I was talking about earlier, the Steven Secovia exclusive we're doing. And I only think it's going to grow. And I think Penguin Random House saw how popular Invincible and the boys were and said, you know what? We need our Keanu Reeves. Preserker is going to blow up. We need to have our hand in the cookie jar.

50:13
So I think that's a whole reason they bought that one studio alone. And so I think that one's going to continue to grow. Now, I guess, how does that news impact you? How does Penguin Random House owning Booms Studios impact you? Is it just that they'll be distributing the books? It impacts me because now we're guaranteed the Booms Studios is going to continue on. I mean, obviously, if they're out there selling.

50:38
is that comic books are a tough market and you make a lot of, but I think they built themselves up to a point to where they could market themselves and say, hey, we've got these properties, you want it. But in terms of just straight distribution of the comics, it doesn't really affect us one way or another who distributes it. Penguin Random Mouse will have a vested interest in making sure that Booms comics sell well. So they'll obviously do a lot of marketing from their side. And so that'll help us in any aspect.

51:08
But that would probably be the only impact that it has on us. It just brings awareness. More people telling me, bringing up Penguin Random House, but when I was buying comics in 2015 before on the store, I didn't even know what a distributor of comics and title .. I don't know the names of these companies. The fact that it's mainstream tells you what you need to know about it. I guess your point is probably is that simple. Penguin Random House is looking at, boom, the properties they've got. There's a lot of different...

51:36
opportunities to do more than just, you know, books, um, and comic books and whatnot. Right. Just get there. Continuing to grow. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup

52:01
Marvel's Ultimate Universe, Ultimate Spider-Man, the whole Ultimate Universe stuff is about as popular as it gets. And then, still to this day, it's unbelievable what Transformers does. Yeah, you got Transformers and Ultimate Spider-Man are probably our two largest pulls. Where's Batman fit into that? Right there, right there, right behind it. Okay. A little, a few, Batman's been great too. Chip Z just created Fail Safe, which is the ultimate Batman villain.

52:29
out of the Zer RL mindset of Batman. So it's been fantastic and Batman is right there, but it's ultimate Spidey and Transformers. Okay, what's been the best selling or most surprising first issue? Like is there a first issue that just blew sales out the water? Well, it's, I would say Ghost Machine and the Geiger stuff is incredibly popular. And then,

52:58
other little titles that you're not necessarily anticipating, but independent stuff. Like the one I brought up, I sold 40 copies of Zack Kablin's Kill All Immortals. And as a dark horse title, you didn't really expect that many people to pick that one up. And that has been an amazing first issue. That just happened about two weeks ago too. So that's a, but definitely.

53:22
One that was completely unexpected, but because it was a Zach Kaplan title, I took a risk on it. So that worked out nicely. All right, what would you say has been your favorite personal series? My personal favorite stuff? Well, okay, first off, I reread Walking Dead in full color every two weeks it comes out. I never read it from the beginning. Obviously we're in the middle of the 90s issues, but every two weeks that comes out, it's the first thing I take home, one of those. And then,

53:51
We've already brought this up, but I take home the any energon universe. So void rivals is coming home with me tonight and anything from the ghost machine universe rook for is coming home with me tonight. So those those issues right there are the ones I go to immediately. Marvel stuff. The ultimate Black Panther absolutely love that's probably one of my keys. A smaller series. It doesn't get a little a lot of hype that was fantastic was the Black Widow Hawkeye series.

54:20
Hawkeye actually ended up with his own symbiote and it's gonna lead into the Venom War, but it was a really good four-part series. And then the Get Fury storyline by Garth Ennis going on right now is amazing. And you know what's funny about it? Is it's so much more fucking bloody than the polybagged red band sealed bag Marvel comic. It's just a normal comic, no warning, except 18 plus on the front and it is bloody. It's Fury and Punisher set in Vietnam. Dude, it's so cool.

54:49
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a Garth Ennis book is more bloody than any other Marvel title. But it's totally out of nowhere. Just get Fury. You never really knew what it was even going to be about. It's a Nick Fury story. What are we even telling? And it's set in the 70s. Nick Fury gets captured by the Vietnamese and the US government wants to assassinate Nick Fury so he doesn't give up the secrets and they send the Punisher in to do it. And it just goes from there. But it's such a, it's a Garth Ennis story, which he is amazing.

55:15
And it is just an awesome, awesome story in there. I think they're on the third part of that right now. And that's definitely, if you want something random to pick up Marvel-wise, the Get Fury is awesome. Give me another, give me another Sleeper pick. Like what's a Sleeper comic series right now that you feel like not enough people are reading or checking out? Well, okay, so this is weird because how popular G.I. Joe is, right? With the Destro, Scarlet, Duke, and Cobra.

55:45
One of the best stories going on right now is the ongoing G.I. Joe that image allowed Larry Hama to write. With the sweet Andy Kubert. I got to be honest with you. I tried to read the last story that Larry Hama was supposed to do in the 290s up to 300 that kind of ended his run before it switched over to Skybound. They didn't tell him he was going to continue on. But since 301 to 307, it is as good a comic, as good a G.I. Joe series as there is.

56:15
So if you like the other Energon Universe stuff, going back and reading what's going on now with the Larry Hama GI Joe stuff is awesome. And then I don't know if you've heard about this, but they did a four-part Thanos series, and people are sleeping on this so hard, because Infinity Gauntlet's so good. It was such an iconic story, and obviously Marvel likes to regurgitate some of their ideas. But currently, they did a four-part series, Thanos, and in the fourth part,

56:44
Obviously everyone knows Thanos loves death and death rejects him at every turn, which kind of leads to most of these crisis. He traps her in a new infinity stone. So it's a death stone. And now all the infinity stones are inside of other characters. So Marvel characters, Star, some of these other characters are the Marvel infinity stones. And now Thanos can use this new death stone, first appearance in Thanos number four, hint, hint. People are sleeping on that thing.

57:14
He can use that Death Stone to now try to suck the Infinity Stones out from the other characters and in the annuals of Marvel, Thanos annual, Amazing Spider-Man annual, and then the most recent, the third part was the Thor annual, it is called Infinity Watch. And it is a series being told in the annuals and people are sleeping hard on that.

57:38
Like, it's one of the coolest stories Marvel's doing, and it's all about Thanos and the new Infinity Stone, so I don't know how you couldn't see the writing on the wall there. I mean, I couldn't see the writing. I guess I've been asleep on that. Exactly. Ben, what would you say? Got him. What would you say? All right, here's a cool one shot that came out this year that we haven't talked about. That was maybe one of the coolest comics ever, and it ties right into what I was just talking about, Thanos and the Infinity Stone.

58:03
Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime. Such a cool comic, one shot and an amazing story. I think it was Jason Aaron, right? And what a cool idea that he picked out the first dime that Uncle Scrooge ever had. And that was basically an infinity stone that tied all the multiverses Scrooge together. And then one evil Scrooge trying to collect all the Infinity Dimes. Man, it was such an awesome story. The covers were our iconic Alex Ross cover, obviously. Have you ever seen the meme?

58:32
where it shows what would happen if you actually tried to dive into a large thing of points. Yeah, you squashed like a pancake. Yeah, you're like broken bones everywhere. But no, that was an amazing one-shot that came out this year. Highly, highly recommend to people. That issue had no right being that good. That good. No, it was amazing. The way it ended, I'm not gonna give it away because I want people to come, you can still get it here and you can find it online, but what an awesome read for what you were like, I wonder what they're gonna do with this. What a cool story. It definitely was, I think, my most surprising

59:02
liked comic. It was the most surprising issue I picked up that I didn't know I would like that much, but it was pretty excellent. And then obviously that Doom, holy smokes, because the MF Doom, it's so funny what I'll make a comic catch fire and then you have people that have never bought a comic in their entire life calling me from Orlando like, I'll drive up there and buy it if you've got one for me. I guess what's interesting about that is that MF Doom, I mean, it's really just tangentially.

59:30
Related now granted there is that the first page is the lyric in the quote But yeah to your point I could not foresee it being I knew it was gonna be a popular comic right Sanford Green Jonathan Hickman Dr. Doom one shot black but I had no idea it would sell Like that or be that popular I mean I got a hundred some copies and they were gone and not many people on it And I wish I had gotten 200 copies. You know it was that popular it made me want more

59:59
I guess maybe to your point, there's plenty of one shots out there that I'm not aware of, but it made me want more of these prestige one shots from Marvel, where you're getting the absolute best to tell a self-contained story, one artist, double-sized comic. Because I think that book was like what, $7.99? Oh yeah, yeah, $7.99, but it was 60 pages, 80 pages. Yeah, yep. It was awesome. Okay. What would you say has been your biggest...

01:00:27
What has made you the most excited in comics as a retailer this year? Like whether that be like a piece of news that broke, a new character that's been introduced, maybe something that the publishers have done on there and like, what's made you the most excited this year as a retailer? Oh man, that's a tough one. Um, I will say, let's see, my most excited, I think is probably, um, them bringing back some of the iconic writers to then

01:00:56
come back to some of these titles to continue on, whether it's Peter David doing a sweet Marvel title that he used to write in the 90s and coming back to continue the story, or some of the other groups that we have as well. I think what I get specifically excited about is when they tell a brand new Elseworlds story that is completely unpredictable. And so that's kind of what gets me hyped and gets me going.

01:01:26
But the big titles, like the big things that Marvel do, Blood Hunt, Absolute Power, All In, those things can tend to Boy Crows Wolf, right? You know, you kind of get that. But I'll tell you something I got excited about hearing last week is that there's gonna be a prequel to Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. So they're gonna do a story that's.

01:01:48
Earlier in that so it kind of tells a previous story about the serial killer bear about Samantha Yeah, but those kind of things get me excited when I know that we're gonna get a prequel to it And then I am all in on berserker I think berserker is going to continue to be one of the most popular comics in the world and it's only gonna be something that People continue to come in and get so the new berserker then

01:02:13
making an announcement to do two new one shots this summer and then a new 12 part series with Keanu Reeves again. That's right, I got my mind all over those comics. I think my most anticipated series that has just been recently announced is that Mark Waid and Chris Samney are doing a Batman or Robin year one. And it starts in October. Mark Waid being one of my favorite writers of all time and then Chris Samney being an insanely talented artist who has

01:02:43
I guess like, you know, strive and always wanted to do Batman. I don't know if you follow him on, on social media, but on his Instagram, I want to say it's October instead of doing like Inktober, he'll do Battober where every day he does like a different Batman. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I know I'm following him on it, but speaking of Mark Wade, that's why Absolute Power is so cool. Because if you go read about Mark Wade writing this new story for DC, he wanted to make sure that he told the story.

01:03:11
that was about characters you've never seen him. And he likened back to his Kingdom Come run that he did in the 90s with Alex Ross and how important it was to tell a story with these iconic characters about in a way that people had never seen them before. But this is a little tidbit, if you are a Kingdom Come fan and or a Mark Waid fan for about five issues in the Batman Superman World's Finest run, he took Batman and Superman back to the Kingdom.

01:03:41
Yeah, and so he was chasing down this guy who ended up being Magog in the future, a character that they were following. But to actually have five comics in 2024 that were back to my favorite comic series of all time, which is Kingdom Come and Mark Wade back doing DC Comics is awesome. Yeah, it's a good year. I mean, to your point, DC has been on one.

01:04:06
They got great writers. I mean, you can say whatever you want to about the collectability of the comics, and I think they're awesome. They're not as collectible as Marvel, because Marvel's cinematic universe really blew up, but it's only a matter of time, and the stuff that DC's writing now holds up to anything. All eyes on you, James Gunn. That's right. If you had to give a comic book recommendation to three different types of people, one being a complete newbie who has never walked into a shop,

01:04:34
They want to jump into a complete story, something that might interest them. The second one being someone that is a Wednesday warrior that's looking for something new to read, which I kind of feel like you've kind of answered that one. You've been given recommendations left and right. So you could skip that one if you want. We're giving a recommendation for a newbie and maybe someone that has been out of the game for a minute. It's been years since they stepped into a shop or collected comics, but they used to, and they're just looking for something to bring them back.

01:05:01
Okay, so, alright, there's a new one for a younger crowd. If you are 25 years of age or younger and you're looking for a different title that you probably never thought DC or Marvel would produce, it's called Primer. And it is awesome. It's a young woman set, and she's got a different power set kinda that ties into art.

01:05:26
and artistry. So that one has been very popular for a new crowd to come in and check out. If you're a Wednesday warrior and you're looking for some new titles to kind of like go on, there's one that is part of the Spawn universe that I love and that is the Spawn Scorched. It has been, Stephen Scovey has been doing a lot of the cover art, but that is the one it's kind of a group. It's kind of like the...

01:05:54
Justice League of the Spawn Universe, but that one is a side story that not many people talk about and then new rat city Which is I call spawn 2099. Yeah, and in the covers is so awesome The character is really cool and it is like I said a spawn 2099 character

01:06:10
And then another thing that's happening that's huge for our Wednesday Warrior that a lot of people are sleeping on is the 2099 event in the Marvel comics, Annihilation 2099. That's why Marvel's been doing 2099 from the beginning is to lead up to this Annihilation 2099. They just did the first part where it was a new Nova and it ended up being Logan Wolverine.

01:06:33
And then they did a second part. You've got a new Star-Lord. The third part comes out this week. It's a brand new Silver Surfer who makes a deal with Mephisto. And so it's really cool in that aspect. But that's definitely a smaller title that I think people are going to want to get into. And then what are we talking about? Maybe someone who's never been in a comic shop before? No, I think you've went above and beyond already. But that third one was someone that hasn't been in a shop in a while.

01:07:01
in a long time. They used to collect, fell off it, wants to get back into collecting comics and just needs a good jumping on point. Something familiar, but also maybe new. Okay, so the new Elseworlds DC Gotham by Gaslight, Kryptonian Age, amazing, fantastic. And then I go to DC Elseworlds stories all the time. Deceased is probably one of my favorite stories of all time. It's definitely my favorite story since I've owned this place and so I always tell people to pick that book up there.

01:07:30
And then I'd say with Marvel titles, they're so across the board and everybody likes their own character that I generally tell people just pick one up. But there's nothing that specifically stands out than if I, but besides the Ultimate Universe. Because if you haven't been in a comic store in 15 years and you don't know any of the characters and you wanna just get started, that's the place to go because you don't have to know anything about them. I had a time. Ben, that was fantastic. And I, you know, I'm gonna give you a round of applause

01:08:00
just knocking out that homework assignment. You are sweating now because of all. Well, because we didn't turn the AC on in this place. But also because you are spitballing recommendations left and right. And I feel like if I asked you for another 10 recommendations completely different from the 100, I could probably do it. I could do it. But I think you've given myself and the listeners enough homework and great recommendations to check out. Hopefully people, you know, there's plenty of great jumping on points is the long story short of it.

01:08:29
Ben, last question, we've talked about DC All In, we've talked about seeing Comic-Con coming up and what might come out of that. What are you looking forward to for the rest of the year? Is there a particular, whether that be a title, something going on with a publisher, movie-wise, I don't know, what are you looking forward to? Yes, okay, all right, so they call it self-esteem for a reason, right? So you gotta give yourself self-esteem. I love the name Ben.

01:08:55
Okay, one of my favorite things in all of comics are any Ben characters. Ben Riley, the clone of Spider-Man, as soon as I found out there was a clone of Spider-Man and they named him Ben, I was like, oh my God, a Spider-Man named Ben, this is my favorite thing ever. So it's coming out this year. Ben Riley, if you don't know, Marvel acts like they don't really like him that much, but they've turned him into Chasm, a semi-villain of the Marvel world.

01:09:20
but they brought Kane back. They did a one-shot web of Spider-Man earlier this year. You can pick it up here. It's got about seven different stories in it, but they're leading into Kasem versus Kane, the other failed clone of Amazing Spider-Man, and just the cover alone, Kasem in his new glowing outfit, Kane in his black and red. That is like my favorite thing ever. The clone conspiracy from the 90s was like my favorite thing to collect in Marvel Comics.

01:09:48
I know people hate the clone stuff, but I loved it when Peter Parker didn't know if he was the real Spidey or not, and that whole run, and how real it was with the Jackal. And so, Chasm, Kane, they're doing a mini-series coming up, and that is 100% what I'm looking forward to this year. Sign me up, Angle. I'll put that on the poll. We'll do it then. Well then, GI Joe too. Once they finally finish the four or five-part series they're doing, and they're doing the ongoing GI Joe, because you don't know what they're going to do.

01:10:15
They already showed you in that Energon universe that Baroness is going to be a part of the good guys at the beginning. So, you know, for that aspect, I'm really looking forward to see him where G.I. Joe goes. You know, I want to say there is a among the panels planned for San Diego Comic Con. I think there is an Energon universe one and there's also a Marvel's doing a panel with the editor in chief, C.B. Sobovsky and Kevin Feige, which I think will be an interesting pairing between the guy that runs the comics and the guy that runs.

01:10:45
everything else when it comes to Marvel. So I'll be curious to see what comes out of San Diego Comic-Con. And I will also be very excited to be here on Wednesday for TMNT number one and this pizza party. The pizza party. Yeah, it's awesome. The first one's all about Raphael and it's it's pretty bloody and brutal. Again, it's like it's not a kid's story. They're going to adult storyline. I know you read it early. It's going to be an awesome week, man. All right, Ben, do you got anything planned for the local listeners? You know, the folks that live here in Jax that

01:11:14
Whether they shop at Gotham or aren't customers just yet. You got anything big planned here? Well, we got the pizza party this week, obviously. We're doing the newest exclusive full foil, Steven Secovia, Berserker comic coming out. We're doing the five part series for Destro. We've gotten two parts. We're going to do all five issues and they will all connect in artwork by Tyler Kirkham. Batman days coming up in September, so you know we're going to throw a huge party there.

01:11:41
Halloween Comic Fest right behind that in October. And then, I mean, I can't believe it. I mean, it's Christmas is right around the corner. So, super easy to follow us on social media under Gotham City Limit or go to gothamcitylimit.com. We have an event now page that shows you all the events coming out and the stuff we're doing up here. But there is no present time like today to take it to the limit.

01:12:07
And that's what I recommend everybody who's listening to this podcast does. Damn right, Ben. That's how well we that's what we try to do here at the Short Box. We try to take it to the limit every single. My girlfriend gets very annoyed because she's like, you're ready to go to Publix. I'm like, we're about to take it to the limit, baby. She's like, can you shut the fuck up, please? You've been out of work for two hours. You're still tired. Yeah, I got you. Ben, this has been a lot of fun. I look forward to checking in with you again at the end of the year to see how all that wraps up. But so far, 2024.

01:12:36
has been shaping up to be, not even shaping up, it's been a great year in comics so far. You said that at the beginning and I think we just drove the point home for the last hour and some change. Well there's no joke, we talked about, I told you before we started to say, how long do you want this thing to be? Because I can talk about comics all night and it's very, I mean, you have no idea, these are one of my favorite things to do. I had no idea when I started sponsoring or when we started sponsoring the Short Box Podcast.

01:13:05
that calling in and asking some questions was gonna be so much fun for me and for the shop. But what it is, is it's the reason that I own a comic store. It's not just to sell comic books. It's really to have these kinds of interactions, to be able to talk to people. And this is my favorite thing to do. The 2023 end of the year show was so much fun for me, being able to go through it.

01:13:29
But I'll tell you what, two hours before this, I'm so nervous, I'm like, Jonathan, tell me a fucking story, I can't even think of anything right now. So in that aspect, this is amazing. I thank you so much for coming here and letting us be a part of this because that is why we're in the comic industry. And with that being said, listeners, this is Bodder from the Short Box. I just got done chatting with Ben about all the great things going on in comics in 2024. So far...

01:13:57
Plenty of recommendations. Matter of fact, you probably have more recommendations than you know what to do with, but I suggest finding one that piques your interest, jumping in on there and thank Ben later. And if you're hearing Jax, come out to the pizza party. You guys take care, be well, go read a good comic book because there's plenty of them out there and I'll catch you around next time, all right? Peace. There you have it, short box nation. That's the end of the show. Thank you for hanging out. Thanks for being here.

01:14:26
and a special shout out if you made it this far. If you enjoyed this episode and you have some thoughts or comments that you want to share with us, write us at theshortboxjaxx at gmail.com. And if you really liked this episode, help us spread the word, share this episode with a friend or someone you know that loves comics as much as we do. And don't forget to leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

01:14:47
or wherever you get your podcast. It takes two minutes tops and it would mean the world to us. So leave us a review. Now, if you want more content like bonus episodes or perks like early access and commercial free episodes, and in some cases, free comic books, consider joining our Patreon community at patreon.com slash The Short Box. It's an easy and very affordable way to support the show and get rewarded for being a fan. Once again, sign up at patreon.com slash The Short Box.

01:15:13
Speaking of our Patreon community, I want to give a big shout out to our current members, including Adam Chaitani, Tony Aupi, RC Gamet, Blake Simone, Blythe Brumleaf, Bo Evers, Brian Brumleaf, Chad Lannenberger, Chris Hacker, Chris Jinx, Kenny Myers, David Morales, Triple D Mystic, Dominique Jackson, Errol White, Edbot 5000, Generation Jaguar, Greg Hopkins, Greg Ligtig, Henry Hernandez, Hershel, Hydrus96 aka Mac J. Sinner, Jeff Frimmid, and the

01:15:43
Jerome Cabanatan, Joshua Miller, Justin McCoy, Kara Reichardt, Cassie Whitley, Corey Torteson, Matt Godwin, Amanda Marin, Nick Wagner, Podcasters Assemble, Stephen Gamet, T-Mix, The Wait For It Podcast, Thomas Pandich, Thurian, Trey Namo, Walter Gantt, Warren Evans, and Zach Armour. Thanks again to everyone that listens and supports this show. Be sure to come back next week for a new episode. And most importantly, take care of yourselves. Read a good comic.

01:16:10
and continue to make mine and yours short box. I'll catch you soon. Peace.