Friday, September 28, 2012

Conspirator Brock's Local Comic Shop Review - Portland, OR


A trip up to Portland, OR for a close friend's wedding gave me the opportunity to take some time to check out some of the comic shops of Portlandia. For this tour of comic book stores I had guide. Jordan Phegley of The Infinite Longbox was nice enough to drive my ass around, and put up with my bin diving and conversation. Before I go on you should really follow Jordan on Twitter, so click his name, follow him, and come back to finish this review.

The Bearded Duo!
We were going to hit four shops, but due to the time we spent at Excalibur Books & Comics and Cosmic Monkey Comics we were only able to hit up three shops, but I must say right off the bat Portland (from what I experienced) has some great comic book stores. With that said let's get this review going.

Jordan picked me up outside of The New Deal Cafe around 11:30 AM. I would recommend the food at The New Deal Cafe it was yummy.

The New Deal Cafe
5250 Northeast Halsey Street
Portland, OR 97213
www.thenewdealcafe.com



Jordan recommended heading to Milwaukie, OR to check out the Things From Another World shop and the Dark Horse Comics Publishing offices.

Things From Another World
10977 Southeast 21st Avenue
Milwaukie, OR 97222
www.tfaw.com


 It was Sunday so the Dark Horse Comics Publishing offices were closed, but Things From Another World (TFAW) was open and inviting. As brick and mortar shops on Main St. go TFAW was more of a shopping mall store than a quaint downtown comic shop. It had current books, trades, toys, statues, and a very small amount of back issues. I had actually been to the TFAW at Universal's City Walk in Universal City, CA a few years ago, and I was more impressed with that shop than I was with this one. Nothing jumped out at this store that amazed me, and after a few minutes I was ready to go. I did make a lampshade purchase and bought a Batman logo sticker for Brody before we left to take pictures of the Dark Horse Comics Publishing offices.




Dark Horse Comics
10956 Southeast Main Street
Milwaukie, OR 97222
www.darkhorse.com
 



Dark Horse has about three locations within a few block radius. One is the new building, one is the old and one is for digital publication if I am not mistaken. It was interesting to see the home (at least the outside) of a major comic publisher. On my next trip to Portland I should swing by during normal business hours.

On the way back to the car we decided to stop at this little antique shop.

 Collectors Mall and Soda Fountain
10909 Southeast Main Street
Milwaukie, OR 97222
www.mainstreetcollectorsmallandsodafountain.com








Collectors Mall had a fair amount of comic book related toys and even some random back issues. They had old gaming systems and tons of interesting things that brought me back to my childhood. We didn't spend much time inside, but we did find an out of box Nintendo Gameboy with Tetris for twenty bucks. Jordan was tempted, but didn't buy it. We only checked out the front area of the store, and from the look of the place there was a lot more to explore.
Another interesting thing about Collectors Mall was they had a soda fountain bar in the shop where you could get a soda and even freshly baked cookies. Very interesting place, and I will have to check it out again if I'm back in the area with some time to kill.

Jordan was thirsty so we stopped  at a bar and had a beer before we got back in the car to continue our tour.

Excalibur Books & Comics
2444 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97214
www.excaliburcomics.net


We drove back to Portland and went to the next stop on our tour, Excalibur Books & Comics. This place is a well known comic shop that has been around since 1974, and it is where Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis has his pull box. Other industry professionals frequent the shop so if you ever pop in on any given day you may casually bump into one of them.

Excalibur has a lot to offer comic book people. Half of the store is walls dedicated to trades which are all in alphabetical order. I didn't really look through them, but Jordan had a fun time looking through them, creating a wish list in his head of all the books he wanted.
Their new releases are in the far back corner of the shop, which is a great way to get people to possibly buy more as they make their way through the shop and eventually to the front counter. We do the same thing at Comics Conspiracy and it works wonders for impulse buying.
As for their selection of current books it is like a lot of mall comic book stores; only a few months old before they are moved to the back issue bin or put in a dollar box.

What got me super excited was their large back issue selection which took up most of the store. The back issues were very organized with clear labels marked on the front and back with title, year, issue count and publisher all easy to see. Main titles were the main separation point, but the popular mini series did get their own labels, and as for the rest they went behind their respective main titles under a various label.
I was itching to start bin diving to see if there was anything I needed for my binding projects. After fifteen minutes I already had a decent stack, and I still had almost half of the back issues to go through. I even got Ryan Higgins some Dark Star and Legion of Super-heroes issues he was looking for. The prices on back issues were reasonable, but during a sale I could only imagine the trouble I would get into. I could have spent a lot more money at the shop, but I was on a budget and we still had at least one more shop to visit.
There was a very nice lady named Debbie behind the counter who was very helpful, and also the owner of the shop. We talked some shop and touched on back issue organizing woes, subscriptions, Marvel Now difficulties, trade organization and point of sale systems. Debbie wants the shop to continue being one of the top comic book retailers in Portland, and with her attitude, knowledge, drive, passion and devotion to her store she has accomplished this and more. Running a great comic book shop takes a lot of work and things are always going to be a work in progress, and at Excalibur Books & Comics they put in the work to bring comic book fans what they want, a shop to call home.

Jordan and I were famished at this point and so we stopped in at a Safeway and got some sandwiches and Rockstars to give us a little boost of energy before heading to our last stop on the tour.

 Cosmic Monkey Comics
5335 N.E. Sandy Blvd.
Portland, OR 97213
www.cosmicmonkeycomics.com


Cosmic Monkey Comics at first glance when you enter appears to be a boutique style shop, but as you venture in it becomes so much more. Filled with trade shelves organized by categories like zombies, vampires, Vertigo, artist, and alphabetical by actual book title to name a few. It was definitely a interesting way to organize the trades; very targeted organization, but with the overall boutique feel I can understand why.
Current books were very few and like mall comics shops Cosmic Monkey Comics seemed to keep a small amount of new and current books actually on the shelves. This was okay because with being a boutique comic shop you have to keep the product moving or else you are paying to store the unsellable overstock. 

One thing Cosmic Monkey Comics did have that I found really cool was a larger than normal selection of kids books. A fair amount of single issues and part of a wall dedicated to kids trades and books. I think they had the most kids comics I have ever seen in a comic shop. Of course I got the feeling from the neighborhood the shop was in, and the fact that they had a loft area for reading with a huge sign for Sesame Street on the wall that they had the audience for it. Kids must love this place. I know I would if I were really a kid.

They even feature local indie comics that I would have liked to spend more time checking out, but I was on a mission to find some back issues and I did. In the back of the shop I found the thing I was searching for, the back issues. There is a separate room for back issues. I was in a little pocket universe of back issues; it was heavenly. And then I saw the best sign ever "50% of all back issues." Cosmic Monkey Comics had so many books I needed for my binding projects that I cursed the fact that it was the last stop on our tour. Guardians of the Galaxy run, done. Illusive Green Arrow issue number 86 for my Catwoman run, found it. Batman and the Outsiders volume one the later Baxter paper reprint issues, picked those up. All and all I left that back issue room with a huge stack of books, and I wish I could of had more time looking around, because I could have found so many more books to fill the holes in my collection. If you are bin diving in Portland I would hit Cosmic Monkey Comics up first and then branch out from there.


At the counter a nice guy named Tim helped ring me up, and we got to talking shop. Come to find out that he had moved up to Portland in 2005 from San Jose, CA, and that he had worked in some of the shops in the South Bay. He even worked at R & K Comics back in the day, which meant that he may have been selling me comics when I was a kid. Small comic book world

I want to thank Jordan again for taking me around, and yes I know I owe you a graphic novel. Even though we only hit up three shops I was really impressed by the type of comic book shops I saw in Portland. Except for TFAW, I found the other two shops to be well organized, inviting, stocked, in all good shops to start a pull box at.

To any one visiting Portland, OR I would highly recommend both Excalibur Books & Comics and Cosmic Monkey Comics as really great places to find comics and such. I can't wait to go back myself, and do some more bin diving, and maybe even get over to the handful of other shops we didn't get to on this tour. Jordan you up for another round, because I am.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Conspirator Brock's Pull List for 9/26/12

For all of the curious people out there wondering what I like to read week to week here is a list of the titles I am going to be picking up for the week of 9/26/12:

(Note: I have included deep links for some titles if you wish to support Comics Conspiracy when you buy digital comics. I have not included links to Dark Horse books because you cannot support us currently by buying them through our site.)

01. All Star Western #0 DC
02. American Vampire #31 Vertigo
03. Aquaman #0 DC
04. Batman Incorporated #0 DC
05. Batman: The Dark Knight #0 DC
06. Flash #0 DC
07. Happy! #1 of 4 Image
08. Justice League Dark #0 DC
09. National Comics: Rose & Thorn One-Shot DC
10. Phantom Lady #2 of 4 DC
11. Red Lanterns #0 DC
12. Super Dinosaur #14 Image
13. Superman #0 DC
14. Talon #0 DC
15. Voodoo #0 DC


Reading List:

Amazing Spider-Man #694 Marvel
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #3 of 6 DC
Winter Soldier #11 Marvel

Last week of September and I'm actually Happy! that "The New 52" zero month is finally coming to a close. Overall I would have to say that I have enjoyed the zero issues, but they were a bit daunting when one would be an origin, another would continue a story, or one wouldn't even have anything to do with the title. Needless to say, but I'm ready to get back to normal issues and see where year two of "The New 52" takes us.
I actually have five books that are on the bottom of my pile that I'm looking forward to this week: American Vampire, Justice League Dark, Talon, Aquaman, and All Star Western. All of these books (except for Talon) have delivered great stories and I can't wait to see where we go in the coming months with them. Talon is a new book spinning out of the Court of Owls / Night of the Owls story arcs that dominated the Batman Universe titles a few months ago. Written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV with art by the amazing Guillem March I'm really looking forward to this exploration into the Owls that plague Gotham.
Happy! by Grant Morrison with art by Darick Robertson debuts this week and I'm hoping Morrison can impress me with some creator owned work, because his DC stuff is killing me with its herky-jerkyness. If Morrison pulls this off then I will be very Happy!.
Another one of those National Comics One-Shots comes out this week featuring Rose & Thorn. I'm not really familiar with Rose & Thorn, but I've been digging the National Comics One-Shots so I'm intrigues to see what comes of this lower tier character from the DC Universe. National Comics if anything gives readers a glimpse into a fringe character that, in my opinion, are sometimes more interesting than the big guns of DC lore.
If you didn't pick up Phantom Lady #1 last month you should track it down, and give this four issue mini-series a try. I was hooked after that first issue, and I would recommend it highly to anyone looking for something good to add to their pull list.
This week has a fair amount of titles and I can't get to talking about them all, but I will say this abut the titles on my reading list; Alpha from Amazing Spider-man is a shitty character and I don't like him, Ozymandias has actually impressed me Len Wein is doing a masterful job of giving us a view of the big bad from Watchmen, even though it is Jae Lee artwork. And as for the Winter Soldier I'm only going to stick it out for the rest of the Ed Brubaker run, and then it is off the reading list.
You know what time it is. Get down to your local comic book store or click over to our digital store and get you some comics.

Remember you can now find these titles and more in digital format at our Comics Conspiracy - Comixology Storefront or you can still order comics from us directly by visiting the shop, giving us a call (408) 245-6275, or dropping Ryan an email at ryan@comicsconspiracy.biz.

As usual I'll be talking comics on The Comic Conspiracy, and on the Geekbox Forums. Now get out there and enjoy some good old fashioned comic book reading.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Conspirator Brock's Pull List for 9/19/12

For all of the curious people out there wondering what I like to read week to week here is a list of the titles I am going to be picking up for the week of 9/19/12:

(Note: I have included deep links for some titles if you wish to support Comics Conspiracy when you buy digital comics. I have not included links to Dark Horse books because you cannot support us currently by buying them through our site.)

01. Batwoman #0 DC
02. Captain Atom #0 DC
03. Catwoman #0 DC
04. DC Universe Presents #0 DC
05. Fables #121 Vertigo
06. Green Lantern: New Guardians #0 DC
07. Justice League #0 DC
08. Legion of Super-Heroes #0 DC
09. Peter Panzerfaust #6 Image
10. Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 DC
11. Sword of Sorcery #0 DC
12. Unwritten #41 Vertigo


Reading List:

Before Watchmen: Night Owl #3 of 4 DC
Daredevil #18 Marvel

This week is definitely a much lighter week than last week. That's okay. I need a little break from a huge stack of books to read. This doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to this week's books. Justice League, Catwoman, Peter Panzerfaust, and Green Lantern: New Guardians are sitting at the bottom of my pile waiting for my eager eye to read. Just so you know the cover for Catwoman #0 is different from the one they solicited because of the online disapproval of Guillem March's original cover where Catwoman is bending in a very suggestive and virtually impossible way. Have no fear though it seems Guillem March found a way to get the pose on a cover. Frailty of the New Guardians is basically in the same pose Catwoman was suppose to be in. I still want the original cover for Catwoman #0 though. Damn you sensitive assholes of the internet!
Moving on. Since the month began the zero issues have been for the most part really good reads, and I can't wait to dive into all of the zeroes I picked up this week.
Nothing really stands out other than Sword of Sorcery and DC Universe Presents. I'm really curious to see what DC is going to do with Sword of Sorcery. I'm not really familiar with Amethyst as a character so, I will just have to see if they can catch my interest. As for the DC Universe Presents zero issue I laughed when I saw the cover. Every character featured in the zero issue where was apart of the fist wave of cancellations DC had back with the issue eights. Deadman does make an appearance in the issue, but I can only hope that this issue is really worth the $5.99 price tag considering it is full of characters from cancelled series.
I fear Batwoman is getting close to being dropped from my pull list. I know I have to wait for issue 13 to finish the Wonder Woman story, but I don't know if I can hold on to this book much longer. Shame, because I really enjoyed Batwoman before the "New 52".
Short week means short blurb. Get down to you local shop or over the digital place you get your books, and enjoy some comics on this New Comic Book Day.


Remember you can now find these titles and more in digital format at our Comics Conspiracy - Comixology Storefront or you can still order comics from us directly by visiting the shop, giving us a call (408) 245-6275, or dropping Ryan an email at ryan@comicsconspiracy.biz.

As usual I'll be talking comics on The Comic Conspiracy, and on the Geekbox Forums. Now get out there and enjoy some good old fashioned comic book reading.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Portland, OR Comic Book Store Tour 2012

Friday afternoon I will be boarding a plane to fly north to the wonderful city of Portland, OR. I am going up for a friend's wedding, but I will be taking some time out to have a small vacation.
I will be visiting the best book store on the west coast Powell's, and taking a tour of some of the comic book shops in the Portland area. I will have a tour guide for this adventure, Jordan Phegley of the Infinite Longbox podcast has graciously offered to drive my ass around the greater Portland, OR area to check out the comic book shop scene. I can't wait. If you haven't checked out the Infinite Longbox podcast you should.
Stay tuned for my "Conspirator Brock's Local Comic Shop Review - Portland, OR", but I will share some of my experiences on Episode 75 of The Comic Conspiracy.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Conspirator Brock's Pull List for 9/12/12

For all of the curious people out there wondering what I like to read week to week here is a list of the titles I am going to be picking up for the week of 9/12/12:

(Note: I have included deep links for some titles if you wish to support Comics Conspiracy when you buy digital comics. I have not included links to Dark Horse books because you cannot support us currently by buying them through our site.)

01. American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #4 of 5 Vertigo
02. Batgirl #0 DC
03. Batman #0 DC
04. Batman and Robin #0 DC
05. Batman: Arkham Unhinged #6 DC
06. Demon Knights #0 DC
07. Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E #0 DC
08. A Game of Thrones #10 Dynamite
09. Green Lantern Corps #0 DC
10. Harbinger #4 Valiant
11. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #2 DC
12. Legion Lost #0 DC
13. The Manhattan Projects #6 Image
14. Resurrection Man #0 DC
15. The Shade #12 of 12 DC
16. Suicide Squad #0 DC
17. Team 7 #0 DC
18. X-O Manowar #5 Valiant


Reading List:

Avengers Vs X-Men #11 Marvel
Before Watchmen: Comedian #3 of 6 DC
Captain America #17 Marvel
Grifter #0 DC
The Massive #4 Dark Horse
Winter Soldier #10 Marvel


The second week of the month has proven to be a hefty one when it comes to my pull list; eighteen titles pulled and six more to read this has been one of the biggest weeks for me to date. I better get to reading if I am to stay caught up.
As usual there are some titles that I'm looking forward to this week and those are: Green Lantern Corps, Resurrection Man, Suicide Squad and Batman. If last week's zero issues were an indication as to what to expect then this week should prove very interesting with these four. I'm really excited and saddened though at this being the last issue for Resurrection Man. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have done a great job with the book, and it is disheartening to see such an interesting character's book get canceled. A moment of silence for Mitch Shelley please...now you can get on with this post.
Valiant makes a solid appearance on my pull list now, and I'm looking forward to Harbinger #4 and X-O Manowar #5 this week. Ninjak makes his Valiant debut in the pages of X-O Manowar with this issue, and with Valiant's track record with the revitalization of their books I'm excited to see where this story takes us.
He-Man is finally back, and with the creative team shuffle that took place after issue one I'm wondering if I will keep this title on my pull list. I better figure it out soon otherwise I'm just going to have to stick it out for the run of this mini-series.
A Game of Thrones #10 is another one of those books that I was surprised to see on the shelf. I had thought the comic book adaptation lost to possible cancellation, but it looks like it is here to stay even if it does come out on a sporadic schedule. I actually just finished re-reading the novel and it was still great the second time through.
James Robinson has given us a solid twelve issue mini-series focusing on the Shade and with the final issue out this week I'm happy I picked this book up and stuck with it.
Overall the books on my pull list this week are fun reads and I can't complain too much about them, because they have been great titles to follow.
We do get a new series this week with Team 7 #0. The Wildstorm Universe of characters has suffered in this "New 52", but there is hope with Team 7. I'm going to give it a try and we will see if this book can go the distance.
As for the books on my reading list I will say this; AvX #11 will most likely be predictable (Spoiler: Cyclops becomes the Phoenix), The Comedian will hopefully improve, Grifter is only on there because I like the character, Ed Brunbaker is amazing and it will be a shame to see him leave Captain America and Winter Soldier, but for now I'll enjoy the stories. The Massive is on my reading list now, because I wasn't totally turned off by the first three issues, but I wasn't impressed enough to keep buying it.
With all that said I need to get to reading, and getting ready for my trip to Portland, OR. So as usual get over to your local comic book store or click over to our Comics Conspiracy - Comixology Storefront, and get your weekly dose (Warning: this week might be a double dose).

Remember you can now find these titles and more in digital format at our Comics Conspiracy - Comixology Storefront or you can still order comics from us directly by visiting the shop, giving us a call (408) 245-6275, or dropping Ryan an email at ryan@comicsconspiracy.biz.

As usual I'll be talking comics on The Comic Conspiracy, and on the Geekbox Forums. Now get out there and enjoy some good old fashioned comic book reading.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The Geekbox Web Comic #1

Check out the first Geekbox Web Comic from the talented Leann Hill (Ryan Higgins helped a little bit with the writing).

Hopefully, we will be seeing more of these. And maybe, just maybe, there might be a cartoon version of me down the road. A Roadie can only hope.

Monday, September 10, 2012

My Comic Book Binding - Curse of Spawn

Cruse of Spawn was a spin off series that dove into other Hellspawns and characters from the Spawn Universe created by Todd McFarlane. The series an for twenty-nine issues, of which I collected most of them. When I found these books in my stacks I decided to pull them for binding because I had most of the issues and finding the few I needed wouldn't be to hard. The other reason why I wanted to get this series bound was the simple fact that I had never gotten around to reading the series, and having a nice bound copy would motivate me enough to give it a read.
Currently I have all twenty-nine issues, but I'm missing the one shot Spawn: Blood & Salvation. This book finishes off the first story arc from Curse of Spawn so I need to include it in this binding.
As for the actual look of the book when done I am still debating the color of the font and cover. I can go with a black cover, bright green font and maybe another color for the book mark, or I could do a dark brown cover with gold font and maybe a gold book mark. So, many choices once I get that last issue I need I'll have to decide, but for now Curse of Spawn is almost ready to go.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

My Comic Book Binding - Crimson

Crimson was a comic created by Humberto Ramos and Brian Augustyn back in 1998. This series ran for 24 issues (with a few specials and random issues), during which it jumped publishers. It first came out under Image Comics creator owned imprint Cliffhanger, and then it ended up finishing its run at DC's Wildstorm imprint.
When I went through my collection recently I decided to pull this series out to get bound. I had been picking up this title since issue one, but I had never read it, or finished picking up the later issues. There were a few covers for some of the issues and a chrome version of one; not to forget the random preview and premiere issues, but I felt it was a good amount of books to put into a single volume .After a little bin diving I had a complete run except for that premiere issue. I have to give a big thanks to Lane Teresaki for getting me that premiere issue, which actually has Ramos's signature on it.
Crimson is ready to get bound. This binding is going an experiment in getting multiple covers bound and a chrome cover. Some of variant covers were Dynamic Forces editions with the certificate, but I think I'm just going to throw those away since having them bound feels kind of lame.
The actual volume will have a black cover with red font and a red book mark. I know it is the cheesy way to go, but it is a book about vampires. I do need some input on if I should call it a volume one or just go with the year for the labeling of the spine. Let me know what you think about the labeling, and any thing about the binding by leaving a comment.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Conspirator Brock's Pull List for 9/4/12

For all of the curious people out there wondering what I like to read week to week here is a list of the titles I am going to be picking up for the week of 9/4/12:

(Note: I have included deep links for some titles if you wish to support Comics Conspiracy when you buy digital comics. I have not included links to Dark Horse books because you cannot buy them through our site.)

01. Action Comics #0 DC
02. Animal Man #0 DC
03. Archer & Armstrong #2 Valiant
04. Batwing #0 DC
05. Bloodshot #3 Valiant
06. Creator-Owned Heroes #4 Image
07. Detective Comics #0 DC
08. Earth 2 #0 DC
09. Fairest #7 Vertigo
10. Green Lantern #0 DC
11. The Phantom Stranger #0 DC
12. Smallville: Season 11 #5 DC
13. Swamp Thing #0 DC
14. Thief of Thieves #8 Image
15. Worlds' Finest #0 DC


Reading List:
Amazing Spider-Man #693 Marvel
Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #3 of 4 DC
Lookouts #1 Cryptozoic / Penny Arcade

Zero Hour is here! No, wait that isn't right. It is "Zero Month" for DC's New 52 books, and I am really excited (despite my dislike of the zero issue gimmick) to see if these books deliver like the rest of the New 52 has (for the most part). These zeroes are suppose to dive into the origins, back story we have been without on some titles for a year, and maybe just maybe some surprises.
My bottom of the pile reads this week are: Thief of Thieves, Animal Man, Swamp Thing and Green Lantern. Every month this past year these books have been the ones I wait to read, because they are the great titles that month after month have delivered worthy reads. Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire and Robert Kirkman have woven stories that make reading comics enjoyable and addicting. They have help though from some great artists, Doug Mahnke, Travel Foreman and Steve Pugh, Yanick Paquette, and Shawn Martinbrough. These guys have brought the stories they draw to life with their unique styles. I already itching to read these zero issues.
Some other issue zeroes of note this week are Earth 2, Worlds' Finest, and The Phantom Stranger. Earth 2 and Worlds' Finest will be interesting, because they will hopefully show us a little bit more of the parallel Earth without the big three: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman (The Earth 2 versions).
I am half excited and half worried about The Phantom Stranger zero issue. Phantom Stranger is a key player in this New 52 and I'm curious to see more about him, but with it being written by Dan Didio I'm not sure if it will deliver. I know people have said that OMAC was a good read, but Didio's run on DC Universe Presents with the Challengers of the Unknown was not. Not to mention his run on the last few issues of my favorite team book The Outsiders before the New 52 was almost unreadable. We will see.
Another issue of Creator-Owned Heroes is out this week and if you haven't been picking it up you are missing out on a comic/magazine that makes for some good reading. Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Phil Noto, Steve Niles, Kevin Mellon and the rest of the Creator-Owned Heroes Gang have delivering a fun book that is a great book filled with two comics, interviews and other fun stuff. Put this title on your pull list. It is worth it.
Valiant comics has two books out this week, and Valiant has found its way onto my pull list, because these books are awesome. Archer & Armstrong and Bloodshot are fantastic reads that just go to show readers that Valiant isn't messing around. They are delivering quality books from the ashes of the old Valiant, and I am hooked.
I'm going to give the Cryptozoic/Penny Arcade book the Lookouts a try because it looks like a fun book. I've never read Penny Arcade myself, but I figure this is a good place to give something from them a try.
Well I need to get to reading these zero issues and my other titles this week. Get down to your local comic book store for your fix this week, and if you feel like trying something new go for it.

Remember you can now find these titles and more in digital format at our Comics Conspiracy - Comixology Storefront.
You can still order comics from us directly by visiting the shop or giving us a call (408) 245-6275, or dropping Ryan an email at ryan@comicsconspiracy.biz.

As usual I'll be talking comics on The Comic Conspiracy, and on the Geekbox Forums. Now get out there and enjoy some good old fashioned comic book reading.