Comic Monstore, Salisbury NC

I was on my way from Lexington to Charlotte and decided I had time to stop by and see if I couldn't get my weekly books from the Monstore in Salisbury. This place is conveniently located with plenty of parking space. Unfortunately they hadn't gotten the UPS shipment of this week's book yet and left me a little bewildered. I for some reason had grown accustomed to always being able to get my books on Wednesday, no matter it was 11am.

The store had plenty to offer though with a decent selection and a tabletop gaming section. Quite a few figures and figurines adorned the shelves and there were some interesting bargain bins to dig through.

Browsing the racks for something to bring with me and read on the plane back to LA I (for the umpteenth time) saw the new THUNDER agents by Spencer & Cafu. I just couldn't put it off any longer so I picked both issues up and yikes.. good call!

Although I came out with a very light bag the contents was all quality.

And here's some extra respect on all those stores getting their shipments on Tuesdays or Wednesday mornings!

B-Bop - Kansas City, MO

There was plenty of Google maps surfing involved in order to decide which LCS I should hit up before leaving Kansas City. B-Bop was actually my third choice but since the first two didn't pan out for various reasons, that's where I went.

And it wasn't a bad decision.

This is a pretty nice little shop. Everything is neatly organized into sections along the walls and some islands of long boxes in the middle with back issues. What surprised me most though was the varied prices on books. There was something in everyone's price range here. Some popular trades were marked half-off and there were some 50c bins to dig through.

The staff was very helpful without being in your face. Just the way I like it! (If you know what I mean....)

I spent about 20 minutes there mucking around, sifting through a little of everything. There were some figurines to look at as well but it was clearly not the focus of the shop.

I definitely liked how the comics were organized to accommodate different customer groups, in the sense of one shelf being adult, another straight up superheroes, all ages, recommended etc etc. Confusing at first but I quickly realized this is a much better way to cater to the inexperienced comic reader. Me likes.

The location also gets a +1, as at a glance the neighborhood was cozy and parking was easy to find.

I have no problems recommending B-Bop comics really. Check it out if you're in Kansas City, MO/KS/everyotherstateintheUS.

Long Beach Comic Con

The second installment of Long Beach Comic Con has seen the light and I was there on opening day. There was a little ceremony which I missed most of because the line to the pre-purchase tickets were quite long.

The floor was set up to have the artist alley in the middle and then the vendors had set up shops around it. Image, Top Cow and Boom! had big booths at the very entrance and was pretty much the first thing you saw.

Initially we raided the trade boxes which were 70-90% off and really found some awesome stuff. The comics selection was great overall and I'm just happy I managed to pull off before spending every dime I owned. Which could easily have happened since the ATM was close and conveniently located.

The program was pretty good with Jeph Loeb and Mike Mignola doing signings and a whole bunch of known and unknown artists hammering out stuff in the alley.

Unfortunately I couldn't attend the rest of the weekend but I was happy what I got out of the 5 hours spent there. Next year I hope to plan ahead better!

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