11OCC Episode Archive

[Dave Wyndorf]

I dug the "grass is always greener" vibe too. Wood sounded so "over it" it was funny. You're spoiled, Woody! Midtown's great! Ya don't get two floors of cool stuff down here in the burbs.

[Dallan]

Absolutely. He actually says he asked to have the job multiple times over the years. I think Paul is probably onto something vis-a-vis Waid having a high $$$$ and DC wanting to keep him on titles it thinks are viable hits. I also think that's why they pulled him off Brave & the Bold earlier than he wanted. What's ironic though is that even though Brave & the Bold wasn't a smash hit, it sold substantially better than a good chunk of other DC ongoings.

I too think that Paul probably hit the nail on the head with Waid and his pay rate.  Makes sense to me.

I'm a few issues behind on my reading of it, but I've really enjoyed the first nine issues of Brave & The Bold.  I read most of what Marvel puts out ('cause that's what I'm the most emotionally invested in from my early years), and it takes a lot for me to pick up a DC book involving the biggest characters.  Don't care about MOST of the solo titles (save for Batman), but I do like a lot of the fringe characters.  You put 'em all into one fun book like B&B and I'll check it out.  On top of that, add a top notch writer and artist, and I'm there.  But, I guess the same reasons that this Marvel-centric bastard is attracted to the title are the same reasons why hard core DC readers don't get as amped up about it.  It's just not as relevant to the big events and the bigger ongoing story lines.  It's fairly self-contained.

[darrell]

Secret Invasion needs to get going somewhere because issue three was a waste of money.They have been fighting in the savage land for 2 issues straight and we still dont really know much. All i read was an advertisement for the Tie ins that Bendis swore were not necessary to by to enjoy the overall story. I call that bullsh!&#

[David]

Three issues that have taken place over the course of, what, less than one hour?  Yeah, I don't know why they're sill in the Savage Land....

I haven't come across anything that I'd consider an advertisement.  If you want to know more about the Commandos you can check out Mighty Avengers, but even there it's only "this is who you are, and you're like this because of a member of your family".  The Initiative?  It hasn't spilled into that series yet.

[Wood]

I dig the whole 'grass is greener' vibe from that segment.  "It's SO COOL that you shop at Midtown!" and "Yeah, I guess.  I mean, it's just a store.  If they didn't get my money another shop would.  No biggie.  It's just a comic shop."

That was honestly my reaction only because I'm not very enamored with Midtown. It serves a purpose of pure convenience in that it's right next to the Port Authority where I come in and out of NY daily. Midtown by virtue of its location and reputation, doesn't give you any kind of real bargains. You get $20 for every $100 you spend at full retail; which pales in comparison to what I get online obviously. And I'm very much a back issue guy and Midtown really isn't a back issue shop. They never refresh their back issue stock and immediately hike up prices for books that are even a few months old. For example, I had missed an issue of the G.I. Joe World War III and by chance Midtown had one in stock...for $6! C'mon, I could order it from MyComicShop for $1.97 in NM condition.

To be fair to Midtown, the place is cool to look at and it's very high energy. And the staff is top notch. Unlike a lot of stores where the workers seem to be socially unequipped to carry on a normal conversation, the Midtown staff are attentive and knowledgeable. But as a guy who spends a lot of $$$ each month on comics, Midtown only gets the small fraction of my spend where I absolutely have to pick a book up immediately off the rack b/c I forgot to pre-order it OR I'm too impatient to wait for my shipment.

[Wraithmaker]

Thanks for the kind words guys, I appreciate your sentiments and thoughts.

I had fun listening to the first few minutes. I'm listening as we speak.

Thanks for the kind words guys, I appreciated that. Also re: Asian Power, when I met Mike earlier in the weekend I told him how much I loved Ryan and we had a moment where we both were like "Asian Power!!"

Plus I'm a reverse racist, any excuse to use my race in any form of joke or expression will be exploited.

As for Midtown:

When it comes to discounts, Midtown is pretty standard fair when it comes to NYC comic book stores. I know one place, Time Machine, offers instant discounts on new books. Otherwise, most stores don't even offer discounts, Forbidden Planet and Jim Hanley's comes to mind.

Can anybody compete with 35% - 40% off online though? Not really. The overhead is way higher for a Brick and Mortar store, but we carry practically everything in the Diamond catalogue.

As for back issues, since I've started working there they've been working on that, and have been adding more stuff in the bins. Still not great, but still not bad. In terms of pricing, it's done in general as soon as it's taken off the wall, and marked up uniformly. So yeah if you wanna get last month's Wolverine, it's $3.50, but it'll be $3.50 for the duration of it's time in the bin.

I like the store, and I have fun working there. My fellow employees are cool, and they do know their stuff, so it's a great place. Is it the best store? No, I think there are better ones, but I'm talking stores like Isotope, with a lounge and all the stuff James Sime does, very few stores do that. We try, but space constraints and timing of stuff just doesn't work out.

[VinceB]

Much love and karma to Raph! 

[Equinox]

Plus I'm a reverse racist, any excuse to use my race in any form of joke or expression will be exploited.

I'm a stupidist; I only discriminate against stupid people.  The color of a person's skin makes no difference to me if they can't see the forest because their head's up their ass... 


And BTW, welcome Skreech! 

[Goaler31]

You have Yuengling in Chicago?!  I thought that was only available in the PA, NJ, DE neck of the woods.

[VinceB]

Welcome, Goaler31!

I was the one drinking the Yuengling from my cluttered desk in PA. Hurricane malt liquor is my drink of choice but it makes me more stoopid than I already am, so I try and refrain when recording.

[Tom Morris]

Yuengling is available in TN now too and I love black and tan.