collecting

If you’re one of the lucky 120,000 mortals who will cross the rainbow bridge to enter the doors of Comic-Con International this year you’re going to want to bring home some treasures to prove you were there. Here’s one that you should pick up if you are worthy (and if you can spare $100 in Midgard money): “Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition” from IDW Publishing and Marvel. This is a pretty fantastic book that collects up seven issues from Simonson’s landmark 1980s run on Marvel’s thunder god — but instead of reprinting the familiar panels from the published issues this 12-inch-by-17-inch hardcover edition presents the stories as scans of the original black-and-white art. There are two versions of the 176-page edition, one with Beta-Ray Bill on the cover, which can be ordered for home delivery or pickup at Comic-Con, and a second variant version […]

Tyus Wong art of “Bambi.” (www.icollector.com) Last week, we showed you some of the sweet artifacts on sale in the upcoming Profiles in History auction, and now animation historian and Hero Complex contributor Charles Solomon writes that the auction might be part of shift in the animation art marketplace. A letter from Walt Disney that changed the history of animation and American popular culture, drawings from some of the Disney studio’s most influential artists, cels from UPA’s Oscar-winning short “Gerald McBoing-Boing,” and “Nightmare Before Christmas” artwork by Tim Burton are among the items to be sold at an auction of animation art and Hollywood memorabilia May 14-15. After two moribund decades, animation may be rejoining the booming art market. During the ’80s, animation art was a hot commodity: In May, 1988, a collector paid $286,000 and $185,000 for two cel and […]

It worked with ice cream, so why wouldn’t it work with comics? A decade after Joe Field saw people standing in line for free scoops of ice cream, the effort to lure new and lapsed readers by offering up free comic books has become an annual event embraced by publishers and comic book retailers eager for new customers. Field, who owns Flying Colors Comics in Concord, Calif., said that the idea for the event, now in its 10th year, was inspired by an ice cream shop. “I noticed a long line of people outside my store. The line was for Baskin Robbins’ ‘Free Scoop Night’ — and I thought to myself, ‘Comics are way cooler than ice cream! We should be able to do something bigger and better than Free Scoop Night.’” He wrote about the idea for an industry […]

The Associated Press reports… A rare and valuable comic featuring the debut of Superman that re-surfaced in a storage locker last week appears to be the same one stolen from Nicolas Cage more than a decade ago, police said. The mint copy of “Action Comics” No. 1 is now in police custody and an investigation into its theft and recovery is under way. Detective Don Hrycyk with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Art Theft Detail said Monday the comic has been authenticated and appears to be the one stolen from Cage in 2000. It is unclear whether the 1938 comic will be returned to the Oscar-winning actor. Hrycyk said Cage accepted an insurance payout after its theft and will have to work out the details with the company. Cage is an avid comic collector, and the Action Comics issue is […]

Movie fans who are already planning to see “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” probably don’t need much more incentive to do so, but Hollywood Archives Collectibles Inc. and its Senitype Collectible Movie Ticket program is giving an already collectible-prone bunch an extra jolt anyway. Available for pre-sale now is a Senitype limited-edition film cel card with a 35mm film frame that will include a ticket to see the movie, which opens May 6 and stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins. Tickets featuring Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Sif, The Destroyer and more will be offered, with each image limited to 10,000. The redeemable ticket covers up to $12, meaning that anyone planning to attend, say, a midnight show at the ArcLight or another premium theater will still need to make up the difference in ticket price. The […]

At Jacket Copy, our sophisticated sister blog devoted to books and reading, one of L.A.’s great comic-books and pop-culture stores gets a little love as Secret Headquarters is named bookstore of the week. … Secret Headquarters is no secret. The boutique comic-book store, on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, was named one of the world’s 10 best bookstores in 2008 by the British newspaper the Guardian, alongside much bigger bookstores in Argentina, Japan and an 800-year-old converted Dutch church. The store’s interior, all warm browns with deep-chocolate wooden racks, looks something like a well-stocked home library crossed with a classic men’s club. “We wanted the store to be inviting to anyone, not just people interested in comics,” says co-owner Dave Pifer… THERE’S MORE, READ THE REST – Carolyn Kellogg RECENT AND RELATED Steve Niles scares up laughs with “Doc Macabre” […]

BOOTH PROFILE What if a famous rocker is murdered while creating his last CD, and there are clues left behind that point to the killer? That’s the premise of Steve Earnhart’s Hard-Bullied Comics. Armed with only 140 copies of the book, though he is in prerelease sales talks with Diamond Distributors, Earnhart is one of the small, independent comics publishers that make the trek to Comic-Con just to get the word out. A bass player, Earnhart wanted to meld his love of music and comics, and Hard-Bullied is the result of his brainstorm. – Jevon Phillips RECENT AND RELATED PHOTOS: Scenes from Comic-Con 2010 The Hero Complex guide to San Diego madness San Diego insiders share their survival tips (and ninja tricks) Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have five tips for Con-goers It’s official: ‘Thor’ and ‘Captain America’ will be […]

Los Angeles Times writers Alex Pham and John Horn take a look at how a new wave of digital comic books designed for mobile phones, tablet computers and other devices stands to impact the publishing industry and independent retailers — not to mention devoted fans — in a page-one story in Friday’s paper. It’s a book! It’s a cartoon! It’s … digital comics! Technology, which has already upended the music, television and movie businesses, is now gripping the comic book world. Publishers are unleashing a torrent of digital comic books across smart phones, tablet devices, game consoles and digital book readers, portending major changes in how comics are made and marketed. These new comics — many of which are being showcased this week at Comic-Con International in San Diego — in some cases come with choreographed presentations that zoom or […]

The floor of the San Diego Convention Center was packed as thousands, or what looked to be tens of thousands, descended on the marina-adjacent glass structure in what was only the preview night of what promised to be a popular and patience-trying ordeal. There was no programming, save for a few promos running for the new Scooby-Doo, Fox’s “Human Target,” ABC’s “V” and others.  An upcoming CW/McG show, “Nikita,” starring Maggie Q as a dangerously skilled ex-agent trying to take down a shadowy government organization, showed its pilot twice in a large Ballroom 20 room that was barely half full. The floor was the star Wednesday night as early participants jockeyed for position in collectibles lines. Here are a few quick observations: – Tokyopop. The super-sized manga company, usually situated in a medium-size exhibition space, was in the tiniest of booths. Their signage had not arrived […]

Two Joss Whedon-related events, neither actually involving Joss, are slated for tonight and tomorrow at Golden Apple Comics. But we’ll get to that. First, there’s “Avengers” talk afoot. It could have been an April Fool’s Day prank … Joss Whedon’s name popping up as the possible director of Marvel’s long-in-the-planning “Avengers” movie. But then it was on MTV, and Flickcast did a little digging, and Screen Rant, with many following IESB — who did their best to make it sound real amidst other April Fool’s Day hoaxes. Could this be? After some checking, insiders at Marvel Studios say no director has been signed yet but that Whedon was on the short-list and conversations took place. This could be promising, Whedonites. If you want to harass some people close to him about it, there’s ample opportunity this weekend. “Dr. Horrible” (and […]