Yesterday was a busy day for me. I worked on my merch, I did little editing for next week's video and voice over work as well. I also worked on my website, and I worked some more on my comic books script.

Today's I plan being just as busy as yesterday. Running your own business is not easy but it very fulfilling work.

If you're wondering how so many books got lost and also how we have surviving ones, let me explain how books used to circulate before the invention of the printing press.

These days, a writer gets into a partnership with a publisher and this publisher prints and circulates these books to bookstores or other sellers and a percentage of every new sale goes to the writer and their agent. Used books are either resold privately or in used book stores or thrift stores or online. Some books are gifted to libraries. When the libraries have no more use for these books they are sold or thrown out.

In ancient times, there was no "books" as we currently understand them. Everything was written down or drawn on long scrolls of papyrus or parchment.

A writer would likely finish their final draft and do all their editing on cheap scrap paper or other writing surfaces like tree bark. Then they would either hire a scribe to make a few expensive copies or make the copies themselves if they were trained to do it all with good handwriting or calligraphy all in columns so that you could roll the scroll from side to side, only reading one column at a time.

The writer would then give these copies to their friends and family members, or as a gift to some important person, or perhaps just to someone who hired them to write it.

So let's say you are an educated courtesan or prostitute in the 1st century BC in Roman Greece and you write a fun and informative sex manual going over sex moves and sexual health complete with pictures. So you finish writing this sex manual and have a copy of it made and sent to a few of your other rich friends.

Your other rich friends think your sex manual is really cool and they take care of it and keep it unscrolled and flat stored in their personal libraries along with all of their other books. When they're moving it around or loaning it out to other people they keep it tightly rolled up to keep it compact.

Some people who borrow your sex manual from your friends really like it and want their own copy. So then either your friends will pay a scribe to make a copy of it and gift it to these people or the people who want it will borrow the copy and pay to have a copy made themselves. Copying your book in particular is even more expensive than normal because it has drawings in it so they need to find a scribe that is trained in copying drawings and not every scribe will take a commission for a sexual book, but they like your books so much that they're willing to take on the expense.

So this keeps going. People keep paying to make copies of your book. People like it a lot and eventually it becomes well-liked by the rich and they pay people to make copies of it for all their friends. After a couple of centuries of your book getting copied over and over again your book is a "bestseller" of sorts but you and your descendants never really saw any money from it because the people getting paid in the circulation of your book are scribes being paid to make copies of it and merchants selling what scrolls of it they can get their hands on.

By now the original copies you gave your friends are likely in the hands of their descendants, if the original copies still exist at all. They might've been burned in a fire when your friend's daughter dropped her lantern, or maybe worms ate it, or maybe your friends didn't keep it in a dry enough place and it just started to rot.

If the people who own a copy of your book like it enough or think it's important enough and they see that their copy is rotting or torn or charred, they can pay to have another copy made, but they also might not care enough and throw it out or just let it rot.

Over the centuries, your book slowly circulates less and less and the existing copies of your sex manual slowly rot in libraries or are purposefully burned as Christianity takes over, Rome falls, and literacy rates plummet while attitudes towards sexual books become even worse than they were in your time. Less people can read, less people work as scribes, less people have the skills to copy the drawings that were in your book.

And then on some unknown date, the last copy of your book is quietly eaten by worms in a damp and poorly cared for library.

This is what happened to The Book of Elephantis, a sex manual written by a prostitute or some other kind of sex worker working under a pseudonym somewhere in Greece in the 1st century BC. Her book was really popular in the time of the Roman Empire but it's since been lost. All the copies of her book just rotted away or burned over a thousand years ago. People just didn't care about sex manuals anymore and most people couldn't read them either.

It's also why most of the oldest copies of stuff like the Iliad we have are from the middle ages. The surviving works we have for the most part are the ones that people kept making new copies of and were stored properly.

Sometimes we get lucky and find some really old parchment scrolls in a dry cave or something or we scan books we have and can find where ink was scraped off and the paper was reused. But for the most part stuff gets lost because someone just didn't want to pay the expense to make a new copy.

Be thankful it's so cheap to make copies of books now and that modern paper lasts longer than parchment.

Could you do one about how Christian would be as a dad to be? Like during pregnancy and when the baby is born please?

i’m guessing you wanted this as a head cannon? if not i hope you don’t mind if i do it like this ❣️

masterlist

when you reveal to him ur pregnant, he’s in utter shock. which makes you feel uneasy, until you feel him bend down to his knees and hug your stomach. his head laying on your abdomen where he talks with the baby. he cries and pours his heart out of him being so happy and grateful for you. “is this actually real? i’m going to be a dad?”

despite his heavy and hectic schedule he still attends the doctors appointment every time. he drives you there, opens the door for you, holds your hand, and even checks in with the receptionist for you. while waiting for the midwife, he talks to you about the nursery, and the different color schemes he likes.

you have to reassure him every time you wince at the cold sensation of the gel, bc he gets so concerned, only wanting for you to be comfortable and safe. he holds your left hand constantly kissing it, as you watch your baby through the ultrasound. “look at the baby! i want to meet them already…”

his brown eyes widen when you get to hear your babies heartbeat for the first time. he shakes his head with excitement, and tells you he wants to hear it all the time. he even goes out to buy a baby heart beat monitor. “christian, seriously?” “can you blame me? i love the sound. it’s our baby’s heartbeat.”

throughout the pregnancy he makes it the priority for you to be relaxing and resting at all times, making you feel completely helpless. you’re so used to moving around and getting different tasks done, so when this happens you just have to bite your tongue. knowing christian is so protective of you and his baby. “don’t you dare move. i’ll be right back.”

you sometimes take trips to different to baby stores to check out the cribs, clothes, beds, carriers, strollers, some bottles, breastfeeding pumps, etc. he’s such a dad already, and researches the best products so the two of you can buy. “i saw this stroller online, it’s a 2-in-1. let’s go check it out.”

when the day of gender reveal comes around, the two of you decided to head north to Hershey, where all his family and yours reunite to celebrate. you asked his sister to surprise you, and she couldn’t back down on the idea, more than ready and excited to do so. especially since you helped her with hers. “OMG I WOULD BE SO HONORED!”

he’s dressed in a white button up, and you with a tight white dress with brown sandals. you kiss his cheek and jaw when you feel his hand nervously draw shapes on your bump. “you okay chris?” “yeah. just nervous that’s all. we finally get put out our misery,” he’d joke.

the long debate of whether it was a boy or girl ends, when you the color blue pops out. you immediately let out a small laughter and began to let out a couple tears of joy, which causes christian to softly kiss you and wipe them away. “we’re having a baby boy! a mini me running around!”

the next few months fly by. the now impatient waiting for your due date to appear. the constant cycles of going to pee, take frequent naps, weird craving, insomnia kicking ur ass. but despite it all, christian is there to guide and help you. “how can you eat that?” he’d say, “oh shut up. it’s this or me being cranky. so you decide…”

one thing you especially love is where he pulls out his guitar and sings to the baby, where they respond by kicking your belly when they hear the small noises. christian also reads to the baby, his head on your bump while reading nursery books. “you see here? this story is about how the piggy went to market.”

the day before labor, you feel the contractions and cramps. taking small step around the house, your hair in a messy clip, sighing and breathing in and out. christian is there to help you practice breathing methods, and timing the contractions before it’s go time. “ready? 1,2,3,4… let it out… there we go… again….”

after ur water breaks, you began to get nervous and filled with anxiety, but he reassures you everything will be okay. “i’m here baby. i’m here for you and our baby boy okay? scream, cry, laugh all you want.”

christian ties you hair up, holds your strong grip hand around his and you walk around the hospital room, he wipes off the sweat and applied cold wraps around your head to ease the heat. he whispers words of encouragement to you, rubbing your back and abdomen when the pain gets bad. “i’m going to change this okay? this will help your back better. just breath baby, im here for you.”

christian gets a bit light headed during labor, especially at the sight of his baby coming out of you. he just nervously laughs it off, holding your hand and encouraging you to push. the relief on your face once you let out that final push and hear your baby cry, ends his misery and wait. “you did it baby! i’m so proud of you…”

when he finally holds his baby, he cries. especially when the baby wraps his hand around christians pinky. feeling the bundle of joy in his arms is the most happiest day of his life, right after meeting you of course. all you can do is tiredly watch as your boys hold each other. “he’s so tiny” he coos, “he has your brows and lips…”

when coming home he helps you inside the house, going back and forth to gets the bags, and baby carrier. he heats up some pads and some water for you to make some coffee or tea. he puts your feet up to reduce the swelling and kisses your head while holding you. the baby sound asleep in your arms after feeding him.

with one hand he opens the nursery door, the baby occupying the other one as christian hold him secured. you follow behind him, wrapping a hand around his tattoed bicep. he looks around proudly at the monsters inc decorated themed room, before whispering, “welcome home theo… daddy and mommy love you so much…”

i never gotten this whole recent movement in fandoms to try and reimagine bands and artists as actually something revolutionary leftist especially when they are not? maybe because i enjoy bands like radiohead and the smiths so i am just now numb to bullshit and disappointment and to know to never actually go into enjoying art expecting that the people who made that art to be something to look morally up to

but the weird notion that “um ACKSHULLY this band’s silly performance is actually a subliminal marxist leninist message to unite the workers against big bad music corporations” is so wild to me…it’s like those christian mom statements about emo bands being liberal homosexuals but this time said by chronically online tumblrinas and unironically

Right now I feel like MCR fans are under a very big insecurity complex because their band has been taunting them with an album for like 5 years now. The PR or whatever (moreso early on) is always Very Big and Very Serious so people want the album to be like the best ever and during this time several “dumb” bands like FOB and Blink have done some pretty big stuff whereas pretty much daily MCR fans have been logging on here to write conspiracy theories and fall for morse code ask box hoaxes to no avail. There was also way more content over the hiatus than there is now, and this period is rapidly approaching the length of their hiatus now. 

So everything MCR do have to be like bigger and cooler than everyone else so people aren’t forced to accept what has been the truth for half a decade now — that MCR went on a nostalgia bait reunion tour and there was never an album and they played the nostalgia bait festival like everyone else. Maybe there will be an album at some point, but in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, there was no album. Which is fine, but not if youre a MCR fan who is being let down and doesn’t want to accept that. 

I also think MCR fans are very comfortable with Lying because the band arguably Lies all the time and is also Very Serious about their PR lies, unlike Cobra for example. This creates an environment where making shit up to seem cool is okay, which is like fine when it’s about comic books and ghosts or whatever

But there has been Nothing To Lie About for a very long time so people have started making up their own very not okay Tumblrina La La World where Gerard is a schizophrenic woman with an eating disorder and “smears on dollar store eyeshadow” and “slaps on thrift store dresses” at MCR shows because they “hate capitalism” instead of having Taylor Swift’s stylist make his looks. So fans still can turn around and shit on FOB for collaborating with capitalist Taylor Swift. Cuz you know, FOB have an album and they don’t. 

They also play pretend that in 2005 MCR were an underground punk band playing $20 house shows instead of accepting the reality that My Marxist Romance and every other famous band ever used to cost $20 10-15 years ago but have astronomically raised their prices by like 20x and now shows routinely cost $400+. Because if they don’t invent that world, they have to accept that MCR aren’t as like radical as they pretend and are the same as every other band like FOB and Blink—only diff is that those bands have albums. 

I think that nobody is saying that WWWY is radical protest NOW but there were several very egregious Posts going around the first time about how MCR “blew their money on confetti and didnt keep any for themselves to protest ticket prices” which were just so out of line and ridiculous to say. 

And right now one of the biggest MCR bloggers is getting (imo) one of the most massive callouts in recent band history, so people who saw the posts and disagreed with them initially but were scared of getting into fights with people who would have their followers dogpile on them finally feel comfortable making fun of the people saying that 

Forbes article: "How Struggling College Bookstores Found A Way To Beat Amazon"

Oct 20, 2023,06:30am EDT

A new sales model adopted by hundreds of universities limits students’ ability to shop around for textbooks.

By Lauren Debter, Forbes Staff

As fall semester dawned at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, senior Olivia McFall turned to Amazon to shop for books — not only because its prices were better for certain titles, but so she could get her course materials quickly. The campus bookstore could sometimes take a week or two. Unacceptable.

“Teachers will start assigning reading on the first day,” McFall, a 22-year-old fashion-merchandising major, told Forbes. “You get behind if you don’t have that textbook. If I buy it on [Amazon], it’s usually because I can get it faster than the bookstore.”

For decades, Amazon’s lower prices and speedier delivery have blown a crater in the college bookstore business. Given the option to shop around, students only buy about one-third of their course materials at the campus store.

Now the bookstores are fighting back. They say they’ve hit on a plan that would, almost magically, quash competition from online rivals like Amazon. T.C.U. is among the colleges considering a model that would automatically charge students for textbooks on their tuition bills, which can be covered by financial aid, and get them to students by the time classes begin. Books are typically discounted 30% or more, said the bookstores, who negotiate volume discounts. Students must return materials at the end of the semester.

Despite reservations from education advocates who worry it limits purchasing options for students, the plan, dubbed Inclusive Access, is spreading like kudzu. It rose out of a 2015 rule from the U.S. Department of Education that permitted universities to include the cost of textbooks with tuition, as long as prices were under competitive market rates and students could opt out.

Bookstores latched onto the idea during the pandemic. They were looking to boost sales at a time when they were hamstrung by closures, declining enrollment numbers and the seismic shift to digital textbooks — and still are.

In the 2022-23 academic year, Inclusive Access already captured the business of 44% of students, worth an estimated $1.4 billion annually, according to the National Association of College Stores.

Illinois-based Follett Corp., a privately held company (annual sales: $1.6 billion) that operates roughly one-third of college bookstores, said the number of its campuses that have adopted the Inclusive Access model has tripled to 450 since 2019. New Jersey-based Barnes & Noble Education (annual sales: $1.5 billion), which spun out of the bookseller chain in 2015 and also runs a third of campus bookstores, said it has over 150 schools signed up for Inclusive Access, up from just four in 2019. (The colleges themselves operate the other one-third of campus bookstores.)

Overnight, schools that switched to Inclusive Access brought guaranteed revenue to booksellers. Sell-through rates, which measure the percentage of course materials students purchase at the campus bookstore, skyrocketed from about 30% before Inclusive Access to north of 80 or 90%, according to Follett and Barnes & Noble Education. Few students opt out, the companies said, because they like the prices and convenience.

It’s a clever way to beat Amazon. Unable to compete, Follett and Barnes & Noble Education separated their customers from the open marketplace and bundled their products with something Amazon couldn’t sell — college tuition. The bookstore gets the customer without ever having to go up against the online behemoth, which is currently being sued by the Federal Trade Commission for its own alleged anti-competitive practices. (Amazon has said it disagrees with the allegations, and will contest the lawsuit.)

“It’s a significant volume increase because you’re capturing all of the course material market share in an institution,” Jonathan Shar, who oversees campus stores operated by Barnes & Noble Education, told Forbes. “Plus, it’s much more predictable.”

Amazon Prices

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the impact Inclusive Access is having on its textbook sales. Amazon said it may offer discounts to schools that buy books in bulk, but it’s been winding down certain aspects of its textbook business. In April, it stopped renting physical textbooks to students and in 2020 it stopped buying textbooks back from students.

Last year, 37% of students purchased books from Amazon. That’s down from 46% in 2019, according to the National Association of College Stores.

Selling textbooks isn’t the business it used to be. A decade ago, students spent $4.8 billion a year on textbooks, according to research firm Words Rated. Today, it’s about $3.2 billion. During the 2022-23 school year, students spent an average of $285 on course materials, the lowest figure since the National Association of College Stores began tracking spending 16 years ago.

That’s partly the result of a rapid shift to lower-cost digital textbooks, with 55% of course materials now digital, up sharply from 15% prior to the pandemic, according to Emmanuel Kolady, Follett’s CEO. More textbooks are being made available online for free from sites like OpenStax, too. Nearly three-quarters of students say they were assigned at least one free course material in the latest academic year, according to the National Association of College Stores.

Company’s ‘Cornerstone’

Barnes & Noble Education, a publicly traded company that runs 800 campus bookstores, has described Inclusive Access to investors as a “cornerstone” of its plan to return to profitable growth, noting that course-material revenue rises more than 80% and gross profit nearly doubles after schools switch to the new model.

The company has lost a cumulative $600 million since 2018. Last year’s sales were 23% below pre-pandemic levels. This summer, it had to negotiate an extension on its loan payments because it couldn’t come up with enough cash. As part of the deal, it gave up two board seats and said it would explore selling the company. Its stock price has lost 90% of its value in the last two years, tumbling to less than $1 a share.

“It feels like this is their first, second and third priority,” said Ryan MacDonald, an analyst at Needham who covers Barnes & Noble Education, referring to Inclusive Access, which the company calls “First Day Complete.”

Benefits For Students

The booksellers claim the program saves students money. Follett said that students spend an average of 30% less than if they were to buy new books and are better equipped for classes as Inclusive Access gets them their materials before the semester begins.

At New York University, for instance, where Follett runs bookselling, students are automatically billed for books unless they opt out. Most are digital rentals. A textbook for an introductory biology class is priced at $36.75, which gives students access to a digital copy for the semester. That’s 20% less than if they went directly to the publisher’s website and rented it for the term. It’s 40% less than on Amazon, which only offers the option to buy the digital version, not rent it.

The math, however, is not always transparent. According to a report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, which analyzed 52 book-buying contracts, it’s “hard, if not impossible” to figure out how deep the discounts are because schools don’t make it clear what the discount is based on.

Savings can be less meaningful for students who would have otherwise bought used books or borrowed books, said Nicole Allen, director of open education at SPARC, a nonprofit that advocates for more course materials to be free. The one-quarter of students who intentionally skip buying certain books each semester, usually because they don’t think they need it, are also charged, she said. As more schools migrate to Inclusive Access, Allen questions whether discounts will disappear since publishers have a long history of raising prices.

“This is already a captive market because students are told what to buy,” Allen told Forbes. “Inclusive Access makes it an even more captive market by telling students how they’re going to buy it.”

Even without Inclusive Access, students can be limited in their comparison shopping. More and more professors are assigning books with single-use access codes, available for an additional fee, which students use to access quizzes, homework and other materials online. Promoted by publishers who benefit from the new revenue stream, they’re often sold exclusively by the campus bookstore and cannot be resold.

Follett’s president Ryan Petersen predicts that a newer variant of the model called Equitable Access, where students pay a flat fee for their materials regardless of the courses they’re taking, will be adopted by most schools in the next five years.

“We’re having this conversation with every campus we can,” Petersen told Forbes, “potentially even to campuses who are sick of hearing about it.”

So I’m in the used bookshop, casually looking through spiritual section. Skimming through all the titles, lots of Christian books, books on Buddhism, few books on crystals, and then one single title on Greek gods: AND it just so happens to be on Hekate.

Not just is it on Hekate but it’s the one I’ve been eyeing for MONTHS online and never bought…

It was 24 dollars that I did not have, so I continued walking the store *ding* I get a notification that I got some money from a friend.

Enough money to buy lunch, so I head out get some lunch…along with lunch a fortune cookie that read: “you know what you want, now go out and get it”

Now I am a proud owner of the book I’ve been waiting to get for so long.

Entering Hekate's Garden: The Magick, Medicine & Mystery of Plant Spirit Witchcraft by Cyndi Brannen

Thank you Hekate 🖤

Are any of Flake's books translated in English? Like the actual physical book not online epub?

As far as i know, there is an official english version of 'Heute hat die Welt Geburtstag' but afaik not from 'Der Tastenficker'..

(i've linked abebooks, but there are several online stores that have it)

A really good read, this book also has more band anecdotes than his other book 🥰 and ofcourse Flake's very recognizable dry wit, which i particularly love ❤️

hope you’re faring ok, thank you for introducing me to Blowfly Girl’s blog via your substack

hey anonymous; to blowfly girl: you:re welcome! i think she:s a really cool person -- not-so-much because of the 'pains' she ends up in, but more-so because she doesn:t hide her heart at all (in her writing, real life: who knows!).

to me: i:ll blog a little, but roughly i:m doing 'OK;' i just finished reading my 4th book this month (scientology: a new slant on life, people like us, boogiepop vs imaginator part 1, boogiepop vs imaginator part 2); i bought my mom chairs for our porch, and a blender since she was dropping hints (the chairs were what led me to reading again -- i don:t spend as much time online anymore since i started leaning heavily into my disconnection policy, so i started replacing that time with reading outdoors / unhealthy amounts of exercise); i:ve been slowly exploring leesburg after memorizing most of the roads/stores via google maps, and an old online friend from ~8 years ago has been helping me with going out every few weeks; reconnecting with leesburg/lawn-chairs made me feel 'in alignment' with yuko (chainsaw man yuko), and incidentally exploring leesburg led me to a conversation about faygo (@ a dollar tree) which led me to discovering i really like insane clown posse and have been having fun going through their albums (riddle box is my favorite); i returned to the SDA church on a whim and haven:t freaked out yet (i:m not a christian, but i just feel like it:s important for me to enmesh with the adventists, a little) -- incidentally, i feel closer to chiral faith than ever; i think i might be over a lot of my anger towards my ex, too; --so: overall, i:m doing ok; my life is simple, and dull (i:m basically a housekeeper), and i don:t really make art anymore, but i:ve been pretty ok lately.

there:s still some bad; i:m struggling with a few things, but i don:t want to share them; those are thoughts i only want to offer to boogiepop and my prayers.

thanks for the message, anonymous, and make as many mistakes as you want in life -- you:d be surprised how high the threshold is, ok?

The 1990s comics "Rob Liefeld Revolution", along with the speculation boom that created AND immediately destroyed it, produced a lot of poorly-aged comic book jank. We know this.

What many of us do not know is that it also inspired a similar sea-change in that market that is always eager to rip off whatever is currently making the most money: Christian book stores.

Which brings us to Eternal Studios 1993 Archangels: The Saga.

(Just a note: this ENTIRE book is printed on slippy magazine-cover paper. I took these pictures in a room barely lit by a distant lightbulb and STILL couldn't get rid of the glare. Never before have I worked so hard on something so utterly pointless, and I post comics content on Tumblr dot com. God bless my phone for doing its best to make any of these even bearable.)

This "saga" apparently lastest exactly 9 issues, before the company, Eternal Studios of Houston, Texas (because of course) went bust. Or so I assume. I haven't found any information on them online, and I Googled for way longer than I'm willing to admit.

Archangels: The Short Saga is the story of a group of men who are given metal armor and vague superpowers by God to fight demons, or something. This is just the first issue and I've never seen any of the others, and this is just the origin story of one of the guys, so I don't know. And I won't be finding out, because a) the Internet doesn't know what this is, and 2) any of the physical copies of these cost between $30 and $60 online. Because Evangelical Christianity is an eternal grift, ever since it was started by an unemployed man who claimed to be a wizard, but then suspiciously didn't use any of his powers to stop himself from getting tortured to death. And then his 12 unemployed friends decided they REALLY didn't want to go back to work.

This comic fits well into the religion invented by those people, in that whatever their God is doing here, it doesn't make a lot of sense. He already has an army of angels who battle demons. Why does He need to empower human men to do it, too?

The art here is...well. Given the era, it is fine. It is a step above the typical Liefeld, in that basic human anatomy is understood and replicated. The most distracting thing is the mid-90s digital coloring, which absolutely loves that lensflare.

See?

Also, and I want to be clear here, "good" and "bad" assessments of art are, to me, vaguely technical determinations. Like, art can be good, but a book can still be stupid and boring. Conversely, art can be bad, but can still be used in a way that is rad as hell:

And if the 90s - in comics, and in general - are notable for one thing besides Nirvana and Friends, it is how radical to the MAX everything was. We were not doing subtle nuance in 1993.

I got this book as a gift in like 1997 (it is a 1996 "second printing"), and I loved these splash pages. I was about 5 years into comics at that point, but with limited access in my area and under the yoke of the Assemblies of God church, so this was edgy and cool to me at 15. I had many bad Christian comics at that time, and this wasn't one of them. So kudos on that...?

It isn't even badly written. It is vaguely preachy, but specifically about how drunk driving is bad, and I'm not about to argue that point, even if you're only saying that because JESUS.

The blue-and-orange metal suit man from the above screamy splash page becomes that because he is the shotgun passenger in this car (I think). He gets killed in this crash, and the Angel of Death harvests all the souls except his, because God needs him to be Metal Angel Superman. Because of...protests? And gang crime?

Evangelical Christians who live in the suburbs conceive of evil as exactly two things, icky hippie protests and urban gang violence. This was true in 1993, and is true now.

They also only know about "wild parties" from tracts Jack Chick published in the 1960s. Note how these cool 90s young people are smoking cigars and drinking brandy from Old Fashioned glasses.

Overall, as an intro to a series, this is fine. Weird metal He-Men are fighting the Devil in the name of God, and there have certainly been worse ideas, and worse introductions to them. But it also hardly encourages anyone to want more of whatever this is. Like, it's an American Evangelical Christian comic: even if there ARE any fight scenes, everything will end with some speech about how Jesus is better than pills and gangs, and some brawny white man in a polo shirt will do the Sinner's Prayer, then probably marry his best (blonde) girl. They all have one note, even if they're playing that note during the heady days of the 90s comics wasteland.

There is exactly one short video on YouTube about this book, and the guy is way too generous. Have you ever read this? Are you, along with me and that guy, one of the 10 people who remember this comic?

Those ten people include the three guys who made it.

God, that fucking slippy paper.

Paying premium prices for this shit is probably why they went bust.

Hi Benito,

I recently found Apocropals and am only on episode 15, but thank you for sharing, you and Chris are hilarious- I’ve been listening through at my new desk job. I was hoping to learn more about the Bible as an agnostic raised Non-Dom Christian and learn enough to connect and hold conversations with my father about his faith. I’m not reading along but I didn’t know I would laugh so much listening, thank you for making these ancient texts more accessible to a queer 20-something in the modern era. I really value your historical perspectives, and the emphasis on wizards.

My question is only kind of related, but I just finally logged back on my antisocial media and found your tumblr- I had no idea you wrote on the Tick, and I am a fan of the series.

This my best news all week- I’ve been looking for an excuse to buy a physical copy of the Tick comics- do you get a cut/royalties of all purchases of The Tick: The Complete Edlund New Edition? I would love to order from somewhere where I know for sure you (and the other authors) are getting the most support you can for your work, could you provide me website/store link or just where to purchase from? I’m not huge on ordering from Amazon unless there is no other option, are there alternatives?

Hey! Thanks for listening to Apocrypals, and thanks for looking me up online!

Yes, I wrote for The Tick! I wrote The Tick New Series #1-8, The Tick #100-101, and short stories that appear in various other special issues and reprints.

To answer your question: nope, I do not see any royalties from sales on any Tick books, so feel free to buy however is most convenient to you. I will say that while I do have a story in most later printings of The Complete Edlund, it's only like 8 pages maybe. BUT! You should be buying it for the Edlund material anyway, it's the original and best Tick stuff. My issues has, of yet, not been collected into paperback form and so can only be bought in single issue format. Probably the best way to get them is via online retailers. I usually say the NEC Press website, but it looks like it's not up right now.

Christianity in today's world

With social media being at the forefront of today's world, and everyone being on social media and sharing all of their opinions, whether those opinions are popular or not, sharing their religious views, whether thats Christianity or any other religion as there lots of other religions, I'm here to speak on Christianity in today's world and my view on how it's portrayed in social media. I've been around on social media since the days of myspace, yup I'm a millennial, figures right? Anyway the internet being in everyones hand is both a good and bad thing, I can grab my phone, post a bible verse of the day on any platform, and go back to either scrolling aimlessly and filling my friends or family's inboxes with videos of cute babies doing silly things, or puppies,or kittens, or videos from other christians. We forget that we have the ability to have the bible right in our hand 24/7 whether its a physical bible or an app, or a book you bought on apple book store or google play book store, we have the ability to fully live in God's word, and some of scroll online, or we're out there commenting and not acting Christ like at all, not acting how Christians should behave according to God's word, now this isnt a Christianity call out post, I'm merely speaking on what I've seen. Christianity is one of, if not the most hated group of people on this planet, we're persecuted, mocked, ridiculed, daily, not that we didn't get told this was going to happen, I definitely see lots of people taking it personally, I've even fallen in and taken it personally a couple times.

Being a christian has its challenges in the world, it's definitely something to note, that we as Christians have prayed for so many people, whether that's out of love or not, I can't speak for everyone, but for myself it's definitely out of love. One of the ways Christians have been divided in today's world is when it comes to politics, I've seen Christians call other Christians fake, solely because they didn't want speak politically, but as children of God we're not meant to be divided in any way, we're meant to help each other, lift each other up, pray for others, be one body.

With Christians being on the most popular platforms a lot of us try to post wholesome content, bible verse of the day videos, offer prayer and just be loving, people sometimes seem to forget we're people too and we stumble, we mess up, we make mistakes, BUT we're forgiven we're covered, redeemed, made new, made free. And that's amazing, we have experienced a love so big, so deep, so much more than our human brains can even fathom, that's why we talk the way we do, and preach the gospel, I've seen so many times people talking about how we're forcing our religion down their throats, when that's far from it for most people, I want deny there are definitely people who can be more abrasive than others, and we know church hurt is a very real thing, and again I can only speak for myself when I say this, I'm sorry those people did or said things that were wrong, I don't agree or support their opinion, I do however hope you don't hold onto the way they made you feel that you rise above and show everyone just how amazing you are, and never forget you're fearfully and wonderfully made, you're loved, and those people shouldn't be holding you back from experincing the greatest love you can ever have. You're wonderful, and as Christians in todays world we just keep trying to preach the gospel and walk in love, and show you just how loved you are, and I hope you feel that love every day.

What you see on my page is who eye am online and who you get offline Eye am my (CROWN CHARKA💜) On my spiritual journey, EYE am my (THIRD EYE CHAKRA💙) Eye am very aware what’s going on in this matrix , Eye am my (THROAT CHAKRA🩵) Eye like to talk and share bout the lies that’s been told to us by the Government, and how they are killing us everyday by poisoning our air spraying us like roaches, poisoning our food, and water, Doctors and how they feeding us their poisoning that’s inside the medicine, Christianity and how the holy bible is the original book of brainwashing to slavery, Eye am my (LOVE CHAKRA💚) Eye am only here to share and spread some love and peace to everyone, Eye am my (SOLAR PLEXUS CHARKA💛) Eye am here to spread knowledge and wisdom on the side, Eye am my (SACRAL CHAKRA🧡) Eye am a freak it’s part of my nature it’s who eye am so I will be posting bout spirituality, healthy benefits, and the matrix, and my freaky side..eye have embrace who eye am..eye am a spirit in this human vessel. Eye am allowed to experience human activity, Eye am my (ROOT CHARKA❤️) Eye trust the universe in all it has in store for me Eye am analyze with my CHARKA’S Asé 🦂♏️💜💙🩵💚💛🧡❤️

The Nipped-In Forties Suit:  Vogue 1932

This re-issued pattern from the late 1940s captures both elements of the 1940s and the look that would stick around into the 1950s. While Christian Dior’s New Look of 1947 is best known for its hour-glass silhouette with soft shoulders, nipped in waist, and wide, generous, and long skirts, he also offered long, skinny skirts too. Such skirts appeared with suits especially and suits were a mainstay of the public wardrobe of women who worked or shopped in cities.

Here you see the nipped in waist on the jacket as well as the long narrow skirt that marked the New Look. Multiple darts fit the jacket close to the body at the waistline and bustline in the front, and then piecing fits it closely to the back. The sleeves are shaped to the natural curve of the arm via two shaped pattern pieces. The flaps on the front of the jacket are merely decorative, one of the rare non-functional pockets looks previous to the 1960s. Notice how their decoration emphasizes the hipline of the hour-glass silhouette. The coat is more practical as its pockets work.

A skirt this straight was a new thing and not that easy to move in. A pleat at back hemline helped, but garment-design books just a few years earlier would have rejected the straight skirt as a foolish idea. It simply does not give the legs enough room to stride without pulling the fabric. 

The collared coat is boxy, a shape that was seen earlier in the 1940s. Notice how it differs from today’s boxy patterns: it has shaping darts at both front and back shoulders. Notice how the illustrations use its boxiness to emphasize the hour-glass shape of the suit. Obviously, one needs to close the coat to stay warm, but the illustrations push it out of the way in favor of showing the suit beneath.

You can find it at your local fabric store or online here: https://somethingdelightful.com/vogue-patterns/v1932

Top five mythology/religion to learn about

OOH OKAY - this is an interesting one!

I haven't studied all of them (I want to, I oh so desperately want to) but i'm slowly getting there! So, i'm just going to rank the ones I've studied from EASIEST to learn about to HARDEST, and explanations why! (Be warned, I do touch onto sensitive topics such as indoctrination, racism, etc. I brought these things up to educate others on what to avoid when doing research!)

1.) Abrahamic religion and mythology

Abrahamic is an umbrella term used to denote any and all religions that that revere the prophet Abraham; Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and their branches, and many more! The reason why they're so easy to study is not only because their monotheistic religions with similar mythos (with variations, of course!), their origins are relative, but ALSO!!! Because they're still widely practiced today! If you want to study *any* of these faiths, you can easily visit a local house of worship and ask around. There's also a TON of resources online and in book stores, you can get the Holy Texts in all sorts of languages and translations! There's THOUSANDS of years worth of history in all these religions, layers upon layers of culture and lessons to be told!

It's a direct insight to human morality over the years, in regards to spirituality. It's also very easy to backtrack and find information on the ancient, dead religions that preceded our modern faiths.

My one warning! Be on the lookout for manipulation and propaganda. It's easy to spot for the most part, but be wary - some are more subtle. Raise a brow if you see someone use the name "Jehovah"

El, Elohim, and Yahweh/YHWH are mostly fine from my research, but when a source uses the name of God in an un-academic way I find myself raising a few brows. Especially if the name is Jehovah due to Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm not saying to avoid these terms entirely, but simply be aware that there's a difference between a religious individual or a scholar talking about faith in a respectful manner, and someone trying to indoctrinate you. Don't fall for their misinfo and mind games.

2.) Greco-Roman mythology!

The Greeks and Romans had similar religious beliefs when it came to their Gods, but not without a handful of variations and cultural differences! Most of these stories were passed down orally, and changed over time and from city to city - it is thanks to poets and playwrights that we have as much information as we do today! Along with the art that's been preserved over the centuries!

While they're polytheistic religions that vary between eras and regions, it's very easy to gather information on them due to how popular they are in pop culture! Percy Jackson, Hadestown, Disney's Hercules, God of War, Titan Guest, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Hades, Lore Olympus, Blood of Zeus(?), all sorts of modern stories based on Greco-Roman myths! Hell, you can even find Greco-Roman influence elsewhere like in Transformers or Genshin Impact!

My main advice? Don't use wikipedia for greek mythology. Instead, look up plays and poems written during their eras and translated for modern readers; look up essays and books written by scholars! Anything but wikipedia. Wikipedia is full of false information and conflicting stories: they don't really organize the different eras of Greco-Roman religion all that well. The Roman's religious beliefs were quite different towards the end of the Roman Empire than, well, decades before the birth of Julius Caesar, for example.

Just go into it with the knowledge that these beliefs evolved over time and were exchanged orally, and that wikipedia is shit, and you'll be good to go.

Also: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades all suck. "But Hades didn't cheat on his wife" well, he kidnapped her and then tricked her into staying with him. Shut up. Stop whitewashing Hades.

3.) Chinese and Japanese Mythology as a whole ngl

I've only just started studying Chinese mythology but... yeah... this is easy so far! These beliefs are still acknowledged and respected by their cultures, and show up in pop media as well! There's tons of well sourced books you can buy and read!

I don't... have many warnings at the moment, as I've only just started studying and haven't come across anything to raise a brow or two. Sorry for the lack of info, I'm still a newbie. ^^'

4.) Norse mythology and old germanic religion.

This is, personally, one of my favorite religions to study!! It's also the main inspo behind my favorite music taste EVER!!!!! NEW FOLK!!!!!!

If you haven't listened to SKÀLD, Heilung, Wardruna, Danheim, Gealdyr, or anything then DO SO. The music slaps and the extra knowledge of the mythology and folklore adds a whole new layer of understanding and immersion!

Norse mythology has been showing up more and more lately in pop culture, with God of War 2018 and its upcoming sequel God of War: Ragnarok, we also have the Hellblade series coming out with its first sequel soon, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (i have problems with that game but alas, alas), shows like the Vikings and its sequels/prequels (contain your critical rage, Maja.... contain...), and all sorts of new shows and movies! And games...

While its influence isn't wide spread, there's... a lot of problems when learning about Norse mythology.

We don't have a lot of first hand, primary resources. We have the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, abd we have substantial knowledge on the Vikings and their ancestors, but that's not where my main concern lies.

During the National Socialist party takeover of Germany in the 1930s-1940s (and before that, even), in order to spread propaganda surrounding the false idea of a perfect "Aryan race" these scumbags took Norse and Germanic mythology and rewrote it. They rewrote parts of it and tried to create their own neopagan religion that advocates for human sacrifice and white supremacy. Not saying that ancient religion is free from any and all racism, no no, but they made up their own myths and practices to align with their agenda.

In early 1900s, iirc, they even invented their own runic alphabet, stealing letters from the elder and younger futhark languages and twisting them in order to create a new runic language. They also created their own spells and symbols. These are called Armanen runes or pseudo-runes. Avoid them.

And I hate to say it, but many people accidentally confuse these Nazi inventions for the original mythos - and this wasn't the only time the Nazi's stole religious symbols that wasn't theirs to take and desecrate! Look into the history of the symbol behind the swastika.

When studying Norse and Germanic mythology, look how for Nazi dogwhistles and always do extra resource into your sources! The original mythos and faith practices are so fascinating and beautiful, but it is easy to get lost and end up somewhere unfortunate.

These are what the false Runic alphabets look like:

DO NOT USE THESE.

These are Armanen runes, a set of fake runes that the Nazi's used!

And here are the elder futhark runes:

And here are the younger futhark runes, the ones the Vikings used:

There's similarities, but also clear differences

Here's a video of me pronouncing them, so you can tell the difference if someone is attempting to speak or say the runes (sorry if my pronounciation is off! But I should be close enough!)

Younger futhark is a reduced version of elder futhark, and only has 16 letters, let's ignore the other variants of runes for a sec but frankly, once you're aware of the differences in the alphabets and yoi're able to recognize dogwhistles, you're free to go.

When drawing runes, be careful as well... the Nazis have also appropriated some of the original runes (othala, mađr and yr in particular). Be mindful of the context in which you're using them.

Quite frankly, as someone with scandinavian and german ancestry, this makes me sick.

That's enough depressing talk for today tho!

5.) Egyptian mythology.

It's really cool, I know a bit, but I am struggling SO BADLY trying to find a good source to learn more about the myths, culture, and hieroglyphics!

I know a little bit about the ancient egyptian culture and their religion, enough to carry a conversation with someone not as educated, but if I were to go head to head with a scholar I'd be TOAST because I, comparatively, know practically nothing!

The conspiracy theories about the aliens also don't help. Stop underestimating the skills of ancient civilizations, the Greeks had ANCIENT ROBOTS FOR GOD'S SAKE-

DO YOU KNOW HOW ADVANCED ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY TRULY WAS? JUST TAKE A LOOK! AUGH

But yeah, if you have any good resources for Egyptian mythology or Chinese and Japanese mythology, feel free to comment below or send me a link :) I prefer peer-reviewed texts and PDFs/books! Egyptian mythology is last solely cuz I dont know enough about it 🧍‍♂️

That's my list! I hope you learned something!!

I'm going through a faith crisis, found one of your posts answering a similar question, and I just figured. I would send one.

I was raised vaguely Christian, I went to church and bible camp in the summer and all that, very very Christian area. We have five churches and only got a dollar store 5 years ago. It's Christianity or nothing around here.

Around the age of 11-12 I think, I learned about judaism and jewish people, and I became interested, but one of the first things I remembered seeing was something basically saying you can't convert so I stopped there, because I felt bad.

I got interested in Islam for a while, but it wasn't for me after about a year of learning off and on.

Then I learned about the Satanic temple, and I consider myself a satanist. Everyone in my life knows I am a satanist, I am passionate about it, I'm an agnostic, though leaning much more athiest.

However, recently, I'm not sure why, but my interest in Judaism sparked again And frankly it's bringing me to tears. I've been crying for a little over an hour now while looking into Judaism and becoming so interested and frankly falling in love with it.

But again, where I love, there's only Christianity. The nearest synagouge is miles and miles away, I can't drive and frankly I'm almost sure my parents will not accept me in this way and drive me to a synagouge anyway.

I'm at a lost for what to do. I feel bad asking jewish people for help, I know it puts you in a weird position I'm sure, but if anything I just want to know, what do I do?

That's a very hard situation to be in, and I'm sorry you're stuck in it. I was raised Catholic, in a town where there were no other options, just like yours. I didn't even meet a Jew until I started college. I also converted to Satanism after leaving xtianity, and I understand the fear of not being accepted. Most of my family doesn't know that I've converted, despite it being well over a year now. I feel less safe being open with them about my religion than I do being open with them about being trans. I feel your struggle and you are not alone.

As for what you should do, there are several things I would suggest. The beauty of today's internet is that many, many temples stream their services online. This would allow you a first step - a means of sitting in and observing, seeing what service is about and being in that space as a guest. See if the closest synagogue to you has their services streamed and request a link for them.

The next step (and one I suggest you take at the same time as seeking out access to online services) is to reach out to a rabbi. Rabbis are teachers, not priests - they are educated Jews who go to rabbinical school to learn halacha, theology and history. Sitting down with your local Rabbi (I speak with mine online since I am unable to drive often and we are both very busy) and explaining your situation to them and your interest in Judaism will gain you the community connection you need to move forward and take down the barriers between you and accessing a temple. I would suggest reaching out to a Reform congregation, as that's what I know most about, but that's not really necessary - agnosticism is very common in all sects of Judaism short of the ultra-orthodox, and belief is not a requirement for conversion.

The third step I'd suggest is getting your hands on a few books on Judaism. I always suggest "To Life!" by Rabbi Harold Kushner and "Choosing a Jewish Life" by Anita Diamant as a jumping off point. If you're down for heavier reading, "Jewish Literacy" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is an incredible book. It's well over 600 pages, but it is broken down into very digestible and intriguing chunks that make it easy to read. Jews are the people of the book, and there is not a more universal Jewish experience than study. You Rabbi will absolutely suggest more books, but these three are pretty universally loved.

Trying to find your way into the Jewish people is a hard road, especially with the rise of antisemitism worldwide. There's a lot to learn, and you will never know everything. You are painting a target on your back, and you will need to be very aware of that. If a rabbi turns you away, it will be because of tradition and concern for you choosing to become a Jew in a time so dangerous for us, not because they do not want you there. Be persistent and polite, and ask them what they need from you. They will know much better than I will.

It is not an easy path to take or decision to make. I feel the consequences of my choice daily in everything I do - good and bad. I've dealt with racialized violence as a white person for wearing my kippah outside and giving what is considered a racial indicator to antisemites. But I can also say that it has been worth it in every way. I have found a community, my soul has found rest at Sinai, and I know myself better than I ever have before. I don't know if I believe in Hashem, but I believe in the Jewish people. And I believe in you.

Behatzlacha, friend.

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IDW PUBLISHING Cat Fight #1 (Cover A Ilias Kyriazis), $3.99 Cat Fight #1 (Cover B Morgan Beem), $3.99 Cat Fight #1 (Cover C Alex Moore), AR Cat Fight #1 (Cover D Veronica Fish), AR Cat Fight #1 (Cover E Sweeney Boo), AR Rocketeer #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Adam Hughes), $4.99 Rocketeer #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Gabriel Rodriguez), $4.99 Rocketeer #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Adam Hughes Virgin Variant), AR Rocketeer #1 (One Shot)(Cover D Gabriel Rodriguez Virgin Variant), AR Star Trek Annual 2023 (Cover A Rachel Stott), $5.99 Star Trek Annual 2023 (Cover B Steffi Hochreigl), $5.99 Star Trek Annual 2023 (Cover C Rhys Yorke), $5.99 Star Trek Annual 2023 (Cover D Rachel Stott Black & White Variant), AR Star Trek Annual 2023 (Cover E J. K. Woodward), AR Star Trek Annual 2023 (Cover F J. K. Woodward Virgin Variant), AR Star Trek Picard Stargazer TP, $17.99 Star Trek The Mirror War TP, $24.99 Star Trek Warriors Of The Mirror War TP, $17.99 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Saturday Morning Adventures Continued #1 (Cover A Tim Lattie), $3.99 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Saturday Morning Adventures Continued #1 (Cover B Dan Schoening), $3.99 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Saturday Morning Adventures Continued #1 (Cover C Sarah Myer), $3.99 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Saturday Morning Adventures Continued #1 (Cover D Michael Dooney), AR Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Saturday Morning Adventures Continued #1 (Cover E Michael Dooney Virgin Variant), AR Will Eisner’s The Spirit Artisan Edtion TP, $39.99

IMAGE COMICS Deep Cuts #2 (Of 6)(Cover A Chris Brunner), $5.99 Good Asian 1936 Deluxe Edition HC, $39.99 Killadelphia #30 (2nd Printing Cover A Jason Shawn Alexander), $3.99 Local Man #3 (3nd Printing Cover A Tim Seeley & Tony Fleecs), $3.99 Local Man #4 (Cover A Tim Seeley/Tony Fleecs/Brian Reber), $3.99 Local Man #4 (Cover B Bill Maus), $3.99 Savage Strength Of Starstorm #1 (Cover A Drew Craig), $3.99 Savage Strength Of Starstorm #1 (Cover B Wes Craig), $3.99 Scorched #18 (Cover A Viktor Bogdanovic), $2.99 Scorched #18 (Cover B Paul Renaud), $2.99 Torrent #4 (Cover A Justin Greenwood & Rico Renzi), $3.99 Torrent #4 (Cover B Brahm Revel), $3.99 Torrent #4 (Cover C Rick Leonardi & Rico Renzi), $3.99 w0rldtR33 #1 (2nd Printing Cover A Fernando Blanco), $3.99 w0rldtR33 #2 (Cover A Fernando Blanco), $3.99 w0rldtR33 #2 (Cover B Dani), $3.99 w0rldtR33 #2 (Cover C David Romero), AR w0rldtR33 #2 (Cover D Justine Frany), AR w0rldtR33 #2 (Cover E Werther Dell’Edera), AR

MARVEL COMICS Alien #2 (Cover A Dike Ruan), $4.99 Alien #2 (Cover B Dave Johnson), AR Alien #2 (Cover C Felipe Massafera), AR Amazing Spider-Man #26 (Cover A John Romita Jr.), $4.99 Amazing Spider-Man #26 (Cover B Simone Bianchi), AR Amazing Spider-Man #26 (Cover C Pepe Larraz), AR Amazing Spider-Man #26 (Cover D David Talaski Spider-Verse Variant), AR Amazing Spider-Man #26 (Cover E Gary Frank Spoiler Variant), AR Amazing Spider-Man #26 (Cover F Simone Bianchi Virgin Variant), AR Amazing Spider-Man #26 (Cover G Oliver Coipel), AR Avengers Beyond #3 (Of 5)(Cover A Greg Land), $3.99 Avengers Beyond #3 (Of 5)(Cover B Todd Nauck Spider-Verse Variant), AR Avengers Beyond #3 (Of 5)(Cover C Chris Allen Stormbreakers Variant), AR Avengers Beyond #3 (Of 5)(Cover D Taurin Clarke), AR Betsy Braddock Captain Britain #4 (Cover A Erica D’Urso), $3.99 Betsy Braddock Captain Britain #4 (Cover B Davi Go), AR Captain America Symbol Of Truth #13 (Cover A R. B. Silva), $3.99 Captain America Symbol Of Truth #13 (Cover B Pete Woods Spider-Verse Variant), AR Captain Marvel By Kelly Thompson Omnibus Volume 1 HC (Alex Ross Direct Market Cover), $100.00 Captain Marvel By Kelly Thompson Omnibus Volume 1 HC (Jorge Molina Book Market Cover), $100.00 Carnage #13 (Cover A Kendrick Kunkka Lim), $3.99 Carnage #13 (Cover B Philip Tan), AR Carnage #13 (Cover C Ryan Stegman Venom The Other Variant), AR Carnage #13 (Cover D Skan), AR Carnage #13 (Cover E Taurin Clarke Connecting Variant), AR Carnage Volume 2 Carnage In Hell TP, $19.99 Clobberin’ Time #3 (Of 5)(Cover A Steve Skroce), $3.99 Clobberin’ Time #3 (Of 5)(Cover B Dan Panosian), AR Daredevil Omnibus Volume 2 HC (Gene Colan Daredevil Unmasked Direct Market Cover), $100.00 Daredevil Omnibus Volume 2 HC (Gene Colan In The Beginning Book Market Cover), $100.00 Deadpool #7 (Cover A Martin Coccolo), $3.99 Deadpool #7 (Cover B Peach Momoko Spider-Verse Variant), AR Deadpool #7 (Cover C Benjamin Su), AR Doctor Strange #3 (Cover A Alex Ross), $4.99 Doctor Strange #3 (Cover B Mahmud A. Asrar Spider-Verse Variant), AR Doctor Strange #3 (Cover C Elena Casagrande Stormbreakers Variant), AR Doctor Strange #3 (Cover D InHyuk Lee Sister Grimm AAPI Heritage Month Variant), AR Doctor Strange #3 (Cover E Ryan Stegman), AR Doctor Strange #3 (Cover F Ryan Stegman Virgin Variant), AR Edge Of Spider-Verse #2 (Of 4)(Cover A Patrick Brown), $4.99 Edge Of Spider-Verse #2 (Of 4)(Cover B Josemaria Casanovas Connecting Variant), AR Edge Of Spider-Verse #2 (Of 4)(Cover C Alan Quah), AR Edge Of Spider-Verse #2 (Of 4)(Cover D David Yardin), AR Marvel Masterworks The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 HC (Jack Kirby Book Market Cover)(ReMasterworks), $75.00 Marvel Masterworks The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 HC (Jack Kirby Direct Market Cover)(ReMasterworks), $75.00 Punisher #12 (Cover A Jesus Saiz), $4.99 Punisher #12 (Cover B Mico Suayan), AR Punisher #12 (Cover C John Cassaday Spider-Verse Variant), AR Sgt. Fury Epic Collection Volume 2 Berlin Breakout TP, $39.99 She-Hulk By Rainbow Rowell Volume 2 Jen Of Hearts TP, $15.99 She-Hulk Epic Collection Volume 4 The Cosmic Squish Principle TP, $39.99 Silver Surfer Ghost Light #4 (Cover A Taurin Clarke), $3.99 Spider-Man 2099 Dark Genesis #5 (Of 5)(Cover A Nick Bradshaw), $3.99 Spider-Man 2099 Dark Genesis #5 (Of 5)(Cover B Ken Lashley Frame Variant), AR Spider-Man 2099 Dark Genesis #5 (Of 5)(Cover C Rod Reis Connecting Variant), AR Spider-Man 2099 Dark Genesis #5 (Of 5)(Cover D Justin Mason Handbook Variant), AR Star Wars Doctor Aphra #32 (Cover A Junggeun Yoon), $3.99 Star Wars Doctor Aphra #32 (Cover B Leinil Francis Yu Darth Maul Solo 5th Anniversary Movie Variant), AR Star Wars Doctor Aphra #32 (Cover C Chris Sprouse Return Of The Jedi 40th Anniversary Variant), AR Star Wars Doctor Aphra #32 (Cover D Ema Lupacchino), AR Star Wars Legends Epic Collection The Original Marvel Years Volume 6 TP, $54.99 Star Wars Sana Starros #4 (Cover A Ken Lashley), $3.99 Star Wars Sana Starros #4 (Cover B Ema Lupacchino), AR Star Wars Sana Starros #4 (Cover C Leinil Francis Yu Lando Solo 5th Anniversary Movie Variant), AR Venom Lethal Protector II #3 (Of 5)(Cover A Paolo Siqueira), $3.99 Venom Lethal Protector II #3 (Of 5)(Cover B Francesco Manna), AR Venom Lethal Protector II #3 (Of 5)(Cover C Philip Tan), AR Warlock Rebirth #1 (Of 5)(2nd Printing Cover A Ron Lim), $3.99 X-23 Deadly Regenesis #3 (Of 5)(Cover A Kalman Andrasofszky), $3.99 X-23 Deadly Regenesis #3 (Of 5)(Cover B Gerald Parel), AR X-Force By Benjamin Percy Volume 2 HC, $44.99 X-Men ’92 The Saga Continues TP, $44.99 X-Men The Dark Phoenix Saga TP, $29.99

OPUS COMICS Sanjulian Queens Of The Lost World #1 (Cover A Ariel Olivetti), $4.99 Sanjulian Queens Of The Lost World #1 (Cover B Sanjulian), $4.99

SELFMADEHERO Starman David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust Years GN, $19.99

TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING Alter Ego #182, $10.95 Back Issue #144, $10.95

UDON ENTERTAINMENT Street Fighter 6 #2 (Of 4)(Cover A Joe Ng), $5.99 Street Fighter 6 #2 (Of 4)(Cover B Panzer), $5.99

VAULT COMICS Barbaric Hell To Pay #4 (Cover A Nathan Gooden), $4.99 Barbaric Hell To Pay #4 (Cover B Skylar Patridge), $4.99

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT Grimm Fairy Tales #72 (Cover A Igor Vitorino), $3.99

TOYS - T-SHIRTS & COLLECTIBLES Astro Zombies ReAction Figure Wave 1 Astro Zombie Teal/Black, AR Astro Zombies ReAction Figure Wave 2 Astro Zombie Black/Silver, AR Attack Of Titan Series 2 24 Piece 3D Foam Bag Clip Blind Mystery Box Display, AR Big Lebowski 24 Piece 3D Foam Bag Clip Blind Mystery Box Display, AR Disney S44 Princesses With Food 24 Piece 3D Foam Bag Clip Blind Mystery Box Display, AR Dragon Ball Super Series 2 24 Piece 3D Foam Bag Clip Blind Mystery Box Display, AR Dungeons And Dragons Dicelings Blue Displacer Beast Collectors Figure, AR Dungeons And Dragons Dicelings Green Dragon Collector’s Figure, AR G.I. Joe Ultimates Real American Hero Wave 2 Baroness Action Figure, AR G.I. Joe Ultimates Real American Hero Wave 2 Destro Action Figure, AR G.I. Joe Ultimates Real American Hero Wave 2 Flint Action Figure, AR G.I. Joe Ultimates Real American Hero Wave 2 Lady Jaye Action Figure, AR Gargoyles Demona Bust, AR Gargoyles Xanatos 1/7 Scale Bust, AR Golden Girls Series 4 24 Piece Blind Mystery Box 3D Foam Bag Clip Display, AR Haikyu Series 2 24 Piece 3D Foam Bag Clip Blind Mystery Box Display, AR Hatsune Miku Bicute Bunnies White Rabbit Baby Pink PVC Figure, AR Hatsune Miku Flower Fairy Nemophila Noodle Stop Figure, AR Hatsune Miku Luminasta Hatsune Miku Bitter Patissier Figure, AR Marvel Animated Peter Parker Statue, AR Marvel Comic Spider-Man Bust, AR Micro Toy Box Wave 2 Blind Mystery Box Display, AR My Little Pony Kwistal Fwenz Series 2 Mini Figure 8 Piece Blind Mystery Box Display, AR Naruto Anime Heroes Naruto Uzumaki Sage Mode Action Figure, AR Naruto Anime Heroes Sasuke Rinnegan Mangekyo Sharingan Action Figure, AR One-12 Collective G.I. Joe Destro Action Figure, AR One-12 Collective Halloween II Michael Myers Action Figure, AR One-12 Collective Ultraman Action Figure, AR Original Tamagotchi 90s Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Art Style Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Black Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Candy Swirl Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Hearts Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Lightning Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Marble Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Original Purple Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Pastel Bubble Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Pink With Yellow Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Plaid Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Purple Pink Clock Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Sahara Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Spring Stripes Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Sprinkles Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Tie Dye Version, AR Original Tamagotchi White And Pink Version, AR Original Tamagotchi White With Black Version, AR Original Tamagotchi Yellow With Blue Version, AR POP Moments Star Wars Return Of The Jedi 40th Anniversary Luke Vs. Vader Vinyl Figure, AR POP Movies Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade Henry Jones Sr. Vinyl Figure, AR POP Movies Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade Sallah Vinyl Figure, AR POP Movies Indiana Jones Raiders Of The Lost Ark Arnold Toht Vinyl Figure, AR POP Movies Indiana Jones Raiders Of The Lost Ark Marion Vinyl Figure, AR SpongeBob Squarepants Season 5 24 Piece 3D Foam Bag Clip Blind Mystery Box Display, AR Star Wars Black Episode 6 Return Of The Jedi 40th Anniversary 6 Inch Action Figure Assortment 202302, AR Star Wars Black Episode 6 Return Of the Jedi 40th Anniversary 6 Inch Chewbacca Action Figure, AR Star Wars Black Episode 6 Return Of the Jedi 40th Anniversary 6 Inch Emperor Action Figure, AR Star Wars Black Episode 6 Return Of The Jedi 40th Anniversary 6 Inch Paploo Action Figure, AR Star Wars Premier Collection Attack Of The Clones Mace Windu Statue, AR Star Wars Premier Collection Episode 2 Padme Statue, AR Star Wars Premier Collection Mandalorian Boba Fett On Throne Statue, AR Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Luke 1/6 Scale Bust, AR Star Wars The Phantom Menance 24 Piece 3D Foam Bag Clip Blind Mystery Box Display, AR World’s Smallest Universal Monsters Micro Action Figure Assortment, AR World’s Smallest Universal Studios Horror Micro Action Figure Assortment, AR X-Men Legends 6 Inch Action Figure Assortment 202301 Ch’od Build-A-Figure, AR X-Men Legends 6 Inch Chamber Action Figure, AR X-Men Legends 6 Inch Corsair Action Figure, AR X-Men Legends 6 Inch Cyclops Action Figure, AR X-Men Legends 6 Inch Emma Frost Action Figure, AR X-Men Legends 6 Inch Kid Omega Action Figure, AR X-Men Legends 6 Inch Monet St. Croix Action Figure, AR

CC June 2023 Customer Appreciation Weekend Sale!

(Both Stores, 3 Days : 6/2-6/4)

*20%-50% Off Select Items & Brands in the Stores! Store-wide, Both locations.

50% OFF ALLOrange Stickered ---CLEARANCE--- TOYS, GAMES & COLLECTIBLES (Excludes Graphic Novels)

50% Off All FUNKO POPS & FUNKO SODAS DATED - 12/31/22 or Earlier on Price Sticker. - 50% Off All Sealed NEW & Pre-owned McFarlane TOYS DC COMICS, McFarlane Anime Figures, TMP SPAWN, & TMP DRAGONS Action Figures.

50% Off All MARVEL COMICS & DC COMICS HARDCOVER Graphic Novels & Collected Editions. - 50% Off ALL NEW COMICS Excluding New This Week, New Last Week & Subscribed Titles. - 75% Off All NEW Bagged and Boarded Variant Covers with Variant Cover Sticker Exluding New This Week & New Last Week. (Regularly 50% Off)

*10% OFF MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNT, ADDITIONAL DISCOUNTS or REWARDS & BELLY REWARDS DO NOT COMBINE OR STACK WITH IN STORE SALES.

*Discounts do NOT Combine, Excludes Subscription Boxes, Subscribed Titles and Special Orders, Pre-orders, Items on Hold, New This Week & Last Week Comics, Candy, Snacks & Refreshments, All Sealed Trading Card Game Products - Magic the Gathering, YuGiOh, Pokemon, etc, All Collecting Supplies & Accessories for Comics and Gaming, Dice. Pinback Buttons, Keychains, Lanyards, Stickers & ALL Clearance Items

+

DOLLAR COMICS

SALE BOTH STORES One Dollar Each or 15/$10.

ON SALE 50 Cents EACH. 3/$1

FILL A SHORT BOX for $35

Short Box Not Included, Bring or Buy your Own Short Box & Fill It or Buy a New Short Storage Box (6.99) from us here at the Store!