September 2015 Comics Update

Greetings Comic Fans!  It has been a while since one of our blogposts.  Well, we have so much incredible comic news that we decided to let you all know about the crazy good Fall we have coming up for comics and comic related stuff.  So, Up, Up and Away…

Star Wars

You know the movie is coming out December 18, and we will be doing some really cool stuff for that, but more on that a little later. We hope you are all reading the Star Wars comics because, if not, you are missing great writing, awesome art, and some key plot points that are being revealed. No true Star Wars fan should miss these, but the most important book, Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Shattered Empire, is releasing September 9, 2015. This book starts filling in the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens movies.

If that is not enough, everybody’s favorite Wookie is also getting his own series as well. Chewbacca #1 hits stands in October. While we have plenty of copies coming in, reserve yours to make sure some jawa doesn’t beat you to it. To make life easy, here’s a list of all the Star Wars titles as links to their comiXology page:

Star Wars	Darth Vader
Lando	Princess Leia
Kanan - The Last Padawan	Chewbacca
Journey Star Wars: The Force Awakens Shattered Empire

What’s Red, Blue and White?

Captain America White #1 of course! Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are back at it again with their insightful look at the early days of our favorite red, white and blue avenger. As with their earlier books, Daredevil Yellow, Hulk Gray, Spider-Man Blue, this talented team takes a close look at the hero’s early days, long before they were the legend they later become. Cap White #1 will be here September 16 with my personal favorite cover being the Skottie Young variant. Order now--it’s what Uncle Sam would do!

What’s Red and Gold?

Yup, Invincible Iron Man #1 is coming out too. You know Tony can never let Cap upstage him, so Shellhead  gets a new series starting  October 7, 2015. It promises to be Marvelous and world changing, but when is Stark anything less than grandiose at the extreme? There is a launch party for this book (Gee, Iron Man miss a chance to party?) with exclusive variants and lithos plus more. We’ll send out invites as soon as Tony gets done picking a caterer, so prep your tux and watch the email box for details.

As long as we’re on Marvel…

Secret Wars ain’t over yet folks, but Marvel is already announced their new list of #1s. Some old favorites are back (still here maybe) and there are some new titles, of course. To help launch the titles, Marvel is doing a series of variants based on famous and infamous Hip-Hop record covers (those round things made of black vinyl before CDs--Invincible Iron Man #1 Hip Hop variant cover is seen here). As usual with Marvel, figuring out how many we’ll be getting is harder than finding a good FF movie, but we’ll get it figured out. We are also planning a special deal for the new Marvel #1s but still have a few details to pound out on that. Stay tuned, True Believers.

Now this Bombshell…

DC Bombshell Covers are coming in fast and furious and surprise, my favorite is Sinestro!  We still have plenty in stock so get ‘em while they last, sailor.

Ever wonder what Bruce Wayne and Elmer Fudd have in common? No, we didn’t either, other than a mansion and a yacht, until now. Well, we can add appearing on DC Comic covers to the list! Suffern’ Succotash, Warner Bros Cartoon characters are the latest round of DC Comics variants. Well, they are both owned by Warner Brothers, so it is not a huge surprise that these two iconic animated brands should one day meet. My current favorite is either Yosemite Sam vs Deathstroke, or Superman and SuperBugs, or Wonder Woman and ‘What’s Opera Doc’ Elmer Fudd. Check them out and reserve your copies early.

The Dark Knight Returns... Again

They say Third Time’s the Charm and we certainly hope so for this Batman issue! The original The Dark Knight Returns may be one of the best storylines ever created and, in our opinion, helped launch the comics revival of the late 80s. While the second installment was not as well regarded, we can have high hopes that the upcoming installment, titled Dark Knight III: The Master Race and landing in stores November, will be up to the standard of the first series.

Frank Miller will be joined by Brian Azzarello on the writing side, and the book will be drawn by Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson. There will be a ton of variants and even some sort of slip case option, plus many other cool aspects to this new classic. Stay tuned, same Bat Channel, same Bat newspost.

On the Red Carpet

OK, this may be one of the best seasons for TV shows based on comics EVER! So for my fellow comic fans, here is a list of this Fall’s TV Shows and their premier dates. Don't forget to tune in, and we'll be seeing you Wednesdays!

Live Action:
Arrow, The CW, Wednesday, October 7 at 8 PM
Flash, The CW, Tuesday, October 6 at 8 PM
Gotham, Fox, Monday, September 21 at 8 PM
Supergirl, CBS, Monday, October 26 at 8:30 PM
Heroes Reborn, NBC, Tuesday, September 24 at 8 PM
IZombie, The CW, Tuesday, October 6 at 9 PM
Walking Dead, AMC, Sunday October 11 at 9 PM
Fear the Walking Dead, AMC, Sunday, August 23 at 9 PM
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, Tuesday, September 29 at 9 PM
Marvel’s Agent Carter, No Info yet, 1st quarter 2016 most likely
Legends of Tomorrow, No Info yet, 1st quarter 2016 most likely

Animated:
Avengers Assemble (Stay Tuned for Details)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Disney XD, Saturday, September 26 at 9:30 PM
Ultimate Spider-Man (Stay Tuned for Details)

This Week In Comics - February 11th

Sweet Releases of the Week

This week was a slightly light week in terms of number of unique titles released, but there were a few books out that are worth a read. First off is one that I can always vouch for when it comes out is Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. They've been doing mini-series based on the urban fantasy novels about Harry Dresden for a few years now, and they always seem to hit it out of the park in terms of getting the personalities and looks of the characters down. With that said The Dresden Files: Downtown #1 has released this week! Next is Walking Dead #137. All I've got to say about that one is it seems Carl is on his way to being a man. Finally is Harley's Valentine's Special, which again is well worth the read. Next week we'll get more Harley Quinn variant covers! Make sure you go to our website to see what's set to release.

Spider-Man is Coming Home!

It's about time, but Spidey returns home to the Marvel Cinematic Universe of sorts. Sony and Marvel will share the Friendly Neighborhood Wall Crawler. What I can gather is that anything Spider-Man centric (including villains and side characters) will be released by Sony and anything else will be put out by Marvel. I for one am looking forward to see how Spidey is handled.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den
 

This Week In Comics - January 14th

May the Force be with you!

It's January 14th and you know what that means!  Star Wars #1 from Marvel is finally here and it looks amazing.  Written perfectly by Jason Aaron and drawn beautifully by John Cassiday, I can say that this book reads like a continuation of the original film.  There doesn't seem to be a focus on any one of the core group, which is exactly what's needed from this book.  Make sure you come in to pick this book up!  Visit our site for what's going on today!

That's how they're referencing them?

So there may be extremely minor spoilers in this one, but only very minor.  In the newest issue of Spider-verse we get references to Turn Off the Dark, Electric Company and both movie versions of Spider-Man.  For Turn Off the Dark and Electric Company Spideys the references are spot on and funny.  As far as the movie versions, they are pretty spot on and funny, but there are so many other funnier references to be had with them. Ugly crying, disco dancer for Toby Maguire anyone?  Here's the link to a quick article about it.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

Weekly Comics Update - January 7

Happy New Year and Some New Books!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year and a great holiday prior.  Next week is going to be a doozy in terms of new books.  First off is Marvel's return to the greatest of space sagas in Star Wars #1.  We've got a plethora of things planned for that release along with some sales. The event lineup is viewable on this page of our website! For more comics next week you can always visit our Upcoming Comics page!

Is it Too Late to Change the Name?

If you told me from 10 years ago that one of the most anticipated movies of this summer is Ant-Man, I'd call you crazy.  Well, we're all crazy, and they've officially put out a human sized movie trailer for said movie.  It looks like it will have a similar tone to the first Iron Man, where it won't take itself super seriously.  I'll admit that I would've liked to have seen Eric O'Grady appear as the movie Ant-Man, but that's neither here nor there. Note that Ant-Man #1 is in-store this week! Here's a link to view the trailer.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

Weekly Comics Update - November 12th

Teen Titans Earth One is Coming!

Coming out next Wednesday, November 19th, is the newest graphic novel entry to the Earth One series and it's the Teen Titans.  For those of you who are fans of the classic Perez-Wolfman run on New Teen Titans, this is well worth a pick up.  It'll be in store on the 19th so keep an eye out.

Finally an Explanation of Marvel's Secret Wars 2015 Event!

Since Marvel started dropping those cryptic event announcements roughly about a month ago starting with Secret Wars and continuing with things like Civil War and Planet Hulk we've been wondering how they can possibly squeeze that many events into a single summer. We now know how thanks to a video released about Battleworld!  So apparently all of those events won't be individual events, instead they will be alternate realities, in which those events are currently happening, all of which will have been destroyed in someway to recreate a new Battleworld.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the history of Battleworld, the original was created by the Beyonder to have a battle royale between Marvel's greatest heroes and villains in the original Secret War. I'm surprisingly intrigued by this event and hope they pull this one off right!  Here's a link to Bleeding Cool with said video!

We Finally get a Live Action Dr. Quinzel!

A few weeks back DC released their planned schedule for comic movies and on the list was Suicide Squad.  Actor names have popped up a few times, but with no definitive line-up of the Squad in place, no one could quite figure out who would play who.  Well only two days ago we've gotten a nailed down character and actress to play her.  Harley Quinn, Joker's psychotic psychiatrist girlfriend, will be appearing in Suicide Squad played by Margot Robbie. Between this and the fact that Jared Leto is supposedly in talks to play Mr. J himself, we've got quite the beginnings of an interesting film. I haven't seen enough of Margot Robbie to say how well she'll pull of the black and red tights of everyone's favorite Clown Princess of Crime, but I'm sure we won't be let down!

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

This Week in Comics – October 22nd

There’s a Juggernaut Heading for Arrow

Mockingbird

Vinnie Jones is probably best known for his Juggernaut role in the X-Men movie that actually doesn’t exist thanks to Days of Future Past.  You may ask yourself why I’m bringing up this giant of a character actor.  You may also be asking yourself how you got here, but I digress.  Anyway Vinnie Jones will be appearing as a DC Character known as Danny “Brick” Brickwell, who has invulnerable skin, in the CW’s Arrow.  For whatever reason the show runners are going to have it that he isn’t powered, but instead is said to be invulnerable because he survived being shot several times.  I’ve loved Vinnie Jones in everything he’s been in, so I can’t wait to see this one! View the announcement here.

When There’s Trouble You Call DW!

In January we will be lucky enough to see a collection of Boom! Entertainment’s full run Dark Wing Duck in comic form from publishing company Joe Books.  This was one of my favorites of the Disney revival books from Boom! I’m surprised that Marvel didn’t take up doing collections for this.  To be titled Disney’s Darkwing Duck: Definitely Dangerous Edition, just remember to look out for this one in January! Read the solicitation here.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach


Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

This Week in Comics – October 8th

A Fantastic Cancellation

Fantastic Four #1 by Ross

     After months of speculation in regards to the future of Marvel’s flagship family, the Fantastic Four, we learn that yet again their series is getting cancelled. The last few years have not been friendly to the First Family of the House of Ideas, going through cancellations, roster changes galore and a few deaths and returns. I’m sure most of us are thinking that it has something to do with the movie rights to the FF and unfortunately we may just be right.  In 2015, The Fantastic Four will be cancelled again on issue #642 with a triple sized issue! View the article here.

Iron Man 4 is a Go?

     This isn’t exactly a confirmation from Robert “I-actually-am-Tony-Stark” Downey Jr., but he did make an off handed remark during a Reddit AMA about donning the armor again if Mel Gibson were to direct. That could make for a hell of an Iron Man movie. Seeing as how the cinematic version of Tony has successfully run his course in terms of story in the three films, it’s a bit questionable as to what they would use for Iron Man 4 in terms of story. As far as villains go, most are the usual steal Stark tech armor and use it for their own terms, and seeing as how they used that basic frame work for the first two (Iron Monger & Whiplash) and basically used his big arch-nemesis (The Mandarin), they could have quite the interesting choice of villain. I personally hope they go with MODOK, especially with their introduction of AIM in Iron Man 3. Read the interview here.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach


Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

Weekly Comics Update - July 9, 2014

A Couple of Marvel Villains Return to the Mini-Series Scene!

The upcoming Marvel event called AXIS, involving a group of villains and claiming to throw the Marvel Universe for a loop, will have at least 2 spin-offs centered on members of the central villain team. Those two villains are Carnage and Hobgoblin. Carnage has been quite the mini-series darling as of recently and Hobgoblin hasn't had anything recently. It seems that the Spider-Rogues are starting to gain the public love that their enemy has had since his inception. Here's the article in regards to said mini-series.

Could Guillermo Del Toro Be Returning to the Mountains of Madness?

Back in 2011 reports were abound that Hellboy and Pacific Rim director Guillermo Del Toro was mounting his multi-million dollar R-Rated adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. Unfortunately Universal cancelled the production due to fear of the film failing because it was set to be rated R and horror movies with said rating don't preform well. Recently, Del Toro has come out and said that he's currently working on a PG-13 version of the film. He said that he could easily tone down the gore without changing much else of the film. I'm a huge Lovecraft fan and Del Toro is a perfect director to adapt this story to film. Here's the article.

Apparently Falcons Are More Patriotic Than Eagles!

So Marvel more or less said that Sam "The Falcon" Wilson is becoming the new Captain America with their teaser image for Time Runs Out. They've now definitively said that Sam is picking up the shield with Steve sans Super Soldier Serum. If there were anyone in the Marvel universe to done the suit outside of Steve or Bucky, Sam is it. In continuity I believe he's been a crime-fighting partner to Steve longer than Bucky was, and I'm fairly certain that in printing history, he and Cap have been teamed up longer than Steve and Bucky were. Here's the article about the replacement.

Stay Classy Denizens!

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

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Toy Fair 2014 Part 2

As promised, here is some more information about Toy Fair 2014.  Some in this post I think I'll talk a little about Funko and :

Funko:

They have some many fantastic new releases coming out including A Game of Thrones, Galactic Guardians, The Walking Dead, and Magic the Gathering.  With new bobble heads, blind pull boxes, action figures, and vinyl figures; I'm sure there is something to appeal to everyone. To give you a few quick looks, check out the pictures below to see some of the upcoming products.

Galactic Guardians

Magic Action figures (back lite so hard to see)

Magic Vinyl Figures

Magic Vinyl Figures (Close up on Jace)

Konami:

From the makers of Yu-Gi-Oh, there will be some amazing new releases this year.  They only had product out on display through June, but they mentioned a few other great products.  

So we will see a new Gold series this year, Gold Premium.  This set will include cards from Premium series that were released in Japan, but not in the US.  They will also be reprinting a bunch of the best cards from previous Gold series releases.  The are also making the playable god cards... but doing them in an all new gold rarity!

Another release will be the Dragons of Legends.  Konami has been asked over the years and now they are doing it, "Where are all the cards from the TV show?  How come we never get the cards they use in the show."  Well now you can!  Dragons of Legends will be a set of cards not released in card form (but have been on the show).  

One last little teaser... Light Sworn structure deck!  Wait... did I really post that just now???  YES I DID!  There are not a lot of details about this yet, but what I heard was that there are to many great Light Sworn cards to fit in one structure deck, so they will have a booster in each one (similar to V for Victory).Once we learn more, I will share.

I hope this helps everyone out.  Enjoy and read on!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Toy Fair 2014 Part 1

So we went to Toy Fair this weekend and saw some amazing new games and gift items.  There are so many different items that we may not be able to post them all in one blog post... we may need more!  So here are some interesting things we got from several different vendors:

Wizkids Games:

A great classic pose for Wolverine (Days of Future Past). The next wave of Star Trek Attack Wing and Deep Space 9. The new Dice Master game was also great. It is starting with Avengers vs X-men, but they already have more ideas coming.

Here is a picture of the NEXT wave of Attack Wing ships for Star Trek.  These aren't the ships due out next week, but the ones coming out in the next wave.  

Here is a picture of the complete Deep Space 9 prize for the Dominion War month 6 event.  The card under the station can be flipped over so you can field DS9 as Federation or Independent.  

I got to see the back area of their booth, but no photos allowed. They had unpainted 3D prints I of the dragons for the D&D Attack Wing... WOW! These dragons are in flight and are massive. They had 6 dragons on display and even unpainted were recognizable as Red, Blue, Black, Green, Bronze, and one other. This version of Attack Wing will also have ground troops, but they didn't have any to show off yet. 

Fantasy Flight Games:


Fantasy Flight Games had all the Star Wars X-wing miniatures out. The big ships ships look amazing... but not coming soon. Imperial Aces will be coming out the end of February or beginning of March. The Rebel Transport about 2 months later and the Blockade Runner about 2 months after that. They also had prototypes of the next wave of Ships, all from extended universe.








They also had a board game adaptation of The Witcher and a fast-paced card game for A Game of Thrones.

As we get in all these great games we will have them for sale in all three stores.  We will also be running events for many of these games, so check out our calendars for more information about events.  Click on the store name that is closest to you to see our calendar of events per store.

Dragon's Den Poughkeepsie

Gamer's Gambit CT

Gamer's Gambit NJ



Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Wizkids Miniatures - What is coming out soon!

There are so many new miniatures coming out from Wizkids this year.  They have Marvel, DC, and Yu-Gi-Oh Heroclixs, Star Trek Attack Wing, and the brand new Dungeons & Dragons miniature line.  So what does that mean???

Heroclix

February: Yu-Gi-Oh Series 1
March: Marvel, Captain America, The Winter Soldier
April: Marvel, X-men - Days of Future Past
May: Marvel, Deadpool
June: DC, War of the Light - Begins
August: Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy

Star Trek Attack Wing

April: Federation USS Voyager, Bioship Alpha, Nistrim Raider, Borg Sphere 4270
June: Borg Tactical Cube, Bajoran Interceptor Five, Vulcan D'kyr
July: Borg Soong, Federation USS Enterprise (Refit), Dominion Battle Cruiser
August: Borg Scout Cube, Federation Enterprise, Vulcan Ni'Var
September: Borg Queen Vessel Prime, Federation USS Enterprise-E, Independent Val Jean
October: Defiant Mirror Universe, Klingon Chang's Bird of Prey, Romulan Scimitar

Dungeons & Dragons

So we will be getting new D&D miniatures.  So far the few they have shown look great.  They will be debuting the set with the release of the new D&D Next this summer.  They are also releasing a D&D version of Attack Wing!  The starter box will include 3 different colored dragons, cards (riders, upgrades, etc), and templates and rules.  Click on the Dungeons & Dragons link to read more from Wizkids about this release.

Oh, but maybe you are looking for something with less minis and more dice?  Then you might want to check out Avengers vs X-men Dice Masters.  A new dice building game where you collect and assemble a team of character dice.  This game will be releasing in March, so come and check it out.

Curious when we play?  Check out our calendars:

Dragon's Den
Gamer's Gambit NJ
Gamer's Gambit CT

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Free Comic Book Day 2012

Saturday.

May 5th.

Every year, all the comic publishers print up special comics for comic stores to give out on the first Saturday in May. This year, The Dragon's Den is proud to be giving away comics, hosting local creators, doing mega-sales (soon to be announced) and raising money for charity.

From 10 am, until whenever we run out of comics, we're going to have THOUSANDS of free comics available for you. Want to know what titles we've got coming?

I thought you would.

Adventure Time/Peanuts Flipbook
Bongo Free-for-all/Spongebob Freestyle
Buffy/The Guild Flipbook
DC Comics The New 52 #1 Special Edition
Judge Dredd
Mega Man
Mouse Guard/Labyrinth & More HC
Sonic The Hedgehog
Spider-man Season One
Star Wars/Serenity Flipbook
The Smurfs
Transformers #80.5
Yo Gabba Gabba

and much, much more!

People are welcome to grab 4 books but we do ask that if you want to take more than 4 that you make a $5 donation to our charity fundraiser!

In addition to all these comics we'll be giving away, we've also got several local creators coming in to do signings, show off their wares, and promote their awesome creator-owned product.

* Ryan from ZombiePETZ!

Zombie Yoda! Isn't he adorable??

Local artist RYAN BROWNE will be in the store drawing free mini-head "zombified" head sketches for customers, from 10-4. Every year, Ryan and the ZombiePETZ crew travel to different conventions and are FLOODED with commissions and requests to draw you, and people just like you, as zombies. Normally, Ryan and his folks charge for these hand-drawn beauties, but on FCBD, Ryan will be doing mini-head sketches YOU AS A ZOMBIE... for free. He'll also have some of his great t-shirts and other merchandise available for sale.


* Jon with JADED!

Hudson Valley creator JON SANTANA will be in-store, showing off his new super-hero comic JADED. JADED takes a look at 4 heroes in a unique format: Each issue features 2 stores, drawn in 2 different art styles. One story and style details the early life of the happy and successful hero; The other tells the story of tragedy and aftermath. How do heroes truly deal with catastrophe?

Find out on May 5th!

* The 501st Legion Returns!

I love making that face in the background - Scott.

Returning for a 2nd year, we're pleased to announce that we'll have a Stormtrooper from the 501st Legion VADER'S FIST, doing pictures for charity, and wandering up and down the mall, terrorizi- I mean, WELCOMING, customers to the store.

In addition to our Friendly Neighborhood Stormtrooper, we'll also have a Luke Skywalker look-alike here, too!

* Zach and Greg from LONEWOLF & ZERO

Also returning for a 2nd year are Zach and Greg with their monster hunter/super-hero comic LONEWOLF & ZERO. Zach and Greg will be premiering the 2nd issue of their dark and gritty comic, after running out of all their copies last year. This duo works together, by balancing each other's writing and artistic needs and desires. Their love of the paranormal and superheros shows in every page they create.


Want to know what sales we'll be having? Check back here on the blog on Monday, April May 30th. In addition to Free Comic Book Day, there's also the new Magic set being released. Every year, it's a crazy weekend. Come in and join the fun!

Cryptozoic at GAMA 2012

Cryptozoic had so much to show us at GAMA!  They had information about non-sports cards, deck building games, board games, and trading card games.  I'll try and summarize some of what we saw so that everyone will have a chance to here about what is coming from Cryptozoic.

The Hobbit:

This year Cryptozoic will be releasing 2 different deck building games.  One game will be a bit of a throw back for the Lord of the Rings, and the other will be The Hobbit, Unexpected Journey!  The first one will release in the summer and the second in the winter of 2012.

World of Warcraft:

Well there is so much to say about World of Warcraft (WoW), that it might be easy to do it as a list.  So if you are looking for more information, then try the WoW website to get more details.

• March - Champion Decks: These decks will be pre-cons focusing on main characters from the online game.
• June - Tomb of the Forgotten: The third in the block of current sets.  They will introduce the Forgotten, a monstrous race of paladins.  
• August - Battle of the Aspect Raid:  This is a new Raid deck around Deathwing.
• October -Timewalker: War of the Ancients: A new set with never before seen characters from the lore of World of Warcraft.
• November - Feast of Winterveil Tin: a new holiday tin for World of Warcraft.
• Coming this year will also bring a WoW Deck Building Game: Clash of Champions.

Non-Sports Collectible Cards:

If you are really into pop culture, and you really like to collect, then check out some of these great products that will come out these year.

• Vampire Diaries
• The Guild
• Big Bang Theory
• Smallville
• Fringe
• Tarzan 100th Anniversary
• The Walking Dead

 Other Games

• DC Comics Deck Building Game: using Cerberus Game Engine
• Castle: based on original characters from the Marvel graphic novels
• Capcom Deck Building Game: using Cerberus Game Engine (will work with DC game)
• Batman Arkham Asylum: based on the video game, play as batman or the inmates!
• Archer: Mature Audience... 'nuff said!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Unpacking the Dragon's Den

So many people who do not live local have asked us what the store looks like and what type of product we carry. So not wanting to keep everyone in the dark, here is an unpacking of the Dragon's Den!

As you walk down the hall of the Poughkeepsie Plaza, we are located at the end of the hallway at the North end of the plaza. 

When you look into the store, you will find many great items located on our island.  You are also presented with a choice, left or right...

If you walk straight in and look in the front two cases you will find some interesting items, including bumper stickers and ...

and CANDY! Notice that most of the candy is branded!

So I decided to turn to the right and make my way along the comic book wall.  We have a nice lite display for the comic books, all sorted alphabetically from left to right with tabs behind all the new books.At the end of the rows of comic books, there is a lite display with all the comic glasses, banks, and pop fun figures.  We carry Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, and more.  If you are looking for comic books, then you might want to browse our wall.

Opposite the comic wall, and inside the island you find all the collectible card games (CCG) and sports cards.  This is where all the boosters, starters, and singles for the different CCGs.  This is also where you will find the card sleeves, deck boxes, and play mats.  With games like Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, and World of Warcraft we have plenty of CCGs for the players to enjoy.

Rounding the corner by the BCW spinning rack which houses top loaders, penny sleeves, and binders, you see the gaming area. We can set the area up in multiple configurations for card games, miniature games, or role playing games.  Across the back wall of the gaming area is a wall of board games and card games as well as Yoda above one of our demo video game systems.

Right in the corner of the gaming area is our role playing games (RPG) section, which usually has a table set up for RPG games. We keep our boosters of miniatures, RPG books (New and Used), and maps.  We carry many different RPG titles like D&D, Pathfinder, Legend of the Five Rings, Eclipse Phase, and so much more!

At the back of the island, facing into the gaming area you find our miniature paints, dice, CCG binders, some play mats, and darts.  Oh, yes DARTS!  So many people play in leagues in the area, but there are so few places to find flights, shafts, tips, and other dart accessories.

The wall opposite the comics and around the other side of the island you find miniatures and video games.  Starting at the back of the store, you run into the miniature section of the wall.  We carry game companies such as Games Workshop (Warhammer and Warhammer 40K), Privateer Press (Warmachine and Hordes), Spartan Miniatures (Uncharted Seas, Dystopian Wars, and Firestorm Armada), and some other titles like Battletech, Malifaux, and Infinity.

As you move down the wall, you will see all the video games, and video game systems.  We carry new games as well as retro.  Looking for Nintendo (Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Gamecube, and Wii), X-box, X-Box 360, PlayStation (1, 2, and 3), Sega (Master System, Genesis, CD, Saturn, and Dreamcast), or even Atari... we've got it!  We also have a tech in the store who can fix most problems with current and older systems.  In the island across from the wall we keep the hand held games.  These range from the original Nintendo Gameboy to the 3DS.  We also have PSPs, Sega Game Gears, and even a Nomad!

Right next to the register we have some more snacks.  Here we keep some of the really cool imports from Japan and Ireland!  Drinks, candies, chips, and cookies! We also have energy drinks in this case, as well as in the mini fridge right behind the counter if you want one cold.

So now you have had the grand tour.  I did not have space to put in all the pictures of the store or all the cases, but I wanted to leave some mystery or intrigue so that you are enticed into stopping by and checking us out.  And if you are curious, we run events on those tables every night of the week, and you should check out our calendar for more information.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Battletech Introductory Box Set

Did you ever play Battletech when you were growing up?  Do you remember FASA? Have you ever desired piloting a giant 'Mech into combat for the glory of your House or Clan? Then you need to check out the Battletech Introductory Box Set!  This new introductory box set is now being produced by Catalyst Game Lab, who also makes some other great games! We at the Dragon's Den felt that it was time to break this open and play a round or two.

We got the box set out for the store, now that it is available at one of our distributors.  As several of us remembered the game from our youth, we were excited to give the new intro box a try.  We went very basic with a light mech each... well, they had 50 tonnage mechs and I had a 40.  We went with the very basic/core rules and did not worry about heat or ammo.  Steve, Tom and I had a blast and after immobilizing me they turned on each other, with Tom winning the event!

The pieces are all made out of plastic, and are single cast... except for the 2 premium pieces Thor and Loki.  The board is more like a board game board, but is printed on both sides to give you 2 double sided maps for more play options.

While we were playing, Stan got into painting the pieces and gave each one a quick prime coat of either Red, Grey, or Silver.  The pieces we were using ended up blue as did the Thor.  The Loki got a separate color and we went with green.  We may have gone with some Marvel Comic colors with that...Thor blue and Loki green!

So as we have several copies in the store, with the pieces all base coated, then you should come in and give this great game a try.  We now have several copies of the game as of when this blog was posted.

 



Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Making Sense of Marvel

I grew up as a "Marvel Zombie". I always thought their characters and stories were superior to The Boy Scout (Superman) and his friends. The Avengers were cool, I thought. The X-men by Claremont were the best-sellers for -decades-, and everything else was big and fun and flashy and all that. Marvel rocked. DC = zzzzz.

But the last couple years have not been kind to Stan Lee's wunderkinds. Event fatigue, the $4 price point, Marvel editorial's reluctance to care much about continuity (the hallmark of great Marvel comics) and the feeling that not every comic matter... all these factors led to people walking away from Marvel comics.

To be blunt, I question whether the last couple years worth of Marvel comics have held up, quality-wise. It feels to me that Marvel's last great story was Civil War. I think most of you will agree that CW was a great mini-series, but the follow-ups have not been nearly as strong. Secret Invasion was too long (and felt like a series of boring fights in The Savage Land), Dark Reign was, well, Dark and Siege was.. honestly, I don't even remember what happened in it. The Spider-Man One Last Day story is still loathed by many readers (not all good press is bad press, Marvel) and then there's Fear Itself which just wrapped up.

I promoted Fear Itself pretty heavily in the months leading up to it's launch. I did a 1-on-1 phone interview with Matt Fraction about the series, put up signs, mentioned it to customers, and when the book shipped I was... underwhelemed. It was good, mind you, but it wasn't GREAT.

And maybe my expectations are high (tell me if they are), but if you or I are spending $4 on a comic, it better be GREAT. Money doesn't go as far as it used to, and every dollar counts. It's a different world, and comics are not a necessity. Gas, food and rent are. So, if I'm going to recommend a comic to someone, and it's $4, it'd better be worth every cent. I'm not certain that Fear Itself was worth the money. I hate saying that 'cause I love a lot of Fraction's (Hello, Casanova!) other works, but FI just didn't do it for me.

Now don't get me wrong, there's been other good stories since Civil War. The Annihilation stories were top-notch, World War Hulk and Planet Hulk were superb, and the long-form Death of Captain America story that Brubaker wrote in the Captain America book was fantastic.

But most of Marvel's recent output comes off as "ehh-" worthy. The only exception would be Uncanny X-force. While the recent Hulk and X-men relaunches have done very well, The Dark Angel Saga is, in my mind, the best story Marvel's published in years. The Avengers titles feel like a re-tread. Norman Osborn, again? Really? Seriously, let's give that guy a break already.

Before the holidays, Marvel cancelled a number of new mini-series, and also announced that they'd be double-shipping a lot of their best books in the spring. This is clearly a cash grab, leading to increased revenue, but it also has the potential to push people away from their comics. I have a number of customers who only come in once or twice a month to grab books off the wall. Imagine coming in, having $8-10 to spend on your favorite 3 titles, only to find that there's been 2-3 issues of each published while you were gone. $10? Try $20, easily. That's not fair to the consumer, but Marvel doesn't seem to care. That may sound harsh, but it's true.

So, where does Marvel go from here? Well, you're going to see a lot of your favorite books being double- and triple-published over the next year. Another Avengers book is on the way, in addition to the next Marvel event, Avengers v. X-Men. I think you're going to less mini-series being published, and that's something that's way over-due. Not because the books are bad, but because Marvel has been flooding the market.

In a way, I think Marvel owes DC. If it wasn't for the influx of new customers that The New 52 has created, I think Marvel's numbers would be even lower.

As always, you the customer, will vote with your dollar. Right now, your dollars are going to DC, not Marvel and your feedback to me supports that. In the end, Marvel's going to have to make some changes or face the new reality that DC is the #1 publisher in the Direct Market. Maybe that will make Marvel change.

'Nuff said.

S.

Looking Ahead - Feb/March 2012

Happy New Year!

I am as excited about comics in 2012 as I have been in awhile. The success of The New 52 is the gift that keeps on giving: We're starting to see sell-outs across the board, as we get more and more new customers. I'm fairly certain we're going to see some new announcements from DC within the next month or two, so keep your eyes peeled to teh interwebs for more info. In addition,  new works by Robert Kirkman, Nick Spencer, Ed Brubaker, and other fan-favorite creators have been announced, and it's only January.

On top of all that comic goodness, we've got movies for The Avengers, Batman, The Hobbit and more. The dwarves singing in The Hobbit trailer gives me goosebumps. I know it's easy to get down with all the economic news, gas prices and such, not to mention the fact that we're in an election year - I've barely recovered from the last one - but it's going to be a great year for comic fans.

Speaking of fan-favorite creators doing their own thing, let's start the year off with a bang. 

SAGA #1 
by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Comixology Link for Reservists

* Y The Last Man's BRIAN K. VAUGHAN returns to comics! We all know Y The Last Man, right? One of the best books of the 00's, it propelled it's creators into household names. While Vaughan went off to Hollywood to make the Big Green TV Dollars, he's kept his foot in the comic door, doing small projects here and there, and now he's back with his newest series, SAGA. Billed as Star Wars meets Game of Thrones, and the first issue is double-sized for only $2.99.

INFESTATION 2
by Duane Swierczynski and David Messina
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Zombies vs. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Okay, I'm sold. The TMNT re-launch from IDW has done gangbusters and last year's Infestation cross-over was very popular. Now the zombies are back, and infiltrating the GI Joe, TMNT, D&D and Transformers universes. TURTLE POWER meets AUTOBOTS, TRANSFORM meets I CAST A FIREBALL meets YO JOE meets UGGGHHRHRH BRAINS.

Links to other parts of Infestation 2:

Infestation 2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Infestation 2 Transformers
Infestation 2 GI Joe
Infestation 2 Dungeons & Dragons
Infestation 2 Team Up

SUPURBIA #1
by Grace Randolph and Russell Dauterman
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I hate the Housewives franchises, but this just makes me laugh. Supurbia is the "behind-the-scenes... TMZ-fueled" story of what happens when the superheroes come home, take off the costumers, and sit down to eat a meal with the Mrs. and the kids. I expect this to be slightly raunchy, possibly inappropriate, and the Guilty Pleasure of All Guilty Pleasures. I will never admit to reading this in public, but you know it's going to happen.

BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #1
by Adam Beechen, Derek Fridolfs, Dustin Nguyen and Norm Breyfogle
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Terry McGuinnes returns! Batman Beyond was one of the casualties of The New 52 DC relaunch, and I'm psyched to see it return in a new format. In a thicker-than-normal 48 pages, you also get a back-up story featuring the Justice League Unlimited team.

FAIREST #1
by Bill Willingham, Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning
Comixology Link for Reservists
*Who's the Fairest of them All? Featuring all-new tales of the female characters from Fables, Bill Willingham dives even deeper into the Fables universe. The Fables comic, much like Y The Last Man, has been one of the most consistent comics out there, with no ending in sight. This is a great jumping-on point for anyone looking to learn more about these classic characters, and adds depth for any current Fables readers.

ROCKETEER ADVENTURES 2 #1
by Various Creators
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Noone drew Betty Page quite like Dave Stevens. Returning for another round of creator tributes, IDW has put together a second mini-series featuring the much-beloved character. (My goal with this mini-series is to make sure I have enough copies for everyone this time.)

AVENGERS vs. X-MEN
by "The Architects"
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I wish Marvel would publish more "big event comics", don't you? .... yeah, I got nothing here. Here's hoping it's less disappointing that Fear Itself. Is that a good sales pitch? Oh, who am I kidding, we're going to sell a ton of this of just on the name.

THIEF OF THIEVES #1
by Kirman, Spencer & Shawn Martinboough
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Ooh yes.. yesyesyes. Robert "Walking Dead" Kirman and Nick "Morning Glories" Spencer team. Given how fast Morning Glories #1 flew out of here last year, and given that Walking Dead #1 sells for hundreds of dollars, I guess I don't have to tell you how hot Kirkman and Spencer are. These creators working together means that this book will not only be hot and highly sought-after, but it's going to be a great comic, too. Oh yeah, what's it about? Something about thieves, I'm sure. :) Seriously, these two writers working together is all you need.

DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD #1
by Selwyn Sefu Hinds, Denys Cowan and John Floyd
Comixology Link for Reservists
* What comics need is an ongoing voodoo/mystery series set in New Orlea- Oh. There you are. I swear, the editors at Vertigo are mind readers. I was thinking the other day, "I can't wait for Treme season 3 to start on HBO, I love a good story in New Orleans." And BOOM!, now there's a new comic for me to salivate over. "Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child" is too long for a title, but I can forgive them for that small transgression. The series takes place in post-Katrina New Orleans, and explores the hidden mystery of the Voodoo Queens and their role in shaping the events in The Big Easy. This looks very intriguing. Check out the first issue when it ships.

WINTER SOLDIER #1
by Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I'm alright with Ed Brubaker writing more Bucky-as-badass comics. Ed Brubaker has done a terrific job with the Captain America franchise for years. Giving Bucky his own title as the Winter Soldier is one of the few new Marvel #1's that I can truly get behind, because I trust the creator implicitly. This is going to be Bucky working behind-the-scenes in the Marvel Universe, and if it's anything like the recently-released Fatale, it's going to be dark and very cool.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF D.B. COOPER #1
by Brian Churilla
Comixology Link for Reservists
* So, he jumped out of an airplace with a bag of stolen money, and noone ever found him? I didn't know who DB Cooper was until a year or two back, when I caught a cable special, talking about "the only unsolved air piracy in American aviation history." More here.  It's a fascinating story, so getting a comic book that plays off of that should be something different and unique.

THE TWELVE #9
by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston
Comixology Link for Reservists
* The Twelve Return: Ladies and gentlemen, Hell hath frozen over. The Twelve is a confounding beast. This 12 issue mini-series started when I was still a music teacher upstate, but stalled after 8 issues. What made the late-shipping so irritating is that The Twelve was really, really good; Perhaps writer J. Michael Straczynski's best work in comics, to be honest. A lot of retailers got behind the book, many were calling it Marvel's Watchmen, but that joy led to frustration for readers when the issues started getting farther and farther behind. The book is all done, and will be shipping the last several issues over the next couple months. In addition, Marvel has put out a softcover of issues 1-6 and a reprint of issues 7 & 8, so anyone who wants to jump in, can. I'll say it again, just because it may be hard to believe: The book is completely done. So, have no fears that it won't be finished.

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT #1
by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Jonathan Hickman loves science-fiction and it shows. The Manhattan Project is another Image mini-series by Jonathan Hickman, writer of Marvel's FF, Fantastic Four and Ultimates. This story is an alternate timeline, where "black" projects were taking place behind the scenes of The Manhattan Project. Last year's The Red Wing was superb, as were Hickman's other Image mini-series (Pax Romana, Red Mass for Mars, Transhuman, and The Nightly News). I love seeing new creators keep their feet in superhero work, while staying true to other genre work at other publishers. This is why, incidentally, Image is going to be my publisher to watch this year: They're knocking it out of the park.

SUPERCROOKS #1
by Mark Millar and Leinil Francis Yu
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Another Mark Millar mini-series? Works for me. Millar has his own style and has been moving away from superhero comics for awhile, his last work being on the Ultimates line last year. He seems more interested in telling his own stories, his own way. I'm okay with that, as long as he can get them out on time, which is a perception shared by both readers and retailers. Supercrooks is an Ocean's Eleven-type story, featuring all supervillains pulling off "one last heist", in Spain. OLE!

COLDEST CITY HC
by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Being a spy sounds fun, until everyone wants what you want, and you're on your own. When you grow up reading the adventures of Jack Ryan, and one of your favorite movies is The Hunt for Red October, it's going to be hard to turn down a good Cold War yarn. Antony Johnston, who I've mentioned here before for his incredible work on Wasteland, has written a graphic novel about spies in Berlin before the war went down. Look, that should be enough for anyone who's ever loved a Tom Clancy book; The Cold War is and has been rife with fiction opportunities, and I'm glad to see another writer telling a tale of suspense and espionage.

FLASHPOINT THE WORLD OF BATMAN SC
by Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso and various
Comixology Link for Reservists
* The best Batman story in YEARS.. is collected in Flashpoint The World of Flashpoint featuring Batman. This collection contains the Batman: Knight of Vengeance mini-series from last year's Flashpoint event, plus several other great stories. But this book is worth it, just for the Batman story alone. In the Flashpoint reality, Bruce Wayne was killed while his father, Thomas Wayne watched. Now, Thomas Wayne wears the cowl, but he's old and weary... and that's all I'm going to say about this story, because any more detail would spoil it. This book comes with our highest recommendations!

Publisher links for product shipping in March 2012:

Dark Horse: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=3
DC Comics: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=1
IDW: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=12
Image: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=4
Marvel: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=2
Vertigo: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=1&i=3
Zenescope: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=47