Broke-In
I am NO LONGER a comicbook store VIRGIN
I know all you comic fans out there, who know how much i adore comics (and so on and so forth) have probably just fainted out of your chairs and onto the floor, but it's true. Until yesterday i had never been in what you can actually deem an honest to god COMIC BOOK STORE!
All of my life i've bought comics in grocery stores, or newspaper stands. Oh and later off the internet. We had a card shop for a short time in our neighboring town which sold comic like stuff, but it lasted a whole day and the best i did was stand in the doorway one day when one of my friends) ran in to see if they would buy a space of advertising for our school yearbook (they told her no. Funny, they were out of business when i stopped by the following month after saving up some cash. SO HA HA YOU CHEAPOS, GUESS YOU SHOULD HAVE ADVERTISED!) Ahem... i mean i'm not bitter 13 years later. lol (i'll bitch out the yearbook advertising fiasco another day... ANYWAY...!!!)
So i FINALLY got my arse into a real comic book stores. Now I know i've told a few of you that yes, america is FULL of comic book stores and that there are indeed at least 3 or 4 stores within about an hour drive from myself. And i have gone to a few of them, so i guess i'm not being 100% accurate when i say that i'm a comic book store VIRGIN. I've been in tiny back rooms of a house where some guy has tried to shove as many comics as he can into one room and call it a "comic book store". But baby, yesterday was the real thing. The thing you see in Chasing Amy (er i think it's Chasing Amy).
Johnsonville? Johnstown? Something like that has a comicbook store called "Big Kitty Comics" (or at least i think that's what it was called, i mix it up with Corning's Fat Cat's Bar). This place was head to toe comics. Organized, full of comic fans (well Jesse and Dave did say it seemed a bit busier than usual, but whatever it was a lovely atmosphere). They had entire BINS of comics as well as shelves of trades. In addition there was stuff for hardcore D&D people (a group which i do not fall into, but my boyfriend does so he was happy).
Anyway i was wandering about taking in the sights (I KID YOU NOT THE GUY WORKING LOOKED LIKE KEVIN SMITH!) and petting the cat (they really have cats wandering around in there. That amused me even more so) who was named Lex (of course he was)... when suddenly my eyes spotted the 10 for $1.00 bins.
Holy shit, 10 comics for a BUCK!!!??!!
You better believe i went home with exactly 10 comics! (plus a crow book that was 80 percent off. I now have 3 of the crow series. The original graphic novel, the girl crow and now the native american crow... sweet! Although yes i know they're poorly written, but i'm obsessed with the the idea of The Crow, cut me some slack)
In addition i picked up some issues of Spiderman loves MJ (some that i already have in my trade, but i don't care. I love that comic THAT MUCH). And stumbled on a collection of comics from one of the websites i'm a member of: Digital Webbing (they draw Bloodrayne as well). 
As for the lighter and more indy amusing side i found THE GLOOM. It's a campy jab at Batman and the Shadow and I LOVE it. I mean come on with a tag that reads: TRAPPED BY NAZIS! and a tiny review on the cover that reads "by this book, sell a kidney if you have to" I'm telling you this comic rocks. Uggabugga gang, if you guys are reading this blog, it is SOOOO ASJ Humor. I'm sure you'll love it.
I also found an interesting american comic about a female samurai entitled: Dark Mists: Kuroi Kiri. I have no idea what it's about yet or if it is good. Sadly I was only able to get ahold of issues 3 and 4 so i'll see if i can hunt down the rest online (ohhhhh Jessseeee... he is the king of finding comics online). But the art has blown me away (it's the same as the cover you see here) so you better believe i snagged that too. Itlooks very Josh Middleton to me. And frankly Josh Middleton, Takeshi Miryazawa and James Jean are my idols, art wise. I might have to add this Yishan Yi to my list.
Finally my biggest find was MOUSEGUARD.
Apparently it has quite the hype following it. Jesse said i was REALLY lucky to have found the first issue in the 10 cent bin. Frankly i'd never heard of it, but dammit the little critters were so adorable. I'm certainly going to look up further issues of this as well.
Which leads me into my next quick bit of info... i may be buying a rat come springbreak. I spent yesterday afternoon hanging out with my co-worker Meisha's rat, Ella and I'm in love. It was so gentle, so sweet. Apparently Meisha has had rats for many years now (sadly the little buggers only stick around for 2 years, which is really what's weighing the heaviest on me right now. Do i really want to invest my time and love into something that someday i'm going to walk into the room and find dead in its cage?
Yes i know dogs and cats and horses die, but it takes about a decade or more. Which i guess you could claim you get MORE attached to those critters as you know they're suppose to stick around longer, but jeez... Ella was just so cute. Anyway my mother will freak i know, but too bad. Mom, i'm out of the house (and don't plan to move back, knock on wood). I'm nearly 30 and when you come to visit, we'll double lock the cage, cover it with a towel and lock the door to the room she's in (i'm getting a girl as i've heard the boys like to drag a certain male organ long the ground and it's really quite gross).
Rats are SMART and clean (Ella is trained to go IN her cage. That's better than some dogs i know who will pee when they feel like it). When they get ill, you don't take them to the vet you just pray they'll pull through and if they don't, they don't (or you have have the put down, the vet will do that). They aren't vicious and bite everyone in the room. If anything they're timid and stay away from folks. They are clean (it's a misconception that they spred disease. Sure WILD rats spread disease, as do wild dogs, cats and deer. It ain't the animals folks, its the FLEAS). They are not flea infested (unless you already have a problem with fleas or let them go outside, which Ella and my possible future girl rat ARE NOT allowed to do). Its basically like having a large gerbil that actually has a brain.
The best part is that they are CHEAP. 5 bucks to buy a rat and 1 buck a month to feed them (plus the penuts that they like to snack on for treats, so that's like an additional 2.99 every month and a half - 2 months or so). Oh and wood chips. I need to ask meisha how much that runs a month. Honestly that looks like another 2 bucks. So 3 or 4 bucks a month to keep a pet that loves to cuddle and be adorable. Isn't noisy. Doesn't need to be walked (they do need to chew on things though) and will freak out my mom. I'm not seeing a downside here. lol.
Anyway, we shall see if i go through with it. I hope so cuz right now i'm really looking forward to it. But we'll have to see if a) i have the time to devote to getting a little one, b) i have the will to take care of something fulltime again (i haven't been fully in charge of an animal since the horse 4 years ago) and c) i can swing buying the cage and other stuff needed to get started.
I"m not worried about the landlord. The downstairs folks have 4 smelly cats that pee in our stairwell (city cats that are indoor/outdoor? am i the only one who sees that as nutty? Do you want your cat to die in the street or get knocked up or diseased?). I think i can have a "gerbil" (as i'll put it if i'm ever asked). Mind you i'm still sneaking the cage in at the dead of night so that the downstairs folks don't see. lol.
Yes i'm a paranoid freak, and i'm ok with that. lol.
Labels: comics, fat kittie comics, mousegard, the gloom
