Comic Book Resources

Not a good one TBH

I would have waited until after a conversation with a clerk to decide if they were cool or not.

At the SO very least, I would've checked to see if they had a 25% discount on all new items via subscription.

Then waited until the next day and sign up.

Of course with friends like Marissa, you long for the good ol' days of the Cold War, when you knew WHO your enemies are!

!

This is really cute. Does anyone know what comic she grabbed?

Scott Pilgrim, because the other store didn't get theirs...

Actually, my only qualm is that the indy-heavy store would be called "Legends Comics & Cards" with a sword logo. It doesn't really seem to match.

This one isn't funny as the last couple preceding it, but its not bad. It does bring up the interesting point of store loyalty. Do most people here feel pretty loyal to their comic store of choice (assuming you live somewhere that has more than one)? I do, though there are a couple of exceptions where I'll cross the line and go to a different shop, those being: a) my shop is out of something I want; b) another store is having a massive sale; or c) I am at a con or some similar event.

Neal K - my philosophy is exactly the same. I actually drive further to get to my weekly LCS than I need to, and the closer store has a consistently better selection of books that aren't on my pull list.

Dan, yeah, I got the same vibe at first. After seeing the name of the store, I thought it was going to be a gaming heavy store with a limited selection of comics.

What a bitch!

Why does it look like Borders?? Do comic shops in the States only display spines of TPBs now? Where are the floppies?
For that matter, where are the cards they allegedly sell??

Josh's shop looks like it has more soul...

So Marissa will be right at home here!

I still go to my LCS, which is three hours away, even though there are a couple in city I live in. Loyalty to an extreme on that one.

Yeah, I can't buy that it's the "cool" store but has "cards" right in its name.

The name's a really, really inside reference, so that's totally my bad if it doesn't work.

I basically used it so that in 40 years, when I write my memoirs, I can cite it and go, "See? See what I did there?"

Sorry recent ones have been good but this is a bit weak.

Hey guys when I was about to leave a comment just now the blanks had already filled in Sean Whitmore and comiccritics.com for my name and website. Does this happen for anybody else? Don't want random wankers like me giving ol' Sean a bad name, or worse name, or something....

One thing I notice about this one and the last one is that it no longer puts all its eggs in one basket, namely the final panel, when it comes to being funny. Instead of just being a long set up to a single punchline in the final panel, they seem to be peppering clever, funny phrases throughout the strips. Like that line "Yeah, I don't know what I was trying to get away with just then." was probably even funnier than the punchline.

I was neutral on the new art style before but it's growing on me.

Hey guys when I was about to leave a comment just now the blanks had already filled in Sean Whitmore and comiccritics.com for my name and website. Does this happen for anybody else? Don’t want random wankers like me giving ol’ Sean a bad name, or worse name, or something….

The same thing happened to someone last week, too. It's weird, the site is just remembering who commented last without being asked to.

Still 3-4 panels too long to be really funny. I'd love more economy with the storytelling. And even for it to actually end on the punchline.

Strangely enough, the "Yeah, I don't know what I was trying to get away with just then" line is probably the funniest thing that's been in this comic's entire run. For a number of reasons, chief among them, I think, that it's subtle. It's not in the last panel, it's not set up as a grand punchline, and it's funnier because of that. Most of the Comic Critics strips put far too much effort into setting up a weak punchline, which to me takes it beyond simply "not funny" to "I feel slightly insulted by this".

On the whole, this is definitely a weak strip, but panel three gives me some hope that Sean Whitmore does have potential to be a better writer in the future.

That said, am I the only one who feels that both of the main characters are really unlikeable? Marissa is a hateful, snotty bitch, and the dude, what's his name? Josh? is just stupid, and not usually in a funny way.

If we're talking retailer "loyalty", I've been doing mail order from my high school retailer cross country for fifteen years, even if/when there are "comics shops" (or rather pathetic excuses thereof) locally. Even when I go to my LCS now, if there's a book on the shelf I want, I will call long distance on my cell to double check to see if my mail order retailer's already pulled it for me before picking it up.

But onto the strip:

Brandon -

The interior of the comic shop doesn't look like a comics shop at all. It looks more like a bookstore. I'm all for spine out TPB / HC shelves, but there probably should have been a shelf of covers facing the viewer, too. And in panel 6, you've broken away from your established backdrop by eliminating the table with the Scott Pilgrim book display that you showed in Panel 3.

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Tekende:

"That said, am I the only one who feels that both of the main characters are really unlikeable? Marissa is a hateful, snotty bitch, and the dude, what’s his name? Josh? is just stupid, and not usually in a funny way."

I can't say whether you're the ONLY one who might feel that way, but I do not agree with your assessment of the characters either. I don't think Sean's really made either of them well rounded yet, and plays them a bit too much to type. Because they are played so heavily to type, the humor may seem predictable at times, forced at others.