Wednesday, February 21, 2007

In my LCS

I was in the LCS the other day, and I noticed a woman come in who just appeared too normal to be a regular comics buyer. I chastised myself for unsupported generalization, and then had my guess confirmed when she asked the clerk if the store carried Little Lulu comics. The clerk (who also happened to be a woman) took her over to the all-ages rack and started to show her the stock. I overheard her explaining to the customer clearly and without condescension which books were reprints and how reprint collections worked. She mentioned a Dennis the Menace collection, which the customer thought was very cool, and then started to turn her on to some newer stuff. The transaction seemed to be going successfully from all sides.

I offer this vignette as a bit of a counterpoint to the comic shop horror stories I have read, those anecdotes about rude, obnoxious, or sexist clerks who can't see the forest for the spandex. Comics is a lot of things, and the more the merrier, I say.

At the same time this heartwarming exchange was taking place, I was scanning the shelves, looking for my weekly supply of , um, spandex, and you know what? I came up with nothin'. Wonder Woman, the only remaining monthly (heh) that I am really interested in (since Ant-Man's rough charm is fading fast ) has apparently taken a detour into the Twilight Zone. The recently ballyhooed Countdown holds no interest for me; I dropped off the 52 bandwagon around thirty or so because the quality just wasn't there, and I have no reason to expect this "event" to be any different.

So, I think is is finally the end of my buying pamphlets: the kick just isn't worth the effort anymore. I hadn't bought anything new for years when I started this blog; all the interactions with blogger colleagues and my feeling more connected to current events tempted me back to buying new funnybooks, but the dalliance has left me unsatisfied. So, it's back to the trades for me; I have a list as long as my arm, and I'm going to start working my way through it seriously for a while.

And maybe I'll pick up some Little Lulu along the way.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't knock Little Lulu 'til you've tried it! I inherited some of thos books from an older cousin when I was 6 or 7. They made me laugh out loud! Same for Dennis the Menace. The early Ketchum stuff was hilarious! And his drawing was incredibly detailed and precise then. Other staples at that time were: Richie Rich, Little Lotta, Little Dot and other Harvey titles. I still have them. They are worth many....quarters!

Walaka said...

I'm with ya, dog... Lulu is cool with me. And the early Dennis strips did have quite the edge to them (although it's sort of bland now).

I wasn't try to dis anything - I lurve the diversity that should be in a comics shop.

Marc Burkhardt said...

Little Lulu is definitely the REAL Bomb Queen - whatever that means.

On the LCS front, I saw a normally unfriendly clerk help a young boy track down some early volumes of Bone so THAT warmed my cold, cold heart.

Which instantly froze over again once I flipped through Civil War #7.

I just walked out with just two floppies (Spirit and Iron Fist) and the new Maggie the Mechanic trade and feel pretty good about myself.

Jeff Rients said...

This week I made pretty much the same decision. For now I'm sticking to old back issues, various reprints and trades. I'd like to buy monthly superhero antics but the modern comic scene seems less like a funhouse and more like a minefield.

Unknown said...

POWERS by Brian Michael Bendis should be the only spandex you need if you need a fix.