It’s a little known truth that I went to Nottingham Girls’ High School.

Not when I was young, you understand – it’s not something I claim on my CV somewhere between Prep School and Nottingham University. But last month I was very kindly invited to address 30 or so school librarians there, and dutifully packed my trolley suitcase with 60-odd graphic novels I thought would prove enlightening in a show-and-tell for different age ranges and different environments (urban school libraries do tend to stock differently than those enjoying the fresh air and crows cawing in the countryside).

I did feel a bit like a travelling salesman and, let me tell you, security at the High School is pretty effective! I think I circumnavigated the main building twice before I found a suspicious cleaning lady lax enough to let me in.

Once inside, I couldn’t have asked for a more receptive crowd and after a brief introduction to dispel any fears that I was the comic shop guy off the Simpsons (I think that worked…), we all gathered round the tables to talk about the books themselves: some absolute beauties like CHIGGERS, AMULET, NEW YORK FOUR, BONE, CORALINE, Courtney Crumrin, GRANDVILLE, THE ARRIVAL, TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA, MEANWHILE, PYONG YANG, PERSEPOLIS, ASTERIOS POLYP, 99 WAYS TO TELL A STORY, GRAPHIC NOVELS by Paul Gravett, MAKING COMICS by Scott McCloud, a big dollop of manga and a few of the cooler superhero titles.

Tearing myself away after an animated hour of exuberant chat was a mixed bag of elation and deflation – I just wanted to move straight on to another meeting. Lovely, then, to receive this the following day.

Hi Stephen,

Just a note to say thank you so much for your talk and display at the school librarians’ meeting on Monday.  They (and I) really enjoyed the session – your knowledge and enthusiasm were awe-inspiring and I’m sure that it will lead many of them to visit the bookshop!

If you have a digital copy of the list of books you brought along with you, can you please send me a copy and I’ll put it in with the minutes (no problem if you haven’t as I still have my printed copy and can post it to those who weren’t at the meeting).

Many thanks again

Best wishes

Janet

Janet Huffer
Principal Librarian Education Library Service
Children, Families and Cultural Services Department
Nottinghamshire County Council

Once more, I can’t thank you enough for the invitation, Janet, or the reception. Having had to forgo the pleasure for so long while we built the website etc., 2011 is the year I want to travel!

Oh, and here’s a tip for anyone embarking on a similar trip: always hand out lists of what you’re taking first so potential buyers can take notes on the day for future reference. We’ve already had a visit from Dayncourt School’s librarian for a hefty purchase and, sure enough, she had an annotated copy of that list with her.

Here’s our library page on the website, by the way: LINK.

More letters in a second, but first a burst of news picked up from Twitter etc.

Item! Vote for Page 45 as the comic shop “least likely to resemble an android’s dungeon”! Seriously, Rich Johnston’s hosting an alternative awards ceremony of mirth and mischief at Chicago’s Comic & Entertainment Expo, Page 45 is shortlisted, and at the time of typing, the lines were still open. We’re in the last category here: LINK.

Item! Bryan Lee O’Malley had a birthday recently and posted new and behind-the-scenes Scott Pilgrim images and script. http://flic.kr/p/9k1csW & http://t.co/TIk6PY3

Item! Excellent online comic from Tom Humberstone featuring students protesting over tuition fees. Gorgeously coloured, this man has everything I want in a comics creator: something to say, and the skill with which to say it. LINK.

Item! Wizard Magazine is dead, killed by the internet. A catastrophically popular mag some fifteen years ago, it represented everything wrong with the US and UK comicbook industry by covering nothing but superheroes, promoting speculation by reporting on perceived rise in ‘values’ (hilariously an early Todd McFarlane issue of SPIDER-MAN was supposed to be worth a fortune because it was misprinted) and pandering to the corporations’ every promotional whim, thereby compounding the problems. Its one saving grace some fifteen years ago was that it was genuinely funny. For a couple of years. But the internet leaks information faster than print and the corporations soon found they had equally willing collaborators online. Whoops. Evan Dorkin, “Wizard ceasing publication is the End of an Error.”

Item! Ellen Lindner, creator of Undertow (our copies signed and sketched in) and one of the many WHORES OF MENSA attended the Angoulême festival this year, and spent her time sketching in colour. And what colours they are! It’s like Linda Barry on absinthe: LINK

Item! There’s a readable copy of Frank Miller’s 1987 interview with Koike & Kojima for THE COMICS JOURNAL online. (Frank was drawing the American translations’ covers.) LINK

Item! Also, from THE COMICS JOURNAL, this on Jason Shiga, the creator of MEANWHILE, DOUBLE HAPPINESS etc.: LINK

Item! Occasionally, very occasionally when a customer’s been on a mad spending spree before going on another at Page 45, our credit card terminal asks us to pick up the phone and confirm the identity of whoever’s holding the card. In case the card’s stolen. In case something dodgy is afoot. And one of the first things we’re asked is the name on the card itself, and if the middle name is an initial, the credit card holder is then asked to confirm what his middle name is. Last month a jovial – and really quite genius – young man was asked what his middle initial D stood for. “Danger, “ he replied. The voice on the other end went quiet. “No really. Danger is my middle name.” He’d changed it by deed poll so he could proudly pronounce that Danger was his middle name. And get his credit card confiscated.

Item! New FINDER site here: LINK.

Item! Westminster Libraries wants submissions for Comics Art Exhibition in early April! LINK

Item! In my review celebrating the riotous triumph of ZITA THE SPACEGIRL, you may have read me agreeing Jamie Smart (SPACE RAOUL, UBU BUBU) about setting higher standards for children’s comics. Here’s his original blog on the subject: LINK

Item! Interview with ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY’s Chris Ware by Matthias Wivel on The Comics Journal website: LINK

Item! Debate goes on about the future of comic shops in the wake of all that is virtual. It’s a short but sweet article. The terrible thing is that it will actually be news to some: LINK

Item! There’s a new graphic novel by iconoclast Tom Gauld coming out from Drawn & Quarterly later this year. It’s called GOLIATH. LINK

Item! Author Philip Pullman recently wrote this of Bryan Talbot’s GRANDVILLE and GRANDVILLE MON AMOUR:

“I have indeed seen and greatly enjoyed your Grandville books. I think they’re superbly designed, beautifully conceived, admirably written,­ everything about them is terrific. They really show what the form can do. Comics is so rich a medium now that it can accommodate all kinds of wit and irony and self-referentiality without being arch about it. But the successful comic or graphic novel still has to build, just as film does, on the solid foundation of a strong story. I’m full of admiration for what you’ve achieved in these stories, and I hope we’ll see many more.”

GRANDVILLE trailer: LINK

Bryan will be signing and sketching at 4pm, 26^th March, at Plan B Books, 5 Osborne St, Glasgow G1 5RB. Tel: 0141 2371137.

Item! We want to compile a resource for new or potential UK self-publishers including a list of printers they could use. Do you use UK printers for small runs of comics and graphic novels. Please email us at page45@page45.com with details so we can pass them on and publish them elsewhere on this site.

Item! Two vital resources for any comic student or casual reader are Paul Gravett’s website with its attendant Comica! Events. LINK

Item! Every letter column should have some background music, so here are two exceptional cover versions from The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde. Radiohead’s Creep: LINK. Morrissey’s Every Day Is Like Sunday: LINK

Now here’s a cracking question from customer Ben Read who, four months after the launch of the website, currently holds the record for biggest-ever online spending spree. You’ll have to go some way to beat it, but we’ll let you know if you do, and give you a great big public shout-out too!

Amigos,

Thank you (once again) for an extremely kind gift. The signed Locke & Key was a fantastic bonus. All the more so in fact, because it’s one of the comics that I’ve pressed on friends as a gift and had missing from my shelf. (I do that with I Kill Giants a lot too, which is why I keep re-ordering it). Truly thoughtful of you, thank you.

Been away for a week so only just got to my parcel. Completely blown away by Weathercraft. Amazing piece of work. Funnily enough, my next brain pick question was going to be – can you recommend any good examples of ‘silent’ comics? I’m looking to do a ridiculously ambitious, long-form, no-dialogue piece, and would very much like to (steal) research whatever storytelling methods have been used to do this previously. Any thoughts?

All the best,

Ben x

P.S. Teaser to project: LINK!

Many thoughts – and a quick scurry round the shelves and a scamper down Memory Lane – reminded me of some of my all-time favourite comics:

Weathercraft by Jim Woodring
The Portable Frank by Jim Woodring
BLOOD SONG by Eric Drooker
FLOOD by Eric Drooker
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
The Last Lonely Saturday by Jordan Crane
He Done Her Wrong by Milt Gross
Graphic Witness anthology 
CEREBUS ZERO by Dave Sim (2 out of the three stories)
CEREBUS WORLD TOUR contains at least one classic silent strip by Barry Windsor-Smith, and another game of consequences between Dave and Chester Brown.
ROBOT DREAMS by Sara Varon
AGE OF REPTILES by Ricardo Delgado
THE SAGA OF REX by Michel Gagné
ALMOST SILENT by Jason
WHAT I DID by Jason – (the SSHHHH! part)
FOX BUNNY FUNNY by Andy Hartzell
Notes Over Yonder by Scott Morse
New Engineering by Yuichi Yokayama
Travel by Yuichi Yokoyama
Actions Speak by Sergio Aragonés
H DAY by Renée French
Quimby The Mouse by Chris Ware (roughly half of the strips, anyway)
THE BAKERS: DOES THIS BELONG SOMEWHERE? (over half the strips)
TRAGIC RELIEF by Colleen Frakes
METRONOME by Véronique Tanaka AKA Bryan Talbot
A.L.I.E.E.E.N. by Lewis Trondheim
MISTER I by Lewis Trondheim
Mister O by Lewis Trondheim
WALKING SHADOWS by Neil Bousfield
THE WALKING MAN by Jiro Taniguchi… 

… and, of course, every single one of Andy Runton’s OWLY books.

Alas Peter Kuper’s THE SYSTEM, a visual relay race through the heart of a city, is out of print at the time of typing, but there are massive chunks of CEREBUS that are silent, most notably the incarceration scenes in JAKA’S STORY. Reading it as a book, it’s easy to forget how radical it was as a periodical: page after page of barred prison doors barely lit from above.

Also, CATS ARE WEIRD and CAT GETTING OUT OF A BAG by Jeffrey Brown are mostly silent short pieces, Top Shelf published at least one younger-readers KORGI book that was silent, every single GON was silent, and Marvel dedicated an entire month to silent comics with mixed results. Certainly Chris Claremont was somewhat taken aback.

If you can think of more (there are bound to be more) please do email us at page45@page45.com and listen for the sound of me slapping my forehead at the other end. Chris ‘Waterworks’ Craven certainly wasn’t shy about sending us this:

First let me say one thing… Damn you, Stephen!!!!

It’s going to be one of those letters.

Right, glad I got that off my chest.

We all feel better for it.

The reason for the damning is due to Stephen’s choice for my annual “hey it’s christmas so i will treat myself to a graphic novel to read over the festive period and hope it doesn’t make me cry like Magneto: Testament did”. (By the way I am working on that name so I have something snappier for this year).

As he may remember he handed me a little book called Forgetless by a chap called Nick Spencer. To sell it me i’m sure he used some of the following words: your sense of humour, Bendis, Hickman and fractured narrative. Obviously I had to purchase this book and upon reading found that all of these words used to sell me this book were indeed present and correct. To cut a long story short I loved it, very funny and extremely well written.

This obviously lead to me googling this chap Nick Spencer to see what else he did, and the thing that kept popping up in the search engine were two words, Morning Glories. Hmmm I said to myself I wonder what that is, there seems to be a lot of articles about this book on CBR. So I went and had a look and read a little interview they did with Nick about the first two issues. Doing my best to avoid spoilers I skimmed through the article, saw some gorgeous artwork and kept seeing words such as Lost, Runaways and Battlestar Galactica. Again I thought, well I like those things (I would stretch to love for Battlestar) maybe I should give this book a go and then I remembered a little promise I made to El, that I would try and cut back on my comic spending due to our impending nuptials (as you can tell by my frequent visits every Thursday, that’s going well!!!) so to please the little lady I thought i would wait for the trade of the first arc and just stick to buying the trades.

Because you’re reeeeeaaaally good at comicbook self-control, aren’t you, Chris?

So last Thursday I purchased Morning Glories and left it to one side while I read that week’s new books and finished re-reading Preacher (which was as good if not better than I remembered). This takes us to last night when before bed I decided to have a read of the first issue of Morning Glories, expecting to leave the rest of the book when I got home from work today. That didn’t happen as I read the whole thing last night. 

The reason for this long and rather rambling email is that I really enjoyed it, no hang on I LOVED this book. At first I had it written off as a kind of x-men type book as clearly all the kids would have super powers right?? Wrong! What I got instead was a book with interesting characters, gorgeous artwork and one heck of a hook. Sciency stuff mixing with supernatural stuff, classic John Hughes esque school stuff and evil teachers… I’m on board with his book till the end. I’ve read that Nick Spencer has the book planned to go up to 75 issues at least with less of the short-term payoff story and more of the long-term story instead and I will be there with him.

Needless to say I cannot, nay will not wait for the trade so could you please add me for Morning Glories as of the latest issue which I think is 7 due this week?

All the best and see you Thursday

Chris

P.S That damn you Stephen is a thank you for introducing me to the wonderful writer Nick Spencer and Morning Glories. Now all I have to do is try and avoid buying Existence 2.0/3.0

Hahahaha. Yeah, good luck with that. Also, add SHUDDERTOWN to the list and the exceptional INFINITE VACATION #1 (reorders in) which I reviewed here: LINK.

Nick Spencer just blasted in from nowhere (well, he was certainly way off my radar until I caught the preview of EXISTENCE 2.0 #1) with a ridiculous number of books at once that have never failed to disappoint. I hadn’t realised Morning Glories was such a long-form project, so thanks for that.

A chap called Stuart wrote on our Bookface wall:

Hello Page 45. I was up in Nottingham last weekend (doing an exhibition at the Malt Cross Gallery – go have a look!) and i popped in and got a Chris Ware book – the one with the red cover, his more “lighthearted” stuff to supposedly distract himself from the bleak/sad stuff. It’s super good. Anyway, when I was in there I saw a Daniel Clowes “Wilson” promo poster and asked if you had any more. The guy behind the counter said that they were around and that if he found them he would send me one.

IT ARRIVED TODAY! So, I’d like to say thank you. THANK YOU! I REALLY appreciate you guys going beyond etc. I live in London now but my wife once lived in Nottingham and I spent considerable time and $£$£ in Page 45 about 6 years ago and it’s good to see that the place is still tip top and the staff are still super duper.

Thanks again.

Stuart.

You’re very welcome, mate. We gave those prints out free of charge with our first fifty WILSON sales, but I’d manage to hide (read: lose) a couple behind the counter.

Seeing as you live in London now, I hope you shop at Gosh! opposite the British Museum. They’ve just celebrated their 25^th Anniversary which is mind-blowing for any independent retailer these days. I am in awe.

Anyone attending our own 10^th or 15^th Anniversary Booze Bashes may well have met the most loyal of the loyal, Ian Hunter and his wife Joanna. Ian writes:

Joanna & I brought her cousin, Jane, to see Page 45 on Saturday during a Nottingham tour. Having primed her for the visit during a lunch at The Malt Cross I awaited her response with the usual mixture of trepidation and excitement.

Jane swung immediately from: “I bet there aren’t any girls in there”…

50% female customer base.

Over half the Tweets we receive are from women!

We don’t resemble an android’s dungeon!!!

… to “I never realised there was such a range of material available” (I did point out that your fine establishment was quite unique in the range of material you have in store.) You also missed Joanna proudly marching Jane to the Posy Simmonds and Peanuts shelves…

Conversation continued throughout the rest of the day. Seeds have been sown…. Classic Page45 history in the making !

I also noticed Harker vol 2 was in stock – not really a detective fan per se, but I was drawn to the book because I am a long time regular visitor to Whitby.

What a surprise! – The artist has actually either been to Whitby and/or used actual photographic reference of the place. Judging by some of the scenes (e.g. the angles on the swing bridge) I suspect it is the former. Quite the contrast to some of the American artists who draw New York with red double decker buses as a stand-in for London. Seriously thinking of purchasing !

I’ll be in for my Iron Man fix next week regardless !

Best Regards.

Ian

Eur. Ing. Ian Hunter B.Eng, C.Eng, M.I.E.T.

Of course you will. Nowt wrong with that; we love Fraction’s IRON MAN.

However, Vince Danks’ Whitby is a joy to behold. Take a look at the cover and review here: LINK. His sunlit London suburbs, museums and pretty special too, as see in HARKER VOL ONE.

Right, gird yourselves for an epic dissertation on our recent selections for Page 45’s Comicbook Of The Month Club.

Hi

I noticed in one of the blogs that the number of letters/emails had reduced since the website was revamped and relaunched, so I just thought I’d try to redress the balance and send some of my ramblings.

So tea in hand (I know – tea! Should really be red wine but I hit forty last year and came to the sudden realisation that my waist is just going to keep on growing if I don’t do something, so no booze in the week, when I’m at home is my sacrifice… the week being Mon- Wed).

LOL!

(I just LOLled. Am I allowed to LOL or is it now frowned upon?)

Last FM on the laptop – incidentally is this one of the best things about Web 2.0. My own radio station playing stuff I have and stuff I may also like.

Anyway I digress. I had promised myself way back when the Comic Book of the Month club started that I would try to write about what I thought of each of them. Seemed only fair given the discount we get, but I have been a little remiss in this. Time to try and make up for it.

A quick mention for Walker Bean. It really didn’t catch me and, for me, was a rare miss for the CBOTM. I could see the attraction, and it was well executed, but the characters and story just did not manage to hook me. To be fair it may be the time of year. I was reading it in between Christmas and New Year, and it strikes me as a book to be read sat outside in the sun with some chilled white wine to hand. Could be worth another go in the summer.

Always works for me. Your young son will adore it in a few years time.

Having been a little negative about Walker Bean, I have to say that both Special Exits and Crickets were exceptional, the former being possibly one of the most affecting books I have read. As soon as I finished it I started making some notes on the effects, technique, context and possible meanings, which I meant to go back to on a reread. However on just flicking though it again to write this email, I found that it was too emotionally powerful, and I was not quite ready to go back and watch the sad deterioration of that elderly, infuriating, wonderful, human couple, especially Rachel whose journey from plump and pleasant old lady, to the emaciated being at the end brought tears to my eyes when I first read it, and does so now thinking about it and flicking through some of the images.

There is so much talent, skill and experience of the form implicit within the novel that it really deserves a proper, full essay-length analysis carried out on it. Maybe something I might put on my (rarely updated) blog when I get the chance to do it justice. As with all works of art, it enables the reader to view the world a little differently, and just maybe after Special Exits I may be a little more tolerant of the old people getting in the way in the supermarket, or driving so slowly in their cars. Maybe I’ll think, if only for a second, of Lars and Rachel and will have a little more empathy.

Following on from something so good could have been difficult, but Crickets manages it with aplomb. I have to agree with something I saw Jonathan post on the boards, that Sammy Harkham doesn’t put out enough work. I wanted more of the main story. I want to know what happens to these characters. I’ve only really associated Harkham with being the editor of Kramer’s Ergot and have never really taken any notice of his actual work. That’s a mistake I shall be rectifying. He has a style that reminds me of Kevin Huizenga, and he captures how mundane life can be perfectly, rendering it interesting. In particular his attempts at sex with his exhausted wife, and subsequent childish tantrum is something that a lot of fathers, if they are completely honest with themselves, have been guilty of at some point. Sammy Harkham does a good job of taking a subject that would seem beyond the experience of most people (a film editor, no matter how frustrated) and manages to make that into a mirror that reflects some part of the reader’s own existence and experience, even if it does show a part of us we would rather not look at too closely or too often.

Anyway, I’m confident that this month’s CBOTM [Daytripper] will maintain the high standards set. I’ve been meaning to check out something by those brothers since an excellent interview they did with the Comics Journal, so I am very much looking forward to it.

Thanks for listening/reading this long, rambling nonsense, and congratulations on such good February sales. Long may it continue.

Cheers

Marcus [Nyahoe]

Marcus is referring to the news that we’ve just beaten our all-time February sales record by a staggering 12.57%. In the worst year so far of this recession. We beat the record on the shop floor alone, not just through new internet sales. Thanks for that, by the way.

And a big thank you for Marcus for taking the time and trouble to send such an erudite email. In spite of the fact that I spectacularly failed to provide a February letter column and so lost the plot with a correspondence between Jonathan and Alex Sarll about the bleed between Vertigo and DC’s superhero universe, please keep the emails coming.

I’ve always cherished the interaction here, be it on the shop floor or letter columns, and it’s so easy to let the immediacy of Twitter become the sole receptacle now when in fact it’s so very fleeting, not everyone’s cup of tea, and… well, I’m not at my most natural when restricted to 180 characters!

To Whom it May (or may not) Concern…

Shouldn’t really be emailed off my work account, but hey ho, what they don’t know can’t hurt them (unless it’s the fact they don’t know an out of control plane is headed in their general direction. There’s gotta be paid there somewhere).

Anyway, need to stop myself getting distracted, just a quick question really.

I’m a writer. I write all the time, day, night, the times between those two where its kinda darky-light and lighty-dark. I write short stories, novellas, scripts and just letters to clients (the most boring writing I do, of course).

My passion, however, is writing comics and graphic novels. I devote my time between writing to read as many things with pictures in as possible. Only thing is, I’m working on what I’m already calling my magnum opus to myself and the two people I talk to my work about. The whole thing is nearly done, I’m just ironing out any creases I find.

My problem is (drum roll please) I don’t and can’t draw. I have (what I think) is a really good piece of fiction, but with no images to go with it. In any other case I’d translate it into a short story, but this thing feels like it needs to be told in a graphic novel.

The question I need to ask is where can I go from here? Who can I send it to? Why does peanut butter go so well with bananas and jam?

That is all.

It’s enough.

Just in case the history of aviation changes dramatically for the worst and it’s all your fault, I’ve withheld your name but suggest a little trip to our forums if you haven’t already. There are at least two threads here about artists seeking writers or vice-versa: LINK

Or maybe you could meet someone at Writing East Midlands Alt.Fiction event on science-fiction, fantasy and horror writing on June 25^th and June 26^th 2011. http://altfiction.co.uk

For Writing East Midlands, visit http://www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/

I suggest you keep your thoughts on peanut butter to yourself, though, just as I have here in case there are people eating at the computer.

Greetings!

It’s been over a year since we lest sent a badly-disguised spam mail to you: as we write this mail we just happen to be chillin’ in a 17th century chateaux in the region of Angouleme, France – which just happens to be the host city of the largest comics festival in Europe. Thankfully, we’re not just here to drink good wine and eat stinky cheese – we’re here to represent Romanian comics: in fact, it’s our first ever Romanian participation at the festival.

We’ll be launching the BOOK OF GEORGE, a chunky almanac that presents some brand-new Romanian comic talent. We’ve searched far and wide to track down some Romanian comic artists who’ve never been involved with Hardcomics before, and have come up with some real surprises. So, if you’re interested in finding out more about the hot new kids on the comic block, you definitely ought to check out the book – and the site – www.thebookofgeorge.com. Keep your peepers peeled for more information about the Romania launch-party for the book – that is, if we don’t decide to sack it all off and stay in France for the rest of our lives, making cheese and making unnecessarily effusive gesticulations whenever we speak!

The last important piece of information we have to impart is that we’ve changed our email address: due to spam, and the fact that loads of hottie girls have been bugging us non-stop to “hang” with them, we’re now operating via hardcomics@gmail.com. Drop us a line with all your personal problems! And don’t pass it onto you’re hottie sister!

That website is well worth a visit! BOOK OF GEORGE is a quality anthology, you can read each story with its own theme music by clicking on individual titles, but the video itself… Just… watch the hands….

Hi there!

First off, I just wanted to say congratulations on the new website. It took a while, but the wait was clearly worth it in the end! It really has the spirit of the store in it, which is a wonderful thing.

I’d also like to take a moment to say how much I love Page45. To an embarrassing degree. I fully intend to have my ashes scattered on your carpet when I pass on – please don’t hoover me up, ‘kay?  I run the small Graphic Novels section over at Waterstone’s in Derby, and your store is always an inspiration to me, so thank you.

Anyway, the main purpose of my email (other than to say nice things, which is probably reason enough, actually) is a quick query concerning comic back issues. For my sins, I have a big ol box of Image comics from the 90s (mainly the Homage studios stuff like Cyberforce and Wildcats) which I’m feeling a bit stuck with. I don’t really want them anymore, but I’m aware that they don’t really have enough individual value to try selling on ebay or some such site. And I’d feel bad just throwing them all in the recycling – pulping comics is Bad Thing.

I know you guys don’t really do back issues anymore, but do you know of any dealers or persons who might just take the bulk of them for a nominal fee (as I said, I’m well aware they’re not really valuable)? I’d appreciate any advice you can offer.

Anyway, thanks for your time, and all the best to you and the store in 2011.

Regards,

Robert Leahy.

Anyone fancy giving Robert a nominal fee for some truly atrocious comics? Email us at page45@page45.com and we’ll pass your offers on. Otherwise, Robert how about donating them to a school or library to aid their literacy projects? Oh wait, maybe not their literacy projects…

May you live a very long life, Robert: our Tom is allergic to dust.

I leave you now with two items of news. Okay, one advertisement and an item of news. Firstly, the Misfits TV show made me laugh, so…

SCREENLIT CELEBRATES THE SMALL SCREEN:
TELEVISION SCREENWRITER EVENTS (27-30 MARCH)
BROADWAY CINEMA, NOTTINGHAM
http://www.broadway.org.uk/screenlit_2011

MON 28 MARCH, 6.30PM
BAFTA MASTERCLASS: MISFITS WITH HOWARD OVERMAN
Duration: 90m

Misfits appeared like a supercharged lightning storm on E4 in 2009 and went on to win a BAFTA for Best Television Drama for its clever and complex tale of five young offenders who discover that having superhero powers isn’t so super. We are thrilled to welcome creator and writer Howard Overman to reveal where Misfits came from, how it’s written and, perhaps, where it’s going in 2011. The Q&A will be led by freelance script editor and development executive Kate Leys and will be illustrated with clips.

With thanks to Clerkenwell Films, BAFTA, and E4.

Tickets: £7.00 full / £5.50 concs.

BAFTA’s public events and online resources bring you closer to the creative talent behind your favourite games, films, and TV shows. Find out more at http://www.bafta.org/

To buy tickets: http://www.broadway.org.uk/
0115 952 6611
in person at Broadway box office

Secondly I know so many friends who moved to Nottingham because of Selectadisc (R.I.P.), and that makes perfect sense to me.

But I just learned on Twitter that James Sharpe has paid Page 45 that ultimate compliment too:

“The decision to move was based purely on the fact that Nottingham has a proper comic shop (@PageFortyFive).”

Wow.

I sometimes struggle for a punchline, but that’s it.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 11th, 2011 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Various, Letters & Other News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.