It makes a sad sense. The only books they shelved were from the Big Two and really popular licensed content, and tried to live on the margins of a marginalized industry, feeding off of a diet of tourists. In an area where rent is finally getting out of control, the tourist-only market proved too lean.
So there was the only my main shop, Pulp Fiction.
They had an arrangement with Food Bank LA where patrons could make a donation and earn more Free Comic Book Day books.
I made a cash donation and was allotted 11 books, twelve actually, since the shop was giving away the DC Nation #0 book, which was priced at a quarter. I guess they had so many they decided that everyone would get one no matter what.
Here's the haul:
The DC Nation #0 is in the first spot, followed by, in Row 1: Image's Barrier #1 (of 5), a western-meets-sci-fi that is set to come out weekly for five weeks, and while I also got issue #2 on Wednesday, I've yet to read either; Bongo Comics' Simpson FCBD Special; and Valiant's FCBD special, the main book I go out for.
Row 2 has Scout Comic's edition for the Day, with excerpts about a mall robbery as well as some of their other fare, all of which I'm ignorant of, something I should remedy. Next is the 2000AD FCBD edition, followed by the Oni edition. Britain's 2000AD put together what looks like a kid's style book, much less dark than the normal Judge Dredd universe material, and Oni produced a nice little taste of Cullen Bunn's latest western fare. Next was for my students, a young reader's Star Wars Adventures book about Han and Chewie.
Row 3 stats with the Aftershock FCBD edition, with a preiview of their new sci-fi series and a taste of other offerings. Next is a book I didn't know would be available, but was excited about; a Metabaron piece from the Jodoverse by Humanoids. After that is Terry Moore's newest Strangers in Paradise preview, which looks great; and bringing up the last spot is a collection of the "World's Greatest Cartoonists." Those kinds of collections I really enjoy because they tend to be exclusively writer/artists with unique looks you'd be hard pressed to find outside of Drawn and Quarterly or Fantagraphics, and they always have interesting things to say.
I haven't read all the books I plan on reading from this haul, but if anything is amazing and needs a write up, it'll be here.
