Hey cats and kittens. Sorry for the long hiatus, but sometimes life gets in the way. Yes, even of comic books.
Last Saturday I attended what's fast becoming an annual ritual for my circle of friends: The Borderlands Annual Sale. You aren't really "one of us" unless you've been to the Borderlands sale at least once. Borderlands is a kick-ass comic/game shop in Greenville, SC (one of the only reasons I wish I lived up that way) and every year they have a massive sale. My buddy
El Jacone and I headed over there to partake in the goodness and were met with the usual sea of nerd-dom waiting outside for the doors to open. In years past I went mainly to stock up on gaming gear (miniatures mostly) but this year I went solely for the comics. Every year they put out several tables of longboxes with 3/$1 comics, and this year was no exception. In addition, their entire back issue stock was half off.
I came away with some really good books, including four early issues of the Grell run of Green Arrow (expect posts on those soon!) and various and sundry Dr. Strange, Moon Knight, Defenders, and Firestorm books, to satisfy my other fanboy urges. I also picked up the first issue of the Marvel Zorro series, which I'm excited about, and an old Gold Key Twilight Zone comic! There were also a few other odds and ends: a random issue of Justice League of America (guest starring the All-Star Squadron!) a random issue of New Teen Titans for fellow comic nerd Joe, and an issue of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (laugh if you want, that shit is GOOD) . The pickings were extremely good this year, although I think I may have cleaned them out of Moon Knight last year. I found a vein of 70's era horror and war comics for El Jacone, who should be posting about those soon, as well as a couple really tattered issues of Strange Tales (117 and 122). At $.33, I can afford to replace them with better copies later.
I also grabbed a couple issues out of the glass case at the front, including 2 issues of the first volume of Doctor Strange (the one that continued the numbering from Strange Tales) and an issue of Strange Tales itself (#124, which I already owned a cruddy copy of) for $5 each.
And then, of course, there was the table full of half-off/$5 whichever-is-cheaper trades, shirts and action figures to rummage through as well. I picked up a Green Lantern tee, a Nightwing tee, the first Legion of Superheroes trade (not sure which reboot), vol. 4 of Preacher, and a Superman Elseworlds (not sure which one). I was kind of caught up in the extiement, so I might have picked up one or two other books as well. One thing that gave El Jacone and I some serious giggles was the action figure selection for this year. It consisted entirely of a Monitor and a Harbinger action figure from the Crisis on Infinite Earths line. That doesn't sound funny, but those figures were the only two left over from last year's sale and they were STILL there at the end of this one. Seems like the good guys just aren't very popular. :)
And finally, I stumbled upon two non-comic related gems that thrilled me to no end. Situated on a shelf that was not immediately visible from the front of the store was a sign that read "all items on this shelf $1." It contained a bunch of roleplaying books, plus back issues of White Dwarf, Knights of the Dinner table and various other magazines. I assumed that the sign referred to the magazines, as $1 for most RPG books is 1/30th of the normal cost. I stopped a passing emplyee and quietly inquired about the rack. Sure enough, the ENTIRE THING was $1. I picked up about a dozen gaming supplements, including the Freedom City supplement for Mutants and Masterminds, for as many dollars. I virtually cleaned off the shelf! All that was left when I was done was the few books there had been duplicates of. By the time the rest of the store figured out what was going on, I was wandering off with my haul. I got some seriously dirty looks, but hey, I got there first! Especially awesome was the fact that the Eberron Campaign setting, plus 2 of the most critical supplements, was also on the rack. Since I'm currently playing in an Eberron Campaign, those will certainly come in handy!
The second major find was also RPG related. While waiting in line to pay for my giant stack of RPG's (and getting more dirty looks) I glanced over and noticed yet another "everything is a dollar" rack, only this time it wasn't RPG books, it was RPG minis! Their entire stock of D&D miniatures was on sale for $1 a booster pack. I don't collect those myself, but the DM in my regular D&D campaign certainly does. After a quick phone call, there was another clean shelf in Borderlands, and more dirty looks coming by way.
As you can tell from my post, Borderlands is a great place, and during the annual sale, it becomes nerd heaven. In years past I've gotten action figures for $2, shirts for a buck, trades for a buck, and a stack of 3/$1 comics almost as tall as I am. A couple years ago they had their entire stock of the recently-folded-but-much-beloved CrossGen line of trade paperbacks on sale for $1 each. Oh, if only I had found those first instead of AFTER I was out of money.
If you live anywhere near Greenville, SC, make sure you find out when Borderlands is having their sale, and then make sure not to show up! After all, the more people that come, the less likely it is that I'll get everything I want! Seriously though, check this place out and come on down every mid-February for some serious nerd fun! (I feel like Stan Lee with all those exclamation marks!)
