Good Sign?

[Flightpath07]

As i was walking through my LWM today (that's my local Wal-Mart store), I happened upon something that surprised me in the books/magazine section.

It made me think; when was the last time i saw a new comic book for sale, outside a dedicated specialty store?

Yup, "Marvel Adventures: Iron Man # 1" was proudly on display (and I snagged a copy for my daughter, who is a HUGE Tony Stark fan). There were a couple of other things in the rack beside it. The rack (not a spinner rack, alas) was on the end of an aisle, near both the young adult books and the magazines, but separate too. There were several other "books" (?) there as well; a western type adventure of some sort, plus several manga-style anime things. Due to the varying shapes/thicknesses/cover-area of these other things, I am hesitant to label them "comics" - definitely nothing else I had ever seen or heard of, no companies other than the one Marvel title represented via Iron Man.

So, I suppose that is one good thing that has come out of the Iron Man / Avengers movie franchises - at least Iron Man is now being sold in something other than an LCS.

Still, makes me nostalgic for the days of the spinner-rack full of comics in every drugstore and corner-store and grocery store you could find...now, but for Archie and Jughead comics in the grocery store check out line, none of these exist anymore.

[Phil]

I found this quite heart-warming: http://daddydadblog.com/marvel-ous-day/

[Flightpath07]

Nice find indeed, Phil!

[Chris]

Ah, yes. Good old spinner racks. I still remember buying my first Alpha Flight comics, issues 13 and 14, from a spinner rack inside a bookstore in a mall.

I wish DC and Marvel would produce more all ages super hero books. I was enjoying Young Justice until it was cancelled a couple months ago. I dropped Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Ultimate Spider-Man in April when they started printing screen captures instead of letting Chris Jones or Ramon Bachs or Nuno Plati draw them.

Marvel Adventures: Iron Man 11 is one of my favorite Alpha Flight stories. Still need to track down issue 1 and the rest of that series. Maybe I will visit my LWS tomorrow.

[Flightpath07]

My mistake. Instead of being "Marvel Adventures: Iron Man # 1", the issue was actually "Marvel Universe Iron Man Comics Reader No. 1" - which is reprinted material from Marvel Adventures Iron Man # 2-3.

Art by James Cordeiro/Scott Koblish and Ronan Cliquet/Amilton Santos, and written by Fred Van Lente. Credit where credit is due.

[Le Messor]

I found this quite heart-warming: http://daddydadblog.com/marvel-ous-day/

Yes, it is. How sweet!

Good old spinner racks. I still remember buying my first Alpha Flight comics, issues 13 and 14, from a spinner rack inside a bookstore in a mall.

I bought mine in a supermarket!
... but that was an exception, not a rule.
I can still get comics in newsagents, though. I don't, but I could.

~ Le Messor
"Latest survey shows that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world's population."

[Jason Eberly]

I bought Alpha Flight #1 at a Circle K, a convenience store near where my grandfather lived. It was the first #1 comic I had ever bought. Even among the other brightly-colored comics on the spinner, it stood out. Could you imagine how much it would stand out among today's dark-colored comic covers?

[Le Messor]

Could you imagine how much it would stand out among today's dark-colored comic covers?

One of the reasons I chose it for my Catfish Colour article.

Also, to reply to the thread title, this is a good sign:

[rplass]

Spinner rack for my first Alpha Flight comic too!

I remember the exact location. A newssstand in a little strip mall next to the Post Office. It's since burned down unfortunately. Sigh. The comic had a little date penciled on the cover (which apparently is not a downward modifier on its condition). Oh and thanks dad for sporting me the $0.65. I owe ya. Happy Father's day!