So, early last year I picked up the Art of Harley Quinn book, and decided around the time of my first two cons of the year, I’d start having artists sign it that were in the book or worked on Harley art I love.
dc rebirth
Free Comic Book Day 2018
Another year, another Free Comic Book Day. And it was busy busy busy. This year we took my nieces on a big adventure to three shops – Villainous Grounds, All the Rage, and my local shop – Not Just Comix.
I will state before going into this, that it is important to remember that even though it is Free Comic Book Day, these comics are not free to shops, and it’s important you buy something as well as pick up your free comics. I didn’t have the most money on this trip due to Fan Expo crunch time, but I still made sure to buy something at all three shops – as did my mother, my brother, and the girls. Please support local shops and keep them in business.
First up: Villainous Grounds
Fan Expo Canada 2018 Update
There have been several celebrity guests announced so far, but we’re finally getting to the ones I’m more interested in for this con – comic guests!
First announced is prettttty exciting:
Comic Talk: Why Tom King IS the King
Something has perplexed me in the world of comics, recently: The random whining over the work of current Batman writer, Tom King. For example:
From Tom King’s Twitter.
I couldn’t understand where this was all coming from. I’ve seen it off and on for a bit, now. If you don’t know much about King, you can listen to his first interview on Bat Force Radio – which is ridiculously enjoyable, and I’ve listened to it more times than I can count. I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting Tom twice in the last few months – both at Fan Expo Canada and Planet Comic Con. It’s easy to gather from meeting him, or even just the podcast interview – Tom King is a fantastic guy. So, the complaints can’t be based on people disliking him as a person.
I thought more about the things people were complaining about, specifically. And this is where I found my answers:
Batman Day: Harley Quinn Takeover
This weekend was Batman Day – an annual celebration of Dark Knight, himself. With events held at various comic shops, Barnes and Nobles, and Books-A-Million locations, with goodies supplied by DC Comics – such as free comics and nifty paper masks – there’s something to do every year for Bat Fans of any age.
But this year, DC Comics did something a little special for Batman Day: A Harley Quinn takeover.
September 11th, 2017 marked 25 years since Harley Quinn first appeared on Batman: the Animated Series. So, it made sense that – given how close this special day is to Batman Day, that they let the Clown Princess of Crime share the spotlight with Batsy a bit.
I had planned for a more ambitious Batman Day – a lot of driving, multiple shops, and a trip to Barnes and Noble. Unfortunately, I felt horrible on Saturday, and hadn’t slept. So we settled on a trip to a participating Barnes and Noble.
My nieces grabbed lots of goodies and their free comics, and I participated in trivia, as well as my own comics and goodies. I took advantage of a sale on DC graphic novels, and made it a pretty good day, despite feeling less than awesome.
The Haul:
Overall, it was a fun time, and I’m always happy to take time to nerd out and jump on deals.
Did you go to Batman/Harley Quinn day? Get any deals? Make some insane hauls? Let me know in the comments!
~Angel
“You Have a Trip Coming Up”
This is a reoccurring reminder every time I go shopping before any trip.
You have a trip coming up.
Yup. I do. So, tell me, how’d I go to buy some jeans for my trip, and end up with all this?
Okay. Let’s reason, a bit, here:
There was a sale at All the Rage comics (which I need to do a proper post on, sometime), where everything I bought was either 50% or 25% off. So, the three comics toward the bottom were 50%. Then the 1986 trade paperback of The Dark Knight Returns was 25% off, and I ended up paying less than $10 for it. Then that copy of Metal was 25% off, and I’d been wanting that particular cover. Decent and fairly inexpensive haul, there.
The Lil Gotham issues were $2.99 at V-stock, and actually came with a second issue behind each one. So I walked away with issues #1-4, plus my mom bought them for me. So, zero spent on those four issues.
I needed to buy a small purse, and planned to make this purchase, because I don’t want to haul my con bag around outside of the con itself. I mainly just needed a place to shove a few items in that zips. So, I went into Hot Topic to have a look. They were having a sale: if you bought any bag, if you put anything into the bag, you’d get 25% off the bag AND the item. So, the Tiffany Pop! from Bride of Chucky got shoved into the Harley bag. I left paying less for both than I would have for just the bag, itself. SCORE!
I did get my jeans and other miscellaneous clothing items I needed for my trip. But the point was showing that I could still make a haul like the one above, save a bunch of money, and still be ready for a con that is now ONE WEEK AND ONE DAY AWAY! Whoa. I should finish packing…
~Angel
Fan Expo Canada: July Updates
This is it, folks! Nearly a month away from my first trip to Canada, and my first time at Fan Expo. Here’s what’s new:
- Flight – BOOKED! I arrive Thursday, return Sunday. It’s all fancy and official. Which leads to…
- I’ve figured out my transportation to the hotel from the airport, and vice versa.
- MY FREAKING PASSPORT FINALLY CAME IN! Which, you know, was pretty vital for this adventure.
- I have tickets to the con! I went with the Premium Package, because it comes with some exciting goodies:
PREMIUM PACKAGE INCLUDES THE DELUXE FAN EXPO PASS, PLUS:
• Admission to all 4 days of FAN EXPO CANADA™
• Access to Special Preview on Thursday at 2pm
• Exclusive Priority Access into buildings
• Exclusive Premium Lounge Access
• Limited Edition FAN EXPO CANADA™ Premium Badge
• Exclusive FAN EXPO CANADA™ Bag
• Exclusive Comic from Major Publisher
• Limited Edition Superhero Lithograph
• Exclusive Collectible
• Limited Edition FAN EXPO CANADA™ T-Shirt
• Limited Edition Show Program
• Exclusive Pre-Sale for Celebrity Photo Ops
• Exclusive Pre-Sale on Select Events
• Exclusive Ticket Counter
• Free SINGLE DAY General Admission pass (excluding Saturdays)Â
 to ALL FUTURE FAN EXPO HQ events until, but not including,
 FAN EXPO CANADA™ 2018.
Hellooooooooo, goodies!
So, yeah. Here we go, guys. Next month, we pack and head north!
~Angel
When in Rome
Hey guys!
So, I’ve been missing for a bit. I know, I know. Bad Angel. But, I’ve had a lot going on. Mostly health related junk. I won’t bore you with the details. Just know I’m slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things!
But, I have this awesome little thing to share with you:
BatForceRadioEp083: When in Rome with the Cat Force !
I was on a podcast! The boys of the Bat Force ( @TheBatForce on Instagram) invited myself and the other Cat Force ladies on Bat Force Radio to talk about ourselves and, more importantly, Catwoman: When in Rome. It was a TON of fun, and I appreciate everyone that can go give it a listen!
I’ll be back very soon with travel updates, recent little trips, and more! Stay tuned!
~Angel
Wonder Woman Day
This is the year Wonder Woman gets the respect she’s deserved. A solo movie, and now her own DAY?! YES!
While I thought Wonder Woman day was cool all on it’s own, I was more excited for two little girls:
Wonder Woman Day
Before the movie.
They’re out of school, and I took Friday off from work, so we caught an early showing of Wonder Woman on Friday (after I had my first, child-free viewing on Thursday haha) – and they LOVED it. Obviously, they come from a family of nerds, and their grandma is a HUGE Wonder Woman fan, so they were already familiar with Wondy. But they came out of that movie gushing about how amazing she was, and how they wanted to be just like her. So, it was well timed that the next day, they’d be heading to Wonder Woman Day events with their grandmother and I.
We picked Barnes and Noble over a shop because 1.) it was closer and 2.) we knew there were activities for the girls at Barnes and Noble, which we weren’t so sure about for shops. Either way, we grabbed our special Wonder Woman day freebies, did some coloring, and grabbed a few Wonder Woman things to bring home. My mom made a pretty decent haul:
I bought this pretty little lady for my desk at work:
Now, some spoiler free chat about the movie:
Last week was an AWFUL week for me, personally. By Thursday, I was sort of dreading the movie, just because I anticipated it would be ruined for me by the unending bad things going on. But I was completely taken into the film and given the escape I desperately needed, and came out feeling somewhat better despite the fact that everything was still a mess in my real world.
The movie left me with a reminder of my own strength, and a feeling of empowerment despite how helpless I’d felt before. Maybe it was the escaping, itself. Or maybe it was watching Gal Gadot kick major ass, or knowing how significant all of this was.
There were several times I caught myself smiling. Not because of something funny or sweet specifically happening, necessarily. But just the general enjoyment of what I was watching. It wasn’t just me loving it, though – it’s my mom’s new favorite movie, and my 6 and 7 year old nieces couldn’t look away. The 6 year old sat perfectly still, the entire time, her eyes wide.
When we left the theater, she told me she hopes to be as brave and kind and strong as Wonder Woman, some day. I wanted to cry. This is the role model my nieces, as well as other girls like them, have needed. Someone that they look to their morals and strength before mentioning their beauty. Someone that even I can look up to, though I’m closing in on 27.
To put it simply: Wonder Woman was… wonderful.
~Angel
FanExpo Canada: May Update
Well, here we are. Another month closer to FanExpo Canada. Time for another update post! This time, let’s focus on the comic guests announced so far that I’m most excited for:
This is a massive line up, and it isn’t even all of them. I’m absolutely dying to meet these guys, especially Tom King. But wait, there’s more!
One of my faaaaavorite artists, Adam Hughes, is going to be there! I can’t wait. I’m going to take some Catwoman books to get signed. Plus, I have this gorgeous poster I picked up at con last month:
Which also sort of leads me into a new side project…:
Recently, a group was formed on Instagram called The Cat Force ( @_thecatforce ), a page branching off of The Bat Force. The members currently include myself and four other ladies (Gen, Cheri, and Naj) – SUPER dedicated Catwoman fans. I’ve been playing catch up, with my recent comic haul:
The current plan is that I’ll be covering con stuff for our page. Exciting, right?!
I’ll have an update post next month with more goodies to share.
Anyone else going to FanExpo? Who are you most excited to see?
~Angel
Wandering NerdGirl 