OtakuFest 2014

This post was going to be a review post, but two things changed my mind. First, I'm contemplating making the first weekend of every month a regular review post, and that isn't until next week. For a look at what comics I already have, check out this spreadsheet (Question to the viewership - does anyone have any comic they'd like me to review first?). Secondly, my twitterfeed alerted me to something...

Impact Comics' Official OtakuFest 2014 Poster

My local comic-store, Impact Comics, is hosting the annual OtakuFest on Saturday 15th Nov. What's OtakuFest, you may ask? I'll let them explain:

OtakuFest is Canberra’s (Australia’s?) favourite outdoor, free entry, all welcome cosplay event.
OtakuFest is really simple, head down to Garema Place in costume, meet some friends and maybe win some some sweet prizes supplied by MADMAN or grab some manga or anime on sale at IMPACT!
2014 is IMPACT COMICS’ 10th birthday so we thought we’d make OtakuFest even bigger!

While I don't have any costumes, I think I might go and have a look anyway. And hopefully, unlike this year's Free Comic Book Day, it won't be raining!* Anyone else think they might show up?

(*Not that the rain spoiled much - while I was a bit concerned about my comics getting wet, at least I was treated to the sight of stormtroopers strolling around Garema Place...)

Care and Storage

Where I live, new comics are put out on the shelves on Friday (unlike other places, where it seems to be Comic Tuesday). So today I went along to acquire my haul, and while it's not that impressive a haul compared to some, new comics are new comics.

Rat Queens Vol 1 "Sass and Sorcery" and Ms. Marvel #9

So now I've bought them, what happens next?

Well, that entirely depends on how much I'd want to protect them and what resources I have on hand. Rat Queens goes straight into my bookcase, because I need to do further investigating into what I could use as a cover and the book is sturdy enough as it is. Ms. Marvel, on the other hand, being a floppy and thus more fragile, I devote a bit more care to.

Before I bought the proper materials, I just used an A4 plastic sleeve that I adjusted the size of using sticky-tape - not the most elegant of solutions, but provided the sleeve is archive quality (and these types aren't that expensive), it will do the job. If you wind up having to do this, make sure the sleeves are of archive quality: certain types of cheap sleeves will end up sticking to the comic and damage them. Now, thankfully, I have materials actually designed for comics (or rather, I caved and bought them). The usual advice for storing comics is that you need three things: bags, boards, and boxes. As I'm still storing my comics in the bookcase, I'm only dealing with the first two.

One note to remember when buying your materials: make sure they are the right size for the type of comic you have. For modern comics, anything marked 'current' will be the correct dimensions. Materials designed for older comics (such as Golden or Silver Age) will have different dimensions. 

Back to Ms. Marvel #9. First, I bring out my storage materials. I then take one of the cardboard boards and turn it so the shiny side is up - this is the side that the comic will rest on. Then I slide the board into one of the bags (they are more like a plastic sleeve, but the lingo is 'bags' as far as I can tell) before sliding the comic in. I've read some people put the comic on the board first and slide both into the bag at the same time, but I find my way easier.

All safe and sound...the comic, anyway. Characters are looking more concerned.

And ta-da! All that remains is for the bag's flap to be folded over, and the comic is right to be placed in my bookcase along with the others.

As mentioned, currently I'm storing my comics in a bookcase. I may or may not branch out into boxes later. But if you were planning to store your comics in a box, this article goes into more detail. Also, if you'd prefer a video or would like to know more about taking care of comics (and consequences of not), then the following video is pretty useful:

A Few Useful Terms and Definitions

(Note: this isn't intended to be comprehensive)

Print vs Digital vs Web

A print comic is one that is published on paper, while a digital is one that is published electronically. Often these will be two formats of the same comic, but sometimes there are digital-only comics or mini-series. One of the main stores/platforms for digital is comiXology.

A webcomic is a comic that is primarily published online, although there may be print collections offered later. An example of this is Tom Siddell's Gunnerkrigg Court.

DRM

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. While there are arguments over the exact definition, in practical terms if a digital or electronic item comes with DRM, this limits what you, the purchaser, can do with it or where you can play or read it. When purchasing a digital comic, be careful to pay attention to if the item has DRM, and if it does, the limits of it.

 Trades vs Floppies

A single issue comic is also known as a 'floppy'. These are the slim books that arrive monthly (or usually monthly) in the store, and it's these that a lot of people think of when you say 'comic book'. A 'trade' or a 'trade paperback' is a collection of floppies bound together to form a single volume. From what I've seen, usually a trade volume is made up of around five to seven single issues. Normally trades are paperback (hence the name), but there are also hardback collections.

A trade (Hawkeye Vol 1, Issues 1-5 + Young Avengers Present issue 6) vs a floppy (Ms. Marvel, Issue 8)

There's a bit of a debate about which is better, trade vs floppy, but to me, both have their advantages. A floppy means that you receive the story once a month instead of whenever the trades are released, they are a good way of telling the publisher that the comic is selling, and there is the 'eeeeee a comic!!!!' factor which, hey, we're geeks - a certain amount of ridiculous squee is built into the premise. On the other hand, the trades are overall cheaper, sturdier, and they are also easier to catch up and keep up with a series than the floppies. For example, I missed most of the run of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye, but rather than trying to track down all of the individual floppies (which may or may not even be in stock), I can pick up the trades. As another example, I've heard a lot of very good things about Rat Queens, and buying the first volume in a trade would give me a better idea of the story and feel than a single issue.

(Note to self: pick up Rat Queens Vol. 1 next comic book-run)

Pull List/ Standing Order

These two terms mean the same thing; this is the list that you can set up with your comic book store so they'll collect the issues that you want. This saves you from potentially missing out if the issues sell out or you can't get to the store in time, and also saves you from having to find the issues. This list is also helpful in that it gives the store an idea of how many issues of any comic to order, which in turn lets the publisher know what's selling well.

So, you want to get into comics...

Girls Reading Comic Books- photographed by Ruth Orkin, 1943

The world of comics is big, confusing, and getting bigger and more confusing every day. While this is fantastic as far as increasing diversity (both of content and format) goes, it makes getting involved as a newbie more than a little daunting.

Fortunately, there are a few tricks and masterlists to help out.

Research is your friend

No, seriously. Research is your friend, and in a lot of cases, once you know the terms to look up, it can be pretty easy to find help. There are a number of guides that people have written online, so searching for 'beginner's guide' or 'newbie guide' or 'new reader friendly' is a good place to start. If you know you want to get into DC comics (the creators of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman to name the big three) then you can add 'DC' or the name of a character to your search; same with Marvel (Avengers, X-Men). Comic Book Herald, a blog devoted to looking at Marvel comics, has a series of reading orders and guides here, and while over in the land of DC comics, Talking Comic Books has a guide to Wonder Woman. A pair of general guides I've found useful are  How to Buy Comics: A Beginners Guide (goes into the practical side of buying comics both in a physical store and also online) and Start Reading Comics! A Beginner's Guide.

Another reason to research is so you can find out the format you want (digital vs print), and also get enough information to find it. One thing I've had to learn is that I always need to note the publisher. Unlike books, comics are often grouped by publisher rather than genre, so knowing if you are after an Image comic rather than a Marvel one is very useful.

Shopping lists are also your friend

 The next trick is to start writing things down. There are many, many comics, and many, many promising titles coming out in any given week: lists will make your shopping a lot easier. Lists also mean that you can browse without worrying about trying to remember which title you were actually after, which is always a plus.

And don't forget to write down the publisher as well. As I mentioned above, this is how comics tend to be grouped.

Lists in general are excellent

Getting lost amongst all of the different kinds of stories, formats, writers, upcoming titles, teams, publishers and options? Lists are an excellent way for getting information quickly. There are some lists I've found useful.

Pull It Together: A weekly article put up by the Mary Sue, a feminist geek site, this is a list of issues published that week so you can learn what is coming out when. It's full of promising titles both new and ongoing, from the main publishers and also from the indies. The comments are also useful to read as well.

Interested in webcomics?  io9.com has a number of masterlists and there are more within reach of google.

Decided that you'd prefer to buy a physical version but put off by the reputation that comic book stores have? Increasingly, there are lists being created to highlight welcoming and women-and-minority-friendly stores. Most are American-centric, but this list is international. Use ctrl+F to find your country or area. (And for people in the ACT region of Australia, I can back-up the friendly claim of Impact Comics in Civic. Every time I've been there, the staff have been warm, enthusiastic, and helpful not to just to myself but other newbies.)

Anyone else have any suggestions or links to guides or masterlists that helped them?