Elfsar Comics & Toys Blog

Yes it’s true, Neca has purchased Wizkids.  To celebrate they have announced that they will be releasing the Marvel HeroClix: Hammer of Thor set. 

Throughout the ages, men and gods have experienced the power of Thor, Lord of Asgard, and his legendary hammer, Mjolnir. Now, Marvel HeroClix: Hammer of Thor will bring the might of the gods to your fingertips!  Featuring not only the Thunder God, but also the heroes and villains of Asgard, this new HeroClix release boasts 60 all-new figures — including the first Clix appearance of fan-favorites, The Runaways — and marks the return of one of the most fun and exciting miniatures games of all time! 

 

As usual prices are approx and may very depending upon the exchange rate at the time of invoice.

Get your orders in before this rainbow bridge closes.

We meet all kinds of people here at Elfsar.  We meet geeks, freaks, nerds, jocks, hipsters, preps, artists, writers, musicians, techs, animators, programmers, actors, film makers, bloggers, celebrities, pseudo-celebrities, office workers, city workers, government workers etc…

…And occasionally we meet someone who has never set foot in a comic book store before.

A strange girl named Emily came to visit us on September 10th via orders by a complete stranger who told her that she needed to spend 1 hour at a comic book store and to engage in geek-like conversations with the customers or staff.  Why?  Emily is involved in an unusual project that requires her to follow the directives of new and different people each and every week.  She reports her experiences in a online blog called livedby.com She basically incorporates these objectives into her weekly routine still remaining “Emily” but bravely subjecting herself to a puppet master who guides her on a journey that maybe out of her comfort zone.

This was week 10 and has been appropriately dubbed “Geek Week” as the person Emily is living by is a self proclaimed “Geek” who likes Comics, Role-playing games and is almost completely fluent in Klingon.  The first thing on his to do list was go to a comic book store and get the Sandman or Transmetroplitan series.  Naturally Emily searches the internet and  types “Comic Book Store & Vancouver” in any given search engine and Elfsar Comics & Toys is somewhere at the top of the list.

Now I dubbed her “Emily the Strange” (This is a term of endearment and I mean strange in a good way).  Normal people are often so boring.  I think she is doing something incredibly brave and I know not many people are able or willing to basically give up a year of their lives or consistently restrict their freedom of choice.

Go to: http://livedby.com/2009/09/11/week-10-day-1/ and see her adventure and her first day as a fellow Geek.

She had a blast here at Elfsar (I know, how could you not?) and the long of the short of it is she is moving in.  We have a cozy spot in the backroom between the back issues and the Simpsons Duff Beer drinks.  Haha that was a joke.  For all you stalkers out there she is not moving into Elfsar Comics.  However if you do want to send her something she has set up a mailing address here: 

Emily Zinnemann
C/O Elfsar Comics & Toys
1007 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC
CANADA V6B 5T4

And now because I have a weakness for free self promotion, here is an excerpt from Emily’s blog “Livedby.com”

“I figured the comic book store might close at 5:00 so I rushed on over to make it there shortly before four.  After all, I had to 7. spend at least a full hour there!  Made it by about 3:40 & thus began my education at ELFSAR.

Not quite sure what I was supposed to be doing, I approached the guys at the front desk, Ethan (owner & proprieter) & Omar.  Told them I’d need to hang out for an hour.  First, did they have the 8. Sandman series? Second, did they need help with anything? Like unpacking boxes? I mean what else would I do in an hour? I could tell from their responses they thought that was pretty weird.  They explained that people hang out in comic book stores all the time.  Oh.  I never realized that these places are hang outs.  I thought they were just places where you buy things!

I was kind of at a loss as to what to do.  I asked them about role playing games & Klingon.  I don’t know what kind of geek Mr. Trafford is, but he said that role playing games last 4-8 hours normally.  These guys said they can be as short as an hour!  & that four hours is a long time.  Relief!  I’ve got to do one of those games tomorrow.  Sounds like it won’t be the chunk of time I thought.

Then Omar politely showed me where the Sandman was.

He pretends to show me for the very first time.

WHAT?  It was four enormous volumes that would’ve taken up almost my entire budget.  Ridiculous!  No way!  But wait… I pulled up Trafford’s directives & consulted Omar very seriously about them.  There must be a loophole.  There must.  There must.

Omar & I discovered we both love e.e. cummings.

Where is the loophole?

Omar & I discovered we both like Yeats.

Where is the loophole?

Omar & I debated the grammar in Ben’s phrasing: You must get either Neil Gaiman’s Sandman or Warren Ellis’ Transmetropolitan series of graphic novels.

I hold that I was not legally required to get the Sandman series & thus could get only one book.  Omar thinks that for my case to stand up in court a comma would be needed somewhere.  Hmmm.

Then he hit upon it! There are lots of Sandman series.

I picked up TWO, because I am a kind & generous overachiever.  Omar & Ethan, fluent in all things geek, assured me my logic was airtight!

I just had another half an hour or so to kill.  Not so bad!  But what else was I to do.

Suddenly it struck me.  Did they have cartoon pornography?

YES!  Omar helped me find some erotic comics, exactly to my taste!! One of them is by a local artist called Cinema Sewer.  Adults Only!  I got the “Shocking Times Square Special!” — can’t wait to break that out of the plastic.

& then, THEN I found out that there are erotic comics based on fairytales!  Be! Still! My! Heart!  I picked up some sort of preview edition of Beyond Wonderland. Perfect for the project.

Omar also showed me a delightful book, wrapped in plastic, that was very thick & fancy looking.  It’s called Lost Girls & it’s banned in the UK.  It’s full of the pornographic exploits of various fairy-tale characters like Dorothy Gale & Jack (of Beanstalk fame) & Alice & so on.  Wow!  I kind of lusted after it, but it was over $50 & I hadn’t even seen inside.  So I reluctantly set it aside.

Comics ARE fun.  At this point, euphoria set in.  I experience a lot of euphoria lately.  Omar & Ethan were my very first mentors! They guided me through my conversion experience & once I was one of them we were ready to have fun.

It was so fun I could barely stand it!  We started to talk about the exact nature of the project & this week’s participant (After explaining, I said: 9. “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ben Trafford? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is!” — whatever that means).

Then we hit on a great great idea.  They could comment on my blog from the store, right before my eyes! In my very presence.

& they then composed a comment more masterful & hilarious than my wildest dreams. You’ll see it under this week’s schedule.  But I want it preserved for posterity here:

Exploiting loopholes with this strange girl who has entered our shop. Our Geek is stronger than your geek, Ben. Maybe one day you will meet her too, and we have never even heard of her. She played with our lightsabers Ben and she liked it, in fact she is playing with them again as we speak. She has been seduced by the dark side of our force.

Ben,
we looked at your directives and found your lack of geek disturbing, come visit us and learn from the masters.
http://www.elfsar.com

These guys have blown all other gold star candidates out of the water.  I paced around the store laughing hysterically for around half an hour.  (”Like the laughter of children” said Omar).  By now I’d spent much longer there than required.  It was past 5:00!  Ethan headed out & I decided I’d leave too, but first… oh I was very dizzy.  I faint sometimes.  & last night took a lot out of me! I just needed to… sit down for a moment & catch my breath.

I sat down with my head on my knees.  But even the chair seemed awfully high.  I crawled to the ground.  “This is so embarrassing!”  But Omar assured me that he sees much stranger behavior all the time.  He fetched me a little cup of water & an Ugly Doll for a pillow.  Oh, Omar.  He’s so dreamy.  I’m not sure if it’s a Geek Week version of Stockholm Syndrome or what, but I think Omar is seriously dreamy.  He’s probably taken, but ladies, if not– RUN, don’t walk, over to Elfsar & try to pick him up!

I lay on the ground for awhile.

At first I would try to sit up when people came into the store but then I realized that a comic book store is the absolute best place to behave like a weirdo.  Even though I was doubled over on the ground laughing quietly to myself & using a doll as a pillow, most people did not even give me a single glance!  Have I found my people?  Well, not exactly… but maybe I will stop by Elfsar every now & then for naptime.  I also have another project related idea that incorporates the store.  But we’ll see.

When I sat up, Omar treated me to a blue Powerade (yuck, but good for me?  “Do geeks drink this?” I asked.  & he said yes & told me about the history of Gatorade).  Then, he even took the aforementioned Lost Girls out of the plastic!  & I read it while I recovered.  It was VERY obscene!

So fun.  I can’t believe I got to spend so much of the day sitting on the floor of a store with a stuffed animal, reading pornography & being waited on by handsome men!  I recovered around 6:45 & left just before closing at 7:00pm.

The only problem is that I don’t really like comic books.  Why can’t other stores be as fun as this one?

Anyway, I hope the men at Elfsar know they can help me exploit my loopholes anytime.”

HA!  I love good sexual innuendo!  A commenter named Ptolemy (who subsiquentley was the puppeteer for week 2) decided to write (as his name implies) a one act play with the aforementioned scenario in mind.  Here was his post:

Yes, occasionally we meet someone who has never set foot in a comic book store before.  Our mission, and we choose to accept it, is to give them a reason to come back.  I received an email not to long after we met Emily.  She wanted to thank us and tell me that she is absolutely loving the Sandman.  Now that she has set up a mailing address here, I am sure this will not be the last time we see her.  I look forward to seeing the future little comic strips of her putting her hands on the packages at Elfsar.

Ha! See what I did there?  That was for you Emily.  I am happy you found your inner-geek.  Being a geek is simply about being passionate about something.  If a someone loves sports, even if they don’t want to admit it, and they are memorizing stats they are a sports geek.  If someone loves food and wants to constantly learn more about how to make new and tasty things, they are a food geek.  There is truly an inner geek in all of us and one should never be afraid to let it out.

Emily is a sweetheart (oh by the way, she also writes some wicked poetry) and is fearless.  I hope everyone will follow Emily at livedby.com

Wow, in the fight for supremacy between “The Bunny” and “The Mouse”, it looks like we now have two superpowers gearing up to go head to head.  In fact, the ink is not even dry on the Disney /Marvel deal before DC Comics decided to announce some major overhauling on their own. Deadline Hollywood Daily broke the news that Warner Bros had indeed taken over DC Comics and created a new brand called “DC Entertainment”.  DC Comics’ president Paul Levitz will step down, and Diane Nelson will head up this new DCE.  She’s a name you probably wouldn’t know, but we all know her results, as she’s the other woman behind the scenes of the worldwide phenomenon, Harry Potter. 

Is this simply a knee-jerk reaction to what Marvel and Disney just did?  The truth is that Warner Bros and DC have been working on this revamp for a very long time.  That’s apparent in the steady changes we’ve seen lately, like the studio reaching out and bringing in notable DC writers on board their movie developments and even television shows like Smallville.  According to Variety, one of the ongoing problems with Warner Bros developing DC titles was that they didn’t have an executive “inside the comic book company with the right sensibility for producing tentpoles, or at least the experience of managing all aspects of a major franchise.”  Finke notes that the uneven relationship between the two companies produced all those pre-production stops and starts that annoy fans so much, and caused the Watchmen lawsuit that nearly delayed the film this past spring.

So, what does this mean for DC comic readers and movie fans?  Well, first off, there’s a lot of potential!  The publishing end, (just like Marvel) DC will remain the same, with Levitz remaining on the in the editorial department. When it comes to the movies, all films and characters that have been in development hell for ages (Wonder Woman, Superman, Justice League, The Flash) have been “called back” from producers like Joel Silver who were actively developing them.  Warner Bros’ Jeff Robinov is determined to see them up and into production pronto!

Basically, what you’re about to see is DC Entertainment becoming an actual rival and box office threat to Marvel Entertainment. You’ve actually started to see the first steps down this bigger, better, “develop it all!” road with The Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, The Losers, Deadman, Lobo, and Fox’s Human Target series.  Levitz will also be helping Warner Bros untangle those tricky Superman rights, undoubtedly so the studio could get a movie into active development by that 2011 deadline.

* If you want to read more on the Paul Levitz shift, and how it affects the publishing end, check out Heidi MacDonald’s The Beat. who has been faithfully documenting the comic industry’s reactions to Levitz’s departure.

Here is the Official Press Release

(Dateline – Burbank, CA) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI) has created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms, to be run by Diane Nelson, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, and Alan Horn, President & COO, Warner Bros.

DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry.

In her new role, Nelson will report to Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, in order to best capitalize on DC Entertainment’s theatrical development and production activities and their importance to drive its overall business with each of the divisions of Warner Bros.

Nelson will bring her expertise and more than 20 years’ experience in creative brand management, strategic marketing and content development and production to ensuring DC Entertainment’s dual mission of marshalling Warner Bros.’ resources to maximize the potential of the DC brand while remaining respectful of and collaborative with creators, talent, fans and source material. Additionally, Nelson will continue to oversee the franchise management of the Harry Potter property, which she has done since 2000, and also continue to represent the Studio’s interests with the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling. Nelson will segue from her post as President, Warner Premiere but maintain oversight responsibilities of that division. (An executive succession plan for Warner Premiere will be announced shortly.)

Paul Levitz, who has served as President & Publisher of DC Comics since 2002, will segue from that role to return to his roots as a writer for DC and become a contributing editor and overall consultant to DCE. This transition will take place as expeditiously as possible without disrupting DC’s business operations.

In his new role, Levitz will be called upon for his deep knowledge and more than three-decade history with DC Comics, both as a comic creator and an executive. Besides serving as a writer on a number of DC Comics titles, he will be a contributing editor and consultant to DC Entertainment on projects in various media. Additionally, he will consult as needed on the transition and integration of the DC Comics organization into DC Entertainment and will utilize his unique experience, knowledge and relationships with the comics industry’s creative community to help achieve DC Entertainment’s goal of maximizing the value of DC properties. Further, Levitz will advise DC Entertainment on creative and rights-holder relationships, in particular regarding the legacy relationships that have been a part of DC Comics for decades.

Widely recognized and respected for his support of writers, artists and creators in the comics industry, Levitz is best known creatively for his work with DC Comics, having written most of the classic DC characters, including Batman, Wonder Woman and the Superman newspaper strip. At Comicon International in 2008, Levitz was awarded the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award as part of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the only industry executive ever so honored.

“DC Comics and its super hero characters are truly touchstones of popular culture, and the formation of DC Entertainment is a major step in our company’s efforts to realize the full potential of this incredible wellspring of creative properties,” said Meyer. “Diane knows our studio as a creative executive, a marketer and a senior manager, and this varied background will help her effectively and creatively integrate the DC brand and properties across all our businesses. We’re also thrilled that Paul will remain involved with DC and we’ll be able to tap his expertise to help us reach our goals for this new business.”

“It’s no secret that DC has myriad rich and untapped possibilities from its deep library of iconic and lesser-known characters,” said Horn. “While we’ve had great success in films and television, the formation of DC Entertainment will help us to bring more DC properties across additional platforms to fans around the world, while maintaining brand integrity and authenticity. Diane is a terrific choice to lead DC Entertainment, and with Paul in his new role as a valued consultant and contributing editor, both our company and comic fans win.”

“Based on the great success we’ve had working with DC Comics to create some of the most popular and successful super hero films of all time, I’ve long believed that there was much more we could do across all of Warner Bros.’ businesses with this great body of characters and stories,” said Robinov. “The prioritization of DC and the creation of DC Entertainment is a great opportunity that reaches far beyond the film group. There are endless creative possibilities to build upon the many significant successes already achieved by my colleagues Kevin Tsujihara and the Home Entertainment Group in the videogame, home video and direct-to-platform arenas and Bruce Rosenblum and the Television Group in live-action, animated and digital series. Collectively, we have the ability to grow a body of properties highlighting the iconic characters and the diversity of the creative output of DC Comics.”

“The founding of DC Entertainment fully recognizes our desire to provide both the DC properties and fans the type of content that is only possible through a concerted cross-company, multi-platform effort,” said Nelson. “DC Entertainment will help us to formally take the great working relationships between DC Comics and various Warner Bros. businesses to the next level in order to maximize every opportunity to bring DC’s unrivalled collection of titles and characters to life.”

“After so many roles at DC, it’s exciting to look forward to focusing on my writing and being able to remain a part of the company I love as it grows into its next stage,” said Levitz. “It’s a new golden age for comics and DC’s great characters, and I hope my new position will allow me to contribute to that magic time.”

DC Comics will celebrate its 75^th anniversary in 2010 (NEW FUN COMICS #1, the first DC comic, began publishing in 1935), at which time more explicit details regarding DC Entertainment’s corporate and management structure, film and content release slate, creative roster and business objectives will be unveiled at a multi-faceted anniversary celebration and press conference in the first quarter of the year.

Current DC properties in development and/or production at Warner Bros. Entertainment include:

– “Human Target” is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for a mid-season debut on Fox.

– “Midnight Mass” is in series development at Warner Bros. Television for consideration for the 2010-11 season.

– “Jonah Hex,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich, recently wrapped production in Louisiana.

– “The Losers,” Dark Castle/Warner Bros. Pictures’ action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, began principal photography mid-July in Puerto Rico.

– “The Green Lantern,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ next big superhero tentpole release, recently cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. The film has a projected second quarter 2011 release date.

– “Lobo,” based on the DC Comics anti-hero, has Guy Ritchie attached as a director; Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona are producing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.

– Warner Premiere’s direct-to-platform DVD animated release of “Green Lantern: First Flight” debuted July 28.

– Warner Bros. Animation currently produces “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” which airs on Cartoon Network.

– Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released “Batman: Arkham Asylum” on August 25, a dark, action packed videogame adventure for Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows.

Prior to being named President, DC Entertainment, Nelson most recently served as President, Warner Premiere since its founding in 2006. Warner Premiere is a Studio-based production company which develops and produces high-quality, direct-to-DVD and short-form digital content, including the highly successful line of DC Universe animated DVD titles, and also pioneered the development of the motion comics category. Under Nelson’s leadership, Warner Premiere functions as a full-service production entity with its own resources and release schedule, furthering the Studio’s mandate of being a destination for both established and up-and-coming talent to create stand-alone properties as well as experiment in new media.

Before that, Nelson served as Executive Vice President, Global Brand Management, Warner Bros. Entertainment, with the primary responsibility of working cross-divisionally and throughout Time Warner to maximize and optimize all the various windows and outlets available to the Studio’s signature franchises, brands and event properties on a global basis. In this post, Nelson’s primary focus was the management of the Harry Potter brand, which she has overseen since the brand’s launch at the Studio in 1999. These efforts have helped drive the success of the brand to become the most successful film franchise of all time, as well as a respected consumer property that has generated billions of dollars for the Studio.

At Global Brand Management, Nelson and her team of more than 15 employees worked in all media and platforms to support a number of other key franchise properties, including “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Happy Feet,” “Polar Express” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” among others.

Prior to overseeing Global Brand Management, Nelson had served as Executive Vice President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures. Nelson rose quickly through the ranks, having also served as Senior Vice President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures and prior to that, Senior Vice President, Family Entertainment, Warner Bros. Corporate Worldwide Marketing and Planning. She was also Vice President, Worldwide Corporate Promotions, a post to which she was promoted in March 1998, after joining the Studio in September 1996 as Director of Worldwide Corporate Promotions.

Nelson came to the Studio from Walt Disney Records, where she served as Director of National Promotions. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications.

The Harry Kremer Outstanding Canadian Comic Retailer Award Top 8 Nominees Announced!

The Kremer Retailer Award jury (Allison Covey, Peter Fisico and Robert Haines), has submitted their short list of selections for this year’s Harry Kremer Retailer Award.

Stores were judged on a combination of factors that included product selection/diversity, store presentation, customer service, online presence, in-store events, staff knowledge and community involvement.

The 2009 finalists are in alphabetical order:

* Another Dimension (Red Deer, Alberta)
* The Beguiling (Toronto, Ontario)
* Comic Encounters (Terrace, British Columbia)
* Curious Comics (Victoria, British Columbia)
* Cyber City Comics (North York, Ontario)
* Elfsar (Vancouver, British Columbia)
* Legends Comics and Books (Victoria, British Columbia)
* Stadium Comics (Brampton, Ontario)

The winning store will be announced at the Joe Shuster Awards Ceremony on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at the University of Toronto’s Innis Town Hall at 8PM.

Past winners include: Now & Then Books (Kitchener, Ontario), Strange Adventures (Halifax, Nova Scotia), Happy Harbor Comics (Edmonton, Alberta), and Big B Comics (Hamilton, Ontario).

Congratulations to the nominated stores!

SO ELFSAR MOVES ON TO THE NEXT AND FINAL ROUND…

Fingers crossed.  We are again among the top 8 stores eligible for a Shuster Award.  The powers that be are now narrowing it down finally to 1 well deserved store.  This award started at the Shusters 5 years ago and a store from British Columbia has yet to be honored in the hall of fame.  It got me thinking exactly how many Canadian stores are there?

I did some research and here is the breakdown via Provence.

Alberta – approx 40 stores

British Columbia – approx 76 stores

Manitoba – approx 15 stores

New Brunswick – approx 11 stores

Newfoundland & Labrador – approx 3 stores

Nova Scotia – approx 8 stores

Ontario – approx 130 stores

Prince Edward Island – approx 2 stores

Quebec – approx 53 stores

Saskatchewan – approx 10 stores

So there are a total of approx 348 brick and motor comic stores in Canada.

“Although everyone likes recognition for their hard work, winning awards is not the point. We obviously would not be in this position without the support of all our great customers who spread the word about us! It’s only because of you that we are in business and able to make contributions to our community. We can’t thank you enough and we hope we can continue to provide the best service, products and events around!  Wow, I guess I better get plane tickets for Sareina and I.

Toronto here we come ”

 –Big Elf

And on the other end of the spectrum there is this store:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/25/meth.ring.arrests/index.html