Now I like visitng new comic shops, partially as a reader, and partially as a producer. I never know what I might find at a new shop, and it’s good to know if there are stores open to taking material from a small publisher like us. But like many of the other panelists, I’m turned right off by stores that are messy, dirty or skeevy. On the other hand, when they’ve got work by locals front and centre, I’m really pleased. I live in a very good area, although I can’t get into Toronto as much as I like, it’s there and it has The Beguiling, it’s little sister, Little Island Comics, the Silver Snail, even if it has become more about toys and other add ons, and a couple other very good shops I know of but have not yet been able to visit.

My home shop changed a year or so ago, and I love Big B Comics in Hamilton. They got me reading and buying more, and I became involved with this very series through them. We actually are hoping to do a book launch with them in the future. My old store, which I’d been frequenting for a dozen years, moved, consolidated and has improved greatly. I stayed away for a while, feeling guilty for switching, but I’ve been back in a few times lately and must say, Conspiracy Comics in Burlington is pretty darn okay. Where do you shop? Do you like your local shop? Do you visit other stores if you run across them? What do you look for? The rest of the group can be found here.

Specifically, the question is what expensive fancy item that you wouldn’t normally buy for yourself would you most like to find under the tree. This was an easy question. I love books, and I really love beautiful books. Stuff that’s lush, beautifully bound and designed. I often will settle for second hand paperbacks, but I’d always love the leather bound, end-papered, gold leaf etc version if possible. But face facts, it’s not often possible. And as we head more and more into digital, it will be interesting to see whether this kind of product becomes rarer, or, because print will become the realm of those who really love physical books, they will lean more towards the collector and connoisseur. Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is a series I’ve really enjoyed. I remember reading the very first story way back when. But I’ve been kinda reading it sporadically, usually from library copies of the various trade paperback collections. Part of the reason for this is it’s a spread out series, lots of short stories and stuff published in anthologies and such. Much easier to read once collected. But take a look at these, now this is the way to read Hellboy. It’s the right look for these books. Large weighty tomes, even better if dusty and covered in cobwebs. Fables is another great series, and I’ve read it much the same as Hellboy. I’ve also managed to gather a bunch of the collections, with some notable gaps. And now they are publishing Deluxe Editions. Again, gorgeous. Now this is an expensive prospect, obviously I haven’t been able to jump in on these. But there are ways to soften the blow. Amazon often discounts these books, as the links above show. There is also a new website called Thwipster, that offers comic collections and other related merchandise each day at a discount. you can follow them on Facebook or twitter and see what is offered each day. As I write this, the first three Hellboy collections are available for 44% off. I’ll be over here arguing with my bank balance. Comics are also breaking into lots of mainstream retail outlets, like Walmart and Costco. I’ve bought stuff from both places at 20-40% off. There’s not a great selection, but I’ve managed to get the first two 3in1 Harcover Bone colour volumes that way for about the price of one of the single soft covers. So that’s sorta my wish list, you can see the panels notes to Comic Santa over at CBD. Now what’s on your list?

Bit of confusion on my part as this question made the rounds, so while I was pretty confident in my original vote, I’m amending it now. Not that I don’t believe Batman has a great Rogues Gallery, I still think that for the guys in tights hitting each other crows, he wins. But if you want my idea of who has the best baddies across all of comics, (defined by the committee as anything that’s had a comic, even movies, TV or books) then my vote goes to the Gallifrean galavanter himself, The Doctor. A show that’s been around for almost 50 years now, and regularly featured a so-called monster of the week has a huge swath of nasty’s he’s tangled with, some only once, but many over and over. Right off the top you’ve got his arch nemesis the Daleks. A single one is terrifying, a handful could make short work of most military forces. And for anyone who encountered them as a kid, they are damn scary. All that shouting and killing with no feeling, plus a mindset that only once you grow up do you learn is modeled on humanities most evil of empires. Oh sure, they’ve had the mickey taken out of them with the no stairs and being pushed out a window, but you watch their re-introduction in the 2005 series and tell me it’s not chilling. And if The Doctor is scared, then they must be bad. Add in their creator Davros, a nasty piece of work that makes old Adolf look cuddly and handsome and we could stop right there.

 

Then there’s his opposite. A fellow member of the Time Lords, the Master is everything the Doctor isn’t. His evil mirror self, bent on conquering but also often just in messing with the Doctor himself. He’s pure vaudeville mustache twirling evil. And speaking of the Time Lords, they themselves, while not actual monsters are often presented as beurocratic, callous, stuffy and generally get in the Doctors way, even going so far as to trap him on earth as punishment. And there’s also Omega, another rogue Time Lord baddy. His own people are some of greatest adversaries. Then there are the armies, the Cybermen and the Sontarans. The Cybermen are alternate Earth humanoids who undergo cybernetic modification as a survival mechanism, a predecessor to the Borg from Star Trek, only with extra creepy body horror aspects. The Sontarans, who we’ve had fun with in our current story as the Yup-Yups, are a clone race bred for war and nothing but. Sorry Lucas, beat you to it. Both have had repeated run ins with the Doctor over the years. And before you start saying that Star Trek or Star Wars also have tons of different aliens/monsters, they can’t touch Doctor Who for the weird and wild varieties. Who monsters include living statues, giant plants, bugs, shape-shifters, werewolves, vampires, robots of all sorts and even standing stones and candy men. Okay, so they are not all winners. But much like Batman’s fringe baddies, they might be a bit silly, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be a good foe, or even a great one. But there’s so many more. The show is almost 50 years old. And it’s still going, still adding new members to the Doctors rogues gallery. So yeah, while Batman might win in the capes and tights world, the Doctor’s got the best villains overall. Others might disagree though.