“I’d like a comic book.” Mother Hen casually said about a month before Christmas.
“You know, I have a bad ear,” I said, “but I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that you just said that you wanted a comic book.”
“No, you heard me right.” She said.
“Which comic book?”
“The Amazing Spiderman number… five seventy something.” She said.
“Why?” I asked. Now yours truly wanting a comic book not very big news, Mother Hen wanting a comic book, on the other hand, lent itself to having Rod Serling step from around the corner of the doorway and literally explaining the reasons to me.
“Who are you looking for?” she asked me as I searched for Mr. Serling.
“Huh? …Oh, no one…” I said taking one last look at the doorway. “So why do you want a Spiderman comic?”
“Stephen Colbert is on the cover and he is still in the running to be President of the United States in the Marvel Universe. There’s a story written by Joe Quesada in there too.” Oh she was speaking my language. I met Joe (the head of Marvel Comics) Quesada in Philadelphia a few years back and heard him speak. At the time he mentioned that he wished there was no such things as secret identities and discussed how cool it would be if
Tony Stark held a press conference just to say, “I’m Iron Man.” That was before he did that in the comics, in the movie and in the whole “Civil War” story arc. There are a lot of Colbert fans out there who would be grabbing up the variant issue.
And so it came to pass, Gentle Reader that yours truly set off on a quest to find the Stephen Colbert issue of
The Amazing Spiderman. After a bit of research I found the number (573) and that there were three covers; the regular cover with
Venom and the
Scorpion, the minor variant cover with
Anti-Venom and the
Scorpion and, the issue that geeks and Colbert fans are clamoring for, the one where Stephen Colbert is saving Spiderman and emulating the same pose from
Amazing Fantasy # 15 (Spidey’s first appearance). I covered the South Jersey area looking for it. I went to three comic book shops before stopping in over at IT’S A TOY STORE (see:
http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2008/11/its-toy-store.html) and they steered me in the right direction.
“Yeah, they have a copy over at CAP’S COMICS in Millville.”
“Millville!? …
Cap’s Comics?” I said, truly surprised. It’s just not like me to NOT know about a comic book shop in the South Jersey area. “How long have they been open?”
“Since about February.”
“No kiddin’.”
“Nope.”
So with hot tip in hand I placed a call to CAP’S COMICS. They had it and I said that I’d be there post haste. And I was. Like many of the characters that it deals in the storefront itself is like a secret identity but lest there be no doubt a Comic Book shop is there at 1301 N. 10th St. Suite G in Millville (N.J. 08332 – that is). I paid a fair price for the issue and struck up a great little conversation with the owner – who is not only a nice guy but he’s also a Comic Fan! Believe it or not that’s not always a prerequisite for being in this line of work. We talked
Iron Man, Silver Age and
Red Hulk for about forty minutes or so and, I gotta tell ya, I can’t wait to get back there. I picked up a card, which says, “Silver age, bronze age and back issues also collectibles. New comics every week. 10% off all subscription titles.” Their hours are Wednesday 6:00 – 9:00 PM, Thursday 6:00 – 9:00 PM, Friday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM, and Saturday 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Their phone number is
856-825-5779. I can tell you CAP’S came through for me (and Mother Hen) and if there’s something that you’re looking for, I bet they can do the same for you.
Too cool.
I’m thinking about getting the Red Hulk graphic novel; hey it’s been a while since I’ve read any comics and I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Fortunately, CAP’S COMICS is there to ease my transition back.
EXCELSIOR!
