Thursday, March 31, 2011

Justin Hamilton Tickets Giveaway!


Remember how we were on the amazing podcast of Justin Hamilton recently?

Well now we have five double passes for Justin's new show for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Circular thanks to Justin himself and Token.

All we want you to do is visit this link at Justin's blog, read about the show and then tell us what major comic book event Justin says he took inspiration from. E-mail us the answer at all.star.comics@hotmail.com, with the subject line Circular Competition. Your names will then go into a draw to win one of five double passes.

Please Note: The tickets will be for Thrusday the 7th of April at 9:45pm. Please only enter if you can make it as tickets need to be picked up at the event, if you don't pick them up, you'll make us look bad (and we will be angry at you). The prize will be drawn on Tuesday the 5th of April at 6pm, winners will be notified via e-mail or sms (include your number in the e-mail if you would like an SMS). Tickets must be collected at the Melbourne Town Hall 30 minutes prior to the event.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

All Star Recommends!

Back for another week on a new day with two new recommendations for your consideration. Special Offer: Customers who mention they read about a title on All Star Recommends will get a 10% discount on the below prices.

Demo Volumes 1 and 2
Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Becky Cloonan
Recommended by: Dom

At this point, the exploration of young people with super powers is a concept well worn in comic books. To make an impact here, a writer needs to find a unique angle that takes the strange powers and presents the story from a fresh angle. This is what Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan do with Demo in their combining the curse of powers with tortured lives.

Across two volumes, Wood and Cloonan's angle is to strip away all the flash of the usual super hero comic. The powers are are often used as a means of compounding the problems of their every day lives. The stories are often easy to sum up in a sentence such as what happens when a sniper who never misses doesn't want to be a soldier anymore? What effect does that have on his life and family? Can a girl who is the projection of everyone's desire find someone who loves her for her true image? Simple summations though don't make the stories any less complex. Strong and well rounded lives are found in every issue.

These short indivdual stories (18 across 2 volumes) are compact but elegant in their structure. Their concepts and deeper meanings leave the reader with a lot to consider at each tale's conclusion. Demo's power is that it channels the literary short story with a complex simplicity.

Demo Volume 1 and 2 are available now at All Star Comics. Volume 1 featuring the fist 12 stories is $32.95. Volume 2 featuring the next 6 stories is $23.95.

War of the Green Lanterns: Green Lantern 64 and GL Corps 58
Writer: Geoff Johns and Tony Bedard
Artists: Doug Mahnke and Tyler Kirkham
Recommended by Eddie

Even for a huge Green Lantern fan, these first two parts of War of the Green Lanterns feel like a big battery recharge (pardon the pun) for the mythos. Just the thing the book needs in the lead up to the film.

Quick synopsis, renegade Guardian Krona, who you may remember from a little DC event called Crisis on Infinite Earths, has taken control of the emotional entities and turned them on the Green Lantern Corps in a way that basically means the Corp is turning on itself making the event feel like Blackest Night meets Civil War. The story is simple but the beats it plays are fantastic and feel as though they will have long term effects for the universe which should surprise and amaze fans as Johns and co pull from all aspects of the GL mythos. Don’t expect every one to make it out of this story and even if they do survive don’t expect them to be the same on the other side.

If you are a new reader, don’t fret these books are very new reader friendly and a perfect jumping on point for those interested to start. The books do a solid job of recapping all that is going on in story and brings the reader up to speed in exploring the personality of the main protagonists. It even seems they're following “The Sinestro Corps” lead in that you can read Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corp as separate books that tell one side of the story each.

Green Lantern #64 and Green Lantern Corps #58 are available at All Star Comics Now for $4.50 each.

Kill Shakespeare #1
Writer: Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col
Artist: Andy Belanger
Recommended by: Jess

Those that have been wanting to check out this unique 12 issue series now have a chance to jump on board for cheap with IDW's 100 Penny Press. The story follows Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, just after he has killed Polonius. He’s full of guilt, jumping at shadows and ready to leave his home with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Before he boards the ship to England, he is confronted with a mist that tells him to kill his uncle. Swearing he is not a killer and fleeing aboard the ship, poor Hamlet sets to drinking, hoping his voyage and the booze will keep him from his guilt. But the mist returns, seemingly bringing with it pirates and doom for all those on board the ship. Hamlet survives, clinging to wreckage and a dead sailor, and wakes up some time later in a mysterious castle, guest of Richard III.

From there, writers Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery manage to craft a world where two factions of Shakespeare’s characters vie for the chance to capture – or kill – the Bard. Shakespeare himself is seen as alternately the Creator and the Devil, with Hamlet playing the foretold Shadow King, who will kill the Bard. Deals with witches are made, politics manipulated and alliances made, all in the traditional Shakespearean language. The language itself is interesting – both aesthetically and literarily, especially when characters are having a fairly standard conversation, it’s asks the reader to give it about the same level of concentration you’d need if you were watching an episode of Deadwood. You get the gist of it.

The art done by Andy Belanger and Ian Herring is wonderfully expressive. There’s a great sense of the dramatic and the symbolism needed to convey a world that originally only existed on a stage. I especially loved the work that surrounded the ‘mist’ scenes and those involving the witches – all billowing almost woodcut style smoke, bright colouring, intense eyes on the characters. The use of light and dark too, is well calculated. The backgrounds are detailed, almost to the point of distraction. (I’m a massive fan of stylistic clouds. Weird art fetishes FTW)

It’s sadly a finite story, but it’s definitely worth picking up. Definitely something the Fables fans would want to give a try, along with anyone who’s a fan of the clever use of other people’s characters.

The 100 Penny Press edition of Kill Shakespeare #1 is available at All Star Comics now for $1.50. For those that want to dive in rather than dipping the toe, you can also order the trade paperback which is currently out of stock.

Be sure to check out our All Star Recommends archive here. Remember, mention that you read about any of the titles in store when going to buy them and you get a 10% discount.

Monday, March 28, 2011

New Comics For Wednesday 30th March


Will comics ship on time this week? As usual, that is the big question and as usual, we'll keep you as updated as we are on Facebook and Twitter.
 
MARVEL
5 RONIN #5 (OF 5)
AGE OF X UNIVERSE #1 (OF 2)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #657 BIG
AVENGERS #11
BLACK PANTHER MAN W/O FEAR #516
CAPTAIN AMERICA #616
CAPTAIN AMERICA AND S AVENGERS #1
CYCLOPS #1
DEADPOOL CORPS #12
DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #883
INCOGNITO BAD INFLUENCES #5
INCREDIBLE HULKS #625
KICK-ASS 2 #
PUNISHER IN BLOOD #5 (OF 5)
SCARLET #5
SECRET AVENGERS #11
SPIDER-GIRL #5 BIG
STAND NO MANS LAND #3 (OF 5)
THOR #621
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN MGC #1
WOLVERINE #7
X-23 #8
ZATANNA #11

DC
ACTION COMICS #899
DETECTIVE COMICS #875
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #21
GREEN ARROW #10 (BRIGHTEST DAY)
GREEN LANTERN EMERALD WARRIORS #8
JIMMY OLSEN #1
JLA THE 99 #6 (OF 6)
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #49
TEEN TITANS #93
WONDER WOMAN #609
WOW CURSE OF THE WORGEN #5

VERTIGO
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #13 
JACK OF FABLES #50
SCALPED #47

BOOM
INCORRUPTIBLE #16
STAN LEE TRAVELER #5

DARK HORSE
DOLLHOUSE EPITAPHS ONE SHOT
KING CONAN SCARLET CITADEL #2
SW DARTH VADER & LOST COMMAND #3
STAR WARS LEGACY WAR #4 (OF 6)

IDW
DOCTOR WHO ONGOING VOL 2 #3
GODZILLA KINGDOM OF MONSTERS #1
TRANSFORMERS RISING STORM #2 (OF 4)
TRUE BLOOD TAINTED LOVE #2

IMAGE
AMORY WARS KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH 3 #9
BUTCHER BAKER RIGHTEOUS MAKER #1
ELEPHANTMEN MAN AND ELEPHANTMAN #1
HALCYON #4
SAVAGE DRAGON #170
UNDYING LOVE #1
WALKING DEAD #83
WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #13

MISC
ARCHIE #619
CALIGULA #1 (OF 6)
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #223
TERRY MOORES ECHO #29

TRADE PAPERBACKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS
BATMAN AND ROBIN BATMAN REBORN
BRONX KILL TP
CAPTAIN AMERICA TP LEGACY OF CAPTAIN AMERICA
DEAD AT 17 TP VOL 06 WITCH QUEEN
FANTASTIC FOUR BY JONATHAN HICKMAN TP VOL 03
HAWKEYE AND MOCKINGBIRD BLACK WIDOW TP WIDOWMAKER
HERALDS TP
INCREDIBLE HULK TP VOL 03 WORLD WAR HULKS
PUNISHER WELCOME BACK FRANK TP NEW ED
SECRET WARRIORS TP VOL 04 LAST RIDE HOWLING COMMANDOS
SHADOWLAND PREM HC BLOOD ON STREETS
STRANGE TALES II HC
SUPERMAN THE BLACK RING HC
WORLD OF WARCRAFT TP VOL 03
X-MEN FIRST CLASS GN TP VOL 02
X-MEN FOREVER 2 TP VOL 03 PERFECT S'WORLD

MERCH AND MAGAZINES
AVENGERS HEROIC AGE OVERSIZED POSTER
FANGORIA #302 APR 2011
MARVEL PREVIEWS APRIL 2011
PREVIEWS #271 APRIL 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011

The All Star is going Supanova!

Are you going to be at the upcoming Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Melbourne? Because we are. Check out the web page to see all the exciting events going on and guests that will be attending the show.

As for All Star Comics, we are going to have a lot of cool and more importantly, exclusive items available for the first time at the show. More information about some of these items will be revealed in the days leading up to the show so as usual, keep your eye on our Facebook page and Twitter for the latest. We'll also be getting you the information on exactly where our stall will be. Seriously guys, we can't wait to show you some of the cool stuff we have planned for the show.

If you were already going, we'll see you there, if you weren't sure, then we hope that we can get you interested.

Supanova runs from the 8th to the 10th of April at the Melbourne Showgrounds. Weekend passes start from $39.50, daily passes are $23.80. For more information on different ticketing options check the web page. You can also become a fan of Supanova on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for the latest updates.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Sucker Punch Giveaway!

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone's amazing response, Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow have given us more passes and posters for you all, this changes the prizes a little so please read below for the new details. Updates are in Bold.

Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow, All Star Comics Melbourne has a bunch of cool stuff to give away for the upcoming Zack Snyder film Sucker Punch. All we want you to do is tell us your favourite imaginary world which you would like to escape into. Tell us below, tell us in the Facebook comments or tell us on Twitter. You will go in the draw to win one of...25 prizes! While we have no intention of fooling you, we will be drawing the winners next Friday on the first of April. The prizes are as follows:
  • The first six people drawn will each win 1 large poster, 1 mini poster and 2 in season passes to the film.
  • The next five people drawn will each win 1 large poster, 1 mini poster and a single in season pass to the film.
  • The next four people drawn will each win 1 mini poster and a single in season pass to the film.
  • The next FIFTY! people after that will each win a mini poster.
Prizes must be picked up from All Star Comics Melbourne. Limited to one entry per person. The names will be drawn from the All Star Barrell on Friday the 1st of April at 6pm. Sucker Punch opens in Australian cinemas on the 7th of April, it is rated M. Also, if you have the spare cash, you can also pick up a copy of the limited Sucker Punch Art book while your at it for only $46.95 from All Star Comics. (Sorry all, it sold.)

Big thanks once again to Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow for these great prizes.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Comics Shipping Wednesday 23rd March


Here are the books scheduled to ship this Wednesday. Please keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest updates on delays.

MARVEL
5 RONIN #4 (OF 5)
ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN WOLVERINE #5
CAPTAIN AMERICA #615.1
CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BATROC #1
CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #1 70TH ANNIV ED
CAPTAIN AMERICA MAN OUT OF TIME #5 (OF 5)
CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN MGC #1
DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE #7
DAREDEVIL REBORN #3 (OF 4)
DEADPOOL #34
DEADPOOLMAX #6
FF #1
HULK #31
NAMOR FIRST MUTANT #8
NEW MUTANTS #23 AGEX
ORSON SCOTT CARDS SPEAKER FOR DEAD #3
OSBORN #4 (OF 5) BIG
POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #3 (OF 5)
POWERS #7
SILVER SURFER #2 (OF 5)
SPIDER-MAN #12
THOR #620.1
ULTIMATE COMICS DOOM #4 (OF 4)
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #156 DOSM
UNCANNY X-FORCE #6
UNCANNY X-MEN #534
WOLVERINE & JUBILEE #3 (OF 4)
X-MEN #9

DC
BATMAN INCORPORATED #4
BATMAN STREETS OF GOTHAM #21
GREEN LANTERN #64 (WAR OF GL)
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #58 (WAR OF GL)
INFAMOUS #2 (OF 6)
JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST #22 (BD)
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #55 (DOOMSDAY)
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #11
LEGION OF SUPER VILLAINS #1
SUPERGIRL #62
SUPERMAN BATMAN #82

VERTIGO
FABLES #103
HELLBLAZER #277
NEW YORK FIVE #3 (OF 4)

BOOM
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP #21
HELLRAISER #1

DARK HORSE
CREEPY COMICS #5
MASS EFFECT EVOLUTION #3 (OF 4)

IDW
ANGEL #43
GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #164
SPIKE #6 (OF 8)
TRANSFORMERS HEART OF DARKNESS #1

IMAGE
HAUNT #14 
LIL DEPRESSED BOY #2
LORNA RELIC WRANGLER ONE SHOT
MARINEMAN #4
SPAWN #204
SPAWN #205 
TURF #4
WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #12

MISC
FUTURAMA COMICS #54
GREEN HORNET #14
ROUTE DES MAISONS ROUGES #1 (OF 4)
SIXTH GUN #10

TRADE PAPERBACKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS
ART OF DREW STRUZAN HC
DEMO TP VOL 02
ESSENTIAL CAPTAIN AMERICA TP VOL 06
FANTASTIC FOUR EXTENDED FAMILY TP
INVINCIBLE HC 06 ULTIMATE COLL
IRON MAN RAPTURE TP
KLAWS OF PANTHER TP
MMW AVENGERS TP VOL 03
OKAMI OFFICIAL COMPLETE WORKS SC
OWLY & WORMY HC FRIENDS ALL AFLUTTER
SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE WITCHING HOUR TP
SIMPSONS COMICS MELTDOWN TP
SPAWN ORIGINS TP VOL 10
THING CLASSIC TP VOL 01
TITANS VILLAINS FOR HIRE TP
UC NEW ULTIMATES HC THOR REBORN
UNWRITTEN TP VOL 03 DEAD MANS KNOCK
WHAT IF DARK AVENGERS TP

MERCH AND MAGAZINES
BTTF HOVER BOARD CHARCOAL T-SHIRT
CAPTAIN AMERICA GOOD OL STEVE T-SHIRT
CINEFEX #125 APR 2011 

Sunday, March 20, 2011

All Star Recommends!

We're back with a couple of cool recommendations that we think you should give a go. A nice long look at a new Bendis book and a few quick looks at some Image titles. Prices listed below are shelf price, standing order customers receive a 10% discount. 

Takio
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Recommended By: Jess

Before I picked up this little nugget of goodness, I read a few excited previews suggesting this was a great way of getting young girls into comics. Bendis created the book with the help of his daughter, blending her ideas with his writing style. It's aimed at all ages and the art, dialogue and narrative style stick to that brief.

The protagonists, older Taki and younger Olivia, are adoptive sisters who are at the overprotective mercy of their widowed mother. They live in a world that doesn't have superheroes, so when they're accidentally given powers, the first thing Olivia wants to do is be a hero and use her powers for good...and fun. Throw in a nemesis and secret identities and you have the standard superhero/coming of age story.

The art is dynamic, with what seems like a blur of the action physics rules that would match an excited retelling of the fight rather than the actual event. The facial expressions, body language of the characters and the framing of each scene match the pitch of the dialogue, which is fast paced and expansive.

So yes, it has elements of a gateway comic, but it doesn’t just appeal to young girls or even children. What infuses the story and makes it so enjoyable to read is the enthusiasm and moral code that we all had once perhaps when we first picked up a comic or watched a cartoon. Bendis uses that childhood excitement and extrapolates the idea of 'what would you do?' with a realistic approach that will appeal to kids on the story level, and to adults on the thematic level.

Takio tapped into my forgotten well of childish glee at the idea of superpowers and really, I'd love to yell KUNG FU TELEKINESIS! when I fight someone.


Takio is available now at All Star Comics for $14.95.
Skullkickers Vol 1
Writer Jim Zub
Artist Edwin Huang
Recommended by: Eddie


“Who ever heard of a fat werewolf?” This is the fantastic opening line to an amazing trade paperback and in a way, it sums up all one needs to grasp this series. Yes it is fantasy and yes it doesn’t take its self too seriously. You also get to witness a fight scene between a Dwarf and the earlier mentioned fat werewolf.

Jim Zub does an amazing job bringing you right into the world of the Skullkickers. It is a dwarf and bald guy buddy mercenary story that barely lets up. In almost Indiana Jones style these characters keeping moving from one bad situation to another in their attempt to solve an assassination mystery, and to earn some money for mead and shagging.

The action is crazy but fun (male readers may not look at a battle axe the same way again) made even more impressive by the stand out art by Edwin Huang who going on his work here is set to have a big future. Also a true standout of this book is the beautiful colour work by Misty Coats.

Not in the mood for a heady read, but just want a pure fun comic, action adventure and a few laughs? Try Skullkickers!
 


SkullKickers Vol 1 is available at All Star Comics now for $14.95.


The Mission #1
Writer Jon & Erich Hoeber
Artist Werther Dell’Edera
Recommended by: Eddie


What would make you kill someone? Could you do it if someone asked you to? What if that someone was God? This is what is being asked of the protagonist Paul Haskell in “The Mission” when Archangel Gabriel asks him to kill Neal Corman in the name of god.

Why is Paul being asked? Is Gabriel really an angel? Who is Neal Corman? These are questions both the reader and the main character share mere pages into this issue.

Most of us are happy to go about our lives, as Paul tries to do, however, could one ignore an order from “God” and expect to go back to a normal life? So what drives Paul to find out who Neal Corman is? Does knowing someone make it easier or harder in your choice to kill them? It is these questions that make this an intriguing first issue to a series that is sure to be an interesting look at faith.


The Mission #1 is available at All Star Comics Now for  $4.50.

For Previous Recommendations, click here to see the All Star Recommends Archive.

Monday, March 14, 2011

New Comics For Wednesday 16th March



Here are the books scheduled to ship this Wednesday. Please keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for any updates on delays.

Marvel
5 RONIN #3 (OF 5)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #656 BIG
AVENGERS ACADEMY #11
AVENGERS CHILDRENS CRUSADE #1
CAP AND CROSSBONES #1
CASANOVA GULA #3 (OF 4)
DEADPOOL MAX HOV #1
FEAR ITSELF BOOK OF THE SKULL #1
FORMIC WARS BURNING EARTH #3
GENERATION HOPE #5
HALO FALL OF REACH BOOT CAMP #4
HULK #30.1
ICEMAN AND ANGEL #1
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #502
IRON MAN 2.0 #2
LOKI #4 (OF 4)
MARVEL ZOMBIES SUPREME #2 (OF 5)
RUSE #1 (OF 4)
THUNDERBOLTS #155
THUNDERSTRIKE #4 (OF 5)
ULTIMATE AV VS NEW ULTIMATES #2
UC NEW ULTIMATES #5 (OF 5)
UNCANNY X-FORCE #5.1
UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #3

DC Comics
ADVENTURE COMICS #524
BATMAN #708
BRIGHTEST DAY #22
DC PRESENTS BATMAN IRRESISTIBLE
DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES #10 (OF 10)
DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #4
DEUS EX #2 (OF 6)
GEARS OF WAR #16
KNIGHT & SQUIRE #6 (OF 6)
POWER GIRL #22
REBELS #26
RED ROBIN #21
SPIRIT #12
SUPERMAN #709
THUNDER AGENTS #5
TINY TITANS #38
XOMBI #1
YOUNG JUSTICE #2

Vertigo
DMZ #63
NORTHLANDERS #38
UNWRITTEN #23 (MR)

Boom
28 DAYS LATER #21
STAN LEE SOLDIER ZERO #6

Dark Horse
DOCTOR SOLAR MAN OF ATOM #5
GUILD TINK ONE SHOT

IDW
DOCTOR WHO ONGOING VOL 2 #2
GI JOE INFESTATION #2 (OF 2)
TRANSFORMERS 3 FOUNDATION #1

Image
ARTIFACTS #6 (OF 13)
BOMB QUEEN VS HACK SLASH
GODLAND #34
HACK SLASH ONGOING #2
MICE TEMPLAR VOL 3 #3
MORNING GLORIES #8
WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #11

Misc
ARCHIE & FRIENDS #153
JUGHEAD #206
SIMPSONS COMICS #176
SONIC UNIVERSE #26
VAMPIRELLA #4
WARLORD OF MARS #5
W/O ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #5

Graphic Novels/Trade Paperbacks
ABSOLUTION TP VOL 01
AGE OF HEROES TP
ASTONISHING X-MEN PREM HC XENOGENESIS
CAPTAIN AMERICA TP CAPTAIN
COWBOYS AND ALIENS IT BOOKS HC ED
DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER LITTLE SISTERS EL
DEADPOOL PULP PREM HC
ESSENTIAL X-MEN TP VOL 04 NEW ED
FORGETLESS TP
GOD OF WAR TP
IZOMBIE TP VOL 01 DEAD TO THE WORLD
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA DARK THINGS HC
JUSTICE LEAGUE THE RISE AND FALL HC
NEIL GAIMAN BLUEBERRY GIRL SC
PHERONE HC
RETURN O/T DAPPER MEN HC
SPIDER-MAN GAUNTLET VOL 05 LIZARD TP
SUPER HERO SQUAD GN TP SUPER HERO SAFARI
SUPERMAN NEW KRYPTON TP VOL 03
THOR LOST GODS TP
THUNDERBOLTS TP CAGE
VESHA VALENTINE STORY GN
WEIRD FISHES GN
X-FACTOR #217
X-MEN ORIGINS II HC
YOUR HIGHNESS TP

Merch
CAPTAIN AMERICA BY TRAVIS CHAREST POSTE
MARVEL SELECT ABOMINATION ACTION FIG
VENOM BY JOE QUESADA POSTER

Thursday, March 10, 2011

All Star Weekly Update!

Welcome back to another weekly update, we have a lot of plugs to get through so I'll just get straight to it.

First of all, because we should be plugging our own stuff in the blog space, make sure to check out our weekly All Star Recommends articles. This week we covered I Kill Giants. You can see the archive for all our recommendations here.


Once again we must give a plug and big thanks to Beat magazine for their flattering article. Thanks again to Beat for their coverage of the store and make sure you pick up the latest issue if you're desperate for a well taken photo of Mitch and Troy.

Frequent blog contributor and occasional behind the counter guy Dom wants to give himself a plug. He has a rather douchy blog called More Harman Than Good which covers literature, film and video games. Go and discover the fact that he is a lot smarter than he lets on by actually applying his honours degree to something. He also complains about the upcoming comic sequel to the 1990 film Total Recall which you can pre-order at All Star Comics if you'd like to tell him he is wrong.


As you know, we recently announced the winner of our $100 competition won by bike riding nurse extrodonare Blake Griffiths. This conincides with our gift vouchers which you can see above designed once again by Tim Hobday.


You might have seen Troy at the launch of a new comics line based in Melbourne FEC Comics. Check out their website here. They have some really cool and diverse stuff coming out and in our support of Australian comics, expect to find some of these titles here at All Star Comics in future.


We've mentioned it before but we'll mention it again because The Cult Vault nights at the Westgarth cinema are amazing. Be sure to check a film out there, this week the 1982 horror classic Poltergeist is playing followed next week by 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers and on the 25th of this month a film that divides All Star Comics down the middle, The Goonies.


Another two friends of the store Owen and Dom (not the earlier mentioned Dom) have a podcast called Instant Awesome which can be found on Itunes here.  You can also check out their facebook page here. It covers a whole swath of nerdy topics. So give them a shot.

Till next week, keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter accounts for all the latest updates and if you have an event, blog or anything you would like some promotion on, send us an e-mail.

Monday, March 7, 2011

New Comics for March 9th


Marvel
5 RONIN #2 (OF 5)
ASTONISHING X-MEN XENOGENESIS #5 
CAP AMERICA AND FIRST THIRTEEN #1
CAPTAIN AMERICA KORVAC SAGA #4
HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT #2 (OF 4)
INCREDIBLE HULKS #624
LOKI #3 (OF 4)
NEW AVENGERS #10
ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED #2 (OF 4)
PUNISHERMAX #11
SIGIL #1 (OF 4)
SUPER HEROES #12
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #155
UNCANNY X-FORCE APOC SOL #1
VENOM #1
X-23 #7
X-23 MGC #1
X-MEN LEGACY #246 AGEX

DC
BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #5
BATGIRL #19
BATMAN AND ROBIN #21
BATMAN INCORPORATED #3
BIRDS OF PREY #10
BOOSTER GOLD #42
DOC SAVAGE #12
DOOM PATROL #20
GREEN LANTERN #62 (BRIGHTEST DAY)
INFAMOUS #1 (OF 6)
JSA ALL STARS #16
JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST #20
JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST #21
LEGION OF SUPER VILLAINS #1
OUTSIDERS #37 (DOOMSDAY)
SUPERBOY #5
TITANS #33
VICTORIAN UNDEAD II #5
WEIRD WORLDS #3 (OF 6)
WONDER WOMAN #608
ZATANNA #10

Vertigo
CINDERELLA FABLES ARE FOREVER #2
IZOMBIE #11
VERTIGO RESURRECTED FINALS #1

Boom
FARSCAPE #17
STAN LEE STARBORN #4

Dark Horse
BPRD HELL ON EARTH GODS #3 (OF 3)
CONAN ROAD OF KINGS #3 (OF 6)
MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #3 (OF 4)

Dynamite
RED SONJA REVENGE O/T GODS #1
WARLORD OF MARS DEJAH THORIS #1

IDW
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS DARK SUN #3
GHOSTBUSTERS INFESTATION #1 (OF 2)
TRANSFORMERS ONGOING #17

Image
27 (TWENTY SEVEN) #4 (OF 4)
LIL DEPRESSED BOY #2
SPAWN #204
WALKING DEAD #82
WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #10

Misc
CLINT #5
GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD #1
GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD #2
LADY DEATH (ONGOING) #3
MAGUS #3 (OF 5)
SOULFIRE VOL 3 #0
VERONICA #205

New Trade Paperbacks/Graphic Novels
DEADPOOL PREM HC VOL 06 I RULE YOU SUCK
DEADPOOL TP VOL 05 WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP HC 04
ELMER GN
GIRL COMICS TP
GOTHAM CENTRAL HC VOL 04 CORRIGAN
GOTHAM CENTRAL TP BOOK 01 IN THE LINE OF DUTY
HULK TP VOL 06 WORLD WAR HULKS
MARVEL ADV TP THOR BRINGERS OF STORM DIGEST
NEW MUTANTS PREM HC FALL OF NEW MUTANTS
SHADOWLAND PREM HC MOON KNIGHT
SKULLKICKERS TP VOL 01 1000 OPAS & DEAD BODY
STAR WARS OMNIBUS TP 1 AT WAR WITH EMPIRE
THANOS IMPERATIVE HC
THOR MIGHTY AVENGER GN TP VOL 02
ULTIMATE COMICS THOR HC
WOLVERINE WEAPON X TP 3 TOMORROW DIES TODAY
WOLVERINE WOLVERINE GOES TO HELL HC
ZATANNA MISTRESS OF MAGIC TP

Sunday, March 6, 2011

All Star Recommends!

Just the one recommendation this week as a few plans fell apart but this is a much requested one. We promise to have a lot more next week. Price listed below is shelf price, standing order customers receive a 10% discount.

I Kill Giants
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artist: JM Ken Niimura
Recommended by: Dom

We all have our giants don’t we? Giants are those toughest of obstacles to beat. In Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura’s I Kill Giants, there are many both metaphorically and physically. The question that the stories main character ultimately must face, herself being a Giant killer is how best to confront them.

Adolescence and the imagination are often combined in various mediums of storytelling. There is something special about childhood adventure being made even more fantastic by layering in elements of the unreal. This form of writing also allows the writer to examine concepts of growing up and dealing with larger world issues. Barbara Thorson is a great character because at the beginning of the story, she is a mystery. She is quick witted and strange, the perfect outsider. Her mysteries leave the reader wondering if her fantasies are genuine or the work of her rather active imagination. These questions are driven by the art which layers in the fantastic elements with an almost there quality. It is within the ambiguity of this fantasy/reality idea that the story shines, the reader wants to both believe in and accept Barbara’s world.

I Kill Giants is an entertaining and rather touching adventure through the mind of a very unique girl. The larger issues that come to the forefront later in the book are dealt with in a subtle manner without diluting the narrative. Barbara Thorson in turn becomes the perfect avatar of the adolescent mind learning to deal with reality knocking while still clinging to the fantastic that children like to lose themselves in. 

I Kill Giants is available at All Star Comics now for $21.95. Those with the money to spend may also want to check out the oversized hard cover Titan Edition for $53.95.

For Previous Recommendations, click here to see the All Star Recommends Archive. 

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

All Star Weekly Update!

Hey everyone,

Welcome to what will hopefully be a new weekly feature, the All Star Update. What we want to do here is not only highlight some cool happenings for the store, but also for the All Star Comics community. So if you have something cool you want us to post up here or something you would like us to plug, send us an e-mail about it.

First up, have you been reading All Star Recommends? We hope you have been enjoying it so far. There are so many great comics out there that sometimes get overlooked so we wanted to use this space to tell you about some you may not have had the chance to consider. This week we took a look at Morning Glories, Age of X, American Vampire and Hack/Slash. Click here to check it out. A list of comics schedulled to arrive in store this Wednesday (2nd March) is also available, check it out here.

Did you see our article on the Beat Magazine website recently? Well if you go back to the site and browse some of their great articles on the local scene you might see some ads that look something like this:


Make sure you click through to check them out because they do move. Thanks once again to Tim Hobday for putting these together. Also, keep an eye on future issues of Beat, we could have some more cool stuff from them in the future.

Speaking of Tim, did you see that the latest Astor Calendar is finally out? That is a photo of it to the right, we can't put into words how proud we are to see this in print. Make sure you pick up a copy to put on your fridge and keep supporting this great cinema. Make sure to check out their website for session information too. If you like film, there is no doubt that there will be something on at the Astor for you.

Have you been listening to Australia's own Comic Book podcast Non Canonical? If not then you could be missing out on a chance to win an X-Men Omnibus provided by us. All you have to do is listen to their show, a free download to find out the details on how you could win. This is a prize valued at over $100 so make sure you get on it soon.


Another plug, our good friend Lee Gambin is going to be giving a talk on "gay subtext and representation in the classic and modern horror film," as a part of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. If you know Lee, then you know this is a subject he is highly passionate about and this talk should be an entertaining part of the program. Click Here for more information and to buy tickets. We understand they're selling fast.

Finally we have a little comic about the store done by customer Chris Rodgers. Check out his blog here. If you'd like to see more of these or you even think you can do one of your own, let us know. Click through for a higher res version.


That'll do it for this week. Remember, let us know what is happening, were happy to drop you some plugs.