Kray Z Comics And Stories

The episode starts with Joe going on and on about Sid and Marty Kroft TV shows. Your guess is as good as ours. Joe then asks to jump right into Tales from the Shop, where he discusses a person who made it show he could collect comics out in the open.

We leave tales from the shop and go into Sad News: Hostess is now bankrupt. This leads to reflections on Dolly Madison, how Hostess stores make Cory sad and the Peanuts comic book. They also have the new Geeking and Freaking segment! This leads to a discussion of what Cory!! is doing on his overnights and how he is freaking about all of the great geeky TV shows that are filling up his DVR. Joe talks about brainwashing his daughter into reading Grant Morrison comics, and let’s be honest, if she’s reading Grant Morrison, he shouldn’t be surprised if she starts doing a lot of hallucinogens.

This leads to a discussion of how Marvel is letting their trades go out of print, the business reasons Disney bought Marvel and more stuff around the business end of things. And it’s NOT as boring as watching CNBC. Sorry if you LIKE CNBC, but it’s a great sleep aid for normal human beings.

Joe and Cory then discuss how Dreamhaven books (which has been open for 35 years) will no longer have regular store hours. They will be at the Goodbye Party on 1/28/2012, so YOU should show up too! They talk about how Dreamhaven’s business is changing, and how the comic store business is changing, as well as their personal history of the store, comic shops in the Twin Cities and other information about comic shops and the comics business. All of this and the proverbial much much more!

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We start today’s show in medias res. OK, that means In the middle, but I wanted to use a fancy term for it so that I could feel like I haven’t wasted those four years in college getting a minor in English. Our last episode ended in the middle of a conversation, and this one picks up right where Joe’s internet crapped the bed. That’s right, I used the term “crapped the bed” to make up for all of the fancy Latin stuff I started with. It’s all about balance.

As Cory was reading the Buffy series, he started thinking about TV and movie tie-ins with Joe about how shops could use media tie-in comics to bring in new readers. They sidetrack into talking about Jim Shooter’s blog and him misrepresenting how the sales department worked with newsstands and how tie-in books like G. I. Joe and Transformers to bring in new readers.

They then finish up this two parter by talking about what they want from comics in 2012. And no, neither of them want a hug. All of this and the usual shenanigans in this episode of Kray Z Comics and Stories!

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The show starts with Joe revealing a carefully guarded secret: Who is the Golden Age artist appearing at the SpringCon in St. Paul, MN! He probably wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, so expect to hear about him being smacked around in upcoming shows.

After a quick update on Cory’s job hunt and Joe’s illnesses, Joe talks about a road trip where he went to a bunch of comic shops between St. Paul and Madison, talking about some of his finds, food giveaways and bringing his daughter’s mound of things home from college. Joe also talks about how his daughter is hooked on Grant Morrison and they discuss his novel Supergods, the novelization of Final Crisis and how Joe NOW Understands Final Crisis.

There’s MORE, so listen and Joe and Cory!! get caught up after the holidays, check in with all of the sponsors and if you’re not careful, you may learn something before it’s all done!

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It’s just a few days to Festivus, and while this is not the Airing of the Grievances, it IS a present for you, a NEW Episode!

We actually start with our sponsors, including what a great webhost Dreamhost is while explaining why last week’s

Joe is back from his one week training and has stories about his trip to Gathersburg Maryland starting with talking about the comic shop he found there….less then 2 blocks from his hotel. How did Cory!! take this to do quotes from Ed Woods movies? The man just can’t stay on focus. Ooooh…a squirrel! Anyway, they discuss some indy books as well as their theories as to how to display comics, alphabetical or by company.. Joe goes back to talking about the shop, fun things they had and what he actually bought.

Then, 32 minutes in, we get to the theme of the episode. Oh…wait, no we don’t. Cory talks a little about how the DC 52 are selling. THEN we get to the theme of the episode – Diversifying product in comic shops by selling things like card games and other fads!

They talk about Magic Cards, pogs, the history of Beyond Shinders, how Joe tried to get Joe hooked on silly fads. Joe has a lot of stories about the Magic Card crazy, Cory has stories about super-hero trading cards both from selling them and the silly ones Stan Lee used to do in the 70’s. They discuss how cards sold, the rise and fall as well as personal stories about selling these sorts of things. They also discuss the fad from the 90’s that they did NOT jump on despite it making a lot of money for McDonalds.

All of this and multiple cricket appearances, plus the usual shenanigans!

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What? Another episode? With Herman Cain dropping out of the race the same way he came in, quoting Pokemon, Cory and Joe have more time to record! Joe is right out of the gate, hyping the Variant covers he has available on eBay, which leads to the Tales From The Shop section brought to us by Chris B where we discuss variant covers in shops. And that Chris B had kept her copy of Action Comics #1, she could have sold it for $2.4 million and could afford ads on a popular podcast! But mostly about how Variant comics started in the 90’s and how some comic shops could get their OWN variants.

We then have our first visit from Stan Lee Mania! Not Stan Lee, but an incredible simulation! Joe asks “Stan” a bunch of questions…and, well, hilarity ensues.

After “Stan”, Joe and Cory discuss Harlan Ellison because one of our many listeners asked for it, explaining why comics cared about what Harlan had to say, Harlan’s work in comics and other things about Harlan Ellison. We then run an ad for Bartcop.com. That’s right, ANOTHER AD!

After this discussion, they get into comics that they have been reading. Cory’s been reading Supreme Power, Jonah Hex “ and Joe has a HUGE announcement about the future of the podcast! All of this and the usual shenanigans in this episode!

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It’s been a month since the last episode because Joe and Cory have weird schedules, but it’s time for a new episode! How do they start? Talking about Thanksgiving TV specials!

They DO get to comics, mostly comics that after Flashpoint are no longer in continuity. After we roll through the ads, they get back to comics. Cory talks about Old Man Logan, and the conversation goes to DC’s new 52, DC’s weekly series, Frumpy the Clown and Joe’s car problems. They also discuss the “Regeneisis” reboot of the X-Men books. This actually leads to a discussion of the Marvel Adventure line and how Comics are available outside of comic shops.

They then change the discussion to comics sales, and how DC dominated the sales charts for October. This leads to a long discussion about what is going on with Marvel canceling mini-series, laying people off and announcing they will not carry much backstock and inventory. This leads to “Tales from the Shop” (sponsored by Chris B) about how shops dealt with Marvel sending their distribution and merging into Diamond. There’s then an ad for Bartcop.com, another new sponsor. Ad-a palooza!

We end the show talking about Black Friday sales and how Joe was one of the first shops in the Twin Cities to actually have sales…and how it made the other comic shops FURIOUS!!  They also discuss how they sold back issues, how they decided what prices to use on back issues and how the back issue market has changed from the 80’s to today.

All this, and the usual shenanigans, crickets and stories of silliness!

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Who has survived episode #52, and what will be left of them?

Listen and see!

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Cory and Joe are out!  Done!  Swept away by brand new continuity!  Who will tell stories?  Who will weave tales!  WHO WILL PLUG THE SPONSORS?!?!?

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It’s the end. The LAST episode hosted by your charming and delightful old Uncle Rat Bastard and Joe “Kray Z” Rider as they are being replaced by younger, less continuity driven hosts as a result of Flashpoint.

Joe is still in New Mexico and the Hastings shop has FINALLY started getting new comics right as he is leaving. They discuss some of the new DC #1s and other comic book buying adventures in New Mexico. They also discuss the comic shop in North Carolina that tried to start a boycott of Grant Morrison using “GD” as a grunt in a word balloon. What a MarOON! Rather than spend the next hour talking about this bobo, we go into the ONE comic Joe refused to stock in this shop.

There is more discussion over the new DC Reboot as well as Flashpoint and other comics discussion. They also discuss the ad for DC comics that was played during Doctor Who. Do we need to spoil the ads in Doctor Who? Those fans get MAD if stuff is spoiled…also, SPOILER the guy in the Cialas commercial is able to get his boner after all.

They then get to Their Three Favorite Comic Book Endings.

What were they?

LISTEN TO THE DAMN EPISODE AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF!!!

Geez. Do we have to do it all for you?

After they discuss their three favorite endings, they go into Tales From The Shop, Sponsored by Chris B, who is on the Best Day Ever Tour which YOU can support by buying a CD or something else at THIS webpage!

We finish the show talking about the party that was thrown when Joe sold off his first comic shop.

Well, that and red skies.

All this and the usual shenanigans!

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What specialness will Joe and Cory!! have on their fabulous 50^th episode?

NONE! It’s too much work! Although we DO give you the secret to scoring free root beer at the Minnesota State Fair.

Joe starts talking about the trend of people taking old team-up books and making team-ups that never happened, like The Thing and Futurama, Batman and the Boba Fett and putting them up on the internet. Joe has WAY too much time on his own in New Mexico. And the people who makes these, why don’t they have jobs that would keep them too busy for such silliness?

And since people love it so much, we delve right into Tales From The Shop, sponsored by Chris B. Now, go to her website, but a CD, sign up to get e-mails on her upcoming gigs and tell her you’re damn happy she’s supporting Tales From The Shop! Oh, and we talk about how YOU could get on the podcast AND win a copy of Clan Destine by Alan Davis. Come on, we need lyrics ya lazy bums!

We tell the long awaited when we locked a customer in the shop Story!! And yes, it DOES contain information on a Spam Pizza, “I like-a Superman”, and other odd customers that would come into the shop. There is a LOT of information here about what shops do when people abandon their comics, why shops used to ignore a lot of small press comics, how we put a waitresses child through college and people being told by their sisters to buy their comics.

We also discuss discounts, shipping issues, Ape Nuts, Spawn, companies soliciting books that they know they won’t ship, Ultraverse advertising, Hurricanes, Peter David’s new book, our crickets, stuff Joe’s wife shouldn’t hear, Netflix and the proverbial Much More more and the usual shenanigans!

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