Local Comic Shop Day Will Be Full Of ‘Venom’
Comic shops and publishers will celebrate the independent spirit of local comic shops with “Local Comic Shop Day” on Wednesday, and Marvel is partnering the day with a character from one of this year’s blockbuster movies. .
Following the success of the “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” movie, Marvel is offering an LCSD link for its latest “Venom” comic book series.
Jonboy Meyers created the variant cover of “Venom” #2 which will be available Wednesday at participating local comic shops, featuring the Local Comic Shop Day logo.
The annual Local Comic Shop Day event is organized by ComicsPRO, the trade organization for the comics industry. The new “Venom” series is written by Al Ewing and Ram V, with art by Bryan Hitch.
This is the second year Local Comic Shop Day has been held on a Wednesday, having started on a Saturday in 2011.
Marco Davanzo, executive director of ComicsPRO, said the move was to take advantage of existing traffic patterns at comic book stores.
“We moved Local Comic Shop Day from Saturday to Wednesday last year and more stores participated,” Davanzo said in a press release. “Because Wednesday is the day that new comics traditionally come out, it made a lot of sense to make this move.”
The goal of Local Comic Shop Day, according to a statement from ComicsPRO, is to bring comic book fans to their local store for the holidays – to celebrate the local comic shop.
Monsters, musicians, superheroes and more will be part of this year’s Local Comic Shop Day on Wednesday.
Writer/artist Jim Calafiore is releasing signed editions of his graphic novel “Ned, Lord of the Pit” at participating Local Comic Shop Day stores. Ned is a struggling actor who discovers he is heir to part of Hell.
“The Walking Dead” first found its audience in comic book stores, and Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Dave McCaig’s #27 Local Comic Shop Day edition “The Walking Dead Deluxe” will feature a metallic treatment on the cover logo. The original edition of “The Walking Dead” #27 featured the first appearance of the villainous character known as “The Governor”.
Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Stephen Byrne will release an LCSD edition of “Joy Operations” #1 for the day; 55 years in the future, Joy is a special agent of a city owned by a company.
Two versions focus on notable musicians:
Z2 Comics will release “Chuck D Presents Apocalypse 91: Revolution Never Sleeps,” a graphic novel celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Public Enemy album “Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Back.”
Publisher 10 Ton Press will release the “Metallica Special Edition” comic to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Metallica’s “Black Album.”
Other issues with receiving variant cover builds or sheets for LCSD include:
Vault’s “Radio Apocalypse” #1; “Jim Mahfood’s Grrl Scouts: Stone Ghost” #1 from Image Comics; and the YA crime thriller “Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martín’s Friday” #1 Local Comics Shop Day edition from Image Comics.
Boom! Studios offers Cardboard Cover #1 of “Magic: Master Of Metal” by Adam Gorham; “House Of Slaughter” #1 second hardcover printed by Jae Lee and June Chang, and “Regarding The Matter Of Oswald’s Body” #1 hardcover by Ryan Sook.
From DC Comics come three silver cardstock covers: “Detective Comics” #1045, “DC vs. Vampires” #2, and “Task Force Z” #2.
For more information, visit localcomicshopday.com.
Matthew Price, matthew@matthewLprice.com, has been writing about the comics industry for over two decades. He is co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman. Price sits on the National Local Comic Shop Day Committee for ComicsPRO.
