Hi Comic Shop Friends.

You probably saw our Facebook post, but sadly Winston passed away this past Friday.

From John’s post:

“He died in the comic book shop that was his home. He was not alone when he died. He’d been having a rough week and decompensated rapidly on his final day. He will be cremated and we will be keeping his ashes in the shop. Winston was a fire rescue cat from the East Side of Cleveland, around East 100th and Miles Avenue, near Calvary Cemetery. He was, without any doubt, one of the best shop cats in Cleveland. We believe his age to be around 16 years old, but we can’t say for sure. We do know that he led a really good life. Rest easy little buddy.”

Also from John:

“I’m going to go ahead and say I love our ragtag community so much. The outpouring of condolences over Winston’s passing is overwhelming, and this piece of customer art sincerely made me take a moment and collect myself. Thank you Hope. Strong work. Perfect.”

Thank you to all of you who offered kind words. I always have a hard time when losing an animal companion, so I’ve been very emotional the past few days. We love you, Winston.

To honor Winston, you’re all welcome to stop in and pick up a free sticker. You know the Best Shop Cat in Cleveland would want his face everywhere.

Now onto some more uplifting news!

Ben is on vacation this week!

Okay, that’s not the news, but you’ll get to see us on different days, and Raf will be here/has been here for the Tuesday night video. If you missed it, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel and watch it there. It’s uploaded after we finish the live video every Tuesday night, and this is your reminder to subscribe on YouTube and follow us on Facebook, because-

Next Tuesday the 19th is our 200th live video! Maybe we’ll be doing something special? Tune in and find out!

For March events, we have Late Nite Comics coming up on Thursday the 21st! We’ll have over 60 long boxes of Marvel, DC, and Small Press books for $1 each, and if you grab 100 or more, they’ll be 50 cents each! Plus, 50% off back issues!

And the night before, (dang that’s a busy week) Ben will be co-hosting with Lenora at the Midnight Rental Secret Screening at the Grog Shop! Will it be a Leprechaun movie? Will it be Little Bigfoot? No one knows! Doors at 7pm for an hour of vintage trailers and commercials, then the show starts at 8pm. If you’ve gone before and have seen the trailer for The Dark Backward, this is a public service announcement that it’s now streaming on Tubi! I can finally watch it!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 4th! It’s Free Comic Book Day! This year our focus is on the local artists and vendors, and giving as many people as possible free books! It’s always a fun day!

MARVEL COMICS

Is it the Spring of Symbiotes? This week Marvel is full of them! Besides Carnage and What If… Venom, there’s two new titles!

First, writer Peter David returns, along with artist Roge Antonio, for the next chapter in the Symbiote Saga with Spider-Man 2099! Kron Stone, the Venom of 2099, wages a hostile takeover of Alchemax! Miguel O’Hara wants the symbiote experiments shut down, but somehow it spawned, and now Dr. Hibby has been training them to bend to his will. But we all know symbiotes cannot be controlled, and Spider-Man is going to learn first-hand!

And from Stephanie Phillips and Paolo Villanelli comes Black Widow & Hawkeye, celebrating sixty years of the duo! The Eyes of a Hawk and the Venom of a Widow! Even when Natasha and Clint had no one to trust, they still had each other. Now Hawkeye has been accused of a rogue assassination attempt on a Russian diplomat, and Black Widow and Mockingbird truly believe he didn’t do it, but he may not be as innocent as they think. Symbiote-equipped Black Widow comes to his aid, using her symbiote spiders to question those who are attempting to kill Hawkeye. It will take all their faith in each other, and the lessons learned during their storied pasts, to protect their futures.

DC COMICS

Amanda Waller is making her move to seize power in the DCU in writer Nicole Maines and artist Eddy Barrows new four-issue mini-series, by putting together her Dream Team of Harley Quinn, Bizarro, Clock King, Black Alice, Deadeye, and newcomer Dreamer. After appearing in Titans: Beast World, Dreamer is a precognitive dream-walker, who wants to be a hero. But with Waller threatening her home, she has no choice but to comply and take the team through the dream realm and complete Waller’s mission of assassinating a dictator in Gamorra, and setting off the countdown to Absolute Power!

Batman has The Joker. Dylan Dog has Dr. Xabaras. What happens when the lethal nemeses team-up? Joker and Killer Croc head to London to meet the (possibly) dead Xabaras, and not far behind are Batman and Catwoman. For the Nightmare Investigator, an adventure begins when Bruce Wayne appears at his door, and now the fates of Dylan and the Dark Knight are intertwined! An oversized first issue packed with walking dead, sewer fights, clarinet playing, Groucho jokes, and a World’s End reference!

SMALL PRESS COMICS

Ben’s pick of the week, even though he’s not even here! Rick Remender and Bengal return with a new ongoing dystopian epic. When an alien baby crashes in Nebraska, a religious fanatic couple raise him to believe he is God. Fifty years later society is in ruins, the Magnificent Leader has imposed his will on humanity, and those who do not follow are cast out to suffer. But someone has a plan to make a pilgrimage through the gates, and that involves killing priests, stealing halos, and killing God.

We’re big fans of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and now Tom King and Bilquis Evely are back with a new series at Dark Horse. A Gothic fantasy mixed with sword and sorcery, that is part Conan the Barbarian and part Wizard of Oz. After the tragic death of her pulp author father, sixteen-year-old Helen Cole is brought back to her grandfather’s enormous estate, Wyndhorn House. Drinking her days away, Helen finds herself at odds with her new governess, Lilith Appleton, and the head butler, Joseph, who cannot control the young woman. Her chaotic ways start to wane as she discovers secrets within the massive manor and its grounds. Secrets that were once hidden within the works of her father, C.K. Cole, and part of the legendary adventures of the warrior Othan.