Monday, June 12, 2017

MUCH ADO ABOUT MONDAY

There is a lot of stuff going on in the world of Tony Isabella and, as usual, I can’t tell you about all of it yet. However, with your kind indulgence, I’ll give you some news about my new book and my upcoming garage sales.

With one of the longest titles in recorded history, July 1963: A Pivotal Month in the Comic-Book Life of Tony Isabella: Volume One by Tony Isabella [Pulp Hero Press; $17.95] will be released on July 3. It will be available through Amazon, from publisher Bob McLain, and elsewhere, including directly from me at my comics convention appearances and garage sales.

If you’re a regular reader of this bloggy thing of mine, you know that July 1963 was when Fantastic Four Annual #1 was published. It was that comic book that made the 12-year-old Tony Isabella want to make comic books himself. Because I am a retentive personality, I decided I would acquire, read and write about all of the 136 or so comic-book issues that came out in that month. This is an ongoing obsession of mine.

What Bob and I have done is collect the first twenty-two columns in the series in book form. I’ve re-edited and somewhat re-written the columns. I have written new introductory material for this volume. At Bob’s suggestion and with the assistance of my son Ed Isabella, I have added informative sidebars to every chapter. The subjects of these sidebars include Interplanetary Olympics, the cost of living in 1963, integration in South Carolina, fashion in 1963, the truth behind the “red phones” connecting the White House and Moscow, the bombing of San Francisco and much more.

The July 1963 columns will continue in this bloggy thing with the intention of publishing a new collection of those pieces whenever we have enough to fill another volume. All such volumes will also contain new material and sidebars.

Without checking my July 1963 boxes, I’m sure I have enough comics from that month to fill the second volume. However, after that, I might need some help from my readers.

I’m considering a crowd-funding campaign to pay for the July 1963 comic books I need to complete the series. The problem is I don’t have the experience and, more importantly, the time to properly run such a campaign. At this point, I’m open to your suggestions on how best to proceed. At some near future point, I’ll be looking for an experienced FOOT (Friends of Old Tony) member to run the campaign for me. Keep watching this space for further details.

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The summer’s first Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale will be held at Casa Isabella, 840 Damon Drive, Medina, Ohio on Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17. The official hours of the garage sale are 9 am to noon. Depending on how my morning is going and whether or not there are people lining up for the sale, I might open the door a little bit early. Depending on what’s happening with the sale at noon, I might keep the sale going a little bit longer. I’m going to be as flexible with this as I can.

What will be on sale for this first garage sale? I can’t give you a definite answer to that today because, as I write today’s bloggy thing, I’m still working on getting ready for the sale. Here’s what I do know will be in the sale...

There will be 4-8 five-dollar mystery boxes. These are the standard Diamond Comic Distribution shipping boxes packed with comic books and other stuff from my garage sales. I usually start with a base of at least 25 comic books and then add books and magazines and sometimes even some other things. I like the boxes to be so full that it hurts me a little to lift them onto the table.

There will be boxes of comic books, books and magazines priced at a quarter apiece or five for a dollar. Customers often buy towering stacks of stuff from these boxes, so they must be finding some cool comics and books and magazines.

I will have over 60 collectible Monopoly games on sale at just five bucks each. Most of these are still factory-sealed. If you mention this blog, you can buy any five games for just $20. Maybe you can do some holiday shopping at my garage sale.

I will have several boxes of dollar comics. These are mostly recent comic books that have only been read once. The titles include such gems as Star Wars, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge, Mother Panic, Black Widow, Jessica Jones, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Savage Dragon, Black Panther and more. There are even some older comics in these boxes.

I will be selling Black Lightning Volume One as well as some other Isabella-written items. If you buy any of these, I will sign them at no charge. If you bring Isabella-written items you already own, I’ll sign them at no charge as well.

I’ll have hardcovers and trade paperbacks on sale at roughly 30% of their original prices. I’ll also have whatever else I can get onto the garage sale tables. When I say I have a *vast* accumulation of stuff, I ain’t kidding.

Some other stuff you should know:

Please be aware of parking signs around my house. I’d hate for one of my customers to get a ticket.

Driveway parking is strictly reserved for customers whose vehicles have handicapped stickers.

Cash only. If I know you, I’ll accept a check. Once I get a spare moment and learn how to use one of the new devices I have purchased for conventions and garage sales, I’ll get myself set up to take credit cards. But that definitely won’t be the case for this first garage sale of the summer.

This first garage sale is my “shaking out” cruise. After this first one is in the record books, I’ll be doing something special at the sales. This will include cosplay - you, not me - and special guests. I’m also planning one and maybe more than one convention-style panel in my driveway. Keep reading the bloggy thing for details.

If you are a creator who would like to set up at my garage sales and sell your own work, e-mail me and I’ll see if I can accommodate you. The idea is to set you up under a party tent in the driveway or the lawn next to the driveway. There will be no charge for your space, but I won’t have space for more than one creator per garage sales unless you bring your own table and tent.

If you are a creator who would like to make the trip to appear on a convention-style panel, e-mail me about that. A DC Comics legend from several states away has already said he’d love to make the trip to do this. Hey, Medina and the surrounding area has all sorts of cool places to go and things to see. Think about it.

Here’s the full list of my convention dates for this summer. Make plans to attend as many of them as you can because I expect I will be putting new items on sale at every one of them.

Friday, June 16: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, June 17: GARAGE SALE

Friday, June 30: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, July 1: GARAGE SALE

Friday, July 28: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, July 29: GARAGE SALE

Friday, August 11: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, August 12: GARAGE SALE

Friday, August 25: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, August 26: GARAGE SALE

Friday, September 8: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, September 9: GARAGE SALE

Friday, September 22: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, September 23: GARAGE SALE

Friday, October 6: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, October 7: GARAGE SALE

One more thing.

Friday is the anniversary of the day Sainted Wife Barb and I were wed. It’s been 33 wonderful years. If you’d like to celebrate the day with us, please consider making a donation to one of these fine organizations...

American Civil Liberties Union
Hero Initiative 
LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland  
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Planned Parenthood
Southern Poverty Law Center

Thanks for stopping by the bloggy today. I’ll be back tomorrow with a bunch of reviews. See you then.  

© 2017 Tony Isabella

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