Aug 2015 GN of the Month Club Update!

www.graphicnovelclub.com is the place, and this is the August 2015 update.  There will be links here you can't follow if you're not a member, just saying.  And at least one that you probably should follow! See it under the cut!

Hello Awesome Comix Experience Book Club member!

Ah, our first month has come and gone – I hope you all enjoyed ILYA’s “Room For Love”! I see a few pick-up customers have still not picked up their copy. You should have also received a phone call. Your copy is safe and sound for whenever you are ready for it.

Now things begin to really kick into high gear, so here is your August news!

STATUS UPDATES

We’re growing at just the pace that I have been hoping, and at midnight on 7/31 we had 235 paid members – that means we have just ninety-nine more to go to reach our goal of 334. It is only a double digit number now, woo! Please feel free to tell your friends and neighbors!

Hand in hand with the membership increase, comes a fresh wage increase for the staff. As of their next paycheck, no one will be making less than $13.75, a full $1.50 over SF’s current Minimum Wage of $12.25. That’s entirely on you, so thank you one and all.

Again, I remind you that after we achieve our membership goal, every 25 members over and above that we gain will yield a 25 cents per hour raise for every staff member as well. I take zero profit from the book club! There is no limit on this, and my most fervent hope is we can drive the club membership high enough to have the awesome Comix Experience staff be the highest paid comic store employees in the world!

The Kid’s Club has hit 40 members, if you’re curious about that – tell your friends about that one as well (http://www.graphicnovelclub.com/kids.html.html). It makes an excellent gift.

BITS ABOUT BILLING

Just a reminder that we bill on the FIRST of the month each month. So, if you joined on August 2 or later, your first billing won’t come until Sep 1, and your first book will be the SEPTEMBER book.

As is typical, a few credit cards didn’t successfully charge (usually because expiration date changed), so please keep an eye on your email – I sent you a personal note as well as whatever was automatically generated by the payment company. The next billing attempt for delinquent cards will be on 8/4, then there will be a final attempt just a few days after that after which your subscription will be cancelled.

OUR FIRST MEETING, AND OUR COMMUNITY!

As I sure hope you all knew, we had ILYA in person from England to launch “Room For Love” last month – he was generous enough to do a workshop on comics creation in the back room of the store that seemed like it went over very well. We are discussing doing more “professional” workshops in the future.

We had our first Book Club meeting as well, and we liked the results well enough to make it public to any viewer and it can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrz4v_KwyIE It is about 1:45:00 long, and you can feel free to share that link to your friends if you think it might encourage them to join the club. Future meetings should be relatively similar (though not always with creator live and in-person) – but we will be keeping most future meetings private and not available to the public.

YOU CAN JOIN IN when we have the meeting – you just need to have a Google+ account we can invite. You do not need to have a @gmail address in order to have a Google+ account. Join G+ at https://plus.google.com. Unless you tell me otherwise, we are directing all invitations to events and such to the address that this mail is coming to.

We are using G+ rather than Facebook because of their video meeting tools and integration with YouTube, etc. – you’ll be able to ask questions from anywhere in the world as our meeting is going on, and we think that’s pretty neat.

We also have a G+ closed and private Community which is located at https://plus.google.com/communities/114465333092610147099 -- this is a place where we can discuss the book each month. There is a very excellent thread going right now on “Room For Love”, and the value of the community goes up with every person who participates. If you can not access that group, please let me know and I will provide what meager support I can to get you going.

ANNOUNCING OUR AUGUST CHOICES

“Room For Love” was somber and sober and a hothouse personal drama, so for August we’re going almost exactly 180 degrees in the opposite direction with something a little bit irreverent and silly and packed full of superheroes: “The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl v1: Squirrel Power” by Ryan North and Erica Henderson, set squarely in the Marvel Universe.

To reassure you (?), our plan is to only very very rarely feature super-hero comics (certainly less than once a year), but “The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl” is both fun and funny, and those are pretty rare combinations for the genre, and while this is a “Marvel” comic, it has the sensibility very different then the kinds of things you’ll see in the Marvel movies or TV shows yet being absolutely true to the psychological heart of Marvel Comics. We think you’re really going to…. Go Nuts for it! (ow)

Now, we know that there are a few of you that are already buying “The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl” as a serialized comic and might not want this collected edition, so we’ll make it a free swap with any of our runner-ups listed below. Just send an email with the title “AUGUST SWAP” to brian@comixexperience.com with what you’d like as your alternate, before August 15, and we’ll get you taken care of.

“The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl” is currently scheduled to arrive to us on August 19^th, so you should expect to receive your copy the week of August 24^th. We will be having our August Book meeting on (wait for it) Wednesday September 2^nd at 8 PM PST. Author Ryan North will be appearing via video call to answer your questions about the book. I am hoping that Erica Henderson will also appear on the call, but I don’t have final confirmation of that as of yet. That meeting will be live-streamed at https://plus.google.com/events/cbtu5opo2u5f9qadvc4b64r8hkc

All members of the club will receive a copy of “The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl v1: Squirrel Power”, but if you’re not an Adult club member, and would like to purchase a copy, or if you would like additional copies, please order below!

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/unbeatable-squirrel-girl-v-squirrel-power-aug

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Ooh, our August pick for the Kid’s Club is an amazing one! The incomparable Craig Thompson brings us “Space Dumplins”

Family is the most important thing in the whole galaxy for Violet Marlocke, so when her father goes missing while on a hazardous job, she can't just sit around and do nothing. Violet throws caution to the stars and sets out with a group of misfit friends on a quest to find him. But space is vast and dangerous, and she soon discovers that her dad is in big, BIG trouble. With her father's life on the line, nothing is going to stop Violet from trying to rescue him and keep her family together in this incredible adventure from a truly master cartoonist.

We are hoping to have author Craig Thompson LIVE and IN PERSON on a weekend in September (“Space Dumplins” ships 8/26) for the kids, and then to stay after and do a signing for the adults, so hopefully look out for an announcement very soon.

All members of the KIDS club will receive a copy of “Space Dumplins”, but if you’re not a Kids Club member, and would like to purchase a copy, or if you would like additional copies, please order below!

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/space-dumplins-by-craig-thompson-aug

THE RUNNER UPS

In picking the best graphic novel of each month, we create a pool of nominees (most months we have between four and eight options), then the entire staff votes on what wins by a ranked point system. While we can only have one winner each month to send out, we thought it might be useful to you to hear what our alternates were – we really really like these books too!. These were our runner-ups for August 2015!

“Bowery Boys: Our Fathers” by Corey Levine, Ian Bertram, and Brent McKee

When his father is framed for murder, immigrant Nikolaus McGovern rallies a motley crew of street youths in a rip-roaring coming-of-age adventure based on the period history of antebellum New York City! Against a backdrop of rampant political corruption, vicious street gangs, nascent labor reform, and ardent xenophobia, can Niko and his friends triumph in a life-or-death battle against their oppressors—or will they succumb to the engines of socioeconomic progress?

This is a truly beautiful book, and a lush period piece.

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/bowery-boys-our-fathers-aug

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“The Lion of Rora” by Christos & Ruth Gage and Jackie Lewis

In the tradition of Braveheart and 300 comes The Lion of Rora - the true story of Joshua Janavel, farmer-turned-freedom fighter, who Napoleon called history's greatest military tactician. Janavel and his fellow Waldensians battled to save their people from tyranny and persecution, the first case in European history in which subjects of a ruler rebelled to defend their religious freedom. Their fight inspired the Protestant Reformation and, in turn, the American Revolution.

One of the best things that comics do for me is to show me places and people and history and bring it alive in drama that keeps me compelled but also vividly in a character’s head – I know more life in the 1600s in Italy than I did before, and I truly admire Janavel and the Waldensians. Really great historical fiction!

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/lion-of-rora-aug

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“Nanjing: The Burning City” by Ethan Young

After the bombs fell and shook the walls of Nanjing, the Imperial Japanese Army entered and seized the Chinese capital. Through the dust of the demolished buildings, screams echo off the rubble. Two abandoned Chinese soldiers are trapped and desperately outnumbered inside the walled city. What they'll encounter will haunt them. But in the face of horror, they'll learn that resistance and bravery cannot be destroyed by the enemy.

This is a heart-wrenching tale of war, loss, and defiance, and a very somber piece of historical fiction.

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/nanjing-the-burning-city-aug

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“The Surface v1” By Ales Kot and Langdon Foss

What if everything you ever imagined could come true? Welcome to Africa, 2034. The West and the East are moving in and three hackers are searching Tanzania for the place that can change the world: the Surface. When they discover it, love, imagination, and survival go on a collision course as things change beyond their wildest dreams! Welcome to the universe of a mind-bending, action SF epic.

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/surface-aug

CROSS-PROMOTION IS FUN!

Hey, this has nothing whatsoever (yet) to do with the book club, but I thought readers like you might be interested to know we have Author Chuck Palahniuk coming to sign copies of FIGHT CLUB 2 #1-4 on Saturday August 29^th starting at 11 AM and going all day long! He is an incredibly awesome guy that tells some crazy stories, and we could not be more excited! We’ll have some more information on that up at www.comixexperience.com/chuck.html in a few days.

Thanks again for all of your support, please email me at brian@comixexperience.com with ANY questions, comments, thoughts, pleas, dreams, or visions!

-B

Brian Hibbs

Head Cheese, Comix Experience

Comix Experience Graphic-Novel-of-the-month club update!

(Oddly, this was supposed to post 2 weeks ago, gr)  

We’re almost ready to launch the Graphic-Novel-of-the-Month club, so here’s your latest news!

STATUS UPDATES

We’re super-excited to tell you that the adult club has 206 members signed up – which means we only need 128 more members in order to hit our funding goal of 334 members.

Minimum Wage raised in San Francisco to $12.25 on May 1^st, but thanks to our membership, as of July 1^st we’re now not paying any staff member less than $13.50 per hour! So thank you very much for that! After we achieve our goal, every 25 members over and above that we gain will yield a 25 cents per hour raise for every staff member as well. There is no limit on this, and my most fervent hope is we can drive the club membership high enough to have the awesome Comix Experience staff be the highest paid comic store employees in the world!

The Kid’s Club is having a slightly slower start, and we’re just at 26 members today – but I really do think this has the potential for thousands of members, and we’re going to spend most of the summer figuring out the ways to get the word out there for the fall and the gift-giving season. If you have any thoughts or connections, please don’t hesitate to let us know!

Help us spread the news on your social media!

FIRST BILLING STARTS ON JULY 1^st!

We’re just about to bill, and start shipping the first books, so there's still time to join us and be in from the start! just go to www.graphicnovelclub.com to join!

OUR INAUGURAL CHOICES

Our inaugural pick to kick off our Graphic-Novel-of-the-Month Club is exactly the kind of book that we hoped it would be: smart and poignant, touching and emotional, showing the full range of what comics can do, by a real master of his craft, and, above all else, an eminently human read: “Room For Love” by ILYA.

A middle-age and washed up writer and an on-the-streets rent boy meet and have a remarkable and complex relationship. “Room For Love” eschews most standard romantic tropes for a sometimes painful, and always authentic, fully rounded study of its two characters. Like all of the best fiction, the characters are deeply changed by their encounters, and ILYA doesn’t shy away from exposing the truths at the heart of the characters and their assignations.

This is a story of opposites, and how they attract, as well as repel. This is a work of great intimacy, and is a markedly original work. We truly think this is one of the best graphic novels we’ve read this decade, and we could not possibly be happier that this is our debut pick.

All members of the club will receive a copy of “Room For Love”, but if you’re not an Adult club member, and would like to purchase a copy, or if you would like additional copies, please order below!

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/room-for-love-by-ilya

We are also EXTREMELY thrilled to announce that ILYA is going to be here in person for our first book club meeting, all the way from England – how cool is that? This is tentatively planned for Wed 7/29, but we will be confirming all of our dates in early July.

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Our inaugural pick for the KIDS club is a rollicking adventure: “Junior Braves of the Apocalypse” by Greg Smith and Michael Tanner, and Zach Lehner

The Junior Braves of Tribe 65 return from a camping trip to find swarms of bloodthirsty mutants have overrun their town, bringing death and destruction everywhere they go! With their families missing and their homes destroyed, these plucky kids must use all their scouting talents, combined smarts, and teamwork to survive the end of the world! Junior Braves: A Brave is Brave is the beginning of an exciting, new, young adult graphic novel series that is one part Goonies and one part The Walking Dead, full of zombies, adventure, and handy tips for wilderness survival!

All members of the KIDS club will receive a copy of “Junior Braves of the Apocalypse”, but if you’re not a Kids Club member, and would like to purchase a copy, or if you would like additional copies, please order below!

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/junior-braves-of-the-apocalypse-by-greg-smith-and-michael-tanner-july

The first KIDS CLUB meeting, with all three creators participating via video call is tentatively planned for Sunday 7/19 -- more details will be released soon!

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In picking the best graphic novel of each month, we usually also find several other books that we rate nearly as highly. While we can only have one choice each month to send out, we thought it might be useful to you to hear what our alternates were. These are our runner-ups for July 2015!

“Mike’s Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv” by Jack Baxter, Joshua Faudem and Koren Shadmi

Writing about Middle Eastern conflicts is tricky, because the roots of those conflicts are deep and divisive, and those of us who aren’t a part of it probably know very little of what we’re talking about. So I, for one, always welcome a new insight from involved parties. Co-author Jack Baxter is an American filmmaker who was making a documentary about Mike’s Place, a bar in Israel, when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb out in front, killing three and injuring fifty, including Baxter. This is a comic of the inspiration for the making of the documentary and then the event and the aftermath that was filled with both triumphs and tragedies. Baxter co-wrote the story with Joshua Faudem, who was the cameraman for the documentary.

There’s something extremely compelling about first hand recollections in comics, and this would be a solid entry for your autobiography shelf.

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/mikes-place-a-true-story-of-love-blues-and-terror-in-tel-aviv-by-jack-baxter-joshua-faudem-and-koren-shadmi

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“The Divine” by Boaz Lavie, Asaf Hanuka, and Tomer Hanuka

A civilian bomb consultant reluctantly accepts an off-the-books mining contract into an obscure Southeast Asian country, and becomes embroiled in civil war led by twin 10-year old guerillas wielding what about to be supernatural powers. Oh, and then there’s the Dragon…

This is a lovely lovely comic, filled with all the shimmering colors of a verdant paradise torn by war. My favorite sequence is set in a cave where the predominant color used is an inky purple, and yet the action and movement can clearly be followed. “The Divine” is the most action-driven comic in our July runner ups, and also, by far, the best drawn.

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/the-divine-by-boaz-lavie-asaf-hanuka-and-tomer-hanuka

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“Long Walk To Valhalla” by Adam Smith and Matthew Fox

Rory would love to forget about most of his life in rural Arkansas, maybe even including his brother Joe who has fits and sees visions in the fields and woods. When Rory’s car breaks down, he is befriended by a young girl named Sylvia, who emerges from the corn fields. Sylvia is a Valkyrie, sent by Odin to escort Rory to Valhalla. On their journey, Rory needs to confront the secrets of his life and family and come to learn the truth about Joe’s visions.

Sometimes you get a debut graphic novel that makes you think “Wow, I really have to keep an eye on those people!” The rhythms of comics are hard to master for people who have been doing it forever, so to see a first-time project done with such skill and assurance and verve, it thrills you to wonder where they’re be when they finally master their craft? Smith and Fox are two to watch for as this book missed being our Selection for the month by only a single point in the voting (out of forty possible)

http://mkt.com/comix-experience/long-walk-to-valhalla-by-adam-smith-and-matthew-fox-july

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We really think that ROOM FOR LOVE is a superb book, and there's still time to join www.graphicnovelclub.com and be a part of our meetings, including ILYA live and in person in late July!

We hope you'll join us!

-B