Comic Book Journal

Wednesday I finally remembered to take my notepad and pencil to the grocery store and write down the titles avaliable there.

As I said before, the comics were pushed back to the bottom shelf and furthest rack, but seeing as how my feature was delayed by a kid ransacking the rack, these comics are at least somewhat popular in my home town. Here’s a list of what I found:

DC Animated Titles including Legion of Superheroes in the 31st Century and The Batman Strikes. I’ve also seen Justice League Unlimited there once or twice.

Several Spider-Man titles including Sensational, Amazing, and oddly enough, Spider-Girl. The latter is one of the most consistent titles I’ve seen there. This could be due to the fact that the De Falco-written series looks more in keeping with the Spider-Man look than the current comics!

Usually a smattering of X-Men titles, including Uncanny, are available. However, I’ve rarely seen anything outside of the ordinary save for an issue or two of Astonishing in flipbook format (flipbooks are two comics in one, usually reprints of crucial issues). And, oh yes, there will always be a Wolverine comic.

One nice surprise was the JMS-written Ultimate Power, which details the Ultimates, X-Men, Spider-Man and Fantastic Four fighting against the the Squadron Surpreme.

There will always be a Superman, but I typically find one title per selection. In addition to Action Comics and Superman, I once saw a copy of All-Star Superman, which I almost considered buying, but decided to wait till the trade was published.

The most consistent comic - other than Spider-Girl - I observed to be Sonic The Hedgehog. Don’t laugh - this series has been running since, if not before, the 1990’s television show, and is one of the best-selling titles for that age group. Take that, Archie!

And finally, the weirdest comic I saw was an issue of Marvel’s failed New Universe sitting sad and alone in between Blade and Moon Knight. I’m not quite sure how a comic like this ended up in a grocery store - NU would be aimed at fans of the original imprint, not the mainstream - but I’ll probably con myself into buying it sooner or later.

Well, that’s all for the list. I still have some questions - I’m curious how this store selects its comics, and I think I might ask around for those answers in the next installment of Pharmacy Finds. Meanwhile, if your local pharmacy or grocery store has any comics sold at all, let me know what they are. I’d love to compare notes.