Please note: We are now able to process debit transactions, as well as all chip enabled and tap cards at our pick-up locations (University Avenue on weekdays, Oriole Parkway on weekends) and for evening deliveries. We now use PAYD PRO for processing card transactions.
This enables us to process debit and credit card transactions at all conventions and shows that we set up at going forward.
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Do you collect original art? We do have some galleries of original art available as well as many prints. Please visit the link in the header bar of the site.
If you’d like to visit the Gallery part of the Comic Book Lounge + Gallery in person, you’ll need to make an appointment for a Saturday visit.
We have original art available for viewing – some pieces are available for sale (although many are not), as well as many comic art prints.
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THE SECRET WARS HAVE STARTED
So as of this week two issues of Secret Wars are out, and so far I’m loving the series but that’s me. I’ve been following Hickman’s stories about the Marvel Multiverse since his days on Fantastic Four and FF, through and into the Avengers and New Avengers. There’s a lot of payoffs so far, but you don’t need to have read those comics to appreciate Secret Wars on it’s own or Esad Ribic’s stunning artwork.
The end of the first issue saw the end of the Marvel and Ultimate Universes as we know them, although some of the monthlies still have some issues to go as stories are wrapped up, and a few of the more recently launched titles (Howard the Duck, All-New Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) are omitted from all of this. We know that some form of Marvel Universe exists after all of this is over.
If you have any interest in the series, we still have copies of #1 and #2 available.
Since there is nothing left for now except Batteworld… here is your key to understanding what Marvel is doing.
LAST DAYS are comics that feature stories about characters dealing with the events that culminate in Secret Wars #1. These titles include Loki, Magneto, Captain America and the Mighty Avengers, the Punisher, Silver Surfer as well as Ultimate End by Bendis and Bagley.
BATTLEWORLD is formed by the god of Battle World, DOCTOR DOOM, with power bestowed upon him by the Beyonders, when he Dr. Strange and the Molecule Man confronted them in issue #1.
The new BattleWorld is made up of fragments of realities and times, not different planets (as in the original SW). These domains or kingdoms report to Doom and his Sheriff Dr. Strange, and are under the control of an appointed aristocracy of “Barons”. For example, as king of the Inhumans, Black Bolt would likely be the Baron of Attilan. They are generally focused around famous events and crossovers of the past 30 years and many live up to the designation of WARZONES.
People do not cross between the kingdoms, but there are exceptions. There is a police force that oversees order between the kingdoms – they are the THORS. Every realm has a Thor, and the Thors answer directly to Doom and Strange.
This is starting to sound a lot like Game of Thrones, and to make it even more similar, there is a wall called the SHIELD that separates the peaceful kingdoms from the wilder kingdoms like those populated by the Marvel Zombies, Annihilus and Ultron. Like Jon Snow, you can be sent to serve at the SHIELD wall or worse, be banished into the lands
below the SHIELD to certain death.
Jonathan Hickman talks about Battleworld: http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/hickman-shines-light-on-battleworlds-secrets-in-secret-wars-2
To this world of chaos (dubbed Latverion by it’s master) come two surviving groups from the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe in rafts similar to the ones from the original SW, one is a team of heroes and one is a team of villains, and both are led by Reed Richards (for a hint take a look at the image of issue #3’s cover pictured above. Their arrival can cause Schism (the undermining of the reality Doom has created), and tear Battleworld apart – they will embark upon THE SECRET WARS.
Here are the Secret Wars Tie-Ins Coming next week. Most replace existing Marvel Universe titles. Please let us know if you want any of them added to your list:
A-FORCE #1 (an Avengers book)
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/a-force-1-marvel-comics-2015
• Marvel’s Mightiest Women finally get their own explosive series!
• In a secluded corner of the Battleworld, an island nation is fiercely protected by a team of Avengers the likes of which has only ever been glimpsed before…
• Fighting to protect the small sliver of their world that’s left, the Amazing A-FORCE stands shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to take on the horde!
DEADPOOL’S SECRET WARS #1 (NOT A SECRET WARS TIE-IN!)
Well…it is…but not THE NEW Secret Wars.
Remember the original Secret Wars from 1984? And remember how Deadpool played a huge important role in it? Wait…you DON’T? Then you need to read this series immediately and be educated! From the team that brought you DEADPOOL KILLUSTRATED comes the most Secretest War of all! Plus: a bonus Deadpool Contest of Champions tale!
MASTER OF KUNG FU #1 (4 issue mini-series)
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/master-of-kung-fu-1-marvel-comics
Can one man stand against the might of an entire empire? Find out this May, as Shang-Chi is unleashed in MASTER OF KUNG-FU #1, a new 4-issue Secret Wars limited series! Creators Haden Blackman (Elektra) and Dalibor Talajic (Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe) take you on a wild martial arts thrill ride through the mystical land of K’un Lun. Once the most prized student in all of K’un Lun, Shang-Chi now wanders the streets as a derelict. Cast out and forsaken, Shang-Chi and others shunned like him will rise up to dethrone the evil Emperor Zu. One problem – Zu is Shang-Chi’s father! Things are going to get messy. Can one beaten-down man become a MASTER? As the Secret Wars begin, step into the arena and find out who will be…MASTER OF KUNG-FU! The story begins this May!
PLANET HULK #1
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/planet-hulk-1-marvel-comics-2015
This May, embark on a desperate mission into uncharted territory as PLANET HULK #1 smashes its way into the WARZONES! Be there when Sam Humphries and Marc Lamming take you Greenland – Battleworld’s inhospitable northernmost territory. Teeming with an unchecked population of raging Hulks – their unparalleled destruction is the stuff of legend. Now, a battle-worn gladiator named Steve Rogers and his steadfast companion Devil Dinosaur must venture deep within Greenland’s borders in hopes of rescuing a friend. Only an army of Hulks now stand between them and their goal! Plus – don’t miss a special back-up story this issue from fan-favorite creators Greg Pak (Incredible Hulk, Storm) and Takeshi Miyazawa (Ms. Marvel, Runaways)! Explore the untold history of Greenland. What secrets does it hold? What caused this untold outbreak of Hulks? Those answers and more lie in the pages of PLANET HULK #1 this May! Note that this series features DOC GREEN from the recently concluded Hulk series.
SECRET WARS BATTLEWORLD #1 (4 issue mini-series)
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/secret-wars-battleworld-1-marvel-comics-2015
• When the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe collide, there is only…Battleworld!
• Featuring the fights, battles and blow-ups that are just TOO BIG for Secret Wars!
• When a Dr. Strange-possessed Punisher goes on the run, only Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk and Ghost Rider can track him down!
SPIDER-VERSE #1
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/spider-verse-1-marvel-comics-2015
The biggest Spider-Man event of all time was just the beginning! This May, writer Mike Costa (Scarlet Spiders) and artist Andre Lima Araujo (Inhuman) wallcrawl and webswing through Secret Wars in the pages of SPIDER-VERSE #1! And they’re bringing along a team of some of the most popular Spider-Men and Spider-Women! The battle with Morlun and the Inheriors may be over, but the battle is just heating up! Stranded on Battleworld, a small band of universe-hopping heroes – Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man: India, Spider-Girl, Spider-UK and Spider-Ham – will find themselves face to face with the worst Secret Wars has to offer. How did they get here? What happened to their homes? What tragedy has befallen this region of Battleworld and how will this team of spiders cope? Amidst the horror and the fury of this strange new planet, six spider powered heroes stand alone. United as one, is this a new beginning, or a grisly end? Find out this May in the can’t miss pages of SPIDER-VERSE #1!
ULTIMATE END #1 (5 issue mini-series)
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/ultimate-end-1-marvel-comics-2015
As the Secret Wars begin, the Ultimate Universe reaches its end! This May, experience it’s heartbreaking curtain call in ULTIMATE END #1! Blockbuster creators Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley – the creative team that helped start it all – will end it with one last, epic story! Miles Morales and the rest of the heroes of the Ultimate Universe face their final extinction. Judgement Day is here and the end is nigh. Yet as they come to terms with the end of all they’ve ever known and all they hold dear – will their gut-wrenching sacrifices make any difference? Is there any hope for the Ultimate Universe or it’s beloved heroes? Find out this May, as an entire universe experiences its final moments in ULTIMATE END #1!
Next week we’ll take a look at some of the Secret Wars tie-ins arriving May 27th, and in two weeks at some of the new DC series launching in June.
Comic Book Lounge + Gallery 