Comic Guru's Top 25 Featured Comic - Hulk

The Abomination is dead. His corpse was found in a small Russian city called Dimitri. Doc Samson, She-Hulk, SHIELD Director (Tony Stark), Commander Maria Hill, and Thunderbolt Ross investigate the crime scene.

Doc Samson believes that a new Hulk is responsible. And that he used a Hulk-killing weapon to end the Abomination's days.

Suddenly the Winter Guard (AKA the Soviet Soldiers, a Soviet group formed by the Red Guardian (male version), Ursa Major, Crimson Dynamo and Darkstar) arrive and strongly invite the Americans to leave Russian soil at once.

Doc Samson refuses and throws the first punch of the fight between the two groups. Ross stops the fight when a small kid, perhaps the only survivor from Dimitri, appears saying "Kpachasi... Kpachasi...": which means "Red" in Russian.

Perplexed by their findings, Samson and Ross decide to visit the number one authority on Hulk beings: Bruce Banner. If a Hulk did kill the Abomination, that Hulk could not be Banner because he's locked up in a cell that's miles below the surface in the new Gamma Base located in Death Valley, Nevada. So then, who is the new Hulk?

Meanwhile, in the snowy mountains of Alaska, we see Rick Jones with bare chest and torn pants, next to a pipeline, watching a large fire that some men are trying to put out, saying to himself "What have I gotten myself into?"

The Hobbit Starts Production!

Comic Guru's Top 25 Featured Comic - Ultimate Comics Spiderman

Almost ten years ago, Ultimate Spider-Man launched the Ultimate line, a reinvention of the Marvel Universe that defied the odds and every expectation. Today, it happens again: This new chapter in the life of the teenaged webslinger picks up in the aftermath of Ultimatum and completely redefines the status quo of Spider-Man for the next generation! With a new supporting cast, new villians and maybe even a new Spider-Man, this new chapter will keep you guessing month after month. Join Eisner Award-winning writer BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS in introducing new ongoing artist DAVID LAFUENTE (ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL, PATSY WALKER: HELLCAT)!

You have never seen a Spider-Man like this before! Be there!

It's six months after the Ultimatum wave hit and Peter Parker is working again, but not as a web designer. Peter is a cashier at Burger Frog, facing old ladies who think are being given "lip" to the boss who orders him to wear a hat. Mary Jane is a reporter a for the school's student newscast in midtownhigh.com. New York is being nice to Spider-Man even when he does nothing and Gwen is kissing Peter.

One night as Spider-Man Peter finds a store where some thugs force themselves into a store where a hooded man had already done the "super hero thing" . Some cops give the glory to Spider-Man and the hooded figure watches over.

Back at home Peter finds Gwen waiting for him in the attic. She welcomes him with a kiss and before that goes any further Peter sneaks in so his Aunt May won't find them being "naughty". Aunt May tells Peter that Kitty called for him and jealously Gwen tells him that "she is probably calling to tell him she's still in love with him". Shortly after Johnny Storm arrives to ask for a place to stay the night and then collapses over him.

The Kingpin is back in town and when entering his office he get's thrown out of his office by a new villain, Mysterio.

Comics Continuum Report: Wondercon

Comic Guru's Top 25 Featured Comic - Classic Marvel Figurine Collection

Classic Marvel Figurine Collection by Eaglemoss Publications

This beautiful collection has been running for some time now and The Comic Guru actually ships it all over the world.

Each issue of the magazine (which features a single Marvel Comics Character and their history) comes with a beautifully sculpted figurine as a free gift.

Comic Guru's Top 25 Featured Comic - The Amazing Spiderman

After the tragic death of Ben Riley, the resurrection of Aunt May and the return of the Green Goblin, Spiderman's world was rocked by John Byrne, Howard Mackie, John Romita Junior and the inestimable J Michael Straczynski.

Launched with a new number one issue to mark the start of a grand new era, Spiderman slowly began to bestride the comics world like the colossus he is. Redefining his origin for a new generation, Straczynski has revitalised Spiderman turning him into a Top Ten Sales Juggernaut by putting good solid plotting and genuine character development in place of gimmicry and hyperbole.

With Brand New Day beginning a newly creative storytelling experience back to the title, that in itself is being wiped away as Peter and Mary Jane strip away damage caused by Mephisto. This could be the year that true love conquers all in Amazing Spiderman.

Read it, it's great.

'Paul' Movie Review

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the duo who brought us the likes of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, have teamed up again in an unsuspected combination of genres, a road trip and sci-fi spoof movie.

Paul, a film about a trash-talking alien, is exactly what you would expect from the well-known duo. They play Graeme and Clive, a couple of comic-book geeks from Britain who love American comic culture.

Whilst touring the USA’s big comic-conventions and conspiracy hotspots they unintentionally pick up fugitive and alien on the run, Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen. Paul is outlandish and down to earth, unlike his human counterparts, and he has no trouble persuading the pair to aid his escape from the federal agents tracking him down.

This film is a sci-fi spoof and has plenty of easy laughs, which makes for entertaining viewing. Pegg and Frost have created another cult epic – obviously aimed at the comic devouring and sci-fi loving fan base. It is a ‘no-brainer’ why this made it to the big screen.

Whilst it may not set any trends in the way their previous collaborations have Paul does have a loveable outlook and some entertaining one-liners, but possibly lacks as many laughs as the previous Pegg and Frost creations. Their phenomenal hit Shaun of the Dead was responsible for the zom-com outburst in 2004, and whilst Paul is a lacklustre follow-up to such success, it is easy viewing that passes an hour and a half without regret.

Perhaps with the direction change from British director Edgar Wright to American comedy director Greg Mottola – famous for directing Superbad – it’s not pure Pegg and Frost we all know and love. The general tone of this film has lost the subtle British touch of their previous blockbusters. If we were eating curry, Paul would be Korma, mild and easy to sit through.

- Sam Oxley

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New Shop! New Blog Posts!

After something of a hiatus here on this blog, I've finally gotten round to getting things going again!

Not only that, but Comic Guru is now back in the heart of Cardiff! We've got a spanking new shop opposite the bus station which is about four times bigger than the original shop in Wyndham Arcade, plus it has a members only room for standing order customers.

We're really excited about the new premises and have a number of cool events lined up for 2011 - watch this space!

Look out for more posts from the Comic Guru here on this blog – witterings about all things sci-fi, Doctor Who, comics, films, fantasy and anything else in between!

My first Comic Guru Blog!

Hello!

This is the first time I've managed to find time to actually put a blog into my profile here. Its also the first time I've ever attempted to write up something like this. Please bear with me.

What I'd like to do here is showcase the comings and goings of my comic shop and let you in on some of the secrets of the trade as well as log things of note. It could be visits from debt collectors or BBC news teams and it should give people reading an accurate portrayal of my business how it runs and the thought processes of myself and Haydn who works here with me.

Names will be changed to protect their privacy or my lack of anything resembling short term memory. It will also protect the innocent. Lets face it what I write here will be subjective but hopefully balanced. If you recognise yourself on here then I'm glad as I hope I'll be accurate and truthful with anything I write. Only you will know who you are however. If anyone has any questions just ask and when I have the time I'll try and answer them to the best of my ability.

First off a little bit of my history. I was born on October 4Th 1971. My earliest encounter with comics was during my first eighteen months of life. I believe my father had been found out in a lie. Possibly involving a local barmaid at which point I was placed in my fathers box of rare comics and proceeded to eat his copy of X Men issue 1. All I can remember with any clarity was the cover picture and the awful flavour of the paper.

I suppose you could say that was my first full TASTE of comics. LOL. Still lots of note happened after that and my parents divorced during the following year in a rather bitter and acrimonious way.

Lets leave out the intervening years for the sake of brevity and move on to 1999 where I was asked by a friend of mine to take over the running of his little market stall comic shop where I got my weekly fix of four colour action.

Steve was a good guy but we had different ideas about where the business should go and ended up with a bitter parting of the ways. I was supposed to have only worked there as a favour for a few weeks while he found someone else but ended up working there for almost three years. I used to be a successful Balloon Modeller and Children's Entertainer which is what I was doing to make money at the time so I worked for Steve for free but I did have my comics and other things off him in lieu of wages. At the time I didn't mind but with hindsight it wasn't the worlds cleverest idea and inevitably led to our eventual falling out.

Anyway after Steve and I parted I spent a year generally moping around with a sense of intense loss. I was also getting less enamoured with entertainment work now that my favourite pastime of Comic Shop geekery was ended. I blamed Steve and with good reason but in the end it didn't work out.

A few of my customers and friends came to me and asked me whether I'd be interested in opening up my own shop. Some even offered support both financially and metaphorically. After discussing it with my brother we decided to go into business together. Him as a silent partner and myself as general manager due to my expertise. Basically I'd taken a small market stall with a turnover of around £100 pounds per week and turned it into a thriving business turning over more than eighty thousand pounds per year in the space of three years. I figured if I could do it for someone else I could do it for myself.

Sadly things didn't work out so well with my brother and he and I parted company when six hundred pounds of initial funding went missing after my father had passed it to him for me. I did receive the two thousand four hundred however and began the process of finding a property making an offer on that property and borrowing Ten Thousand pounds from two very good and very special friends. All that remained for me was to open the shop which I did on October 4Th 2003 which coincidentally was also my 32ND Birthday.

On that day http://www.thecomicguru.co.uk/ went live and the rest is History. Tumultuous and deeply terrifying but definitely history.

Now I sit here on 11Th September 2008 only a month before I celebrate my 37Th Birthday and the shop celebrates its 5Th Anniversary trying to condense what happened over my life into a few brief paragraphs.

I hope I've managed to do just that and I've whetted your appetite about what will happen next. The truth is I don't know what will happen but I promise I'll try and be truthful when I describe things when they happen.

Happy times and places. Comic Guru.