Is 20th Century Books Closed?

I ask because I'm staring in on a comic book binge. I've never been a big fan of comic books but I check out Alan Moore's From Hell at the behest of a friend in the mid 1990s and fell in love with it. I went to 20th Century Comics when it was still just off the square to get each new issue as it was published. After it finished its run, I never found another graphic novel/comic book that seemed interesting. This was probably a block on my part concerning superheroes but so it goes. I did grab The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen when it came out on the basis of Moore's name but, after reading it, I again found reading pleasure elsewhere. At some point or other, I did read Watchmen and enjoyed it but it still couldn't jump start any abiding interest in the medium – it came and went. Then I went to Netherworld Games a couple weeks ago to check out the newest gaming store in town. They had nothing in the way of Call of Cthulhu stuff that I didn't already have so I wandered the aisles to see what there was. There was a set of shelves dedicated to comics. There were the mandatory sections devoted to Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman plus comics devoted to gamers such as Dork Tower. I perused the shelves a bit more and came across a graphic novel which caught my eye - Y – The Last Man. It was a softback compilation of the first half a dozen or so issue of the comic called "Unmanned". It concerns a guy named Yorick Brown who, because of a freak occurrence, finds himself to be the last man alive on earth. Something happened to instantaneously kill all male animals leaving destruction and a world almost completely inhabited by women. Oh, he also has a male monkey who survived as well. Yorick goes out to seek a scientist who may be able to determine what happened protected by a Secret Service agent known only as "355" and they must contend against a group of misandrynous Amazonian women who find the tragedy to be Mother Earth's way of cleansing the planet of a plague. We find out that Yorick's sister, Hero, has become a member of the group. And all the while Yorick wants to get to Australia to be reunited with his girlfriend.

It's a good story with an interesting enigma and so I was eager to get the next volume, "Cycles". I tried to find 20th Century Books on Park Street but couldn't. Instead, I went back to Netherworld. While there, I grabbed the first issue of the Serenity comic book to feed The Dulcinea's Firefly addiction. I devoured volume 2 swiftly and also read the Serenity comic. Inside there was a preview of a new story called Revelations - a murder mystery concerning the death of a high-ranking resident of Vatican City. And so I ventured out today to get volume 3 of Y – The Last Man and check out other comics. Having decided to go to a proper comic book store, I went out to Monroe Street to hit Capital City Comics but couldn't find it. Where the fuck are all the comic book stores?! My destination then became Westfield's Comics. Fortunately, it was still in business and still where the Yellow Pages said it was over on the west side.

Unsurprisingly, it was filled with dorky white males in their early 20s. I found shelf after shelf of colorful books with names both familiar and foreign. There were plenty of issues of Batman – The Dark Knight or whatever that series is called in addition to countless comics that I've never heard of. I ended up buying the third volume of Y – The Last Man, the first two issue of Revelation, and all 3 of Serenity. And so it seems that I've now acquired a new addiction, of sorts. If any of these comics sound interesting, here's some links:

"Unmanned"(PDF)
Preview of Revelations #1

While becoming interested in various comic books is not a bad thing, it does mean that my attention is divided even further. I'm in the middle of what seems like a million different series/serials. In addition to graphic novels, I'm in the middle of listening to the cycle of the 8th Doctor Doctor Who audio dramas. Well, I'm nearing the end, actually. I'm in the middle of The Last, after which, there are two more stories in the story arc of The Doctor and Charley in the Divergent universe. After listening to them, I can finally listen to the latest 8th Doctor story which takes place after they leave the Divergent universe – Terror Firma. Another recent release is Thicker Than Water, a 6th Doctor story. For better or for worse, it's a sequel to Arrangements for War which means I'll have to listen to it again before TTW. In addition to Doctor Who, there's also the Sapphire and Steel series, of which, I've listened to the first story. I've heard the first two Space 1889 episodes. And I'm about 13 episodes behind in Claybourne.

On TV, I still must watch season 1 of Lost and the fourth DVD of Firefly. I dare not open a book lest I find myself in the middle of the Master and Commander series.

Oh, and I'm in the middle of MPD Psycho. Unfortunately, it seems that neither Bongo nor Four Star have the third DVD. Plus Four Star has both series of Riget (The Kingdom). So there's several hours of TV viewing that lies ahead.

OK, I've got jerk pork in the slow cooker that is nearly done so it's time to get some red beans & rice going.