Leef Smith - Mission: Comics owner

Hi all,

While we're all being superheroes and doing our part to slow the spread of Covid-19, the store remains shut until this crisis passes. We may not be able to get you comics today, but we will be able to get you comics in the future!

To reserve the comics you want in the weeks and months to come, we invite you to set up a pull list with us at http://customer.comichub.com/

And if you'd just like to support the store, buying a eGift card will also help get the us through these difficult times.

https://squareup.com/gift/CXPYF58C830QH/order

You can also support the store on an ongoing basis through our Paetron at https://www.patreon.com/MissionComics

I've put up a few listings on Bookshop.org, a new alternative to Amazon that supports local bookstores. During this crisis, book stores will receive 30% of the revenue from their page https://bookshop.org/shop/missioncomics

Remember bus tokens? Remember buses? Merch still exists. Help support Mission: Comics through the Coronavirus crisis with these fine items https://teespring.com/stores/mission-comics-and-art Artwork by the awesome Teddy Hose!

I was listening to the CONTEST OF CHALLENGERS podcast this morning and was inspired to break down the 2017 numbers further to get into the differences by publisher. As I said before losses were really across the board for trades. Image, Marvel and Dc were each down almost $10,00 in sales each. Dark Horse was only down $3,000.

Trade Paperback Sales by Publisher

For monthly comics, Marvel was down about $12,000, DC only slipped about $2,500 and Image fell by $10,000 and Dark Horse dropped off less than $1,000. Here’s were Marvel failings are most apparent. All the relaunches have just burned out the audience for their monthly comics. The two year fall off for Image monthly comics has also been considerable! DC on the other hand grew significantly with Rebirth and the fall off has minimal for their monthly comics 

Comic Sales by Publisher

Join us in welcoming local cartoonist Ed Luce and his newest Wuvable Oaf collection BLOOD & METAL. Get a free Goteblud enamel pin with purchase of a book!

Local Comic Shop Day is a new annual celebration where unique, limited edition comic books, graphic novels and other items are made exclusively for participating comic book stores. 

RSVP on Facebook

YOU WON'T FIND THESE AVAILABLE ANYWHERE ELSE!

LCSD 2016 DOCTOR STRANGE OATH EXCLUSIVE HC 

LCSD 2016 DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH DELUXE EDITION HC

Jason Lee is a superb San Francisco artist. This Friday (6/24/2016) is Jason’s gallery opening party at the Mission: Comics & Art Gallery, where his work will be featured through July. We had the pleasure of chatting with Jason to commemorate his new gallery show! Come on in to Mission Comics this Friday for free drinks, snacks, and KILLER art!

So Jason, tell us a little bit about your artistic background? When did you start drawing? Did you go to art school? 

I started drawing when I was in elementary school. A friend had introduced me to comic books and the first book I had gotten my hands on was Haywire by DC Comics. It wasn't appropriate for my age, but I was fascinated by the robotic, mech suit the main character transformed into. I loved drawing him and soon started to venture out into the world of Marvel Comics where Spider-Man became my main interests. I stopped drawing during my middle school and high school years and didn't pick it up again until I went to college at San Jose State University where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in illustration.

If you had to pick, say, 5 artists that were a profound influence on you and your art, who are they, and why?

Jim Lee's art really pulled me into comics. I admire his pencils and hatching skills which express so much life an energy in them.

Jock (Mark Simpson) - I just found out about Jock about 2 years ago and I was amazed with the black and white, high contrast work. He knows how to make specific types of marks with a variety of tools.

Olivier Coipel - Grace, finesse, organic...his work is beautiful.

Stuart Immonen - I'd say he has the best sense of anatomy and how body parts work. Great all-around artist with good foundation. I really like how he draws hands.

Sean Gordon Murphy - I love the way he uses the brush and hope to get on his level one day.

A lot of your work is superhero based. Have you ever done sequential pages?

I have not done sequential pages. I'm not opposed to doing them. I'm more interested in capturing a character at a certain moment and putting all my effort into that image.

Who is your favorite superhero to draw? Who is your favorite superhero to read?

Batman is my go to. I love using black and white and being able to push and pull shapes using only these two values really align well with the character.

I loved Jim Lee's X-Men and his run on WildC.A.T.S. back in the day. Today, I'm drawn towards Stuart Immonen's work like his run on All New X-Men and his most recent work on Empress. I've also started to read Tokyo Ghost and loving it so far!

What's next for you, Jason? Going to any conventions this summer? Any new projects you can tell us about?

I'll be exhibiting at a number of conventions this year. My schedule includes the following cons.

StocktonCon: Aug 20 - 21

San Francisco Comic Con: Sept 2 - 4

Campbell Con: Oct 29

As far as projects, I have a list of characters / team mash-ups I'm planning to tackle this year. Too many to list off, but I do welcome requests!

Comics meistros GREG HINKLE & JASON McNAMARA join Mission: Comics & Art to celebrate the release of not one, but TWO fantastic new graphic novels from Image Comics, THE RATTLER from McNamara & Hinkle, and AIRBOY by James Robinson & Hinkle! 

Friday, April 29 at 6 PM - RSVP on Facebook  Come on by, have a drink with us, get your books personalized, and talk with two of the best new talents in the game!