Boxes full of Eisner goodness!

Hello Missoulians, hello Muse!

I've been down in Colorado Springs all year, and the few times I've been back up in the store, I didn't get to see many of you. I hope you're getting ready for a wonderful holiday season, and you're keeping Jeff and the kids at the store busy.

Most of what I've been doing this year has been working for ComicsPRO, the trade association for comic book retailers. We get business discounts and other benefits for comic book retailers, mentor prospective entrepreneurs so they can open up new comic book stores, and work with publishers and distributors on behalf of our members. Since we're trying to reach out to a nation of independent business owners, we also travel a lot! This year I've been to Las Vegas, San Diego, Ft. Wayne, Denver, back to Las Vegas, Baltimore, and back to Ft. Wayne, and that's aside from my trips between Colorado Springs, Billings, and Missoula! (During all of that, I also got married!)

Another great thing happened to me this year, though--I was picked to be an Eisner judge. The Eisner judges review all of the comics that come out in 2008 which are submitted for the Eisner awards, and they decide which books are nominated and will be on the Eisner award ballots. Then, everyone in the comic book industry votes on those. Books (or creators) with the most votes in each category win Eisner awards. It's a great honor to get to be one of the judges!

Even when you work behind the counter every day, it's really difficult to read everything that comes out, or even most of what comes out. Working in retail the way I have in the last year, thinking more nationally than locally, it's been even more difficult to keep up with much! As we talked about the number of books I'll be reading between now and the judges' meeting in March 2009, Jeff and I had a great idea--why not share the experience with our customers?

So, I'll be posting reviews as I make my way through the giant, amazing list of books on the must-read list for the Eisner awards. I can't promise a review for each book, and most of you guys know me--I'm not much of a reviewer. The store newsletter we put out for years was built around the great reviews out there already available--I didn't have to write any of it! But, I thought it would be fun to at least share the wonderful opportunity I have, getting to read so many of the books from 2008, with all of you.

I miss you guys!

Manda