After a long delay between issues #15 and #16 (due to an ordering snag at LEGO, which kept us from printing #16 for a few months), issue #17 of BRICKJOURNAL, our magazine for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages, is here (and shipping just a few weeks after #16, which shipped so late). It’s a special SPACE WAR issue, with a lesson in starfighter building, a look at why Space Marines are so popular, and a trip behind the scenes of Alien Conquest, the new LEGO theme that hit the shelves earlier this year. There’s also the regular column on minifigure customization, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, and you can check out a free preview HERE.

TwoMorrows will be closed from Monday, December 19 (the 20th anniversary of my 29th birthday, for those of you who want to send me gifts of Jack Kirby original art pages) through Friday, January 6, 2012. I know our readers love their TwoMorrows stuff, and can’t wait to get them. But if you’re concerned about something you ordered that hasn’t arrived, you won’t be able to reach us during our time off, so please keep this in mind before you panic:

1) Please check the RELEASE DATE for any item you ordered. On our home page (www.twomorrows.com), scroll down to the “Upcoming Products” section and you’ll see all the items that haven’t been published yet, and the expected shipping date for them. You may have missed seeing that date when you pre-ordered the item.

2) All orders that were placed prior to midnight, Dec. 18 for in-stock items, WILL be shipped before Christmas by the TwoMorrows elves, who’ll be here packing orders this week till we’re caught up (however, when they’ll arrive depends on the shipping speed you chose, and the whims of the US Postal Service—if you chose the cheaper Media Mail option, you most likely will NOT get it before Dec. 25—and even if you chose Priority Mail, while we mailed it no later than Dec. 19, we can’t control how fast or slow the USPS delivers it.)

3) Any orders placed between Dec. 19-Jan. 6 will be filled the week of January 9, 2012. Again, your choice of shipping speed will determine how soon you actually get it in the mail.

4) While we’re closed, you can still order DIGITAL EDITIONS and get an IMMEDIATE download after you checkout online, providing the item is in-stock.

5) If you’re waiting on a newly published item to arrive in your mailbox, they will be mailed during our vacation, by our mailing house. So if it hasn’t arrived yet, it’s not because it wasn’t mailed. Specifically, we’re talking about:

BrickJournal #16 (it was mailed two weeks ago, but may be running slow getting delivered in some areas due to the holiday mail crunch)

BrickJournal #17 (it will be going in the mail while we’re closed, to anyone who ordered prior to Dec. 18)

Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years, a.k.a. Jack Kirby Collector #58 (it will be going in the mail while we’re closed, to anyone who ordered prior to Dec. 18)

Modern Masters Vol. 27: Ron Garney (it will be going in the mail while we’re closed, to anyone who ordered prior to Dec. 18)

Alter Ego #106 (it will be going in the mail while we’re closed, to anyone who ordered prior to Dec. 18)

I hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukah, Festivus, or whatever other celebration you partake in this time of year. And let’s all look forward to 2012.

TwoMorrows: It’s a new day for comics (and LEGO) fandom!

Back Issue #54 is on press now, and will be shipping January 18, 2012. The theme is “Liberated Ladies”, and spotlights Big Barda, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix, Savage She-Hulk, and Starfire (the one with the sword, not the Teen Titan). There’s a “Pro2Pro” interview with creators JILL THOMPSON, GAIL SIMONE, and BARBARA KESEL, and art and/or commentary by JOHN BYRNE, GEORGE PEREZ, JACK KIRBY, MIKE VOSBURG, and more, with a bombastic Big Barda cover by BRUCE TIMM!

A free preview is HERE.

And you can pre-order HERE.

On Dec. 28 (holiday shipping crunch willing), we’ll be releasing LEE & KIRBY: THE WONDER YEARS. It’s really the 58th issue of my mag, The Jack Kirby Collector, but done as a 160-page squarebound edition this one time.

The whole book is written by Mark Alexander, a longtime TJKC contributor and friend, who died last June, just weeks after handing in the final manuscript to me. I hate that he didn’t get to see the final product in printed form, because I know how hard he worked on it. Heck, I know how hard I worked on the layout for it, trying to capture a lot of what Mark and I discussed for the end product. It’s a book I’m extremely proud of, and I think Mark would be as well.

It’s at the printer now, and since this is the 50th anniversary of the Fantastic Four’s debut, I wanted to make sure it was out before 2011 drew to a close. It should just make it under the wire.

The usual: a free PDF preview is HERE. And you can order HERE. Regular Kirby Collector subscribers get it as part of their subscription, but it counts as two issues due to its double-size.

Please give it a look. Mark and I both thought it was an exceptional publication, and I hope you’ll agree.

We’re offering 60-75% off on 12 select items at our webstore, but only through December 19. These great last minute gift items are priced from $5-10, and include:

Comic Book Podcast Companion: only $5
(normally $15.95, save $10.95)

Streetwise: only $5
(normally $19.95, save $14.95)

Modern Masters: In the Studio with Michael Golden DVD: only $10
(normally $29.95, save $24.95)

Nick Cardy: Behind the Art: only $10
(normally $34.95, save $24.95)

I Have To Live With This Guy!: only $5
(normally $19.95, save $14.95)

Best of Write Now: only $5
(normally $19.95, save $14.95)

Comics Introspective: Peter Bagge: only $5
(normally $16.95, save $11.95)

Superheroes In My Pants!: only $5
(normally $12.95, save $7.95)

Comics Gone Ape!: only $5
(normally $16.95, save $11.95)

Comic Book Artist Collection, Vol. 3: only $10
(normally $24.95, save $14.95)

Alter Ego: Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine: only $5
(normally $21.95, save $16.95)

Comics Above Ground: only $5
(normally $19.95, save $14.95)

The sale ends DECEMBER 19! CLICK HERE TO ORDER!

NOTE: For the best chance of delivery in the US by Christmas, you MUST select PRIORITY MAIL shipping, and order by Dec. 19. (Outside the US? Sorry, no guarantee of delivery by December 24, but you can still order at these great discounts.)

Quantities at this price are limited. Orders must be placed online at www.twomorrows.com to receive this sale price. Depending on the volume of orders, some items may temporarily run out of stock before Christmas, and have to be shipped in early January. We will notify you by e-mail if an item will be delayed.

TwoMorrows Publishing will be closed from December 20-January 6, and any items ordered during that time will ship the week of January 9. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

After months of exhaustive research and planning, today the QUALITY COMPANION book was released. It’s a 288-page in-depth look (thick as a phone book!) at the forgotten publisher of Plastic Man and all those other classic heroes that DC Comics acquired from Quality Comics to become the Freedom Fighters. It contains 64 full-color pages of reprints of classic stories by Lou Fine, Will Eisner, Reed Crandall, and others, plus tons of behind-the-scenes info on one of the top publishers of the 1940s (and it’s written by Mike Kooiman and Alter Ego’s Jim Amash, so you know it’s awesome!).

You can download a free preview here.

Just in time for holiday shopping, we’re making our large selection of award-winning books on comics and LEGO available at 50% off cover price! That’s less than you’ll find them at Amazon.com or bookstores, but this offer is available for TWO WEEKS ONLY at www.twomorrows.com. Customers can choose from over 100 titles, including:

• Artist biographies
• Companion books
• Modern Masters books & DVDs
• Comics history volumes
• “How-to” resources and DVDs
• Jack Kirby books
• BrickJournal Compendiums (for LEGO enthusiastists)
and more!

To order from the full list of titles, go to:

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=95_52

This offer applies to online orders for most in-stock print books (with free Digital Edition included where applicable).

This offer is for BOOKS ONLY (not magazines), and does not include new and pre-order items, which are still on sale for 15% off cover price.

Some titles are in low stock, so don’t delay! Order at www.twomorrows.com

Yeah, the Walter Simonson cover for Back Issue #53 was so gorgeous, we couldn’t bear to shrink it down or cover up the top to accommodate the logo, so we moved it to the bottom. Good call? You decide!

In any case, #53 is all about “Gods”, and editor Michael Eury takes an in-depth look at WALTER SIMONSON’s THOR, and the Thunder God in the Bronze Age with a TOM DeFALCO/RON FRENZ “Pro2Pro” interview. Plus it covers Hercules—Prince of Power, Moondragon, Three Ways to End the New Gods Saga, and an exclusive interview with fantasy writer MICHAEL MOORCOCK. Check out the preview HERE!

It’ll be in stores on Wednesday, December 7, but you can preorder it in Print or Digital Edition now at our website.

BrickJournal #16 will now be shipping NEXT week (instead of this week), due to a tie-up in shipping from our printer. It’ll be worth the wait, LEGOheads!

THE STAN LEE UNIVERSE is NOW SHIPPING from TwoMorrows, and should be in comic book stores either tomorrow, or next Wednesday, Nov. 23. It’s full of interviews with and mementos about Stan, including PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE between Stan and such prominent figures as: JAMES CAMERON, OLIVER STONE, RAY BRADBURY, DENIS KITCHEN, ALAIN RESNAIS and (Sinatra lyricist and pal) SAMMY CAHN. Of special interest are transcripts of 1960s RADIO INTERVIEWS with Stan during the early Marvel era (one co-featuring JACK KIRBY, and one with Stan debating Dr. Fredric Wertham’s partner)! There’s also plot, script, and balloon placements from the 1978 SILVER SURFER GRAPHIC NOVEL, with notes from Lee and Kirby, plus other cool stuff. And it’s co-edited by ROY THOMAS and DANNY FINGEROTH, a couple of guys TwoMorrows readers just might’ve heard of.

It’s available in Softcover and Hardcover, and in stock now for ordering HERE.

And you can check out a sneak peek HERE.