This is it! Starting today, we’re having the largest sale in our company’s 15-year history: $2 magazines and 50% off books, as part of a “Back-To-School Blowout” sale, now through September 30, 2008.

We’ve had other sales, on a much smaller range of titles, but never anything to rival this. I took my 6-year-old daughter back-to-school shopping recently, and was astonished at what the total for a first grader came to. With convention season winding down and school starting up across the country, I thought it was time to offer our customers some relief from high gas, food, and comics publication prices.

So all in-stock issues of Rough Stuff, Write Now, and Comic Book Artist, plus other miscellaneous magazines, are only $2 each. We’re also featuring more than 25 of our acclaimed book and DVD titles at 50% off cover price, including several “Companion”, “Artist”, “Comics History”, and “How-To” titles. This sale is only valid for orders placed at www.twomorrows.com through the end of September, and does not include shipping costs.

Here’s a complete list of sale items:

$2 magazines:
Rough Stuff #1-9 (edited by Bob McLeod)
Write Now #1-18 (edited by Danny Fingeroth)
Comic Book Artist (all in-stock issues) (edited by Jon B. Cooke)
Comic Book Nerd (by Pete Von Sholly)
Crazy Hip Groovy Go-Go Way Out Monsters #29 and #32 (by Pete Von Sholly)
Wallace Wood Checklist (edited by Bhob Stewart)

50% Off Books & DVDs:
Alter Ego Collection Volume One (by Roy Thomas)
Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine (by Roy Thomas and Bill Schelly)
Best of the Legion Outpost (by Glen Cadigan)
Best of Write Now (by Danny Fingeroth)
Blue Beetle Companion (by Christopher Irving)
Brush Strokes With Greatness: The Life & Art of Joe Sinnott (by Tim Lasiuta)
Comic Book Artist Collection – Volume 3 (by Jon B. Cooke)
Comic Books And Other Necessities of Life (by Mark Evanier)
Comics Above Ground (by Durwin Talon)
Comics Gone Ape! (by Michael Eury)
Comics Introspective: Peter Bagge (by Christopher Irving)
Dick Giordano: Changing Comics One Day At A Time (by Michael Eury)
G-Force: Animated (by George Khoury and Jason Hofius)
I Have To Live With This Guy! (by Blake Bell)
Image Comics: The Road To Independence (by George Khoury)
John Romita… And All That Jazz (by Roy Thomas and Jim Amash)
Modern Masters: In The Studio with George Perez DVD
Modern Masters: In The Studio with Michael Golden DVD
Mr. Monster – Volume 0 (by Michael T. Gilbert)
Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colan (by Tom Field)
Streetwise (edited by Jon B. Cooke and John Morrow)
Superheroes In My Pants (by Mark Evanier)
The Art of George Tuska (by Dewey Cassell)
THUNDER Agents Companion (by Jon B. Cooke)
True Brit (by George Khoury)
Wertham Was Right! (by Mark Evanier)

Special categories atop our home page link directly to the magazines and books on sale. So head on over, and check it out! If you’ve ever wanted to try out any of these books, I’m certain you’ll never find a better deal on them than this.

Comic-Con International: San Diego’s been over for several weeks now, but we’re just now getting unburied from the pile of work and orders that accumulated while we were gone. I take wife Pam and our girls there every year, and we always stay an extra week for vacation, since we’re shelling out the airfare money. (Sidenote: We flew on Southwest Airlines this year, and booked our flights back in January before gas and ticket prices skyrocketed, thankfully. Despite all the horror stories I’ve heard about other airlines and the fees they’ve been charging for luggage, blankets, etc., Southwest was great, with no extra fees for anything, and the service was just fine. Really, really good airline.)

A quick overview: We went with a single booth this year (rather than our usual double-size booth), to save on the increasing costs of exhibiting at the con. Hotels are ridiculously overpriced, but hey, they know you’ve gotta sleep somewhere, and with too few rooms for too many people, they can charge whatever they like, especially in a big tourist town like SD. As it was, we were awfully crammed in, trying to fit our usual comics stuff, plus our new LEGO-related material into a single booth, and we’re planning to expand back to a double next year.

The show was insanely crowded, although Saturday (which is usually our busiest day at conventions) was actually our slowest, and Sunday (which is usually the slowest) was our busiest. We figured out why; all 125,000 were at the other end of the hall on Saturday, seeing the Watchmen Owlship (very cool, I might add), and attending the movie studio panels. On Sunday, with the end coming and fewer panels going on, they all converged on our end of the con (Hall A/B). What matters is the overall response, and all four (and a half) days were very busy, adding up to one of our best cons ever, in spite of the economy.

But after exhibiting at Comic-Con for 14 years now (plus an additional year as an attendee), I’ve got to say, it’s just not as much fun as it used to be. In fact, this year really ended up being mostly a business trip, lacking most of the fun from years past. A lot of the usual friendly faces we see each year weren’t there (probably due to the economy), so we didn’t get to spend time with many of the friends we’ve made over the years.

Before you think I’ve just become jaded from too many cons over the years, I had an absolutely fantastic time at this year’s New York Comicon. It’s centered more exclusively on comics than San Diego, and the vibe in NY was more like the cons of old that I’ve always enjoyed. It hasn’t grown too big (yet), and gotten away from comics as much as SD. But at the same time, NY doesn’t bring in nearly the sales (or attendees) of San Diego, and it costs about the same to attend. So from a business standpoint, San Diego still makes the most sense, for us at least.

Maybe things will change at San Diego, but it’s looking like it’ll continue to get bigger each year (although with tickets sold out for all days this year, and actual scalpers selling them outside, they’ll have to move elsewhere to get more people through the doors, or add days to the con). That’s great for business, and we’ll keep going. But it’s just not that much fun anymore, at least for me. But the weather’s sure nice!

The week after the con, we took the kids to LEGOLand California (where they’re doing brisk business selling copies of our new mag BrickJournal), plus Disneyland (which is WAY better than Disneyworld in Orlando, FL, IMHO). We had literally just walked through the Disney gates when a pesky 5.6 earthquake hit, and almost knocked me over. In all our years of visiting California, we’d never experienced a quake before. My wife Pam had just stepped into a gift shop with our daughter Lily when it hit, and stuff started flying off the shelves and hitting them on the head. The employee rushed over and herded them under a doorway until the quake ended and the building stopped swaying, and Pam was pretty freaked out the rest of that day. (I was outside, so I thought it was actually kinda cool to see the ground literally shift first left, then right, under my feet; it was sorta like the moving sidewalk you have to walk on to ride the Haunted Mansion, only much more violent.) But in thinking about what could’ve happened if it’d been a stronger quake, the novelty wore off. I’ve experienced one now, and that’s just fine, thank you; no more needed.

Disneyland shut down all the rides until they could inspect everything, but they were very nice in comping us an extra day on our tickets. We had dinner with the Disney Princesses (if you have young daughters, take them to do that at least once; you won’t believe the look on their faces when Cinderalla, Ariel, Jasmine and company come over to your table to chat). We rode the amazing new Toy Story ride at Disney’s California Adventure Park. And we even spent an entire day just sitting around the awesome kids’ pool at the Howard Johnson’s resort in Anaheim (a really great family hotel, BTW; reasonably priced, super clean, and wonderful for kids–and only a couple of minutes walk to the gate of Disneyland).

So while Comic-Con tuned out to be just another business trip this year, the week after was a blast (other than the earthquake). A good trip as usual, so I don’t mean to sound like a complainer. And I’m already looking forward to next year, albeit with a few changes in how we tackle the trip in general. See you then!

O.A.F., the Oklahoma Alliance of Fans, is sponsoring a collectors convention on October 3rd and 4th in Oklahoma City, and Alter Ego ‘s associate editor Bill Schelly will be the special Fan Guest of Honor! Bill’s book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom put him on the map as a premiere fandom historian; we at TwoMorrows were proud to publish his memoir Sense of Wonder: A Life in Comic Fandom several years ago. OAFcon 2008 will be the first time AE’s associate editor has been to a Southwestern convention, and Bill’s really excited about meeting the fans from that region, judging from his emails. Details about the show are up at http://oafcon2008.blogspot.com.

I’m writing this from the lobby of the San Diego Convention Center, taking full advantage of the free wi-fi offered this year. Comic-Con International 2008 has been in full swing for four days now, and it’s massive to say the least. Another amazing year, with undoubtedly record attendance.

It’s Saturday morning, and so far we’ve have some great panels (the Modern Masters: Live and the BrickJournal/Lego were packed, with people being turned away from the Lego panel, due to overcrowding). All our new books are selling briskly, and we’re already making plans to add more booth space next year.

Food’s great, weather’s wonderful (back in the 70s, after two years of record heat waves), and everyone seems to be having a great time. I’ll report more fully after we return to the office on August 5, but if you didn’t make it this year, start making plans for 2009. It’s an unforgettable experience.

Here’s who we’ll have signing at our Booth #1215 at Comic-Con International:

MIKE W. BARR (author of numerous comics, including Camelot 3000 and Batman and the Outsiders, plus TwoMorrows’ Silver Age Sci-Fi Companion):
Saturday, 4:30-5:30pm (right after he moderates a Spotlight on Joe Staton panel in Room 4)

KEITH DALLAS (comics journalist, and author of TwoMorrows’ new Flash Companion book, which debuts at Comic-Con)
Thursday, 4-5pm (right after the TwoMorrows Publishing Panel in Room 10)
Friday, 3-4pm
Saturday, 11-12pm

JOE MENO (LEGO builder, and editor of TwoMorrows’ new BrickJournal magazine for LEGO enthusiasts)
Thursday, 2-3pm
Friday, Noon-1pm (right after the LEGO/BrickJournal Panel in Room 4)
Saturday, Noon-1pm

BENJAMIN HOLCOMB (author of TwoMorrows’ acclaimed book Mego 8″ Superheroes: World’s Greatest Toys!)
Thursday, Noon-1pm
Friday, 1-2pm
Saturday, 3-4pm

DANNY FINGEROTH (Spider-Man writer/editor, and editor of TwoMorrows’ Write Now! magazine)
Thursday, 5-6pm
Friday, 5-6pm
Saturday, 2-3pm (right after the TwoMorrows Academic Panel in Room 30AB)

In addition, Modern Masters editor Eric Nolen-Weathington and publisher John Morrow will be at the booth non-stop for most of the convention, and Rand Hoppe of the Jack Kirby Museum will be there scanning Kirby art for the Museum’s archives.

At Comic-Con, we’ll have a limited number of copies of four new books which will debut at booth #1215 next week:

The Flash Companion
Modern Masters Vol. 18: John Romita Jr.
Jack Kirby Checklist: Gold Edition
BrickJournal Compendium Vol. 1

However, our copies of those books didn’t arrive before we left for Comic-Con, so those will be mailed to customers when we return on August 5 (except BrickJournal Compendium Vol. 1, which won’t arrive here until later in August, and will be mailed then).

Here’s our Comic-Con panel schedule and descriptions; please tell everyone you know, and we’ll see you there!

Modern Masters: LIVE
Thursday, JULY 24
1:00-2:00pm
Modern Masters editor Eric Nolen-Weathington brings together three of the greatest artists in comics – Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows, Mighty Avengers), Michael Golden (Micronauts, The ‘Nam), and Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales, Superman: Man of Steel) – for a conversation about art, comics, and beyond!
Room 5AB

TwoMorrows Publishing Today
Thursday, JULY 24
3:00-4:00pm
Join the crew from TwoMorrows Publishing for a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into creating all their fan-favorite books and magazines on the art and history of comics! On hand will be publisher John Morrow, Modern Masters’ Eric Nolen-Weathington, Write Now!’s Danny Fingeroth, BrickJournal’s Joe Meno, and Keith Dallas, author of TwoMorrows’ new Flash Companion book, as they unveil new products and offer exclusive previews of upcoming items!
Room 10

LEGO and BrickJournal: Brave New World
Friday, JULY 25
11:00-12:00pm
Come see what grown-ups and “big kids” are doing with LEGO today, and what fuels them to never put the brick down! With notable guests including Joe Meno, editor & creator of BrickJournal, the magazine for adult fans of LEGO; expert builders Bryce McGlone and Brandon Griffith; and female builder Jessi Pastor; this panel showcases amazing examples of how they put their LEGO building talents to use! So dust off those old bricks in your basement and join the brave new world of LEGO builders!
Room 4

COMICS ARTS CONFERENCE SESSION #9: TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING AND THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY
Saturday, JULY 26
1:00-2:00pm
TwoMorrows Publishing is known for celebrating the art and history of comics, and the company has been making inroads into the academic community with its line of “how-to” books, magazines, and DVDs. Now, you can have your chance to hear, and to participate in, a dialogue with TwoMorrows to find out how to strengthen the relationship between the publisher and the academic community. What TM publications do you feel speak to you and your students, and what educational niches do you see that TwoMorrows can fill for the academic world? Publisher John Morrow, Danny Fingeroth (Write Now!) represent Twomorrows in this freewheeling exchange of ideas. Peter Coogan (institute for comics studies) speaks from the academic viewpoint. And Durwin Talon (Panel Discussions, Savannah College of Art and Design), and John Lowe (Working Methods, Savannah College of Art and Design) have a foot in both worlds. Q&A to follow.
Room 30AB

The annual San Diego Comic-Con (or Comic-Con International: San Diego to be more exact) is next week, July 23-27. We’ll be at our usual booth (#1215, right across from the Golden & Silver Age Pavilion), and as I type this, we’re all scrambling to get everything ready for our trip next week.

NOTE: We’re officially closed from now until August 5, so any orders placed online from here-on will be processed the week of August 4. But you can still get Digital Editions automatically online, including the three issues we’re debuting at Comic-Con: Alter Ego #79, Rough Stuff #9, and Back Issue #29, all of which have already been mailed to subscribers.

If you’ll be there, please stop by, and meet & greet some of our editors and authors, more of which you’ll read about a couple of posts from now.