The guys liked all the comics this week!

Matt caught up with Geoff Johns at the ComicsPRO meeting in Memphis. Check out the video, and look for Matt’s article later today over at Nerdage.

Matt talks to Filip Sablik from Top Cow about the new comic Berserker and the upcoming Marvel/Top Cow crossover. To see his video from Memphis, click here or watch the video embed above.

Remember the end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark?” I was in that warehouse last weekend - or something very much like it! I didn’t see the ark, but we did find Doc Brown’s flux capacitor among 8 miles of comics and collectibles stacked at least 4 stories high.

Diamond Comics, the company that distributes most comic books and graphic novels to comic shops, recently moved into its new warehouse in Olive Branch, Miss. The warehouse replaces three smaller warehouses in Memphis, Tenn. Matt and I were among several dozen comic book retailers who received a tour of the warehouse.

Diamond’s new warehouse is not only the size of a small town, it’s state-of-the-art. First, every item that comes into the warehouse is scanned into a barcode gun that records the weight, dimension, quantity, price and location of every item Diamond carries. And Diamond carries millions. The new items that ship every Wednesday are funneled into a massive assembly line, where 90 pickers spend all week sorting the new comics and other goodies into boxes, which ship to individual comic book stores across North America.

The reorder process is even more phenomenal. When we reorder books for you, our request is processed by Diamond and converted into a barcode label. The label is assigned to a box that travels through an amusement park maze of chutes and conveyor belts. Employees on each level scan the box and detain it if it requires a book in their section. Pickers in each section scan the box label, and a voice recognition system translates the order into bin numbers through the pickers’ headsets. After the box has traveled through each of the 10 levels in the reorder modules, it arrives at quality control, where it is scrutinized for weight. Then each box is sorted into loading stations by region, where they are loaded into delivery trucks.

Diamond employees that showed us around were ecstatic about the new electronic picking system. They described the old paper system as inefficient and cumbersome. There have been some hiccups adjusting to the new system, but Diamond promises that almost all of the wrinkles will be ironed out within the next 30 days.

We are excited about Diamond’s new home. Want to help us try it out? Next time you don’t see a graphic novel you want in our store, let us reorder it for you!
– Annette

Photos (from top to bottom): 1. The Diamond warehouse is massive. 2. Matt poses with the Flux Capacitor in a Diamond break room. 3. The Wednesday sort assembly line is nearly emptied out by Saturday evening. 4. The conveyor belt moves boxes from the sort modules to the loading stations. See the black spiral chutes in the background. 5. The ground-floor conveyor belt moves boxes through one of the modules. 6. The sort modules are four stories tall.

The war of the Witchblades begins, and Matt does not censor himself.

This sale only happens twice a year, and it’s a limitless buffet of comics goodness. Everything in the store will be 25% to 75% off for one weekend only.

Plan to be with us April 17-19. More details coming soon!

One of the longest-running series in comics reaches a milestone and is launching the biggest Witchblade story arc ever! And you can get a free copy at Speeding Bullet Comics! As part of Top Cow’s Let Us Win You Over campaign, Speeding Bullet has been chosen to give out copies of this key Witchblade issue while supplies last, starting Wednesday.

In issue #125: For more than a year now, the Witchblade has been split between two bearers — NYPD Detective Sara Pezzini and dancer Danielle Baptiste — and they have coexisted peacefully. But by the end of the storyline, only one bearer will remain.

The six-part “War of the Witchblades” arc begins in this issue. Written by Ron Marz. Art by Stjepan Sejic.

Speeding Bullet recently restocked on Jeff Parker’s spy thriller “The Interman” and the sketchbook “Dear John: The Alex Toth Doodle Book.”

These books are out of stock at major distributors. Get them today at Speeding Bullet while supplies last!

Spring cleaning is upon us, and our used-book room has taken a major hit!

We’re offering a crazy deal to liquidate a large portion of our paperback fiction.

Sealed boxes of books are now only $10 each! Choose from science fiction, mystery, western and bestseller assortments. Each box contains 30-40 books. That’s as low as 25 cents per book!

Plus, our romance “grab boxes” are double-sized! They hold twice as much and are still only $10 each! While supplies last!

NightMatt and NightKyle talk about Nightcrawler, Nightwing and the other Nightwing.

Kyle is getting older. He can’t wait 3 years for a comic.

The vampires were out the night I first met Mel Odom.

Matt introduced me to the local writer at the Blade movie screening in 1998. Mel had just finished adapting the screenplay into a mass market paperback.

The vampires continued to follow Mel — and so did we. In the next few years, Mel wrote a string of original novels featuring Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her vamp beau Angel. In one, a comic shop owner named Matt counseled Xander in a shop that sounded a lot like Speeding Bullet. Mel, it seems, was following us too.

Now Mel is working again with comics characters, and we’re all abuzz! Mel, who lives in Moore, is writing a Green Hornet prose short story for Moonstone Books this year. To read Matt’s full story about Mel’s new project, click here.

Mel is a great guy, and there are a host of reasons to love him and his work. Expect a release party for our blood brother in fiction when his Green Hornet book hits the stands!

– Annette

Over the weekend, I re-read Watchmen. And I could not believe how good it was.

I first read it in 1994. I remembered key scenes, but I had forgotten the density of the book and the complex issues it forces to the surface.

Matt saw the film in Los Angeles at the press junket two weeks ago. He’s not allowed to comment on it until Friday, but he’s already posted his interview with Jackie Earle Haley, who plays Rorschach. To see Matt’s Watchmen coverage, click here.

In honor of Watchmen week, I gave myself a Rorschach test while reading the book. Each time Rorschach was on-panel, I wrote down what I saw in his face. Among my most common responses: butterfly, crab, kidney, angel, dragon, bunnies, ViewMaster reel. I’m not sure what this says about me, but by the end of the book, all I saw was Rorschach. I think this means this book has gotten into my head.
– Annette

Get the lowdown on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Swamp Thing and more. To watch the video, click here.