Here’s the full Cover Gallery for the  next new arrivals – due on shelf on the 29th  of May 2013.  Use this contact form (or email shop@mk1.co.nz ) to let Mk1 know which issues you would like held aside at the counter.  Items can be set aside waiting for your next shop visit or dispatched to you via Mark One’s mail order service (no charge for delivery to an NZ address). Full shipment list follows… Check out more May upcoming highlights here.. and check this post out for incoming Books, Miniatures, Board Games and other non comic offerings.

Gunnerkrigg Court is a webcomic that you really should already be reading. If you’re not, go swiftly to gunnerkrigg.com and read the archive. Should take you a good day or two. Now, let’s assume you’ve returned to the review. I’m here to tell you why you should buy the book of the webcomic.

It’s possible you may be asking yourself why you should buy something you just consumed for free, and it’s a fair question, but there’s an easy answer – to support the artist (and, of course, your local comic book store.) Thomas Siddell is a UK-based comic artist who recently quit his job to pursue Gunnerkrigg Court full-time, and the more artists who can make this sort of endeavour a success, the better. In non-altruistic terms, I also believe the printed book is a superior product. Read the online archives and you’ll soon find yourself, like me, slaved to Tom’s thrice-weekly publishing schedule, hanging out for more. The books are brilliant simply because I believe they’re how Gunnerkrigg Court is meant to be read. You can skim, flip, admire, read in-depth, and work your way towards puzzling out the many mysteries of the Court that remain unsolved. Published by Archaia, who are known for their high-quality, beautiful publications, any of the Gunnerkrigg Court books are a worthy purchase.

What of the story and the art? Both are evolving beautifully, as anyone who reads the series from beginning to end will appreciate. Tom has always been a good writer and his art skills have improved by leaps and bounds since beginning the comic (although I’m still fond of the half-cartoon style he had around the Volume 2 era.) It’s nice to see the art mature along with the story, which, as with Harry Potter, is growing up with the characters. It’s glib to say that Gunnerkrigg Court is getting darker as it gets older, but it is certainly getting richer. The main characters are enticing, and by the third volume they’re all showing the increasing depth that you’d expect from people who are rapidly becoming adults. The side characters remain, by turns, creepy, intriguing, or hilarious – mad god Coyote and “demon” Reynardine are personal favourites.

Gunnerkrigg Court is an all-ages title that’s truly all-ages: smart kids will love it, as will adults. There are supernatural themes, which might put off some, but won’t spook anyone who made their way through, say, the Lord of the Rings, Artemis Fowl or Harry Potter.

Gunnerkrigg Court volume 3: Reason is a must buy, and is best bought with the previous two books. Get it today.

Mk1 Price $45.90 (Hardcover) – available in the Mk1 store and web catalogue

Here’s the full Cover Gallery for the  next new arrivals – on shelf now (as at 22nd of May 2013).  Use this contact form (or email shop@mk1.co.nz ) to let Mk1 know which issues you would like held aside at the counter.  Items can be set aside waiting for your next shop visit or dispatched to you via Mark One’s mail order service (no charge for delivery to an NZ address). Full shipment list follows… Check out more May upcoming highlights here..

Miniatures – May’s High Elf and Hobbit releases are all on shelf now.  What is next for the 40K, Warhammer and Hobbit games? The latest White Dwarf magazine will hit the shelf Saturday 25th of May 2013 – will reveal all!  Check our Facebook page to read the latest gossip – and add your own! 

WARMACHINE:

• Cygnar: Stormblade Infantry Captain
• Khador: Iron Fang Kovnik Solo
• Mercenaries: Greygore Boomhowler & Co (10)
• Mercenaries: Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (10)

HORDES

• Trollbloods: Troll Axer- Light Warbeast (plastic)
• Tharn Ravagers Circle Unit (6)(plastic) 
• Argus- Circle Light Warbeast (plastic) 
• Circle Orboros: Tharn Blood Pack
• Legion of Everblight: Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight
• Cataphract Arcuarii- Skorne Unit (6) 
• Skorne: Reptile Hounds

Battlefield in a Box Asteroids Prepainted Tabletop Terrain $52 – on shelf now!

CARD & DICE GAMES:

Masques

Star Wars Living Card Game:

• A Dark Time Force Pack
• Assault on Echo Base Force Pack
• The Battle of Hoth
• Escape from Hoth Force Pack
• Edge of Darkness Expansion

Zombie Dice

Score Pad

ROLE PLAYING GAMES

• PATHFINDER Shattered Star Adventure Path Pawn Collection
• PATHFINDER NPC Codex Box
• PATHFINDER Ultimate Campaign,
• PATHFINDER Campaign Setting (Hard Cover)
• PATHFINDER  Bestiary Box 2
• PATHFINDER  Reign of Winter Adventure Path Pawn Collection
• BLACK CRUSADE Tome of Excess
• STAR WARS Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook,
• STAR WARS Edge of the Empire Game Master’s Kit  and Edge of the Empire Roleplay Dice.
• DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Dungeons of Dread Hardcover
• DEATHWATCH The Emperor’s Chosen

BOARD GAMES:

• Chaos in the Old World: Core Game
• Matt Leacock’s Forbidden Desert
• Cube Quest
• Planet Steam
• Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island
• ELDER SIGN: Unseen Forces Expansion
• Gearworld: The Borderlands
• Letters from Whitechapel
• LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] Expansion: Lockdown 
• Dominion Expansion: Guilds
• Spartacus: The Serpents and the Wolf  expansion

BOOKS

Black Library – these hit the shelf this weekend!

• Macharian Crusade: Angel Of Fire(Softback) $26
• Macharian Crusade: Fist of Demetrius(Hardback)$47
• Soul Drinkers: Annihilation $31
• Soul Drinkers: Redemption $31
• Warhammer Heroes: Headtaker $26

Visions of WAR: The Art of Wayne Reynolds

MK1′s Most Frequently Asked Question:

Why don’t you have all your items for sale in the shop online? Many reasons – number one being our desire to avoid taking payment for an item that is sold out .  Mk1′s stock and trade is uncommon items – meaning at the very least a long wait for it’s return once sold out (if it returns at all!).    Mk1 has always kept extra stock of our best sellers on hand – close to two thousand extra items in addition to our huge on shelf range are stored out the back of Mk1.   It is this extra stock of our top selling Graphic Novels and Comics that we list in the Mk1 web catalogue – check it out here.   At this point in time Mk1 does not have the ability to carry extra stock of our Book and Game lines beyond the physical shops daily needs.

KEY: HC = Hardcover, TP = Trade Paperback Vol. = Volume Cvr = Cover, AF = Action Figure

Here’s the full Cover Gallery for the  next new arrivals – due on shelf on the 15th  of May 2013.  Use this contact form (or email shop@mk1.co.nz ) to let Mk1 know which issues you would like held aside at the counter.  Items can be set aside waiting for your next shop visit or dispatched to you via Mark One’s mail order service (no charge for delivery to an NZ address). Full shipment list follows… Check out more May upcoming highlights here..

Free Comic Book Day is held on the first Saturday every May. Free Comic Book Day is all about promoting reading – it’s a great way to kick start that all important reading habit in the young as well as a means of reconnecting with the simple joy of reading a fun story. Free Comic Book Day is the best day to check Mark One out for the first time, and a fantastic way for Mark One to say thanks to all the people that have kept us in business these past 24 years!

Review 2013

This year’s Free Comic Book Day has been confirmed as a record breaker with more people visiting and more comics given away than ever! 934 is the official count of gift bags given out – well up on last year’s 800. I have a large list of people to thank – and a feeling of dread that I’ll leave somebody crucial off the list.. Thanks to Lance and Tom for organising Iron Man’s attendance… such a great way to kick the day off! Thanks to the NEXUS facebook team for promoting our day and to Matt H for spreading the word far and wide- cheers bro - in fact thanks to everybody who tweeted, facebook or spoke to others about Mk1′s FCBD!  To Team Mk1 – cheers Ella, Michael and Grant for the hard work and the flexibility! We actually received gifts ourselves – nice chocolates from Ben and delicious home baked pastries from a mystery visitor (I wish we’d caught your name). Thank you both – recharged the batteries nicely! Thanks for all the well wishes and messages of support, both sent from afar and expressed at the shop – very humbling and gratifying. Thanks to Tim Gibson for including Mk1 in the MOTH CITY digital download promotion – very nice to have a strong kiwi connection on Free Comic Book Day. If you missed out on a code grab one from the counter next visit – a seriously good comic and a fantastic website too!   And for everybody who visited the shop on Saturday and created such a cool buzz – thank you.  I hope you enjoyed your chosen comics (great batch this year!)  Every year Rach and I review proceedings and make a list of things to improve on. This year the till was so busy and at times the wait for service was longer than comfortable (thanks for your patience). We will look at ways to speed this process up (must say a very nice problem to have!) Speaking of next year – the date to mark  on the calender is May the 3rd 2014. This will be Mk1′s 25th birthday so we will have to come up with something extra special to celebrate a quarter of a century in the Tron! Very happy to receive suggestions and comments. Photo galleries from the day can be viewed on this MK1 post or on Mk1′s Facebook or Google Plus page. Our efforts now turn to Hamilton’s ARMAGEDDON convention at the end of May – make sure you visit our stand if you are there.

The Nitty Gritty

Mk1 is located at 551 Victoria Street Hamilton  and our doors will be open 9am – 5pm on Saturday May 4^th. The shop will have numerous tables laden with nearly 4000 comics, divided into MK1’s recommended age ranges  – All Ages, Teens Plus and Mature Readers.

Everybody who visits on the day is invited to choose three free comics from the tables.  We ask that you bring your chosen titles to the stand at the door to receive a Mk1 FCBD gift bag (which includes a special voucher for your next visit).

The Sale

Free Comic Book Day is the day we choose to celebrate our birthday – and we celebrate with a store wide sale.  Free Comic Book Day is Mk1’s only annual sale. As in past years we link it to our age… so with 2013 being our 24^th year in business we will be offering 24% off everything in store on the day – including sale items and our numerous combo deals – sorry no rain checks (make sure you get a gift bag to receive a sale  voucher for your next visit!)

DON’T MISS OUT ON MK1’S BIG DAY IN MAY – SAVE THE DATE & SEE YOU INSTORE!

Mark One Comics (MK1) 551 Victoria Street 07 8393728 email shop@mk1.co.nz Twitter @mk1comics facebook.com/Mark1Comics www.mk1.co.nz  I’ve created this post to mirror any and all announcements made on Mk1′s various social media sites re Free Comic Book Day

There are lots of hidden treasures in this delivery – my own highlights include HOW TO FAKE A MOON LANDING : Exposing the Myths of Science Denial and TEN GRAND #1 (the return of the Joe’s Comics imprint).  Have a good look through the cover gallery and let MK1 know your chosen pick of the bunch.  Everybody who does so will go in a draw and one lucky entry will win their choice..  You can post your choice on Mk1′s FACEBOOK wall here https://www.facebook.com/Mark1Comics or tweet about it (don’t forget to mention us in the tweet @MK1comics). Or you can comment on this page (but use a name you would be happy to see published – a nom de plume or nickname is fine).  Fine Print: Entry is open to all current New Zealand residents, One entrant per person, Please only nominate one item advertised on this cover gallery only, a winner will be drawn randomly midday  Friday 10th of May 2013.  Winner will be notified by email and announced on this page.   Prize can be picked up from the store or sent via Mk1′s no-charge-for-delivery service to an NZ address.  

Here’s the full Cover Gallery for the  next new arrivals – – on shelf now (as at 8th of May 2013).  Use this contact form (or email shop@mk1.co.nz ) to let Mk1 know which issues you would like held aside at the counter.  Items can be set aside waiting for your next shop visit or dispatched to you via Mark One’s mail order service (no charge for delivery to an NZ address). Full shipment list follows… Check out more May upcoming highlights here..

Here’s the full Cover Gallery for the  next new arrivals – on shelf now (as at 3rd of May 2013).  Use this contact form (or email shop@mk1.co.nz ) to let Mk1 know which issues you would like held aside at the counter.  Items can be set aside waiting for your next shop visit or dispatched to you via Mark One’s mail order service (no charge for delivery to an NZ address). Full shipment list follows… Check out more May upcoming highlights here..

Highlights include a second Game of Thrones hard cover collection, a new Guy Delisle book: Users Guide to Neglectful Parenting Hardcover.  New 2000ad offerings this catalogue  include  new ABC Warriors, the latest Judge Dredd case files and the Rogue Trooper reboot War Machine.  My picks from the ALL AGES offerings are the Herobear and the Kid Special, Adventure Time volume  3 and the Finding Gossamyr hardcover. We have new Manga in the form of No6  and Sankarea and the original DRAGONBALLseries is remastered and re-released in the 3-in-1 format.June’s theme looks like “Return of the Greats!”  Gerard Way (Umbrella Academy, My Chemical Romance) returns to comics with the six issue True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso have a new 100 Bullets mini series and Scott Snyder’s American Vampire series kicks off again.  X-Files return to comics and the storyline features Executive Producer oversight from series creator Chris Carter: X-Files Series 10 carries on where the TV episodes finished. Joe Hill offers up a new comic mini series along side his THE CAPE artist Joe Malhotra: JOE HILL’s THUMBPRINT.  Also look for a new TRANSFORMERS 4 issue mini series and a collected edition of the TMNT Secret History of the Foot Clan.Age of Ultron concludes this month with two #10th and final issues (yep two #10s – the epilogue is numbered Age of Ultron #10AI). Classic Daredevil fans should check out the Lee Week’s Daredevil Dark Nights eight issue series (as well as the DD END of DAYS hardcover). Lots of great collected editions releasing in JUNE including SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN, UNCANNY X-MEN, AVENGERS, NEW AVENGERS amd UNCANNY X-FORCE – hardcovers and softcovers. MK1 pick of the bunch is the DEADPOOL COMPLETE DANIEL WAY COLLECTION – 472 pages of Deadpool-zanyness.. oh and the Matt Wagner and Simon Bisley team up TOWER CHRONICLES: GEISTHAWK hardcover.. (one for the Old Skool comic peeps!)
I’ve already received a deluge of preorders for Scott Snyder and Jim Lee’s SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #1 – but don’t overlook Greg Pak and Jae Lee’s BATMAN SUPERMAN #1 (that’s two huge debuts for DC in June!)  Other titles to watch include a new LARFLEEZE ongoing, more TRINITY WAR prequels (Trinity of Sin: Pandora #1 and Trinity of Sin:Phantom Stranger #9).  I’m liking the sound of Scott Snyder’s BATMAN new 52 origin story kicking off in BATMAN #21 (year zero).  On the collected front AZARELLO and BERMEJO’s LUTHOR and JOKER stories get the absolute treatment (and stay tuned for my VERTIGO picks for huge BRIAN AZARELLO news – or follow the links above and sniff it out yourself!)  From outside the DC universe look for a new WORLD OF WARCRAFT hardcover, DIABLO and HE MAN collected editions – plus a heap of new DC toy announcements.

More June 2013 expected arrivals

Because of Currency and freight rate fluctuations accurate pricing for the above items so far in advance is difficult – as a guide allow 2 x US$ for the NZ $ shelf price – a firm quote can be given for specific items upon request.

KEY: HC = Hardcover, TP = Trade Paperback Vol. = Volume Cvr = Cover, AF = Action Figure