New Codeword - Plus Free Bonus Books Program Ending Saturday! Howdy! I began today's newsletter yesterday morning, thinking that I would be able to get myself back on my usual M-W-F schedule. After I had just finished a single paragraph, however, it was already time for me to leave to get my tattoos. Yup, tattoos. Really big tattoos. I went yesterday from having no tattoos at all, to having two huge Avanyu serpents down my arms. As the photos clearly show, they came out great, with my artist (Irish Jay, the lead artist at the world-famous Tattoo Lou's of Seldon, Long Island) having nailed the artwork I had chosen, perfectly. Avanyu Tattoo (click on image for larger view) In case you're wondering, my decision to get tattooed was in no way driven by a spur-of-the-moment impulse. I had been planning this event for over four months, ever since I had a dream/vision back in April about having these spirit guardians join with me for all eternity. I've since had several more dreams, each reinforcing my desire to have these sacred water symbols of the Pueblo people as my personal totems. My dreams were originally pretty vague, but I gradually came to realize that it was the incredibly colorful Avanyus created by Van Gutierrez (during the period between 1930-1955) that were being drawn to me. I am fortunate enough to own about a dozen pieces of pottery that Van painted, included three with Avanyu images, so I was able to choose two excellent paintings to use as the inspiration for my tattoos. Using images owned by a family and clan necessitated, however, my driving to New Mexico and asking permission of Van's last surviving daughter, Margaret, who is now about 85 years old. I also asked several other people whom I very much respect, from both Santa Clara and San Ildefonso Pueblos, about the propriety of someone not born Tewa choosing to bond so personally with sacred Avanyus. At least in part because of my love for, and continuing interactions with the Tewa people, permission was granted. No formal statement was ever made to me to that effect, but everyone with whom I spoke (including Margaret Gutierrez), thought that my having his interpretations of Avanyus applied as tattoos would be a great way to honor Van's artistic vision. Having now had both black outlines completed of my Avanyus completed (in a single 4-hour sitting...), I will return to Seldon on the 19th of next month to have the eight different native clay colors that Van utilized applied to each Avanyu. I can't wait! Chuck and Irish Jay (click on image for larger view) While I certainly am thrilled about having now my Avanyu tattoos, my real purpose of coming to the East Coast was to purchase comics. I accomplished that goal with mad abandon at the Pug Productions East Hanover show last Sunday, purchasing over 10,000 comics in a single day. Ashley successful ran our stand while I ran around the room buying books, so we actually were able to pay for part of our purchases from the revenues that we made at the show. I wish that I could give you a rundown of all the comics that I scored in East Hanover, but it really was a soup-to-nuts assortment. Suffice it to say that there was a nice selection of older comics, ranging all the way from a few Golden Age issues up to modern, with a heavy emphasis on Silver Age and Bronze Age comics. That pretty much mirrors what we have been adding to our website of late, so if you check out our New-In-Stock and Premium New-In-Stock listings for today, you will get an excellent idea of what types of comics that I scored in East Hanover. My day today is going to be spent in a Long Island, New York warehouse, where there are reportedly 500 (!) long boxes filled with a good selection of Bronze Age (1976-1982) comics. Our overall selection of Bronze Age comics is already pretty darn good, but I just cannot pass on purchasing 30-35 year old comics in bulk. That puts me in a bit of a quandary, however, as I spent our entire buying budget for this week in East Hanover. After thinking about it for a moment, I have (quite literally) just decided that we are going to offer you a 20% off AVANYU codeword for the next three days. Effective from now, until noon on Saturday, you can earn an extra 20% off on the already rock bottom prices that we have listed on our website. Just type the codeword AVANYU into the discount codeword box on our online order form, and our computer will automatically deduct an additional 20% from the net cost of all back issue comics and magazines that you order from us during the next 72 hours. In addition to our new 20% off AVANYU codeword savings, you can also still enjoy free shipping on your order if it totals over $20 (after the codeword discount) and is being delivered in the USA, and free International shipping if your order totals over $60 for deliver anywhere else in the world (no express carrriers). Please do bear in mind, however, that codeword discounts are meant primarily for back issues, and do not apply to trade paperbacks, hardbacks, statues, and supplies. We also need to be able to pick the carriers for all free shipping, with no express carriers allowed. Statues, supplies, and very heavy items do incur some slight shipping charges to all destinations, while small per book surcharges apply to all International shipments containing trade paperbacks and hardbacks. In those rare instances where we do have to charge you a small International shipping charge, however, I want you to know it still does not cover the entire cost of the extra weight involved in shipping. We just have to be careful about what we offer for free, as the shipping charges to some International destinations can sometimes exceed the entire value of the contents of the package My final item for today is a quick mention that we are about to completely revamp our program of giving away free "Bonus Book" items with qualifying orders. Our existing Bonus Book List has become so large that it is now actually rather hard for us to maintain, which causes us to sometimes keep giving away certain books, even after our supplies have dwindled too low. Rather than try and go through all of the existing Bonus Book items individually, I have asked Will Moulton to completely start over beginning this Saturday. What that means is that you only have a few days left in which to select items for free from our existing huge Bonus Book selection, before it disappears forever. Many of these same items will be listed for free in the future, as we plan to list five new free items each day, and then delete five items each newsletter once we get past 50 items total. Keeping the overall number of free items being offered to 50 should make the free books program much easier for Will to maintain. In the meantime, however, we have 500+ free items listed, each with a qualifying order amount specified. Simply place an order of the appropriate size, and you can then ask for any of these items to be included in your order in the "notes" section of our order form, and Byron will make certain that they ship to you with your order completely for free! My only caveat is that our International clients do need to be aware that per item shipping surcharges will still apply, if the free items in question are books. Other than that one small charge, all of the items listed in our Bonus Book listing are completely free! Please do enjoy this sudden three-day AVANYU codeword sale, and the last days of our free Bonus Books program, with my personal thanks for your continuing support. And please don't forget about this upcoming weekend's WizardWorld New York convention. Ashley will be running a booth there, and I'll be all around the dealer's room, buying even more great comics for our website. If you see me there, please do stop by and say "howdy!" I would very much enjoy meeting you... Happy Collecting! Chuck Rozanski, President - Mile High Comics, Inc. Advance Previews of next weeks comics from Archie Comics P.S. Here are just a few of the books (and other items) that we are giving away right now via our Bonus Book program. Please follow the link provided to see the entire huge listing. $20 Level $20 - CAGES (1990) #2 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $6.50 FREE! $20 - CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) #452 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $3.90 FREE! $20 - CAPTAIN AMERICA GOES TO WAR AGAINST DRUGS (1990) #1 2nd Print Very Fine Retail: $1.25 FREE! $20 - CAPTAIN MARVEL (1968) #13 Very Good/Fine Retail: $8.20 FREE! $20 - CAPTAIN MARVEL (1968) #43 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $3.90 FREE! $20 - CAPTAIN N #1 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $1.65 FREE! $20 - CARE BEARS MARVEL UK MAGAZINE #67 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $5.20 FREE! $20 - CARE BEARS MARVEL UK (MAGAZINE) #89 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $5.20 FREE! $20 - CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN (1958) #82 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $5.85 FREE! $20 - CHAMBER OF DARKNESS (1969) #8 Very Good/Fine Retail: $5.95 FREE! $50 Level $50 - CREEPY (MAGAZINE) (1964) #23 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $24.00 FREE! $50 - DAISY AND DONALD (1980) (#42-59) (WHITMAN) #50 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $7.15 FREE! $50 - DAREDEVIL (1964) #178 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $9.75 FREE! $50 - DARK HORSE PRESENTS #56 Near Mint Retail: $13.00 FREE! $50 - DARK HORSE PRESENTS (1986) #61 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $13.00 FREE! $50 - DARK HORSE PRESENTS (1986) #62 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $15.60 FREE! $50 - DC GRAPHIC NOVELS (1983) #1 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $15.00 FREE! $50 - EERIE MAGAZINE (1965) #4 Very Good/Fine Retail: $9.85 FREE! $50 - EERIE MAGAZINE (1965) #10 Very Fine/Near Mint Retail: $32.00 FREE! $50 - FAMILY MATTER GRAPHIC NOVEL (1998) #1 Near Mint Retail: $20.00 FREE! Click here to view all the Free Bonus Book Giveaways Current Newsletter