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Sep 202011

If Chris Rosa or I (Caleb Monroe) didn’t get a chance to see you face to face in our final weeks, you may be wondering why you haven’t seen either of us around the shop for a while.

Well, Meltdown has always been an amazing incubator of talent for people who then had an opportunity to move even deeper to the world of comics and its related industries, and Chris and I have both recently had our chances. After the release of my first Batman story, I’ve decided to pursue to the full-time writing life, and Chris has joined the ranks of BOOM! Studios as their latest editor par excellence. The first comic to bear his name will be HELLRAISER #6, so keep your eye out for it! (Meltdown is, of course, a wonderful place to pick up both the BATMAN 80-PAGE GIANT and Hellraiser…)

You’ll still see us around the racks and shelves, but now it will be as customers. Until then, Make mine Meltdown!

But enough about us.

I’m writing perhaps my final official Meltdown blog post to introduce you to your new superteam behind the counter. So without further ado, here they are! In their own words, no less:

Shane Coleman!

If I were forced to give a small quote on my life it would be:
“I am Godzilla and the world is Tokyo. You may get the better of me at times but you’ll never beat me.”

I’m a native of Wichita, Kansas and a veteran of the USAF. I believe in hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, so much so I have a plan in place for the eventual zombie apocalypse and/or robot uprising. I traveled the world with the Air Force; I even flew above Qatar in an F-16 and swam with sharks in the Persian Gulf, before finally coming to Los Angeles in 2003. I’m married to a “geekette” and we have 2 beautiful daughters who receive a first class geek upbringing.
I’m a stand-up comedian and practicing Buddhist. I’ve studied Kendo, Tae Kwon Do, and identify the most with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Bruce Banner.

Top 5 Comics
1. Batman (any of them) 2. Madman 3. Hellboy 4. Usagi Yojimbo 5. Spider-man

Holly Interlandi!

Holly writes for a magazine [famousmonsters.com] and a blog [concretesoul.wordpress.com]. She constantly waves the flag of comic artist Kaori Yuki, queen of all things, and vehemently consumes the works of Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith, CLAMP, Neil Gaiman, and anything published by Heavy Metal. She likes Ninja Turtles and sustains on the live music of obscure foreign rock bands. She can often be seen spending too much money on designer clothing and relishing in the violence of monster movies with bad special effects.

Ryan Moran!

Aspiring writer with interests in the occult, paranormal and spirituality. Avid Doctor Who fan, born and raised in the Deep South relocated to LA for Adventures (or Misadventures.) Punk Nerd Mean Guy (That’s not actually mean!) that knows way too much about pop culture and not enough about math. Huge fan of Grant Morrison and Brian Michael Bendis. Favorite artists include, but not limited too; Geof Darrow, Frank Quitely, and Mike Allred. Currently reading, New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis. twitter: @CRMoranPhD. Get Rowdy.

Top 5 Favorite comics (so far):
Alias (Brian Michael Bendis)- Hard Drinking Ex-Super Hero Private Eye and second string Marvel Characters like Rick Jones? Whats not to love?
Concrete (Paul Chadwick)- I have cried reading this, no joke. Story of a gentle soul trapped in a rough, alien body and his astonishing adventures everywhere from Mount Everest to swimming the entire ocean.
Hellblazer (Just about everyone you can think of)- Remember that really horrible but still entertaining Keanu Reeves movie, Constantine? Well forget you ever saw this movie and start reading this series. Originally birthed on the pages of Swamp-Thing and then carried over into his own series with writers like, Garth Ennis, Peter Milligan, Brian Azzarello and Warren Ellis. Great horror and paranormal stories!
X-Force/X-Statix (Peter Milligan)- The best X title ever made in my opinion. Suicidal Team leader, main characters dying every issue and being replaced by new ones. The early aughts boiled down into one solid series with art by Mike Allred!
B.P.R.D. (Mike Mignola and Friends)- I have deep interest in the Occult and Paranormal, so this book makes perfect sense for me. Even with that aside this is still a good read that will keep anyone interested in action on the edge of their seat.

Welcome to Meltdown, Shane, Holly and Ryan! Hope you survive the experience! In fact, I’m sure you will, and will be the better off for it!

In-stock and going fast. Come down to Meltdown and get yours

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Jan 142010

YOUR DISEASE SPREAD QUICK by Tom Neely

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“…Created in conjuction with the recently released Melvins box set, (a) Senile Animal, Your Disease Spreads Quick is inspired—at best—very loosely by the sludge metal band, which is to say that, like the best pieces of art, it borrows from the group only enough to create a jumping off point for its own independent statement, one that, if The Blot was indeed a proper indication, is undeinably Neely.

Where the aforementioned book was almost entirely wordless, however, Your Disease Spreads Quick relies ever so tentatively upon dialogue—loose scraps of lyrics cobbled together from the linear notes of (a) Senile Animal like pasted together pieces from a Burroughs word collage. Taken together, they fittingly read like statements of untethered existentialist dread—doomed proclamations in a horrific world populated by character sketches drawn from the abstractions of the Melvins’ correspondingly dark imagery.

Neely’s own images, however, succeed on their own, and while there’s no point in doubting the author’s insistence that he drew upon them directly as an inspiration for the work, Your Disease Spreads Quick would arguably have been just as successful had it maintained The Blot’s instance on letting the pictures speak for themselves. Neely is, as ever, an incredibly powerful visual storyteller. Over the course 22 pages, the mini takes the reader across a vast journey into the inner-most reaches of the artist’s sometimes frightening psyche, borrowing from sources a multitude of sources like Ralph Steadman, EC Seegar, and Fritz Lang….” – The Daily Cross Hatch

THE REMNANT by Andrew Crosby, Stephen Baldwin
and Meltdown’s own Caleb Monroe

Actor Stephen Baldwin and writer Andrew Cosby’s (creator of Sci-Fi Channel’s EUREKA) critically acclaimed story of espionage and the supernatural is collected for the first time! C.I.A agent David Sacker is thrust into a domestic terror case that questions everything he knows about reality. The action-packed thriller that introduced phenom artist Julian Totino Tedesco (UNTHINKABLE) to the comics industry!”

Podcast Alert! Meltcast & The Beat Bee Sessions, 2 Podcast You Should Bee Listening To

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Jan 112010

If there were 2 podcast you should be listening to they should be Meltcast with Meltdown staffers Chris and Caleb & The Beat Bee Sessions with good Meltdown friends Jim Mahfood and Jane Dope. Put your headphones on and LISTEN NOW!

Meltcast:
The Meltcast is a comics podcast. It’s the brainchild of Chris Rosa, recorded every Wednesday at the renowned Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd in LA. Aaron Brewer handles the technical stuff on the recording side, and Francisco handles the technical stuff on the web side. And Caleb Monroe co-hosts. Basically, a small collection of comics raconteurs and ne’er-do-wells given microphones and free rein.

We have a wide-ranging perspective because, between our three hosts, we have 1 professional comics writer, 2 comics retailers and 3 life-long comics fans.

We have big plans for the Meltcast. Big plans. We may be a little garage, a little DIY, a little punk, a little rough around the edges right now, but we put it up for you to listen to anyway. Every week. We’re the big podcast that could.

The Beat Bee Sessions:
The Beat Bee, mysterious cosmic funkanaut of the the intergalactic spaceways, delivers his magic Mixtapes throughout the universe to spread the love and joy of real music! He has chosen Food One and Jane Dope (ANGEL CITY DERBY GIRLS, & EAT YOUR ART OUT) to broadcast his funky signals on planet Earth…an all-new, weekly podcast guaranteed to clean the cobwebs out ‘yo mind.
thebeatbeesessions.libsyn.com

Meltcast “Grievances,” End of the Year Special

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Jan 032010

Its an end of the decade blowout as the crew pulls out all stops and invites some of the hottest names in the LA comics industry for a roundtable mash-up to end all! We invite Percy Carey (SENTENCES), Jonathan L. Davis (EUREKA, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD), Mark Sable (UNTHINKABLE, TWO-FACE: YEAR ONE), Matt Gagnon (managing editor, BOOM! Studios) and Pierluigi Cothran (NOLA) to offer insights and opinions as Caleb and Chris run through their top 10 books of the decade, and the audience gets involved to air some grievances! Part one of two.

Part One:

Part Two:

Listen Up: Meltcast 2 Nov. 4th, 2009

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Nov 092009

“Its mano-e-mano as Chris and Caleb enter the ring to discuss and debate the work of Mark Miller in part 1 of our high-flying, ground-pounding, steel cage match of death throwdown! We also begin the show highlighting Isobella Jade’s A MODEL LIFE from Soft Skull Press, take a look at Greg Rucka’s new book STUMPTOWN from Oni Press, and examine last week’s DARK REIGN: THE LIST – WOLVERINE.”