Comics Alternative

We’re deep into July, so that means it’s time for the monthly visit to Collected Comics and Games in Plano, TX. And this is the second month in a row that the shop’s manager, Jennifer, has coupled The Comics Alternative‘s on-location show with their monthly Collected Talks (an opportunity for customers and staff to get together and share the kind of comics they are reading). The event is a success, with there being more participants than last month. Joining Derek on the podcast this time around are Jennifer and some of her shop employees, Sabrina and (occasionally) Freddy. Also a part of the conversation is stalwart podcast respondent Shea Hennum, and loyal shop customers Laura, Craig, Nick, and David. The conversation is broad and meandering, taking a number of unexpected turns. Everyone begins by discussing each other’s summer reading habits, and along the way a variety of other topics come to the fore, including violence in comics, this summer’s upcoming movie releases, Image comics, sexual explicitness an