Waiting for Wednesday, Volume 3, Issue 29

Welcome to a post-Borders edition of Waiting for Wednesday. That's right. It's officially official, now. Borders Books has gone the way of Tower Records.

As in, don't go looking for a Borders in your neighborhood anytime soon.

Sadly, the inevitable has happened, and Borders will close the rest of their stores in the coming months. A buyout deal fell through over the weekend, and instead of taking the franchise to an auction yesterday, the powers that be at Borders have decided to close up shop. But first, they'll try to liquidate their remaining stock.

From Publisher's Weekly:

"Subject to the court's approval, the first phase of liquidation would begin immediately, as soon as Friday, July 22, and continue through the end of September. As the stores wind down, approximately 10,700 Borders employees will lose their jobs."

So, liquidation sales will begin this week, with discounts escalating as the closing date draws nearer. In my area, there's only one Borders left standing, and it was in a different state than where I live.

Still, it's only about 20 minutes away, and the drive takes me up through the woods into a nice, quiet neighborhood. Over the years, I've spent a lot of time at that Borders, looking for books and hanging out at the really nice, open-windowed cafe downstairs.

Many an Exfanding post was typed up in that cafe, as were countless scripts and short stories. Plenty of coffee was consumed, and several books were read.

I also spent a lot of time at that Borders with my mom, as she is just as big a reader as I am. She reads more than me, actually, and only occasionally will her books have pictures in them.

We'd often head up to the bookstore together, sit down for a cup of coffee and catch up on things, and then head upstairs and buy whatever we were looking for. Mom to the mystery section, me to the comics section.

Of course, Mom and I can still do this at, say, a Barnes & Noble, but that Borders shop up in the woods--the last of the area stores to go down--will always hold some nice memories, and I'm sad to see it go.

I'll stop in at some point in the next weeks, most likely with my mom, and we'll have coffee and we'll talk, and we'll buy some books.

Now, with any such news, there's always the forgotten human element, and in this case, as the quote up top notes, over 10,000 people will be out of work. In any economy, that's scary. In this economy, that's downright terrifying.

I wish the best to all of the nice folks at Borders who have stood there and answered my stupid questions, and dived into the back to see if the latest Sandman collection was possibly sitting on a table somewhere.

Good luck to you all, and thanks. Readers--the real, true readers out there--appreciate the heck out of what you guys do.

And on that incredibly depressing note, let's get to this week's comic that I'm most looking forward to. From Dark Horse and Eric Powell and Steve Niles, today sees a cross-over event for the ages.

The titular character of Powell's Goon series will meet Niles' Criminal Macabre (anti)hero, Cal McDonald in a one-shot called, "When Freaks Collide."
Obviously, I'm a Goon fan. But I'm also a big Steve Niles fan, and Criminal Macabre is one of those series that just clicks with me. From the first stories by Niles and artist Ben Templesmith to the various one-shots and mini-series, this is the horror fan's horror book.

And when you put the Goon together with Cal? Horrible, hilarious things are going to happen.

Here's the solicitation information from Dark Horse:

Cal McDonald, the drug-fueled paranormal private dick, goes head to head with Lonely Street's zombie-pulverizing Goon, in a weird in-between world full of monsters, horror, and humor!

* A perfect introduction to both titles for new readers!

* Covers by Eric Powell and Fiona Staples.

Not much to that description, but, hey, I'm sold. And you should be, too. Check it out and let us know what you think of it. Our comments section has been a bit lacking recently, despite the fact that we seem to have an uptick in hits per day, and visitors overall.

Weird.

Anyway, it's time for me to get a move on. Enjoy the day, and if you happen to be one of those lucky souls headed out to Comic-Con today, enjoy, and let us know what you think of the show!

Someday, maybe, Exfanding will take the mother of all road trips and head out there. But for now...what are you Waiting for?