I'm stealing the name from Sonia's awesome column because it fits. Deal with it!

So today was New Comics Day, but of course there weren't many new comics. Amazing Spider-Man #700 came out, and the less said about it, the better (it's a pretty dumb issue, but that doesn't excuse the death threats, of course, because that's just shameful behavior). Mara #1 came out, and I picked it up but won't review it until next week. A new Hip Flask comic came out, which features beautiful Ladrönn art but really shouldn't come out twice a decade, should it? And my groovy retailer, Howard, had a post-Christmas sale. Oh, when Howard has sales, look out!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas if you indeed celebrate Christmas. I'm always impressed with my wife's presents to me - I never ask for a thing, because I really don't need anything and I'm perfectly happy hanging out with the family. But she got me a very cool pocket watch, which I will now show to anyone whether they want to see it or not!!!! I've wanted a pocket watch for some time - I never wear watches anymore, and I use my phone for the time, but a pocket watch is much cooler than a phone. So I'm very happy. Look out if you come anywhere near me, because I will show you my pocket watch! You will be stupefied by its awesomeness!

But then Howard had his sale. He doesn't usually have a post-Christmas sale, but as this was a small week for retailers (which makes no sense; last week was huge, and Diamond could have easily told retailers that some books shouldn't go on sale until this week, as retailers have an agreement with Diamond not to sell things early), he decided to make up some difference by having a sale. Lo, it was a big sale. Here's my haul:

Some trades were 30% off. I got these:

Judgment Day by Alan Moore. I'm perversely fascinated by mid-1990s Alan Moore and his work with Image and Awesome Entertainment. I'm sure this sucks, but I bet it sucks in an utterly bizarre way. Judge me not! List price: $16.95. Sale price: $11.86. (All of the sale prices are "more or less.")

Mud Man volume 1 by Paul Grist. I haven't read as much of Grist's work as I should, mainly because it's so scattershot, but this is the first five issues of his latest series, and I'm looking forward to reading it. List price: $9.99. Sale price: $6.99.

Back issues were 40% off. I got these:

Vext #1-6 by Keith Giffen and Mike McKone. Like mid-1990s Alan Moore, I'm fascinated by those late-1990s series that DC tried, most of which didn't last longer than a year. Some I bought when they were coming out, but others I skipped, and now I'm trying to find them. I figured this would be a nice read - it lasted only these six issues. List price: $15. Sale price: $9.00.

I bought one giant Marvel Omnibus that would probably haven't been 40% off it it hadn't been me. I buy a lot of comics; Howard tends to round things downward for me occasionally. That Omnibus is:

Captain American Omnibus by Jack Kirby. This is the collection of issues #193-214, when the King went back to Marvel in the mid-1970s. It looks hella awesome. List price: $74.99. Sale price: $45.00.

Some trades were a whopping 60% off (!!!!). I got these:

Medieval Spawn/Witchblade by Garth Ennis and Brandon Peterson (among others). Yes, this is utterly ridiculous, but what the heck. I'm curious to read Ennis writing these characters. List price: $9.95. Sale price: $3.98.

The Ray: In a Blaze of Power by Jack C. Harris and Joe Quesada. That Joey Q. I see great things in store for him! List price: $12.95. Sale price: $5.18.

Alien Legion: Footsloggers by Alan Zelenetz and Frank Cirocco. People on the blog have mentioned their fondness for Alien Legion, so how could I pass up the chance to check it out? List price: $19.95. Sale price: $7.98.

Gravel volume 1 by Warren Ellis, Mike Wolfer, Raulo Caceres, and Oscar Jimenez. I wasn't impressed with the first issue of this series, but I figured I'd give the collected edition a shot. List price: $24.99. Sale price: $9.99.

Girl Genius volume 1 by Phil and Kara Foglio. I've been curious about Foglio's steampunk adventure for a while, but the trades tend to be awfully spendy. What better place than a sale to check one out? List price: $22.95. Sale price: $9.18.

Ultimate Comics The Ultimates volume 1 by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic. Chad Nevett swears by this. I mean, he literally carries a copy around and when someone wants him to swear on the Bible, he swears on this. It's kind of weird. But I figured it would be fun to read! List price: $24.99. Sale price: $9.99.

Some trades were $3 or 4 for $10. I bought 20 of them, meaning I spent $50 on these books:

Bad Mojo by William Harms and Steve Morris (published by AiT/Planet Lar, September 2004). I like Steve Morris's art. I assume he has a real job, which is why he doesn't do more comics, which is too bad. List price: $12.95.

The Broccoli Agenda by David Yurkovich (published by Sleeping Giant Comics, November 1999). Yurkovich is a really cool and weird creator. He should be better known! List price: $7.95.

Damned by Steven Grant and Mike Zeck (published by Cyberosia Publishing, August 2003). Grant and Zeck did one of the few Punisher stories I like (Return to Big Nothing), so I thought that this would be fun to check out. List price: $19.95.

The Forgotten volume 1 by Jareth Grealish and Evan Young (published by Fintan Studios, July 2003). Nope, I know nothing about this. It looks cool, though! List price: $11.95

The Foot Soldiers volume 2 by Jim Krueger and Phil Hester (published by AiT/Planet Lar, September 2001). I should probably try to find volume 1, shouldn't I? List price: $14.95

The Hammer by Kelley Jones (published by Dark Horse, November 1998). I bet T. has signed copies of each of these issues. List price: $12.95.

Happydale: Devils in the Desert books 1 and 2 by Andrew Dabb and Seth Fisher (published by DC/Vertigo, 1999). This is part of my quest to buy everything Seth Fisher ever drew. Sadly, it's not a long list. List price: $6.95 each.

The Hat Squad by Jay Faerber and Eric Yonge (published by Moonstone, 2002). As this is by Faerber, I assume it's a pretty good mystery. But why the hats???? List price: $5.50.

James Bond: Permission to Die by Mike Grell (published by Eclipse, 1989). I assume Greg Hatcher has written about this at some point. If not, he probably should! List price: $3.95.

Ladytron by Joe Casey, Eric Canete, and Jason Johnson (published by DC/Wildstorm, October 2000). Who doesn't love Casey on Wildcats? So why wouldn't I want to read this? List price: $5.95.

Menz Insana by Christopher Fowler and John Bolton (published by DC/Vertigo, 1997). Okay, I get not ever hearing about some of these, because they're so obscure. But this was a Vertigo book and I honestly never heard of it at all when it came out nor since. Weird. List price: $7.95.

Paradigm volume 1 by Matthew Cashel and Jeremy Haun (published by Image, August 2003). I'm not sure why I skipped this the first time around, but I did. Oh well. List price: $13.95.

Raider volumes 1 and 2 by Thomas Zahler (published by Maerkle Press, 2002 and 2004). Zahler's Love and Capes is a really good comic, so I figured I'd check something out by him before that began. What the heck, right? List price: $14.95 and $13.95.

Roland: Days of Wrath by Shane Amaya, Fábio Moon, and Gabriel Bá (published by Terra Major, 1999). The epic of Roland, drawn by the twins way early in their careers? I'm totally in! List price: $19.95.

Shangri-La by Marc Bryant and Shepherd Hendrix (published by Image, January 2004). This is listed as "volume 1, #1." I wonder if any others ever came out. List price: $7.95.

The Star-Spangled Adventures of Captain Freebird by Matt and Shawn Fillbach (published by Sirius Entertainment, October 1999). I'm a really big fan of the Fillbachs, so I try to pick up their work whenever I see it. List price: $19.95.

Strangeways: Murder Moon by Matt Maxwell and Luis Guaragña (published by Highway 62 Press, March 2008). Yeah, I know I probably should already own this, but now I do! List price: $13.95.

Troublemaker book 1 by Janet Evanovich, Alex Evanovich, and Joëlle Jones (published by Dark Horse, 2010). I had very little interest in getting this when it came out, and what interest I had was because Jones was drawing it. When it's super-cheap, though, I can splurge a little! List price: $17.99.

The list price of all of these comics is a staggering $473.30. I paid $184.25 for them. That means I paid about 39% of list price for them. That's a good deal!

Yes, the entire purpose of this post is to crow about my purchases. But that's what Christmas is all about - spending obscene amounts of money to keep the economy going! As I mentioned, I hope everyone had a great day, and let's make 2013 a great year!