As we continued the birthday outings, we headed to our next stop, Gateway Comics And Toys. I seem to end up here once a year, and typically around my birthday or Free Comic Book Day. I was specifically considering a set of comics I had passed up on two previous trips, while also wondering if I would find something else to grab.
Though I'm sure merchandise has come and gone, the store looks relatively the same since I was last there. Granted, I didn't take as many photos as I could have, that would have taken quite a bit of time. This place is massive, and filled to the brim from wall to wall.
When I saw there was a silver cover Spider-Man number one, I admittedly took a look with the anticipation of buying it. However, there was a giant ding in the spine, and they still wanted $30.00 for it. Hard pass. In hindsight, I should have checked inside ot see if it was a blue or copper variant. I'm sure it wasn't.
They did have the comic set I had left behind previously, but upon taking a closer look, I discovered that some of the covers were variants, and not the "A" versions. So, I once again left it behind.
My girl took an interest in this Queen van, but when she saw it was an error version, and thus the $40.00 price tag, she passed on it. If it isn't obvious, it's on an Ozzy Osbourne cardback.
I did end up grabbing a few things from the store, to which my girl was kind enough to pay for as part of my birthday.
I got two books from Joe Simko. For those of you who don't recognize the name, Simko is notable as one of the head artists for Topps Garbage Pail Kids as of 2009. His first book, Craniacs was actually created with former Topps senior VP executive Ira Friedman, and as you maybe can see, has a very GPK vibe to it.
The next book was Cereal Savage with art from Simko, and story by Hans Rodionoff. They guy I was talking to at the shop said that this one had a somewhat homage story to the likes of Count Chocula and his cereal friends.
Apparently, Joe was at the shop just last week for a signing, and as such, both are signed on the interior of the books. Even with his autographs, the store only charged cover price.
While at the register paying, my eyes shifted upwards, and I saw one more book which piqued my interest.
The 90's Ghost Rider #1 is all the rage right now because of Ryan Gosling being announced to play him. Whether that movie comes to fruition or not remains to be seen, but for now, this book is hot, hot, hot. With its all-black cover, it's a difficult one to get in mint condition. This one is spot on. Mind you, it wasn't one that was ever on my want list, but seeing it in the wild, I wanted it.
From there, we headed to lunch at Deutschland Downtown.
I love me some German food, but man is it tough to come by in my neck of the woods. Further, the few and far between places that specialize in it are often have very limited menus, and high prices. This place was no exception to either.
Still, it was easy to find what I wanted.
We started out sharing some handmade perogies.
They were a bit chewy for my liking but still had a good flavor. My girl ended up having to eat two of them since she was enjoying them more than I was. She didn't seem to mind.
If you clicked on the photos of the menu, you may have noticed that they have a standard, and larger portion. I opted for the larger, and man was that a mistake. There's not one, but two breaded schnitzels on that plate. As fool as I was, I finished every bite...
...and my oh my, what a bite!
The service at this place was excellent too and really helped to make the whole experience worthwhile. All and all it was a great meal.
From there, it was back in the car for a long trek back home. It was about halfway there that I realized the folly of my way for drinking three iced teas in an hour span, but all ended well without any accidents, driving or otherwise.
As a whole, I really enjoyed the day, but with my actual birthday still to come, would you believe there was more before the weekend ended? Check back later for more!
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