Von Allan Graphic Novels for the Holiday Season

With the holidays fast approaching, I thought I should do a quick post regarding my comics and graphic novels. If you are looking for a gift for friends and family or even for yourself, my comics and graphic novels do make lovely treats! For those who are relatively new to my work, the following serves as a quick breakdown of my work.

Key Information

As most people reading this know, my main longform comics project is WOLF’S HEAD, an action-adventure comic book series with a dash of sci-fi, crime, and mystery thrown in for good measure.

WOLF’S HEAD is certainly not alone, though, and both my earlier black and white two volume graphic novel series STARGAZER as well as the hardcover short story collection LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION.

Buying Von Allan’s Graphic Novels

All of my graphic novels are widely available all over the world. That said, I am a small press creator so book shops and comic book stores often don’t stock my work in depth. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it is.¹ In other words, you are almost certainly going to have to ask your local retailer for a copy. If they don’t currently have a copy in, then it’s super easy for them to order a copy for you. It really really is.

Fortunately for a creator like me, the world of online retail has dramatically changed the distribution side of things since the early days of the Direct Market. Back then a creator and/or publisher really needed comic book shops onside to reach an audience. Nowadays, with the rise of the internet, everything has changed.


There are so many online options that I can’t possibly list them all, but here are a few to get started:

• In the United States: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Powell’s Books, Bookshop.org, and so on!
  
  

• In England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales: Amazon.co.uk, Waterstones, The Portobello Bookshop, and so on!
  
  

• In Europe: Amazon.de, Amazon.es, , and so on!
  
  

• In Asia: Amazon.co.jp, DangDang.com, and so! American Book Center
  
  

• Online: AbeBooks, Alibris, Biblio — While many think that these stores only sell used books, that is actually not true. Each of these platforms are actually book marketplaces, so you can find stores that carry new books as well as used.
  
  

• In Canada: For Canadians, it’s a little trickier. Currently I’m having a great deal of difficulty with Amazon.ca as well as Indigo. The former is apparently refusing to regularly stock my work, which is not the case for Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. I don’t understand why this is, but I know that it is. Indigo is stocking some of my work, but only the first four volumes of WOLF’S HEAD. I have no idea why this is, either, but this is fairly typical for an independent artist like me.

  
  
  So, for Canadians, what to do? The best option is to order through an independent Canadian bookstore. That way you can order Volume 8 and support an indy bookshop at the same time. Most of these indy stores use a Point-of-Sale system called BookManager. That program also doubles as a quasi “Books in Print” database. In other words, they will be able to order it for you very easily. I realize that this is not ideal, but it is what it is right now. Hopefully this will change in the not too distant future.

More About Love, Laughter, and Loss

This is a premium hardcover edition with beautiful printing, collecting nine of my short stories (including the currently out of print WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! Collection that you can read online for free here). Please visit https://www.vonallan.com/2021/05/Love-Laughter-Loss-Comics-Collection-by-Von-Allan.html for more information about the book!

More About Stargazer

STARGAZER is a two volume all-ages graphic novel series featuring three young girls who find themselves transported to a completely different planet! There’s a dedicated website at https://stargazer.vonallan.com/. And I also received my favourite piece of fan mail ever for STARGAZER. This from a young girl in Florida who loved the series and wanted to tell me!

More about Wolf’s Head

WHICH VOLUME DO I START WITH?

Since WOLF’S HEAD is a multi-volume graphic novel, it can be a little daunting to start right from the beginning with volume 1. Fortunately, you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to! I strive to ensure that my work is approachable no matter what volume someone starts reading at.

           

           

           

           

STORY ARCS

Even better, the series is organized into so-called “story arcs” to make this even easier. The graphics below explain that clearly:

In other words, you can start reading at any volume or, if you really want to start at the beginning of a new story arc, then volumes 1, 4, 6, or 8 is the way to go! See? Easy!

REVIEWS!

The Slings & Arrows Graphic Novel Guide noted the following on their Facebook page about the series, “We can’t understand how Wolf’s Head by Von Allan Studio slips so low on the public radar. It’s an intelligent, well-drawn character-based crime story with an appealing lead, and a creative touch of quirkiness. Six volumes out to date revealing the strange path Lauren Greene’s life has taken since quitting the police.”

And Frank Plowright, writing on the same website, noted the following about both Volume 6 and the series overall: “Try Wolf’s Head and become captivated.”

That is one of the best things anyone has ever said about my work!

WHAT IF YOU’RE ALREADY A REGULAR READER?

If you’re reading the series in digital format, either in the original ComiXology/Kindle versions or now over on the Internet Archive, and you would like to support me, please do consider purchasing physical copies. That really does help!

The other thing you can do is simple: tell people about the series! Share the love! Do you know someone who likes comics but has never heard of me or my work? TELL them!

ANYTHING ELSE?

Please do consider reviewing any of the volumes you’ve bought. You usually can do that on any online platform (like Amazon), but there are many review sites out there that you can also post reviews to. Sites like GoodReads definitely help. Even a short review, a sentence or two, helps!

Lastly

For those who have read and loved my work as well as those who are trying my work for the first time, thank you!

All my best to you and yours for the holidays!

1  For those wondering, the comic book store side of things has been especially difficult. For some thoughts on why, please read this: https://www.vonallan.com/2025/01/Diamond-Comic-Distributors-Wolfs-Head-and-Me.html. This situation was made worse by Diamond’s bankruptcy and the ongoing changes to the so-called “Direct Market” (the comic book store “channel” when it comes to distribution). It doesn’t help that so much of what counts for comics “journalism” is pretty weak, as recently detailed on the Four Color Sinners blog. In the interest of full disclosure, the blog’s author Mr. Four Color Sinners himself shares excerpts from a conversation we had and then discusses it. That lead to a fairly robust exchange in the comments that are worth a read. Hell, even I pop up there, too!

Talking about comic shops

Please note: This was written circa 2010!

I truly love comic shops. Good comic shops, at least as I would describe them. I unfortunately don't stumble across that many that I truly truly like, but I do love me a great brick and mortar comic book store. I can get lost in them quite easily, just browsing and looking and experiencing. Comic stores do get some grief from time to time and sometimes that's warranted. Retailing is a very tricky business at the best of times and it's grown that much harder with online competition, fluctuating dollars (at least here in Canada), and rising prices. Don't ever underestimate how challenging that can be. Margins are low, risks are high and the financial rewards can be pretty damn small. The personal rewards can be great, but they don't pay the bills. And comic and book retailing is as much art as it is a business. While there are metrics that can be used to help predict sales, every retailer faces that tough decision of what to carry and what not to. When it comes to art and literature, tastes can be fickle. Not every book has the leverage of a Harry Potter, an Oprah pick, or a lofty industry award to help gain public awareness. Retailers often do a yeoman job of highlighting titles that you may never have seen otherwise. Often they'll take a chance, gambling that something will find an audience if they just order one. 'Course, poorer stores will refuse to take that chance and order extremely conservatively. I have a hard time picking on them for this behaviour, mainly because I was a retailer and I know how difficult it is. I also believe that this purchasing philosophy will ultimately hurt the retailer rather then protect them from ordering mistakes. Fundamentally, good stores take chances with what they carry inventory-wise and they deserve some love for this. And I think it's time I spread some of my own.

I should point out here that this isn't a ranking or, more pragmatically, a "this is better than that" kinda thing. These are just a sampling of the shops that I've truly enjoyed in one way, shape or form. It isn't meant to be some how all-encompassing or anything like that and you'll notice that it's definitely North American-centric. A few of these might not even be considered "full-service" comic shops (I'd define that, by the by, as stores that carry both periodicals ("floppies") and graphic novels. Hell, I may make another list some time down the road, too. I'm odd that way.

With that out of the way, here's my list (in no particular order) of comic shops that I really like.

Astro Books/Librarie Astro. 1844 Ste.Catherine St. West, Montreal, Que, Canada. Man, I love this store both as a store and for the ownership. They have been extremely good to both my wife and I and I've learned quite a bit from everyone there, especially Paul. He actually writes a periodic column that's worth a look, too. Want more? You can see a small video of Paul yabbering about comics right here.

The Outer Limits, 437 Moody Street, Waltham, MA, United States. A great all-encompassing store full of all kinds of great stuff. Besides, it's one of my wife's favourite stores. If that doesn't convince you, nothing I say will!

Comic Relief. 2026 Shattuck, Berkeley, CA, United States. What can I say about Comic Relief that hasn't been said before? Founder Rory Root was quite kind to my wife and I over the past few years and he certainly didn't have to be. Plus, it truly is a beautiful store. If you don't know, CR is built along bookstore lines (by that I mean it's inventory is arranged as you'd expect to see at a bookstore with category headings and the like that leads your eye and makes finding things quite easy). Oh, and there's a nice photo of my wife, Rory, and I below. Unfortunately, Rory died in 2008 and the store is not quite the same without him.  Update 2011: sadly, Comic Relief could not continue without Rory and closed in February, 2011.

Big Planet Comics. 4908 Fairmont Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland, United States. I've only been to the Bethesda location but it's quite a nifty store. Plus owner Joel Pollack has been regularly hosting a party on the eve of the Small Press Expo that's a great meet and greet before the turmoil of the con itself.

Comix Experience. 305 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA, United States. Brian Hibbs' ever cool store down in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Fran. Neat guy, neat store. And, of course, the always opionated Hibbs writes Tilting At Windmills regularly over on Newsarama. I may disagree at times, but I love that he's so passionate about the medium.

Flying Colors Comics. 2980 Treat Blvd., Concord, CA, United States. Great family friend store in Northern California. Not only has the store won an Eisner "Spirit of Retailing" Award, but owner Joe Field is also the founder of Free Comic Book Day. Not enough? Well, how 'bout some very cool TV spots over on Youtube? Flying Colors has been doing these kinds of spots for quite some time and the retailer in me is just a smidgen jealous.

Jim Hanley's Universe. 4 West 33rd Street, New York, NY, United States. Ah, Hanley's. If you're in New York, you gotta go see it. Jim Hanley himself is passionate and extremely articulate about comics (go take a peek at the Sequential Tart interview he did back in 2000). Update 2013: Jim Hanley retired and the store was sold to two of his staff. 

Green Brain. 13210 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI, United States. This is one of the stores that I haven't been able to physically get to, but I'm including it because I really like owners Dan and Katie Merritt. My wife and I were lucky enough to meet them at a few Small Press Expo's and we really enjoyed the chats. Plus, the Merritt's founded Snap! The Comic Arts Festival. While I think it might be in hiatus, it was a great idea.

Comicopia. 463 Comm. Avenue, Kenmore Square, Boston, MA. Owner Matt Lehman is disgustingly smart. Like really, really intelligent. He spooks me. Plus he does yoga regularly. Smart, fit and regularly doing yoga? Spooky...

Perfect Books. 258A Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Me old shop. I ran the store for a number of years before embarking on this whole art thing and I still do miss it. Not a comic shop, but a truly wonderful little store. And, of course, it's the place my wife and I first met (whooo! Illicit co-worker romance!). If you're ever in Ottawa, please drop by. And who knows, chances are I might be floating around.

But don't just stop here. If there's a store that you believe in and love, single it out on your blog or website. Any little bit of attention can help!