Looking for Cass in Ebisu...

Okay, for the longest time I've been claiming Blister in Nihonbashi was the only place to get American comics in Tokyo.  By comics I mean the newest monthly issues, not the trades; tons of those can be had at Tower Records (Shibuya) and Kinokuniya (various, but Shinjuku is probably the one you want).  I'm happy to say I was (more than likely) wrong about that.  I have to go to Tokyo for some official business this weekend and since Blister is closed the days I'll be there, I started doing some Internet searches for other possible sources for four-color amusements of the Cassandra Cain kind.  Or possibly the Hellboy-ish.

To get to the point, I found a nice blog by someone named Filipo who apparently lives in Japan and collects comics.  Filipo missed a chance at Blister (the dreaded orange wall of closure gives me the willies), but found a place called Monster, located in Ebisu.  Monster is mostly a toy shop but they have a small selection of American comics.  Actually, from Filipo's description, Monster seems pretty much like Blister.  Maybe not as ambitious as the original Blister, which was freakin' geek paradise and a must-stop for those tripping through Japan with comic book print running in their veins instead of blood.  But still Blister-esque as far as the current incarnation of Blister goes.

I'd been planning to keep things simple-- I would have been satisfied with finding Manga no Mori in Ikebukuro-- because this is really a business trip, but now I'm going to have to stop at Ebisu and find Monster just to see if it's worth making it a regular destination.

Also, if they happen to have any Cass Cain Batgirl back issues, I'll be buying every single one of them.

Potential Cass hunt denied! Or... is it?

I have to go to Tokyo in a couple of weeks so I can get something notarized at the US embassy.  I thought about dropping by Blister in Nihonbashi to see if maybe they'd restocked any back issues of Cass Cain's Batgirl series-- remember, I bought every single one of them a few years ago-- or if some of those out-of-print trade collections had miraculously shown up.  They had Fists of Fury and Destruction's Daughter last time I was there.  Maybe someone in a distributor's warehouse somewhere in Japan found a box of DC trades with Silent Running, Death Wish Or A Knight Alone and sent it along.  That was my fantasy, and stranger things have happened.

Like the family that found they'd inherited 44 of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide's top 100 Golden Age comics.

But it's not to be.  Blister isn't open on any of the days I'm there.  There's still a chance I can locate Manga no Mori in Ikebukuro, where I've heard there are a few American comics available.  My information is a bit outdated, plus the last time I was there the selection was limited.  A couple of dozen, if I'm remembering correctly, which I doubt.  But even if I'm wrong, there aren't many more than that.  I also don't remember if there were any Batgirl issues in the mix.  I don't think there were, but it may be that I'd already bought the ones I saw there so my brain just blotted them out or filed the memory away in some inaccessible neuron.

The trick is finding this place.  It's small and not on a main street.  I wandered around for about half and hour looking for it and that was probably six or even seven years ago.  What makes it easier on me this time is I'm staying in Ikebukuro and it should only be a twenty-minute walk at most.

I feel I owe it to you dedicated Cass fans out there to at least try.  Plus, it's something to write about here while we're waiting for any real news from DC about Cassandra Cain.

Did you Fight On, Cass?

Thanks to super-correspondant Madeleine M. we have this link to a Twitter feed discussing the Fight On, Cass movement, that special event suggested by Zechs at the Outhousers where millions of Cass fans were supposed to buy Batgirl #37 on Comixology.  We don't seem to have gathered quite that many participants...

My favorite response has to be the person who took advantage of a "$75 longbox sale" at a local comic book store to fill it to the brim with Cass Cain Batgirl.  Because I'm a dimwit about how the comic book distribution system works, I don't know if those sales get reported back to DC, where we need to push up the Cass bottom line in order to inspire positive editorial action.  Whatever, I still like it.  I buy every paper-printed Cass book I find over here.  Which is why it's rare to find any.  I've got them all.

As for me, I've been using my poor, overtaxed credit card to slowly accumulate about 30 or so digital issues of Batgirl.  While I already own every print issue from the series' original run and all the trade collections, my ultimate goal is to own the entire series at Comixology, plus a few other books in which she's appeared.  I'm throwing new money after bad.  As Cass's number one fan in Japan, I feel I've gone above and beyond the Fight On, Cass brief.

Obviously, not everyone can be as fanatic as I am.  I won't rest until Tom Chaney's barking in he-- I mean, I won't rest until Cass comes back to DC's ongoing continuity!

Incredibly, against all expectations, there was Cass to be had in Tokyo!

Whenever I'm in Tokyo, I try to find American comics (or even Japanese comics translated into English).  The best place for this is Blister, a small comic book store in Hamacho.  They're only open a few brief hours during the week but we managed to fit in a stop there during our busy holiday ramble.  And what did I find?

The Batgirl:  Destruction's Daughter trade paperback collection and yet another copy of Batgirl: Fists of Fury.  I believed DC let all their Cass Cain Batgirl collections go out of print-- and also that I'd bought the last Fists of Fury available in Japan earlier in the year-- but these two may actually still be alive out there somewhere.  Seeing them was a happy surprise.  Since I have sworn to buy everything Cass I come across that I don't already own, I immediately bought Destruction's Daughter, even though I find for everything cool within there's something equally lame.  Fists of Fury is superior in almost every way.  That's not to say Destruction's Daughter is all bad.  We'll discuss this at a later time.

How much did I pay for this gem?  A mere 2000 yen.  As of today, that's 23.29 USD, three bucks and change over the SRP.  In Japan, when we're talking imported comics, that qualifies as a bargain.  I'm not sure how much Fists of Fury was retailing for this time around.

There are no copies of the monthly series at Blister.  If there had been, I would have bought all of them.  There are plenty of the Stephanie Brown Batgirl and the New 52 Batgirl to be had.  This is because they're of a more recent vintage and I'm not into them.  For me, it's Cass or nothing.

Tower Records in Shibuya and Kinokuniya in Shinjuku had no Cass books whatsoever.  Perhaps she's a guest star in something with Robin or Red Robin or Batman, but I'm not into any of those, either, so I didn't check.

In related news, I finally signed up for Comixology so I can participate in some of these pro-Cass campaigns.  It's difficult for me to wait for the official days, though.  I'm seriously considering just jumping the gun and buying some digital Cass while I'm all fired up about her again!

Will it be a Cass Christmas?

I'm off for Tokyo today.  You know, Tokyo would be a fantastic setting for a story where Cass takes on the yakuza.  I just typed that sentence and I'm already envisioning several set-pieces-- an all-out fight in a pachinko parlor in Kabuki-cho, a night time roof-top battle above some other part of Shinjuku, an outing with Steph to Roppongi where they meet some sleazy American dudes at a dance club and deal with them in a humorous way, more comedic relief in Harajuku where Cass experiences rori culture then things take a turn for the violent and weird when she fights a pair of amarori assassins, concluding with a thrilling climax atop the Tokyo Sky Tree.  We need a cohesive plot to tie all of that together, right?

It would beat the pants off that Chris Claremont/Frank Miller Wolverine mini-series.

I doubt there's a single Cass-related item for sale in Tokyo these days.  You know why?  Because I BOUGHT THEM ALL!  But I'll take a look and buy whatever I see, then tell you about it here.

Happy Holidays to all you Cass fans out there!  And good will to the Steph supporters!  And a Happy New Year to DC!  Bring both of those characters back and make the season bright!