Sports Illustrated (SI) Swimsuit Issue

This has to be the most hum sub (translation: lecherous) post ever in this blog. I was alerted by my friend Dave to the fact that the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit features our sunny island of Singapore. All the more to add this latest issue to my collection.

I began subscribing to Sports Illustrated back in 1992, in an effort to follow my sports idol, Michael Jordan, on his march to championship rings and scoring records. I was surprised to find that come February-March the next year, there was a spanky swimsuit issue with hardly any of the incisive sports writing or profound game insights the magazine was known for. Apparently, it's a long tradition in the magazine history to have a special issue each year to keep the sports fan occupied through the slow sports news winter months. It was always followed by a regular issue of the magazine where every letter published would be condemning the swimsuit issue for objectifying women and reducing them to sex objects. Regardless, there's a spanking new swimsuit issue every year. Oh, I think I paid $300+ dollars each year for a swimsuit issue and got 52 issues of SI free. What a deal!

Eventually I discontinued my subscription to SI but continued collecting SI Swimsuit issues each year. Now I have a complete run from 1993 to 2011 (less 2 issues). Throughout the years, I was aided in amassing this collection by Comics Mart who imported this magazine for a period, various bookstores as well as eBay. I believe it was Meng himself who exclaimed that it's the only issue of SI that really sells in the store.

P.S. Anyone who is willing to spare a copy of the 1995 or 2003 issue which I'm currently missing, please get in touch with me.


2011 - cover







2011 - Singapore photoshoot


2011 - obligatory write-up promoting Singapore as a great place to visit...


1993


1994


1996


1997


1998 - a bit of an oddity as it seems thinner than usual. Also, the "Singapore licensed edition" on the cover makes me wonder if this was censored in any way.


1999


2000 - in 3-D!


2001


2002


2004


2005


2006


2007


2008


2009


2010

Tribute to Comics Mart Part Deux

A colleague wanted to head to McDonald's just so he could complete his collection of Coca-Cola World Cup glasses. I suggested we head down to the outlet at Serene Centre - just so that I could drop by Toy Station to check out the new Lego Star Wars releases but also with the faint glimmer of hope that Comics Mart had received a government bailout and had reopened somehow.

Alas, the scene that greeted me upon arrival was not so rosy to say the least. The shop was opened but only because they were packing and clearing out all the shelves and comics to make way for the next tenant - a 7-11 outlet! :(

A somewhat teary-eyed Squirrel was there and we spent a few minutes catching up with each other. I assured him that I still collected comics and have found a replacement source. He has found some part-time employment in the aftermath of closure. We both wondered where Ming and Carol were.

All this while, some anonymous hired hands were packing up the stuff that I loved so much and carting them away to comic book limbo. I took the opportunity to sift through the reservations filing cabinet to see if I had any pre-ordered books that arrived. I picked out the divider with my name on it just for memory's sake.

I realised I didn't have any photos of this beloved joint in its heyday. I am left with only regrets and memories of Comics Mart in its end state.




Empty Shelves


Shipment list dated 1 Apr 2010 and expected arrivals dated 8 Apr 2010 - perhaps the last shipment ever received


Back storeroom


The dreaded "closed until further notice" note


Shop sign


This divider has my name on it


My last loyalty points card which expired 2 days ago

Tribute to Comics Mart

I was mentioning how Comics Mart ran into some problems in my recent posts and how I was hoping they would be sorted out quickly so that normal life would resume. An 18 May Straits Times article seemed to have sounded the death knell of Comics Mart. That's it... it has ceased to be, crushed beneath the heels of fate, sliced by the Sword of Damocles... you get the idea.



So I've been experiencing the 5 stages of grief according to Kubler-Ross.

1. Denial – "No! This can't be happening, not to me."
2. Anger – "Fuck all you cheapskates who download comics or go to the library!"
3. Bargaining – "Just let Comics Mart resume business again...I'd give up my precious collection of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues."
4. Depression – "I'm so sad, why bother with anything? What's the point?; I miss my beloved Comics Mart, why go on?"
5. Acceptance – I'm not there yet.

Most people around me would not understand what Comics Mart meant to me. In a lifelong love affair with comics, Comics Mart was the fan that stoke the flames of love. I never missed a single issue of my orders and they always came through for me, even during the 6-month period I was away from Singapore on an exchange programme. They were the first to bring my literary hero Neil Gaiman to Singapore back in 2005 (in partnership with the British Council). I've flirted with other comic shops once in awhile but have always returned to Comics Mart... the ever reliable, ever patient partner.

I'll miss my home away from home at Serene Centre and the other members of the family - Carol, Ming, Squirrel, Stephen, Sudesh, Adrian and the rest of the gang.

Nothing to do but to grieve with other fans on the Facebook group "Comicsmart Singapore: The end of an era".

Someone mentioned a line from the Theme Song from "Cheers"... a most apt and fitting eulogy which I reproduce here:

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got;
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?

All those night when you've got no lights,
The check is in the mail;
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by it's tail;
And your third fiance didn't show;

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead;
The morning's looking bright;
And your shrink ran off to Europe,
And didn't even write;
And your husband wants to be a girl;

Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to go where people know,
People are all the same;
You want to go where everybody knows your name.

Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came...

Free Comic Book Day 2010 Part Deux

Just a follow-up to my post on Free Comic Book Day 2010. Comics Mart remains closed and I haven't been able to pick up my FCBD books for this year.

I bought them off eBay instead and 32 out of 33 books arrived. I managed to get a discount off the price as the seller was missing the Storm Lion book, of which I already had two copies (signed no less!). That completes the FCBD book collection for 2010 and I can sit back, enjoy reading the books and look forward to the same event next year.

This year's offering includes the following:

Gold Sponsors
Archie's Summer Splash! #1
Doctor Solar/Magnus
Fractured Fables
G.I. Joe #155 ½
Iron Man/Thor
Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock
Shrek & The Penguins
The John Stanley Library
Toy Story
War of the Supermen #0

Silver Sponsors
Sonic: The Hedgehog
Worlds of Aspen
Fearless Dawn
S.E. Hinton / Fame
Bongo: Free-For-All
Irredeemable #1
DC Kids Mega-Sampler
Del Rey Showcase
Green Hornet #1
Weathercraft!
The Overstreet Guide
Library of American Comics #0
Artifacts: First Look
Love and Capes #13
Iron Man: Supernova
The Tick #1
Oni Press Free-For-All!
The Sixth Gun #1
Radical: Bigger Books!
Atomic Robo
Storm Lion
The Stuff of Legend/Mortal Instruments Preview
Owly And Friends


P.S. I also won an auction for the missing FCBD: Cars book from 2009. When that arrives, I would have a complete collection of all FCBD books from the event's beginning. Huzzah!










Bonus - FCBD War Machine HeroClix. When Iron Man needs backup, he calls upon War Machine! War Machine is a major part of the May 2010 Iron Man 2 movie, and to capitalize on this, WizKids modified the popular War Machine sculpt from the Marvel HeroClix: Armor Wars series as 2010's Free Comic Book Day figure. This exclusive figure comes with an all-new dial and character card.


Bonus - Five FCBD 2010 temporary tattoos

Free Comic Book Day 2010

The first Saturday of May is a huge event worldwide as far as comic books are concerned. It's Free Comic Book Day! A day when readers and the non-enlightened gather at the local comic book store to pick up a sampling of the cool comic books on offer... all for free!

Free comic books are a good reason to get out of bed in the morning... slip on my FCBD Commemorative T-shirt designed by Sergio Aragones ($1 of proceeds from sale goes to my favourite charity - the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund or CBLDF for short) and head down to G and B Comics to pick up my stash. Kudos to them for being the only participating comic shop in Singapore. Extra bonus of having some of the Storm Lion crew present for live art demonstrations and book signings. I was hoping to meet Edmund Shern (CEO Storm Lion) but unfortunately he was not present.

I've had every single FCBD book that's been put out since the start with the exception of FCBD: Cars #1 from 2009 (never made it to Singapore due to licensing issues). I hope and pray that Comics Mart returns to business sorts out whatever they need to sort out so that I can pick up the rest of my FCBD books for this year.


My CBLDF T-shirt (one size too large)


Art by Sergio Aragones


'Puppeteer' Lee of Storm Lion


My signed copies of FCBD: Storm Lion


My stash for the day... all FOC!