Comics Poker Tournament, Free Comic Book Day, More! Howdy, I want to start today by sincerely thanking everyone who participated in our benefit auction last Saturday for Karen Lopez, the young girl who was killed when her car hit our Jason St. Mega-Store early in the morning of March 29th. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, and also those who bid in the auction, we were able to raise $5,032 for Karen's funeral expenses. Her family was exceedingly grateful, and asked me to thank everyone who helped in any way. That includes all of the members of our Mile High Comics staff who volunteered their time, and the members of the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire who also helped us. Erika, Chuck and Chris Speaking of the Imperial Court, congratulations are in order for our new Empress, Gabbriella But'zin, and our new Emperor, Richard Brendlinger. They both wanted me to express my thanks to everyone at Mile High Comics who voted for them in the election two weeks ago. They are going to have a tough job ahead of them to reign as well as Caeri and Melissa did during the past twelve months, but I am certain that they will do well. I will be directly helping them in their efforts, as immediately after the election results were announced, Richard surprised us all by naming me to be his Prince Royale for Reign 42. Gabbriella and Richard As PR (the #2 person in succession behind the Emperor of the ICRME...) I will have numerous duties, but the most important is to host several charity fundraisers. My first event as Prince Royale 42 will be a benefit auction of comics and toys for Freedom Service Dogs. Freedom Service Dogs rescues young dogs from shelters, and trains them to help the disabled. Some of their dogs go to those in wheelchairs because of spinal injuries, while others go to injured veterans. In every instance, however, dogs are given to their owners for life after a very extensive period of training. Freedom Service Dog The Freedom Service Dogs group does, however, have one dog that was returned to the organization due to the unexpected passing of his owner. They chose to keep this unbelievably friendly and talented dog for public relations events, and let it put on demonstrations all around Colorado. Just prior to Karen's passing, I had requested that they bring one of the dogs to our Jason St. Mega-Store to meet everyone at our auction on April 25th. The FSD auction will begin at 11:30 AM on Saturday morning, April 25th, and will feature 400 items that we are auctioning to benefit improving our store, and also personal contribution items that we receive for Freedom Service Dogs. As with our past auctions, we will be alternating auctioning Mile High and benefit items. Auction Lot 22 Auction Lot 23 Auction Lot 24 Auction Lot 25 Auction Lot 26 All of the above having been said, I am requesting that those of you who can contribute items from your own collections to the Freedom Service Dogs benefit portion of our auction please bring your donation items in to our Jason St. Mega-Store as soon as you can. We do already have the items from our 400+ Mile High Comics items for the auction on display, and will be adding our own contributions to the Freedom Service Dogs portion of the auction over the next couple of days. Anything that you might be able to contribute from your own collection to this worth event would be most appreciated. Texas Hold'em Poke Tournament As an aside, I would like to conduct a brief survey to see if their is any interest in participation in a Mile High Comics/Imperial Court Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament? I am thinking of hosting an eight table tournament (64 players) on a Saturday in early June, with a $1,000 Mile High Comics gift certificate as the grand prize, with some added cash and bar tab prizes. The cost to participate would be $25, with all the proceeds going to the ICRME. This would have to be a 21-over tournament, as we would also be pulling a temporary use permit so that we could have a cash bar. If you might be interested in playing in our poker tournament, please send me a quick e-mail to chuckrozanski@gmail.com. Barring a scheduling conflict, I am thinking of Saturday, June 13th for our tournament. Moving on to news from Mile High Comics, Free Comic Book Day is now only two weeks away! Our Guest of Honor at our Jason St. Mega-Store this year will again be our good friend, former Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief, Jim Shooter. Jim conceptualized and wrote the original Marvel SECRET WARS and SECRET WARS II titles, as well as one of the most heralded AVENGERS story arcs from the 1970's. Jim will be signing autographs that day, and will also be teaching a seminar on how to write for comics in the early afternoon for students aged 12-18. Please join us on FCBD, and visit with this incredibly nice man, who also happens to have unbelievable talent as a comics writer and editor. Secret Wars #1 Mile High Variant Secret Wars #2 Mile High Variant Finally, I do want to urge everyone to sign up as quickly as possible for our upcoming series of Mile High Comics exclusive variant editions of SECRET WARS (2015) #1- #8. These variants can only be obtained through us, and can be reserved for only $19.95 each, with no cost to you until the issues actually ship. Four months ago, I was urging everyone to put in an advance subscription for our upcoming variant edition of STAR WARS (2015) #1. Those of you who heeded my suggestion now own highly desirable variant comics that have already quadrupled in value. Need I say more? Happy Collecting! Chuck Rozanski, President - Mile High Comics, Inc. April 14, 2015 P.S. below is the promotional flyer for Jim Shooter's class: Mile High Comics - Jason Street Mega-Store Mile High Comics Retail Store Locations Current Newsletter