Transparency Sale! - 33% (MAKE THAT 55%) OFF ALL HARDCOVERS!!! UPDATED!!!

Jermaine Exum, Greensboro's own man of mystery, as decided to pull by the shroud that conceals his secret origin and divulge the tiniest bit of information about himself!

This includes Marvel premiere and oversized editions, DC Absolutes, deluxe, and standard editions, Image Ultimate editions, Dark Horse library editions, and any other book in the store with a hard cover on it!

The rest of the Acme staff encourages you to come by and wish Jermaine the best. Those that bring him presents, especially delicious treats that he can share, will undoubtably find themselves on the receiving end of some very good will somewhere down the line!

Stephen Mayer:  What are you desert island, top 5 favorite hardcovers on all time?

Jermaine Exum:  I could give the general stock answer, "I don't know. I like so many things." Since it's you askin', I would have to have the DOCTOR DOOM/DOCTOR STRANGE: TRIUMPH and TORMENT graphic novel which is impossible to find. All three current STARMAN hardcovers, and the last three once it's completed. The ALIAS OMNIBUS, gotta have that one.  Right now, I am more of a fan of the hardcover if I have to choose. 

SM:  You've been called an international man of mystery. A riddle smith. Loquacious, yet indirect. Why are pulling back this curtain on your age. I've seen you carded when we're out at bars, you've got the looks of a man half your age. Why give this bit of info away now?

JE:  I could say I'm wanting to share more, be more open with the world. Or maybe I'm finally fed up with certain people not knowing who I am and what my name is after 15 years.  Whichever answer is more exciting.

SM:  You've been working for Acme for half as long as you've been alive. Quite a milestone. What keeps you coming in day after day, even on your day off. Is it the people? The new comics? What exactly?

JE:  Half as long as I've been...why would you say that to somebody?  It's still new comics. Reading the next installment of New Avengers or Ultimate Spider-man is still very much enough.  But it's also the chance to put a story that I love or I grew up with in the hands of somebody new.  Selling a kid his/ her first comic is still a big deal to me.  And you never know what's going to happen every day. Never know who or what's going to come through the door.

SM:  What are your top 5 t-shirts?

JE:  T-Shirts are incredibly important to me. At last count, before I gave a bunch away, I had over 300 t-shirts. I guess I can say whatever's clean and isn't worn out. I got a Devastator shirt from a store in the mall that I really like, but I don't want to wear it out so it hasn't been seen much.  I break out my Pulse Green Goblin shirt on Dark Avengers release weeks.  I usually try to tie what I wear into what comes out on Wednesday.  The shirt I get most compliments and turns the most heads out in the world is the Captain America shirt by John Romita Jr from Fallen Son.

SM:  Has there ever been a shirt that you shrunk, spilled cranberry juice cocktail on, painted while you wearing it, or generally destroyed that you can never get your hands on again and plagues to this day?

JE:  That's too specific. That's probably something you've done. It took me years to figure out how to properly wash a shirt (turn it inside out, wash it with light colors, cold water, dry it on very low heat, usually twice). I went through some shirts, but nothing that really sticks out.  I'm fairly sure there was a Sentry shirt back in the day, the Jai Lee art of the Sentry descending, that I always wanted, but I might just be making that up. Because I've never actually seen it.

SM:  What video games are you playing right now? You've got the Street Fighter IV gamepad and I've heard rumors that you recently caught the Halo bug.

JE:  I was playing SFIV for a while. That was a fun game. Now it's Marvel vs. Capcom 2, at which I am accepting all challengers on X-Box Live (citycommanderx). I don't know how to play Halo. When I was a kid a "shooter" was a game with a little spaceship that flew around shooting pixels, but the other night I did alright.  I'm looking forward to Ultimate Alliance 2. 

SM:  You're a man of the world. A beacon for comics in the sea of Greensboro. People love to know what you think about comics, movies, video games, television, and what they had for dinner last night. What are you currently most tired of being asked about?

JE:  This is all news to me. I thought people just want to know when new books come out.  We've been answering comics about the Disney/Marvel merger every 8-10 minutes for the last week. Which is fine as long as I get that break. I'm not tired of it, but "Who's your favorite character" is always a tough question to answer.

SM:  OK, I'm gonna throw it over to Matt now.

Matt Fair:  Do you have a soundtrack for certain comic books that plays in your head when you read certain books?

JE:  Well, that's a good question.  Not to let too comfortable and let too much crazy out, but I generally have some soundtrack or another playing in my head at al times.  I mean who doesn't, you know?  Hahahaha...heh..*cough-cough* ahem.  Generally though, reading comics on Wednesday night is the last thing I do before bed so I don't really have anything playing.  I read, then I turn the lamp off.  Right now there's about 40lbs of comics on my nightstand.  And no, it can't hold 40lbs of comics safely.

SM:  And another guest joins the Fray...

Ian Streeb:  What cancelled series were you most disappointed to see go?

JE:  I have almost every issue of Azrael. I really liked that series and hated to see it end. The most recent disappointment was when Captain Britain and MI13 was cancelled. That book really surprised me. I traditionally hated Captain Britain as a character, but that book was really good. We got a lot of people on it here, but it wasn't enough.  The last page of the final issue was heartbreaking.  When I tell people to read Agents of Atlas and Secret Six its because I believe in the books not just to sell another copy to whomever.  I don't want either of those to go away prematurely.

SM:  What do you see going away next?

JE:  We're personally fighting hard, fighting ship to ship, for Secret Six and Agents of Atlas. People have to go read 'em. Series like this can't survive if people wait for trades, they need you now.  Monthly. 

SM:  You should have invited Gail Simone or Jeff Parker to your birthday party.

JE:  They have open invitations and I believe they know that.

SM:  What are your personal rules for statuary?

JE:  I've got a lot of cool statues, it might not even be characters that I buy their comics all the time. Most are Bowen, but not all. Right now I have an Omega Red statue on hold, not my favorite character, but I remember buying his first appearance in X-Men...#5? So I guess I have an affinity for the character. I've got a lot of Spider-man and Avengers, so I try to stick to those.

SM:  Now I'm just grabbing customers...

Daniel Ferguson:  Two part question.

JE:  Two part question!?

DF:  Favorite character?

JE:  I do like characters like the Sentry, Bizarro, and Two-Face. I don't buy every comic they're in or every figure made of them. Looking around at what I've got, I'd have to say my favorite character is Spider-man. He's got a relatable story, he's messing up all the time, he's got a good rogues gallery. But he is arguably the greatest comic book character ever created.

DF:  If you could rip one Spider-man story from existance what would it be?

JE:  As a reader I can forget any story. "Sins Past" by JMS.  Its not in my collection, I never think about it.  Not even now.  What is this "Sins Past" you speak of?

Ian Streeb:  Didn't "One More Day" take care of that?

JE:  I took care of that.

IS. What was your introduction to Doctor Who and what about it appealed to you?

JE:  Like many kids my age I was raised by the television.  In a good way. After cartoons ended on Saturdays, there was one more thing you could watch before you had to go out and play. It was this crazy show on PBS with robots and monsters and British people. 

Ken Winfree:  At what point did you know you were a Marvel guy?

JE:  I'd go to the newsstand and if there was anything there I didn't have I'd get it. I'd grab Avengers and Classic X-Men, but it was almost all Marvel. Then I randomly picked up a copy of Green Lantern and it was the most boring thing I've ever read. The discovery of the Marvel universe of characters all living in the same place, where anyone could meet anyone else, is a great moment that will make you theirs.  Maybe cartoons like Spider-man and his Amazing Friends predisposed me to it, but I never read another DC book until Zero Hour in the 90s.

JE: Is anyone even reading this?  Helloooo?  Echoooo.  You know what, since I like you guys, let's make it 55% off all hardcovers.  Who's your favorite comic shop?