Bad Idea has announced the latest addition to their line-up, and as with all Bad Idea books there are some hoops to jump through if you want to get your hands on it. Written by Robert Venditti, illustrated by David Lapham, and lettered by Simon Bowland, Hank Howard, Pizza Detective in CALIGULA’S SAFE is a 16-page one-shot from Bad Idea that will sell for just $1. The issue goes on sale on Wednesday, May 12th — and only Wednesday, May 12th, as retailers will only be allowed to sell the comic on that day.
Caligula’s Safe will be available to Bad Idea’s existing “Destination Stores,” currently limited to just 200 direct market retailers worldwide. Those stores will automatically receive quantities of the one-shot equal to their initial orders of either ENIAC #1 or Tankers #1. Bad Idea will also provide retailers with shipping supplies so that, at the end of the day on Wednesday, May 12th, they can return all unsold copies of Caligula’s Safe. They’re really not kidding around about it only being available for twenty-four hours.
If this all sounds like an April Fools’ Day gag to you, I promise you you’re not alone, but Bad Idea swears it’s real. I’m not sure what it says about Bad Idea that the news they’re announcing is so insane that they feel the need to clarify that it’s not a prank, but here we are. Whatever it says, it seems to be working for them. If the high quality of the first issue of ENIAC is any indication, Caligula’s Safe will be worth the $1 investment.
The full PR from Bad Idea on Hank Howard, Pizza Detective in CALIGULA’S SAFE is below. It’s really something. Look for the issue to arrive in — and disappear from — select stores on Wednesday, May 12th.
April Fool’s Day is stupid. We at BAD IDEA are determined to end its reign of terror. That’s why today we are taking the unprecedented step of making an actual, real life, honest-to-goodness announcement on this day of lies.
Are we brave? That’s not for us to say.
Are we pioneers? Yes, certainly, but did we have a choice? We’re just regular people doing the only thing we felt we could. The right thing.
So here we go. A genuine, for-real, on-the-level announcement on April 1st:
We at BAD IDEA are proud to announce a brand-new epic by the uncompromising Robert Venditti and the incomparable David Lapham — CALIGULA’S SAFE.
Or to be more accurate, the introduction of a brand-new, epic hero for these absurd and ridiculous times:
HANK HOWARD, PIZZA DETECTIVE™ in CALIGULA’S SAFE
And because we want to give everyone a chance to read a BAD IDEA comic (totally not because so many more of you wanted a copy of ENIAC #1 than pre-ordered…) we’re going to be skipping the regular order cycle completely and will instead be sending every BAD IDEA Destination Store an allotment of CALIGULA’S SAFE that matches up to their full original, pre-allocation order of ENIAC #1 (or TANKERS #1 for you Wave 2 stores)!
The best part is that this 16-page, single-issue story will be available for just one dollar! ONE DOLLAR! At a price like that, everyone can jump in and try their first taste of the BAD IDEA difference. Not to mention that it also almost certainly reduces the psychological value of our comics in a futile attempt to attract and convert new readers who have already decided that the only thing they want to read is stories about characters they grew up with so they can, if only fleetingly, once again touch that childlike innocence the world so viciously beats out of us all. “SNIKTY SNIKT” indeed.
Now here’s the catch. Yes, the title is awesome. And yes, it’s just a dollar. But CALIGULA’S SAFE will only be on sale for 24 hours. That’s right, every BAD IDEA Destination Store will be instructed to only sell this triumph of storytelling for just one day — Wednesday, May 12th.
Every store is able to sell CALIGULA’S SAFE by all the same means they sell every other BAD IDEA comic — from in-store, off-the-shelf sales to mail-order (must be mailed that day) to phone orders or pre-orders that are picked up that day — and must still adhere to the BAD IDEA rules. At the stroke of midnight on May 12th, however, any unsold copies are forbidden from sale and must be returned to BAD IDEA HQ using the materials we provide.
We know what you’re thinking. BAD IDEA is announcing a 16-page comic by Robert Venditti and David Lapham that will be sent to stores by matching up to the full, original ENIAC #1 orders, priced at just one dollar but available to purchase for just 24 hours? And BAD IDEA is announcing this on April Fool’s Day as a 100% authentic, on the up-and-up, official thing? Correct! And to prove it here’s a logo:
Just one week after WHALESVILLE x ROCKS AND MINERALS, we will unleash the one dollar slice of BAD IDEA:
MAY 12th 2021
*** HANK HOWARD, PIZZA DETECTIVE in CALIGULA’S SAFE ***
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art & Cover by DAVID LAPHAM
A TOTALLY REAL ONE SHOT | NO ADS
$1.00 EACH | 16 PGS. | RATED: T+ | ON SALE MAY 12, 2021Remember, the BAD IDEA way also means no variants, no trades, no digital, select stores, perennially available Not First Printings and no more than two comics a month – just monthly comics, sold in comic book shops. Goodbye, troubles. Hello, BAD IDEA SIMPLICITY™.
Wanna get in while the gettin’s good with Bad Idea? You simply have to visit a Bad Idea “Destination Store” — one of the 200 and counting comic shops around the world that have joined our independent network of direct-distribution retail partners — to pick up all the glorious BAD IDEA books every first Wednesday of the month. (Or pre-order in advance to make sure you secure your copy.)
We’ve made it even easier, too. To locate a Bad Idea retailer near you and then pre-order any and every Bad Idea title, simply click here and fill out the little form.
For more information, visit Bad Idea online at BadIdeaCorp.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or just mash the screen with your palm and do all four simultaneously.
