* Oh Danny Boy looks back to when John Byrne allegedly tanked Marv Wolfman's legal efforts against Marvel Comics to retain his creator rights. I say "allegedly" because I wasn't there, but I followed the case closely at the time, and I believe Wolfman's story about Byrne in the courtroom. I also believe Wolfman had a very good case that Byrne went way out of his way to derail because of his misguided love for a company that he can't even bring himself to call by its name, now. (Byrne always refers to Marvel as M****L, supposedly because it's not Marvel anymore, or some crazy Byrne bullshit like that.) The Oh Danny Boy post includes Byrne's testimony on the stand, and is must-reading for anyone interested in the struggle for creator rights in the comic book industry.
* At Trouble With Comics, Christopher Allen explores the second issue of The Invisibles, as his tour of the omnibus edition of Grant Morrison's long-running Vertigo series continues; Chris also looks at Locke and Key: Grindhouse.
* You know, with one thing and another, he said evasively, I totally forgot to note the 12th anniversary of Comic Book Galaxy. That was on September 1st. 12 years ago on that date I started this site with a bunch of more-or-less like-minded folks who joined up, fulfilling my vision of a site-about-comics that combined the very best writers about the artform and industry at that time all together in one place. Scores more great writers came along since Day One, and I'm grateful for each and every one of them. Since we started in 2000, RSS feeds and blogs have pretty much eliminated what I saw as the need back then for such a site -- I get all the best writers about stuff I'm interested in in one place, Google Reader -- but at the time it was a real treat to have all those folks together and for me to be able to read their stuff first every day, since I was hand-coding, editing and uploading everything myself. These days even most of that isn't necessary, since blogging platforms and easy-to-use software or websites make uploading a breeze. Editing? That's still a lost art for most websites, as it is in most media, frankly. If it sounds like it was a lot of work, it was -- it really was -- but it was well worth it, I loved it, and I don't regret it at all. These days, of course, Comic Book Galaxy is just me and these little newsbriefs, but if I've learned anything about this site in the last 12 years, it's never to try to predict what it will be a year or two down the road. Don't forget that CBG spinoff Trouble With Comics is still alive and kicking, currently featuring Christopher Allen and myself writing about comics.
* I know I'll forget a name or two in saying "thank you" to everyone who wrote for or otherwise helped this site over the last twelve years, but off the top of my head, I am eternally grateful to Christopher Allen, Rob Vollmar, Jason Marcy, d. emerson eddy, Neilalien, Johanna Draper Carlson, Marshall O'Keeffe, Brian Florence, Chris Hunter, Anthony Schiavino, Marc Sobel, Tony Isabella, Derik Badman, Klaus Janson, Eric Reynolds, Chris Staros, Brett Warnock, and Mick Martin. Special thanks to my wife Lora for her patience in putting up with many hundreds of hours spent working on this site when I should have been spending time with my family. You can read more about the history of this site and the people who've contributed to it over the years in this fourth-anniversary piece written by myself and Chris Allen.
* I'd also like to express my profound gratitude to everyone who ever helped the site out financially. We've had a fire sale or three in the past twelve years, and you, the reader, have always been extraordinarily kind in donating or buying stuff to help me keep this thing going. Thank you.
* Speaking of which, I do have some eBay auctions currently underway, and I'd love it if you clicked over to see if there's anything there that interests you. If you do make a purchase, mention Comic Book Galaxy at checkout and I'll throw some fun extras in with your stuff.
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