* If you liked browsing for single-issue Marvel titles at Barnes & Noble or other major book retailers, you appear to be out of luck: Marvel Comics is no longer making single issues available to mainstream booksellers. This will either make Brian Hibbs very happy or cause his head to explode, I am not sure which. But if it makes him happy, I hope he realizes that it means many people will no longer even be aware that Marvel Comics exist in single issue form, and likely hasten the demise of new, single issue funnybooks as an actual thing that exists in the real world at all. So long, floppies -- it was nice knowin' ya.
* At The Tearoom of Despair, Bob Temuka makes a good case for Fury MAX: My War Gone By being the best comic of 2013. There are some Garth Ennis comics that leave me cold, and then there are Garth Ennis's Punisher MAX and Fury MAX comics, which are just brilliant. My War Gone By saw Ennis's words accompanied by Goran Parlov's pictures, making it even better. Parlov is a true comics storyteller in the classic sense, and Ennis and Parlov's stuff together always actually reads like comics to my brain, in an era when almost nothing calling itself comics actually looks or feels like what a comic book should be.
* Bleeding Cool has a preview of the imminent Bojeffries Saga by Alan Moore and Steve Parkhouse, published by Top Shelf and Knockabout.
* The Comics Reporter's holiday interview series continues with Tom Spurgeon chatting with cartoonist Nate Powell. I've liked and supported Powell's work since I first read Walkie Talkie back in 2002, and I'm delighted at the level of success he's achieved since then.
* Ted Rall looks at the inevitability of marriage equality, and what other basic human rights might be recognized next.
* Uncomics: Charles Simic at The New York Review of Books examines The Age of Ignorance. The piece highlights some of the most virulent and blatantly false memes spread by the Tea-Baggers on the far right for the past few years, like the "persecution" of Christians in the United States, climate change denial, Obama being a Muslim and more. Let's not forget the just-passed annual decrying of "The War on Christmas." Just to bring it all back around to comics, remember, Brian Hibbs believes the world wants every story told in comics form to be serialized in floppy comic books, no matter how little the true mainstream readership wants anything in that format, or how little even Marvel Comics wants them to exist anymore.
* Uncomics: James Howard Kunstler looks at The End of Pretend.
* Hey, it's the end of the year already. I wish I had something profound and witty to say about that, but it just kind of snuck up on me. This was a wild year of changes for me personally and professionally, and all I can say is I think I am in a better place than I was a year ago. I hope you are too. In lieu of a lengthy piece examining where we've been and where we're going, let me just say a very sincere thank you for making me a part of your internet reading experience. It's good to be doing this again on a (somewhat) daily basis, and I appreciate you taking the time to read what I post here. I hope you and yours have a happy and healthy new year.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 123013: The Balance Between Two Worlds
* The creator of one of my favourite graphic novels of the past decade, Essex County (published by Top Shelf), is featured in the holiday interview series at The Comics Reporter: Tom Spurgeon talks to Jeff Lemire about working in the Canadian comics tradition, transitioning from alt-comix to corporate comics work (as a writer for DC's New 52), and how he balances between the two worlds.
* Spurgeon's interview with Colleen Doran was interesting to me because she talks about the difficulties of restoring old work to be reprinted in the modern day. I once talked to a doubtful comics creator who had been assured how easy the process can be, so it's good to see Doran being upfront about how nightmarishly complicated it can be. I learned as a broadcaster that you can make digital files different, but you can never make them better than the source material. I also appreciate her reminding everyone how shitty Checker Publishing's reprints can be. I'm still angry about what they did with Supreme, and that was what, a million years ago?
* The Comics Journal collects the best of their articles from the past year in their 2013 Year in Review. I don't know if I was aware that Dan Adkins had died this year; I wasn't aware of how far back his career had gone, probably because his work always looked contemporary to me, as opposed to, say, Al Plastino or Carmine Infantino, both of whom also died this year. And Joey Manley. I still can't believe Joey Manley is gone. Take time to read some of those tribute articles; a lack of knowledge about comics history is something I find irritating when talking to other people about the industry and the artform. The information is out there if you care enough to find it. If you don't, why bother?
* Salon's top superhero comics of 2013 list is up. I don't agree with some of the conclusions (Waid's Hulk is worth a read whether Simonson is drawing it or not; Mark Millar is way past the point where I would ever give him another try again on anything), but it's worth taking a look if you like the spandex and the punching.
* Spurgeon's interview with Colleen Doran was interesting to me because she talks about the difficulties of restoring old work to be reprinted in the modern day. I once talked to a doubtful comics creator who had been assured how easy the process can be, so it's good to see Doran being upfront about how nightmarishly complicated it can be. I learned as a broadcaster that you can make digital files different, but you can never make them better than the source material. I also appreciate her reminding everyone how shitty Checker Publishing's reprints can be. I'm still angry about what they did with Supreme, and that was what, a million years ago?
* The Comics Journal collects the best of their articles from the past year in their 2013 Year in Review. I don't know if I was aware that Dan Adkins had died this year; I wasn't aware of how far back his career had gone, probably because his work always looked contemporary to me, as opposed to, say, Al Plastino or Carmine Infantino, both of whom also died this year. And Joey Manley. I still can't believe Joey Manley is gone. Take time to read some of those tribute articles; a lack of knowledge about comics history is something I find irritating when talking to other people about the industry and the artform. The information is out there if you care enough to find it. If you don't, why bother?
* Salon's top superhero comics of 2013 list is up. I don't agree with some of the conclusions (Waid's Hulk is worth a read whether Simonson is drawing it or not; Mark Millar is way past the point where I would ever give him another try again on anything), but it's worth taking a look if you like the spandex and the punching.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Holiday Intermission
* I'm not sure if it'a an allergy attack or a cold that hit me like a brick to the head yesterday, but either way I'm feeling pretty lousy. Many thanks to my wife for picking up Mucinex and Kleenex for me last night. Regular blogging will resume as soon as I am feeling back up to speed. Thanks for your patience and happy new year!
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 122613: How Far DC Comics Has Fallen
* CBR posts a Frank Miller cover for Detective Comics #27 that shows how far DC Comics has fallen since the days of Ed Brubaker/Darwyn Cooke/Cameron Stewart's Catwoman, and how far Frank Miller has fallen since Daredevil. Neither DC nor Miller is ever likely to recover from the places they've gone "creatively" in the past 15 years, but at least DC could have a change of management. I don't know how Miller got where he is or how he could possibly ever recover the gifts he once displayed as a creator. It's tragic, what's become of him as an artist. And reprehensible on so many levels that DC would even use that piece of art. What a depressing thing to wake up to on Boxing Day.
* In contrast, last night's airing of Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor was wondrous, exhilarating, and an utterly satisfying conclusion to the Matt Smith era. I don't want to spoil it if you're late to the party, but like the 50th anniversary special, it had everything I wanted and more. The epic scope, the joyous tone and the very different way in which we transitioned into Peter Capaldi's Doctor were all just perfect. As a bonus, the storyline provides ample opportunity to revisit Smith's incarnation in the future, should the producers and Smith wish to do so. Not that I am in any huge hurry, because I am giddy with anticipation for Capaldi's era to get into full swing next year.
* One last Matt Smith recommendation, though -- make sure you check out IDW's 2013 Doctor Who Special, their final comic book featuring the Doctor, as the license is apparently going elsewhere. It's a great story, absolutely note-perfect and as fun and unpredictable as any great Doctor Who episode you could name. The central conceit of the storyline is so clever and the execution is so satisfying that I would dearly love to see it adapted into an episode of the show, but the comic is so grand that that's just a quibble. As TV-to-comics adaptations go, it's just about as good as it gets. Congratulations to Chris Ryall and everyone at IDW for all the great years of Doctor Who comics they produced, but especially this one. They truly saved the best for last.
* Tom Spurgeon's thoughts on Epic Illustrated (Marvel's Heavy Metal wannabe magazine from the '80s) echo my experience of the magazine pretty closely. It was different, but close enough to what my 16-year-old self thought of as comics to be just a tad mind-expanding; credit editor Archie Goodwin for pushing the envelope and understanding what the boundaries and possibilities were. It wasn't always great, but it was always interesting. And yeah, Galactus (and John Byrne, choke) showing up was really a deal-killer. There was an unspoken agreement at work between Marvel and the reader that was broken by that move, however "mature" Byrne aspired to make the work. Byrne aspiring to create mature comics is about as ironic as it gets, no?
* In contrast, last night's airing of Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor was wondrous, exhilarating, and an utterly satisfying conclusion to the Matt Smith era. I don't want to spoil it if you're late to the party, but like the 50th anniversary special, it had everything I wanted and more. The epic scope, the joyous tone and the very different way in which we transitioned into Peter Capaldi's Doctor were all just perfect. As a bonus, the storyline provides ample opportunity to revisit Smith's incarnation in the future, should the producers and Smith wish to do so. Not that I am in any huge hurry, because I am giddy with anticipation for Capaldi's era to get into full swing next year.
* One last Matt Smith recommendation, though -- make sure you check out IDW's 2013 Doctor Who Special, their final comic book featuring the Doctor, as the license is apparently going elsewhere. It's a great story, absolutely note-perfect and as fun and unpredictable as any great Doctor Who episode you could name. The central conceit of the storyline is so clever and the execution is so satisfying that I would dearly love to see it adapted into an episode of the show, but the comic is so grand that that's just a quibble. As TV-to-comics adaptations go, it's just about as good as it gets. Congratulations to Chris Ryall and everyone at IDW for all the great years of Doctor Who comics they produced, but especially this one. They truly saved the best for last.
* Tom Spurgeon's thoughts on Epic Illustrated (Marvel's Heavy Metal wannabe magazine from the '80s) echo my experience of the magazine pretty closely. It was different, but close enough to what my 16-year-old self thought of as comics to be just a tad mind-expanding; credit editor Archie Goodwin for pushing the envelope and understanding what the boundaries and possibilities were. It wasn't always great, but it was always interesting. And yeah, Galactus (and John Byrne, choke) showing up was really a deal-killer. There was an unspoken agreement at work between Marvel and the reader that was broken by that move, however "mature" Byrne aspired to make the work. Byrne aspiring to create mature comics is about as ironic as it gets, no?
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 122413: It Ain't Digestion
* This Abhay Khosla 2013 Best-Of list is worth reading because I am always interested in Abhay's opinions; because he makes a reasonable observation about Jim Rugg's SUPERMAG (which I liked and gave a positive review, but still); and because it highlights once again how monumentally tone deaf, dumb and blind retailer Brian Hibbs is. Click over to the piece. Read Abhay's thoughtful observation on how Arrested Development Season 4 was received by the world at large, then scroll down to the comments to see Hibbs somehow try to conflate that with the "need" for every comic book story to be serialized in monthly, floppy pamphlets. Seriously, Hibbs, your "digestion time" argument might hold water if serialized comics were published daily, but the mainstream, real-world marketplace has rejected utterly monthly serialization for the stories it wants to read in comics form. Do you know what happens when you eat something and then wait a month to eat again? Hint: It ain't "digestion." Sorry, buddy. You still lose. Happy holidays anyways.
* At Comic Book Resources, Tim Callahan picks his 10 best comics of the year. I've read two of them, Fatale and Nemo: Heart of Ice, and wholly agree with his observations.
* And since it's the holidays...
* The Simple Dollar (my favourite personal finance blog) looks at micro-frugality and why it sometimes makes sense to make small changes in your life.
* A look at how collectibles revealed stuff from deleted scenes in Star Trek history.
* At Comic Book Resources, Tim Callahan picks his 10 best comics of the year. I've read two of them, Fatale and Nemo: Heart of Ice, and wholly agree with his observations.
* And since it's the holidays...
* The Simple Dollar (my favourite personal finance blog) looks at micro-frugality and why it sometimes makes sense to make small changes in your life.
* A look at how collectibles revealed stuff from deleted scenes in Star Trek history.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 122313: It's The Holidays
* Here's a terrific piece on Alan Moore and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Lance Parkin, writer of the recent Moore bio Magic Words. (I also interviewed Parkin recently at Trouble With Comics.) This piece makes me want to re-read all of LOEG immediately.
* And since it's the holidays...
* Uncomics: 100 pieces of advice from 100-year-olds.
* Uncomics: 11 sounds kids today have probably never heard.
* Uncomics: Did you even know there's a schism over how to use toilet paper?
* And since it's the holidays...
* Uncomics: 100 pieces of advice from 100-year-olds.
* Uncomics: 11 sounds kids today have probably never heard.
* Uncomics: Did you even know there's a schism over how to use toilet paper?
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 122213: Assholes and Scumbags of the Comics Culture
* Here's an excellent autopsy of Scott Lobdell's loathsome non-apology for being a sexist asshole. I have to credit Yan Basque's Twitter feed for the link; Yan has really been a great resource for finding valuable commentary in the ongoing, gobsmacking revelations of just how many assholes and scumbags have been covered up by the culture of comics in recent years.
* The latest Tom Spurgeon holiday interview is with comics academician Brian Cremins. I have to admit that much -- most, really -- academic pieces on comics leave me befuddled, baffled and/or bored. I'm glad such work and the people who create it exist, but I'm not usually able to metabolize it in a way that becomes part of my thinking about comics in the same way that, say, reading Roger Ebert's The Great Movies books did. More succinctly, such writing is probably just over my head.
* Despite all that, I enjoyed the hell out of Spurge's chat with Cremins, possibly because my experiences with comics over the past 40+ years seem to be pretty simpatico with Cremins's own. Further, I find some of the ideas he expresses in the piece -- like that the quality of a given comic is not a factor for him, that he's more interested in its context and impact -- absolutely fascinating. It's not a point of view I think I would ever embrace as my primary lens through which I would view comics as a whole, but it's something I'd never thought about, and definitely merits a lot of consideration.
* The latest Tom Spurgeon holiday interview is with comics academician Brian Cremins. I have to admit that much -- most, really -- academic pieces on comics leave me befuddled, baffled and/or bored. I'm glad such work and the people who create it exist, but I'm not usually able to metabolize it in a way that becomes part of my thinking about comics in the same way that, say, reading Roger Ebert's The Great Movies books did. More succinctly, such writing is probably just over my head.
* Despite all that, I enjoyed the hell out of Spurge's chat with Cremins, possibly because my experiences with comics over the past 40+ years seem to be pretty simpatico with Cremins's own. Further, I find some of the ideas he expresses in the piece -- like that the quality of a given comic is not a factor for him, that he's more interested in its context and impact -- absolutely fascinating. It's not a point of view I think I would ever embrace as my primary lens through which I would view comics as a whole, but it's something I'd never thought about, and definitely merits a lot of consideration.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 122113: Happy Solstice
* That website with the annoying Big Lebowski logo tells you everything you need to know about The New 52, in case you were lucky enough not to have read any of these terrible comic books.
* Tony Isabella looks at how writing about political issues can really upset people who'd just rather he shut up about things that matter and get back to writing about funnybooks. Me, I enjoy his writing on both subjects.
* Kind of sorry to hear Anna Paquin's scene got cut from X-Men: Days of Future Past. Paquin was the third-best thing about the first X-Men movie (after Jackman's Wolverine and Stewart's Professor Xavier), but maybe director Bryan Singer is being faithful to the storyline he is adapting, in which Paquin's character Rogue did not appear (that I recall). What probably made her unnecessary to the film is that her Rogue was essentially Kitty Pryde with Rogue's powers, and someone else ended up playing Kitty (very well, at that) later in the X-movie franchise.
* Updates could be sporadic here between now and the new year. There's so little going on comics-news-wise that it's probably going to be tough to come up with enough to justify a post every day, unless you want to hear about how I am overdue for a haircut, still have holiday gifts to buy, or worst of all, have to pad with insights on the casting and editing decisions of superhero movies. But if you're stopping by regularly or reading me in your feed reader, I do want to thank you for finding a place for me in your regular internet habits, and I hope you and yours enjoy happy holidays and a great new year.
* Tony Isabella looks at how writing about political issues can really upset people who'd just rather he shut up about things that matter and get back to writing about funnybooks. Me, I enjoy his writing on both subjects.
* Kind of sorry to hear Anna Paquin's scene got cut from X-Men: Days of Future Past. Paquin was the third-best thing about the first X-Men movie (after Jackman's Wolverine and Stewart's Professor Xavier), but maybe director Bryan Singer is being faithful to the storyline he is adapting, in which Paquin's character Rogue did not appear (that I recall). What probably made her unnecessary to the film is that her Rogue was essentially Kitty Pryde with Rogue's powers, and someone else ended up playing Kitty (very well, at that) later in the X-movie franchise.
* Updates could be sporadic here between now and the new year. There's so little going on comics-news-wise that it's probably going to be tough to come up with enough to justify a post every day, unless you want to hear about how I am overdue for a haircut, still have holiday gifts to buy, or worst of all, have to pad with insights on the casting and editing decisions of superhero movies. But if you're stopping by regularly or reading me in your feed reader, I do want to thank you for finding a place for me in your regular internet habits, and I hope you and yours enjoy happy holidays and a great new year.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 122013: Last Friday I Gave You My Heart
* The state of the artform and business of alternative comics is exhaustively analyzed in this Tom Spurgeon interview with Jaunty Sean T. Collins and Joe "Jog The Blog" McCulloch. The money quote, from Collins: "It's hard for me to imagine another 30-year anniversary of an alt-comix publisher after Drawn & Quarterly has theirs, maybe ever again." The whole thing, part of Spurgeon's holiday interview series, is pure gold. Go read.
* I wish I had more for you today, but I'm filled with apathy at the revelation that Scott Lobdell might be a sexual harasser too (say what you will, at least Brian Wood's work was interesting at one point); I'm filled with amazement that the guy from Duck Dynasty, who sells things men put in their mouths and blow, is in trouble for his comments on homosexuality; I'm filled with wonder that Glenn Beck still has no sense of irony; I'm exhausted beyond belief at the continuing Shia McNuggets revelations; and I have no more comics news to comment on.
* It's the last Friday before Christmas. It seems like there should be a name for today like there is for the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) or the Friday after Thursday (TGI Fridays). Maybe it should be called Last Friday and Wham could do a song about it. Anyway, the internet is about to get even less populated and my dozens of readers may dwindle down to even fewer, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday (or holidays, if you observe more than one). Me, I can't wait for Boxing Day.
* I wish I had more for you today, but I'm filled with apathy at the revelation that Scott Lobdell might be a sexual harasser too (say what you will, at least Brian Wood's work was interesting at one point); I'm filled with amazement that the guy from Duck Dynasty, who sells things men put in their mouths and blow, is in trouble for his comments on homosexuality; I'm filled with wonder that Glenn Beck still has no sense of irony; I'm exhausted beyond belief at the continuing Shia McNuggets revelations; and I have no more comics news to comment on.
* It's the last Friday before Christmas. It seems like there should be a name for today like there is for the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) or the Friday after Thursday (TGI Fridays). Maybe it should be called Last Friday and Wham could do a song about it. Anyway, the internet is about to get even less populated and my dozens of readers may dwindle down to even fewer, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday (or holidays, if you observe more than one). Me, I can't wait for Boxing Day.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 121913: Almost Exactly The Same Level Of Enthusiasm
* Mark Bernardin on what to buy the writer in your life this holiday season. I know what he means about fetishizing notebooks -- I have a Moleskine I bought years ago that I've barely written in because it just feels and looks so awe-inspiring that I am afraid to make a wrong move in it.
* Tom Spurgeon begins his annual holiday interview series with the cartoonist Paul Pope. Pope isn't someone whose work has ever registered deeply with me for some reason, but it's a great interview, as Spurgeon's always are, especially at this time of the year.
* KC Carlson remembers growing up with Peanuts collections every holiday season. Observant fans of Charles M. Schulz will see which collection inspired Fantagraphics to pay homage to its design for the cover of The Unseen Peanuts a few years ago among the illustrations to the article.
* Grant Goggans reviews one of those gorgeous Mickey Mouse collections published by Fantagraphics.
* Paul Rudd playing Ant-Man fills me with almost exactly the same level of enthusiasm that Ryan Reynolds playing Green Lantern did.
* Frank Darabont, first showrunner for AMC's The Walking Dead, is suing the network. Not because of how very badly the show has sucked since he was dismissed, but because of financial shenanigans keeping him from cashing in on the show's success, which seems inversely proportional to its quality. Sign of the times: Check out the very last line of the story.
* In case you missed it, here's Sergio Aragones drawing everyone who ever worked at Mad Magazine.
* Tom Spurgeon begins his annual holiday interview series with the cartoonist Paul Pope. Pope isn't someone whose work has ever registered deeply with me for some reason, but it's a great interview, as Spurgeon's always are, especially at this time of the year.
* KC Carlson remembers growing up with Peanuts collections every holiday season. Observant fans of Charles M. Schulz will see which collection inspired Fantagraphics to pay homage to its design for the cover of The Unseen Peanuts a few years ago among the illustrations to the article.
* Grant Goggans reviews one of those gorgeous Mickey Mouse collections published by Fantagraphics.
* Paul Rudd playing Ant-Man fills me with almost exactly the same level of enthusiasm that Ryan Reynolds playing Green Lantern did.
* Frank Darabont, first showrunner for AMC's The Walking Dead, is suing the network. Not because of how very badly the show has sucked since he was dismissed, but because of financial shenanigans keeping him from cashing in on the show's success, which seems inversely proportional to its quality. Sign of the times: Check out the very last line of the story.
* In case you missed it, here's Sergio Aragones drawing everyone who ever worked at Mad Magazine.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 121813: This New Physical-Media-Free Age
* Tom Spurgeon unpacks his thoughts to date on the Shia Whoever plagiarism incident. I refuse to learn to spell his last name, despite having the spelling of names like Hornschemeier, Sienkiewicz and Straczynski memorized and readily available at all times. LaBoueif. LiBeeef. The Guy That Made Indy 4 Even Suckier. There you go.
* Robot 6 reports Dan Clowes is looking into his legal options.
* I don't really care about comics renumbering much anymore; I wish they'd left all the great superhero titles alone so that we'd be rapidly approaching issue 800, 900 or 1000 on many titles, but that ship sailed long ago and I don't read most of them anyway. But if you have a horse in the race, here's Marvel senior muckity-muck Tom Breevort weighing in. Me, I still think of Waid's Daredevil as a "new title," so, you know, wow. Whatever.
* This Peter Bagge strip on the Death of the Age of Stuff reminds me of my pal Tim. He hasn't adjusted to this new physical-media-free age and is always surprised when he finds DVD season sets on sale for like .87 cents.
* It's been a long time since I got excited about anybody's Previews solicitations, but IDW's announced Peanuts Artists Edition and Star Trek Gold Key Archives both have me giddy with anticipation, anticipation tempered only by a bittersweet twinge of fiscal restraint. That Trek Archives cover is beautiful.
* Shaenon Garrity reflects on the phenomenon of removing credit from webcomics and how it hurts cartoonists. Because you don't already get screwed enough, you know, just being a cartoonist. The internet: #ALWAYSINNOVATING.
* A big, big thank you to Augie De Blieck for his kind words about this blog in this week's Pipeline at CBR.
* Chip Zdarsky talks to Applebees.
* Robot 6 reports Dan Clowes is looking into his legal options.
* I don't really care about comics renumbering much anymore; I wish they'd left all the great superhero titles alone so that we'd be rapidly approaching issue 800, 900 or 1000 on many titles, but that ship sailed long ago and I don't read most of them anyway. But if you have a horse in the race, here's Marvel senior muckity-muck Tom Breevort weighing in. Me, I still think of Waid's Daredevil as a "new title," so, you know, wow. Whatever.
* This Peter Bagge strip on the Death of the Age of Stuff reminds me of my pal Tim. He hasn't adjusted to this new physical-media-free age and is always surprised when he finds DVD season sets on sale for like .87 cents.
* It's been a long time since I got excited about anybody's Previews solicitations, but IDW's announced Peanuts Artists Edition and Star Trek Gold Key Archives both have me giddy with anticipation, anticipation tempered only by a bittersweet twinge of fiscal restraint. That Trek Archives cover is beautiful.
* Shaenon Garrity reflects on the phenomenon of removing credit from webcomics and how it hurts cartoonists. Because you don't already get screwed enough, you know, just being a cartoonist. The internet: #ALWAYSINNOVATING.
* A big, big thank you to Augie De Blieck for his kind words about this blog in this week's Pipeline at CBR.
* Chip Zdarsky talks to Applebees.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 121713: Insanely Wrongheaded
* Tom Spurgeon pointed to this terrible recolouring job on some old Kirby/Colletta Thor artwork. My 12-year-old self would not have thought it possible to make Colletta's inking look any worse than it did back then, but there's the proof. And a demonstration of the power of the insanely wrongheaded modern colouring techniques applied to art never meant to be ruined by them. Related: Here's a review I wrote of the TwoMorrows book about Vince Colletta.
* Johanna Draper Carlson has your disturbing quotes of the day, from a blinkered retailer and an oblivious reader, both toxic to comics as a culture. Brian Hibbs coming to tell you this is the exception rather than the rule in 3...2...
* Shitty actor steals from great cartoonist. Hopefully there's no way for him to squirm out of having to write Dan Clowes a big check to settle this asshole move. Tom Spurgeon comments.
* Johanna Draper Carlson has your disturbing quotes of the day, from a blinkered retailer and an oblivious reader, both toxic to comics as a culture. Brian Hibbs coming to tell you this is the exception rather than the rule in 3...2...
* Shitty actor steals from great cartoonist. Hopefully there's no way for him to squirm out of having to write Dan Clowes a big check to settle this asshole move. Tom Spurgeon comments.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 121613: Somewhat Convinced
* Sequart's Julian Darius posts a comparison of Marvel's new Miracleman colouring to all the previous editions, leaving me for the first time somewhat convinced that Marvel might be getting this right.
* The Comics Reporter's readers weigh in on five comics they enjoyed in 2013 from five different publishers, in the latest Five for Friday. I might have participated in this one if I hadn't slipped and hurt myself Friday evening. So, hrm...
* My five: Nemo: Heart of Ice (Top Shelf); Superior Spider-Man (Marvel); Fatale (Image); Corpse on the Imjin (Fantagraphics); Jim Rugg's SUPERMAG (AdHouse Books).
* The Comics Reporter's readers weigh in on five comics they enjoyed in 2013 from five different publishers, in the latest Five for Friday. I might have participated in this one if I hadn't slipped and hurt myself Friday evening. So, hrm...
* My five: Nemo: Heart of Ice (Top Shelf); Superior Spider-Man (Marvel); Fatale (Image); Corpse on the Imjin (Fantagraphics); Jim Rugg's SUPERMAG (AdHouse Books).
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 121413: Amazing
* Over at Trouble With Comics, guest blogger Kevin Fischer examines the differences between the comic and TV versions of the characters in The Walking Dead.
* Longtime comics reviewer Randy Lander lists his favourite new comic books of 2013. I haven't read most of the books he lists, but he makes a good case for all of them and I will probably check some of them out. I do like Slott's Superior Spider-Man quite a bit, although I agree with Randy that the inconsistency of the art takes away a bit of the fun. It's still been a wild ride for a concept I would have expected to get maybe one good six-issue arc out of.
* As a bonus, Randy's list is educational as well; I figured Black Beetle was a DC title.
* Speaking of walking, I'm always warning people to be careful of the icy spots on sidewalks, driveways and parking lots this time of year. I wish I'd warned myself last night walking from the car to the house, because I slipped and landed on my right knee, which is a bloody mess and my foot hurts too. So if you live somewhere cold and occasionally icy, man, be careful out there.
* This fan-created opening title sequence for Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who is AMAZING.
* Uncomics: This sequential series of photographs by a husband documentng his wife's battle against cancer is also amazing, for very different reasons.
* Longtime comics reviewer Randy Lander lists his favourite new comic books of 2013. I haven't read most of the books he lists, but he makes a good case for all of them and I will probably check some of them out. I do like Slott's Superior Spider-Man quite a bit, although I agree with Randy that the inconsistency of the art takes away a bit of the fun. It's still been a wild ride for a concept I would have expected to get maybe one good six-issue arc out of.
* As a bonus, Randy's list is educational as well; I figured Black Beetle was a DC title.
* Speaking of walking, I'm always warning people to be careful of the icy spots on sidewalks, driveways and parking lots this time of year. I wish I'd warned myself last night walking from the car to the house, because I slipped and landed on my right knee, which is a bloody mess and my foot hurts too. So if you live somewhere cold and occasionally icy, man, be careful out there.
* This fan-created opening title sequence for Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who is AMAZING.
* Uncomics: This sequential series of photographs by a husband documentng his wife's battle against cancer is also amazing, for very different reasons.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 121313: I Want To Believe
* There are a lot of what I call "toxic cretins" within the culture of comics. There's a certain combination of entitlement, deflection, self-loathing, crazy-high self-esteem, an unwillingness to accept responsibility, and outright rage that seem to be common to these people; I've been targeted by a few of them over the years, and have come to realize the warning signs usually show themselves pretty early. Tony Isabella has written a fairly chilling document of his personal interaction with some of these people. Trust your instincts, folks.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 121113: I'm Disappointed
* I'll reserve judgment until I have the thing in my hands, but my initial reaction to the new colouring of Marvel's Miracleman reprints is far from positive. CBR has a look, and there's a better comparison here. What I would have preferred is a straight-on scan of the Eclipse comics, primitive '80s colouring and all. I hate modern superhero comics colouring -- I've said before, it doesn't even register as comics to my eyes -- and I'm disappointed in how these new pages look, at least online and in low-rez.
* I also hate the lettering. That computerized font detracts from the art rather than seeming like an organic part of the page, as the original lettering does. Weird kerning going on in spots, too. God damn it, Marvel.
* This John Byrne Star Trek "photonovel" (available in comic shops today) looks pretty faithful. I'll give it a look.
* I also hate the lettering. That computerized font detracts from the art rather than seeming like an organic part of the page, as the original lettering does. Weird kerning going on in spots, too. God damn it, Marvel.
* This John Byrne Star Trek "photonovel" (available in comic shops today) looks pretty faithful. I'll give it a look.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 121013: What's Taking So Long?
* Heidi MacDonald asks retailers if comics should devolve to the everything-is-serialized-first model that Brian Hibbs so passionately believes the market needs. The retailer input is good, but the gold is in the comments, especially cartoonist Roger Langridge's comment. Langridge is no stranger to serialization, and knows whereof he speaks.
* The cover to Action Comics #1 explained.
* Roger Green's dad was a Star Trek fan. I am too.
* Tony Isabella writes about the casual culture of theft at comics conventions.
* The cover to Action Comics #1 explained.
* Roger Green's dad was a Star Trek fan. I am too.
* Tony Isabella writes about the casual culture of theft at comics conventions.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 120913: Gonzo Enough
* This week's issue of Alter Ego (published by TwoMorrows) is the "lost last issue" of the other CBG, the Comics Buyer's Guide. I am so old that I never quite stopped thinking of it as "TBG," its original acronym under original publisher Alan Light. The zine's mainstay writers were invited to participate in a tribute issue that serves also as the "final" issue of CBG. This is a great idea and the kind of thing I'd like to see more of. Where's the lost last issue of The Comic Reader? Amazing Heroes? Anyway, Comics Worth Reading's Johanna Draper Carlson has all the details.
* Also at CWR, Johanna talks about the possibility of Nathan Fillion playing Indiana Jones in a rebooted Raiders franchise. That's just gonzo enough that it could work.
* Tony Isabella lets loose on the defenders of child molester Ed Kramer and Dragon*Con.
* At The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon runs down Time's top 10 graphic novels for 2013. There's one on the list I might read someday. No, not that one.
* Tom's Sunday Interview with Karl Stevens is worth checking out both for the spectacular artwork featured, and an interesting digression about Alternative Comics and how Jeff Mason sort of slid out of publishing. Mason's an interesting case to me in that, like a lot of people a decade and a half or so back, he really just wanted to publish some comics, and he did it really well for a little while there, and then, you know, reality. It's a story that has played out in many variations, from Absence of Ink to Speakeasy to CrossGen and probably a dozen more you could think of if you tried. Picturebox, I suppose. It's funny how a love of comics, ambition, energy, finances, luck and other elements sometimes give you Absence of Ink, and sometimes they give you, I don't know, Fantagraphics.
* This past Friday was one of those rare ones where I both see Spurgeon's Five for Friday call to action and have an opinion on it. So you'll find me among the responses to 2013 As A Year of Events. Go read them all, because it's a great subject and a reminder of what a busy and frequently depressing year this was. Just to give you a taste, my #4 event of 2013 was: "Everyone figures out that in addition to being an arrogant jerk, Brian Wood is also a sexist arrogant jerk. The internet comes alive with the sound of music, music about what an asshole Brian Wood is."
* Also at CWR, Johanna talks about the possibility of Nathan Fillion playing Indiana Jones in a rebooted Raiders franchise. That's just gonzo enough that it could work.
* Tony Isabella lets loose on the defenders of child molester Ed Kramer and Dragon*Con.
* At The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon runs down Time's top 10 graphic novels for 2013. There's one on the list I might read someday. No, not that one.
* Tom's Sunday Interview with Karl Stevens is worth checking out both for the spectacular artwork featured, and an interesting digression about Alternative Comics and how Jeff Mason sort of slid out of publishing. Mason's an interesting case to me in that, like a lot of people a decade and a half or so back, he really just wanted to publish some comics, and he did it really well for a little while there, and then, you know, reality. It's a story that has played out in many variations, from Absence of Ink to Speakeasy to CrossGen and probably a dozen more you could think of if you tried. Picturebox, I suppose. It's funny how a love of comics, ambition, energy, finances, luck and other elements sometimes give you Absence of Ink, and sometimes they give you, I don't know, Fantagraphics.
* This past Friday was one of those rare ones where I both see Spurgeon's Five for Friday call to action and have an opinion on it. So you'll find me among the responses to 2013 As A Year of Events. Go read them all, because it's a great subject and a reminder of what a busy and frequently depressing year this was. Just to give you a taste, my #4 event of 2013 was: "Everyone figures out that in addition to being an arrogant jerk, Brian Wood is also a sexist arrogant jerk. The internet comes alive with the sound of music, music about what an asshole Brian Wood is."
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 120513: It's Probably Me
* Apparently they've picked an actress to play Wonder Woman in some sort of filmed entertainment. I'm not interested enough to read past the headline, so I can't tell you who it is, but I do find Diana Tamblyn's thoughts on Wonder Woman interesting. By the way, Tamblyn's comics are uniformly awesome and you should buy and read them.
* Top Shelf has announced two new FUNNY funnybooks, by Alan Moore and Steve Parkhouse, and Liz Prince. I loved Prince's Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed?, but Moore's Bojeffries thingy has never grabbed me when I've read it in the past. Given how little Moore comics work we see these days, and that this is a complete edition, I no doubt will give it one last try to see if it's me or the work that the problem lies with. It's probably me.
* Cartoonist Rob Ullman and I see eye-to-eye on the value of Comic Shop News.
* The shuttering of Picturebox makes USA Today. (Hat tip to Mike Thompson).
* Autobio cartoonist Jason Marcy announces he's doing something I want to read. (I like to read everything he does.)
* By the way, thanks to Tony Isabella and Heidi MacDonald for letting their followers know I started blogging about comics news again. I truly did not expect anyone would do that, and I am touched by the gesture. Thanks.
* Top Shelf has announced two new FUNNY funnybooks, by Alan Moore and Steve Parkhouse, and Liz Prince. I loved Prince's Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed?, but Moore's Bojeffries thingy has never grabbed me when I've read it in the past. Given how little Moore comics work we see these days, and that this is a complete edition, I no doubt will give it one last try to see if it's me or the work that the problem lies with. It's probably me.
* Cartoonist Rob Ullman and I see eye-to-eye on the value of Comic Shop News.
* The shuttering of Picturebox makes USA Today. (Hat tip to Mike Thompson).
* Autobio cartoonist Jason Marcy announces he's doing something I want to read. (I like to read everything he does.)
* By the way, thanks to Tony Isabella and Heidi MacDonald for letting their followers know I started blogging about comics news again. I truly did not expect anyone would do that, and I am touched by the gesture. Thanks.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 120313: Strangehaven Returns
* I start blogging comics news after a 10-month hiatus and three days in, news that Gary Spencer Millidge's Strangehaven is returning? Strange but true! According to Millidge, "Strangehaven will return in May 2014 after an eight year hiatus. New episodes...will appear in a newly revived comics anthology bimonthly, Meanwhile… published by Soaring Penguin Press." Millidge says Strangehaven will no longer be self-published as a standalone comic, but rather that he plans to produce 13-14 pages of Strangehaven per issue, and anticipates twelve episodes should be published over a two year period, comprising the fourth volume.
* Millidge says a number of factors got in the way of his self-publishing through Abiogenesis Press (the comic was distributed in the States by Top Shelf Productions; see their Strangehaven page here), but publisher John Anderson of Soaring Penguin offered Millidge full creator ownership and a substantial advance to revive the series. Millidge says "As John will testify, I still took a lot of convincing -- temporarily at least -- to abandon my self-publishing philosophy, and the contract took a long time to iron out. Ultimately, I had to choose between this opportunity to get the fourth volume of Strangehaven completed and out into my reader’s hands, or to let it remain in limbo while I continued to figure out a way of having my cake and eating it." Since the series was suspended, Millidge has authored two books about comics, Comic Book Design and Alan Moore: Storyteller.
* Strangehaven was one of the best comics being published in its era (it originally ran from 1995 to 2005; here's my review of #15), and I'm thrilled that it's returning in any form. Inspired by TV series like Twin Peaks and The Prisoner, Millidge's writing and art placed the book in the top tier of independent creator-owned comics, right alongside titles like Stray Bullets, Nexus and Love and Rockets. The eighteen issue run is available in three trade paperbacks: Arcadia, Brotherhood and Conspiracies. Millidge says all three are available via Diamond Distributors and from your local comic shop (they may have to order it for you), as well as from online booksellers and Millidge's own site.
* The other big news yesterday was the announcement that Dan Nadel is closing his alternative comics imprint Picturebox, Inc. Tom Spurgeon has all the details.
* Millidge says a number of factors got in the way of his self-publishing through Abiogenesis Press (the comic was distributed in the States by Top Shelf Productions; see their Strangehaven page here), but publisher John Anderson of Soaring Penguin offered Millidge full creator ownership and a substantial advance to revive the series. Millidge says "As John will testify, I still took a lot of convincing -- temporarily at least -- to abandon my self-publishing philosophy, and the contract took a long time to iron out. Ultimately, I had to choose between this opportunity to get the fourth volume of Strangehaven completed and out into my reader’s hands, or to let it remain in limbo while I continued to figure out a way of having my cake and eating it." Since the series was suspended, Millidge has authored two books about comics, Comic Book Design and Alan Moore: Storyteller.
* Strangehaven was one of the best comics being published in its era (it originally ran from 1995 to 2005; here's my review of #15), and I'm thrilled that it's returning in any form. Inspired by TV series like Twin Peaks and The Prisoner, Millidge's writing and art placed the book in the top tier of independent creator-owned comics, right alongside titles like Stray Bullets, Nexus and Love and Rockets. The eighteen issue run is available in three trade paperbacks: Arcadia, Brotherhood and Conspiracies. Millidge says all three are available via Diamond Distributors and from your local comic shop (they may have to order it for you), as well as from online booksellers and Millidge's own site.
* The other big news yesterday was the announcement that Dan Nadel is closing his alternative comics imprint Picturebox, Inc. Tom Spurgeon has all the details.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief EXTRA 120213: What Hibbs Isn't Saying
* I used to think Brian Hibbs was blinkered and a bit crazy; he called me on the phone once in a fit of pique about something or other I had said online, probably about how art comics hold more mainstream appeal than the insular, exclusionary superhero comics that retailers and "fans" ridiculously refer to as "mainstream." His response was, quoting from memory here, "Every reader who buys Love and Rockets also buys Superman." One of the many bad habits Hibbs has developed over the years has been to assume that what goes on in his store is what goes on pretty much everywhere else in the direct market, when in fact, from what I am told, his store is far superior to most (as I like to call them) superhero convenience shops, even if his perception of the direct market is far, far from superior, or even sane.
* In a post about the Kickstarter campaign undertaken by art comics giant Fantagraphics, writer-about-comics Johanna Draper Carlson mentions how Hibbs's hatred for "OGNs" (original graphic novels that have not previously been "serialized," that is to say, published in chapters as the floppy comic books the world has almost uniformly rejected in the modern era) is in stark contradiction to her own experience:
"[Hibbs] rail[s] against original graphic novels, the format that has kept me reading comics long into adulthood."
* Hibbs longs for a time when he could count on every customer of his comic book store to come in weekly and pick up their big, unwieldy pile of floppies. Hibbs, like most of the direct market, doesn't understand the near-universal preference for comics with a complete story and a spine (the dreaded "OGN"), probably would prefer that the people that love them shop somewhere else, and justifies his ass-backwards resolution with a bunch of baloney about how publishers should attempt to double, triple and quadruple-dip sales wherever possible. Get the rubes to buy the floppies, the hardcover, the softcover, and the Absolute Edition, or in Hibbs's world, you are #MadeOfFail.
* Johanna's response to this idea is exactly my own:
"I know old-fashioned comic retailers really rely on the habitual buyer coming in and dropping too much money weekly, but I don’t want to be that kind of customer any more..."
* The key phrase there is "dropping too much money," as in, if Hibbs can force you to come in every week, you're more likely to impulse buy that cool new action figure, or t-shirt, or statue, along with picking up your absurdly overpriced stack o' floppies. This is the same business model that supermarkets use, of course; the hope that you'll over-visit and over-spend. It's not illegal, but smart shoppers know the tricks and avoid them whenever possible. "I don't want to be that kind of customer any more." Damn right, Johanna.
* Then there's, as I titled the post, "What Hibbs isn't saying." Johanna absolutely nails it at the end of her post, figuring out the ultimate motive underlying Hibbs's, and by extension the direct market's, insistence that publishers and readers take all the risk while comic shops lay back and count the cash at the end of every Wednesday. To learn what Hibbs isn't saying, click over to Comics Worth Reading and read Johanna's entire post. It's all you need to know about the refusal of comic shops to evolve into the 21st century and embrace graphic novels as the comics the world wants now.
* In a post about the Kickstarter campaign undertaken by art comics giant Fantagraphics, writer-about-comics Johanna Draper Carlson mentions how Hibbs's hatred for "OGNs" (original graphic novels that have not previously been "serialized," that is to say, published in chapters as the floppy comic books the world has almost uniformly rejected in the modern era) is in stark contradiction to her own experience:
"[Hibbs] rail[s] against original graphic novels, the format that has kept me reading comics long into adulthood."
* Hibbs longs for a time when he could count on every customer of his comic book store to come in weekly and pick up their big, unwieldy pile of floppies. Hibbs, like most of the direct market, doesn't understand the near-universal preference for comics with a complete story and a spine (the dreaded "OGN"), probably would prefer that the people that love them shop somewhere else, and justifies his ass-backwards resolution with a bunch of baloney about how publishers should attempt to double, triple and quadruple-dip sales wherever possible. Get the rubes to buy the floppies, the hardcover, the softcover, and the Absolute Edition, or in Hibbs's world, you are #MadeOfFail.
* Johanna's response to this idea is exactly my own:
"I know old-fashioned comic retailers really rely on the habitual buyer coming in and dropping too much money weekly, but I don’t want to be that kind of customer any more..."
* The key phrase there is "dropping too much money," as in, if Hibbs can force you to come in every week, you're more likely to impulse buy that cool new action figure, or t-shirt, or statue, along with picking up your absurdly overpriced stack o' floppies. This is the same business model that supermarkets use, of course; the hope that you'll over-visit and over-spend. It's not illegal, but smart shoppers know the tricks and avoid them whenever possible. "I don't want to be that kind of customer any more." Damn right, Johanna.
* Then there's, as I titled the post, "What Hibbs isn't saying." Johanna absolutely nails it at the end of her post, figuring out the ultimate motive underlying Hibbs's, and by extension the direct market's, insistence that publishers and readers take all the risk while comic shops lay back and count the cash at the end of every Wednesday. To learn what Hibbs isn't saying, click over to Comics Worth Reading and read Johanna's entire post. It's all you need to know about the refusal of comic shops to evolve into the 21st century and embrace graphic novels as the comics the world wants now.
Galaxy Newsbrief 120213: Ho, Ho, Ho
* Tom Spurgeon has posted his 2013 Holiday Shopping Guide. Given how few comics attract my attention these days (both because I refuse to put myself through the monthly Previews ordeal and because I have tried to separate myself from much of the "comics culture" over the past year), I found this a particularly useful post. It reminded me that Matt Fraction's Hawkeye was both fun and accessible, so maybe I will take another look at that book at some point. Fraction's an interesting case to me, in that his writing almost always appeals to me, and yet nothing ever seems to stick in my consciousness over the long haul. I suppose there should be a place for disposable comics like that somewhere in my life. On the other end of the spectrum, also recommended in the guide is Peanuts Every Sunday Vol. 1, new from Fantagraphics, reprinting all the Sunday strips in full colour. This is the opposite of disposable comics, absolutely essential and sure to be appreciated by anyone lucky enough to get it as a gift this holiday season.
* Spurge's gift guide promises to be more useful to me in general as comics has become something that I would rather immerse myself in once a year or so rather than every Wednesday, so I know there'll be someone with taste and passion talking about comics in a place I'll remember to look about as often as I can stand to really dig deep. As a bonus, although I don't always agree with Spurgeon on issues relating to comics, I do respect him and his ability to explain his perspective. There aren't many people left writing about comics about whom I can say that.
* Off the top of my head, if you're buying comics-related stuff for holiday gift-giving, you should consider Lance Parkin's Magic Words, the wonderful new hardcover biography of Alan Moore. In addition to the terrific content, it's also a gorgeous little object. Moore and Kevin O'Neill's Nemo: Heart of Ice hardcover published by Top Shelf would make a great gift for the Moore fan who might not have realized the book ties into the expansive League of Extraordinary Gentlemen mythology. And Corpse on the Imjin, the Fantagraphics hardcover collecting Harvey Kurtzman's war comics, would be an awesome gift as well. In the non-comics category, Sol Republic sent along a pair of their JAX earbuds for consideration this holiday season, and my son grabbed them up so quickly I never got to try them. He tells me they sound great, much better than the previous earbuds he was using, and he likes that the cord is tangle-proof. They also come with some kind of setup so they work with your iPhone, but we don't have one, so I can't speak to how that all works.
* Spurge's gift guide promises to be more useful to me in general as comics has become something that I would rather immerse myself in once a year or so rather than every Wednesday, so I know there'll be someone with taste and passion talking about comics in a place I'll remember to look about as often as I can stand to really dig deep. As a bonus, although I don't always agree with Spurgeon on issues relating to comics, I do respect him and his ability to explain his perspective. There aren't many people left writing about comics about whom I can say that.
* Off the top of my head, if you're buying comics-related stuff for holiday gift-giving, you should consider Lance Parkin's Magic Words, the wonderful new hardcover biography of Alan Moore. In addition to the terrific content, it's also a gorgeous little object. Moore and Kevin O'Neill's Nemo: Heart of Ice hardcover published by Top Shelf would make a great gift for the Moore fan who might not have realized the book ties into the expansive League of Extraordinary Gentlemen mythology. And Corpse on the Imjin, the Fantagraphics hardcover collecting Harvey Kurtzman's war comics, would be an awesome gift as well. In the non-comics category, Sol Republic sent along a pair of their JAX earbuds for consideration this holiday season, and my son grabbed them up so quickly I never got to try them. He tells me they sound great, much better than the previous earbuds he was using, and he likes that the cord is tangle-proof. They also come with some kind of setup so they work with your iPhone, but we don't have one, so I can't speak to how that all works.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief 120113: It's About Goddamned Time
* It's the first day of the last month of the year, World AIDS Day, the fourth day of a four-day weekend, a Sunday, and it's likely no one is online at all, anywhere. So, hi.
* It's About Goddamned Time is the name of a post at The Comics Journal, and it's the confluence of a number of interesting factors. It is, to be sure, the most sarcastic and cutting thing ever written by either Abhay Khosla or Tucker Stone, two writers who have pretty much made "sarcastic and cutting" their trademarks. It's also the peak moment of the ongoing "Brian Wood is Much More of An Asshole Than Most Of Us Ever Expected: The Sexism Edition," by which I mean to say, that after Abhay and Tucker's piece, not only should there be nothing left to say about the issue, but any security guard of buildings with more than three floors should keep a very close eye on Mr. Wood and keep him away from the windows. Or maybe don't. The piece is also noteworthy for showing just how much value and insight can be contained in that particular style of writing. I've especially admired Abhay's facility with this technique for a long, long time, and despite frequent criticism from "the fans," Abhay has shown again and again that there's a place for what he does. He and Tucker should win some kind of an award for this piece, which I would marry if I could. "You Too Can Comic Book," indeed.
* TwoMorrows sent along Back Issue #69, the title's 10th anniversary edition, with a nice Dan Jurgens cover. Jurgens is one of those artists pretty much disregarded in the modern era but who generally does an above-average job on his assignments and who deserves better than the industry has generally given him (see also Jerry Ordway). Inside is a nicely packaged, full-colour series of articles reminiscing on notable anniversary issues of the '70s and '80s. I hadn't realized Marv Wolfman conceived the modern idea of the anniversary issue in the '80s, with the extra-length stories that celebrated milestone issues of Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man. Previously such longer tales were reserved for annuals only. I was interested in Wolfman's perspective on the industry standards of the day, as well as his thoughts on those two issues, both of which I bought new on the stands the day they came out. Many more such comics are looked at in the pages of Back Issue #69, and if you have any fondness at all for this era of superhero comics, you'll certainly find entertainment and insight galore inside. Congratulations to everyone at TwoMorrows on the big 1-0, and thanks for keeping the flame alive for a time when superhero comics were both cheaper and much, much better than they are today.
* Did you see Alan Moore's interview with The Guardian last week in which he said "I hate superheroes. I think they're abominations. They don't mean what they used to mean. They were originally in the hands of writers who would actively expand the imagination of their nine- to 13-year-old audience. That was completely what they were meant to do and they were doing it excellently. These days, superhero comics think the audience is certainly not nine to 13, it's nothing to do with them. It's an audience largely of 30-, 40-, 50-, 60-year old men, usually men. Someone came up with the term graphic novel. These readers latched on to it; they were simply interested in a way that could validate their continued love of Green Lantern or Spider-Man without appearing in some way emotionally subnormal." Predictably, this pissed off a bunch of emotionally subnormal people, primarily men in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Me, I'll be 48 in a couple of months and I recognize what Moore said as exactly right. Which doesn't mean there couldn't still be a whole lot of good superhero comics being published, it's just that there aren't, and haven't been for a long time, because that buffalo-herd of emotional subnormals votes with their dollars, and the corporations listen and act accordingly.
* Speaking of Alan Moore, if for some reason you're reading this but haven't been following Trouble With Comics, I recently did an interview with Moore biographer Lance Parkin, and also posted a list of my top 5 Moore works.
* Quote of the Day, from Christopher Butcher: "You aren't a badass, edgy artist who pushes boundaries if your women are naked but you're afraid to draw a dude's wang."
* It's About Goddamned Time is the name of a post at The Comics Journal, and it's the confluence of a number of interesting factors. It is, to be sure, the most sarcastic and cutting thing ever written by either Abhay Khosla or Tucker Stone, two writers who have pretty much made "sarcastic and cutting" their trademarks. It's also the peak moment of the ongoing "Brian Wood is Much More of An Asshole Than Most Of Us Ever Expected: The Sexism Edition," by which I mean to say, that after Abhay and Tucker's piece, not only should there be nothing left to say about the issue, but any security guard of buildings with more than three floors should keep a very close eye on Mr. Wood and keep him away from the windows. Or maybe don't. The piece is also noteworthy for showing just how much value and insight can be contained in that particular style of writing. I've especially admired Abhay's facility with this technique for a long, long time, and despite frequent criticism from "the fans," Abhay has shown again and again that there's a place for what he does. He and Tucker should win some kind of an award for this piece, which I would marry if I could. "You Too Can Comic Book," indeed.
* TwoMorrows sent along Back Issue #69, the title's 10th anniversary edition, with a nice Dan Jurgens cover. Jurgens is one of those artists pretty much disregarded in the modern era but who generally does an above-average job on his assignments and who deserves better than the industry has generally given him (see also Jerry Ordway). Inside is a nicely packaged, full-colour series of articles reminiscing on notable anniversary issues of the '70s and '80s. I hadn't realized Marv Wolfman conceived the modern idea of the anniversary issue in the '80s, with the extra-length stories that celebrated milestone issues of Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man. Previously such longer tales were reserved for annuals only. I was interested in Wolfman's perspective on the industry standards of the day, as well as his thoughts on those two issues, both of which I bought new on the stands the day they came out. Many more such comics are looked at in the pages of Back Issue #69, and if you have any fondness at all for this era of superhero comics, you'll certainly find entertainment and insight galore inside. Congratulations to everyone at TwoMorrows on the big 1-0, and thanks for keeping the flame alive for a time when superhero comics were both cheaper and much, much better than they are today.
* Did you see Alan Moore's interview with The Guardian last week in which he said "I hate superheroes. I think they're abominations. They don't mean what they used to mean. They were originally in the hands of writers who would actively expand the imagination of their nine- to 13-year-old audience. That was completely what they were meant to do and they were doing it excellently. These days, superhero comics think the audience is certainly not nine to 13, it's nothing to do with them. It's an audience largely of 30-, 40-, 50-, 60-year old men, usually men. Someone came up with the term graphic novel. These readers latched on to it; they were simply interested in a way that could validate their continued love of Green Lantern or Spider-Man without appearing in some way emotionally subnormal." Predictably, this pissed off a bunch of emotionally subnormal people, primarily men in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Me, I'll be 48 in a couple of months and I recognize what Moore said as exactly right. Which doesn't mean there couldn't still be a whole lot of good superhero comics being published, it's just that there aren't, and haven't been for a long time, because that buffalo-herd of emotional subnormals votes with their dollars, and the corporations listen and act accordingly.
* Speaking of Alan Moore, if for some reason you're reading this but haven't been following Trouble With Comics, I recently did an interview with Moore biographer Lance Parkin, and also posted a list of my top 5 Moore works.
* Quote of the Day, from Christopher Butcher: "You aren't a badass, edgy artist who pushes boundaries if your women are naked but you're afraid to draw a dude's wang."
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 29th, 2013
* A couple of very good interviews were posted over the weekend...here's Tom Spurgeon talking to Calista Brill (if her advice on knowing when to give up made you mad, you should probably have given up by now) and Milo George talking to Arthur Jones. No, not Aquaman, he was Arthur Curry. Arthur Jones is a cartoonist, though likely not one you've heard of. His style is pretty great, though, and the interview is superb.
* I apologize to the 17 of you who have been reading me every day for the lack of posting the past few days. I had a busy weekend with my family, and work and numerous other distractions (nothing serious, just checkups and eye exams and the like) have been cutting into my blogging time. I'll try to resume regular blogging later in the week.
* I apologize to the 17 of you who have been reading me every day for the lack of posting the past few days. I had a busy weekend with my family, and work and numerous other distractions (nothing serious, just checkups and eye exams and the like) have been cutting into my blogging time. I'll try to resume regular blogging later in the week.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 25th, 2013
* "Reserve your copy now!" I wonder how receptive retailers selling comic books in the mid-1960s were to such requests, and how many they got? Keep in mind 99.9 percent of them were retailers of many things other than comic books.
* I'd buy a decent, full-colour print of this Heroes illustration by Jim Steranko.
* Roger Green reviews Wreck-It Ralph, one of the 2012 movies I enjoyed the hell out of.
* Uncomics: Because I don't see a lot of TV commercials, I missed this, and if you did too, here's William Shatner and Kaley Cuoco's Priceline commercial. Someone told me the car Shatner is driving is the same one young James Tiberius Kirk stole in the 2009 Star Trek movie, but they appear to be wrong.
* Uncomics: Gun nuts are so nutty they contradict most of their core beliefs so they can cling to their people-killing possessions.
* I'd buy a decent, full-colour print of this Heroes illustration by Jim Steranko.
* Roger Green reviews Wreck-It Ralph, one of the 2012 movies I enjoyed the hell out of.
* Uncomics: Because I don't see a lot of TV commercials, I missed this, and if you did too, here's William Shatner and Kaley Cuoco's Priceline commercial. Someone told me the car Shatner is driving is the same one young James Tiberius Kirk stole in the 2009 Star Trek movie, but they appear to be wrong.
* Uncomics: Gun nuts are so nutty they contradict most of their core beliefs so they can cling to their people-killing possessions.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 24th, 2013
* At The Comics Journal, Gary Groth delivers a long and informative essay putting EC Comics into context for today's readers, who in general may not understand the publisher's place in comics history, and for one in particular (reviewer Chris Mautner) who seems to have misinterpreted a couple of pretty significant Kurtzman war stories.
* As I said on Twitter yesterday regarding the content of the first issue of Star Trek Countdown to Darkness, "Star Trek Countdown to Darkness #1: HOLY SHIT! Never saw THAT last-page reveal coming. It's gonna be a long wait for #2!" With spoilers galore, here is speculation on where the big reveal may be going in Star Trek Into Darkness, coming to theaters in May. Thanks to Logan Polk for the heads-up.
* Note to self: Read this Jim Rugg piece on digital vs. print comics that everyone keeps telling me to read.
* As I said on Twitter yesterday regarding the content of the first issue of Star Trek Countdown to Darkness, "Star Trek Countdown to Darkness #1: HOLY SHIT! Never saw THAT last-page reveal coming. It's gonna be a long wait for #2!" With spoilers galore, here is speculation on where the big reveal may be going in Star Trek Into Darkness, coming to theaters in May. Thanks to Logan Polk for the heads-up.
* Note to self: Read this Jim Rugg piece on digital vs. print comics that everyone keeps telling me to read.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 23rd, 2013
* Over at A Criminal Blog, Bubba updates us on all the latest Fatale/Brubaker/Phillips news.
* Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness #1 should be in comic shops today. This is an in-continuity prequel to the upcoming movie Star Trek Into Darkness. IDW's previous in-continuity movie prequel, Countdown, was an entertaining and expansive lead-in to the 2009 Star Trek movie, and I assume, since the same folks are involved, that Countdown to Darkness will be as well. If you're a Trek fan, these comics are an essential part of the new mythology. Preview the first few pages of #1 here.
* Uncomics: Roger Ebert rounds up some excellent Orson Welles video clips.
* Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness #1 should be in comic shops today. This is an in-continuity prequel to the upcoming movie Star Trek Into Darkness. IDW's previous in-continuity movie prequel, Countdown, was an entertaining and expansive lead-in to the 2009 Star Trek movie, and I assume, since the same folks are involved, that Countdown to Darkness will be as well. If you're a Trek fan, these comics are an essential part of the new mythology. Preview the first few pages of #1 here.
* Uncomics: Roger Ebert rounds up some excellent Orson Welles video clips.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 22nd, 2013
* I linked to Tim O'Neil's comics podcast focusing on Marvel NOW yesterday, but in case you failed to give it a listen, I wanted to call out one really great point Tim makes. Talking about finding the collected edition of Avengers vs. X-Men at a Barnes and Noble location, he examines the realization that the corporate comics publishers really now are creating stories with the collected edition always the primary motivation, with (forgive me if I am mis-quoting or mis-understanding you here, Tim) the monthly comics as a (difficult-to-read-on-a-monthly-basis) loss leader. This is a genuine sea-change from where comics was 15 years ago, and actually was one of the things Comic Book Galaxy really lobbied for at its height, my belief being that there are more potential readers who want a complete story with a spine than there are actual readers who want to slog to the funnybook shop every Wednesday to pick up that ridiculous, gigantic stack of floppies. Somehow, despite wanting this outcome very badly, it had neither occurred to me how it would affect the monthly reading of comics (and this applies almost exclusively to corporate superhero comics), nor that it had pretty much already happened while I wasn't looking. (Had the economy not begun its long collapse in 2008, I think we'd be even further along in the transition to graphic novels and away from monthly floppy comics.)
* I love me some Ditko, but this Paul Smith image on Tom Brevoort's Tumblr (thanks, Tim O'Neil!) may be the single greatest picture of Doctor Strange ever. On the same blog, a sweet Byrne/Austin page from Uncanny X-Men showing the marvelous melding of the styles of the two artists, which made UXM the superhero book to read for a few nice years in the late '70s/early '80s.
* Abhay's Tumblr rolls out a great clip from Carson's Tonight Show featuring Steve Martin as "The Great Flydini."
* Uncomics: Is William Shatner misunderstood? Two longtime Star Trek fans weigh in. As a lifelong fan of Captain Kirk, but someone who has not always appreciated Shatner as an actor or as a human being, I found some genuine insight in this article.
* Uncomics: Star Trek: The Next Generation was Superman, and Deep Space Nine was Batman. Interesting analogy in the first part of a fascinating interview with longtime Trek director of photography Marvin Rush.
* Uncomics: Lefsetz was blown away by Zero Dark Thirty.
* I love me some Ditko, but this Paul Smith image on Tom Brevoort's Tumblr (thanks, Tim O'Neil!) may be the single greatest picture of Doctor Strange ever. On the same blog, a sweet Byrne/Austin page from Uncanny X-Men showing the marvelous melding of the styles of the two artists, which made UXM the superhero book to read for a few nice years in the late '70s/early '80s.
* Abhay's Tumblr rolls out a great clip from Carson's Tonight Show featuring Steve Martin as "The Great Flydini."
* Uncomics: Is William Shatner misunderstood? Two longtime Star Trek fans weigh in. As a lifelong fan of Captain Kirk, but someone who has not always appreciated Shatner as an actor or as a human being, I found some genuine insight in this article.
* Uncomics: Star Trek: The Next Generation was Superman, and Deep Space Nine was Batman. Interesting analogy in the first part of a fascinating interview with longtime Trek director of photography Marvin Rush.
* Uncomics: Lefsetz was blown away by Zero Dark Thirty.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 21st, 2013
* Very glad to see Peter David is far enough along in his recovery that he is able to blog again. Here's hoping PAD makes a quick and complete recovery.
* Have a look at this brief but pretty wonderful 1966 visit to the set of TV's Batman series.
* I truly don't understand comics anymore, even when Tucker Stone and Abhay Khosla try to explain them to me.
* Here's Tim O'Neil's second The Hurting comics podcast, focused on Marvel NOW. I'd tell you how great it is (the podcast, not Marvel NOW), but I am listening to it as I edit this post. I loved Tim's inaugural podcast, so I am sure this one is terrific too, and Marvel NOW should be good grist for his particular mill.
* Uncomics: I enjoyed reading Roger Green's thoughts on the just-beginning second term of President Barack Obama.
* Uncomics: Ten great Dr. McCoy moments from Star Trek.
* Have a look at this brief but pretty wonderful 1966 visit to the set of TV's Batman series.
* I truly don't understand comics anymore, even when Tucker Stone and Abhay Khosla try to explain them to me.
* Here's Tim O'Neil's second The Hurting comics podcast, focused on Marvel NOW. I'd tell you how great it is (the podcast, not Marvel NOW), but I am listening to it as I edit this post. I loved Tim's inaugural podcast, so I am sure this one is terrific too, and Marvel NOW should be good grist for his particular mill.
* Uncomics: I enjoyed reading Roger Green's thoughts on the just-beginning second term of President Barack Obama.
* Uncomics: Ten great Dr. McCoy moments from Star Trek.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 18th, 2013
* Tony Isabella reviews a bunch of stuff, and calls out a quote from former Comic Book Galaxy contributor (and current IDW bigwig) Chris Ryall on the passing of the Comics Buyer's Guide.
* The great R.C. Harvey on the great, 94-year-old Gasoline Alley.
* Uncomics: I am in agreement with virtually every point in this look back at Star Trek: Voyager's pilot episode "Caretaker." I always note with delight the way the episode introduces semi-recognizable actors as characters you think will be around for the entire series and then bumps them off in the first 20 minutes, but I don't remember anyone ever mentioning that before.
* The great R.C. Harvey on the great, 94-year-old Gasoline Alley.
* Uncomics: I am in agreement with virtually every point in this look back at Star Trek: Voyager's pilot episode "Caretaker." I always note with delight the way the episode introduces semi-recognizable actors as characters you think will be around for the entire series and then bumps them off in the first 20 minutes, but I don't remember anyone ever mentioning that before.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 16th, 2013
* The best part of Tom Spurgeon's holiday interview series at The Comics Reporter is when he gathers them all up in one central post. Proposed: The day that happens every year should be declared a holiday itself. If you somehow missed these vital chunks of journalism-about-comics, man, you've got days and days of great reading to dive in to.
* Uncomics: The Flu, Explained. I had it in December, I am 99% sure, and this answered one of my questions -- I should probably still get the flu shot, which I plan to do sometime this week. The lower odds of my getting it because I already probably had a strain of it are probably made up for by being diabetic and having a compromised immune system, and I really don't want to feel as sick as I was in December ever again (virtually everyone in my family and everyone I work with got it, and it was universally bad, like, days-in-bed-unable-to-get-up bad), so, flu shot here I come. Assuming they haven't run out locally.
* Uncomics: Star Trek: Voyager's Holographic Doctor, actor Robert Picardo, shares his memories in a two part interview with startrek.com. The Doctor was my favourite character on that series, and Picardo really made the most of what he says he expected to be a fairly minor role.
* Uncomics: The Flu, Explained. I had it in December, I am 99% sure, and this answered one of my questions -- I should probably still get the flu shot, which I plan to do sometime this week. The lower odds of my getting it because I already probably had a strain of it are probably made up for by being diabetic and having a compromised immune system, and I really don't want to feel as sick as I was in December ever again (virtually everyone in my family and everyone I work with got it, and it was universally bad, like, days-in-bed-unable-to-get-up bad), so, flu shot here I come. Assuming they haven't run out locally.
* Uncomics: Star Trek: Voyager's Holographic Doctor, actor Robert Picardo, shares his memories in a two part interview with startrek.com. The Doctor was my favourite character on that series, and Picardo really made the most of what he says he expected to be a fairly minor role.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 15th, 2013
* Longtime Comics Buyer's Guide columnist Tony Isabella reflects on the end of the long-running zine.
* Tom Spurgeon comments on Colleen Doran's views on Bookscan. I've thought for years we need a better way of measuring sales in publishing, comics especially, but all of publishing in general as well. How can you gauge the health of an industry when you don't even know the most basic information about what it is doing?
* Uncomics: Jim Kunstler on two recent movies I liked, Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained. He only liked one of them.
* Uncomics: Check out the Fringe series finale promo.
* Tom Spurgeon comments on Colleen Doran's views on Bookscan. I've thought for years we need a better way of measuring sales in publishing, comics especially, but all of publishing in general as well. How can you gauge the health of an industry when you don't even know the most basic information about what it is doing?
* Uncomics: Jim Kunstler on two recent movies I liked, Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained. He only liked one of them.
* Uncomics: Check out the Fringe series finale promo.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 14th, 2013
* Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon interviews comics journalist Joe Sacco. This is a good one, make a cup of tea and grab a muffin and settle in for a long, engaging read.
* Tom also posted a thoughtful list of comics-related New Year's Comics Resolutions. I'm resolved to try to not let comics make me crazy this year. Only reading two comics and almost no blogs or sites about comics has to help, right?
* Tony Isabella concludes his 2012 year in review with part 2.
* At The Comics Journal, Tucker Stone looks at a bunch of old and new comics in that way he does. How is it I never knew BWS drew an entire issue of Daredevil other than the three issue Starr Saxon arc he drew in the '60s? I love Tucker's description of the artwork, and would love to read the entire comic based on that and the panel used to illustrate the post.
* Uncomics: Actress Diana Muldaur is featured in a two part interview at startrek.com, in which she discusses her roles on two original series episodes, as well as her one season on TNG as chief medical officer Dr. Kate Pulaski. Hey, well, I liked her.
* Uncomics: At Collider, The emotional heart of TV's Fringe, John Noble, gives an exit interview in which he touches upon the end of his character's five-year story-arc and his relationships with his fellow actors on the series. His performance in last Friday night's episode was wondrous, as Walter Bishop explained to his son what regaining his memories of his original timeline had done for his state of mind. It served as a heartening reminder of how the show and its characters have evolved over time, and also laid the groundwork for whatever is to come in the final two episodes. I'm really going to miss this show and these people when Fringe concludes.
Uncomics: Speculation at Collider on how Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson will be revived for the SHIELD TV series after his momentous on-screen death in The Avengers movie. Anyone who remembers how Joss Whedon earned, emotionally and narratively, the return to life of Buffy Summers in season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer knows there's little doubt Whedon can pull it off without diminishing the impact of Coulson's movie-death. The only real question is if Disney/Marvel/ABC will let him do it his way, which, after the success of The Avengers, I kind of think he's got some political capital to spend. So, I'm looking forward to SHIELD, and curiouos but unconcerned about how Clark Gregg will fit into the grand scheme of things.
* Roger Ebert reflects on one of the best films of 2012, Django Unchained. Like Ebert, I saw it too late to include it on my year-end best-of list, but Django is one of Tarantino's best. See it.
* Tom also posted a thoughtful list of comics-related New Year's Comics Resolutions. I'm resolved to try to not let comics make me crazy this year. Only reading two comics and almost no blogs or sites about comics has to help, right?
* Tony Isabella concludes his 2012 year in review with part 2.
* At The Comics Journal, Tucker Stone looks at a bunch of old and new comics in that way he does. How is it I never knew BWS drew an entire issue of Daredevil other than the three issue Starr Saxon arc he drew in the '60s? I love Tucker's description of the artwork, and would love to read the entire comic based on that and the panel used to illustrate the post.
* Uncomics: Actress Diana Muldaur is featured in a two part interview at startrek.com, in which she discusses her roles on two original series episodes, as well as her one season on TNG as chief medical officer Dr. Kate Pulaski. Hey, well, I liked her.
* Uncomics: At Collider, The emotional heart of TV's Fringe, John Noble, gives an exit interview in which he touches upon the end of his character's five-year story-arc and his relationships with his fellow actors on the series. His performance in last Friday night's episode was wondrous, as Walter Bishop explained to his son what regaining his memories of his original timeline had done for his state of mind. It served as a heartening reminder of how the show and its characters have evolved over time, and also laid the groundwork for whatever is to come in the final two episodes. I'm really going to miss this show and these people when Fringe concludes.
Uncomics: Speculation at Collider on how Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson will be revived for the SHIELD TV series after his momentous on-screen death in The Avengers movie. Anyone who remembers how Joss Whedon earned, emotionally and narratively, the return to life of Buffy Summers in season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer knows there's little doubt Whedon can pull it off without diminishing the impact of Coulson's movie-death. The only real question is if Disney/Marvel/ABC will let him do it his way, which, after the success of The Avengers, I kind of think he's got some political capital to spend. So, I'm looking forward to SHIELD, and curiouos but unconcerned about how Clark Gregg will fit into the grand scheme of things.
* Roger Ebert reflects on one of the best films of 2012, Django Unchained. Like Ebert, I saw it too late to include it on my year-end best-of list, but Django is one of Tarantino's best. See it.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 11th, 2013
* Timothy Callahan takes a long, loving look at early Nexus by Baron and Rude. Nexus was one of those early-1980s comics that redefined comics for me, along with Cerebus, Elfquest, Love and Rockets and The First Kingdom. I never much cared for Baron's other work, and Rude has been institutionally misused and neglected by corporate publishers to a degree that is both shocking and foolishly short-sighted, but man, those early issues of Nexus (Flexi disc! Regeneration tank! Ylum!) were pure magic.
* I have this Jack Kirby Iron Man comic hanging on my wall. It's one of my favourite Kirby images of all time.
* Here's a list of the ten worst superhero movies of all time. I can't argue; the ones on the list that I have seen were really awful. Of course, my list of the best superhero movies would have Avengers at #1 and then Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman: Year One and all the Justice League/Unlimited movies/movie-like-arcs on it before we got back to any live action superhero movies.
* Tom Spurgeon's holiday interviews with comics industry folks is the gift that keeps on giving. Here's a long interview with writer Mark Waid that kept me entertained and interested from beginning to end. Waid is the rare comics figure who is both super-talented and super-outspoken, a combination the culture of comics has never really quite seemed to know what to do with. Waid's Daredevil and Hulk titles are currently two of the most readable and entertaining books being published by a corporate comics publisher.
* I have this Jack Kirby Iron Man comic hanging on my wall. It's one of my favourite Kirby images of all time.
* Here's a list of the ten worst superhero movies of all time. I can't argue; the ones on the list that I have seen were really awful. Of course, my list of the best superhero movies would have Avengers at #1 and then Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman: Year One and all the Justice League/Unlimited movies/movie-like-arcs on it before we got back to any live action superhero movies.
* Tom Spurgeon's holiday interviews with comics industry folks is the gift that keeps on giving. Here's a long interview with writer Mark Waid that kept me entertained and interested from beginning to end. Waid is the rare comics figure who is both super-talented and super-outspoken, a combination the culture of comics has never really quite seemed to know what to do with. Waid's Daredevil and Hulk titles are currently two of the most readable and entertaining books being published by a corporate comics publisher.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 10th, 2013
* Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon talks to Sean Howe, author of the recent Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, an imperfect but perfectly entertaining trek through the history of the publisher. Among other topics, Howe shares his perspective on key moments and personnel in Marvel history.
* I can remember a conversation I once had with Barry Windsor-Smith in which he referred to Comic Book Galaxy as "CBG" and then commented in shock (a bit gobsmacked, one might say) at how those initials had already been taken. It never really bothered me, and I've always enjoyed the cheekiness of sharing those initials with what was one one of the biggest publications in the industry. Well, apparently I no longer have to share, as the other CBG is no more. The cheese stands alone.
* I won't say I'll miss The Comics Buyer's Guide (I'm old enough to remember the pre-Krause days when everyone called it "TBG," short for "The Buyer's Guide," its original name), as it outlived its usefulness once the internet took off, but it was at one time home to some of my all-time favourite writers about comics, from cat yronwode and Tony Isabella to Peter David and many others, and its passing certainly is indicative of the great, sweeping changes in comics and publishing in the past twenty years or so. There was a time when a great weekend for me largely consisted of having new issues of TBG/CBG and The Comics Journal to browse at my leisure, and I certainly feel a nostalgic tug for that era of discovery and shared experience, never mind hunting for bargains in the terribly-pasted-up ads of the early TBG. There's nothing like that now, at all, and that's too bad, a part of me thinks.
* Mark Evanier thinks so too.
* Comics Buyer's Guide stalwart Tony Isabella has posted the first part of his 2012 retrospective.
* I can remember a conversation I once had with Barry Windsor-Smith in which he referred to Comic Book Galaxy as "CBG" and then commented in shock (a bit gobsmacked, one might say) at how those initials had already been taken. It never really bothered me, and I've always enjoyed the cheekiness of sharing those initials with what was one one of the biggest publications in the industry. Well, apparently I no longer have to share, as the other CBG is no more. The cheese stands alone.
* I won't say I'll miss The Comics Buyer's Guide (I'm old enough to remember the pre-Krause days when everyone called it "TBG," short for "The Buyer's Guide," its original name), as it outlived its usefulness once the internet took off, but it was at one time home to some of my all-time favourite writers about comics, from cat yronwode and Tony Isabella to Peter David and many others, and its passing certainly is indicative of the great, sweeping changes in comics and publishing in the past twenty years or so. There was a time when a great weekend for me largely consisted of having new issues of TBG/CBG and The Comics Journal to browse at my leisure, and I certainly feel a nostalgic tug for that era of discovery and shared experience, never mind hunting for bargains in the terribly-pasted-up ads of the early TBG. There's nothing like that now, at all, and that's too bad, a part of me thinks.
* Mark Evanier thinks so too.
* Comics Buyer's Guide stalwart Tony Isabella has posted the first part of his 2012 retrospective.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 8th, 2013
* At The Comics Journal, Tucker Stone weighs in on the 19 best comics of 2012. Tucker's one of the great voices writing about comics right now, which makes it all the more astonishing to me that I haven't read one book, not one, of the 19 he talks about. And honestly? The Nick Fury one by Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov, I would read that, and probably will, eventually. But my life doesn't feel one degree less rich or fulfilling for having not read any of the comics Tucker highlights as among the best he read in 2012. And this is not a slam at Tucker at all, I like his writing and I am sure he loves the hell out of those 19 comics. No, this is me wishing there were 19 comics I loved that much in the past year. I wish, really, that there was even one.
* I am so far removed from my former complete immersion in comics that I can barely remember what I read in 2012, and the only other good comics that really come to mind for me are Waid's Daredevil, which I liked but not enough to stay with it forever, and Moore and O'Neill's final volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Century 2009, which was wild. I'll probably read that series as long as they keep at it.
* I dig Fatale by Brubaker and Phillips, but even that has only a shade of the joy I got from their collaborations on Sleeper and Criminal, and I admit I am chasing the dragon and hoping Fatale someday clicks for me and I suddenly see all the wonder and delight of their previous collaborations, especially Sleeper, which was just about the perfect intersection of Brubaker and Phillips's talents with what I am personally looking for in the comic books I read.
* After I wrote the above paragraph, I remembered that I bought the new issue (#11) of Fatale last weekend at Excellent Adventures in Ballston Spa, New York, and I settled in with it just before bedtime. Turns out, it was my favourite issue of the series to date, for reasons I suspect I have their origin in the end notes by writer Ed Brubaker. He says he's had this story -- an homage to H.P. Lovecraft in a more direct manner than we've seen to date in the Lovecraft-inspired series -- in the back of his head for years. More importantly, Brubaker informs us that this is the issue with which he has a clearer idea of what he wants to do, and crucially, what it is possible to do, with Fatale now that it is ongoing. The previous two story-arcs, while well-done and recommendable, both felt like Brubaker and Phillips were trying to adhere to the format they established with Criminal, but this breakthrough issue of Fatale indicates a new-found awareness of the greater freedom publishing through Image is allowing them. I suspect narratively and creatively, #11 will be remembered as the issue of this series in which its creators found their sea legs and began doing something truly noteworthy not only with the comics form, but with the possibilities inherent in true creator ownership of their work.
* Somewhat related: Tom Spurgeon links to Tucker Stone's best-of piece and uses it as a jumping-off point to briefly reflect on how the current batch of year-end best-of-2012 posts seems to indicate "some sort of critical rot." Maybe I'm the guy with a hammer who sees everything as a nail, but maybe it's the comics, not the critics. As entertainment, as art, 2012 was the worst year in comics of my life, a year in which the stories largely failed to engage me, the creators largely failed to enchant me, and the community largely failed, period. If the fairly disgraceful state of comics circa now is in any way finding its way into the thinking of critics as a whole, it's no wonder Spurgeon is smelling something rank out there in the blogosphere.
* I am so far removed from my former complete immersion in comics that I can barely remember what I read in 2012, and the only other good comics that really come to mind for me are Waid's Daredevil, which I liked but not enough to stay with it forever, and Moore and O'Neill's final volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Century 2009, which was wild. I'll probably read that series as long as they keep at it.
* I dig Fatale by Brubaker and Phillips, but even that has only a shade of the joy I got from their collaborations on Sleeper and Criminal, and I admit I am chasing the dragon and hoping Fatale someday clicks for me and I suddenly see all the wonder and delight of their previous collaborations, especially Sleeper, which was just about the perfect intersection of Brubaker and Phillips's talents with what I am personally looking for in the comic books I read.
* After I wrote the above paragraph, I remembered that I bought the new issue (#11) of Fatale last weekend at Excellent Adventures in Ballston Spa, New York, and I settled in with it just before bedtime. Turns out, it was my favourite issue of the series to date, for reasons I suspect I have their origin in the end notes by writer Ed Brubaker. He says he's had this story -- an homage to H.P. Lovecraft in a more direct manner than we've seen to date in the Lovecraft-inspired series -- in the back of his head for years. More importantly, Brubaker informs us that this is the issue with which he has a clearer idea of what he wants to do, and crucially, what it is possible to do, with Fatale now that it is ongoing. The previous two story-arcs, while well-done and recommendable, both felt like Brubaker and Phillips were trying to adhere to the format they established with Criminal, but this breakthrough issue of Fatale indicates a new-found awareness of the greater freedom publishing through Image is allowing them. I suspect narratively and creatively, #11 will be remembered as the issue of this series in which its creators found their sea legs and began doing something truly noteworthy not only with the comics form, but with the possibilities inherent in true creator ownership of their work.
* Somewhat related: Tom Spurgeon links to Tucker Stone's best-of piece and uses it as a jumping-off point to briefly reflect on how the current batch of year-end best-of-2012 posts seems to indicate "some sort of critical rot." Maybe I'm the guy with a hammer who sees everything as a nail, but maybe it's the comics, not the critics. As entertainment, as art, 2012 was the worst year in comics of my life, a year in which the stories largely failed to engage me, the creators largely failed to enchant me, and the community largely failed, period. If the fairly disgraceful state of comics circa now is in any way finding its way into the thinking of critics as a whole, it's no wonder Spurgeon is smelling something rank out there in the blogosphere.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 7th, 2013
* What James Kochalka has been doing since quitting American Elf. Also, Kochalka explains the print strategy (or at least the history; it's hardly a strategy) of American Elf, and reports the most recent volume sold worse than any of his other books. That's ridiculous, and just another indicator of how little regard the market has for quality, or anything that isn't wrapped in spandex and focused on scowling men grappling with each other. Comics: Never failing to fail.
* Sammy Harkham, talking to Tom Spurgeon about the response to the latest Kramers Ergot: "At this point, how could anyone making comics give a shit about how they're received?" Another interesting quote from Harkham, on the trend years back of noteworthy alternate/artcomix cartoonists publishing with imprints like Pantheon after establishing their bona fides with independent comics publishers: "I don't understand why people who are happy with their small, independent publishers who let them do what they want to do, I don't understand why they opt to go somewhere else and make middlebrow work and fairly ugly books." Given how I lost interest in the work of pretty much every comics creator who took that route, I think, artistically, Harkham may be on to something here. Go read the full interview, lots of food for thought.
* Tony Isabella discusses whether and when heroes should be willing to take a life.
* Stumptown artist Matthew Southworth talks to Tom Spurgeon about his art and his career.
* Uncomics: Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams talks a little bit about the movie, no spoilers.
* Sammy Harkham, talking to Tom Spurgeon about the response to the latest Kramers Ergot: "At this point, how could anyone making comics give a shit about how they're received?" Another interesting quote from Harkham, on the trend years back of noteworthy alternate/artcomix cartoonists publishing with imprints like Pantheon after establishing their bona fides with independent comics publishers: "I don't understand why people who are happy with their small, independent publishers who let them do what they want to do, I don't understand why they opt to go somewhere else and make middlebrow work and fairly ugly books." Given how I lost interest in the work of pretty much every comics creator who took that route, I think, artistically, Harkham may be on to something here. Go read the full interview, lots of food for thought.
* Tony Isabella discusses whether and when heroes should be willing to take a life.
* Stumptown artist Matthew Southworth talks to Tom Spurgeon about his art and his career.
* Uncomics: Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams talks a little bit about the movie, no spoilers.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 5th, 2013
* Comics reporter Heidi MacDonald talks to Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon. Of interest to me is Heidi's thoughts on training a new generation of comics journalists, a place Chris Allen and I were in circa 2005 and the "teaching hospital" phase of Comic Book Galaxy, which was where a few good writers-about-comics circa 2013 did some early work. I am sympathetic to the urge to help foster the traditions and tropes of our little world in younger writers, as exasperating as it was at times. I'm sure Heidi's right that the next Raw or Kramers Ergot will be digital and probably an app for your smartphone, which means I am well and permanently disenfranchised from the future of comics. That would have depressed me a year ago, but today it just makes me a little wistful and sad. Comics: You can have it, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, although it's impossible for me to imagine you having your horizons expanded by a comic read on a smartphone app as widely as mine were the first time I set eyes on Raw #3.
* Comics writer Tony Isabella wants you to know he's still available for work-for-hire gigs, despite rumours and innuendo to the contrary. I'm surprised by what he reveals about his contract for writing The Grim Ghost, but I guess it's yet another indicator of how little work there is for even the most experienced and easy-to-work with comics creators in this current, shitty economic and creative environment.
* Sorry to be so damned cynical.
* Uncomics: Writer-about-music Bob Lefsetz often says things highly relevant to comics (and my actual career, radio broadcasting). He did so again this week. Anyone comfortable with the current state of the Direct Market network of superhero convenience shops should pay careful attention to #8 on Lefsetz's list, "Old Media," and his statement that "The fact that something still exists does not mean it isn’t over."
* Comics writer Tony Isabella wants you to know he's still available for work-for-hire gigs, despite rumours and innuendo to the contrary. I'm surprised by what he reveals about his contract for writing The Grim Ghost, but I guess it's yet another indicator of how little work there is for even the most experienced and easy-to-work with comics creators in this current, shitty economic and creative environment.
* Sorry to be so damned cynical.
* Uncomics: Writer-about-music Bob Lefsetz often says things highly relevant to comics (and my actual career, radio broadcasting). He did so again this week. Anyone comfortable with the current state of the Direct Market network of superhero convenience shops should pay careful attention to #8 on Lefsetz's list, "Old Media," and his statement that "The fact that something still exists does not mean it isn’t over."
Friday, January 4, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 4th, 2013
* James Kochalka says he has a new idea for a project that could "potentially top American Elf." Count me as interested in knowing more about that.
* Autobio cartoonist Jason Marcy is apparently considering "a LARGE project." I've been waiting for his followup to Jay's Days Volume 3: The Rise and Fall of the Pasta Shop Lothario for over eight years, so this, also, is good news.
* Uncomics: Eleven new high-resolution images from Star Trek Into Darkness have been released. I especially like this one and this one. And this one. In a related note, this week's Star Trek #16 from IDW went places I never would have imagined a re-envisioned Mirror, Mirror set in the new continuity might go. Boldly, at that. If you love Star Trek and aren't reading this comic, you're doing yourself a disservice.
* Uncomics: 10 tips for basic writing competency. If you disagree with any of these, do something else.
* Uncomics: Mark Evanier shares one of his greatest tales about his mother yet.
* Autobio cartoonist Jason Marcy is apparently considering "a LARGE project." I've been waiting for his followup to Jay's Days Volume 3: The Rise and Fall of the Pasta Shop Lothario for over eight years, so this, also, is good news.
* Uncomics: Eleven new high-resolution images from Star Trek Into Darkness have been released. I especially like this one and this one. And this one. In a related note, this week's Star Trek #16 from IDW went places I never would have imagined a re-envisioned Mirror, Mirror set in the new continuity might go. Boldly, at that. If you love Star Trek and aren't reading this comic, you're doing yourself a disservice.
* Uncomics: 10 tips for basic writing competency. If you disagree with any of these, do something else.
* Uncomics: Mark Evanier shares one of his greatest tales about his mother yet.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 3rd, 2013
* Tom Spurgeon talks to cartoonist Dean Haspiel about how the cartoonist sees his place in the comics industry right now. It's a grim assessment, but one that jibes with my current view, which is that what I thought of as "comics," the industry, the culture, and sadly, the artform -- is mainly a thing of the past. The idea that because we have already have a Mike Allred, there's not enough room for Dean Haspiel to make a living too -- that should turn your stomach as much as it does mine. Haspiel's work has never quite been my cup of tea, but that's my own personal taste, and I can't deny that he has the skill, experience and dedication that should make him a stalwart of a healthy comics industry/artform.
* There's something really wrong that the guy finds himself in the place that he does, and it takes courage -- or perhaps just outraged exhaustion -- for him to go public with his situation in this interview as he does. Comics: No place for Steve Rude or Dean Haspiel, but we'll fell forests for Geoff Johns and poke Alan Moore in the eye with a sharp stick every chance we get. No wonder I think of comics in the past tense these days.
* If you look at my pull list in the sidebar, you'll find I'm reading two ongoing comics at the moment -- Star Trek, and Fatale. IDW's Star Trek, that one I read more because it's Star Trek than because it's comics. I read Fatale because it's the one regularly published comic book that actually feels like comics to me at the moment. That's pretty thin ice upon which my 40-year connection to comics is currently skating, and I know many people who are similarly alienated. I'd say something has to change, but I suspect we've already reached a tipping point. Marvel and DC keep rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while the beating heart of comics beats ever slower and more erratically.
* There's something really wrong that the guy finds himself in the place that he does, and it takes courage -- or perhaps just outraged exhaustion -- for him to go public with his situation in this interview as he does. Comics: No place for Steve Rude or Dean Haspiel, but we'll fell forests for Geoff Johns and poke Alan Moore in the eye with a sharp stick every chance we get. No wonder I think of comics in the past tense these days.
* If you look at my pull list in the sidebar, you'll find I'm reading two ongoing comics at the moment -- Star Trek, and Fatale. IDW's Star Trek, that one I read more because it's Star Trek than because it's comics. I read Fatale because it's the one regularly published comic book that actually feels like comics to me at the moment. That's pretty thin ice upon which my 40-year connection to comics is currently skating, and I know many people who are similarly alienated. I'd say something has to change, but I suspect we've already reached a tipping point. Marvel and DC keep rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while the beating heart of comics beats ever slower and more erratically.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 2nd, 2013
* Today sees the release of Fatale #11 and the second trade paperback collection of the series by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips. Bubba at A Criminal Blog has details.
* Right now, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has a ton of posts headlined "50 Comics Positives of 2012." I couldn't have come up with a list of five with a gun to my head, so I find these posts pretty damned impressive.
* Neilalien notes that 2013 (sorry, 02013) marks 50 years of Dr. Strange in print. The older I get, the more I suspect Dr. Strange may actually be Steve Ditko's greatest achievement in comics, other than that batshit crazy issue of Blue Beetle where the bad guy is art criticism. How great would it be if there was one colour hardcover that collected just the Ditko-drawn Dr. Strange issues? The fact that there isn't is just another way in which I don't understand comics and think the corporate-driven sector of the industry is actually pretty dumb a lot of the time.
* Uncomics: Hey, Chris Allen is back to reviewing Beatles songs.
* Right now, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has a ton of posts headlined "50 Comics Positives of 2012." I couldn't have come up with a list of five with a gun to my head, so I find these posts pretty damned impressive.
* Neilalien notes that 2013 (sorry, 02013) marks 50 years of Dr. Strange in print. The older I get, the more I suspect Dr. Strange may actually be Steve Ditko's greatest achievement in comics, other than that batshit crazy issue of Blue Beetle where the bad guy is art criticism. How great would it be if there was one colour hardcover that collected just the Ditko-drawn Dr. Strange issues? The fact that there isn't is just another way in which I don't understand comics and think the corporate-driven sector of the industry is actually pretty dumb a lot of the time.
* Uncomics: Hey, Chris Allen is back to reviewing Beatles songs.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Galaxy Newsbrief - January 1st, 2013
* The great Abhay Khosla looks back on the year in entertainment. Which led me to Comics Blogger's worst blog posts of the year post. Which, I don't know how I missed being on that list myself, but, phew.
* How James Kochalka celebrated the end of American Elf. Here's the final strip.
* Star Trek #16 comes out tomorrow, the second part of a reimagined Mirror, Mirror in the new Abramsverse timeline. I am excited because, hey, it's one of only two comics I read regularly anymore.
* Uncomics: Here's my rundown of the best movies I saw in 2012, along with a few clunkers you should avoid.
* Uncomics: It's 2013. Here is literally the only thing I am looking forward to this year. Happy new year.
* How James Kochalka celebrated the end of American Elf. Here's the final strip.
* Star Trek #16 comes out tomorrow, the second part of a reimagined Mirror, Mirror in the new Abramsverse timeline. I am excited because, hey, it's one of only two comics I read regularly anymore.
* Uncomics: Here's my rundown of the best movies I saw in 2012, along with a few clunkers you should avoid.
* Uncomics: It's 2013. Here is literally the only thing I am looking forward to this year. Happy new year.
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