Focused Linkblogging

• Things got heated in the comments, but though I disagree with Jason Rodriguez's assessment of how big this King/Marvel project will be ... it will be big. And Jason is smartly sounding a call to indy creators to take advantage of it. Even if these Dark Tower books only come in at the current industry ceiling - say 300,000 - it's still a mammoth seller that contains nary a cape nor a tight, and gives a natural lead-in to something like Jason's Western Tales of Terror.


• Can I linkblog myself? It appears that 100 posts is a blogoversary of sorts, and I just realized I forgot mine. Sort of like Sixteen Candles, except I am both Molly Ringwald and her parents ... which is weird.


• Brian Hibbs makes the comment that I'm surprised I didn't see more of:

  I also was deeply disappointed that YOUNG AVENGERS #8 reduced the black character to a liar and a junkie and a thief. Jeff opined in the store "Well, would you rather it be one of the women, or the gay characters?" and, hm, had to think about that for a minute.

  To my mind ... portraying every black character as noble and pure is as bad as the opposite. Patriot is a compelling character, deeply flawed in the best Marvel tradition. He's easily the most fascinating and well-developed of the Young Avengers, and that's saying something. Instead of black characters (or gay characters, female characters, Latino, etc.) that represent something ... I just want to see more good characters. I want more characters like Patriot that have depth and complexity beyond their minority status, and who don't carry the burden of representation in every panel.


• Double Articulation, maybe my favorite comic blog,promises a return to action. Hold Jim to it.


• James Meeley of The Comic Asylum proudly sends forth a meme of Desert Island Books. My list from August hasn't changed, except that I now own the Absolute Watchmen I pined for. (I realize James is listing individual volumes, so my list cheats in a profound way.)

Tags: Comics