Focused Linkblogging

• From Wizard Magazine - which I am still not buying - comes news of Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek on the Superman titles. Thank you, Dave Campbell, for giving me the words to express myself.



• In the "New To The Blogroll" Dept. is a change-of-pace blog that does not cover comics ... but covers near everything else. Splinters From the Pine is the latest incarnation of the long-running column by my Operation Sports compatriot Shawn Drotar. He's the managing editor at my former gig, and also writes for Xbox.com, and ... the man writes a lot. It will cover pop culture. It will cover gaming. It will cover sports. It will cover politics. It will ...Dave again encapsulates my thinking with concise eloquence.



• Publisher's Weekly has released its "Best Comics of 2005". Johanna responds. David Welsh responds. Mr. Bacardi responds. Seeing as how I've probably read less than half the books on the list, I won't respond. But I am mad glad to see Yotsuba&! and Scott Pilgrim get their props.



• Chris starts kicking out the Christmas. And it was good.



• Johanna discusses a subscription deal being offered by the Comic Buyer's Guide. I may check out the online version, but I don't remember being all that wowed by the CBG when I read it last ... a decade ago.



• Ed Cunard gives Liberality For All a lot of thought. Like the best critical writing, Ed uses the books as a prism with which to refract light on a number of issues. It's an excellent essay, even though I have not read the book. Like Ed, I don't dismiss it due to politics - it just looks like bad comics. If Liberality For All showed as much craft and skill as Ed's essay on it, I would have bought it.