Focused Linkblogging

• Hey! Look! It's a bus! Let's throw Adam Kubert under it! I'm all for informing the readers, but pointing fingers to appease forum denizens seems .... unseemly.


• Elk's Run will be finished soon, so where can one go to find creepy tales of gnawing suburban dread? One could go to Three Rivers, the new story from Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon. The prospect of more from the Elk's Run team warms the cockles of my cold, cold heart and may be the tipping point that pushes me into reading webcomics. Josh says it's a secret ... so don't tell him I told you, OK?


• I really feel a Focused Linkblogging post needs at least three items, but I can't find a third.

Focused Linkblogging

• You read the last 52. You were told by wise and knowledgeable men that the title was an allusion to a song. You wanted to hear that very song. I provide.


• "Mark," you ask, "tell me: what is the fine line between wit and bile? Between snark and spew? Between mocking and ranting?"
  
  "Grasshopper," I answer, "direct your gaze here, and learn."


• ComicMix has actually opened now, but quickly becomes another site I won't read unless someone links me there. Why? Three simple letters: RSS. There's no feed I can find, and the FAQ makes it pretty clear that none's in the works: "How can I find out when there's something new on ComicMix? You can check in regularly. We have new content every day, several times a day -- new comics, new columns, new blogs, and new news." I like the idea behind the site, and want to see Elayne writing about comics again ... but not enough to check in every day.

Focused Linkblogging

• Everyone is bitching and moaning about DC's teaser image. Personally. I'm excited. This looks like a big ol' "Hello-o-o-o-o, Multiverse!", especially the wonder of Pirate Batman. For me, the drug that draws me back to DC comics is The Big Idea: Multiverses, New Gods, and Pirate Batmen. Wild sci-fi fueled space opera is the order of the day when DC's working right ... not conspiracy and rape and betrayal. Leave the soap opera to Marvel - their characters are designed for it. What I want is Gardner Fox and Julie Schwartz filtered through Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek, and Grant Morrison.
  
  
  • I realize there are corpses littering the ground, but those are all literally in the past. Hopefully they will stay there.
  • Re: Emo Superman. It's a dramatic shortcut. Want to show how devastating something is? Show it through your most powerful character. It's not rocket science.


• Attention DC: Hand Alice the keys now. She's your Designated Driver.
  
  
  • As Kevin suggests, package it with Rivkah's Batgirl and Tintin Pantoja's Wonder Woman.
  • Please refrain from calling said collection Sexy Chix or Super Girls! or Eeek! Cooties! the like. How about calling it Good Comics By Talented Creators?


• Attention Joshua Hale Fialkov: You're an asshole. Making me buy Vampirella? What is it with you people? I've bought her for Morrison, Millar, Busiek, Carey ... and now Fialkov. You're all assholes.
  
  
  • Though Postcards, Elk's Run and FCBD Punks makes up for it.
  • Kinda.


• Attention Blogosphere: Civil War's a bloated mess and DC's spinning up another crossover event. That said: please shut the fuck up about what you don't like, and tell me what you do. At this point, the only thing more drawn out than Civil War is the bitching about it. Maybe I'm just cranky, but it all seems so negative these days.

Focused Linkblogging

• Though it's not the tempting edition that Eddie Campbell hints is coming, I bit the bullet on the new Top Shelf edition of From Hell. I even splurged on the limited edition hardcover, and it's worth the extra pennies. This is simply a gorgeous edition, with a cover sans dust-jacket: the artwork is printed directly (and beautifully) on the cover. I had carefully amassed a run of the issues at some point, but lent them to a friend who promptly moved thousands of miles away - absconding with my hard-won eBay victory. While I wouldn't use the word "favorite" to describe this harrowing book, I personally think it's Moore's best work. In fact, I think that "Chapter 10: The Best Of All Tailors" is one of the great achievements in all of comics. This is something I want to have a permanent copy of, and this new edition will do nicely ... at least until 2008.


• Tim O'Neil takes 52 to task for being Big Event Fan Service Comics. I'm looking forward to future installments in this series: "24 has too many explosions" and "American Idol doesn't feature enough Arnold Schoenberg".


• You're all following 365 Reasons To Love Comics, right?


• The shame about these World War III one-shots is that they spoil the symmetry and structure of 52. And they present me with a quandry: are these part of 52 on 52? maybe I do a "Three on World War III"?


• The minute I saw the "secret message" in the DC Nation, I thought that it would be fun to decipher. I'm interested in pre-computer cryptography, and this would be a fun exercise. Then I realized that it'd be pointless, as the Intarwub would provide me an answer before I got home. I'm glad I didn't waste my time. Every third word? How frackin' inelegant. I suppose "5 - 2 = 3", but still ... Read, and be spoiled.

Focused Linkblogging

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

• Johanna does a good roundup of the Chuck Dixon Midnighter situation. I commented there, and now am paralyzed with fear that I can't write well enough to make my point and will become a target of WeboComicsBlogoNet derision. It goes a little something like this: I still find myself thinking of Midnighter as "the gay Batman", and it seems I'm not the only one. I don't think anything long-term is achieved by keeping all gay characters as one-note representations of an entire demographic, and if a few issues go by that focus on some other aspect of the character it can only help to flesh Midnighter out. Apollo and Midnighter still feel like gaysploitation, played for shock and edge. I want to get to the point where their sexuality is one trait amongst many.


• Dirk Deppey deconstructs Howard Chaykin's current work. This is as excellent a piece of comics writing as I've read in a while, and puts a historical perspective on Chaykin that's too easily forgotten. Those late Eighties are my personal Golden Age, and Chaykin was one of its luminaries. Deppey understands that and asks what's happened since?


• Something magical is happening with Punks. Please report back, because it's behind the MySpace Curtain, and as much as I love Punks ... I don't love it that much.


• ... And since I have resisted MySpace so far, I sincerely doubt my interest in signing up for ComicSpace. I know I'm alone here ... y'all have fun.


• Resplendent Beard goes off. Read it, it's a treat.


• Waaaaaay too late to write about Minx, isn't it? I just would say - on the name itself - that I regularly have to explain to my two girls that we will not be buying them Bratz. "Bratz" and "Minx" seem to flow along a similar continuum that while not empowering, is certainly successful. I suspect DC is more interested in making money by selling these books to tweeners by hook or by crook than they are in Advancing The Cause Of Womanhood. "Minx" is a name that - for good or bad - will sell. As for the creators' genitalia? I'd need to see the submissions pile to really make a judgement there - I'd hope that it was simply the strongest proposals available.


• If the Update-A-Tron 3000 is permanently down, how will we survive?

Focused Linkblogging

• Let's go.
  
  We can't.
  
  Why not?
  
  We're waiting for McNiven

  
  Sean Maher (of Quality Control fame) is teaming up with Ash to bring you the "Civil War Survival Guide, Seven Days of Looking Into The Future...", a look at what else you can spend your money on while Waiting For McNiven.
  



• I missed out on Sleeper (though eventually caught up on trades). I am currently missing out on Daredevil (again with the tradewaiting). I will not miss out on Criminal. Alan David Doane has my back with an entire blog dedicated to the upcoming Brubaker/Phillips noir comic: A Criminal Blog. There's even a spoiler-free review for the fence-sitters.
  
  The mere thought of a ADD pimpin' a Marvel book should catch your attention. Dogs and cats living together, indeed.



• On the superhero gaming front, there are two links of note: an interview with the producer of Marvel's Ultimate Alliance and an early look at Justice League Heroes.

Categories:

• Comics
• Gaming
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• In the spirit of my Shatter post, I had a long piece in my head about that other great 80's genre: the Post-Apocalyptic. However ... time is preventing me from doing a full write-up on the Wasteland preview Oni kindly sent me, but in short: give it a try. I'm struck by a parallel to Battlestar Galactica: much like the miniseries that launched BSG, Wasteland's opening issue creates a detailed world, interesting characters ... and blows it all to smithereens, leaving room for a new status quo. Though the issue serves as a lot of setup, it's dense and chewy and action-packed and has some damn gorgeous art from Christopher Mitten. Check out a sample, if you don't trust me.


• Bryan Lee O'Malley has posted a lot of sketchbook scans on his Flickr account. Wonderful "behind the scenes" stuff for the Scottheads like myself.


• In the grand tradition of Paper Lion comes Harvey Jerkwater's brilliant The Knave and the Bold!


• Dave Taylor has a great, detailed interview with the creators behind another attempt at Shakespearean manga. I'm impressed with their approach of re-setting the stories, concentrating on entertainment value, and keeping the verse.


• How the heck did Postcards score Harvey freakin' Pekar? Jason tells the tale ...

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• A comic set in my very own regular New Comic Day haunt? I can't believe I'll actually be buying an Archie book ...


• As a comic reader and Shakespearean actor, a new line of Shakespeare adaptations in manga style interests me to no end. I can't tell from the samples if the verse is intact at all, but hope that the series is used to introduce language as well as plot.


• The Beat has moved!

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• In last week's "New Joe Friday", Joe Quesada pulls a teflon move worthy of a presidential candidate. In the midst of discussion the latest creative summit that sets Marvel's long-range storytelling plans, we get this gem:
  

  NRAMA: Noticeably absent (and for some time) is a female creator in that group. Big picture wise, why hasn't a women creator made it into the tight circle of Marvel creators?
  
  JQ: Because currently there aren't any female writers working on any of our major titles. That said there are female editors at the summit.

  
  It's a weak evasion, and a weak piece of interviewing to let it stand.
  
  I'm actually not even accusing Quesada or marvel of sexist hiring practices. It's a damn small market, this writing of Big Two Comics. It's really just a handful of people, all of whom have proved themselves elsewhere. It's not like the back of previews is packed with female writers who are turning out the kind of action thrillers that would catch Marvel's eye. Just because Chynna Clugston is a great comics creator doesn't mean she's a perfect match to write a long run on Captain America or Iron Man. The Big Two aren't the Major Leagues, where everyone with enough talent will eventually wind up - they produce a pretty specific kind of comic, and aren't about to change anytime soon. I'd lay good money that if J.K. Rowling came along and offered marvel a Spider-Man mini, they wouldn't turn her down because of her chromosomal makeup.
  
  That said ... there aren't enough comics female writers working on comics period, and in the select ranks of The Big Two there are even fewer. I'd really rather not hear from DC fans that Dan Didio is somehow more enlightened due to the presence of Gail Simone and Devin Grayson: two exceptions does not parity make.


• In another Newsarama link, a roundup of DC Nation from Heroes Con contains some tantalizing newsbits:
  

  • Speaking of Morrison, Didio noted that Seven Soldiers #1, the conclusion of Morrison's epic, is looking like it will be out in October.

    
    I believe this is, in fact, the literal definition of the phrase "better late than never".
  
  

  • Didio said that Wildstorm is looking at and is in talks to see about bringing back the Milestone Comics characters and series, but it is a very complicated process.

    
    Not much comment other than "Fan-bleeping-tastic".
  
  

  • DC may collect the original Captain Carrot series as a Showcase collection of there's enough demand, Didio said...

    
    There is demand, Mr. DiDio. There is demand.


• I got a chance to see Superman Returns over the weekend, and I think Paul Dini summed up much of what I have to say about the film. It's not 1979 anymore, in case anyone at Warner Brothers was keeping track.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging
• Opinion

Focused Linkblogging

• After reading this ENGINE mention of a new edition of the Complete Little Nemo In Slumberland, I bought one myself. It just arrived, and is a gorgeous edition at an insanely affordable price. I highly recommend it.


• Happy Blogoversary to Tom The Dog! I'd love to see more comics content from him, but I he's quick becoming my touchstone for pop culture at large.


• Again with the "love to see more comics content" theme, there are also anniversaries at play over at the Brill Building. Ian turns 2, and his blog turns 23 .... or vice versa. Congratulations on both, whippersnapper.


• The excellent Northwest Passage gets some welcome press time with a 13-page Newsarama preview. It makes August 23 seem very far away ...


• At Resplendent Beard:

  I'm bored with superhero comics again--they're not even trainwrecks anymore, just annoying fender benders that back up the Interstate when you're running late for work. There's no sport in making fun of them, and no joy in reading them. So I'm not going to bother. I've already tossed most of the books I've bought in the last year, except for the uncollected bits of Baker's Plastic Man (there WILL be a volume 3, won't there?) and a few random issues of JLU and Jonah Hex. I'm done with them. I don't care. I tried, and it didn't work out. So it goes.

  But instead of giving up the scene and walking away forever, A. H. announced the debut of her new webcomic Goodbye Chains. Read it.
  
  (I would just mention, though ... once you're publishing and trying to make a name for yourself, the time for shyness is past.)

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• I still have yet to read New Frontier. I've been wanting to since I came back to comics, but was holding off because I thought there might be an Absolute Edition ... and am now holding off because there is an Absolute Edition. Still ... the news of a New Frontier animated movie with Bruce Timm producing fills me with glee.


• Happy One Year Blogoversary to The Fortress of Soliloquy!


• Warren Ellis points us to a piece of the internet that needs to be enshrined in the Temple Of Goodness: The Annotated Pilgrim. Bryan Lee O'Malley is going through the Scott Pilgrim books, giving notes about setting, inspiration, etc.


• In the comics criticism flap lo these many moons ago, I namechecked Lester Bangs. Esquire is now wondering about The Lester Bangs of Video Games. As a videogame reviewer, let me assure you in no uncertain terms that comics criticism is many rungs up the evolutionary ladder from what passes for videogame analysis.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Mark Millar is starting a series of auctions to help aid research headed towards a vaccine for Crohn's Disease, from which he suffers. Today, the first item in the auction was posted, and it's a doozy: a starring role in his next creator-owned project. I was expecting signed scripts, original art, and so forth ... this is another level altogether.


• Young Avengers has won the "Outstanding Comic Book" award from GLAAD. That is excellent, and I completely agree. The great thing about the boys' relationship is it's simple acceptance. It's not a plot point, it's not an issue, it's not a Very Special Episode of Young Avengers. Two youngsters are in love, their friends accept them, their parents accept them ... they move along and punch badguys.


• I noticed this post about Girl-Wonder.org being under attack, only for the reason that it sounds awfully familiar. While running the Operation Sports forums, I dealt with more than a few such "attacks". From Marionette's description, I'm guessing it was good ol' goatse*. Dealt with one such goatse spam attack when I was up at 3 AM getting a crying baby back to sleep ... much fun was had. Really - internet assholery is equal-opportunity.


• Not just anyone can handle a 42-day month, but Dave Carter can. In an decompressed storyline worthy of Bendis, Dave extended is famous Free Comic Book Month a few extra days. All told, he gave away 150 comics. Great work, Dave!


• I love reading Warren Ellis talking about comics and process and theory. Technically, today's Newsarama interview is about Desolation Jones, but there's a lot more there.

*No, I'm not linking to it. Are you nuts?

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

Monday, when I work my way though all the items I've marked in my Bloglines account as stuff I want to mention ....

• I am much overdue in mentioning the great Comic Book Resources writeup of Jason Rodriguez' upcoming Postcards anthology. It's going to be a battle for Jason publicity-wise. He's really reaching outside the Direct Market Fanboy with a book about antique postcards ... but if the dice come up right, he'll hit it big and attract audiences from in and out of comics fandom. The Direct Market will be interested in this based off the amazing talent he's assembled, and props to CBR for getting the word out, even if antique postcards falls outside their normal jurisdiction.


• Comic Book Commentary has moved, and what would a blog celebration be without a giveaway contest?


• Happy One Year Blogoversary to Jim Roeg! Hard to believe it's been a year since what I've come to think of as 'The Class Of June '06" all started up at about the same time: Jim, myself, Zilla, Kurt ... am I forgetting someone? According to the Official Blogger timeline, shouldn't we all start bitching about how Comic Blogging's turned to shite, and the Golden Age Of The WeboComicsBlogoNet is over?
  
  (I'm also glad I finally got a chance to see X-Men 3 this weekend, as I can finally read Jim's essay entitled "Deconstructing Brett Ratner's X3 (2006): How to Fuck It All Up and Betray Your Principles Without Really Trying".)


• Is the blogosphere lopsided? Scipio's prompted a pretty interesting discussion on the DC-centric nature of the blogosphere, and the comments section has advanced some interesting theories, including my suggestion that Marvel discussion seems to center around messageboards. I'm not even sure I fall on a DC/Marvel spectrum at all, at least in terms of posts here at Focused Totality.


• Not A Linkblog, But Not A Post Of It's Own: Yesterday, I'm at a family gathering. My sister-in-law, who is as far removed form the comics scene as one could get, asks: "So what's this I heard about Batwoman?"
  
  .... That's marketing.
  
  Of course, I don't know what good it all does. If she wanted it, she'd need to find a comic shop and then wait six weeks for the issue to hit. Could've timed that better, DC.

Focused Linkblogging

It's The "Good News All Around" Edition of Focused Linkblogging! There's some sort of planetary alignment or something, because today is flowing with goodness for all sorts of good comic book people!

• First off, we have the Hardest Workin' Pimp In Comics, Mr James Sime. The Isotope is celebrating its 5-year birthday today, and is the only establishment that will be celebrating late comics delivery with "a new Caribbean cocktail". Happy Birthday, Isotope!


• Looks like AiT/PlanetLar's Larry Young is celebrating early, with a bit of economic prestigidation that will make restock fees disappear! I don't pretend to understand the razor-thin margins that dictate this industry, but I do know that one again, Larry has co-located money and mouth by making sure that retailers can keep evergreens like Demo, Couriers and Last Of The Independents in stock without having to pay extra to do so. He pays 3% of sales he might not get otherwise, and wrangles some visibility and press out of the deal: that's smart.


• Like there weren't enough good vibes churning around, I wake up this morning to find an email from Joshua Hale Fialkov announcing that the Elk's Run crew has amassed an astounding sevenHarvey nominations: Best Writer, Best Artist, Best Letterer, Best Cover Artist, Best New Talent, Best Continuing or Limited Series, and Best Single Issue or Story. Hot damn .... that Eisner's right around the corner, isn't it?

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

Took a day off blogging yesterday ... but I hit 50 in World Of Warcraft. So it's not like I wasn't working, people.

• I know there are artists and designers that read this site, so I thought I'd pass along news of a logo design contest for a local theatre: the "StageRight TheaterCompany Logo Design Contest", I've done staged readings there, and love the company. You can see their current logo at their site. The only prize they can afford is complimentary tickets, so it's not much reward if you don't live in Salt Lake City ... but it's a very worthy cause. Think about it.


• Comics Should Be Good has found a new home at Comic Book Resources, and the digs are swanky. Congrats to all the hepcats over there for movin' on up from blogspot.


• Help Chris Tamarri color NextWave.


• I've written a few times of my excitement to get my hands on Five Fists Of Science. Matt reports it is finally on the way.


• Heidi Meeley gives Fantastic Four: A Death In The Family a well-deserved rant. I was also duped, and can see no reason this was released as a one-shot. Are done-in-one stories so rare at Marvel that they need a separate publishing plan?

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• If you are anywhere near Toronto, and you miss the Scott Pilgrim 3 / Dinosaur Comics New Book Release Party ... well, what the hell is wrong with you?


• If you couldn't find Free Scott Pilgrim on Free Comic Book Day and won't read it now that it's available in it's entirety on Newsarama ... well, what the hell is wrong with you?


• If only the universe worked like this more: I wish, I receive. I don't know Christos Gage's work, but Mike Perkins on Union Jack should be a treat.


• A fascinating interview with an insightful comics critic? A namecheck of Hedwig and Tommy Gnosis? Graphic Language has set the bar high.


• Absolute New Frontier at 80% off cover? Johanna has the details.


• "52 and Undergarments". Thank you, kalinara.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Jim Roeg sees things I don't see, and that's why I enjoy reading him. Infinite Crisis as a commentary on U.S. Foreign Policy? As a repudiation of the original Superman's legacy? My brain just doesn't seem wired that way, but I'm glad Jim's is. "Infinite Crisis: A Review of Criticism" is as thoughtful and balanced a piece of blogging as has come out of this crossover.
• As with Jim, I enjoy reading Ragnell because I enjoy reading perspectives that aren't mine. This weekend, she posted a great piece on her feminist perspective, and her struggle with the label. Well worth reading ...
• Sex Bob-Omb sounds like Uncle Tupelo? Goddamn, I get a thrill out of disparate artistic loves coming together like that.
• It happens again: I jump onto a series, it gets cancelled out from under me. Were the OYL Manhunter numbers so low? Seems like with a new jumping-on point, it could have been given some more rope.
• Lastly, let me become Ouroboros and linkblog myself. I couldn't afford exposition/explanation of my new feature "52 on 52". As 52 itself seems an excessively formalist exercise, I thought I could respond in kind. So: each week, I will write exactly 52 words on that week's 52. Pictures don't count, and the word count is according to the Word Count Firefox Extension.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Thanks to Night Flight/Diamond/Markosia, my backorder of Midnight Kiss #3 finally showed. Since a set of 1-3 is winging its way to me as we speak, this means the ante has been upped in the "Happy Birthday To You! Giveaway", and the third issue of this wickedly weird Oz-Meets-Matrix miniseries is now part of the giveaway. At this point, there are three prize packages and two entries. If you take the time to do the math on that one, you'll see your chances are mighty good.


• Damn you, Tom Foss! You used the juju of your uncannily-similar last name to reach inside my brain, and pluck a half-formed blogpost direct from my cerebellum! Curses!


• Like Lil' Bones, my Xbox 360 is now blogging. Whether blogging indicates sentience is a debate best left for the comment section, I believe.


• Heidi's commentary on the Mid-Ohio Con incident is excellent. I've stayed out of commenting on the issue, and that's not about to change. Frankly, the picture is too murky to start calling for anyone's head. And it's not getting any clearer, is it?

Categories:

• Comics
• Gaming
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• OK - so Marvel creates a little movie to promote this week's launch of Civil War. I find it in a post at MillarWorld. I watch it, I like it, I intend to linkblog it. However ... I don't like linking direct to a download. So ... it should be on Marvel.com, right? Theoretically, yes ... but I sure can't find it. I'll try their MySpace page ... I suppose it's under "Videos", but I'm not signing up for MySpace just to get to it. Luckily for Marvel, at least some fans understand how one distributes a video in 2006.



• It's another Free Comic Book Month over at Yet Another Comics Blog. I was a lucky winner last year - Superfriends for my oldest daughter, and ShockRockets for myself. David, you're a king!



• It's interesting to hear an outsider's view on topics the WeboComicsBlogoNet have consumed entirely. An Operation Sports buddy has started reading comics again, and weighs in with his thoughts on some changes he'd like to see DC make.



• Jim Roeg resurfaces. Haven't even had time to read it yet, but I am contractually obligated to linkblog every single post he makes.

Focused Linkblogging

Lightning Round!

• A trailer is up for Justice League Heroes, which I've mentioned before.


• My thoughts on Oblivion are up at Operation Sports.


• Don't know how I missed it, but Creator Direct is a damn cool groupblog by a damn cool group of creators. Kody Chamberlain, Joshua Hale Fialkov, and Tony Lee are the three I know, but I'll be looking out for work from the rest.


• Looks like I missed alerting you about the Punks giveaway before the deadline passed. Sign up anyways, whydontcha?


• Noel Tuazon draws Punks. Then draws some more Punks.


• I plan to devour the Isotope Legal Download Fest. After all the talk of digital comics distribution, the whole concept seems to be getting a kick in the ass the past seven days. Both AiT and Isotope in the past week have done more for the cause of downloadable distribution than years of theory and blather have come close to doing. Instead of talking about it, they just said "fuck it" and went right ahead. Between last week's Continuity release and this week's festival, the issue is front and center and past debate. Maybe it's something in the water, but Larry and James are operating on a similar wavelength, and it's a damn good one. Good on ya, Messers Sime and Young.


• Why does it make me so happy to read Penny Arcade's "Tycho" pimping Scott Pilgrim and Sharknife?

Categories:

• Comics
• Gaming
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

WOOOO!!!!! Happy Blogoversary, Dave! WOOOO!!!!!

• Dave's Long Box is a year old, and the world is a better place for it. Now, when I read something like the beginning of the Legion of Super-Heroes: Teenage Revolution TPB, I have words to describe it, a critical language, a structure of meaning: "F*@% YEAH FILE"


• As if a 25 page preview of AiT's upcoming Continuity wasn't enough, Mr. Larry Young has now officially lost his nut and released the whole skippin' thing as a PDF:

  It's my feeling that making a whole graphic novel available online at order time will only help orders in aggregate. Yes, there's always the risk that doing that will make some retailers NOT order the thing, but it's my FEELING that the orders you get by being so bold will offset the ones you don't. But there's no real way to test whether or not pre-releasing the book online to retailers has any effect one way or the other without actually doing it, and no one's that crazy.
  
  Oh, right; except me.

  
  Frankly, I can't stand reading comics on a computer monitor. I like honest-to-gosh dead trees in my hand. I got completely caught up in the PDF, though. The full work is a lot more complex and emotional than the 25-page preview that was originally released. It initially seemed a little post-collapse action flick, but it's a bit more Lathe Of Heaven than Transmetropolitan. Good stuff, and Larry's madness of releasing the full version definitely put the book on my radar.
  


• In a thrilling flirt with being an insider, I got a sneak peek at the first issue of Punks this week. Here's what I wrote to Joshua Hale Fialkov by way of comment:

  Punks is the kind of thing you find when you wake up passed out on a friends couch with a splitting hangover. It's crumpled under your head, and as you come to consciousness, you read Punks and say : "Dude. What the FUCK is this?? Where are the rest?" .... And then you spend the rest of the day calling your buddy "Noisy McNoise-Noisenstein", and quoting lines from the book.

  It's a mad punk Young Ones, and I loved every panel. There's nothing on the stands like it, and I'll be very interested to see how the project fares. This book will become a passion for a certain audience ... I just don't know that audience will find their way into the Direct Market. Joshua has a plan, though ... the first ingredient being a kickass book. He's got that part more than taken care of.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

The Son Of Focused Linkblogging

I'm suddenly so far behind on linkblogging, you're getting a second helping today. Otherwise, I'd miss David's deadline, and I wouldn't want that.

• David Welsh is giving away a copy of Gray Horses. You have a few hours left to enter. The man is offering you free joy, take him up on it!



• What a wonderful review of Gray Horses. This is why Chris writes for the Village Voice, and I write for ... well, here.



• Things I'm sold on? Be they games or movies or comics? I don't like seeing previews. I'd rather not have half the experience gone by the time I actually get the book. I've been sold on Five Fists Of Science for a long time. I'm resisting, daily, the urge to go check out the preview that Matt Fraction has made available. I'm only getting 110-odd pages of Steampunky goodness, I want it all to be fresh. You, however, are under no such code of behavior. Read, enjoy, then buy Five Fists Of Science.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Jason Rodriguez has revealed his new project: Postcards. It's based off the brainstorming being done at The Hive, and there's a Production Blog that will walk us through the decisions being made. I think the project sounds fantastic - something that can really reach outside the Direct Market.



• Joshua Hale Fialkov drops some new Punks art. My t-shirt is officially ordered. Now I just want the bloody comic to find a home, and arrive in my house. Already, I'm getting a bit of a Young Ones vibe, and there's nothing wrong with that.



• Chris Butcher notices the same thing I've been noticing.



• My review of Burnout: Revenge for the Xbox 360 is up at Operation Sports. On the whole, it's a solid game that's just starting to feel a little overdone.



• Justice League Heroes hit the newswires this week. With Dwayne McDuffie writing and Snowblind Studios, it looks to me like the game's in good hands. I wish this was coming for the Xbox 360, but I still have my PS2 around, and it's worth dusting off for a game like this.

Categories:

• Comics
• Gaming
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Matt Fraction is writing Punisher War Journal. This is the man behind Five Fists Of Science doing a title that represents the worst excesses of the marvel glut of the 90's. I feel utterly and completely ... conflicted.


• At the latest intersection of comics and gaming stands HALO. Make no mistake: this is not a Stephen King size announcement. This will reach some new audiences, though - especially if distributed correctly. It would be nice to see these in gaming shops. While the whole thing smacks of commercial whoredom, it's hard to discount any Moebius project winging its way to the States.


• Jason Rodriguez is trying to generate some Brownsville love, and has come up with a cool plan. He intends to send his copy along to a blogger on the condition they then review it and pass it along, themselves. I'll probably do the same with my extra copy of Gray Horses when I pick it up from 2005 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Winning Night Flight Comics.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• When the DC Previews get released on the 'net, I don't even read them anymore. I just wait for "Judging _______ Books By Their Covers" over at Comics Should Be Good. Much more entertaining.


• Comics have always been about community: from letter columns to conventions to USENET to the WeboComicsBlogoNet. In communities, you make friends and you make enemies. Guy LeCharles Gonzalez writes about both in a thoughtful article that will probably stir some debate.


• For those of you reading this that have an Xbox 360 - and I may just be talking to Lil' Bones here - the preview trailer for the Superman Returns game is now available to download in the Live Marketplace in all it's prerendered glory.


• Chris Tamarri has an entirely different reaction to American Virgin than I did. His is much better written and much better argued ... even if completely I disagree. Jason Rodriguez also make a rare trip into Comics-Reviewing-Land to talk about the book, and comes up with another completely different and powerful reaction. I think it's further proof that American Virgin transcends the current Vertigo wave of hotbutton agitprop: it's hard to imagine this diversity of interpretation with Testament or DMZ.

Categories:

• Comics
• Gaming
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Johanna has a lovely review of Nana, a manga I've been meaning to write about. I love the characters, and Yazawa's control of the pace of the page is astounding.


• Chris Butcher weighs in with his take on the Speakeasy situation, and it's well worth a read. The licensed properties he mentions could have really been something to see, and could have been one of those mythic "expand the audience" properties that are comics' current Holy Grail.


• Witty parodies are nothing new on the WeboComicsBlogoNet, but this one from Ye Olde Comick Booke Blogge is particularly delightful.
  
  And by "delightful", I mean filled with blood and Hostess.


• I've seen some impressive screenshots for the upcoming Xbox 360 games based on Top Cow's The Darkness, and the development company has a good track record. There are the people that made a stunning game out of The Chronicles Of Riddick. Well ... the game has found a publisher, and a good one at that.


• In the vein of the excellent X-Men Legends, Activision is developing Marvel Legends. The link mentions that the games so far have been based on the Ultimate Universe, but that's not quite the case: the X-Men games were a skillful blend of movies, Ultimate, and mainstream versions of the characters. An Avengers/Ultimates beat-em up could be quite a lot of fun.

Categories:

• Comics
• Gaming
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

Welcome to the "Comics 'n' Gaming" Edition:

• My favorite webcomic, Penny Arcade, is spending the day in a comic book mood, as they discuss the upcoming massively multiplayer game coming from DC and Sony Online. Here's the comic. Here's the news.


• There's some kinda-sorta-not-really footage of the game that EA's releasing based on the upcoming Superman Returns movie floating around. Why the qualifications? Because, regardless of what EA might have you believe, this is not the game itself. This is prerendered footage, the same trick they pulled with their Madden release on the Xbox 360. It represents their aim, their target ... but you can expect they'll miss.

Categories:

• Comics
• Gaming
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Matt Fraction posted the cover art from Five Fists Of Science, now on its way from Image Comics in May.
  
  I will humbly submit that May also contains my birthday. I will also humbly submit that Image Comics is based in Berkeley, CA ... and that I played Samuel Clemens in Berkeley many moons ago. Since two of those five fists appear to belong to Mr. Clemens himself, I believe the term "cosmic synergy" applies in some form or other.


• Not that I needed the validation ... but I agree - gamers make good dads.


• Marc Singer takes an occasional break from Morisonarama, and plunges into other comics. Sometimes, he even likes them.


• Happy Birthday, Bryan Lee O'Malley!


• "Freedom 3 to go after Osama bin Laden in May" - Capitalizing on the buzz surrounding Frank Miller's Holy Terror is a great idea. However, riding Miller's coattails with a press release that describes a cover without including that cover is not so good an idea. Riding Miller's coattails with a press release that points to a nonfunctioning website is also not a great play.


• And we'll end with a question: Does anyone mind that I've been introducing gaming content?

Categories:

• Comics
• Gaming
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging of Love

It's Valentine's Day, so it's all about the love in this little linkblog:

• Reason #67 in "Why I Love Double Articulation":
  

  By some happy cosmic accident, these absolutely symmetrical covers were published only a year apart, at a time when I was young enough to feel that comics were like signals from the stars, profound messages from a distant planet or from beneath the crust of this one, artifacts, alien or ancient, intended exclusively for me.




• Mike Sterling loves comics.



• Have I ever mentioned how much I love Brian Cronin's monthly feature over at Comics Should Be Good, "Judging Books By Their Covers"? I haven't? ... Well, I really love "Judging Books By Their Covers".



• Beaucoup Kevin is noticing a possible pattern in AiT/PlanetLar solicitations, and he mentions a "nagging rumor" that Five Fists Of Science has jumped from Ait/PlanetLar to Image. It's page at the AiT/PlanetLar site has gone missing and the switch is confirmed in this week's All The Rage, as it was apparently announced at WonderCon. This is the one Ait/PlanetLar title that's really on my radar, and news it's actually on it's way (regardless of publisher) is most welcome and fills me with thoughts of steampunk love.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Rawhide was labeled MAX because the major hook and focus of the project was the sexuality of the main character, a 50-plus year old established character. The reason the books featuring the characters you named in your question [Northstar, Hulkling, Asguardian] don't carry a MAX label is because that's not the focus of their books. The sexuality aspect of their lives is just one part of the whole that makes up their books, as opposed to Rawhide, where the fact that he was gay and his history was the major point of the book.
  -- Joe Quesada at NEWSARAMA.COM

  
  So, in other words, if a gay character is presented as a human being and not a mincing stereotype .... then you don't need the MAX label? It's like some Bizarro imprint where adolescent fag jokes are "adult" content, and an approach where characters transcend token status is "for the kids".


• Snark is plentiful on the WeboComicsBlogoNet. Really funny snark is a bit harder to find. 2 Guys Buying Comics made me laugh a lot with "Fly On The Wall, Vol. I: JLA".



• Morrison said that he's already plotted 15 issues, and in his first issue alone, he has 15 ninja man-bats as well as Talia, and the story is called "Batman & Son". Morrison said Batman coming out of 52 OYL will be a more of a "fun guy, more healthy", more like the "Neal Adams, hairy-chested, love-god" version of Batman.

  
  It only took six months to get the news I wanted - though Kubertness is still pending. Morrison on Batman and Dini on Detective is about as happy as WonderCon news could make me.


• More Punks. This will find a publisher, won't it?


• I plan to have something up on Nana soon, work permitting. Until then, direct your eyes to Flipped, where David Welsh talks about this wonderful shojo manga.


• Maybe the best commentary on Sexy Chix is this post at Resplendent Beard which discusses the book and much more:
  

  When I'm linked to, I don't get tagged as a new female blogger or hailed for my estrogen-bathed insights (not that I have many insights in the first place, fond as I am of driveby-comedy-style blogging); I get descriptions of the "Not quite right in the head" variety, which is more than fair. Do any of you genuinely think that the bitchy webcomics make me sexy? Do you like my work less because you don't know what I look like--Hell, that you don't know my name? I suspect if I were to play up my gender, I might get more attention, but that goes against one of the few deep-seated moral precepts that I have: I will earn what I get. I don't want people to give me a pass or pay attention to me because I'm a girl in a man's world. It's dishonest.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Remember the guy with a fist for a head? Now he's online and will send you emails.


• Love Manga celebrates its one year blogoversary. My best wishes are belated, unfortunately. It's a great site, and one of the first I read in my RSS feed, as David constantly tempts me into more and more manga.


• When I see something like this (notice who's missing), I automatically now think of Kalinara and Ragnell and When Fangirls Attack!. If only Marvel did ... (James Meeley notices something completely different. Everyone notices they're decidedly bad sculpts.)

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• My exact reaction to Joshua Hale Fialkov's teaser image: "Is that ... ? Wait - is that ... ? And that's a .... yeah, that's a guy with a fist for a head.
  
  I need to read this now. Or sooner."


• There's also news on another new Fialkov series: World's End. Coming in Summer 2006, this features much of the Elk's Run team, but with post-apocalyptic mutants and skin-suits. The site contains a workblog, some preview art, and more.


• You're forgiven for ignoring the endless superhero marketing spew that makes up the "Joe Fridays" feature at Newsarama. However, regardless of publishing company, Richard Corben doing Poe stories and poems is mighty cool.


• Looks like Alex DeCampi is working on a piece for The Amazing Adventures Of The Escapist, and she shows off a droll-worthy bit of art from Alem Curin.
  

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Don't trust me about Fear Agent? Not at all? Go, then: read Fear Agent #1 for yourself.



• Oh. Good. Lord. There is a saying that comes to mind comparing pots, kettles, and the relative blackness thereof. But it escapes me at the moment. (I apappreciate the hits, though, Josh.)



• I direct you forthwith to the Brill Building, as Ian considers the question of falling in and out of comics. When the first two comments are from Tom Spurgeon and ADD describing their histories with comics, you know it's a good read. I then contributed a couple hundred words on my history, and if I write 200 words on someone else's blog while hitting a brick wall trying to write something substantive here .... I'll be damned if I don't at least link to it.



• I'm quite in agreement with Steven Grant on this one:

  Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass about passion. Passion's overrated. I've seen hundreds of comics - I've produced some of them - whose creators were undeniably passionate about what they were doing. That didn't stop the comics from being pure crap. Passion can produce pure crap, too.

  
  
  ADD disagrees:
  

  Passion is the beginning of art. If a creator approaches their work with passion, a solid understanding of craft will often follow.

  
  
  Often, craft will follow. Often, you're passionate enough to be humble and learn, to admit you can be better, to see that other people know things (even the ones that disagree with you), to do the hard work it takes to be a craftsman. But until that happens, don't expect that "passion" means "quality".
  
  Angry, flaming passion makes for a good sound bite (especially if one has a beer in hand to gesticulate with) ... but it doesn't necessarily make for good art, comics or otherwise. Craft is about mastering the tools needed to communicate that passion, and without that communication art quickly turns to masturbation. When I was in theatre, I had the lucky experience of acting in Chicago and San Francisco. The local styles of acting were diametrically opposed: Chicago is all about passion and soul and bustin' up the furniture, and San Francisco is committed to craft and technique and presentation. Taken to each extreme, the art produced is either unintelligible or hollow. But I was able to blend the two styles, and learned that craft enhanced my passion. it have me tools to channel that passion, to discuss it with others, and it helped me through those days when the passion just wasn't there. It's easy to create on the days the muse is riding on your shoulder and you feel like every drop of sweat turns to Art. It's the ability to create on days where the muse is on the slow train to Kalamazoo that separates the professional from the dilettante.
  
  I'm not against passion, certainly. If you are passionate about your art and your life, good for you. It's a good feeling to be passionate, isn't it? Keeps you warm on a winter night.
  
  The fact you feel passionate has nothing to do with me, however. I buy your comic, read your essay, see your movie, hear your song with no knowledge of your level of passion. I'm not a mindreader or an empath. I don't want your passion. I want your art.
  
  As is so often the case, excellent discussion is to be had at THE ENGINE.
  

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• Ah. Now the shoe is on my other foot, as it were. After being taken to task by Uncle Lar, now some guy named Aaron McKenna is ripping into my other writing pursuit in "The Pointlessness of Current Videogame Journalism":
  

  Why this sudden wave of self loathing and revulsion? ... Well I've just been a bit late coming to the conclusion that the formulaic, child-minded writing-for-the-lowest-common-marketing-denominator style that encapsulates 99% of the mainstream videogame press is a load of crap.

  
  You'll note that I am not calling bullshit on this one.



• Ragnell busts out one of the best readings of Bulleteer I've yet seen.



• The first issue of Fell is now available for online reading at Newsarama. I like Fell. I really do.



• I just received my winnings from Love Manga's wonderful Advent Competition. On Day 19, I won Paul Gravett's Manga : 60 Years of Japanese Comics. It's a beautiful volume, and I look forward to reading it. Thanks, David!



• The latest ember-to-flame in the "Women In Comics" debate has provided some fine, personal, heartfelt writing that I encourage you to read: Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog, What a Girl Wants #14, Comics Worth Reading (and here), Written World, The Beat and many others I've not saved links from. Why? Because it's a conversation that moves past nattering about the industry and moves to the cost that's paid by the creators. Discussing the misogyny of the superhero genre is one thing, but the misogyny of the industry is something else entirely. People are hurt, and outrage is the only response. Sexual harassment is by no means limited to comics ... but that doesn't mean it has to be accepted and tolerated. There are wonderful and brilliant people on all sides of the fence in this industry, and one would hope that moral force can weed out the kind of troglodyte that preys upon women using their position and power. I don't want to be ashamed of comics, I want to be proud of them.



• My vote for the Comic Bloggers' Poll 2005 is in. Is yours?

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

I made a mini-resolution to lighten up on the linkblogging, and save time for writing things.

Resolutions are made to be broken.

• In the "New To The Blogroll" Dept:
  
  • A Little Off The Top: Another compatriot from Operation Sports has moved his writing to the wider blogosphere. It's mainly for the sports-inclined, but if you're like me and can mix your comics and football, you might enjoy it. Clay's one of my writing inspirations - he has a flow and a conversational ease which I can't seem to muster.
  
  
  • Written World: If there's a plus to the recent controversy about how unfriendly the industry is to women (which, frankly, seems like an extended debate over the blueness of sky), it is the wonderful blogs I've found. Ragnell's wickedness is great, but it's posts like this that really stand out.
  
  
  • Pretty, Fizzy Paradise and Mortlake on the Schuylkill and When Fangirls Attack ... this is fun. Frankly, I've got the 30-something suburban straight white guy who slightly over-intellectualizes comics thing down. Reading these blogs makes me excited about blogging all over again.
  
  
  
  
• Oh ... something besides blogroll book-keeping? How about the great-idea-ness of David Welsh's MangaTrade? I still need to sign up, but I have precious little manga and very little of that precious little is stuff I'll part with willingly. I am going to see what's tradebait get trading soon, though.


• How about great interviews with two of my favorite comic creators? Joshua Hale Fialkov and Bryan Lee O'Malley spill the beans in rambling interviews, which are the best kind.


• My resolution had nothing to do with writing comics ... but Jason tempts like the Devil, don't he?


• I think I have my vote set for the Comic Bloggers' Poll 2005, but I'm letting it sit over the weekend so I don't have a "Oh no, I forgot that?" moment 15 seconds after I submit. If you are eligible, please join in the fun. Rock the vote, and all ....

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging (Best Of Edition)

As the year draws to a close, everyone's making lists of the best and the worst. I'm a stickler for the rules, so I'll be waiting until this week's books to make my final decisions on the best of the year. Others have forged ahead:

• Chris's Invincible Super-Blog has posted The Jackson Ten: 2005's Most Totally Awesome Graphic Novels. This list is great because it covers a lot of books which aren't appearing on other lists. Hivemind be damned, expert gamesman Dave Jackson has inspired Chris to greatness.


• James Meeley brings the snark with The Comic Asylum's 2005 Year In Drek.


• Christopher Allen and Alan David Doane bring us The Comic Book Galaxy Best of 2005, with some interesting categories and some titles you probably haven't heard of.


• Top 5? Top 10? Those are for mere mortals. Shawn Hoke displays his godlike majesty in bestowing 365 Things I Enjoyed in Comics This Year.


• I was honored when David Taylor asked me to contribute to Love Manga's Best of 2005, and will be using this post as a resource over the next 12 months as I continue to explore the world of manga.


• Dave Campbell has a "Best Of" list that, like the titans of olde, strides across prose, comics, TV, and dead people. When the titans of olde made "Best Of" lists ... that's how they rolled.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

This linkblogging is just a few reminders of some holiday activities afoot:

• First is the YACB Second Annual CBLDF Fund Drive. I was able to donate today, just in the nick of time. By my count, that should leave only one more new membership (or renewal) to hit the magic number of 10. Once there are 10 sign-ups, David will match the contributions made. It's sure hard finding an extra $25 in the days before Christmas, but it's a very worthwhile cause.


• Second is Child's Play: "For the past three years, gamers and geeks around the world have raised nearly a million dollars in toys, games and cash for sick kids in Children's Hospitals across the globe through a grassroots charity called Child's Play.". Even a small donation helps tremendously, and shows that the gamers and the geeks of the world care about things besides high scores and CGC grading.


• The third just requires your time. The Comic Blogger's Poll 2005 is rolling along - don't forget to vote if you have any kind of comics weblog. I'm polishing up my list now.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging

Focused Linkblogging

• The fact that we won't be seeing a new Scott Pilgrim before Christmas makes me infinitely sad. Then I realize that I will need something to look forward to in January and February, seeing as how my Philadelphia Eagles won't be in the playoffs. Scott Pilgrim for an Eagles Super Bowl run is almost a fair trade-off.



• Speaking of December OGNs that cause me to hold off on my Best Of 2005 voting ... any word on Five Fists of Science?



• Johanna adds another excellent piece to the Speakeasy debate. The more discussion, the better ... especially if there's a way to wipe some mud off the reputations of some creator-owners who did nothing but trust Speakeasy.



• I loved the Demo TPB. I love lists. Show how could I not love H's latest Comic Treadmill post?



• Mark Millar's Christmas message at Millarworld finds him in improving health:
  

  Good news is that I'm making a decent recovery and the heavy-duty anti-rejection drugs are kicking in, meaning after ten months I'm finally having the prednisolone lowered and that's always a good thing. Day by day, I'm getting a little stronger and so, for anyone who enjoys big-selling but highly over-rated comics, I look like I SHOULD be back in action this coming Summer as planned.

Categories:

• Comics
• Linkblogging