I feel like I’m in some sort of holding pattern. At least I’ve still got listing comics links going for me.
First of all, thanks so much for all the birthday/anniversary wishes, folks! Laura, Neil, Bill, Johnny, Shawn, Kevin, Dave, and whoever else I missed–you folks are swell.
Second of all, a hearty welcome back to Alan David Doane! He’s returned to the ol’ comics internet by reviving his news & commentary site, Comic Book Galaxy. He’s even got a new blog, the first entry of which features several spot-on reviews & previews as well as an interesting Q&A about his comics habits. (He makes it abundantly–some might say unnecessarily–clear that he doesn’t dig most superhero comics, but hey, that’s our man Alan!) Seriously, it’s great to have ADD back in the proverbial game. He’s a lodestone for this stuff.
It’s nice to see the unsung heroes of corporate comics get credit where credit is due, especially in light of how much merely workmanshiplike (if that) work is done in that arena. So it warmed the cockles of my heart to see Darwyn “New Frontier” Cooke give colorist Dave Stewart a major tip o’ the hat. (Courtesy of Graeme McMillan.)
Artbomb has the scoop on several fascinating upcoming releases, including the collected Sequential (an early experimental anthology series) from Paul Hornschemeier, an alternative-superhero anthology called Superior featuring work from Jeffrey Brown, Paul Pope, and Farel Dalrymple, and The Art of James Jean, the tremendously gifted color artist for Fables and other DC titles.
Sometimes, parody is self-parodic. Christopher Butcher has the scoop.
Johanna Draper Carlson calls glam/fashion manga Paradise Kiss a comic worth reading. Alls I know is that she had me at “influenced by Velvet Goldmine.” Now that I’m more or less caught up with Battle Royale, Planetes, and the work of Junji Ito, I think this is the next modern manga on my list. I even like the cover design. (Courtesy of Shawn Fumo.)
Kevin Melrose, the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Dirk Deppey” of the modern comics blogosphere, has branched out. He’s co-founded a writer’s resource site called Scryptic Studios, featuring comics-centric advice and such for aspiring scribes and pros alike. It’s, like, professional-looking. I, for one, am impressed. Impressed and likely to utilize the site. But don’t take my word for it: Larry Young, the best PR man K-Mel ever had, calls it “a rich and entertaining site, sure to bring out the hate in the usual snarky observers of the scene.” Snark? In comics-observing circles? Whaddya talk?
Johnny Bacardi offers up a particularly sharp batch of reviews. The Astonishing X-Men review has a deliciously “oooh” line. Good stuff.
Dorian at Postmodern Barney didn’t mean to go off on a rant here… but he does, in entertaining fashion, about the X-Men relaunch, Marvel’s retailing policies, the Dirk Deppey-helmed TCJ (haven’t seen the new ish yet, myself), and the wisdom of putting out manga-sized digest versions of American comics. Dorian thinks its a waste of time and resources–if the stories and art aren’t reminiscent of manga, says Dorian, format won’t matter. But I can tell you from experience that format does matter. At my store, which I imagine is representative of the rest of the chain, the difference between getting shelved with the enormous, fast-sell-through manga section and the tiny, messy, “yeah, but where are the graphic novels?” ask-the-kids shelves of American comics is solely based on size. Dorian’s certainly right to point out that manga fans are unlikely to dive right into the Big Two’s respective slush piles, but they’re a hell of a lot more likely to do so if the books are formatted in such a way that said fans actually see them. It’s not a panacea, and it’s not supposed to be–it’s simply a question of removing unnecessary obstacles to readership. (Courtesy of NeilAlien.)
Finally and belatedly, I want to wish everyone, particularly those for whom the holiday was created, a happy Memorial Day. You’re braver than me, and I thank you for it.