Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 09182016

(2001 A Space Odyssey issue 10.  Cover by Jack Kirby 1977.  Image stolen from Kevin Metz. )

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 09182016.

"Spock, I've found that evil usually triumphs - unless good is very, very careful." -Dr. Leonard H. McCoy.

• Hello sisters and brothers of teh intronets and welcome to another episode of your Other Comics News Parade-O-Links.  My name is Shannon and I'll be your host.  I have to start this episode off with an apology.  I know most of you woke up Sunday morning, got out of bed, shared breakfast with your non-gender specific significant other, read the Sunday funnies then logged on to the internets to read the Other Comics News Parade-O-Links like all good humans do but you were then horrified to find that the Parade-O-Links was not there.  I'm sorry.  I got busy.  And today's Parade will be short.  Let's call it minimal.  That makes it sound more intentional and less like failure.  All I can do is say that I'm sorry and promise that I will always disappoint you frequently.  I spent much of the weekend at the annual Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion  on the VA/TN state line in Bristol. It was neat. Crowded, but neat.  Lots of hillbilly hipsters.  Hipbillies. Craft beer, craft crafts, foods on sticks,  country and bluegrass upstarts, country and bluegrass legends.  It was a good time.  And look, country music ain't my thing but I appreciate it when it's good and there was plenty that was good.  I recommend it.  The highlight for me was seeing blues legend Buddy Guy perform.  He was fantastic. 

• This weekend the indie comics and small press world turned it's lonely eyes to the Small Press Expo (a.k.a. SPX) in Bethesda, MD.  I didn't go.  I haven't been since they moved to the lotter for their table reservations.  My number just hasn't came up. And, as much as I'd like to attend, September and October are busiest months of the year for me.  But, lots of folks whet and I saw some neat things on the old twudder and instacrack.  I'm sure we'll see some reports roll in this week.  I can't wait to see the best pictures of people cosplaying as the carpet or as those two old horror movie looking architects in that painting everyone takes a picture of.   The Comics Reporter has your Ignatz winners.  I was hoping that Gabby Schulz's Sick would win because it is one of the best comics I've ever read. I hadn't read most of the nominees because minicomics are a wierd regional kinda thing and graphic novels are too expensive. 

• Speaking of comics shows, Adam and Shawn of The Dollar Bin have part 2 of their DragonCon adventure.  Part 2 of their podcast focuses on the comics related part of the convention.  The fact that you can do a podcast on the comics related part of DragonCon shows that the show has improved a lot in recent years.  When I lived in Atlanta, it was just a cosplay show with comics shoved in corner of a basement.  I remember one year when Carmine Infantino, Julius Schwartz, Darth Vader and Chewbacca were crammed into a space in the basement about the size of a Ford Focus while upstairs, in a huge convention room, literal porn stars had 8 foot tables to themselves. But, from listening to The Dollar Bin, it appears that things have improved and that DragonCon may indeed be a show worth checking out for comics enthusiasts and creators. The episode also has a great story about Shawn meeting the great Jim Steranko.  (ABS.  Always be Sterankoing.)
• We are all going to die.

• A lot of talk the past few weeks about Raina Telgemeier's new book Ghosts.  Most of it high praise but a little bit of negativity.  I haven't read it.  I am not a child.  Also, graphic novels = expensive etc.  My comic reading kids kind of jumped from Archie to Kate Beaton and manga before these YA graphic novels were really a thing so that window was missed by my household.  My youngest reads Yo-Kai Watch manga.  I gotta say, it's hard to get them to give american intermediate or young adult graphic novels when they've already been introduced to books that are vastly more visually stimulating.  I've tried.  It's not my fault.

• There are a lot of things I've enjoyed while file under other was on hiatus and I hope to get to a lot of it throughout the rest of 2016. One thing that I've been really pretty lousy about pointing out are the webcomics I enjoy.  Pals Jeremy Massie and Matthew Smith have a new comic online called Amazing Age. They are now up to a 1st issue's worth of pages so it's a good time to check it out for before the next pages roll out.  Page one is here. 

• And now ladies and gentlemen...

THE BEST Pretty Good NEW COMIC I READ THIS WEEK


Doom Patrol (volume who knows because publishers don't even keep track anymore) issue 1 by Gerard Way, Nick Derington, Tamra Bonvillain, Todd Klein and several other people.  Published by DC Comics.  $3.99

The reason I struck through the word "best" in the header above is because I think I only read one new comic this week and calling a thing the "best" when you only sampled one of them is kind of silly.  But it's a pretty good comic.  I enjoyed it. I should enjoy it because the thing is pretty much made for me and/or my offspring. I'm a 90s Grant Morrison acolyte and this thing is essentially a tribute to Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol and Invisibles but made for current teens like my kids.  It's kind of like The Batman Adventures version of Morrison's Doom Patrol.  And I think it's perfect that DC has put Gerard Way in charge of this thing and this Young Animal line of comics because Grant Morrison may have very well invented Gerard Way.  Some of the youngs might not know about this but, in the 90s, we had rock star comics creators.  No, they were not comics creators that were actual rock n' roll performers, but they were creators that carried themselves, portrayed themselves and were treated much like rock stars.  The Image guys were like west coast American rock stars.  They had expensive cars, they hung out with rappers and sports stars and did TV commercials.  But the DC Vertigo creators were the cool UK rock stars with the black leather jackets, combat boots and tight shiny pants. Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison were the prototype for Gerard Way.  He is their dream become manifest. He is a literal rock star making comics.  Which, also gives me a chance to repeat one of my favorite jokes; "How do you break into comics?  Become moderately successful in any entertainment field other than comics, then ask." 
And please don't think I'm dismissing Gerard Way here.  He's doing good work in this comic.  He has history with Morrison and has clearly done his homework.  All the right references and hints and teases are there.  This comic feels like the Netflix re-boot of your favorite old TV show.  It's mostly a new cast but they brought back enough of the old faces to make it feel like a family reunion.  There are panels where my Grant Morrison-fan reflexes kicked in and my "hey, they're ripping off Morrison" alert went off and I had to remind myself that it is supposed to do that.  
Derington's art is fine enough.  Kind of a stripped down kid friendly version of what you would have expected to see in a 90s Doom Patrol.  A Philip Bond or Cameron Stewart might have been a better fit but it's okay.
My fourteen year old daughter likes My Chemical Romance.  She's in the high school band and they play one of their songs.  She want's to read this comic.  Grant Morrison, your creation has succeeded. 

• And finally... Francis likes a girl that's like a cheeseburger. 

• Remember pals, life is hard.  Read comics every day, chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until your dead. 

Your best pal ever,
Shannon Smith

p.s. I write comics.  Do you make comics?  Maybe you should hire me to write comics. 

p.p.s Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.

p.p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.

p.p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.

p.p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.

p.p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 09112016

(G.I.Joe issue 15 cover by Mike Zeck and John R. Beatty.  August 1986.  Image stolen from yojoe.com )

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 09112016.

"DJ Z, I suffer with you my friend."  -Jeff Hardy.

• Hello sisters and brothers of teh intronets and welcome to another episode of your Other Comics News Parade-O-Links.  My name is Shannon and I'll be your host.  I was driving east on Alternate 58 this morning behind the limousine of Nathan Stanley and under the golden rays of the warm September Appalachian sun when I remembered that, while file under other was on "hiatus", we lost one of the pillars of Bluegrass and American music, Doctor Ralph Stanley.  Growing up a few miles from where Ralph Stanley lived it was easy to take the man for granted.  He was just kind of always around.  You'd see him play at the fair.  You'd see him play at the UMWA rallies.  He literally performed at my summer camp one year.  When my employer was looking to set up shop in Southwest Virginia, it was Ralph Stanley that Senator Warner and the county called upon to welcome and entertain the suits and ties.  In some small way, I guess you could say I owe my paycheck to Ralph Stanley.  His legacy will be a part of this region and this country as long as the mighty Clinch River flows. 
• Alan Moore has announced that he has about 250 pages of comics left in him and then he will retire from comics.   Moore is probably the most influential English language genre comics writer of the past 40 years.  He could never write another word and that would not change.  He doesn't owe comics anything. If you want more Alan Moore comics, just go read the one's you've missed or re-read the ones you've loved. Despite the wizard beard, Moore is really not that old.  He was a very young man when he started knocking out masterpieces.  I hope he has a great many years ahead of him enjoying whatever it is he chooses to do.  And guys, 250 is a lot of pages. 
• A lot of us comics folks are thinking about pal of comics Tim O'Shea and his family this week.  The Comics Reporter has the details.  Tim has been a real champion of comics, minicomics and self-publishers throughout the years.  He's one of those "I probably would have stopped making comics without his kind words" kind of folks.  We need 100 more of him.  We wish all the best for Tim and his family. 
• Last weekend cosmic abomination DragonCon happened (again) in Atlanta, GA.  Adam and Shawn Daughhetee of the Dollar Bin went there for the first time and lived to tell the tale.   They compare DragonCon to HeroesCon a bit which, are two things totally worlds apart.  HeroesCon is a a comic book convention.  DragonCon is that time that Hunter S. Thompson and Zardoz drank an Atlantic Ocean sized vial of LSD and tiger adrenal gland then went to the Creature Cantina in Star Wars but only the Creature Cantina was the size of the Titanic.  Every year.  Repeat.  Totally different things. 
• Guys.  I just love Tarzan so much. (Link stolen from The Comics Reporter.)  Speaking of Tarzan, like I do, I read a lot of Tarzan comics this summer.  It's been a summer ritual since... I learned to read.  I read a lot of Joe Kubert Tarzan comics this summer and bought a lot of the Marvel "Lord of the Jungle" comics.  I almost have the full Marvel run now.  The 28th issue of the Marvel series was one of the first comic books I ever owned so Tarzan has and will always be a big part of what makes me me.  A big part of my brain is thinking about Tarzan junk most of my waking and sleeping hours.  It's weird.  I know.  So, of course I saw the new movie.  I really liked it. It was my favorite movie of the summer.  I really hope they make more movies with that Tarzan and Jane. 
• A lot of talk this week about the death of comics and whether or not it is dead and if it is just Professor X dead or is it Uncle Ben dead and who is to blame and is Soylent Green people or are people Soylent Green and if I use the F word more than you is my argument more valid than yours even though my argument is absolutely Donald Trump wrong on all of my historical references and should all of our best cartoonists just start making their comics with sidewalk chalk then post videos of them on YouTube but then get upset about that too because YouTube secretly won't let you make any money off videos anymore if you have dirty words in your side walk chalk comics and Kickstarter stopped being crowd funding the second it replaced the publisher's marketing department and Amazon really already killed publishing anyway and the music industry is deader than comics and it's just an illusion that it exists because, again, YouTube, and if it can happen to comics and music then it can happen to video games, and, in a way, it's already happening to movies, I mean, do you really think the movie theater chains are thrilled about you guys binge watching Stranger Things and eating microwave popcorn, and if you'll DVR and watch your favorite TV shows later it sure as hell won't take a TV exec long to figure out that you'd probably also pay for it in advance and most of what we really love will be pre-order anyway because comics isn't special, comics just is always the first in line for the firing squad, and about how we probably already lost this war and we need to just assimilate and get over ourselves because I'm literally wearing a t-shirt right now that I pre-ordered, while listening to digital music that was pre-ordered then downloaded, and I literally have a book beside my keyboard that was pre-ordered and as soon as I get through typing this I'm literally going to play some video games that I pre-ordered and maybe what you're calling death is just the new way of living and... You wanted everything for free so you stole it.  Now you have to pay in advance for it to even exist.  Money always wins folks.
• And now it's time for the return of...

THE BEST NEW NEWISH COMIC BOOK I READ THIS WEEK

She Wolf issue 3 by Rich Tommaso.  Published by Image Comics. 

I've been a big fan of Rich Tommaso for years and years but She Wolf might be his work for which I am the most excited.  Guys, I'm stupid for werewolves and wolfmans.  I've watched a lot of werewolf movies and read a lot of werewolf comics but Tommaso is on to something really fascinating here. He's using a waking nightmare form of narrative where he can tell this story from a both metaphysical and material world point of view at the same time while also fluctuating between the present and ancient folklore from panel to panel.  

Tommaso is letting the narrative take off in multiple directions within a single page and it is allowing him to really stretch his legs as an artists.  I've always loved Tommaso's drawing and character designs but with this comic he's being really ambitious with the motion and fluidity of his cartooning.  It's a major break from the conservatism and the obsession with the old fashioned that we've seen in indie comics over the past 20 years. Plus, he draws a balls out penis dangling Satan that can't be beat.  I can't wait for the next issue. 

This issue also features some great pinups by Chuck Forsman, Brandon Graham, Brian Level, Tom Neely, Eraklis Petmeza and my favorite one (below) by Patrick Dean.

• And finally... Playstation made some announcements this week.  Let's see how our ol' pal Francis feels about them. 

• Remember pals, life is hard.  Read comics every day, chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until your dead. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. I write comics.  Do you make comics?  Maybe you should hire me to write comics. 
p.p.s Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.

p.p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.

p.p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.

p.p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.

p.p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 12162013

(G.I.JOE A Real American Hero issue 2.  Cover by Herb Trimpe.  Stolen from ComicVine.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 12152013 12162013:

"I also think that a lot of the defeatist horseshit that gets passed around about comics being really hard and hey, what are you going to do is something in which non-creatives as a collective whole maybe shouldn't get to traffic in because, with very few exceptions, they simply haven't accomplished enough to merit that cynicism."  -Tom Spurgeon who celebrates a birthday today.  Well, I don't know specifically that he is celebrating it.  I can't see him.  I don't have laser eyes or mind bullets. He may simply be ignoring a birthday today.  Whatever works best for him.  Regardless, he deserves it to be a nice day.

• Hey brothers and sisters.  Christmas is close with New Year right behind.  I just have to make it through five more days of work until I take a nice vacation.  I'm not going anywhere.  I'm just not going to work.  Were in the height of "best of list" season.  I hope to post mine before the new year.  Maybe.  In the meantime, myself and a bunch of other people (possibly all men, I'm not sure, I have not seen all of their genitalia) named off some favorite comics over at The Comics Reporter.
• There is not a doubt in my mind that Ed Kramer will be strolling through the hotels of next year's Dragon*Con footloose and fancy free.  Well, maybe he will be in a motorized wheel chair.  Either way, he will be there looking like the villain in a Rob Zombie directed James Bond movie.  It's gonna be gross and it's gonna suck.  

• This piece by Robert Steibel on Fantastic Four Annual #6 by Jack Kirby and whatshisname is a great read.  
• Derik Badman reads a lot of comics that sound interesting. 
• Korean Batman.  Almost as good as Rainbow Batman. 
• Maybe that manga stuff will catch on one day.  Just like soccer. 
• “We are all temporary custodians,” she said of her collection. “Until they work out that eternal life, fountain-of-youth thing, we only get to hold it for a little while. We get to hang it on the wall and say, ‘Oh, that’s fun.’”
• That Hernandez kid has a lot of potential. 
• We appreciate Rob Clough and he appreciates us. 
• New York Times?  I guess that's pretty cool but let me know when you're in the Daily Bugle.
• I've been watching a lot of G.I.Joe cartoons lately.  Not sure what is wrong with me.

• This one is old but I never get tired of reading about Jim Shooter. 
• As we get close to the end of 2013 (the worst year of my life) I'm thinking about Superman and Warner Bros complete failure in commemorating the 75th anniversary of Siegel and Shuster's characters.  Sure there was a movie (I'm sure its timing was just coincidence) and sure they made that video (which completely ignored they Byrne era and a bunch of other big things) and that awful awful awful logo, but I feel like there should have been more.  A TV special maybe.  At least a parade.  Was there a parade?  Did I miss the parade? 
• Personally, I hate graphic novels.  This is because I cannot afford them.  I used to be a retailer with a national book chain that sold a lot of graphic novels and manga.  That book chain is out of business now.  Others will follow.  I don't know what the future holds. I don't know what the answers are.  But I do know that I recently bought Love and Rockets collections and Richard Sala's last comic on ComiXology for less than $6 each and I was pretty happy about it. 

• This one was short pals.  December is a slow moth for comics and a super busy month for everything else in my life.  But fear not.  Soon it will be new year and we will dance like Ann Margret on LSD. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 12082013

(Detective Comics #389.  Image stolen from an incredible set of Neal Adams art at The Golden Age.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 12082013:

"When I heard that Ed was accused of child molestation, I had a hard time believing it. I knew Ed. I couldn’t see it. But that is the way of sociopaths that they can make themselves look innocent and normal in the eyes of everyone else."  -Kathleen David on Ed Kramer.

• Hi brothers and sisters.  Let's start with me since I'm the one paying for this party.  I wrote reviews of Harley Quinn 0, The Walking Dead 144, Savage Dragon 192, Daredevil 32-33 and The Sandman Overture 1.  Yup.  Sho nuff did. 
• I also did an in depth study of 80's porn. 
• I sent five bucks to small press and minicomics champion Rob Clough.  We need at least a dozen Rob Clough's but since we only have one he keeps doing the work of one hundred.  Here is one of Rob's recent feats of strength. 
• If you gotta be a jerk then be a jerk but don't be an asshole.  Nobody laughs with the asshole. 
• Also don't be an asshole that calls for the dismissal of someone that points our that you simply can't draw for crap. 
• Also don't be that asshole that calls people "penis" instead of their names. 
•  Also don't be the asshole that says, “I think he’ll most likely try and figure out a way to come in contact with children, and that’s where I’ll get him.”  Um, Mr. Assistant District Attorney Danny Porter, that is not comforting at all.  Not, at, all comforting!  So what you are saying is, Dragon*Con co-founder and child molester Ed Kramer can live in his house, which is exactly where he wants to be, but the next time he breaks the law we all know he already broke then you are going to be the first in line to go "get him" for the same thing you all ready got him for?  Law is confusing.
• I live in Gwinnett County GA.  I'm glad I don't live there anymore.

• Dan Nadel announced that Picture Box will not be publishing any more books.  It is certainly not good news for comics.  You can't just assume that someone else will pick up the kind of books Nadel would have been publishing if he had carried on and you certainly cannot assume that they would be published with the same quality.  I personally did not buy many Picture Box books.  I just couldn't afford them.  Sorry.  You can make they greatest work of human expression of all time but if it costs over $15.99 there is a good chance I'm never going to read it.  Back when I worked at Borders as an inventory manager, I made sure my store stocked a lot of small press graphic novels if for other reason that I myself could read them.  But I left Borders and moved to the cow fields about the same time Picture Box started.  I picked up a few things here and there at conventions and when I visited civilization.  But I missed most of what Picture Box did.  You can't have it all.
• I still pick up Brian Chippendale's Maggots and flip through it about as much as I flip through anything.  It is still fascinating.
• I also couldn't afford anything on Fantagraphics Kickstarter.  Sorry.  You small press comics book publishers let me know if you start publishing any comic books under ten dollars. 
• David Alan Doane is back to comics blogging.  That's swell. 
• I enjoyed this article on the evils of smarm.  But if you really want to learn about smarm, watch professional wrestling.  Bo Dallas is the human smarm.  

• Speaking of wrasslin', check out this Patrick Dean cover for the new Old School Wrestling Podcast book. 
• Speaking of wrasslin' again, I liked this Joey Weiser comic.  Check out those A Round Town comics.  Good stuff from Mack, Weiser, Dean and others. 
• She's a wonder all right. 
• I would have cast Rosario Dawson. 
• Not only because I think Rosario Dawson is the perfect actress for Wonder Woman but also because if there was ever a situation where I was in a position to pay beautiful women to be a part of my... anything, I'm calling Rosario Dawson first.
• But that's just me.  You folks enjoy you skinny starlets in your movie where people wear rubber clothes. 
• That new Spider-Man trailer doesn't look all that great to me.
• Let's see jerks, criminals, wrestling, movie stars, sexy ladies, movie trailers... what else are you guys into?  Comics?  Hey, here is a post with a neat pdf of a comics layout template you can use.  Make your own comics at home!  It's fun and easy!
• And here you can learn how to draw Adventure Time.  Or you could just sit down and draw Adventure Time from memory like every other middle school kid in the United States. 
• Would you guys just look at this Jimi Hendrix inspired art by Moebius.  Wow.  I've owned that Voodoo Soup album for years and never figured out that it was Moebius.  How did I miss that?
• All I want for Christmas is everything on this list. Or just a gift card from Huddle House.  I'm easy. 
• Hey you guys know it's winter right?
• Ooh.  A new little Josh Simmons mini.  Sending PayPal money... now.
• In the long ago way back time of October, 2013, The New York Post had an article about Julia Wertz's photos of creepy abandoned gross terrifying things.  Wertz has some great items for sale here. 
• Years ago there was a cartoonist named Julia Wertz.  I really liked her stuff.  Damn shame she's dead now. 
• Another place you can exchange money for products which I myself would like to own is Gabby Schulz's store.  You can go ahead and buy me that "Drunk" print if you'd like.  Thanks!
• Did you guys know that Devil Dinosaur was on a TV cartoon?  Did I tell you about it before? It's hard to remember because that cartoon is terrible but, still Devil Dinosaur!
• And finally... your microphone sucks by the way.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 07102013

(Superman Family from 1978 stolen from Diversions of the Groovy Kind.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week month ending including 07102013:

"Kim was the brightest, smartest, most well-read man I'd ever met," Waid told CR "He was as familiar with Proust as he was with Englehart, he spoke many other languages fluently, and because of his upbringing and travels, he was truly a citizen of the world. That said, he loved living in America for many reasons, not the least of which was this one: 'It's the only country on Earth where you can order a pizza at three o'clock in the morning.'" - Mark Waid on Kim Thompson from Tom Spurgeon's Comics Reporter.

• Hello brothers and sisters.  It has been a while since the Parade-O-Links has rolled down Intronet Boulevard.  A lot of stuff has happened right?  Here at file under other we talked about that new Superman movie Man of Steel.  HeroesCon came and went and took our hearts with it but not before Henry Eudy could bite off a big chunk. I wrote a thing about David King's Crime World.  The Heat and the Blackhawks won championships.  Father's day happened.  Mad Men wrapped up another season and smashed my brains to bits.  Egypt overthrew it's leader... again.  The 4th of July happened... again.  Some dude revealed to the world that there are spies and unbelievably people over the age of four thought this was news.  There were wars and rumors of wars.  Babies were born.  The Earth spun round and round.  
• Some of you may have noticed that I have been relatively absent from the world of teh comics intronets lately.  I've still been super involved in comics.  I've read tons of comics.  Actually, a lot of the comics I read were on my phone and weighed absolutely nothing.  Look, I read a lot of comics.  And, I worked on making  some comics!  But I've been away from teh intronets for the most part.  There are a lot of reasons that I won't get into.  Let's just go with the happiest of those many reasons and say that I'm on vacation.  And, this return to link blogging will most likely be short lived.  Or, at least I probably won't post one of these next week as I will be out of town.   I don't even plan to to take a computer with me.  But don't stop doing awesome things on my account.  I'll still check in through the magic of the cell pad pod phone.  The cell phone is gonna be covered in sunscreen but I'll try to make do. 

 

• The comics community mourned the loss of Kim Thompson.  He was a lot of things to a lot of people.  Tom Spurgeon posted a lengthy piece on him here.  You should go read that.  It is very good.  You should also read through these tributes.  It's hard to imagine what comics in North America would look like right now without Thompson's hard work but I'm sure it wouldn't be as good.  I met Thompson in person once at SPX and he was a lot nicer to me than he needed to have been.  I spoke to him because I wanted to give him a copy of the Shiot Crock book I edited/published.  It was a book that would not have existed without The Comics Journal Message Board.  I always appreciated Thompson's interaction with that message board.  He certainly went above and beyond.  Having someone involved with the publishing side of things come in and just give you the matter of fact yes or no answer to shut down an argument... well, we don't see much of that anymore do we?  
• Superman, Superman, Superman, Superman. Lots of talking and thinking about Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster's Superman this summer.  I guess it's just the movie being out.  Or maybe I think a lot about Superman every summer.  There are characters that just work better in one season than another.  Batman is a Halloween guy but Superman is for summer.  You look at that big blue sky and think that it needs a dude with a red cape in it.  I've been on a big Superman reading kick for the past several weeks.  Mostly on my phone but also in my beloved DC Showcase Presents books.  Comixology had a big sale on Superman comics as the movie came out and there was a lot of great stuff in there.  A lot of it for free!  That new Scott Snyder and Jim Lee Superman Unchained book came out.  It was a big yawn for me.  Snyder's great but trying to make it read like Jim Lee was actually drawing a story made that thing super wordy.  A Jim Lee comic is the exact opposite of everything I love about comics and even Snyder couldn't fix that for me.  I literally had no memory of anything that happened in that comic ten seconds after I laid it down.  I have been reading those cheap Adventures of Superman comics on Comixology though and I think they are mostly great.   I also saved a bunch of random Superman links.  Here's one on that time Lois Lane tried to marry Superman's dad.  A look at some early Siegel and Shuster pitches for Superman. "I, Jerry Siegel, the co-originator of Superman, put a curse on the Superman movie! I hope it super-bombs."  Kyle Baker made this little game thing that sums up the last 45 minutes of Man of Steel.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove a Superman race car.  (Sadly, the motor blew up.)  Alan Moore wrote an essay.  Here is a neat illustrated review of Man of Steel.  Here are some neat movie reaction comics.  This story about a huge Superman painting is fascinating. Mark Waid talked about how creator payments work for DC movies and TV shows (they don't).  If you want to know what the real Zod thought about it, he's in the men's room.  Tom Scioli talked about is favorite Superman.  Tom Spurgeon mentioned one of my favorite Superman comics.  Apparently Time Warner wanted to make sure that Preachers knew the movie was about Jesus.  566 Supermans.
• 1978 seems to be my sweet spot for superhero comics.  Check out all these great DC Covers.  Especially that Wonder Woman at the bottom. 
• If you don't understand that Wonder Woman is box office gold then please find me and let me punch your face in relieve you of any decision making position you have and the income that goes along with it .  Wonder Woman is science fiction, magic, mythology, super powers, sexy time, warfare, monsters, gods... her world is everything we see in a summer's worth of blockbusters rolled into one story.  Just hand her a lighstsaber and let her fight a shark and she would be every summer blockbuster ever made.  Don't mistake your lack of imagination for being clever.
• You guys listened to this Herb Trimpe panel right?  Oh man it is so great. Fascinating stuff about the Marvel "bullpen".  Some great stuff on Mary Severin.  I had no idea that Trimpe was more of a Disney funny animal guy before the started at Marvel but it makes perfect sense when you think about the way he drew The Hulk.  I was also very interested in hearing Trimpe talk about going to The School of Visual Arts.  Great stuff.  Go listen to it now. 
• Comics titans Jack Kirby and Carmine Infantino interviewed together. 
• Right now at this moment, Marvel and DC combined might have 5 writers as good as Paul Jenkins. 
• Yes.  Batman sits. 
• Look, there was a lot of hubbub about that Jenkins interview and the Batman not sitting down thing.  But I don't think anyone actually named the editors that all that venom was going toward.  We tend to blame things on "the editors" or "editorial".  Or we just blame "DC" or "Marvel".  Look, the editors have names.  Their names are right there in the damned books.  In that Jenkins story, he's talking about his work on the Dark Knight comic.  The editors on that book were Mike Marts and Rickey Purdin.  See.  How hard was that?  It's okay to say their names.  Their not working for a charity.  Time Warner paid them to edit those comics.
• Speaking of naming names, we all need to do this whenever we can. 
• This is what DC Comics looked like while I was inside my mommy's belly.
• DragonCon finally did the right thing.  I know family of one of the main players in all of this and I have a lot of friends for whom DragonCon is an important part of their year so I'm happy steps have been taken in the right direction.  A lot more could be done though.  DragonCon is a FOR-profit event ran almost entirely on the backs of volunteers.  I'm not saying they need to change their business model but there are positive things that can be done with those profits.  The very least of which might be, for example, donating and investing in resources and organizations that work to fight against and prevent the kinds of atrocities of which Ed Kramer has been accused.

• Above is a picture of Jenna-Louise Coleman in a rubber outfit standing in front of a bar.  Those are things that I enjoy.
• Did you know that Julia Wertz, potographer of old gross abandoned decrepit things, used to make comics?  It's true. 
• Early Jack Kirby war comic. 
• The Beat pieced together the history of Zenith.  I doubt I make any effort to get that big collection but all the recent talk about that title has inspired me to get in the basement to dig through boxes to figure out just how many of those comics have.
• A great post on Fabio and Gabriel Ba's blog about Brasil. 
• This is only half as weird as time I was watching TV with my kids and Bieber was on some kids dance contest show and he came out to meet the contestants on a segway. He never got off the segway.  Never took the sun glasses off.  Never touched any of the contestants.  The contestants were children. 
• No intentional blood without prior approval from the Alabama Athletic Commission.
• That time that dude dropped comic book character Glenn Danzig with one punch. 
• That time Jim Steranko "bitch slapped" Bob Kane. 
• Hey, hey, hey.  Did I mention that I wrote a thing for this new The Atomic Elbow book that's coming out?  Oh man, you need to pre-order 10 copies of that thing so hard right now, like, oh my gawd, like RIGHT NOW!
• Eleanor Davis paper Regular Show toys y'all.  Whooaaaaaaaa!
• We are all going to die.
• How is it not called Excelsior?
• Tom Spurgeon did some talking and thinking and writing about the New 52 now that we are far enough into the thing make better sense of it.  I've got stacks of those things lying around that I've been meaning to write about but here my short take;  The only good comics of the New 52 are those that ignore it and those that are character driven.  Specifically the Batman and Green Lantern books suffered absolutely no impact from the New 52 because they totally ignored it.  The strong character driven books that first come to mind are Animal Man, Demon Knights and Earth 2.  The last two of that combo being really the only comics of the New 52 where things were shaken up in any kind of imaginative way.  I've enjoyed a lot of individual issues of Action Comics and Superman but there is absolutely zero consistency from one book to the next or often even from one page to the next.  Right now, at this moment, my favorite DC Comic is Ame-Comi Girls.  Another title that has absolutely nothing to do with the New 52. 
• And finally...this is the first step on a long road to redemption.

Oh, and one more last thing!  Did you know you can leave comments on these posts here at file under other?  It's true!  And, I'll probably respond.  Twitter and facebook killed the message boards but that's no reason why you can't argue with me, praise me or leave me recipes.  It's your intronet.  Have fun!

And that's just a taste of some of the interesting things going out there in the wonderful world of comics and things. I can't keep up with it all but I do keep up with a lot of it on twitter and I try to re-tweet the good stuff. You should probably follow me there. If you did something to make comics better this week then high-five!

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 02242013

(Image stolen from Comic Vine.  Possibly drawn by Herb Trimpe or Don Heck?)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 02242013:

"Now I guess you’re all wondering where I fit into this; please allow me to explain. For an awful long time I’ve been worrying about Billy Batson. Billy, as you know is a grand boy, and I feel he is not being given a break. In other words, a chance to grow up. I went along to old Shazam and told him my worries, and between us we’ve decided to give Billy the chance to settle down. In order that this might be achieved, I shall soon be returning my powers to old Shazam and changing into the character of Billy Batson for the last time. This will give this grand lad a chance to develop into the type of citizen that I know you’ll grow into.

Naturally we couldn’t leave the door of the world wide open for evil – hence Marvelman of whom I feel you’re just busting to know more. What could be better than to ask him to say a few words to you. It’s all yours, Marvelman:" -Captain Marvel.

• The Daytona 500 takes place this afternoon (if you are reading this on Sunday 2/24/2013).  Danica Patrick will start in the pole position as the 1st woman ever to do so in an NASCAR race.  My prediction is that the winner will be the 1st car to cross the finish line. 
• My pal Robert Venditti has been named as Geoff Johns' successor as writer on Green Lantern.  That's a big gig and I think Rob will be a perfect fit.  He talks about it here.  I'm a big fan of all of Rob's comics and X-O Manowar is easily one of the top 5 ongoing super sci/fi punch up comics of the past year.  Rob is a talented writer but,  more importantly, he works hard at it and delivers.  It seems like it was just yesterday that he was announced on X-O, then came Demon Knights and now Green Lantern.  By this time next year, Superman will be writing comics about Robert Venditti. 
• But don't take my word for it.  Let's take a look at what the real WWE Champion CM Punk is reading. 
• The X-Men are pretty intense, y'all.
• I loved all the X-Ladies and Claremont told some great stories.  And they hold up.  My daughter is super into all that old junk. 
• Check out this great Rob Ullman hockey comic at Yahoo Sports. 
• Wow.  Look at this huge Judge Dredd index.  I'm a novice when it comes to Dredd.  I've never had much access to those comics but the FCBD editions of 2000AD and the new IDW series have me right on the brink of conversion. 
• Yeah.  That James Jean kid?  He draws real good. 
• This John Porcellino post about moving really hit me in the feelings box.  
• Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter has started a tumblr.  I'll make sure to have him added to the prayer list on my church's bulletin. 
• That Ant-Man switch plate might be the first thing I've ever seen on Etsy that seemed worth the price.  (Of course with the exception of all your wonderful comics you sensitive cartoonist cry babies.) 
• This article about an indie wrestler is not at all comics but it does depict a lot of the horrors one sees in the freelance life, the artist life and, at this point, just trying to make a living in the United States today. 
• No.
• Big scans of Kirby's crazy Argo art.
• Speaking of Argo.  I guess the Oscars are happening sometime?  I don't know anything about any of those movies.  Whenever their comics adaptions make it to the dollar boxes at the next comic shop I go to, I'll let you know what I think. 
• "Also anyone out there who feels they may have screwed me or stolen from me in the past (a very small subset, but still...) this is an excellent time to get your conscience completely cleared at a steep discount. 25 cents on the dollar. These prices will not last!"
• That Autoptic show in Minneapolis in August is going to have Jamie Hernandez.  That's something. 
• You can submit your comics to SPX's tumblr if that's the kind of thing you think you'd like to do. 
• Tom Spurgeon wrote a thing about a Justice League book that costs $24.99. 
• I enjoyed this look back at the Death of Superman for a couple of reasons.  For one thing, I'm not yet burnt out on 90s nostalgia.  For another, it gives me a good excuse to link to these words I wrote about Batman getting his purple bathrobe stolen. 
• And by "good excuse" I just mean that it made my brains think of a thing and then I did that thing.
• That time I followed Victor Cayro on the facebook.

• This Patrick Dean comic perfectly sums up my Valentines Day.  (Only I'm not named Tom and I did not wake up with a lady beside me on February 14th.)
• And also, Patrick Dean is ready to sell you some fantastic things. 
• I wonder if he kept his shirt on?
• Alphabots y'all.  Alphabots. 
• That Neal Adams kid is very interesting. 
• This series on Marvelman at the beat is a great read. 
•  "It’s like Grandfather’s axe — a new handle and a new blade, it might be a new axe, but it still belongs to grandpa."  -Gerry Conway
• Dave Sim talks about Dave Sim as only Dave Sim can.
• I wouldn't call these "rules".  More like tastes and preferences.  But yeah, most modern lettering and balloon placement is awful. 
• 1.2 million years watching porn. 
• Retrofit is currently taking subscriptions. 
• Jeremy Massie's All My Ghosts is coming to print soon.  That's a nice cover. 
• Look.  A man that has most likely sexually assaulted young boys owns 34% of DragonCon and if you put money into DragonCon you are putting money into that man's hands and the hands of his lawyers.  Sure, DragonCon can issue a release blaming it all on the system and say that they can't do anything but the fact remains-  Your money is going to Ed Kramer.  I'm not placing judgement.  Do what you want.  Just know what you are doing.  The DragonCon board is in a tough spot for sure.  I just know that you, the customer, the patron etc., get to decide where you spend your money.  
• That crazy CF comic on The New York Times site. 
• You could write for Rob Liefled. 

THE BEST SINGLE NEW newish PRINT COMIC I READ THIS last WEEK

(Image stolen from Sequential Smart.)

...was Batman 17 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and a bunch of other people.  I'm still behind on my comics due to a whole bunch of boring reasons but we'll talk about Batman today and hopefully catch up on some other things between now and next Sunday.  I had written previously about how I was disappointed in this Death of the Family storyline.  That was mainly in relation to the previous Snyder/Capullo Batman comics from 2011 and 2012 which I thought were as good or better than anything in super hero comics.  My main beef with Death in the Family has been the pacing.  That it did not feel big enough and things seemed rushed.  This is a horror story and there has not been a lot of time to scream.  Of course, this story is bigger than just the Batman comic.  It is a crossover event. I however have read only the Batman comics.  And I won't apologize for that.  As the customer, it is not my burden to read the other comics and figure it all out.  Maybe there would have been more weight to Death of the Family for me if I had read all of the other Bat family member's adventures but I just could not afford to do that.  But let's just forget about all that altogether and look at this one singe comic, Batman 17.  

It is a very good Batman versus Joker comic book.  Maybe one of the best.  But I don't know, I've not read them all.  The real guts of this comic is mostly talking and it is the culmination of the 73 year long philosophical argument between Batman and the Joker over what they mean to each other and what they would be without each other.  Two insane guys saying 'yeah but at least I'm not as crazy as you' for 73 years.  And it's great.  I think Snyder and Capullo are pushing this thing just a bit further than it's been pushed before.  I think they may have pushed it as far as it can go.  This comic is the natural evolution of this story into a horror comic.  But it can't go all the way off the deep end because it is still a Batman comic.  Greg Capullo's art is gross and freaky and horrific but it is still stylized and Batman still has that larger than life chin because it is still a Batman comic.  Snyder's writing pushes the characters right to the edge but not over because it is still a Batman comic.  It points out the limitations of what you can do with a seven decade old children's character that dresses up as a bat and fights crime.  But for at least a few panels, I thought they might just cross the line.

SPOILERS

To push the Joker beyond where he's been before, to make him "real" whatever that means, the threat has to be "real".  Or at least movie "real".  Hannibal Lecter "real".  Or Gwyneth Paltrow's head in a box "real".  So the whole gimmick of this thing has been about faces.  Faces representing masks.  Snyder's Joker has litterally taken off his mask by removing his face then putting it back on.  It's gross but it makes the point that the mask or secret identity never mattered.  The lesson is that the Joker IS the Joker and the point of this whole campaign of horror is to teach Batman that Batman IS Batman and his desire to maintain some hind of human normalcy by working with the Bat family will either bring him down or bring them death.  Maybe both.  So, for the big climactic issue of this thing we have Batman tied to a chair at the head of a dinner table with all the Bat family in attendance.  But all of their faces are bandaged.  And before each of them is a big covered platter.  What is on those platters?!  What's in the box?!  Well, obviously, it is their faces.  Obviously, the Joker has carved off the faces of Robin, Batgirl, Batman's son, Nightwing and that other guy no one cares about.

And for a panel or two I thought they might let Snyder go there.  I thought they might just do it.

But, this is a Batman comic.  Of course their faces have not been removed.  It was just a sick Joker joke.  Batman gets out of it and the Batman family will carry one.  But the horror of the thing does have weight.  We see relationships changed.  We see the Bat family rethinking whether or not they want to hang out with Batman anymore.  We see characters in a different place than they were when the story started and that is about as "real" as we can ask a Batman comic to be.

But what if he had cut their faces off?  What if the crossed that line into adult comics.  Into Marshall Law or Judge Dredd?  I think you could pull it off.  Bruce Wayne's top doctors sew the faces on, plastic surgery etc. and the status quo could be resumed.  But it would be hard to deal with.  Something like that and you are damaged goods mentally in a way that future writers would have to deal with for years.  It's like the death of Jason Todd.  It was super gross that they let fans kill a character but the real problem with Jason Todd's death is that every writer after it happened that wanted to use the Joker had to deal with it.  Again and again and again.  For 25 freaking years. The Joker was no longer the Joker.  The Joker was the guy that killed Jason Todd.  And that's why I think it was best for Snyder and Capullo to not to cross that line.  But for a few panels, they had me.

• And finally...  Yes, that's right I'm judging you.  Look at me. Me.  I'm judging you.

Oh, and one more last thing!  Did you know you can leave comments on these posts here at file under other?  It's true!  And, I'll probably respond.  Twitter and facebook killed the message boards but that's no reason why you can't argue with me, praise me or leave me recipes.  It's your intronet.  Have fun!

And that's just a taste of some of the interesting things going out there in the wonderful world of comics and things. I can't keep up with it all but I do keep up with a lot of it on twitter and I try to re-tweet the good stuff. You should probably follow me there. If you did something to make comics better this week then high-five!

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.