Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 02052021

 (The Overwhelming Motörhead Rock Commando July 1980.)

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 weeks ending 02052021. 

• Hello sisters and brothers and undecided others and welcome to another episode of your Other Comics News Parade-O-Links.  My name is Shano and I'll be your host.  Remember over a month ago when fired up the file under other machine and I was going to start posting these things again?  Me either. 
• No one close to me died since our last episode so, progress. 
• Marvel and DC superheroes trend on the social meeds every day but it's rare when the comics trend and even rarer when a specific comic book trends so when it does you know it's either going to be misogyny or racism.  Immortal Hulk #43 decided to go with the racism this go round.  Everyone makes mistakes but racism is almost never a mistake and there are some mistakes you don't get to make if Disney is paying you. 
• In dumb comics movie click bait news: Nah, that's just stupid. 
• Speaking of things that are not comics, that HBO Max deal has finally added the greatest DC Comics based TV show of all time, Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  Check it out heathens. 
• I just got a phone call from my close personal friend Doctor Fauci and he gave me some great news.  America's most wholesome cartoonist, Josh Latta, has a new book out.  Suck on that 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease.
• Well, it's finally happened.  Ashley Holt has finally gotten so sick of your bullshit he's left the country.  This country has two Carolinas and neither one of them were good enough for our man Ashley.  Good luck Germany! 
• Do you guys read the comics?  I read the comics.  What comics do you guys read?  Maybe respond in the comments.  LOL HAH HAH HAH no one is ever going to respond in the comments.  Maybe twitter though.  I've been reading a lot of oddball late 80s stuff lately like post-Crisis Suicide Squad and the pre-Grant Morrison* Doom Patrol.  (With the intention of going through the Morrison stuff again afterwards because I'm obsessed with that Doom Patrol TV show.)  Been reading lots of comics with characters in brown and orange costumes in stories where they go into cold war era made up jungle islands. That was a weird period in comics, before DC thought these things had value, before the movies, when they were just like, "well, all these non-primary color characters are never going to catch on so we may as well dump them in a team and kill one of them off every issue".  Fun stuff. I recommend you go to Ollie's and buy the first few trade paperbacks of both series for about $3 each.
• Speaking Doom Patrol, you guys have watched the first two seasons of the TV show now right?  It's the best right?  What do you want to see in the 3rd season?  I want Doom Force.  

• And speaking of other things that are not comic books, sure, yeah, I like WandaVision just fine.  I like it better when they don't explain things for the normies.  I don't want the normies to have anything else.  They have sports.  That's enough. I think showing us the MCU "real world" outside of Westview as a catastrophic mistake for the show.  Those scenes are poorly written and poorly acted and just look like low budget television.  The stuff of Wanda's creation inside Westview, which is supposed to be low budget television looks fantastic.  Just, spare us the MCU please.  
• My MCU ranking goes as follows 1) The ones where Iron Man plays AC/DC. 2) The ones where Captain America takes his shirt off. 3) WandaVision.
• That Vision "content" you really wanted. 

• If I hadn't been trapped in the Trump version of Westview for the past year I might have given you guys a list of my favorite comics from 2020 and I probably would have mentioned Jeremy Massie's Holler.  You can get on board with the 3rd issue now. 
• Current reigning defending best at drawing on Earth, Brad McGinty, recently did the cover of We Do What We Want 2. It's great and the magazine is a lot of fun.  The magazine has an article where Gerard Way talks about his The Real Ghostbusters toys.  I didn't make that up.  For real, if you like the things that are the good things then you will enjoy this magazine.  Also, if you like the things that are rad you will like this High on Fire t-shirt Brad did for the Holy Mountain Printing folks. 
• The great Annie Koyama is leaving escaping  changing her relationship with comics.  Our man Rob Clough weighed in on her impressive legacy. 
• Related, Ed Kanerva and RJ Case are also fleeing pursuing their future endeavors. 
• 24 Hour Comics Day went down again and I read a lot of the comics but when I think about it, most of what I saw were from the folks I follow on twitter and Instagram that are already posting comics weekly or more frequently in that format so, really, the day just felt like any other day in my social media feed.  A lot of folks have really mastered Instagram's 10 photo limit for posting comics in a reader friendly cell pad pod phone environment.  I'm thinking about folks like the world's most dangerous man Henry Eudy, your dad Mike Dawson, that lady at the petting zoo Lisa Hanawalt , your favorite teacher Mayday Trippe, that dude you used to work with Gabby Schulz, that dude on the bus Josh Bayer, that dude you know who has transcended flesh and draws with his mind now Patrick Dean and so many more just killing it every day.  I salute you doers of things. 

THE BEST NEW COMIC I READ THIS WEEK

Malarkey #5 by November Garcia available at Birdcage Bottom Books

This is a great looking minicomics sized collection of comics with bigfancycomics production.  These are mostly diary style comics with a few more ambitious art comics pages to mix it up.  Garcia's color stuff is really interesting.  Like that fantastic cover where it looks like it's raining what could be bubble gum or guts depending on how dark your day was. Thematically this issue is dealing with, well, kind of 2020 in a nutshell.  Death and the plague and how you just have to deal with it.  I think we call can relate.  Also, there are jokes. 

• Before we go we'd better check on our boy Francis and make sure he's okay.

• Remember pals, life is hard.  Never stop running unless it's to pick up a friend.  Read comics and chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until you're 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.  Yeah, I do Instagram too.  Maybe if 100,000 of you follow me there I'll be as famous as the average Cambodian teenager with a milk ring collection. 

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 02032013

(Kickers Inc. #4 1986.  Image stolen from Comic Vine.)

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 02032013:

"I don’t know about you, but I’ve decided enough is enough. Everyone tells me social media has the potential for creating social change never seen before in human history. Okay, then I’d like to test it by seeing if social media can cut off the flow of money from DragonCon to accused child molester (and the convention’s co-owner) Ed Kramer, who has been using the 150K+ a year he receives each year from DragonCon to avoid trial and manipulate the justice system to allow him free reign to prey upon children, even while under supposed house arrest. All you have to do is publicly declare you will never attend DragonCon again as long as Edward Kramer profits from the convention."  -Nancy A. Collins. 

• Happy Superbowl Sunday everybody!  I hope that as we all pull our guts up to the Bonanza super bar of shiny new television commercials, with a small helping of football for desert, we will all remember the true spirit of Superbowl; smashing one another's heads in all for the love of points.  Points everybody!  Just like money but worthless!  Personally, I love the American tackle football.  Like the great Al Bundy, I served my country playing high school football.  I remember it well.  Mainly due to the concussions and a knee that alternates between discomfort and pain 24 hours a day.  Football!  But the Superbowl is most often the worst football game you will see in any given year.  This late in the season most of the best players can barley walk and the starters are determined by which guys are not seeing double at gametime.  So maybe the commercials really are the best part.  Personally, I'm hoping to see this commercial staring Francis.  From what I've heard, Volkswagen chose a lame commerical where a white actor dude speaks Rasta instead.  But maybe during the pre-game show or somewhere in the evening we'll get to see Francis and all our favorite YouTube stars on our big flat screen TVs because the last thing I want to see on my television is professional actors.   (Apparently, the Francis version aired during American Idol this week.  That ain't bad.  I reckon a few people still watch that show.)  Anyway... Go Steelers!
• And don't worry everybody.  Francis may be a celebrity now but he's still angry.  Never sell out Francis!

• People.  The great J. Chris Campbell, fourth sexist man in comics, has a new comic/art book he is ready to sell to you in paper and/or digital.  You need to go get that thing accomplished. 
• Grant Morrison had a birthday this week.  He's 53 now.  In Stan Lee years, that's 28.  Remember back when I was doing a series of articles re-examining Morrison's The Invisibles.  Well, I will get back to that.  As soon as possible.  Hang in there.  My life is a living hell challenging. 
• Fred Hembeck also had a birthday.  Dang I loves me some Fred Hembeck. 
• Ashley Holt, fourth best hair in comics, posted another one of his words and picture things that you enjoy so much as you read then hate him at the end for being more clever than you. 
• You had me at Dreadstar. 
• Remember when I mentioned that new Shonen Jump thing last week?  Well, Joe McCulloch has broken down the genetic code of every panel of the sucker.  (I told ya One-Punch man was the business.)

• So that Paperman cartoon there sure made a lot of people blow a load.  It's alright I guess. I wouldn't call it a "groundbreaking technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques" or anything.  Seamless is not a word I'd use.  Groundbreaking?  I mean, you people are aware of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli right?  Don't get me wrong.  The cartoon is nice.  I like the part where Aladdin sits down beside the kid with the balloon.  I just think some of us spend so much time watching movies with video game animation that we feel like we've seen the face of God when we see moving line art. 
• Alec Longstreth on not going to Angouleme. (I don't know how to do those triangle letter hat things.) 
• Bart Beaty on yes going to Angouleme.  (I can't even pronounce it.)
• Hey everybody, won't you just shut up and go read this interactive experimental flash comic thing Pat Lewis drew for Mark Waid's website.  Super cool. 
• Holy cheese biscuits.  Go look at what Brad McGinty drew. Brad done did it again! 
• How much of your life have you spent lying around wishing Morrissey would beat the crap out of Robert Smith?  All of it?  Well here ya go.  Courtesy of Josh Latta.  He lives to serve. 
• People.  Last week, professional wrestler and WWE Champ CM Punk was forced to hand over his belt to a B movie actor.  It sucked.  There was never a doubt in my mind that it would not happen, but it still sucked.

• My good friend Paul McDonald wrote a book about Star Wars.  You can pre-order it now. 
• Okay James.  It's been over a month now.  You can start posting your strip again.  We get it.  Hah hah.  Good one. Now, get back to the comic strip please. 
• Look, I'm as sad about Young Justice being canceled as anyone but Teen Titans Go is gonna be a lot of fun. 
• How Bill Mantlo created the 80s. 
• People, people, people!  Eric Canete posted some new commissioned art this week. 
• Gabby Schulz drew some cute wittle cuddly wuddlies.  And then he went to the hospital. 

(I think it's A-Okay to laugh at Macaulay Culkin and his pals because I'm positive they are laughing at all of us.)

• We just want to tell you that all men are garbage. 
• Shaenon Garrity on some solid webcomics. 
• Tom Spurgeon on some digital comics news. 
• Panel Patter on the Mini-Comic Of The Month Club.  
• Hourly Comics Day happened again and The Beat rounded up a bunch of them.  Eleanor Davis did it and posted it here. 
• Every year when the color of the year is announced I change my blog colors to match it just to see if anyone notices.  They never, ever notice.  I don't think I'll do it this year because I don't really like that color. 
• No talks about Josh Simmons.
• So yeah.  Your comics collection can still totally land you in jail in America. (Maybe don't name your files "incest comics".)

THE BEST SINGLE NEW PRINT COMIC I READ THIS WEEK

(Image stolen from DC database.)
...is on hiatus because I did not read any new comics this week.  The comics shop nearest video came store that happens to sell comics is on the other side of a snow and ice storm from my house.  The weather is so bad that I could have gone to watch live professional wrestling Saturday and did not.  Ice people.  Ice.  My feet are cold.  I did read a 100 or so pages of volume one of the DC Showcase Presents The Brave and the Bold though.  And it is great.  These comics are written by Bob Haney and he is crazy.  Crazy!  This is a book that features Metamorpho and the Bat-Hulk and neither of those are the strangest things in it.  Get this.  There is a story in here where Batman has emotions about a woman.  A woman people!  Crazy man.  Crazy.
But hey.  Just because I did not make it to a comics shop and I don't have any plastic money for Comixology at the moment does not mean we can't talk about a new comic.  Here, go read this.  Dave Cooper everybody.  Actually, I think that comic is from last year sometime but who cares?  I promise you it's better than anything you could have found in a comic shop this (or almost any) week.

• And finally... My favorite Superbowl was the one where The Incredible Hulk murdered the Chicago Bears.

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.