Just a Link: The Postmodern Superhero

Read this.

It's a link to the Comics Should be Good blog, and specifically a really fantastic essay on the evolution of comic books.

I'm still digesting it, and I plan on re-reading it a few times. So read it.

The works of Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Joe Casey are all discussed. I need to find a way to read all of the works cited. They sound phenomenal.

A Pro Speaks: Boom Studios

Check out this awesome interview with the men behind Boom.

Since its inception, Boom has appealed to comic aficionados with its several-issue miniseries. This year, Boom is focusing on longer plots, offering story arcs that can be serialized, then bound together as graphic novels and sold in major retail chains such as Barnes & Noble.

"Look at this," Richie said, pointing at the spine of a 20-something-page comic book. "This disappears into a shelf." At about half an inch thick, sometimes more, graphic novels demand greater attention.

This is something I've been thinking of myself. See, I've been studying manga's success in America, and it seems that a good portion of that success is due to the fact that manga's digest volumes provide a lot more story at a good price point.

I'm also questioning comic books standard serialized format. Sometimes it works, a full story is told that is a piece of a larger story and compels the reader to wait a month to buy the next issue. Sometimes it doesn't work, only a part of a story is told, and it really feels like it. With Manga, it almost doesn't matter. Manga comes out weekly, so the period of excitement is considerably less.

I think the American comics industry has quite a bit to learn from the Japanese. I might expand on my thoughts later.

Musing: Digest sized comics.

Check out Marvel Comics' June Solicitations here.

Marvel Comics has tried marketing their comic books towards the youth of today. Obviously. One strategy I find interesting is forgoing the a trade paperback, and shrinking the comics into a digest version; similar in every way to the way manga is distributed.

It makes a certain kind of sense. Most of the books that fell under that line were more accessible to teens than the standard superhero fare. Books like Runaways, Sentinel, a few others, but those were the big two, and Runaways is the only one still around.

However, they're tossing in Robert Kirkman's Irredeemable Ant-Man as a digest.

I'm not sure how I feel about the move. Ant-Man is a little bit more, mature is the wrong word, "adult" than the standard Marvel fare. But then again, the title is also a very interesting deviation from superheroes because of it that it might just attract new readers.

I'm curious to see how it does.

Musing: Writing for the Trade

So a a fairly interesting read discussing Brad Meltzer's recently finished JLA arc tipped me off to this topic.

Read that article before reading this.

Or don't. Ya know, you don't have to. I just think you should.

But why take my advice?

Oh, that's what this whole blog is about? What a novel idea!

So you read it? Good! Read on!


Let me share with you my thoughts on Melter's JLA arc. I wasn't a big fan of 1-5. I thought there were some cool ideas, but, I wasn't taken with it enough. Wait though, it's a six issue story arc! What about issue 6?

I thought #6 was really good. There were a few moments I didn't love, but I really dug this issue.

You're following this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 not really worth it to me. 6 very much worth it.

I'm not sure this is entirely Meltzer's fault. I mean, obviously, he was responsible for the writing, and if he couldn't fill the story with enough awesome for six issues than maybe he shouldn't tell it, but! their seems to be a lot of pressure to write for the trade in the industry.

I think multi issue story arcs are a good thing. I think the more story you can tell, the better. However, I don't like the mandate to tell six part stories. I understand it, trades sell in book stores, and book stores probably bring in some decent coin, but that doesn't mean I like it. I think it stifles creativity. Not every story can be told well in a standardized amount of pages. Not to mention the cliff hanger that needs to be written in at the end of every issue to keep the reader interested for a month.

I'm not sure what to do about the situation. It's a format that works pretty well. But, I don't think it works as well as it could from a creative stand point.

Musing: Downloading Comic Books, Legally

Check here for Top Cow's ideas and plans regarding downloading comic books.

I think the subject is interesting. I love reading old comic books, and they're hard to get, so a downloadable format wouldn't be a bad idea. However, there is a certain charm in holding the book. Also, I'm loving Marvel's Essential books, and I can't wait to try out DC's version. I forget what they're called.

My hard drive is crammed enough with my music, I'm not sure I want to clog it up with comic books as well. Though, if I can't get my Golden and Silver age fix otherwise...

We'll see how it all pans out.

Podcast: The New Thunderbolts

I tried playing around with a podcast. However, it's purely my opinion on the current state of the Marvel Universe, and more specifically, the New Thunderbolts.

Check here.

Hope you enjoy!

Musing: SPRING BREAK!

Howdy y'all.

Spring Break was last week. I didn't go anywhere. I worked alot, for money, not specifically on books. Though, I did work a lot on comics and related materials.

I finished reading Scott McCloud's Making Comics. It's brilliant. I wish I could draw like McCloud. I wish I could draw at all. I'm going to be reading this again soon. Though, I'll probably read it after I buy and read McCloud's Understanding Comics. The book has a lot of great content, and while I might try and review it at some point in the future, I think any small posting here would fail to do the book justice. It's awesome, go buy it.

As I was perusing the graphic novel shelves at Borders I spotted a very interesting looking book. Check it out. Chris Ware's The Acme Novelty Library is a work of genius. It's engaging. It's depressing and enjoyable. I think the book has something to do with futility. I can't say for certain though, as I've only read the first 30 or so pages. It's one of the deepest books I've ever read. Comic or otherwise.

I started my own web-comic. Boo! Adventures. I think it's the best thing since the written word. I'm talking about hieroglyphics. Language. Heck, I'll say it's the best thing since The Word. But don't just take my word for it. Read the thing. Start with #1. Though, they can be read out of order. It's an experiment of mine, so I hope it succeeds.

I've started listening to the Golden Age of Comics Podcast. It's available free on iTunes. Check it out. It's some interesting synopsis on some of the best comic books. Or at they very least, comic books from a different time that if you care about the medium you'll want to have an understanding of.

I also played a lot of Heroclix. Wizkidsgames just put out a new expansion set of my favorite game ever, and I now have fun little miniature toys of Hawkman, Sandman, Starman, Captain Marvel, Jakeem Thunder and the Martian Manhunter. So awesome. I love me some comic book character miniatures.

On a writing note, I made some progress on some plots I had been working on. I'm working on short stories. I'm trying to make an anthology title. I think it could be really interesting.

Musing: Marvel's Civil War and world building

Kimota94 inspired me to post my thoughts on this issue. Check here for his thoughts on the matter.

Marvel Comics is currently changing the face of the Marvel Universe. The latest event crossover, Civil War, has given all of the Marvel Universe (or at least the earthbound characters) a new status quo. The government requires all super-powered beings to register with them so they can keep checks on these 'persons of mass destruction' (Thanks Millar!). It seems like the majority of Marvel's heroes are going along with the registration, though, some of them, notably Spider-Man, are going underground in opposition to the legislation.

Allow me some exposition.

Marvel has kept their continuity fairly consistent for the past 50 some odd years. DC chose to reboot their continuity with Crisis on Infinite Earths in the 80's. DC thought it might simplify a few things. Considering that at the time there were multiple Supermen who lived on different Earths in different universes serving on different teams who were for all intents and purposes different characters, I can see what they were thinking. Creating a consistent world for characters is a hard task. Maintaining that world with a minimum of contradictions across multiple titles is just tricky. I won't even look up the number of books Marvel is putting out for their mainstream universe right now, it's more than 20, which seems like a lot to me.

Anyway, Marvel has been putting out a product that has garnered many loyal fans for a long time. Part of the loyalty that comic book fans have is universe specific. Fans who like one company more than the other tend to like that universe because they've been reading it longer. They're more familiar with it. When DC rebooted the universe it theoretically allowed anyone a chance to jump in. It didn't work quite like that, but that was the intention.

What Marvel has done with Civil War is, to me, very similar. Instead of changing around bits of a characters history Marvel changed the way that the universe functioned and it's heroes relationships within that universe. It's not a reboot, but it is a shocking change of status quo.

Personally, I think it's a very ambitious project. I think if pulled off well, it can lead to a lot of interesting stories. I think super hero registration is an interesting enough idea that it can be milked for stories for a few years to come.

Do I think that this is the best move for the market? I'm not sure. As much as I love monthly super hero comic books, I'm just not positive that every character Marvel has on roster can work with this shift. For instance, Ed Brubaker's titles, with the exception of Captain America, have all but ignored Civil War thus far. It'll be interesting to see how he fits Daredevil and the Uncanny X-Men into the new universe. I think Dan Slott's She-Hulk would be better served without this move. Slott is an amazing talent, but Shulk's strength has lied in the fact that it plays loose with continuity, now it's being asked to play in line with it.

I'm interested to see how this will work. I wish Marvel the best.

Indulge me: Boo! Adventures

So, I was drawing, trying to make myself into an artist and experiment with visual storytelling techniques when I started writing something like a story. I've decided to see if I could continue the story forever.

Read and enjoy!

Musing: The 'Death' of Captain America

That's not a spoiler at all if you were awake yesterday.

It's the story that no newspaper, television news station, or internet news failed to cover.

My contention is thus: As much as I enjoy Captain America (I'd be perfectly willing to get into a fanboy argument with nearly anyone about how I think Cap is the most iconic comic book character), I'm under the impression that anything that draws this much media attention to comic books is probably a good thing. Evidently Captain America #25 is flying off retailers shelves, so Marvel's PR people did a good job.

Creator's have been interviewing all over the place. Ed Brubaker, the current writer on Captain America, says he's been planning this for the past two years, and that he has two more years worth of Cap stories plotted out. Joe Quesada, Marvel's Editor in Chief, is loving the limelight, giving interviews to major papers (or at least AP). Even Jeph Loeb is getting some attention, as he's writing a five issue mini series about the Marvel Universe's reaction to the death.

I'm hopeful that this might draw in some new readers. Ed Brubaker is a fantastic talent for Marvel (this is what, third post in a row that deals with him?), though I'd be concerned that his book might not be right for new readers. While Brubaker's Cap is one of the best books coming out of Marvel, it's pretty well mired in continuity. Hopefully though, between Cap and Loeb's mini, the people at Marvel can turn some heads and get some more respect for comic books.

Of course, we all know Steve Rogers will be back in a year, right?

I was reading an interview with Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker about Iron Fist, when I scrolled down and saw a panel from an upcoming issue. Take a look.

Normally, when you read a comic it's read left to right, top to bottom. It's just how the American eye works. But whomever drew this panel chose to buck that trend, and do things a little differently. I can't think this was in Brubaker and Fraction's script. Only because it's too outside the box for a writer. Though, if they did write it, hey, kudos to you guys, it's frickin' cool.

I've been noticing page layouts similar to this one; where one image is used for multiple panels and only the character shifts within. This page takes that style to an extreme, and I think I love it.

The panel flows, quite wonderfully, with Iron Fist moving left to right, right to left, left to right. It's perfectly natural, and the only thing that took me out of it was that I knew it shouldn't be natural.

Fantastic work.

A Pro Speaks: Ed Brubaker on tragedy in Criminal

Ed Brubaker has really busted out in recent years. A while ago I'd never heard of the guy. Now, he's writing Captain America, Daredevil, Uncanny X-Men, Iron Fist, and his very own Criminal.

I read and enjoy four of those books. Pretty good, especially considering one of those books would be a very hard sell for me. If you really want to, you can figure it out, one of those titles is very much unlike the others.

If you've read the title, you might be expecting this, but I'm very interested Brubaker's use of tragedy in Criminal. Not only is tragedy one of the least used storytelling devices, it also resonates with me like a Low B on a bass guitar (for a long time in layman's terms.)

From Brubaker's interview with Newsarama:

Tragic. It's a noir, but it's got the twist of, I want Leo to survive to tell more stories about him. But there are levels of survival in noir, that leave a lot of messed up possibilities open to me. I will say Criminal #5 is probably one of the most brutal things I've ever written.

I love noir. I love tragedy. They go hand in hand (though, wouldn't it be interesting to see a noir that ended on an upbeat note?) and are so underused that I jump on anything that includes those elements.

Which is why I think it's so great that Brubaker is writing a comic book, especially a comic book, that might draw in people who are larger fans of genre than they are format. I'm sure people like that exist.

I just want comic books to be more than super hero comic books. Not because I don't enjoy super hero comic books, I do, but I'm also interested in other genres and I love the comic book format.