Sunday, June 29, 2008

 
Books About Writing Found on My Desk -- In no particular order:

Roget's Super Thesaurus by Marc McCutcheon

Merriam-Webster's Manual for Writers and Editors

AP Broadcast News Handbook by Brad Kalbfeld

On Writing by Stephen King

The Elements of Editing by Arthur Plotnik

The Elements of Style (Fourth Edition) by Strunk and White

The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel

Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Conner

I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm writing more lately, and enjoying the process a lot. I don't know what to credit it to, but it's certainly due in part to a conversation a week ago with Roger Green about his blogging process. So, thanks, Roger.

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

 
ADD's 2007 Year in Review -- Let's look back at a great year for comics. First up:

THE BEST of 2007

* Crecy, Warren Ellis and Raulo Caceres (Avatar) -- This one took me by surprise, and ended up being by far one of my favourite comics of the year. The way Ellis uses the lead character's narration is pretty unique in comics, and adds a layer of comedy and depth to the true story of a crucial historical battle. This is one you have to experience to really appreciate how accomplished it is. [Full Crecy review].

* Criminal, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Marvel/Icon) -- Although I didn't review any single issues of this in calendar 2007, it was still my favourite monthly read and a more entertaining and well-crafted title than any other five comics you could name from either Marvel or DC. The second story arc, "Lawless," just wrapped up, and it was one of Brubaker's best pieces of character work ever, with Phillips contributing his usual amazing artwork -- he's the very best artist currently creating monthly comics, no question. [Criminal #1 review].

* Marvel Zombies: Dead Days and Marvel Zombies 2, Robert Kirkman and Sean Phillips (Marvel) -- Nothing captures the real spirit of Marvel's heyday better than this perverse reimagining of their core characters, which has become a franchise unto itself. Stick with the books by Kirkman and Phillips, and know you're in for a grand time. [Marvel Zombies 2 #1 review].

* I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets, Fletcher Hanks (Fantagraphics Books) -- Junky and presumed-forgotten comics by one of the artform's weirdest minds were recontextualized by Fantagraphics and editor Paul Karasik into one of the must-read collections of the year. You may never look at superheroes the same way again, and never have as much fun reading them. [I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets review].

* A Treasury of Victorian Murder: Saga of the Bloody Benders, Rick Geary (NBM/ComicsLit) -- This was one of the finest and most fun original graphic novels of the year. You don't hear much about Geary on the comics news sites, but he quietly has become one of the most unique and dependable storytellers in the entire medium. [Bloody Benders review].

* Please Release, Nate Powell (Top Shelf) -- If there's a more thoughtful and interesting artcomix practitioner than Nate Powell, I don't know who it would be. He's someone you'll be hearing a lot more about in the years ahead, and the stories in this collection are a good indicator why. [Please Release review].

* Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (Marvel) -- I didn't review this, but I don't think there was a better value for your superhero dollar than this 99.9 percent perfect collection of possibly the greatest superhero comics of all time. The misspelling of Steve Ditko's name on the last page is the only flaw I could detect, but Jesus, what a flaw to have in an otherwise exquisite presentation of these essential comics.

* All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC) -- The most fun I've had since, well, any other Morrison and Quitely project you could name. One of the greatest, most entertaining teams working in corporate comics.

* Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine (Drawn & Quarterly) -- Any other creator delivering a novel this dense and entertaining would probably be hailed in every corner of the blogosphere, but the excellence of Shortcomings is by now expected, and therefore possibly not as thrill-generating. But rest assured, this exploration of race and relationships is Tomine stretching, even if just a little bit, and that makes it more than worth your attention. [Optic Nerve #9 (Shortcomings Chapter 1) review].

* The Complete Peanuts, Charles Schulz (Fantagraphics) -- This series is well into the most glorious era of the best comic strip ever, and you should definitely be reading along to see how the magic happened, day after day, for half a century. I recently reviewed David Michaelis's Schulz biography, Schulz and Peanuts, as well.

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty (Dark Horse) -- I don't know if this title will bring any new readers to comics, but if you were ever a fan of Whedon's TV work, this is the most note-perfect adaptation/continuation you could possibly have asked for. Even writer Brian K. Vaughan's arc is keeping me entertained, and that's quite an accomplishment considering his stuff usually not only leaves me cold, but makes me throw up a little in my mouth.

* Spent, Joe Matt (Drawn and Quarterly) -- I suppose this is the sort of story anti-artcomix folks are talking about when they damn all artcomix with the "navel-gazey/autobio/masturbation" accusation. Fuck them, I love Matt's stuff. [Peepshow #13 (Spent Chapter 1) review].

* The Boys, Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson (Dynamite) -- Anyone who dismisses The Boys as mere foul-mouthed satire is missing one of the wildest and best superhero rides around. The book just gets better with every passing issue. [The Boys #8 review].

* Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni), and Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill (DC/Wildstorm) -- All right, I haven't read these yet because they come out today. I admit it. But by this time tomorrow I will have likely read both, and based on previous volumes in both series, I have no doubt they belong on this list. If I'm wrong, I'll happily come back and edit this post. But I don't think I'll have to. Related: As much as I miss Moore's ABC line, I am pleased as punch for him that he's out from under his indentured servitude to DC, a company that has gone far out of its way to shit on him time and time again. And I look forward to supporting every project he chooses to create with any other publisher. DC really, really fucked up when they decided (multiple times) to alienate the best writer ever to work in comics, and they will likely lose hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in future revenue as a result of their petty, vindictive bullshit. Fuck anyone who had a hand in Moore's decision to separate himself permanently from the company.

And now, because there was just a lot of it, here's some of:

THE WORST of 2007

* Martha Washington Dies, Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons (Dark Horse) -- I don't know what I was expecting from this, but having really enjoyed the original series back when it debuted, this came as something of a shallow, pointless kick in the teeth. [Martha Washington Dies review].

* Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1, Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver (DC) -- Noogies. Fucking noogies. Who does Geoff Johns have pictures of, and what farm animal are they sodomizing, exactly? I can't believe anyone would even have to ask if Geoff Johns still sucks, but there it is. He sure as fuck does. [GLSCS #1 review].

* Tales from the Crypt #1, various (Papercutz) -- Very possibly the worst idea of the year, if not ever. [TFTC #1 review].

* Thor #1, J. Michael Straczynski and Oliver Coipel (Marvel) -- "How mightily it fails to impress," I said, proving just how pervasive Thor's pseudo-Shakespearean dialect might be. This was one big, malodorous turd in the mighty small punchbowl that is "what I expect from Marvel these days." [Thor #1 review].

* The Highwaymen #1 (DC/Wildstorm) -- The creators of this exercise in generic tedium were shocked when the title was canceled after a handful of issues. I sure as hell wasn't. [The Highwaymen #1 review].

LOOKING AHEAD

What am I looking forward to in 2008? Hopefully more surprises like Crecy and I shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets, and more expected excellence like Criminal, All-Star Superman, Scott Pilgrim, anything by Rick Geary, and The Boys. And I really hope Dark Horse collects (in hardcover, goddamn it!) Kurt Busiek and Greg Ruth's Born on the Battlefield, one of the most compelling Conan stories ever presented. I'd also like to see Barry Windsor-Smith's Paradoxman collection from Fantagraphics, and see Marvel get its head out of its ass and release BWS's Thing graphic novel.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

 
Five by Five -- Once upon a time, Tom Spurgeon used to ask a new question at the end of every workweek and ask for a list of five answers. The feature was succinctly called "Five for Friday," and I enjoyed responding to it in its day. Since he's not doing it anymore, and since answering the questions was always a thought-provoking exercise, I thought I'd post some of my favourites here.

* Five Desert Island Comics

5. THE COMPLETE CRUMB COMICS. The older (and wiser) I get, the more I appreciate Crumb's skill as an artist, and more importantly, his fearless reportage about his own life and the world around him. Few artists have so completely, evocatively and fearlessly chronicled the era in which they lived, and how they lived in it, and I would want to have the Fantagraphics series with me on my desert island because it's literally every comic Crumb has ever done. You'll note that few creators in the history of comics could easily compile such a project, but Crumb's visionary retaining of all rights to his work have, no doubt, made the legal end of such a massive undertaking as easy as pie.

4. THE COMPLETE PEANUTS. If I'm limited to five series, you can bet that the previous entry and this one are my way of making sure that I have a ton of reading material to wile away the long days and nights with. THE COMPLETE PEANUTS will, by the time it's over (around my 50th birthday, egad!), collect a half-century of some of the very best comics ever created, by one of the artform's sublime masters. The Seth-designed hardcovers will look great on the shelves in my hut, too, in-between my coconut-shell bookends.

3. STREET ANGEL. Yeah, it's only five issues and a trade paperback, but STREET ANGEL is among the most inventive entertaining comics I've read in the past couple of decades; I literally despair at the thought of never being able to read them again, so, I'm bringing them along to the island. Yar!

2. ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY. One thing I will need as the years "ware" on is a challenge; Chris Ware's unique, literary series will provide me with a number of them. The work itself is challenging, requiring close attention in order to fully immerse oneself Inside the worlds he creates. But even more challenging will be my years-long effort to build all the paper toys that are a part of almost every issue of ACME. Hopefully there'll be some Elmer's Glue on the island, or at least an old horse I can render down in order to make my delicate, ephemeral playthings.

1. EIGHTBALL. Issue #22 of this series, featuring the story "Ice Haven," is widely regarded (in my house anyway) as the finest single issue of any comic book ever produced. Epic in scope, filled with flawed, endearing and human characters, and encompassing a mystery that re-engages me fully every time I read it, the issue (or the Pantheon hardcover version titled "Ice Haven") is absolutely indispensable to anyone who wants to experience the greatest joys comics can contain. But the rest of the series holds wonders, as well, from the Ghost World stories to the snarky short pieces about Christians, the secret gayness of sports and Jim Belushi (!), to such landmark serials as "David Boring" and "Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron." One of the very best comic book series ever created, I absolutely would be lost without a complete set of EIGHTBALLS to keep me company, there on the island.

* Five Artists I didn't like as a kid but appreciate now:

1. Mike Sekowsky
2. Don Heck
3. R. Crumb
4. Nestor Redondo
5. John Buscema

Plus, five I didn't appreciate then and my opinion hasn't substantially changed:

1. Alex Saviuk
2. Alan Kupperberg
3. Vince Colletta
4. Rich Buckler
5. George Tuska

And yes, it is a mystery to me as well why I have come to appreciate Don Heck's artistry while still not caring for Tuska's work, despite what seem to be a lot of similarities in their work to my eyes...

* Five Cartoonists I Just Don't "Get."

Here are five cartoonists I can't read even if I try real hard.

1. Jennifer Daydreamer -- Harmless, but every story I've read leaves me wondering why anyone but her needs to read them.

2. Andy Runton -- I get the appeal for anyone under 10, but am mystified by the adoration adults lay at his doorstep. I can't even ready all the way through one of his stories, and I've tried numerous time. My kids love his stuff, though.

3. Marc Bell -- A nice ink line, but too far removed from the boundaries of my
perception to be readable to me.

4. Danny Hellman -- A dead ink line, a bitter spirit I interpret as a self-recognition of an utter lack of talent, and a toxic effect on the greater community of readers and creators. More than anyone else, Hellman is a cancer that should be excised from comics.

5. Doug TenNapel -- Contemptible co-opting of the style of Will Eisner and others in a transparent attempt to bring Jesus to the heathen comics masses.

* Five Things That Crucially Changed How I Saw Comics

1. The Comics Journal, circa 1979
2. The Passiac Book Center's 100 Comics for $10.00 deal in the 1970s
3. The Bud Plant Catalog, circa 1980
4. A circa-1978 visit to Heroes World in New Jersey
5. Fantaco in Albany, NY (first visit, 1981)

* Five Things I'd Like to See Happen to Comics in the Future

1. All comics retailers adopt standards of excellence for the appearance and upkeep of their shops, to make the stores as welcoming to children, women and brand new readers of every stripe as most currently are to developmentally stunted Geoff Johns fans.

2. Stores that (admirably) carry a full(er) line of manga and alternative/indy/art comics actually mention that fact in their advertising and on the outside of their stores.

3. Retailers insist that their staff actually follow news in the artform and industry of comics, so that uninformed clerks can not look ridiculous to their customers who read newspapers and the internet and can actually, you know, take more of the customer's money when they are begging to give it to the store.

4. Retailers get out to Borders, Barnes and Noble and independent bookstores once in a while and see what their real competition is doing to serve their customers in the area of comics and graphic novels.

5. Retailers stop wasting so much display space on superhero comics: The fucking things are nerd heroin. The nerds will find them. Better use the space to display, face-out, the graphic novels that are making news so that when the bored wives and girlfriends are looking around the shop, they actually recognize something they might
actually want to read -- and buy.

* Five Comics That Comics Right Now (May, 2005)

1. Or Else -- The status quo of artcomix is represented in this experimental, lovely ongoing title from Drawn and Quarterly; one of the best things they've brought to the marketplace in years. Kevin Huizenga joins the pantheon of creators I'll follow for life, in the footsteps of Crumb, Clowes, Moore, Hornschemeier and Ware.

2. Sea of Red -- Would this even exist if not for The Walking Dead, and the entire Steve Niles/IDW axis of horror comics? There's a large, untapped market for nicely-illustrated horror comics, and Sea of Red typifies what that market is looking for.

3. The R. Crumb Handbook -- We are in an era of beautiful, landmark collections and retrospectives concerning some of the greatest talents in comics history. From B. Krigstein Vol. 1 to the Chris Ware monograph to Comic Art magazine and Levin's Rebels and Outlaws book, now is the time to read in-depth examinations of the greatest works in the artform and the creators that made them happen.

4. Sleeper -- This one is representative of corporate comics' inability to nurture and grow quality titles by some of their most gifted creators. That Sleeper, or Human Target, to name a similar case, are unable to find an audience is an indictment of the approach and priorities of the powers that be at the highest levels of corporate comics. The failure of these great books is a dark stain on the records of incompetent executives and marketing personnel, and heads should be fucking rolling, not to put too fine a point on it.

5. Comics Festival -- This Free Comic Book Day offering, which I recently reviewed, is a joyous "So what?" to my point about Sleeper: Here's Darwyn Cooke, who should be all rights be a superstar in corporate comics, delivering in just a few panels the definitive statement on current trends at DC and Marvel. Here's many of the best comics creators working today giving their all in a free comic that shows the world how great an artform we have.

* Five Recommended Editorial Cartoon Collections

1. Anything by Tom Tomorrow
2. The Bush Junta
3. Freedom Fries
4. Attitude edited by Ted Rall
5. Attitude Vol. 2 edited by Ted Rall

* Five Recommended Anthologies

1. Kramer's Ergot 5
2. Zero Zero
3. The Top Shelf anthologies
4. Comics Festival!
5. Origins of Marvel Comics

* Five Recommended Porn Comics

1. Dirty Stories Vol. 1-3
2. Small Favors
3. R. Crumb's "Joe Blow"
4. Birdland
5. Fucklesuckle Funnies

* Five Titles I Looked Forward to in 2006

1. Bluesman - NBM
2. The Ticking - Top Shelf
3. More Ganges and Or Else from Kevin Huizenga
4. My Day in the Life of Jay by Jason Marcy
5. The Paradoxman and The Thing GN by Barry Windsor-Smith

* Five Things I Miss About Comics

1. Superhero art one-one-hundredth as dynamic and engaging as that in Byrne and Austin's Uncanny X-Men or Miller and Janson's Daredevil.

2. Amazing Heroes.

3. FantaCo, the Albany shop and publisher I got my books at in the 1980s.

4. Spinner racks. The ones in comics shops don't count, they make it worse.

5. Raoul Vezina, Wallace Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Gil Kane, among too many others.

* Five Recommended Superhero Comics, 1938-1964

1. Wallace Wood's Daredevil
2. The Spirit in Outer Space by Jules Feiffer and Wallace Wood
3. Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle
4. Steve Ditko's Captain Atom
5. Carmine Infantino and John Broome's The Flash

* Five Important Figures in Comics Not Primarily Creators

1. James Sime
2. Jim Crocker
3. Christopher Butcher
4. Jeff Mason
5. Eric Reynolds

* Five Recommended Runs, Four Issues or More, of Superhero Comics, 1980-2005

1. Street Angel #1-5
2. Promethea #1-32
3. X-Man #63-75
4. The Authority #1-12
5. Wildcats - Vol. 2 from where Joe Casey takes over (#5? #6?) until Vol. 3 ("Wildcats 3.0") when "Coup D'Etat" rips the shit out of what was a great book for a long, uninterrupted run. Also Alan Moore's Vol. 1 run of Wildcats.

* Five Living Cartoonists I Wish Published More Frequently

1. Robert Crumb -- I know he has a literal boatload of work in print, but the recent magazine pieces he has done have given extremely promising hints of what his current style is like. I would kill to see him do a complete, original graphic novel right now.

2. David Mazzucchelli -- Probably one of the greatest cartoonists alive, and yet we hardly ever see anything at all from him. The three issues of Rubber Blanket and the occasional anthology contribution leave me wishing for more, a lot more.

3. Adrian Tomine -- If he could put Optic Nerve out on a bimonthly basis, I could call my wife a regular comics reader and not be lying. The industry needs a New Mainstream that looks more like Tomine's blend of naturalistic humanism.

4. Rob Vollmar and Pablo Callejo -- The Castaways was nominated for an Eisner, and BLUESMAN showed that not only was Castaways not a fluke, but that the creative team was capable of quick and measurable growth.

5. Gary Spencer Millidge -- I know Strangehaven's meticulous approach is demanding and time-consuming, but this is another yearly-or-so effort that I wish came out much more often.

* Five Comics with Great Cover and/or Production Design

1. The Maakies books from Fantagraphics -- the perfect format for these strips.
2. American Elf HC
3. Blankets HC
4. Project Superior HC
5. Mother Come Home

* Five Titles I Loaned or Lost and Never Got Back

1. ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS -- Loaned to the boyfriend of an ex-girlfriend who shared an interest in comics. He moved away and took the book with him. The book was a Christmas gift from my parents in the late 1970s that I read in utter wonderment by the light of the Christmas tree as everyone else slept that morning. There's not much I wouldn't give to have that copy back, although I do have a later printing that I acquired a year or two back. It's not quite the same, though.

2. CEREBUS, near-complete collection -- File this under "lost," when I sold it cheap to my friend Marshall in one of my periodic exoduses (exodii?) from comics. He later lost it, too, and probably regrets it as much as me.

3. FACTOR C -- A hand-drawn and hand-stapled comic book that I created in high school and college, thinly veiled autobio that integrated a fictional local crime ring (headed up by the aforementioned Marshall as "H the Unspeakable") and owed a heavy debt to Frank Miller's Daredevil. I have no idea whatever happened to those.

4. THE COMICS JOURNAL, near-complete collection. When my wife and I moved house in the mid-'90s, some 150 or so TCJs were left in the trunk of my car. I meant to bring them in eventually, but had no idea the trunk wasn't waterproof. One rainstorm later, here's a trunk full of multi-coloured cornflakes.

5. Autograph Book -- In the 1970s, my parents mailed a blank autograph book to the offices of Marvel Comics. It was signed and sketched by Stan Lee, Dave Cockrum, Jim Shooter, and at least a dozen other Marvel stalwarts -- some doing full, pencil-ink-colour finished drawings in it. Later I had Dave Sim draw Cerebus in it (I think at a FantaCon in the '80s in Albany). Again, no idea whatever happened to this book. It was blue and about 4X6 inches, so, if you have it, that's where it came from, whoever you are.

* Five Comics Industry Events You Would Have Liked to Have Witnessed

1. Gary Groth interviewing Todd McFarlane for The Comics Journal
2. Paul Levitz finding out LOEG was going to Top Shelf
3. Harvey Pekar and R. Crumb conceiving American Splendor
4. Alan Moore writing the final chapter of Voice of the Fire
5. Deni saying to Dave whatever it is that made him the way he is

* Five Places I've Purchased Comics

1. Earthworld Comics, Central Avenue, Albany, NY
2. Electric City Comics, Van Vranken Ave., Schenectady, NY
3. The Comic Depot, Route 9N, Greenfield Center, NY
4. The Beguiling, Toronto, Ontario
5. Modern Myths, Northampton, Mass.

* Five Recommended Stories 16 Pages or Less

1. "Street Angel" by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca from the 2004 Slave Labor Free Comic Book Day comic

2. "Standing Behind Old Jewish Ladies in Supermarket Lines" by Harvey Pekar and R. Crumb

3. "Fistophobia" by Renee French

4. "The Thirteen Fingers" by Richard Sala

5. "It's Just So Cute" by Paul Hornschemeier

* Five Things I Enjoy in Comics, Not Writing or Art

1. The smell of the paper and ink (most often with Drawn and Quarterly)

2. Letters pages (genuinely a lost art these days, even in comics that think they get it right)

3. Quality reproduction of great artwork. Thank God for Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly, Alternative, Top Shelf and AdHouse.

4. Reliable schedules, be it monthly or yearly, it's nice to know the next one will be there when you expect it.

5. Appendices -- especially Chester Brown's and Alan Moore's.

* Five Completely Random Comics Related Things

1. Learning the meaning of "Erstwhile," which many comics writers still, apparently, haven't.

2. The Passaic Book Center "100 Comics for Cheap" deals from the ads in 1970s comics,
which included comics far more entertaining and well-done than any such deal today would likely provide buyers. I discovered work like Kirby's The Demon this way.

3. Mustard dripping off my hot dog onto the comic one day when I was reading a George Perez-era 1970s Fantastic Four comic while eating lunch.

4. Marvel Value Stamps. I never cut out even one of them.

5. The Mad Maple, AKA "T.M. Maple," one of the most famous letterhacks of all time.

* Five Things I Remember About My First Comic Shop

My first regular comics shop, other than the few I visited once or twice in my pre-teens, was FantaCo in Albany. Here's what I remember most:

1. Being amazed that (the now sadly departed) cartoonist Raoul Vezina had to work in the shop; wasn't he living it up off the huge profits from SMILIN' ED COMICS?

2. The copy of World War III Illustrated (#1 or 2, I would guess) that I had in my pile when I checked out on my first visit in 1981, only to find somehow I left it behind in the store. It would be nearly two decades before I crossed paths again with the work of Peter Kuper.

3. Buying the counterfeit Cerebus #1 there, knowing it was fake, but thrilled to finally be able to read that story, then only available in the high-priced back-issue market.

4. Seeing Wendy and Richard Pini at a signing there and being surprised at how normal they were. It was as if the people who made comics were just, you know, people.

5. The copy of Metroland I would always grab from the left side of the door on my way out every week; FantaCo is gone, but Albany's free alternative newsweekly is still chugging along.

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// posted by Alan David Doane @ 8:14 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 4 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

Friday, July 13, 2007

 
FAQ ADD: Frequently Asked Questions about The ADD Blog -- Here's a handy primer to the who, what, where, why, when and how of The ADD Blog.

* Who are you? I'm Alan David Doane, a radio broadcaster since 1986 and a husband and father of two. I live in Upstate New York.

* What's this blog about? Comics, mostly. I've been reading comic books since 1972, and writing about them since the mid-1990s for a variety of websites such as Silver Bullet Comic Books, Newsarama, and this one here, Comic Book Galaxy. In print I've contributed to The Comics Journal and other magazines. On this blog, in addition to writing about comics I also cover anything else that interests me, including real life, music and movies. But since my main interest in life has been comic books for 35 years, mostly what I write about is comic books.

* How long have you been blogging? Since June 2nd, 2002. There have been a couple of lengthy hiatuses along the way, but I never stop writing about comics for long.

* So you really like superheroes? You must be new around here. It's a fairly common misperception if you say you like comic books that you must mean superheroes. But superheroes are only one genre among many that define the comic book artform, so equating a love of comic books with a love of superheroes is like assuming someone loves only westerns because they like movies. Probably my favourite genre within the comics artform is autobiography, like the works of Robert Crumb, James Kochalka, Harvey Pekar and Jason Marcy.

* Wait, you're the guy that hates superheroes, right? No, some of my favourite comics of all time are superhero stories, like Miller and Mazzucchelli's Daredevil: Born Again or Ellis and Hitch's The Authority. I do hate bad superhero comics, though, and these days, that's mostly what the corporate comic book publishers are turning out. I'd like to see that change, so that future generations of comics readers can enjoy the drama and excitement that the very best superhero comics can offer.

* But you are the guy that hates the direct market, right? Not really, I just think now that the whole world is reading comics again, it's time for those who claim to be professional comic book retailers to actually be professional. I wrote extensively about this in a multi-part essay called "A Future For Comics." Here's Part One; Part Two; Part Three; Part Four; and Part Five.

* So what kind of comics do you like? Well, there's no one word that encapsulates the comics that excite and engage me the most, although I tend to call 'em artcomics or artcomix. You might think of them as undergrounds, alternatives, or even "black and white independent filth." I don't universally love any form of comics, though -- there are good and bad comics in every category, and I'm most committed to finding and writing about good comics, no matter what label someone might want to slap on them.

* Who makes the kind of comics you like the most? You can take a look at my fairly extensive list of recommended comics, graphic novels and related publications, but offhand the creators I almost always enjoy include Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Dan Clowes, Chris Ware, Robert Crumb, Eddie Campbell, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Warren Ellis, Renee French, Jaime Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez, Harvey Pekar, Paul Hornschemeier, James Kochalka, B. Krigstein, Jason Marcy, Barry Windsor-Smith and Yoshihiro Tatsumi. To name a few. The publishers that seem to release the books I like the most include Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly, Top Shelf and Pantheon Books.

* How can I find out what kind of comics I will enjoy the most? Find critics whose tastes clearly intersect with your own, and follow their recommendations into places you might previously have avoided. If Critic A's explanation of why they like a book you like makes sense to you, then find a book they recommend that you haven't read, and try that one. Watch the magic happen. This is a large part of why criticism matters in every artform, including comics.

* How much are my comics worth? On average, if you're lucky, you'll get about 12 cents from a dealer for any random comic book. That's half of what they'll charge when they throw it in their quarter bin. There are comics that are worth a lot of money, but the chances are that you don't have them. Because the comics that are worth the most money are some combination of old, in excellent condition, highly desirable, and extremely rare. If you must put a price on your comics, go to your library and check out The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. It is far, far from perfect, but it will give you a rough idea what your books may be worth. Remember that condition counts for a lot, and grade your comics accurately. Finally, remember that if you try to sell your comics to a comic book dealer, chances are, at best, they will give you 50 percent of the values listed in the Overstreet guide. Why? Because they have bills to pay. If you want to get the maximum return on valuable comics you may own, you'll have to sell them some other way, such as through an auction service or on eBay. This is much more time-consuming, though, so think about what's most important to you: Selling them fast (to a dealer for less money), or getting the most money (selling them to individual collectors).

* Which comics should I be buying as investments today? None. Occasionally a new comic book will be highly sought-after and demand high prices, but the vast majority of comic books being published today are published in enough numbers that they'll never be worth more than cover price, if even that.

* Why should I buy comics? There's only ever one real answer to that, and that is because you like to read them. If everyone bought only the comic books they genuinely love, then the publishers will make many more of those sorts of comics. Multiple covers and other schemes designed to make people buy comic books they don't read may be good for the short-term bottom-line of the corporate sector of the comic book industry, but they are disastrously destructive to the longterm health of the comic book artform. That's because they sour the suckers who buy into the "investment" aspect of comics on the idea of comics in general. So for your own best interests and those of comics as a storytelling medium, please, buy only the comics you enjoy. And tell your friends about them.

* I want to make comics. What should I do? Make them. Do your best to improve your craft, whether it's writing, drawing, or both. Tell stories that have the most personal meaning and importance to you as a human being. Educate yourself about the pitfalls of working in comics (low pay, companies taking your rights away without proper compensation and benefits, etc.) and be sure you always watch out for your best interests. If a publisher offers you a contract, go over it with your own attorney to be sure your interests are protected. Corporations will always protect and promote themselves over the interests of any individual creator. This doesn't mean "don't work for corporate comic book publishers," it just means "know what you're doing before you do."

* Will you review my comic? I'll certainly consider it. The address to send me review copies is near the top of the sidebar on the right side of this page.

* Why didn't you review my comic? Although I try to review every comic I receive, it's not always possible or even desirable to review every single thing that I read. If I didn't review your comic, it doesn't mean it's no good. But good or bad, the comics most likely to get reviewed by me are the ones that elicit a strong reaction as I read them. The least likely comics to get reviewed by me are ones that are simply average, mediocre comics. If they're spectacularly good or spectacularly bad, though, chances are very good they will be mentioned here.

* Where do you recommend I buy comics from? If you're talking mail-order, I strongly recommend Lone Star Comics; both because they offer excellent and timely service, and because if you click over to them from this site and buy something, it helps support my own efforts here. If you're talking about specific comic shops I recommend, there is a list of outstanding comic shops in the links in the sidebar. I've visited every one of them, and they're all worth a visit.

* I'd like to advertise on The ADD Blog. Can I do that? Sure. Just send me an e-mail and we'll talk.

* I want to publish comics. Any advice? Loads. First, realize that no new comics company can be expected to make any money whatsoever within the first five years of its existence. If you do not have the capital shored up to protect against that fact, and do not have the confidence that your books will be of such high-quality as to ensure a large readership that builds over the first three years, then do not start your new comics company until you can meet those marketplace realities. Wishing will not make it so, and if you build it, history has shown that they will not come. Be aware that no one wants your new superhero universe or American-created manga-style comics. No one.

Also: Just because you like a writer or artist, that does not mean that readers will like their work. The worst thing an editor or publisher can do is be buddies with the talent they publish. If your judgment is thus compromised, you owe it to yourself, your creators and your readers to seek out blunt, critical analysis of the quality of the work and its likelihood of success before publishing it. If you must publish comics and are not already an established company with a well-known line and a reliable slate of books, then start your new company with one bulletproof book that is so well done and wildly entertaining that it can serve as the foundation of a steadily-growing company over the course of the next five years. History has shown time and again that this is the most reliable way to build a brand and create a publishing company. Finally, if you cannot afford a full-time publicity department that is dedicated to getting your books the maximum exposure possible, then you cannot afford to be a publisher. Hiring the talent and printing the books is no more than 50 percent of the equation that results in a successful book.

* As a reader, how can I make comics better? Don't continue to buy and support comics that do anything less than dazzle you with their ingenuity, their quality storytelling, and their elegance of purpose and design. The only reason any publisher can continue to produce bad comics is because people buy them out of habit or to have a "complete collection." Just stop, and comics will get better.

Also: Go through your collection regularly, and pluck out any comics you haven't felt the need to re-read for a year or more. Set them aside, and evaluate whether you really want to spend a portion of your rent money providing space for comics you no longer want or need. Throw them out, trade them, give them away, or sell them on eBay. Make room for better comics in your home, and in your life. Make careful note of the creators and publishers who tend to create books that you are not still excited about months after you first read them. Reconsider investing your money in their books in the future. Would you return time and again to a restaurant that served you bad food? There's so much more out there, waiting to be discovered. What are you waiting for?

* How often is this blog updated? 14 times a week, according to one statistic I saw recently, which averages out to twice a day, every day. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. You can always subscribe to The ADD Blog RSS Feed if it makes your life easier.

* Who are your favourite critics and bloggers? Roger Ebert, Tom Spurgeon, Chris Allen, Rob Vollmar, and Johanna Draper Carlson all come to mind. They, and other favourites of mine, are linked from the sidebar on the right side of this page.

* How can I become a critic? Probably the best information I've seen on this subject is Johanna Draper Carlson's thoughts on how to review comics. My to-the-point advice is: Be passionate, be truthful, and seek out diversity.

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Monday, July 09, 2007

 
Alan David Doane's Recommended Comics, Graphic Novels and Related -- I started reading comic books in 1972, at the age of six. This is a list of the very best comics, graphic novels and related publications I have read in my lifetime of reading and a decade of writing about the artform. This is a work in progress; if you have a suggestion for this page, or if you have questions about any of these titles I've listed, please email me.



Alison Bechdel



Chester Brown

Ed Brubaker

Charles Burns

Eddie Campbell

Dan Clowes

Jordan Crane

Robert Crumb

Joe Daly

Warren Ellis

Garth Ennis

Renee French

Gary Groth

Gilbert Hernandez

Jaime Hernandez

Paul Hornschemeier

Kevin Huizenga

James Kochalka

Bob Levin

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

Jasen Lex

Jason Marcy

Joe Matt

David Mazzucchelli

Mike Mignola

Mark Miller

Gary Spencer Millidge

Tony Millionaire

Alan Moore

Grant Morrison

Bryan Lee O'Malley

Harvey Pekar

John Porcellino

Jim Rugg

Greg Sadowski

Salgood Sam (Max Douglas)

Frank Santoro

Charles Schulz

Seth

Jeff Smith

Jiro Taniguchi

Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Adrian Tomine

C. Tyler

Rob Vollmar and Pablo G. Callejo

Chris Ware

Bill Watterson

Barry Windsor-Smith

Jim Woodring

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Sunday, July 08, 2007

 
Nine Graphic Novels to Read Before You Die -- It can be daunting, browsing your graphic novel collection in, say, your 40s, and wondering where they'll go when you die. In my head, I know which ones I would like my daughter to have, and my son. And which ones I would like send to which friends, and which ones I hope my wife will finally take a look at.

I've been reading comics since 1972, and the first time I acquired what we would now call a graphic novel was just six or seven years later. I'm brutally selective in what goes on my bookshelves, which is why I only have about 700 graphic novels at the moment, despite at one time or another probably owning five times that many.

If I read it and am certain it will be a lifelong joy to revisit its pleasures, onto the shelves it goes. If I read it and don't find much -- or any -- value in it, chances are it ends up in someone else's hands sooner, rather than later.

Few graphic novels have been so godawfully egregious that I actually throw them away -- books called "Tozzer" and "Americanjism" come to mind as ones that I despised and was certain no one else would find of value, either, so in the trash they went. But usually I am certain someone will get some pleasure out of even most books I don't much care for, which is why I end up giving away, trading or selling books that don't make the cut into my permanent graphic novel library.

I don't know if you're like me. I don't know if you have given this much thought into which graphic novels you own or have read. But I do know this: There are nine graphic novels you should indisputably read before you die. And here they are.

* The Filth. As recently as yesterday, I noticed an article on a popular comic book website claiming this -- one of Grant Morrison's very best and most mind-expanding works -- is "difficult to read." Bullshit. Start at the top left of page one, and make your way to the bottom right. Repeat until you're finished. It's fucking brilliant, and worth the time it takes to let it immerse itself into your consciousness.

* We3. Getting all the Morrison right out of the way up front, We3 is a gorgeous and thoughtful rumination on man's relationship to, stewardship of, and abuse toward our fellow inhabitants of Earth.

* Book of Leviathan. You'll find a lot of intelligent comics critics recommending this one, even though you may very well never have heard of it. Once you read it, you will never forget it.

* David Boring. Much more than the oddball mystery it appears at first glance, David Boring is one of Clowes's most dense and rewarding stories, and also paradoxically one of his most straightforward. You just have to pay attention.

* Diary of a Teenage Girl. If I could ask you to read only one book on this list, this is the one that I'd ask you to read. It will change the way you think about relationships and sexuality, and also demonstrate just how powerful comics can be as a storytelling medium.

* Fantastic Butterflies. James Kochalka says he probably won't do more longform graphic novels like this one, which is sort of an extended version of his American Elf daily diary comic strips. It's also one of his most entertaining and impressive graphic novels.

* Jays Days: Rise and Fall of the Pasta Shop Lothario. Jason Marcy is one of the most blunt and insightful autobiographical cartoonists alive today, and this is the book of his that you should read, if you only try one.

* The Journal Comic. Drew Weing was my favourite webcomics cartoonist during the time he was producing these strips. I wish he'd kept it up.

* The Ticking. Renee French contains multitudes within her talent, from eerie mindfucks to sincere and graceful children's books. The Ticking is her most definitive work (so far), and a true masterpiece of comic art.

There are graphic novels that are more accomplished, beautiful or in some other way more outstanding than at least some on this list, but these are nine books that I honestly think are under-appreciated, under-read and under-discussed. All of them deserve your time and attention, and I'd be surprised if you didn't enjoy all of them a great deal. If you decide to sample some of the books on the list, please e-mail me and let me know what you think of what you find within their pages.

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Sunday, June 10, 2007

 
Labels -- It'll take me a while to label years worth of blog posts, but I've started using Blogger's Labels function to group posts. Click on the label at the end of each post to see other posts on the same subject(s). Labels include art, corporate comics, culture, equal marriage rights, essays, FCBD, five questions, good comic shops, industry, linkblogging, lists, memes, meta, movies, music, pre-ordering, pull list, radio, real life and reviews. As always, your comments and suggestions are much appreciated!

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Monday, June 04, 2007

 
Five by Five -- Here's some Top 5 lists of mine at the moment...feel free to meme it along if you're so inclined!

Five Fave TV Series
24
The Shield
The Sopranos
Entourage
The Office

Five Fave Monthly Comics
Buffy Season 8
Punisher MAX
Criminal
The Boys
Conan

Five Fave Graphic Novels
King Cat Classix by John Porcellino
Punisher: From First to Last by Garth Ennis and others
Criminal Vol. 1: Coward by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Conan Vol. 4: Hall of the Dead by Kurt Busiek, Cary Nord and others
American Elf Vol. 2 by James Kochalka

Five Fave Songs
Young Folks - Peter, Bjorn and John
New Sensation - INXS
One True Vine - Wilco
The Love Parade - The Dream Academy
Love Should - Moby

Five Fave Movies
Mr. Arkadin (Orson Welles)
Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson)
The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson)
Grindhouse (Rodriguez/Tarantino)
Harsh Times (David Ayer)

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Thursday, July 06, 2006

 
John Byrneday -- As noted at The Comics Reporter, today is John Byrne's birthday. While my loathing of Byrne's public persona runs back decades, on this, his special day, I thought I would salute the enduring things about Byrne that I actually enjoy.

A good place to start, if you're interested in great John Byrne comics, is the recent Marvel hardcover Uncanny X-men Omnibus, which reprints a good chunk of the Byrne/Austin artistic era (a second volume would complete it, and is most welcome as far as I am concerned). Yes, it's $100.00 bucks, but it reprints something like 40 issues, many of which you would pay that individually for. Additionally, it's on great paper stock and includes the original letters pages, which are kind of a treat to see in print again.

Also of great historical value, if you can track it down, is the Comics Journal issue (#57) that featured a long interview with John Byrne. Byrne weighs in, among other topics, on how Bob Layton's inking made male characters look "queer," according to both Byrne and his dad. After that revelation, well over two decades ago, nothing else the guy has said can really be a surprise, can it?

A great place to track Byrne's latter-day shenanigans is the permanent John Byrne thread at The V Forum. And for biographical information, go to The John Byrne page at Wikipedia. Byrne's online discussion forum is at Byrne Robotics, but beware, only sycophantic groupthink is tolerated for any length of time.

Update: In perhaps the most beautiful coincidence ever noticed on this blog, it's also George W. Bush's birthday. What is the connection, you ask? Well, as a Canadian, Byrne will also never legally be elected President of the United States.

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Monday, April 17, 2006

 
Seven Soldiers of Memery -- Nicked, as usual, from Roger. Hi, Roger!

7 things to do before I die:

1. Move to Canada
2. Edit/publish a magazine
3. Go to The San Diego Comicon
4. Interview Alan Moore again
5. Hang out with Chris Allen, Rob Vollmar and d. emerson eddy
6. See my kids grow into adulthood
7. Celebrate the 10th, 15th, and 20th anniversaries of Comic Book Galaxy

7 things I cannot do:

1. Sleep more than five hours without chemical assistance
2. Promise to do something I know I won't do
3. Watch the last Henry Blake episode of M*A*S*H without crying
4. Watch Shaun of the Dead without laughing my ass off
5. Sit through TV commercials
6. Read most comic book websites for more than 30 seconds.
7. Believe the lies my government wants me to. Sorry, guys; tell the truth, or at least lie better.

7 things that I like about my county (Warren County, NY)

1. How close it is to Canada
2. How relatively crime-free it is
3. The Hyde Collection Museum in Glens Falls
4. The water of Lake George (as opposed to the tourist trap Village of Lake George)
5. That it has both somewhat urban and somewhat rural elements within 10 minutes of each other
6. There are not seven things I like about my county.
7. Sorry, Chamber of Commerce.

7 things I often say:

1. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
2. "That's me!" (in response to someone calling out "Alan!" or "Doane!"at work)
3. "I'll need a production order." (To radio sales people who forget that their ad won't go on the air without one)
4. "Knock!" (To my kids, who never do)
5. "What's your name, Kira?" (To my daughter Kira; it was funny when she was 2 and would tell me her name was Kira.)
6. "I need to charge my cell phone." (I get anal when I lose one bar of power)
7. "I wish I had more time to do everything I wanted to do today."

7 books that I love re-reading:

1. The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler
2. The Great Movies I and II by Roger Ebert
3. For Keeps by Pauline Kael
4. Cosmos by Carl Sagan
5. Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov
6. Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore
7. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max

7 movies I watch over and over again (well, more than once):

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Donnie Darko
3. Ghost World
4. Crumb
5. American Splendor
6. Shaun of the Dead
7. Seven (ha!)

7 graphic novels I will keep forever:

1. From Hell
2. Ghost World
3. American Elf
4. Diary of a Teenage Girl
5. Louis Riel
6. The Ticking
7. Jay's Days: The Rise and Fall of The Pasta Shop Lothario

7 great comic shops

1. The Beguiling; Toronto, ON
2. Earthworld; Albany, NY
3. Million Year Picnic; Cambridge, MA
4. Modern Myths; Northampton, MA
5. Fantaco; Albany, NY (gone but not forgotten)
6. Unicorn Comics; Saratoga Springs, NY (ditto)
7. The USS Catastrophe Shop; on the internets

7 blogs I always read

1. The Comics Reporter
2. Comics.212.net
3. Comics Worth Reading
4. Beaucoup Kevin
5. Progressive Ruin
6. Neilalien
7. Jog the Blog

7 people I wish would blog more often

1. Chris Allen
2. Rob Vollmar
3. Ed Cunard
4. Logan Polk
5. d. emerson eddy
6. Jason Cooley
7. Me

7 comics sites I visit every day

1. Comic Book Galaxy
2. American Elf
3. Jason Marcy's LiveJournal
4. Comic Book Resources
5. The Engine
6. The Comics Journal Message Board
7. Andrew Foster's LiveJournal

7 people I wish would do something else for a living besides comics:

1. Geoff Johns
2. Jeph Loeb
3. Judd Winick
4. J. Michael Straczynski
5. Brad Meltzer
6. John Byrne
7. Jim Lee

7 people to tag:

1. Chris Allen
2. Rob Vollmar
3. Derik A Badman
4. Johanna Draper Carlson
5. Jason Marcy
6. Logan Polk
7. Kevin Church

...if you wanna, gang.

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Sunday, April 16, 2006

 
Not that great, but it was already in the Comic Book Galaxy images directory: Adi Granov's cover to Iron Man Vol. 4 #1Covering Iron Man -- Tom Spurgeon highlights a classic Gil Kane image as a springboard to discussing how Iron Man has had a lot of bad covers over the years; I thought I would separate the wheat from the chaff (or the Iron from the Man?), and look at some of the few great* Iron Man covers from throughout the character's history (click the issue numbers to see the covers):

Iron Man #1 -- Of course, if you can't get a striking cover for the first issue of your own ongoing title, you know you have a problem. Actually, as eye-catching as this one is, that's more to the (overwrought) sense of drama artist Gene Colan gave to the character; the first-issue ribbon/banner (it looks slapped-on, har-har!) does nothing for the design, and the tiny background elements would distract from the overall design if not for the colour choices made to make Iron Man himself pop out. So, while the cover achieves the goal of likely luring the eyes of potential readers scanning racks full of comics, it's more down to the primary element of Iron Man himself and the way the colours play down everything else in the image. Hmm, Spurgeon may be on to something.

Iron Man #47 -- It only took 47 issues to give us a virtual repeat of the cover to #1, but at least here Gil Kane delivers a body shot that has power and grace without the melodrama inherent in Gene Colan's cover for #1. Vince Colletta's intention-destroying, time-saving, fine-line inking actually looks okay on the primary cover element (Iron Man), and this is about as iconic a depiction of my favourite Iron Man costume as you're likely to find.

Iron Man #54 -- This cover just looks great, no caveats at all. The poses are dramatic and fluid, the jagged lines of the bursts of water reflect the rage of Namor, and the backgroud perspective works perfectly to enhance the excitement of the image. A great example of why I think Gil Kane is one of the best artists ever to work in comics.

Iron Man #80 -- I've always been a sucker for this image, probably my favourite Iron Man cover of all time. Sure, the perspective is wonky (if not downright awkward -- why do we see the bottom of Iron Man's ill-advised 1970s-style "nose" in the way that we do, as his body angles downward and away from us? Why are his arms posed like that?); despite everything, though, the figure, the spectacular background images and the colouring all work to present a virtually 3-D portrait of the Armoured Avenger that is powerful and suggestive of a thrilling adventure that was almost certainly not found within the actual pages of the comic that it was wrapped around.

Iron Man #118 -- The Layton era had some of the series' best and worst covers. This one was one of the best, in terms of accurately reflecting the comic's innards and providing an arresting visual image that stood out on the stands.

Iron Man #128 -- Probably the best-remembered and most evocative cover in the history of the series. This one is so convincing in its seediness -- can't you just smell what a wreck Tony Stark has become? -- that it's almost a wonder this EC-like depiction of addiction got by the Comics Code. That it did is probably due to the clear message the creators thought they were sending -- that alcoholism is a devastating disease that destroys the lives of those who have it and those who love those who have it. Unfortunately, if memory serves, the simple-minded actual message was that alcoholism can be overcome in less than 30 pages if you have a hot girlfriend, clenched fists and a fashionable sports car. The End.

Iron Man #142 -- Another outer space scene (see issue #80, above), nicely contrasting the shiny precision of the armor (a new variation, another interesting element) against the blackness of space (much less dynamic a place than in Kirby's #80 cover, and yet it seems to make Iron Man stand out oven more if he is not competing with galaxies a-borning). The boot-jets are meant to add a sense of motion, but actually detract of the power of the figure work.

Iron Man #243 -- As you might guess from the huge gap between this entry and the previous one, the title entered a long, dry spell of really bad covers; this one actually isn't much better than average for the time, but the design element of the newspaper makes it stand out from a large crowd of lousy covers, and extra points to whoever decided to provide actual text for the newspaper rather than the more-standard gibberish or straight lines. The art on the inside is worth noting for having Barry Windsor-Smith's inks over Layton's pencils; it's clear from the art that BWS more than likely extensively revised Layton's work in some places, making for a much better than usual issue as far as the art goes. The script, if memory serves, was the usual overripe melodrama that weighted down the character long after the brief, now terribly dated-seeming heyday of the original Michelinie/Layton run.

Iron Man #256 -- What is it with me and these outer-space shots? I just think this one grabs the eye quite well, and the repulser rays and boot smoke actually work this time around. The most striking thing about this image, I think, is the well-placed use of shadow to suggest power and drama.

Iron Man Vol. 3 #1 -- Sorry, Heroes Reborn fans, but unsurprisingly Vol. 2 of the title turned out no covers worth noting (the current Vol. 4 has likewise failed to grab the eye with its samey-samey designs and washed out colours). But this energetic image suggests the character in full motion, charging into an exciting new era. As it turned out, the Busiek/Chen era was mainly highlighted by very good artwork (Chen was born to draw Iron Man). But it's worth noting that Busiek's handling of the character is probably the best extended run he's ever had storywise, consistent and informed by an obvious love of the character and his setting.

I didn't start out intending to make this my Ten Favourite Iron Man covers, but as it turns out, ten good covers is about all the character can claim since its inception. As I said, it's pretty clear Spurgeon is on to something...

###


UPDATE: Johnny Bacardi threatens to turn Covering Iron Man into a meme, but luckily he's a canny enough observer that his choices are worth checking out. Especially noteworthy are this genuine classic by Johnny Craig and this lovely offering by Barry Windsor-Smith (marred, I think, by the garish purple background; imagine the effect if Iron Man was presented in front of a background of (you'll pardon the pun) stark white, a la this classic Frank Miller Daredevil cover.

* Grabs the eye, stands out on the racks, exceptional depiction of the character or story, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah, your mileage may vary, member FDIC.

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Monday, March 27, 2006

 
Five for Monday: Five Comics You Were Sad to See Go Away -- This was Spurgeon's Five for Friday that didn't go up until Saturday, and somehow here on Monday my answers didn't make the cut, so, enjoy!

1. Sleeper. The failure of the direct market to embrace the best
corporate comics title of the past twenty years is outstripped only by
the astonishing, monumental fuckup of DC's publicity department in
getting the title into the hands of the hundreds of thousands of
literate, crime-fiction readers who would have loved it. Good for
Brubaker, Phillips and ************ for the forthcoming ************,
the success of which should cause mass firings at DC/Wildstorm. I've
seen pages, and they are FUCKING AWE-INSPIRING.

2. Street Angel. I guess this is what Rugg and Maruca chose, to make a
big impression and move on to something else. Good for them, one
supposes. The TPB stands as a monument to one of the greatest moments
in pop culture in recent memory, and collects five fantastic
funnybooks plus tons of juicy extras.

3. The Human Target. The only Peter Milligan title I have ever
consistently enjoyed, probably because it was his most personal work.
Readers will discover this title in 20 years and wonder why it
couldn't hold an audience. And if I'm still around, I'll explain it in
tones much like those found in #1, above.

4. Barry Windsor-Smith: Storyteller. It's funny how the cancellation
of the very best comics is often so clear and obvious an indictment of
the failures of the direct market and the tentpole a-holes that barely
hold it up.

5. Supergirl. The Peter David version. Too bad he had to write scores
of bad issues to get to the sublime final six, which were a
celebration of parallel universe stories, meta-commentary, and silver
age nostalgia, the final issue wrapped in a gorgeous John Romita Sr.
cover. Also, Jeph Loeb: There is nothing about your version that does
not suck beyond all comprehension. Par for the course.

Bonus: A Comic I Won't Be Sad to See Go Away

1. The Ultimates. It's been a genuine blast seeing Millar and Hitch
have so much fun on such an entertaining title. For every little "This
A Stands for Oxymoron" moment, there were ten "HULK RAPE BETTY UP THE
ASS" and Cap Kicking Banner in the teeth moments that made it all
worthwhile. Maybe Jack Kirby is spinning in his grave over what was
done to his creations, here, but isn't that what the next generation
is supposed to do to its elders? Anyway, yeah, no need at all to buy
this past the Miller and Hitch era. To do so, actually, would be
fucking silly.

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Saturday, January 28, 2006

 
Five Publications That Define Comics Right Now -- See my list and others at The Comics Reporter's latest Five for Friday feature.

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Friday, May 06, 2005

 
Five For Friday -- Over at The Comics Reporter, check out Tom Spurgeon's, mine and possibly other people's Five Titles That Define Comics Right Now.

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Wednesday, March 23, 2005

 
10 Things I Love About Tom Spurgeon -- All right, he's gone and shown us all up, as usual. So with that in mind, here's 10 Things I Love About Tom Spurgeon:

1. He can come up with 1000 Things to Like About Comics.

2. He openly discusses how Comics Made Him Fat.

3. He co-wrote the definitive biography of Stan Lee.

4. And I got to interview him about it.

5. He made the definitive statement on the value of comics.

6. The way he is able to convey his profoundly personal relationship with comics.

7. His interview with Joe Casey was so good that it convinced me to take a second look at some of Casey's comics to see if I was missing something. I wasn't, but Spurgeon's interview was able to bring out an eloquence and passion in Casey that clearly hasn't translated to most of his comics. Somewhere in there is a noteworthy accomplishment on Spurgeon's part.

8. His other great interviews, including Drew Weing, James Sturm, John Romita, Sr., and Steve Rude.

9. His love of even the smallest of comics.

10. He maintains the best comics website in existence.

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// posted by Alan David Doane @ 4:16 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

 
15 Ways to Make Comics Better -- There's a lot of people who want to make comics better. Here are some ways I believe that could actually be accomplished.

1. Creators: Create, always, human stories with a strong narrative voice, a clear point of view, and a reason for existing. Anything less insults the reader and devalues you as a creator.

2. Creators and publishers: Ensure high-quality reproduction at every step of the process from the creation of the artwork to the final print job. Poor reproduction removes the reader from the story. You are the ultimate advocate for the work, and for the reader. Fail them and they will flee from you.

3. Publishers: Allow corporate-owned characters who have become creatively bankrupt through mis-handling to lay fallow for a few years. There's no reason at all why Green Lantern, Iron Man, Thor, or most other second-tier characters must be published month-in and month-out. Wait until a creator or creators have solid, original ideas with which to stage a true revival rather than a lame renumbering. If you must publish these characters for trademark purposes, issue affordable, monthly reprints of landmark runs until such a time that a worthwhile new take on the character can be published.

4. Publishers: Publish complex, riveting titles like The Invisibles, Sleeper and Promethea as original graphic novels, a complete storyline published in HC every six months, with the SC to follow six months after initial HC release. If you cannot find an economic model in which to make this work, you have no business being in publishing. If you don't want to put your hands in the toilet and fix things, you shouldn't be a plumber.

5. Would-Be Publishers: Realize that no new comics company can be expected to make any money whatsoever within the first five years of its existence. If you do not have the capital shored up to protect against that fact, and do not have the confidence that your books will be of such high-quality as to ensure a large readership that builds over the first three years, then do not start your new comics company until you can meet those marketplace realities. Wishing will not make it so, and if you build it, history has shown that they will not come.

6. Publishers: No one wants your new superhero universe, American-created Manga, or fifth-week event. No one.

7. Publishers: If you cannot give away 200,000 copies for free or for a quarter, you cannot sell 10,000 for $2.95.

8. Publishers: Because you like a writer or artist, that does not mean that readers will like their work. The worst thing an editor or publisher can do is be buddies with the talent they publish. If your judgment is thus compromised, you owe it to yourself, your creators and your readers to seek out blunt, critical analysis of the quality of the work and its liklihood of success before publishing it.

9. Would-Be Publishers: If you must publish comics and are not already an established company with a well-known line and a reliable slate of books, then start your new company with one bulletproof book that is so well done and wildly entertaining that it can serve as the foundation of a steadily-growing company over the course of the next five years.

10. Creators: At all stages of the creative process, seek out the opinions and evaluations of people whose tastes and critical faculties you trust implicitly. Ask them to be brutally honest in judging your work, and accept that there is at least a grain of truth in everything they tell you, and likely a lot more than a grain.

11. Readers: Do not continue to buy and support comics that do anything less than dazzle you with their ingenuity, their quality storytelling, and their elegance of purpose and design. The only reason any publisher can continue to produce bad comics is because people buy them. Just stop.

12. Readers: Find critics whose tastes clearly intersect with your own, and follow their recommendations into places you might previously have avoided. If Critic A's explanation of why they like a book you like makes sense to you, then find a book they recommend that you haven't read, and try that one. Watch the magic happen.

13. Do not ever buy a comic book with the expectation that you will sell it at a profit later on. 99 percent of every comic book you ever will buy over the course of your life will be worth 12 cents or less within a month after you buy it. Selah.

14. Publishers: If you cannot afford a full-time publicity department that is dedicated to getting your books the maximum exposure possible, then you cannot afford to be a publisher. Hiring the talent and printing the books is no more than 50 percent of the equation that results in a successful book.

15. Readers: Go through your collection regularly, and pluck out any comics you haven't felt the need to re-read for a year or more. Set them aside, and evaluate whether you really want to spend a portion of your rent money providing space for comics you no longer want or need. Throw them out, trade them, give them away, or sell them on eBay. Make room for better comics in your home, and in your life. Make careful note of the creators and publishers who tend to create books that you are not still excited about months after you first read them. Reconsider investing your money in their books in the future. Would you return time and again to a restaurant that served you bad food? There's so much more out there, waiting to be discovered. What are you waiting for?

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// posted by Alan David Doane @ 9:48 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

Sunday, October 27, 2002

 
My Pet Peeves -- This was inspired by a generally hilarious thread at the Comics Journal message board.

* Drivers who turn left from the right lane at the end of a one-way street going onto a two-way and then look at me like I'm doing something wrong when I pull into the left lane to turn left, like you're supposed to (at least in New York).

* People (and it's usually women, dunno why) who check out at a cash register and the exchange is done and instead of getting out of the way, they stand there and arrange their money in their wallet/purse.

* Right-Wing Extremists -- especially gun nuts and anti-abortion zealots. These dangerous terrorists would be #1 on the Most Wanted list of any REAL "War on Terror."

* Drive-Thru Fuckery. Wrong sandwich. Forgotten items. Joe Pesci was right, "They fuck you at the drive-thru."

* Businesses that don't salt and/or sand their sidewalks after an ice storm. Do they LIKE being sued?

* The Stealth Christianity Movement.

* People who can't control their children -- but refuse to remove them to somewhere private to deal with the effects of their disastrous parenting skills.

*People who dog-ear pages in books to mark their place. What the fuck is wrong with them?

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// posted by Alan David Doane @ 12:13 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

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